Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Silver Resistance



Story: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Silver Resistance
Storylink: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4298303/1/
Category: Pokémon
Genre: Adventure/Friendship
Author: ScytheRider
Authorlink: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1591992/
Last updated: 12/05/2022
Words: 995777
Rating: T
Status: In Progress
Content: Chapter 1 to 125 of 125 chapters
Source: FanFiction.net

Summary: In a world where an evil master oppresses all free Pokémon, a human-turned-Charmander teams up with a fugitive Bulbasaur and embarks on a journey for answers.

*Chapter 1*: Prologue: A Silver Soul

Welcome!

In just a few moments, I am going to guide you through a portal which leads into a world inhabited only by Pokémon.

But before we leave, I have some questions I would like to ask you. I need to determine what kind of a person you are.

The world of Pokémon is a bit different from the world of humans, you see. A Pokémon's nature is very strong. It can be as passionate as the roiling tides of the ocean, as bright and pure as a tongue of flame, as stubborn and steadfast as stone, or as tender and strong as the ancient forests…

It is what shapes a Pokémon's character. It is what guides and defines them.

Your character makes a big difference in the world of Pokémon, you see. That is why I wish to understand you; I would prefer to give you a form that best suits the true nature of your soul.

So, then, let us begin. Don't think too hard about each question; just trust your instincts. They will know the truth.

First… Are you often disappointed in yourself? Do you often find yourself wishing you were better at the things you do?

Y… yes…

Do you often find yourself wishing you could start everything over again?

Yes, but… I know I can't. My mistakes… are all in the past. So, I try to have hope… I make the best of what I have… What little I have…

When you find that you have failed an important task that you were given, do you get angry? Or cry? Or, do you, perhaps, shrug it off?

I get angry a lot… but… only at myself. I try not to let other people see…

You must value their opinions of you, then. Your reputation must be very important to you.

Yes… I really care about what other people think of me. When they look down on me, it hurts…

I understand. Now, tell me something else: do you ever do favors for people, even when they don't ask for them? Or do you find yourself avoiding work even when they do ask?

I don't like work… Well, I… I don't like it when people tell me to do things, but I do take pride in my own work… the things that I do on my own my own… that is, when I decide to work on my own. But… that doesn't happen very often.

So, you have trouble motivating yourself?

Yes. Yes, I do.

Why?

I know there's so much I can do… but it seems like I'm never in the mood. I'm always passing the time, waiting for the right mood to come… but it never seems to come.

I see. Now, let's talk about someone other than yourself… how do you think other people see you? Do you have any close friends, or just formal acquaintances?

I… I have some friends… but not very many…

And these friends… do you see them as enduring, unconditional companions? Or are they… a little more distant than that?

The few friends I have… they're very close. But I… can't help but think that they're slipping away…

And do you see it as your own fault that they're slipping away?

I don't know. Maybe. Maybe we're just taking our own separate paths through life… I don't know if there's anything I can do to help that.

So, do you believe in fate? Or do you believe you choose your own path in life?

I don't really know. I just live the way I think I should… Whether or not things happen by fate or choice… it doesn't really matter to me.

I'm starting to see what kind of a person you are. Let me ask just a few more questions...

Are you adventurous? Do you enjoy trying new things and venturing out to new places? Or do you prefer to stay in the comfort of your home?

I like to stay home. I prefer having someone with me when I go out. So, no… I'm not adventurous. I'm withdrawn.

Would you call yourself shy, then?

Yes.

Do you feel less shy when you are with your friends? Do you find that you can open yourself to some of the people around you?

Yes. I act like a completely different person when I'm with my friends.

I understand.

Now, for the last question. What do you think of the world as a whole? Do you think that other people are good? Do you think the world is good?

I… I think… that the world is good. Or, it could be really good. But there's a lot standing in the way of it.

And do you wish that you could change that?

Yes, every day… but I… I don't think I have the courage… or the skill… to do anything about it. I mean, maybe I can change a little bit of it, if I try…

I just do what I can… with what little I have.

Ah, very good. At last, all the questions have been asked. Now, I must look into your spirit before I make my final judgment. Now, relax, and let me probe your soul…

Let yourself drift away, and trust me…

It is done. Your spirit… is a shimmering Silver.

Silver?

Yes, and a very special sort of Silver. is a resolute, eternal silver… like the lining of the moon… A silver which does not fade, regardless of what may try to tarnish it.

As for you… I have considered all your answers carefully, and I see what kind of a person you are. You are the vulnerable type.

Vulnerable? What do you mean?

You… are troubled my many things. Your own inadequacies haunt you. The vastness and unpredictability of the wide world intimidate you. You are… a coward, but not without purpose. You act cowardly only because you feel you understand your own weaknesses and limitations, and you feel you are simply not good enough.

But, despite this, there is a fire burning within you, something you have always known to be there, but have always been afraid, or perhaps unable, to let it shine.

Your closest friends see this fire within you, and this is why they enjoy your company. Like me, they see that you have the potential to create an extraordinary future for yourself. And I believe you see it, too; this is why you always find yourself enraged at your own shortcomings. Despite it all, your lack of confidence keeps you from seeking out this future for yourself; instead, you harbor a deep hope that someday you will be lucky, that your future will be delivered to you on a silver lining.

But you know that day will never arrive. Instead, perhaps you should begin to consider the possibility that you, yourself, are the silver lining upon which the future will be delivered.

As for your friends, you fear it is your own fault they are drifting away, but not because you offend them. It is because you find it difficult to see through the eyes of other people, and so, in your imagination, your friends see you the same way you see yourself, and so you imagine they are growing dissatisfied with you… even when they aren't. The truth is that you need your friends like food and water, for, it is only among them that you turn into the person you wish to be.

You need to let go, take a deep breath, immerse yourself in the world. Jump right in. Yes, it will hurt sometimes, but the hurt means that you are learning and growing. And as you learn, you will find more confidence in yourself and become more comfortable with your new surroundings.

To help motivate yourself, you must start practicing making resolutions… and keeping every single one. Willpower is the cornerstone of confidence. It won't be easy or painless, especially since you are stubborn… but if you'd only make the choice, you may grow from the tiny, vulnerable candle-flame you are now, into a glorious, blazing star which will light the way for the world.

What? I'm… a candle-flame?

Yes… your character… is that of Charmander!

Now, there is one final matter to attend to, before we depart! You may choose the species of the one who is to become your deepest friend.

Choose carefully; this friend will be your dearest and most faithful companion. Nothing, but nothing, will have the strength to tear a rift in your friendship. Your partner is the one who will stay at your side until the very end… even when you would otherwise find yourself abandoned and alone.

Now, choose. Who will be your partner?

An interesting choice. So be it, then! It is time for you to enter the world of Pokémon. Now, I must take away your memories of this conversation. You will remember nothing of me, of your previous life, or, indeed, even of yourself… but this is the beginning of your new chance to shine. Be brave! Don't hold back! Show them the fire that burns inside you!


On this day, a fate is born
A star begins to rise

And in the heart, an ember glows;
A fire which never dies.

...

ScytheRider presents...

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Silver Resistance

*Chapter 2*: Chapter 1: Charmander Awakens

Season I: Gold


Chapter 1

"We're wasting our time. They're expecting us back."

"No! I swear, I felt it! It was unmistakable."

In the waning sunlight of the early evening, two figures slashed their way through the overgrowth of Shamble Forest. One marched forward with determination, the other followed reluctantly behind.

"Scythe…"

"I swear! It came from this way. We need to investigate!"

The twosome foraged their way through shrubs and saplings as the sun slowly sank out of sight, filling the sky with hues of red. Soon, night would be upon them. The trailing figure cast a worried glance upward, knowing they'd soon be out of precious sunlight if he didn't get his stubborn partner to listen.

"Scythe, are you certain you're not just hearing things again?"

"I don't know. That's why I need to see for myself."

"Scythe… nothing lives in this forest except for some dumb Pidgey and Butterfree."

As the two emerged into a clearing, a startled flock of Pidgey scattered and hid themselves in the branches of nearby trees. The frustrated Sandslash grumbled in resentment, knowing inside it was all probably just a bad idea.

"Scythe, it's almost night, and we're still miles from the base. It's too late for this! If we don't head back now, the Watchers will catch us. Are you sure you're in a mood to fight with the Watchers?"

"And what if I'm right?!" the Scyther snapped as he turned to face his partner, causing the Sandslash to jump at the sudden reaction. "What if I'm right, and I did hear something coming from in there? If not, what's the worst that can happen? We get back a little late, and the team worries about us for a few extra hours? Somehow, that does not worry me. But Shander… what if the Call is here? Consider that. What if this is our only chance to capture the Call before our enemies do? We can't turn our back on this possibility."

"I know, I know," said the Sandslash. "But the time is not right for the Call. That's all I'm saying. We still have another three years, at the very least…"

"I know the time is not right," The Scyther grumbled. "It doesn't matter. This could be some kind of an anomaly. However, speaking as one of the only Pokémon sensitive enough to the Call to notice it, I feel obliged to look farther. And frankly, I'm growing frustrated that no one else seems to take this matter as seriously as I do."

The Sandslash shook its head. He knew it was hopeless. The same exchange had happened between them at least three times in the prior months, and it always ended the same way. The Scyther was stubborn in his obsession.

"If there is someone in there, we need to get to it before the Watchers do," the Scyther spoke, focusing on the path ahead. "We cannot afford to have it fall into the wrong hands. Shander… if you do not agree with me, you're free to return by yourself. I'll go on alone."

The Scyther smiled wryly to himself, knowing full well that the Sandslash was too much of a coward to part ways and venture back on his own. There was a reason the team followed a strict buddy system. It was difficult—in more than one way—to recount all of the Pokémon who had been defeated in dungeons or captured by the Watchers because they had gotten separated from the team, either by accident or by overconfidence.

"I'll go with you," the Sandslash replied with a sigh of resignation. "I trust you. Besides, I'm a bit rusty at fighting the Watchers. I could use the experience. But just one thing… It's been twenty-four years since the Call. Are you sure you remember what it sounds like?"

"It's not something one can easily forget," the Scyther said.

Bracing himself for the unexpected, the Sandslash followed his partner deeper into the woods.


Shamble Forest

It was nearly nightfall as a small Bulbasaur scampered through Shamble Forest all alone.

"No!" it cried to nobody in particular. "No! No! I won't! I won't! I won't do it!"

Deftly leaping over rocks and fallen logs, the Bulbasaur followed a path through the woods it knew well. As it ran, it seemed intent to violently share its anguish with every passing tree in eyeshot.

"No, no, NO!" it shouted, extending its vines and snapping away the twigs and drooping tree limbs that hung in the way. "I can't take it! I won't do it! I… I can't! You can't make me! You can't!"

The little Pokémon had long since reached the end of his patience. He dashed off the path and repeatedly whipped his vines against the nearest tree as hard as he could manage. With a scream, he put gash after gash into the tree's bark. After he'd done quite a bit of damage to the poor tree, he leaped to another and tackled it with all its might, barely even feeling the painful pulse it sent through his forehead. He wrapped his vines around the tree trunk and squeezed, pulling and constricting it violently, as tears trickled out from under his closed eyes.

"Why?! Why are you doing this to me?!" he cried in anguish at nobody but the setting sun. "By Dialga, why?! By Arceus, Why?!"

He released the tree from his grasp and tumbled to the ground. Lashing out with a vine, he grasped a nearby rock and flung it at a different tree, and then threw another rock, then a twig, then whatever else he could find within reach, grunting loudly with each projectile he launched.

"I don't care what they say," he seethed as he felt the weariness set in. "They're not going to make me do it. I'll never go! I'll… I'll hold my ground, and… if they try to make me go, I'll… I'll run away. Yeah! I'll run away! And I'll stay away!"

When the Bulbasaur had spent nearly all his strength, he stood in the dimming light of the woods, gasping for air and trying to endure the throbbing pain from his self-induced headache. It took him a moment to realize how deeply his rampage had taken him into the forest, a place he loved and treasured. Tonight, these woods seemed like the only place he belonged; he felt a measure of happiness knowing he was so far away from his home. At the moment, his home was the last place he wanted to be.

The environment calmed him. As his furious heart returned to normal, he could feel his rage slowly fading, turning into misery. He knew there was nothing he could do. He knew he would have to accept the fate that was decided for him—or suffer the consequences. He wondered how it could have happened like this, that this beautiful forest, and everything else he ever knew and loved, was about to be taken away. That his free will was about to be taken away…

Looking up at the sky, he caught a glimpse of the first star of the night.

"Oh, great Pokémon of legend…" he whispered in prayer, just as he was taught to do from childhood, "Great and immortal Arceus, please... if you find it within yourself to help one of us, the Pokémon of the earth… Please… do something!"

Soon, many more stars appeared in the sky. A Noctowl fluttered down from somewhere and landed on a nearby branch. It stared oddly at the little seed-creature on the forest floor below, as if to ask it what it was doing out at such an hour.

"Night…" the Bulbasaur suddenly realized, wide-eyed. "I have to get somewhere safe! The Watchers are coming!"

The Bulbasaur knew that, at night, legions of ghostly Pokémon known as "the Watchers" rose up from beneath the surface of the earth. For as long as any Pokémon could recount, the Watchers surfaced each and every night as soon as the last of the sunlight faded away. They were wild spirits, lacking the intelligence of the sentient Pokémon or the ability to understand speech. To every Pokémon, children and adults alike, only one thing was certain about them: if they caught you, they did unspeakable, horrifying things to you. Accounts told of Pokémon captured by the Watchers getting cursed, losing their memories or their intellect, being kidnapped and pulled down into the Earth, or being cast into a nightmare from which they would never awaken…

In the dim rays of the remaining sunlight, the Bulbasaur found the path he'd taken deep into the forest, and started to follow it back toward home.

"No…" he realized, stopping in his tracks. "I can't go back home. I might not make it back… I have to go the other way. I have to get to the cave."

The full moon was high in the sky as Bulbasaur found the place he sought. He thanked Cresselia for blessing him with the moonlight, a bright beacon which kept the Watchers at bay for perhaps an extra hour, and turned his attention to a solid rock cliff-face which marked the outer boundary of Shamble Forest. By tradition, he glanced all around to make sure nobody was watching. When he was satisfied that he wouldn't be seen, he extended his vines to wrap a medium-sized rock. Clutching it tightly, Bulbasaur yanked, pulling the rock to the side and revealing a cave entrance.

It was Bulbasaur's secret clubhouse, a place which only he and a select few others knew about. It was the place Bulbasaur would always come when he just wanted to be alone. Tonight, nothing would make him happier than simply being alone.

After waiting impatiently for a few Zubat to swarm out of the cave, the little Pokémon crawled inside. Using his vines, he pulled the rock back into place for privacy.

Comfortable and content in his newfound solitude, and weary from his anger, Bulbasaur laid itself down on the gravel-covered cave floor to sleep. He knew in the back of his mind that his family would be furious about him going missing overnight, but somehow, he didn't care about them anymore. At least, not for tonight.

They can spend all night looking for me if they want, Bulbasaur told itself. Serves them right.

Soon, the wind began to pick up outside, making strange whistles and howls as it found its way through cracks in the door-stone. A light storm was brewing. It was early spring, after all, and storms were common around the time of year. Bulbasaur took even greater comfort in the fact that he had found shelter from the rain—if dark clouds covered the moon, the Watchers would most certainly be out in full force.

At last, once the Bulbasaur calmed his thoughts, he felt himself pulled down into the dark hallows of sleep…

But something caught his attention.

It was a tiny annoyance, something so minor that only the most perceptive of senses would have noticed it. Truth was, Bulbasaur had spent the night here in this very cave many times before (when he'd lied to his parents that he was staying with his brothers in Sitrus City), and he had grown accustomed to the cave's feel. Tonight, something was different than usual—something he couldn't quite place.

Feeling irritated, Bulbasaur's eyes snapped open. He glanced around at the cave's walls for a few moments before realizing what it was that bugged him.

I can see?

Except for when he'd intentionally leave the cave door open, the cave was normally pitch-black—the kind of absolute black where it doesn't matter whether or not your eyes are open. He was used to finding the way around the cave's interior by feel with his vines. But not today; today, he could dimly see the rocky cave walls which surrounded him. It was such a faint sight, like the image that stays on the back of the eyelid after closing it, but there was no mistaking it: there was light coming from somewhere.

Bulbasaur checked the cave door. The door only responded with dull roar of thunder as the storm edged closer to the forest. It was sealed shut, as usual. That much was clear to see.

The light, Bulbasaur realized, it must be coming from deeper inside the cave. But… I can't go too far in. Just one step too far, and… I'd be lost. Maybe even for good.

Gritting his teeth, he warily prowled into the depths of the cave, hoping to find the source of the light before he reached the point which he'd resolved never to cross. As well as he knew the cave, he knew that it held certain secrets deeper down that he wouldn't be wise to try exploring on his own.

His search didn't last very long. He turned the corner… and he saw it.

There, propped up against a rock, with its tail crushed beneath its body weight and burning faintly, was a Charmander. The flame upon its tail cast a faint, dancing light upon the cave walls.

"Whoa!" Bulbasaur croaked in disbelief. "A… Charmander! It… it can't be! There aren't supposed to be any Charmander living around here!"

Indeed, a Charmander was such a rare sight around Bulbasaur's corner of the world, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen one.

As Bulbasaur approached the intruder, countless questions danced around in his head. Who is this? Is it wild? Or is it intelligent? Should I wake it up? Is it… dead? No, it can't be dead, its fire is still burning. Where did it come from? How young is it? Has it been running from the Watchers?

Bulbasaur's eyes widened as he approached the intruder. It looked pained, like it had just sustained a major headache. Extending both vines very gently, Bulbasaur tried to roll the Charmander on its side and off its tail flame. But his anxiety got the better of him; he flinched and slipped, accidentally touching the fire with the end of a vine.

"Owww! Youch!" he hissed, whipping his vine against the wall to put out the burn.

Once the pain subsided, Bulbasaur stepped forward to nudge the little Charmander with his forehead, taking great care not to collide with its flame again.

"Hey," Bulbasaur whispered. "Hey, wake up! Are you okay? Wake up!"

There was no response.

"C'mon, wake up!" Bulbasaur pleaded further, whispering a little louder into the red lizard's ear.

Bulbasaur looked again at the tail flame, which was mostly smothered below the Charmander's belly as it slept in such an awkward position. He imagined how painful it must have been for the sleeper, and wondered if that were the reason for the unpleasant expression on its unconscious face. Mustering his courage once more, Bulbasaur set his forehead against the Carmander's shoulder and pushed until the tail was free and the sleeper lay on its side.

But suddenly…

"Aahhh! Ahhh!"

With a heavy gasp, the Charmander suddenly jumped up, slamming its head into a long rock which protruded from the wall.

"Aiahh!" Bulbasaur responded, jumping back. "S-sorry! I was just… You were… Are you okay?"

"Ugh…" the Charmander groaned, slumping back down to the floor. "Ugh… my head…"

"Who are you?" Bulbasaur asked impatiently. "There aren't supposed to be any Charmander around here. How did you get here? How did you find my cave?"

"Ch-charmander?" the Charmander moaned, barely paying any attention. "W…what do you mean? A Charmander's a… Pokémon."

"You… didn't hit your head too hard, did you?" Bulbasaur said, tilting his head oddly at the statement.

"I… I think I hit it pretty hard," the Charmander admitted, rubbing its forehead. "I don't even know where I am. But you… WAAH!"

Once again, the Charmander leapt up in surprise, banging its head against the same rock. It cringed for a second at the pain, then stared speechlessly at its companion with a sort of horrified astonishment.

"WHAT?!" demanded Bulbasaur. "What?! What is it?"

"Y-you're a—Pokémon!" the Charmander yelped. "And you talk! You're a… talking Bulbasaur!"

"Well, you talk, too!" Bulbasaur said. "And you're a Charmander! What's wrong?"

"I'm not a Charmander!" it yelped. "I'm… I'm a human!"

"A human?!" Bulbasaur yelped back. "You look like a perfectly normal Charmander to me! Your head must be hurt pretty bad… Maybe I should try to get you some help. Hold on a second, I think I have some oran berries stashed back here… well, if the Rattatas haven't gotten to them yet…"

As Bulbasaur started to walk away, feeling around in the crannies of the cave with his vines, the Charmander cried out once again.

"No, you don't understand!" the Charmander insisted. "I'm a human! I just—"

"Look at yourself!" Bulbasaur pleaded, turning back around to face him. "Look at your claws, your body, your tail! It's in the middle of the night and you're in a cave. Wonder how you can see me? It's because your tail's on fire! You're a Charmander!"

Reluctantly, the Charmander did as instructed. He looked at his hands, his legs…

"It's true!" he cried in disbelief, testing his arms and legs awkwardly. "I—I've been turned into a Charmander! But how… how can this be?! I… I was just…"

"Here, have this," Bulbasaur said, returning to offer him a large blue berry in his mouth. "It'll make you feel better."

"How am I a Charmander?" he wondered again, trying to grasp the idea. "I was a human! I know it! I was turned into a Pokémon! I—"

Bulbasaur gazed oddly at the confused little Charmander, pondering for a second what it would mean if he were telling the truth.

"If you were a human, then let me ask you something that only a human would know," Bulbasaur challenged. "How does a Poké Ball work? How is it possible to keep a Pokémon of any size in such a tiny little thing? No Pokémon has ever been able to figure that out. Humans invented them. They would know how they work. What about the TM Machines? How do they teach techniques to a Pokémon so… efficiently? Without them, it takes years and years of practice…"

"I don't know," the Charmander admitted. "I was never a Pokémon trainer, I… I think."

"Oh," Bulbasaur said in disappointment.

For a few moments, Bulbasaur said nothing further. The Charmander bit into the berry.

"I'm Saura," the Bulbasaur said. "What's your name?"

"My… name…" the Charmander repeated, racking his thoughts for the answer as he turned the blue berry over in his hands, enjoying the strong but bittersweet taste it provided. "I don't know what my name is."

His eyes widened.

"I don't remember!" he gasped, dropping the berry on the ground. He couldn't even believe his own words. "I can't remember my own name!"

"Calm down for a second," Saura said. "Do you… remember anything about being a human? Anything at all?"

"No, I don't… not anything." The Charmander fretted. "Here I am… as a Pokémon… stuck in this cave I've never seen before in my life… And I can't even remember how I got here?!"

"It's okay," Saura said in a comforting voice. "Eat your berry. It will make you feel better."

The Charmander immediately felt it when the oran berry began to take effect. His body tingled, leaving behind a relaxing, strengthening sensation. His headache faded away a little bit, and his thoughts started to form orderly patterns. The flame on his tail flared up, giving a little more light to the room than when he had first awakened.

"My name…" he fretted, tossing the oran berry seed onto the ground. "I have a name. I know I do! I just… can't believe I… I can't remember it."

"It's okay," Saura said. "Mind if I call you Char?"

"Char?" The Charmander repeated, finding the name to be demeaning somehow. "Isn't that name a little… silly?"

"Well, that is what we call Charmanders when we meet them," he explained. "It's polite to call a Pokémon by the name of their species, or part of it, unless they otherwise have a nickname. We use nicknames if there's more than one of the same kind of Pokémon and you have to tell them apart. It's etiquette. Actually, we got that tradition from the way human Pokémon trainers raise their Pokémon. "

"Fine, call me Char," The Charmander said reluctantly. "But only until I remember what my name was."

"Whatever you want," Saura said, a smile forming on his face. "You're the human."

"You believe me? You really believe that I was turned into a Pokémon?" Char asked again, still not able to fathom the Bulbasaur's faith. "If I were a human running around trying to tell other humans that I was once a Pokémon, they'd write me off as crazy."

"Pokémon aren't like humans very much," Saura said, still smiling. "And, yes, I believe you. You don't seem like the deceitful kind of Pokémon. And besides, I wanted to believe your story from the beginning. These are the kinds of things that are written in the human legend-books. Who knows? You could have been the world's greatest Pokémon trainer, or the President, and here I am, just chatting with you! It's pretty cool just thinking about it."

"Heh, I guess," Char replied. "But I don't think I was anyone too special…"

A few more moments passed in silence. Saura brought out another oran berry and offered it to Char, but he refused. Saura began munching on it himself. Char clutched his tail and fiddled with the flame, amused at how his hands seemed completely fireproof as he passed them through it. He didn't feel the slightest inkling of a burn. Instead, the fire provided his claw with a surprisingly intense comfort, as though it was a refreshingly warm stream of water. He wondered if jumping headfirst into a blazing fire would feel roughly like taking a nice warm bath.

"So, your nickname is Saura?" Char asked, still playing with his tail. "Does that mean... are there other Bulbasaur where you live?"

"Yeah, I have a whole family," Saura replied, a note of disdain entering his voice. "Seven brothers and two sisters. We all have slightly different names… Although, my oldest brother became an Ivysaur last year, and he moved away into the city…"

"What's wrong?" Char asked, noticing his tone of voice. "Is something wrong with your family?"

"My family is stupid," Saura complained, whipping his oran berry seed away. "They want me to—"

Char glanced up from his floor-bound gaze, wondering why Saura had stopped in mid-sentence. His face had suddenly turned full of worry, his gaze quickly shifting in all directions.

"What's w-"

"Sshh!" Saura quickly warned. "I heard… something…"

"What? Is someone coming?"

"Quick! Cover up your tail!"

Reluctantly, Char held onto the flame-spout of his tail with both hands. Again, it surprised him that he felt no pain from such an action, but he found that he couldn't keep all of the flames covered up. They found their own ways through, much like what happens when one tries to cover up a running water current with bare hands.

"That's the best I can do!" Char said.

"Good enough…" Saura hissed. "Now, listen… I think I hear something…"

Except for the tiny sound of Char's fire, and the ominous but barely-audible rumbles of thunder from the outside, the cave became completely quiet.

… For a few moments, at least.

It came: the distinctive sound of… talking.

Although only a few fragments of a few words had escaped to their ears, Saura silently gasped in fright.

The voices became louder. A lump formed in Saura's throat.

"… here…" … "in here…" … "find them! They're in here! I swear!"

"No!" Saura gasped. "No! Char, I thought this cave was secret, but… I think someone found it!"

"Who would it be? Should we run? Should we hide?"

"I don't know," Saura said through worried gasps of breath. "But whoever they are… if they can brave the Watchers, they're nobody I'd like to be around. They might even be…"

"Watchers? What are the Watchers?"

But Char received no reply. Instead, Saura's seemed frozen in fear. The Bulbasaur choked on his last words, wishing to Arceus that they couldn't be true.

"They could be… them!"

"Them?"

There was no time to answer. Without warning, the echo from a horrifying rumble tore through the cave. It was the sound of the door-stone being shoved aside.

"We've found them! Go! Get them! Now!"

"Char…" Saura choked in the tiniest, most petrified whisper possible, "We have to run. It's them… the Master's soldiers… They're going to kidnap us!"

Char wanted to ask for clarification, but figured there just wasn't time.

"I know you didn't!" yelled one of the voices from the front of the cave. "We came here because of you. We followed them here. Now find them! Don't let them escape, after all this!"

"Char… You have to trust me," Saura creaked silently. "Please… You have to follow me, and trust me. We've got to go deeper into the cave."

"Do you know the way?" Char asked carefully.

"Nobody knows the way…" Saura answered gravely, extending a vine to him. "It's impossible for anyone to know the way. Hold onto my vine, and don't let go. Char… if we go just a little bit deeper into the tunnels… We might be able to lose them… "

Char obeyed, letting go of his tail with one hand and taking Saura's vine in the other. However, something about the Bulbasaur's reply didn't make sense to him.

"What do you mean, impossible for anyone to know the way?" he asked.

"Char…" Saura said as he began to retreat into the cavern's rear tunnel, "This place… this cave… is a mystery dungeon."

*Chapter 3*: Chapter 2: Escape Route

Chapter 2

Gravelerock Tunnel 1F

"A mystery dungeon? What's a mystery dungeon?"

Keeping a firm hold on Saura's vine in one hand, and holding his tail like a torch in the other, Char felt his head spinning with countless questions as he followed the Bulbasaur through dark corridors which split into countless side paths.

"This is a mystery dungeon," Saura said, keeping a wary eye in all directions. "It's a cursed maze that's very easy to get lost in. If you get lost… that's it for you. You'll stay in here forever until someone comes to rescue you, or… you starve to death."

Char felt a chill of fear stab at his chest. He instinctively tugged on Saura's vine harder, not wanting to get separated.

"Cursed? How is it cursed?"

"Nobody really knows what causes it," Saura explained, wincing as Char squeezed his vine, "but a mystery dungeon never stays the same. Some say that the curse erases your memories of the maze when you leave… Some say it's constantly shifting and re-arranging itself when nobody's looking, like a spatial anomaly created by Palkia… Hey, Char, you might want to help keep an eye out. We need to work together if we want to get out of this place."

"Keep an eye out for what?" Char asked nervously, his worry growing by the minute.

"We need to find the entrance to the next floor," said Saura. "That's the only way to get out of here."

"The next floor? So… A staircase, or something?"

"Yeah. And we need to avoid the wild Pokémon," Saura warned. "Wild Pokémon live in mystery dungeons. If they see you, they'll try to defend their territory from you at all costs, no matter how weak or strong you are."

"Wait... are you saying we might have to fight some wild Pokémon?!" Char screeched. "I… don't think I'm ready for this! Couldn't we just talk them out of fighting us?"

"But you can't reason with wild Pokémon," said Saura. "They can't talk, and they aren't even sentient at all. All Pokémon are like that unless they are raised and trained by someone else, either another Pokémon or a human. Otherwise, they stay wild—"

"Yaah!"

Saura was interrupted by a sudden yelp from Char, who'd tripped over nothing in particular and toppled to the ground with a thump. Char felt a throb from his still-aching head, as well as from embarrassment, as he lay for a moment on the cave floor.

"Sorry…" he muttered, "still getting used to the body. I think I used to have longer legs."

"Wow, you're probably right," Saura laughed as he glanced back and carefully lifted Char back to his feet. "If you were a human, you'd be much taller. You know, Pokémon have the same problem for a little while after they evolve. It takes them a while to get used to it—Hey! Look!"

As he was tending to Char, something from a nearby room caught Saura's eye. There, at the back of a cramped chamber, was a staircase leading upward into some sort of trap door. Char squinted to see it in the darkness, holding his tail forward to better illuminate the room.

"It's the stairs!" Saura cheered. "We got lucky and didn't run into any enemies. Quick, let's get up. Those guys might still be following us."


Gravelerock Tunnel 2F

"Saura, who are we running from, anyway?" Char demanded as he began to explore the second floor with his new companion.

"I didn't want to find out who they were," Saura said simply. "If they were the Master's soldiers, we need to run far away from them. Hey, Char… why don't you try leading the way for a while? You're the one with the light."

"How do I know where to go?" Char asked, reluctant to obey.

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Saura. "Just look everywhere for the next staircase. Just… don't let go. I don't want to get separated."

"Alright, if you're sure about this," Char gulped as he stepped in front of Saura and became the leader of the awkward little procession. "Now, who are the Master's soldiers you keep talking about, and why are they chasing us?"

Saura shivered in disgust. Char thought he even felt it reverberate through the vine he held in his hand. "They're an army of… I guess you could call them law enforcers. They work for the Master. They're everywhere in this country."

"And who's this Master?"

"He's the self-proclaimed king of the whole Ambera region… the place where we are now."

"So, they're like police officers, I guess," Char offered. "In my world, police officers are very good people. Saura… you're not a… criminal, are you?"

"No! It's not like that!" Saura pleaded, stopping in his tracks and tugging at Char to get him to pay attention. "Listen. The Master is the bad guy! He's supposed to be our leader, but everyone knows he took control over the country just for himself. His soldiers do horrible things. They invade towns, kidnap people, steal… and they're such powerful Pokémon that nobody can stand up to them. There's nothing we can do about it. We submit to the Master or face consequences."

Indignation filled Saura's face. He glared down at the floor.

"… And they wanted to take me," he said quietly.

"Take you?" Char repeated.

"Yes," he growled. "The Master wanted to take me. His soldiers travel the country and pick out Pokémon to join his army or to be his personal servants. They picked me… and… just earlier today, they told me I had a week to prepare to leave with them. And my family wouldn't do anything to help me. They're just going to send me off with the soldiers! I… I know they care about me, and I know they just don't want to get in trouble with the Master, but… I don't want to go! I'll do anything not to join them! I want to be a free Pokémon and do the things I want to do!"

"That's why we're running away from them," Char realized, beginning to understand the Bulbasaur's feelings. "Are… they coming to capture you?!"

"I think they saw me run away and they followed me here," Saura said. "Char… are you understanding all this? If they take me, I'll have to be a slave to them for the rest of my life! Will you stay with me and help me run away from them?"

"I…"

"Listen," Saura pleaded. "Just tonight, I prayed to Arceus, and I think he answered me. I think he sent you to help me! You're a human in the body of a Pokémon, right? And you just appeared in the cave without even opening the cave entrance to get in. Char, you were meant to help me!"

Char knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to answer. He gazed into the Bulbasaur's eyes and saw that his heart was truly breaking at the thought of having to work for this "Master".

Yet… at the same time, he knew he couldn't forget about his own predicament.

"Char, are you going to answer me?" Saura asked sadly.

Still unable to find the words he wanted, Char just stared blankly at his companion.

"Char?"

I'm thinking! He said silently to himself. This is already a lot to swallow in just one day! This Bulbasaur wants me to hide from the law and even run away from his own family? What about my own family? Do I have a family? Who am I, exactly? Oh, this would have been so much easier if my memories weren't gone! But… maybe he's right. Maybe I was put right here for a reason. Arceus? Who's he? Is that a Pokémon? I think I've heard the name before, but…"

"Char!" cried Saura, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Char! LOOK OUT!"

Acting on instinct alone, Char dropped to the floor in fright and covered his head… just in time to hear the sounds of flapping and screeching from somewhere above him.

"It's a Zubat!" Saura yelled. "Get ready!"

"Ahh!" Char yelled, rolling on the floor away from the attacker.

The Zubat dive-bombed Saura, sounding its shrill squeals of "Kii! Kii!" as it attacked. Saura quickly yanked his vine out of Char's grasp and jumped out of the Zubat's way.

Char backed up against the nearest wall, his breaths short and heavy. He felt the muscles of his new body clench with panic.

Saura leapt out of the Zubat's way a second time, then a third. He drew his vines like whips and batted at the attacker. When the Zubat tried to dive at him a fourth time, it flew face-first into a swiveling vine and tumbled backward through the air. Saura thrust his body forward, sending a flurry of sharp, spinning leaves at the bat. The Zubat was sliced clean out of the air, falling limply to the floor with a final cry of "Kreeeeee!"

"Is… it dead?" Char gasped, feeling the blood run back into his face again.

"Dead? Hardly." Saura said as he retracted his vines. "He's just knocked out. It takes a lot more than that to kill a Pokémon."

Climbing back to his feet, Char went to inspect the fallen Zubat. Indeed, it only had a few red scratches across its leathery body, and was still breathing strongly.

"You know, you could help out, too," Saura said mockingly. "You've got claws and teeth. You don't have to be a coward."

"What?! I don't know how to fight!" Char retorted.

"Every Pokémon knows how to fight," Saura said, offering his vine again. "It's in our instincts. Just let your survival instinct take over, and you'll do fine. Besides, you're stronger than you know. Charmanders aren't weak."

Char took a last look at the fallen Zubat as they turned a corner and continued their exploration of the dungeon.


Gravelerock Tunnel 3F

"Have you been in a mystery dungeon before?" Char asked as the twosome climbed the stairs to the third floor. "You seem to know a lot about them."

"Once," Saura admitted, "but that's it. When I was really small, I wandered into a dungeon and got stuck there for two days. My brothers had to come rescue me. I'll never forget how scared I was. Since then, I've tried to learn about dungeons in case I'd ever be in one again. Later, I made friends with a Chikorita, and she showed me this cave before she moved away. She told me that it turns into a mystery dungeon past the first cavern. Ever since then, I've been coming back here, waiting for the courage to go through the dungeon myself."

"I guess you finally got the courage," Char said with a smile.

"Well, yeah, now that I have a friend to go with me, not to mention something to light the way with," Saura replied, smiling back. "Hey, Char. You never answered my question…"

What question? Char asked himself. Oh…

"Look, Saura," Char sighed, "I… don't know. I don't have a lot of… information to go on right now, alright? I don't even know if helping you to run away from the "Master" is the right thing to do. I just don't know. I can't think straight right now. This is all just a little too weird."

"Let's make a deal," Saura said. "If you be my friend and help me stay away from the Master's soldiers, I'll stay with you and do all I can to teach you how to be a Pokémon."

But what if I don't want to learn how to be a Pokémon? Char moaned to himself. What if I just want to go back to being a human? But… that doesn't really seem like an option right now, does it? But… I don't want to make any promises I won't be able to keep!

Char carefully looked over the Bulbasaur's face, judging him. There was a glimmer of honesty in his eyes, and sincerity in the simple smile which spread across his face. Saura had hidden nothing from him, and had answered every question he had given so far.

Also, unlike himself, Saura was not afraid to fight, and clearly demonstrated that he was strong enough to defend the both of them.

Well, I guess I have no choice, Char determined. What I need the most right now is a companion just like Saura. I'm a Pokémon now, whether I like it or not, and I need someone to be my guide in this new world. He also believes me that I'm a human! How could I ask for anything more?

"Well?" Saura asked eagerly.

"Deal," Char said with a gleaming smile, holding out his hand.

However, instead of the expected handshake, Saura gleefully jumped forward and tackled him.

"Ha! Haha! Yes!" Saura shouted. "I'm officially friends with a human! A human! It's always been a lifelong dream of mine to be a human trainer's partner! But the humans live a hundred thousand miles away from Ambera, so I never thought I'd ever see the day…!"

"Heh, heh," Char gasped, awkwardly struggling to endure the glomp.

… … …

As they continued on through the dungeon, Char could tell that Saura's mood had changed; he'd gone from acting depressed to beaming with joy. He also seemed to ramble, making it harder than ever for Char to get a question in edgewise.

"We've got to keep an eye out for any more Zubat," Saura warned. "They like to attack in groups. One is easy, but five or more could take us out. Watch the ceiling, too. They could be sleeping up there."

"Next time we have to fight one, I guess I'll try fighting," Char said. "I'm not going to lie to you, Saura, but I am a coward when it comes to fighting. But, I guess I've got to start somewhere."

"That's the spirit, Char!" Saura exclaimed. "Fighting isn't all that hard, either, especially when your opponent is weaker than you. And when you get good at fighting, you'll be able to fight more difficult enemies, and you may even learn different tricks to help you. I practiced a whole lot against wild Pokémon this year, and just a few months ago I finally learned how to launch leaves!"

While they didn't run into any more enemies, Char felt his stomach rumble as they entered the staircase chamber. It was then that he realized that he felt absolutely famished, and the oran berry he'd just eaten was only enough to stave it off for a very short while. However, he didn't feel it was appropriate to complain to Saura about it, so he gritted his teeth and kept on moving.


Gravelerock Tunnel 4F

"You seem to be pretty good at fighting," Char asked while trying to ignore the rumble of his stomach. "Do you think that could be the reason why the Master wants you for his army?"

"I don't think that has anything to do with it," Saura said scornfully. "They're probably just picking me because they don't have a Venusaur to add to their collection yet. But to be honest, I don't even want to be a Venusaur. I want to stay the way I am. Nobody can force me to evolve if I don't want it! Besides, I'm not really that good at fighting."

"Sure you are!" Char said, regretting how he'd steered the conversation. "It seems like you're skilled… at least against the one Zubat you fought."

"Thanks," Saura said flatly. "I appreciate it."

After walking a little more, Saura spoke up again.

"Ugh… getting so hungry…"

"You, too?" Char said with some surprise.

"That's the other thing about mystery dungeons," Saura said. "They aren't just a spatial anomaly. They're also a temporal anomaly. Walking around in one, your body will heal itself a lot faster than normal… but you'll get tired and hungrier faster than normal, too. That's why it's important for explorers to take lots of food with them when they go to dungeons."

"Did we bring any food?" Char asked, already knowing the answer. "You didn't have any of those berries left, did you?"

"No," Saura said regretfully, "but I was hoping we'd find one or two along the way… they say that sometimes, you can find food that the wild Pokémon have stashed away, but we… haven't found anything."

"Maybe we should look for food," Char suggested. "Any further, and I think I'll start getting dizzy from hunger."

"Yeah… I'm thinking the same thing," Saura said. "Better keep an eye out for food."

Char led Saura around some more, exploring every nook of the maze he came across. There was no food to be seen, and Char's belly really began to ache.

"Ugh…" Saura groaned. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe we weren't ready for this after all… Maybe we're going to starve to death… Or maybe—"

As the two entered a particularly large room, Char noticed small group of Rattata sleeping in a little alcove off to the side.

"Rattata!" Saura exclaimed. "I think I spoke too soon! Rattata always hoard food! They stole from my stash of berries so many times, there's no way they could have gotten through them all by now!"

"Or, we could just eat the Rattatas," Char mumbled.

Ignoring Char's suggestion, Saura crept ahead and into the room in search of something to eat. Char followed, sweeping his tail from side to side and glancing around the room for any other forms of danger that might be lurking in the shadows.

Char's light touched something of interest.

"Char, help me with these rats," Saura instructed. "They're easy to fight. We can take them out if they have any food."

"Saura! Look there!" Char hissed.

"What now?!"

Saura turned to look in the direction Char indicated, and he, too, was surprised by the sight.

Sitting near the opposite corner of the room… was an apple. The apple was not whole; some bites were missing from it. Standing next to the apple, resting peacefully, was a Spearow.

"Char, that could feed us both!" Saura exclaimed voicelessly.

"What's a Spearow doing down here in a cave?!" Char demanded, eyeing it cautiously as its body rose and fell in place. "It's dark down here! How could it live in a dungeon like this?"

"Who cares?!" Saura said, approaching the creature. "Char. Go see if you can take the apple."

"Why me?" Char demanded. "You're better at—"

"Because if that Spearow wakes up… Well… I don't like fighting birds. But c'mon, you said you'd try to fight, right? Go get it! I bet you could take it down!"

"Couldn't you just grab it from a distance with your vines?"

"Char… I'm scared of birds. They hurt a lot when they attack. Could you do it? Please?"

"If you say so… but only if you promise to back me up."

"Of course," Saura said encouragingly. "But let's do it already, I'm really hungry!"

Clenching his claws, Char tiptoed nearer to the napping Spearow. As he closed in, he could barely hear the squeaking of the bird's nostrils as it breathed. He stood for a moment some three feet away, inspecting the creature's closed eyes as if to determine how closed they were. Saura held his breath, only able to watch at a distance and wait to see what would happen.

Just as Char crept closer to the apple… he tripped.

"Ah!" he gasped soundlessly as his face hit the dusty floor. He cringed, his eyes clenched as tight as could be and his teeth grinding against one another, fearful and awaiting the inevitable attack. Saura reared back and prepared to charge, his mouth agape but betraying no sound.

A few seconds passed. Both froze in place, neither moving or even so much as breathing.

"Char!" Saura finally gasped. "Char! Get up! He's still not awake!"

Char opened his eyes and glanced forward. His hands were cupped perfectly around the apple, and the Spearow hadn't moved.

Breathing the biggest sigh of relief yet, Char rolled himself upright and held the apple up in the air. Saura quickly constricted him to help him up, and then snatched the apple from his hand.

"You did it!" Saura cheered quietly.

"Hey, don't I get any?" Char asked, brushing himself off.

"Of course! You get half," Saura said, taking a juicy bite out of the apple. "Pfft… eew, it's dry. But it fills the belly, and that's all that matters, I guess."

"No wonder the Spearow didn't care about it," Char remarked. "Look. It's still sleeping like a log, too!"

After Saura finished his half, he handed over the remaining portion. Char found that his mouth, unlike Saura's, wasn't big enough to eat it as fast as he wanted.

Despite being half-eaten, the apple seemed pretty big. Char wondered whether or not the apple was regular-sized, that it just seemed bigger with a body that was smaller than he was used to. He kept taking small bites out of the dry piece of fruit, yet it never seemed to grow any smaller. He eventually dug down past the dry skin and the browned bruises to the sweeter portion of the fruit, which he enjoyed greatly as they continued their exploration of the dungeon floor.

"Uh… Char…" Saura suddenly spoke, dodging around the fiery tail to tap the Charmander on the back. "Stop. I think we've been down this way before."

"We have?" Char asked, lifting his gaze from his apple. "Well, that's just great. I guess I was too occupied with eating and I wasn't paying enough attention."

"That's okay, that's why I'm here," Saura said, glancing about the hall which they stood in. "But… unless I'm missing something, I think we've been through all the corridors on this floor, but I haven't seen the staircase anywhere."

"What about that one?" Char said, jabbing his tail toward a nearby hall. "I don't remember exploring in there. That's where I was going to go next."

"Nah, we've been in that one," Saura said. "It goes around into a big cave, then a small one, then back here."

"No, that was the one up ahead," Char said.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, why don't we just go in and see for ourselves—"

Raaaaaaw!

A raspy screech, much lower and more powerful than a Zubat's, echoed through the tunnel.

Before another word could be said, the cry sounded again, followed by the sound of powerful wings flapping.

Eeeeerk! Raaaaaw!

"Oh no!" screamed Saura in dismay. "It's—"

Eeeeeeeeeeee!

The screech sounded directly above Char's head, and a figure swiftly dove out of the darkness and shot straight for him. Char jumped back in fright, but it wasn't enough to dodge the attacker. He caught a glimpse of the foe just before his vision turned to stars.

Saura cried out as the Spearow's beak struck Char and knocked him to the ground.

Eeeeeeeeeeerk!

"No!" Saura cried, dashing forward to Char's aid.

But the Spearow returned for another attack, swooping into the flickering light of Char's tail, and Saura narrowly dodged. Catching his breath, he glanced around in panic and tried to anticipate the next attack.

But then, a plural cry descended from the darkness above, striking great fear into Saura's rapidly-beating heart.

"Char! There's two of them!"

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaw!

Heeding the warning, Char climbed to his feet, only to catch sight of one of the Spearow swooping down and snatching the almost-fully-eaten apple from the ground.

"HEY!" Char yelled at the thief, "I wasn't done with that!"

Raaaaaaaaaaw! answered the Spearow.

"Char! Help!" Saura cried, his vines thrashing around in the near-darkness, blindly trying to defend himself. The second Spearow fell from the darkness, pecking at him violently and leaving a juicy gash in the side of his body.

"AHH! OWW!" He cried in pain. "CHAR! Get them off me! PLEASE! CHAR!"

I guess this is where I fight, Char said to himself. Now…I have to let the survival instincts take over…

Char pounced forward, springing into the air higher than he thought his legs were capable of propelling him. He blindly slashed at the air with his claws, hoping to defend Saura from further harm as best as he could. His final attack connected, sending the diving Spearow flying to the side and filling the air with an explosion of loose feathers. But the second Spearow quickly counterattacked, and a third Spearow swooped in to help.

"CHAR! We have to get out of here!" Saura cried upon seeing the third bird. "Char! The Spearows! You were right! They must live in here because there must be an exit nearby! We have to find the exit! This could be the last floor of the dungeon! HURRY!"

Raaaaaaaaw! Cried one of the Spearows as it came down to peck at Saura. Char leapt forward again and slashed, defending his friend from the impact once more. The two took the opportunity to escape down the corridor, but the Spearows gave chase and refused to back down.

"You have your stupid apple back!" Char yelled as he ran and covered his head for protection. "Go away!"

At last, at the end of the previously-unexplored tunnel, there was an exit chamber. A simple metal ladder extended toward the cave ceiling and out to the world above. The early morning sunlight shone down through the hole, softly illuminating the dingy room.

Two more Spearow stood between them and the doorway, wide awake and ready to attack.

"CHAR! Run for the exit!" Saura screamed, his legs moving as fast as he could make them.

But as Char glanced back and saw the enemies closing in on him… and forward, as his friend dashed straight toward the enemies… a weird, lurching sensation began to engulf him. Some kind of new, powerful desire welled in his belly.

Char realized what was happening: his survival instincts wanted even more control. They wanted to completely take over his actions.

Char saw how Saura ran towards an exit that was too far away. He saw the Spearow peck at him, giving him yet another painful wound. He saw how each swing of his vines became increasingly weakened and aimless. He heard his yells of anguish fill the air. He felt the wing of a Spearow collide with his back, narrowly missing its mark and instead homing in on the weakened Bulbasaur before him.

Char's feeling became too much. It needed to be released.

Taking a deep breath, Char gave a mighty roar of fury. But, instead of sound, a stream of flames erupted from his maw.

Whoa! Char realized. I can breathe fire? I wonder if I can do it again…?

Focusing once again on the burning feeling in his stomach, Char drew another heavy breath. He aimed at the flock of Spearow swarming above Saura, then released.

A plume of flames, bigger this time, hit the Spearow head-on. They tumbled to the ground with burning feathers and flapped wildly to put themselves out.

"Thanks!" Saura shouted over the screeches of the fallen Spearow, trying to put out the flames that had caught the ends of his vines. "I really owe you one!"

"I didn't know I could do that!" Char answered, rushing to his side to help him. "Now, let's get out of here! Those weren't all of the Spearow!"

Char didn't have to say it twice. Saura bounded for the ladder, Char close behind, and the two of them climbed up and out into the early morning air.


Goldenrod Meadow

It was very early—almost four in the morning—as the two adventurers escaped the dungeon. A few stars still twinkled in the sky here and there, soon to be overcome by the looming sunlight. Char gazed upon the beauty of the wilderness which surrounded him, a sprawling plain covered in tall, amber-colored grass and dotted with sparkling lakes.

"Char! We did it!" Saura shouted jubilantly, tackling his friend a second time. "We fought through a mystery dungeon and lived! Char, you don't know what this means to me. I've been wanting to do that all my life!"

Char laughed with him this time, sharing his joy and relief that they'd made it out alive. Afterwards, they both lounged on the ground and took a well-needed rest, watching the sky as it gradually filled with the scattered colors of sunrise.

"I guess we lost the soldiers," Char said, enjoying the fresh air of the overworld instead of the dank stuffiness of the cave. "I guess you're free."

"Yeah, I guess," Saura said, his smile fading away.

"Well, now what?" Char wondered, still taken aback by his gorgeous surroundings. "If you can't go back home, then where do you want to go next?"

"You're not going anywhere," a new voice rang out from behind them.

Char and Saura turned to see another Pokémon—a Scyther—leap out of the dungeon exit. It was clearly almost as tired and worn as they were.

A Sandslash followed close behind him. They both immediately encircled the dumbfound two, allowing no route of escape.

"NO! YOU!" Saura cried, jumping to his feet. "YOU!"

"Nice idea running us through that mystery dungeon, you two," the Scyther grumbled sarcastically.

"That was not enjoyable," the Sandslash added, "especially after all the dungeons we'd already traversed yesterday, using up the last of our supplies. We were ready to sleep for the day. We were not prepared for that little experience."

"I'm not coming with you!" Saura spat in the Scyther's face, readying his vines to defend himself. But the Scyther responded by leveling one of his silver blades with the tip of his vine, as if to show how he could slice it apart with ease. Saura gulped.

"I'm sorry if you thought otherwise," the Sandslash said, "but I'm afraid you are coming with us."

*Chapter 4*: Chapter 3: Team Remorse

Chapter 3

Even after braving the dungeon, it had all been for nothing. Char could not live up to the promise he'd just made with new companion.

They had gotten themselves captured.

"Please, try to make this easy on us," the Scyther ordered, thrusting the ends of his blades against their backs to prod them along. "It's been a long night. We're quite tired, and I'm sure you are as well."

"Who are you?!" Char demanded, speaking for Saura.

"We should be asking the same of you," the Sandslash muttered as he led the procession forward. "I haven't seen a Charmander in… well, I can't remember how long. But it's certainly not a normal thing you're here. That's why we're going to have to take you with us for the time being."

"If it's me you want, then let why not just let this Bulbasaur go?" Char pleaded.

"No, he's coming, too," the Scyther said. "We need you both. Just in case."

"Why!?" Char blurted. "Who are you?! Where are you taking us?! And why you do you need us?!"

"If we feel you need to know, we'll tell you," the Sandslash said, though his tone was not quite reassuring. "But for now, unless you intend to make pleasant conversation with us, I'd appreciate if you'd not incessantly question our motives. It will get us nowhere."

After that, both the Scyther and the Sandslash remained silent.

They walked for quite a while, saying nothing, as the sun gradually revealed more of itself above the eastern horizon and cast illumination onto the beautiful golden meadow around them. Char glanced to his friend very often, but each time, he always found himself afraid to say anything. Saura looked pained and torn, as though he was fighting an intense battle within his own heart.

"Well…" Saura finally spoke, hanging his head dejectedly and watching the ground pass. "We still did it. We made it through the dungeon all on our own! But… I guess I should have known better that this would happen. I'll always be proud of what we did today. I guess that's all that matters… I guess my life is complete. I'm sorry it had to be this way, Char. I'm sorry we didn't have very much time to spend together."

Char felt it again: that restless sensation of his stomach flooding with fire.

Deep down, he realized he wanted to resist the soldiers, even if Saura was too afraid to try. He had made a promise. If he could do something, anything, for the Bulbasaur, he felt like he needed to try.

The Charmander within him wanted to fight. And, little by little, so did he.

Char eyed the Scyther, weighing the odds. His breathing deepened, and his pulse escalated.

He knew what he had to do. He'd spin around, jump at the Scyther's face, quickly attack the Scyther with his newfound fire breath, then get Saura out of the way as fast as possible so he could make his escape. He only had to wait for just the right moment…

As he felt the Scyther thrust at his back once more, his frustration became too great. He could taste the fire in the back of his throat. It was begging to be released.

Here goes nothing, Char said to himself with clenched fists. Saura, this is for you!

Char leapt.

The next thing Char knew, he was face-down in the dirt from a powerful counter-attack. His head throbbed, and his side stung like mad. He'd been knocked to the ground so quickly, he did not quite remember what happened. He released a violent and painful cough, expelling thick, black smoke from his mouth.

"Char…!" he could hear Saura calling sadly. "Char, why…?"

Grunting, Char pushed his arms against the ground and tried to climb back to his feet. It was then that he noticed the long, thin slice on the side of his hide. He fell back to the ground and clutched his wound to help ease the pain.

Char glanced up. He saw Saura staring at him with a look of pained disbelief. He saw the Sandslash watching him with a look of indifference. He saw the Scyther standing some feet away from him, clearly infuriated, with his blades raised in the air. A tiny line of bright red blood dripped from the Scyther's right blade. His blood.

"The moment a Charmander decides to fight, its tail flares," the Scyther explained gravely. "You had no element of surprise at all."

As Char struggled to sit upright while keeping a hold of his gash, Saura rushed to his side. Coughing again, Char discharged a stream of smoke onto the ground.

"Char…" Saura said simply as he offered to help his friend to his feet. "You didn't have to do that! Are you okay?"

Instead of answering, Char turned to the captors. "Where are you taking us?!" he demanded again in a pained voice. "Who are you?"

"Scythe…" the Sandslash said, "Perhaps it would be appropriate if we offered our companions the benefit of the doubt?"

"Hmm, I don't think that would be wise," the Scyther growled, but in a thoughtful manner. "All they need to know, at the moment, is that we need them to come with us and we can't afford to have them running away."

"I think you've made that pretty obvious already," Char shot back. "What else?"

"Don't bother with it, Char," Saura spat, growling at his captors. "I know exactly why they're here. They're here to take me to the Master so I can be his slave."

The Scyther and the Sandslash eyed each other for a moment. The Scyther looked surprised; the Sandslash made a sound like an ironic chuckle.

"What?!" Saura demanded, frowning. "What's so funny?"

"Well," the Sandslash said, "Let's just say that you're… cold? As in, your guess is far, far in the wrong direction."

The comment even got a single chuckle from the Scyther. Saura blinked obliviously.

"So… you're not the Master's soldiers?" Saura asked, mouth partially agape.

"He wishes we were," the Scyther said with a grin.

"Indeed, I bet he'd give anything to employ our services," the Sandslash said. "But to him, nothing of ours is for sale. And before you ask us 'who are you' again, let me remind you that our answer won't change, no matter how many times you repeat the question."

"But… you're not here to enslave us, at least?" Char inquired.

The Sandslash nodded. "You have no reason to be afraid of us. All we want to do is to… check something about you. After that, you'll both be as free as a Swellow—provided you pass our test. It's a promise. Despite how this may seem, we aren't kidnappers."

"And if we don't pass?" Saura wondered.

"That's something we will discuss in the event that it becomes necessary," the Sandslash said, "…and it looks highly unlikely from my point of view that we will need to. For the record, my partner here is the one who wanted to check you in the first place. Had it been up to me, we'd never have bothered you at all. Now, are we going to continue, or keep wasting time? We still have quite a way to go."

From that point on, the Scyther walked side-by-side with Char and Saura, presumably because he had gained their trust and was confident they wouldn't try to run away again. Char was glad to see Saura in a better mood once again, although the Bulbasaur had a look of puzzlement frozen to his face and seemed too lost in thought to say anything.

Yeah, this isn't making very much sense to me, either, Char realized. And this cut still hurts. Owww.


Great Flatlands

In what seemed like a brief moment, Char noticed his surroundings changing once again. The flourishing meadow had ended, turning into a boring, endless span of brown and tan-colored dirt. The gorgeous golden grass had almost disappeared entirely; here, it only existed in ugly, scattered patches. Char wondered if the was headed into a desert or a wasteland.

"Saura," Char said, quickly growing uninterested the new environment, "you've been quiet. How are you feeling now?"

"I feel a lot better," Saura admitted, coming out of his daze and forcing a smile which soon became a sincere one. "I still wish I knew what was going on. But as long as they don't work for the Master, it's a weight off my back. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"The Master…" growled the Scyther, "My heart races even at the mention of his name. He… is my worst enemy."

"Really?!" Saura blurted.

"Indeed," the Scyther said, keeping his gaze turned forward. "When I was young, I was chosen by him as a servant. I have seen with my own eyes what the Master wills upon the world. And… by force, I have carried out his works with these very blades! But then, after plotting for two and a half years, I escaped him. Ever since, I have spent my entire life, my entire being, opposing him."

"Wow!" Saura gasped. "You escaped the Master? That's incredible! How did you do it?"

"Why do you care?" the Scyther said, casting a glance at them.

"Because Saura was also chosen by him," Char told him. "It was just yesterday, too! That's why he ran away from home!"

"… Really," the Scyther said, his tone of voice changing. "And you ran from us, because you thought we were the soldiers who were to come and take you away?"

"Exactly!" Char exclaimed.

"You know," the Scyther said with a smile, "under those circumstances, I would not have acted any differently than you did. You did well, Bulbasaur, to run away from them, and so did you, Charmander, to stand up to me. I applaud both of you."

The Scyther and the Sandslash eyed one another again.

"So, it turns out we have found another one of the Master's chosen," the Sandslash said quietly. "They have reason to fight him, just like you. Do you think…"

"Yes, I can see that," the Scyther said thoughtfully. "I'm starting to think it wouldn't be a bad idea to tell them what they want to know."

The Scyther and the Sandslash stopped walking.

"I am Scythe," the Scyther said, turning to Char and Saura and offering a respectful gesture to them. "My partner here is Shander. We are members of a 'resistance team'."

"What's that?" Saura asked. "A 'Resistance Team'? Wait! Do you mean that, like, as in, you resist the Master?"

"Precisely," said Shander. "We are part of a vast, underground organization of Pokémon who fight against the Master. We couldn't tell you this because we couldn't risk accidentally giving the Master's forces more information about us, but now that it's clear that you both are opposed to the Master for personal reasons, it's much safer to tell you. Currently, we are on our way to our base of operations, which is known as the 'Gold Division'. It exists within a network of chambers under our feet, deep beneath these very flatlands. The entrance is located not one mile from here, and that is where we are heading at this very moment."

"The Pokémon of the resistance number in the hundreds of thousands," Scythe explained. "We are not some tiny guerrilla force without hope; we have been growing and expanding for decades. In fact, there are three grand divisions of the great resistance: there is the Emerald Division, which operates in northern Ambera, the Gold Division of central Ambera, and the Black Division of south-eastern Ambera. Though we are all allied, it's difficult for each division to work closely with one another, both because of the distances and the risk involved. So, each division operates independently."

"Wow!" Saura exclaimed, starry-eyed. "So, you two are part of this Gold Division?"

"Each Division is made up of dozens and dozens of Resistance Teams who operate as units to carry out the missions needed by the Division," Scythe said. "My team is known as Team Remorse. We consist of twelve Pokémon who take turns running missions in small groups, such as Shander and I. In all, fifty-two resistance teams make up the Gold Division."

"Not our remorse," Shander chimed in, "but the remorse we plan to instill in the Master when our efforts succeed."

"Was it your mission to capture us?" Char wondered.

"No," Scythe laughed. "Our mission yesterday involved grueling treks through several mystery dungeons. We found you completely on accident."

"Oh…" Saura said. "Well, I guess we owe you an apology, then. Char and I are sorry for making you chase us through the dungeon! We had no idea!"

"And I owe you one as well," Scythe said. "I apologize for harming you, Charmander. Your wound should heal very quickly."

Char looked at his wound, and although it still stung a little bit, a sticky scab now covered the cut. Char began to wonder if a Pokémon's wounds would naturally heal faster than a human's.

"What's so special about us?" Char asked, caressing the scab. "And just what are you going to do with us when we get to this base?"

"Always full of questions, are you?" Shander said. "That, we still can't tell you quite yet."

This time, Char decided not to argue. He was content with everything he had learned so far. Falling silent, he continued to follow Shander's lead as they ventured deeper into the featureless countryside. It struck him as odd, though, how Shander would occasionally re-direct his route, making both sharp turns and minor adjustments now and then, even though there were no landmarks that Char could see by which to follow. Even the horizon soon became one unbroken ring all around them, with nothing protruding from it and into the sky except for the looming sun.

"Hey… Scythe?" Saura asked meekly after recovering from a massive yawn, "Do you think… we could stay at your base for a while? You know, to hide from them?"

"That could be arranged," the Scyther grumbled. "But you could not stay with us forever."

"Oh…" Saura said in disappointment. "Why not?"

"The division base is not a safe haven for civilians," Shander explained. "It is not a refugee camp. It is a base of operations. Although we could offer you some temporary quarter, we could not house you indefinitely… that is, unless you were to join us."

"Can I?" Saura squealed. "Could I join the Gold Division? Please? And Char, too! What about him? Could we both work for you?"

"Being on a Resistance Team is not an easy lifestyle," Shander warned. "One mistake could cost many Pokémon their lives, you see. You were running from the Master because you dream of living only a free life, yes? If you were to join us, I can assure you that you would be giving up this dream of yours entirely. You would need to endure our training until you are confident enough to perform our work, and then you would need to follow our every command without fail. "

"Regardless, we have never turned down a willing Pokémon," Scythe said, "and if I have anything to say about it, I intend to keep it that way. If you despise the Master and want to oppose him, that's good enough for me."

"That's what I want!" Saura exclaimed vigorously. "The only thing better than being a free Pokémon is fighting so that other Pokémon can be free. I'll train! I'll fight the Master with you!"

"And you, Charmander?" Scythe inquired. "This Bulbasaur seems to be putting words in your mouth. Do you have anything to say in your own defense?"

"Char, this is perfect!" Saura said before Char could even reply. "You've got to trust me on this one. Join the Gold Division with me! I'm sure it'd help you learn lots about everything, too!"

Wow, Char thought. If I choose to join this team… How deep have I gone in such a short amount of time? Saura might be right; I might learn a lot about the world of Pokémon from this team. And I do need some sort of role to play for the time being. Who knows? Maybe this isn't all happening by coincidence, either. Maybe this is the road that will lead me back to where I came from.

"Okay, Saura, I'm with you," Char decided. "If you want to join this team, I will, too."

"Thank you!" Saura said, beaming with pride. "I'm sure this is the right thing to do. I can feel it!"

It was about six in the morning as the group finally arrived to their destination. Scythe's eyes were barely staying open. Shander shook his head frequently, trying to stay focused.

"This is it," Shander finally reported. "We're about to enter the base."

"Here is what will happen," Scythe instructed. "We'll guide you straight to Team Remorse's living quarters. There are going to be a lot of Pokémon down there. Don't talk to anyone. Don't touch anything. Understood?"

"Got it," Saura said with a nod.

"Once we arrive, we're all going to take a well-deserved rest," Scythe continued. "We've all stayed up all night, I have no doubt that our bodies are begging us for a good twelve-hour sleep. Our teammates will take over for our duties today. I want you two to stay in the living quarters until I tell you otherwise. Then, at this time tomorrow, we can continue discussing matters."

"Brace yourself," Shander warned. "What you are about to see might confuse you."

Char and Saura glanced around expectantly, wondering just what to expect. But the scenery was still just as dull and featureless as ever.

The ground shook. To Char, it felt like a fissure was about to open up below his feet. He jumped up, afraid that the ground was about to swallow him whole. But it lasted only for about five seconds before stopping abruptly.

"What was that?!" Saura cried, trying to figure out what had changed. "Was that an earthquake?"

The Scyther and the Sandslash did not answer. They stood still, waiting for something.

And then, a mysterious voice sounded from seemingly nowhere. It was only a tiny mumble, something that could barely be heard unless one was waiting for it.

"Lay low, wait and grow," said the raspy, barely-audible voice. "Seeds of strength to reap and sew..."

"Lay low, keep ahold, await the day of power untold," Scythe and Shander replied in unison.

After the words had been spoken, a massive crevice appeared in the ground before their very eyes.

"Whoa!" Saura cried. "Look! It's like the ground just faded away!"

"It's a very well-hidden entrance," Shander commented. "And we have our sentry to thank for that."

"Ah, ha ha, Welcome back," the voice said.

A Haunter floated up out of the dark crevice, smiling and bowing before the travelers.

"Good morning, Gate," the Scyther said, returning the bow.

"It's good to see you," Gate replied with a gleaming smile. "Some said you wouldn't make it back. But most of us knew better, of course. Team Remorse can take care of itself."

"Bulbasaur, Charmander, this is Gate, our sentry," Scythe said. "He remains here at the entrance, day and night, projecting an illusion over it."

"Our code words come from a lengthy ballad all Division members are required to memorize," Shander added. "It's a nonsense poem. He recites a line of the poem to us, and we must complete the verse to gain entry."

"Nice to meet you," Saura said awkwardly.

"Ah, ha ha, and who are you?" the Haunter laughed. "A pair of new faces for me to memorize, eh?"

"Yes," the Scyther said. "These two will be staying with us for the time being."

"Very well, very well," Gate sang. "Proceed on in. I bet you're all worn out. You newcomers, you might want to mind the step! Once again, good to see that you two are safe."

Scythe nodded to the ghost, and Gate slid back into the ground and out of sight. Char peered curiously into the new passage. It was a large, descending staircase leading down into black nothingness. The stairs were cracked and crumbling, starting to resemble a jagged ramp more than anything. In fact, the first stair had been completely chipped off, leaving a scary-looking drop from the surface. A dusty smell rose from the pit.

"This is really the main entrance?" Saura asked. "It looks… creepy. And deserted!"

"This is our back entrance," Shander said. "The base has a total of four entrances, and the others are even more cryptically hidden than this one!"

"I'm about ready to collapse," Scythe growled. "Let's get on in already. Don't be afraid, you two. Just follow me."

Scythe took the lead, and Char and Saura did as they were told. Char took the utmost care to land on his feet when climbing down onto the first stair. Saura followed, using his vines to balance himself down the uneven surface.

The staircase went down quite a ways. As the last of the sunlight faded from view, Char once again realized how thankful he was for his fiery tail. He realized he'd never have to worry about being trapped in the dark.

"Ah, what I'd give to have the element of fire on my side," Shander commented, also taking note of the unfamiliar light. "Perhaps one day, when Pokémon solve the mysteries of the evolution stones, we could engineer a brand new Sandslash evolution…"

"Right, and I could be a dragon," Scythe groaned sarcastically. "But Shander is right. The element of fire is a useful and devastating one, Charmander. Be thankful it is on your side."

At last, the staircase ended and leveled into a long, dark hallway.

"Hey, this isn't another mystery dungeon, is it?" Saura asked. "It sure is a long way!"

"It needs to be this way," Scythe said. "It's for security. This hallway is lined from end to end with traps."

"Traps?!" Char yelped, jumping a foot in the air. "Where?! How do I keep from activating them?"

"Relax, relax," Scythe said. "They can only be activated all at once, and from elsewhere. Gate is in charge of them. He'll activate the traps if an unwelcome Pokémon somehow barges in."

Char's eyes glazed over the stony walls, his stomach still a little upset at the thought of standing in the middle of a death trap. They looked like perfectly normal walls to him.

Finally, after walking for ten more minutes, the group turned a corner. A brilliant orange light shined from the end of the corridor.

"Here we are," Shander reported. "Remember: stay close to Scythe. Follow him. Don't bother any other Pokémon."


Gold Division Base

The moment he stepped through the archway and into the base, Char felt his breath leave him. Dozens of passageways carved out of stone wound around the walls as ramps and into countless hallways. Hundreds upon hundreds of burning torches hung from the walls, lighting the cavern as if it were early evening. The ceiling was impossible to see from the ground floor, the view blocked by protruding rocks from walls and bridges anchored to the ground with thin stone pillars.

Pokémon of all shapes and sizes swarmed the place, filling the room with all sorts of voices and cries. A Hypno and a Marowak crossed his path, eying him suspiciously. A Dugtrio popped out from a nearby wall. A flock of Pidgeotto swooped through the air and weaved between the suspended bridges, a massive Starraptor leading them. A Graveler and an Onix emerged from a large side-tunnel.

"Saura…" Char said, struggling to speak. "I can't… breathe!"

Char found that his heart was beating uncontrollably now, flooding him with such intense excitement that he felt he would faint. The sight of the cavern was inexplicably beautiful to him. He felt the overpowering urge to dwell here for a very long time, that it was somehow perfect for him. He felt that he wanted to trawl and memorize every last tunnel and chamber of the complex.

"Char, calm down. It's only your instinct," Saura said, helping the quivering Charmander to stand. "Charmander live in mountain caves that look like this. All this torch-fire is probably getting you all excited, too."

"Charmander! Bulbasaur!" Scythe yelled, already from across the room. "Please, try to stay with us!"

Char shook his head to regain focus, then rushed back to the Scyther's side, with Saura following close behind. They exited the large chamber, entering a lengthy network of side-tunnels. The halls were just as well-lit as the main chamber, brilliant torches lining every wall, but the wandering Pokémon became scarcer the farther down the tunnels they went. Finally, the hall they walked was completely deserted, save for one Exploud which had passed by at once point, gesturing to Scythe as it did so.

Scythe led the group to a large white stone slab pressed into the wall. It was a door.

"We're here," Scythe told them. "Now, let me just take you to my room, so you can sleep— "

Suddenly, the door slid open with astounding speed. A large, gruff-looking Houndoom stood in the doorway.

"Good morning, Daemon," Scythe said in a surprised but very respectful voice.

"Scythe," the Houndoom acknowledged him. "Welcome back. Good to see that you've returned. I trust that nothing went wrong yesterday?"

"There were no mistakes," Scythe confidently replied.

"I knew there was no cause to worry," the Houndoom said with a smug smile. "Now, who are these children with you?"

"They are… visitors," Scythe said, gesturing toward Char and Saura.

"I see," the Houndoom said. "In that case, let me walk them to the guests' quarters for you. You look very tired."

"The visitors will be staying with us today," Scythe insisted. "They will be staying in my room. I will take care of them."

The Houndoom shook his head, a scowl forming upon his menacing face. "I'm afraid that can't be done, Scythe. We have rules. Visitors must—"

"They will be staying with us today," Scythe repeated, more forcefully. Shander stepped up to Scythe's side, as if to help add strength to his demand.

The Houndoom didn't answer for a moment. A scowl appeared on his face, and with a snort, he forced his way past the crowd and down the dark hallway.

"Who was that?!" Char wondered quietly to himself so only Saura could hear.

"He didn't look friendly," Saura whispered back. "Better stay away from him."

"Come," Scythe said, guiding them into the chamber. "There is so much that needs to be done with you two, but I'm afraid it all must start with a day's rest."

Once Char and Saura had been ushered into Scythe's room, Shander whispered to his partner.

"Scythe… Are you sure you are ready to take this gamble? Do you truly think the Charmander has the Call?"

Scythe hung his head, wordlessly expressing his disappointment.

"Sleep well," Shander said as he turned to head to his own room. "We've got our work cut out for us tomorrow."

"Don't we always?" Scythe muttered, entering his own.

*Chapter 5*: Chapter 4: Tour

Chapter 4

Char had no idea how long he had slept that day, but he eventually found himself wide-awake in a dark and silent cave, staring at the rocky ceiling. Judging from the way his head felt, he figured he hadn't been sleeping for longer than a few hours...

I'm still a Charmander, he noticed, to his dismay. I guess it's not a dream after all. I really am stuck in a world I don't know.

Char's eyes fixed on the individual dents and stalactites in the ceiling, watching as the shadows cast from his tail wobbled awkwardly across the surface. Memories of the previous day floated back to him; he recalled that he was in a room with a Scyther and a Bulbasaur. He remembered that the Scyther had led him miles to some sort of secret underground base, a place where he now slept. But most of all, he remembered that he had made some sort of commitment. Some sort of promise. That, in the upcoming day, he was to take on some sort of grand, new role.

I'm going to be a member of one of these "resistance teams", just like Scythe and Shander, Char realized. What's that going to be like? Will I have to go head-to-head with the Master's soldiers each and every day? I still don't like to fight all that much. But… most importantly… am I ever going to figure out how I got here? The only thing I can remember about my previous life is that I was a human. That's the only thing I'm perfectly sure of. It seems like some kind of clue.

Char turned to lie on his side, wondering whether Pokémon ever found it uncomfortable to sleep on such a flat, hard surface like the stone floor beneath him. Though the Scyther and the Bulbasaur beside him were clearly not complaining, his back was becoming a bit cramped.

And that's the only clue I seem to have at the moment, Char continued. But it must mean… that I was meant to seek out my past. Otherwise, I'd probably have accepted my role as a Pokémon by now. But I hope I can find some more clues soon. Ahh, why couldn't I have kept my memories? This feels so… unnerving. It's as though… I'm not supposed to be here, but I don't know why.

Char turned his head, glancing at the sleeping Bulbasaur. The seed on his back rose and fell with his steady breathing.

Maybe Saura has something to do with it, too, Char thought. Maybe he's another clue. He's the first Pokémon I met. That must mean something.

"Hey, Char," the Bulbasaur sighed in a gentle, weary voice.

Char was surprised; Saura still looked asleep.

"Yeah?"

"So you're awake, too," Saura said, not even opening his eyes. "I can't sleep any more. I think I just slept for an entire day, and I'm too excited about tomorrow."

"I can't sleep, either," Char said. "I still feel… weird. Being a Pokémon and all, I mean."

"I was thinking about something," Saura said. "Yesterday, you really surprised me when you attacked Scythe. Why did you do it?"

"I promised I'd help you run from the soldiers," Char said simply. "It's what I had to do."

"I would have never asked you to go that far," Saura said. "It was touching to see you do that for me, especially with how you're afraid to fight."

"But that's the funny thing," Char said. "I didn't even want to fight. I knew it would be hopeless. But… there was this feeling I got… and it told me to fight back to keep the promise I made. And I couldn't refuse it. It was all instinct. I think… I need to start getting used to this. My instincts are a lot stronger than they were when I was human…"

"Well, do you know what, Char?" Saura said. "Remember when Scythe asked you whether or not you wanted to join the team with me? If you would have said no, I would have changed my mind."

Char blinked. "…Really?" He asked, a little surprised. "I would have never guessed. You seemed so eager to join."

"Yeah. I made a promise, too. I promised to help you be a Pokémon. If you didn't want to join the resistance team, I would have stayed with you. You're the human, after all. I'm just the follower."

It felt strangely satisfying, somehow, to hear Saura say those words, and he wondered if it was his Pokémon instinct again that made him take such great comfort in having a companion. Char was convinced that, as a human, he would have never grown so attached to another person so quickly, and he wondered whether or not all Pokémon were so naturally disposed to forming bonds with each other.

"And that's not changing," Saura added. "If you want to quit any time, I'll go with you. So you don't have to feel like I'm dragging you places you don't want."

"Thanks," said Char. "But I think I'll stay. I thought about it a lot, I think you're right. I think this is the right thing to do for now."

"Whatever you say, Char." Saura sighed, smiling contently.

After that, Char closed his eyes once more and tried to get his restless mind to drift back into sleep.

What neither of them realized, though, was that Scythe was also having trouble sleeping that night. His face had been turned away from them, but his eyes remained wide open… Not only from sleeplessness, but now from shock.

Human…? He mentally repeated, trying to wrap his mind around the puzzling exchange he'd just witnessed.

… … …

The next morning, Char and Saura were given a very rude awakening.

"Enough sleep!" a deep voice commanded, barging into the room and causing both Char and Saura to jump awake in fright. "Get moving. Scythe's room is not a lounge. You've stayed the night, and now it is time for you to leave."

After wiping the blur from his eyes, Char turned to see the Pokémon who'd entered the room. It was the Houndoom, and standing beside it was an especially large Ursaring.

"Go on, get out," the Houndoom barked again. "Consider yourselves lucky. It has been a very long time since we have last offered as much hospitality to visitors as we have offered you. As of this evening, you will be staying down with the trainees."

"Hey!" Saura cried, glancing around the room. "Scythe! Where'd he go? I thought he said we were joining Team Remorse?"

Indeed, Scythe was nowhere to be seen. Char felt more than a bit nervous facing the intimidating hound without the help of the Scyther.

"I've had an… extensive… discussion with Scythe," the Houndoom rebuked. "I have made sure to tell him just what I think of you. He put forth the ridiculous assertion that you should join our team. But understand, hatchlings; Team Remorse has standards we must uphold, and frankly, you don't meet any of them. At this point in time, it is simply out of the question."

Oh, I get it! Char realized. This Houndoom must be the leader of the team! No wonder he's so… authoritative.

"So… what do we do!?" Saura cried. "If we can't join Team Remorse… what do we do?"

"I was planning to send you to join one of our many training teams, but, for reasons that are beyond me, Scythe had different plans for you," the hound continued. "Scythe insists on allowing you apprenticeship with us. He wants Team Remorse to train you personally, and he refused to stop fussing about it until we gave in and made a deal. Here is the compromise we arrived at: you two are to form your own two-person resistance team, and this team will become affiliated with Team Remorse as our trainees. But your team base will be down in the lower halls with all the rest, not here."

"Our own resistance team?" Saura repeated in disbelief. "Char! Did you hear that? We're going to start our own resistance team! I never imagined anything like this would happen! Wow!"

"Get in line," the Houndoom snarled, disgusted at Saura's attitude. "Either way, you are not welcome here anymore. My partner, Ursa, will escort you out."

Not wanting to anger the hound any further, Char climbed to his feet and took the hint to leave the room. The Houndoom, still clearly annoyed, kept his head held high as he led them down the hall and toward the main tunnels of the base. As they walked, Char realized that he had no earthly idea what time of day it was; the torches burned just as brightly as they did before, and there were no windows to the outside anywhere to be seen. He wondered how the gold division kept track of time.

"Today, you will be given a brief tour of the complex," the Houndoom stated. "Ursa will show you around. I expect you to memorize everything he tells you, as well as your way through the base. Also… before the day is over, your new resistance team must be registered as an official member of the gold division. Ursa will take you to the records office to accomplish this. However… before that happens, you must decide on a team name."

"Wow, this is serious, isn't it?" Saura said, almost hyperventilating. "Char, we'll have to think about a good name today. I'm sure we can think of something."

"Team LoveJoy, Team Poképals, Team Sharing, all fine names," the Houndoom rattled off, his sneering voice overflowing with sarcasm. "But if you want my advice, try to choose a name that actually means something about you and why you've chosen to fight your battles as a resistance team. Your name will become your identity. It will determine not only how your colleagues treat you, but also how you treat yourself."

When they reached the end of Team Remorse's tunnel, the Houndoom practically shoved them out the door.

"Now, get out of here," said the Houndoom as the Ursaring ushered them out quickly. "If we are to be training you, you must move with purpose and haste. We will accept nothing less. Now get moving."

The door slammed behind them. Char even noticed Saura relax a little bit when the Houndoom was out of sight.

"Don't mind him," the Ursaring said. "Daemon's always like that. You get used to him after a while. Anyway, they call me Ursa. And you are…?"

"I'm Saura, and this is Char," Saura said. "I'm from the Tiny Plains out west. Char is… well, we don't exactly know. Char lost his memory."

"Amnesia, eh?" Ursa said, leading them down to the main chambers. "Sounds like the Watchers got to you. We've had that sort of thing happen before. Why, I even remember just last year, we had a very promising Kadabra by the name of Ogomo get overconfident and caught by the Watchers. It was miraculous that he survived, but those Watchers did somethin' with his mind. When he finally came crawling back here, he couldn't remember anything. His name, his friends, even the code words. Nothin'. He still fights just as good as always, though. We're thankful for that, at least."

Wow, Char thought. Maybe that's what happened to me. But who are the "Watchers"?

"Yeah, we thought of that," Saura said. "But Char is… well, we think it's probably something else."

"Yeah, well, good luck on the recovery, by all means," Ursa said. "Either way, it's nice to see a Charmander around these parts. Hope you do well here. Now… I'm figuring I should show you to the more important places first. Follow me."

Soon, the trio had emerged back into the main cavern of the base. Once again, Char had a little bit of trouble tearing his gaze away from the expansive, torch-lined room. It was absolutely packed with Pokémon, even moreso than before, all hurrying this way and that to get ready for the day's missions and tasks. Char and Saura followed the bear Pokémon to the very back of the cavern, where he entered a massive arch-shaped tunnel.

"Well, this is probably the most important place here," Ursa said. "Down here's the hospital. Our master of medicine is Dr. Orde, the Slowking. His assistants are Blissey and Hypno."

"Slowking?" Saura repeated. "That's an odd Pokémon to work in a hospital."

"Yeah, you'd think that, wouldn't you?" Usra grinned. "Of course, that's only until he saves your life. Then you'll be singing his praises. He's quite a talented Pokémon with medicine, I'll have you know."

The group entered the hospital area. It was a very long room with a central row of rectangular stone tables protruding from the ground. There were about twenty of them in all. Behind the tables, on the back wall, were several stone shelves stocked with countless supplies, medicine bottles, and instruments. Each table had something like a giant white fireball hanging from the ceiling directly above, almost chandelier-like, which brought unparalleled illumination to the otherwise dark cavern. A few of the tables were occupied with Pokémon. Char spotted a wounded Zangoose on the farthest table, and Sneasel on another. Char watched as Blissey hurried over to the Sneasel's side with a rolling table of supplies.

"Ursa! Good day to you!" said a voice.

Char turned and saw Dr. Orde standing right before them. The Slowking was wearing a baggy coat full of pockets. He clutched something like a scalpel in his left hand.

"Good morning, Doctor," Ursa said. "Just giving some newcomers the run-around. Children, this is Dr. Orde. If you're wounded on a mission, poisoned, anything, he's the first Pokémon you go to."

"Mmm-Hmm," the Slowking said, looking across the room at something else. "I've got every medicine there is. Still figuring out how some of 'em work, but I always seem to get it right in the end."

Char and Saura gave each other an odd look.

"Oh! Of course!" the doctor exclaimed, clapping his one-fingered hands. "I remember what it was that I was doing! Yes, yes! The Sitrus-berries are going to go rotten! Oh, um, yes, very nice to meet you both, looking forward to your first visit here. Actually, no, I take that back, I hope you stay healthy and never have to come here. Later, later!"

The Slowking rushed off in some direction, practically ignoring them.

"Well, the doctor seems excited about something today," Ursa said. "Anyway, yeah, he may seem a bit odd, but he's a brilliant doctor, really. And his partner Hypno is an expert at psycho-therapy. You're in good hands when you come here. Honest."

"Sounds good to me," Saura said.

… … …

Next, Ursa lead them up a long spiral staircase. They passed up three floors, narrowly dodging a Nidoran that hurriedly bounded down the stairs past them. When they arrived to the fourth floor, another sizable hub room spread out before them as soon as they left the stairwell.

"Basement floor seven," Ursa announced. "Market."

"Wow, we went up a lot of stairs, but we're still that far down?" Saura said incredulously. "I didn't realize how deep this base went!"

"Well, it's pretty far down into the earth," Ursa said. "To me, it's pretty evident by the sheer number of stairs you have to climb down to even get in. Anyway, this is where you come to stock up on supplies before leaving on whatever journey you're going on. It's stationed here because it's not too long of a hike from the north or the northeast entrances, but the west entrance is quite a walk from here, unfortunately. But, I digress. Over there, on the right of the hallway, is the storage area. And here, on the left, you have the Kecleon brothers."

Ursa directed them into the first doorway on the left. Inside was quite a sight: it was obviously a store, but so fully packed from wall-to-wall with merchandise that it was hard to tell one item from the next. Strange clothes hung from the ceiling. Small boxes overflowing with supplies cluttered up every table. It was an emporium. Char's attention turned to a particular wall which was covered in bags of dried fruit. He instantly knew what it was for: nourishment for traveling in mystery dungeons.

"Ah, welcome!" shouted a green-colored Kecleon from across the room. "How can I help you on this fine morning?"

"I'm just here to give a tour to these newcomers," Ursa said. "May I introduce them to you?"

The Kecleon, who had been busy arranging a pile of what looked like shiny blue orbs on a pedestal, immediately halted his work and hurried over to meet the guests.

"Well, well," the Kecleon said. "A Charmander! It's been a while since I've seen one of your kind. And a Bulbasaur! A very promising duo, I must say!"

"This is Kecleon, our supplier," Ursa said in the manner of introduction. "He, along with his brother, get us everything we could possibly need to run our Division. His brother must be off on one of his errands at the moment."

"At your service!" Kecleon said with a bow. "If it's on the market, I can get it for you, guaranteed! My prices can't be beat, and I always make special exceptions just for my favorite customers."

"Nice to… meet you," Char said awkwardly.

"Yes, and you, too!" Kecleon replied. "I look forward to doing business with you!"

With that, Kecleon bowed once more, hurrying back to what he was doing.

"Wow, he certainly seems nice," Saura said, equally as awkwardly. "But… does he… charge money for these things? Doesn't he… you know… work for the division? Shouldn't division members get his stuff for free, or something?"

"Well, sadly, that's not part of the deal," the Ursaring sighed. "Kecleon and his brother don't exactly work for the Division. They work independently, you see, and they're only our client, so we've got to pay them. But their services are irreplaceable, either way. That, and it takes a heck of a lot of money to run a black market like this."

"Black market?" Saura repeated in surprise. "You mean… all this stuff…"

"Oh, yes," Ursa said. "Kecleon is… what you would call a professional fraud. He steals, swindles, and everything in between, to get what he has. He and his brother have connections all over the country. His job involves defrauding the main suppliers under the control of the Master, and secretly scoring merchandise for us. He's been at it for decades, and the Master apparently still hasn't caught on. It's a quite impressive career, I might add, probably takes more effort and trickery than I could ever imagine. But, he does it all with a smile, and we're happy to have him."

"Incredible," Saura said, looking around at all the stuff that filled the room with starry eyes. "I guess he's carrying out the same job of a resistance team, but in his own way."

"Oh, and one last thing about Kecleon," Ursa said, lowering his voice drastically. "Sometimes, when you're low on cash, he's usually more than happy to arrange a special deal for you. However… if you value your life, do not, under any circumstances, ever, EVER, try to take something from this shop without paying. That's… all I will say about that."

"Got that," Saura said with a gulp. "No stealing."

Char cast an odd glance at the reptilian Pokémon as he stepped out of the shop.

"Have a great day, and come again!" Kecleon called out with a friendly wave as he left.

… … …

Next, they took the same spiral staircase in the opposite direction. Down, down, and farther down they went, down to the deepest bowls of the caverns where it seemed like the activity was most chaotic. After they'd passed up at least five floors, they left the staircase and had to push through a hectic crowd of busy Pokémon just to get across the room. Char wondered what could be so important down in these lowest levels of the base that so many Pokémon would be gathered here.

"Be careful who you run into," Ursa warned humorously as he waded through the crowd. "Some Pokémon are poisonous, you know. You wouldn't want to run into their horns."

The hallway ended, opening up into a wider room which helped to lessen the traffic of Pokémon. Several doorways lined the room.

"Well, let's see. Over there, first door on the left, takes you to the treasury," Ursa said. "All of the division's gold and money is stored there. Persian also runs a bank from the treasury, so you can open your own personal account there if you want to store any spare change. Don't even think about robbing the place, though. It's guarded by more ghost Pokémon than you can shake a stick at. Next door, that goes to the grand hall. If we ever need to have a division-wide meeting, that's where we all go. It only happens once or twice a year, though, And finally…"

Ursa led them through the widest doorway, which turned into a massive, downward-ramped tunnel. As Char tried to keep from bumping into other Pokémon who were also traversing the tunnel, something caught his attention. Some sort of smell billowed up from the tunnel, becoming steadily more powerful the farther they went. Although Char couldn't identify it, it was an extremely inviting aroma…

"Oh! Smell that, Char?" Saura said excitedly. "This must be where they cook the food! Oh, wow! I'm in the mood for breakfast, aren't you? I haven't eaten in a whole day!"

Food! Char realized. This must be what Pokémon food smells like! It doesn't smell like any human food I remember… But oh, am I ever hungry!

"Basement floor fourteen," Ursa announced as they reached the end of the hall, which opened up into an amazing, rectangular cave that was lined with tables. "The mess hall. You can bet that you'll be visiting this place once or twice every day. Oh, and unlike Kecleon's merchandise, all our food is completely complementary. It's part of the division's expenses"

"It's free?!" Saura gasped.

"Well, are you hungry? We probably have some time to grab a bite," Ursa offered with a grin.

"You bet!" Saura exclaimed.

Char couldn't argue with Saura one bit. His stomach had been rumbling for a while, too.

Ursa led them to a large window which separated the mess hall from the kitchen. On the other end of the counter, many Pokémon scrambled this way and that to cook and prepare the food. There were several Farfech'd, but instead of their usual stalks, they held wooden sticks which they used to stir massive boiling vats of food. A Munchlax wandered around the kitchen, taste-testing from the vats with his finger. An Ampharos worked at the back counter, chopping up massive rows of colorful, round objects and separating them into pots.

"Hi!" said a Belossom on the other side of the counter as she pushed a tray of food across the counter and in front of them. "Enjoy! Have a nice day! Eat up! Here's to another great day!"

Char nodded politely to the Belossom as he took his tray. He inspected it, wondering just what kind of food covered the plate. The food consisted of large, oddly-shaped chunks of… something. It was quite colorful. He wondered if maybe it was candy.

"And if you're still hungry, just go for seconds, or thirds…" Ursa explained as the group sat down at a table.

Saura couldn't contain himself. He jumped up to set his front legs on the table and dug into the plate face-first, almost inhaling the food. Char, although hungry, couldn't help but take one of the objects from his plate and stare at curiously for a few moments, turning it around in his hand. It was warm to the touch.

"Broiled fruit salad," Ursa told him. "Eat it, you might like it!"

Char ate the chunk of fruit. It was sweet, tangy almost, and felt warm as it went down into his belly. He liked the warmth.

After emptying their plates, the three relaxed for a while to let their food settle. Ursa looked like he desired another plate of food (or five), but wasn't complaining.

"Wow, really awesome!" Saura said contently. "There's just one thing that I don't get, though. Why's the mess hall so far underground? You have to walk a long way every day just to eat!"

"Well, most of us would," Ursa said. "You see, the fifteenth through eighteenth floors of the base, just below here, are the living quarters. That's where all the Pokémon go each night to sleep. That's also where you'll be staying."

"What?!" Saura yelped. "That's unbelievable! We have to walk up all those stairs, and back down again, each day?"

"It'll give you strong legs," Ursa laughed.

"Wait, then how come Team Remorse was so close to the surface?" Saura wondered. "When we came in, they were right down the hall!"

"Well, the higher in rank the team, the closer to the surface you can live," Ursa explained. "And Team Remorse is one of this division's highest-ranking teams. We even get food delivered up to our rooms every morning."

"Oh, wow," Saura said, a bit humbled. "That's harsh. I'm already starting to miss living up with your team."

"Well, you really never know," Ursa said optimistically. "Scythe has really taken an interest in you two, for whatever reason. You might find yourself getting to stay with us more often in the future. And, let me tell you, Pokémon around here consider that a real honor, to train with such a high-level team."

"Where is Scythe, anyway?" Char asked. "He just left this morning. Did he go on another mission? Will we see him again?"

"Scythe is… somewhere in this place," Ursa said. "Don't know where. But yeah, you're going to see him again. He wants to talk to you tonight, after our little tour is over and your team is registered. He says he needs to see you for some special reason. He won't tell any of us what it's about, though. Except for Shander, but that Sandslash refuses to spill it, no matter how hard we try…"

Oh, our resistance team! Char realized. We still have to think of a name!

"Scythe seems like a really skilled Pokémon," Saura said. "It sounds like he's been through a lot of fighting in his time. I bet he's really earned his place on your team, hasn't he?"

"Oh yeah, Scythe is one of our best warriors in the entire division," Ursa said with a nod. "And just about everyone's got high respect for him. But… I swear, you've never met a more modest Pokémon in your life."

"Modest?" Saura repeated.

"Oh, yeah," Ursa told him. "Scythe hates to brag. You'll never hear him talk about himself… let me guess, the big ol' bug never actually told you he's the leader of Team Remorse, did he?"

Hearing the news, Char's mouth fell wide open.

"Really?" Saura cried. "I never would have guessed! Scythe leads Team Remorse? He must be a much more important Pokémon than either of us knew, Char!"

"But wait," Char interjected. "What about that Houndoom? I thought maybe he was the leader. He really acted like it."

"Oh, that's Daemon," Ursa laughed. "He's the second-in-charge. You'd never know it, though, because he always acts like he's the one in command. He and Scythe have never really been on terms with one another. As you've probably seen, they have very different styles of leadership. They get into arguments all the time about nearly everything."

"I can only imagine," Saura said.

"Scythe always takes his opinion into consideration," he said, "but ultimately, it's Scythe's word that goes. That's why you two are his apprentices now, because that's what the big ol' bug wanted."

"Well, we'll be sure to treat him with a lot more respect when we see him next, won't we, Char?" Saura said. "I can't imagine how lucky we are to be in this position."

"Well, if you're both done, we should get going," Ursa said, standing up from the seat. "We've got more to see. The next place we're going should prove interesting."

… … …

They took an alternate route back up: it was a big, dark shaft with no stairways and no ramps. It did, however, contain a small elevator which operated when some unseen force far above yanked on the steel cables. Ursa explained that the larger Pokémon like the Onix needed a way to get around as well, and they had burrowed these huge holes through the rock as their own personal roadways. He also explained that there were Magnezone stationed in some of the vertical shafts, running elevators as alternate routes for Pokémon carrying things that would be impossible to take on the staircases.

"Now, listen," Ursa told them when they'd gone up a few floors and left the elevator. "What you are about to see next… is one of this division's best-kept secrets. It will stun you. It will leave you speechless. Heheh, I can't wait to see the looks on your faces!"

"This place doesn't look like it's ever going to run out of surprises," Saura said with a grin. "Try us!"

The next place they were lead was very devoid of other Pokémon travelers. A Hitmonchan sat on a bench at the side of the hallway in deep meditation, but other than that, the corridor was desolate…

At the end of the corridor was a single, small door covered by a red, tattered cloth which hung from the archway.

"Ready?" Ursa said, grinning wildly as he approached the doorway. "I remember when I first saw this. You're gonna love it."

"I can't imagine," Saura said. "Show us already!"

"Hey!" Ursa called to someone, poking his nose through the drapes. "Hey, Domo! Domo! We have newcomers! … … … Oh, alright. He's ready now. Kids, come on in! Come on in!"

Ursa parted the drapes, revealing the room.

It was an extremely large, circular room. The floor had many colorful designs engraved on it, forming a sort of platform in the center of the room. Floating above the ground in the very center of the room, was something incredible.

"Impossible!" Saura gasped, eyes fixated on it. "No! It's… It can't be! This has to be some sort of joke!"

When Char stepped forward to focus on it, he, too, lost the words to exclaim his surprise. It was a tiny cat Pokémon, colored a light and creamy pink, bobbing gently in the air before them. It stared back at him with two huge, blue, bubbly eyes. Its long tail waved from side to side.

"Mew!" it squeaked with a little giggle.

*Chapter 6*: Chapter 5: Mew and Dialga

Chapter 5

As Char and Saura incredulously gazed at the Mew which floated before them, Ursa couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"This can't be," Saura said again. "I'm sorry, Ursa, but I just can't believe this. It's too much! I just can't believe that Mew… works for the division."

"Even though it's what you see right in front of you?" Ursa asked.

Char couldn't quite figure out what to think, either. Mew was one of the greatest Pokémon of legend, thought to be the ancestor of all living Pokémon. It was also thought to be nigh uncatchable to both man and Pokémon, bearing some of the greatest psychic powers ever known. Although Char always knew what Mew looked like, he never thought he'd see the legend in person! Char wanted to agree with Saura that it couldn't be real… even though the Mew looked as real and believable as could be.

"There's got to be a ghost Pokémon around here making an illusion," Saura guessed. "This has to be a trick."

Giggling again, the Mew floated down to tap Saura on the nose. Its long, curling tail wiggled behind it, its eyes sparkling and beaming with curiosity.

"It's… not an illusion… is it?" Saura gasped. "Is this… really Mew?"

But then, a sharp blue light radiated from Mew's body. Its whole form soon shifted into an amorphous, gleaming mass.

"Aww!" Saura cried, jumping backward.

The mass grew, and didn't stop. It became very tall, looming high in the air above the speechless little children who watched. Its form became long and thin, like a giant snake with its head held high.

Char and Saura watched as light faded and the mass began to solidify, once again taking distinct shapes and colors. The next thing they knew, a full-sized Onix sat before them.

"Impossible!" Saura gasped. "Char! It must be Mew! Mew is the only Pokémon that can transform, since it has the genes of all other Pokémon…"

"The… only Pokémon that can transform?" the Onix boomed, surprising Char and Saura both.

"Well, there is another Pokémon that is known for its transformation powers, but they don't work like this," Saura said.

The Onix lowered its head, staring Saura right in the eye. "…And which Pokémon would that be?" it grumbled.

"D—Ditto." Saura stuttered. "Ditto can transform into anything they see. But… Ditto are forgetful, so they can only transform into something they're looking at. But you… can transform into things you don't see."

Again, the great figure began to shape-shift. The long, rocky body of the Onix melted away into a blob of light, shrinking down to a much shorter size. When it was about Char's height, it started to take a new form… a Xatu, the bird of wisdom and patience.

"That, I can," the Xatu said, staring straight into Saura's eyes with its piercing, unblinking gaze. "But it does not mean I am Mew. Indeed… I am a Ditto."

"Char, Saura, I'd like you to meet Domo, our combat trainer," Ursa introduced. "This is his dojo. He uses his many forms to help train us for battle."

Saura blinked. "But… then... how do you have such a good memory for a Ditto? How can you transform into these things so perfectly without watching them?" he wondered. " And… You're a 'he'? I thought Ditto were neither male nor female…"

"I am male, because I choose to be male," the Xatu replied. "When speaking to others, my favorite forms are male, thus, people refer to me as 'he' and 'him'. As for my powers of transformation… I will tell you how I came to be this way."

The Ditto shape-shifted once more, this time becoming a Golduck. "Whenever I tell this story, I always try to tell it with Xatu's form for effect," he muttered. "But I cannot stand that form! Every time I try, it always gives me the overpowering urge to stare straight into the sun, and then I become infuriated because the sun is not visible from down here. So, this form will have to do. Anyway… here is my story."

Char and Saura both made themselves comfortable before the storyteller, and he began.

"One day, decades and decades ago, I was using my inherent powers of transformation to explore the world. I witnessed many lands and many tribes of Pokémon along my journey. I would meet a bird, become it, then fly to another location where I would become a local Pokémon to observe them in their native habitat. It was a very enlightening journey. It was all I ever asked for, to learn the ways of my fellow Pokémon, since I myself did not have an identity of my own. But apparently, fate had other plans for me."

"One fateful day, as I was exploring a very particular region… the impossible happened. I was visited by Mew!"

Char was surprised. "Where? Where did you see Mew?" he asked excitedly.

"I will not say," Domo answered, "for I fear that, if Mew would happen to still be dwelling there today, the great dragons would never forgive me for calling attention to it and tempting other Pokémon to go bother it. Nonetheless… I saw it, and it was the real, true Mew, still alive after all these years of myths and legends. It must have thought I was a strange Pokémon, a creature that didn't quite act like it should, so it came to stare at me. Then, I did what any Ditto would have done… I took on Mew's form for myself. But no sooner did I open my eyes in my new form than Mew had vanished."

"Wow! That's incredible." Saura said. "I can't imagine how lucky you'd have to be to have something like that happen to you!"

"When you speak of luck, you have no concept," Domo continued. "Being Mew was such a sublime experience. The form was… so powerful, so free, so perfect… I flew around wildly for hours, just enjoying myself. I knew that Mew's instincts were making me act that way, but I didn't care. I was so happy."

"But… a Ditto cannot remain in a form forever," Domo said, his voice changing in tone. "A Ditto will run out of strength if it tries to hold a form for too long, you see. The hour soon drew upon me that I would have to abandon the form of Mew. I saw it coming, but I pretended it wouldn't happen, because I wanted so badly to stay in that form for the rest of my life. I remember how horrified I felt when I knew those final moments were ticking down… Even as Mew, I felt profound fear. And so… it happened. I abandoned Mew's form. When I did, I sat down right where I was and cried my entire heart out, knowing that I would never again be Mew. "

"Wow…" Char commented, feeling pity for the storyteller. "That must have felt so horrible, to lose something that rare and precious."

"Words could not describe my agony," Domo continued. "I cried and cried, until I couldn't cry any more. While I waited for my strength to return, I remained there, in my true form, reflecting upon my time as Mew and wondering if I could perhaps meet it again if I were to choose clever enough disguises. I was desperate, you see. But then… when my strength returned and I was ready to choose my next form, I realized that I felt very odd. I could not explain the feeling if I tried, but it was as if becoming Mew changed something within me. And this feeling… it made me want to try and become Mew once again, even though I was convinced I wouldn't recall it from memory. But I closed my eyes, and I tried…"

"And it worked?!" Saura guessed.

"Indeed," Domo said. "I had once again become Mew! But that's not all… I found myself imbued with a special power unknown to any other Ditto before me. From that point forth, I could revert back to any of my previous forms effortlessly! No longer did I need to watch another Pokémon with my own eyes or concentrate hard enough to recall it vividly… I could simply command my body to change, and it would change perfectly, provided I'd been in the form sometime before. You see, Mew is said to contain the DNA of all other Pokémon within it. When I became Mew, I suppose the DNA of all Pokémon somehow became part of me, and stayed with me even after I left Mew's form. Thus, I never again will need to use memories to transform, since I have the very genes of the Pokémon within me!"

"So, you can change into any Pokémon you want? That's… crazy!" Saura said.

"Well, it's not a perfect power. You see, I still can only change into Pokémon I have seen with my own eyes," he said. "Plus, my transformations do not come with memories or life experiences. I must train myself to use each transformation individually, and from scratch. And I must also deal with the wide array of Pokémon instincts. So, it follows that I won't be nearly as skilled with any one of my transformations as a Pokémon who has been the same Pokémon for their entire life."

Except for one who's only been a Pokémon for a few days, Char thought.

"Nevertheless, from that day forth, it became my life's dream to attain as many transformations as possible. As of now, I know how to become one hundred and forty-four Pokémon. While that is an impressive number, I still have a very long way to go if I want to see every known Pokémon species! Of course, Mew is still my most treasured form, and I tend to spend many an hour watching the world from behind its curious eyes. Being Mew has also given me a level of intelligence far beyond anything a Ditto such as myself would have otherwise been capable of. Ditto tend to be unintelligent beings. I have risen above that."

Domo changed into a Donphan. He took an intimidating, battle-ready stance.

"In return for permission to stay with this guild and see all the Pokémon who enter here, I use my powers to train newcomers and skilled Pokémon alike in the fine arts of battle," Domo roared in this new form. "I expect to see you two visit me very often so we can get to work on your techniques. You won't survive the tasks this place puts you through unless you know what you're doing on the battlefield!"

It was strange to hear Domo speak with a different voice each time he changed forms. To Char, watching the transformations was also a bit daunting; the thought of having to battle the Ditto's more powerful forms, even if it were only for practice, scared him.

"After all, I am not the only Pokémon who has transformations to undergo," Domo said. "Both of you will one day evolve. The more battle experience you receive, the sooner that day will come!"

Domo wasted no time in transforming. His form grew taller, wider, heavier; a pair of huge wings melted into existence from his back. His head became triangular, sprouting two horns, and its legs rippled with muscles. When the Ditto's transformation was complete, it stood before them as an impressive, fully-grown Charizard.

"Mrraaawwww!" it roared, a huge fireball billowing up from its maw. Char's heart beat even faster as he gazed up at the powerful dragon which overshadowed him.

Wow! Char thought. A Charizard! It looks so… so awesome! And to think I might one day be one of those… That is, if I'm still stuck as a Pokémon by then… But still! Wow!

"You, little Charmander, will one day become this: the mighty, the proud, the free-flying Charizard!" Domo bellowed. "Respected by all Pokémon as a superior and feared by all enemies, the Charizard's brute strength and command of the element of fire, not to mention its mobility and command of the skies, make it a rock-solid warrior and a desirable teammate. Train hard, little one, so you may soon see the world from behind the cunning eyes of the dragon!"

Yes! Char thought, his eyes just as bright as his smile. I will train! I will become Charizard!

"And you, little Bulbasaur…" Domo said, initiating another transformation, "You have a glorious future ahead of you as well!"

Domo soon became a ball of light, much larger than ever before. The tiny front claws of the Charizard grew to an enormous size, coming down to rest on the ground. When the creature had come to stand on all fours, a great stalk sprung out of its back and blossomed into many leaves and pedals.

When the transformation ended, Domo's new form—a great Venusaur—stood before the two, awaiting their reactions.

"The marvelous beast before which all other plants bow down!" Domo exclaimed in his new form. "The master of all that is green and the fearsome wielder of poison! There is nothing that Arceus has left to be desired in this magnificent creature! When you—"

Domo, surprised that the Bulbasaur hadn't shown anywhere near the level of elation the Charmadner had, stopped in mid-sentence and glanced down at him oddly.

"Is something wrong?" the Venusaur grumbled. "Children are usually excited to see their evolved forms. Aren't you looking forward to becoming a Venusaur?"

Char glanced at Saura. He had a funny look on his face—something between being depressed and having a frog stuck in his throat.

"I—" Saura finally responded, shaking his head a little. "Sorry. It's not you, Domo. I already know what a Venusaur looks like. My parents are Venusaur. It's just…"

"Saura doesn't want to evolve," Char said suddenly, remembering what his friend had said. "He wants to stay the way he is."

"Really?" Domo responded in surprise. "That's unusual. Is this true, Bulbasaur? Do you truly wish to remain in your tiny, weakened form?"

Saura didn't respond. He bit his lip, not knowing what to say.

"Well, if that is actually the case…" Domo said as he began to change forms again, "while I understand that it is hard for a Pokémon to deny what is in their heart, this particular desire is a very foolish one. You have no reason to not grow stronger! Any reason you think you might have is only a fluke. Dispel it! Besides… the division you live among now will expect you to quickly grow into a Venusaur, and they'll be disappointed in you if you refuse."

In minutes, Domo was back into his favorite form—the Mew—but Saura didn't seem nearly as excited to see it the second time around.

"Now, be off!" the Mew squeaked in a playful voice. "I have students to train. I will start my training with you tomorrow."

"Char, let's go," Saura said dejectedly. Char followed.

However, when they turned to leave, their guide was no longer there.

"Hey, where's Ursa?" Char wondered. "When did he leave?"

"Oh, he left a while back," Domo chirped with Mew's voice. "Maybe he expects you to return to him yourself. You have learned your way around the base, haven't you?"

Char and Saura glanced at one other, exchanging a glance of worry.

… … …

"So… I guess we have to find our way back to Team Remorse on our own?" Saura wondered as the two left the dojo and started wandering down the tunnel again. "I know Daemon told us to memorize everything, but this fast? I can't even remember how we got here. Do you, Char?"

Char didn't know what to say to him. Saura was disheartened now, like he'd just been told he would fail a test. Domo said he would need to evolve to be accepted by the division, yet one of the reasons he ran away from the soldiers in the first place was because he wanted to say the way he was.

"Hey, I think we head back this way." Saura said, looking around. "We went down a long ramp, right? And then we went up an elevator… So we have to go down the elevator, right? Or up the ramp? Do they both go the same way? Grr, I wish I'd been paying more attention!"

"This is almost like being in a mystery dungeon after all," Char commented. "I suppose if we can't find our way around here, we can't handle it out in a dungeon."

"You're right," Saura said. "This must be their way of testing us, Char. Let's pass this test! If we're being trained by someone as great as Scythe, we have to earn it. Now, think! Try to remember the way back!"

As they walked, the hallway began to become vaguely familiar to Char. He remembered the bench the Hitmonchan had been resting on, apparently waiting his turn to train in the dojo. He remembered how the hallway had been deserted. He remembered the elevator shaft…

"The elevator!" Char determined. "We definitely go down the elevator to get back to the place with the food. We could probably find our way from there."

"Let's go!" Saura said, bounding down the hallway to lead the way.

… … …

After tracing their steps, the twosome found their way back to the elevator shaft and back to the large room which lead to the mess hall.

"Okay, I remember this place," Saura said over the rumble of the other Pokémon in the room. "But these doors all look the same. Which way do we go now?"

Char looked from one door to another. Saura was right; they barely looked any different. Yet Pokémon filed in and out of the doors like a river, somehow knowing where they were going. Char remembered Ursa saying something about a treasury one way, and… something else.

"Well, I guess we pick a door and try it," Saura said. "If we're wrong, we can always go back."

"Right," Char said, trying to decide which way. "Um… this way?"

"Good enough for me," Saura said.

The twosome ventured through the chosen door. It led to yet another hallway. However, no other Pokémon were coming or going at this place.

"Looks deserted here," Saura said as he followed Char. "I don't think this is the way."

"Well, let's see what's down here, at least," Char suggested. "We've got to learn our way around this place eventually."

The hallway continued to a long, steep ramp which leveled out into yet another hallway. It turned a corner, then another, before ending with an ornate archway. The room beyond the archway was completely dark; the torchlight which lit the hall stopped short.

"Ohh, scary," Saura said. "I wonder what's in here?"

"It's dark," Char said with a shiver in his voice.

Gathering his tail in his hand like a torch, Char stepped forward into the mysterious room.

*FWOOSH!*

As soon as Char set foot through the archway, the entire room roared with a mighty noise that made both Pokémon jump in fright.

"What was that?!" Saura yelped in fright.

*FWOOSH!* *FWOOSH!*

Char realized what was happening: the room was becoming lit! Dozens of torches which lined the sides of the room were suddenly and mysteriously lighting themselves, mighty flames roaring to life at the tip of sticks protruding from the walls and saucers hanging from the ceilings.

"Awww!" Saura could only say as he looked upon the now-lit room as the last of the magical fire appeared on the far walls.

The size of this room was unprecedented; it was larger than any of the other rooms they'd seen in the entire complex so far. Its purpose was clear: it was a theater. The seats consisted of solid stone stair-steps of varying sizes, presumably enough to seat the entire division. The doorway they'd just entered through was one of many; there were at least five other entrances of different heights and widths all lining the outside wall. Four massive pillars stood around the outer edges of the room, supporting the sloped ceiling. At the center of it all, at the front of the room, was the stage. The stage was crowned by a great arch which contained stone engravings of many different kinds of Pokémon and footprint-runes.

But the most impressive part of the room—the part Saura's eyes instantly fixed on—were the two giant statues on either side of the stage. On the left was a stone depiction of Palkia, the ancient dragon which commanded space, and on the right was Dialga, the dragon who governed time. Both statues looked incredibly life-like, despite being colorless, and were masterfully crafted to depict the dragons as mighty, awe-inspiring entities. Palkia held an orb in its hands, as if offering it to an unseen recipient, and Dialga's mouth was open, as if speaking with someone. To Saura, they even looked like they were alive, seeing the light cast by nearby torches dance across their figures and in their eyes.

"Char! I remember now!" Saura cried, his voice echoing throughout the amazing chamber. "This is the place Ursa said that everyone gathers for a meeting! This is the meeting hall! Wow, imagine what it would look like if we had a meeting. This place would be packed!"

After taking a deep breath in admiration, Saura turned to Char. "Well, I guess this was the wrong way," he said. "Let's go back."

But Char hadn't heard a word of anything he'd said.

Char's eyes were blanked, fixated on the great dragon statues. His mouth hung open, his face frozen in a horrible expression as if something was tearing apart his soul. His tail flame flickered abnormally, and his breathing escalated…

"…Char?" Saura asked worriedly, noticing his state. "Char, are you okay? Maybe it's just your instincts again. Char? Char?"

A bright light flooded the room.

The light engulfed the Charmander, and he found himself standing in it. It was white. Everywhere was white.

In front of him stood a creature of extraordinary size. It was the time-god, Dialga. Light shone from it like the sun, and the diamond on its chest sparkled marvelously.

What's going on? Char wondered, only able to stare at the great dragon. It is as though… the statue came alive! Am I even still in the meeting hall? Where am I?

Dialga's mouth moved as if it were trying to say something to Char, yet Char heard nothing.

What? What is it? Char demanded, only to find that he couldn't speak. Dialga? Please! Tell me! Are you trying to say something?

Char felt the presence of others standing around him, yet he couldn't move to see them. He was frozen in place.

Dialga bowed its great head.

Is it sad? Char wondered. Is it done speaking? What did it say? This… this isn't something about my past, is it? Am… am I human right now? What's going to happen?

"CHAR!"

Thump.

Char awoke with a start as his head slammed against the floor. Saura had tackled him.

"Char, wake up!" Saura pleaded. "Say something! Please!"

"Ugh… I'm awake now, I think…" Char muttered.

"What happened just now?!" Saura demanded, helping him back to his feet. "You passed out! I thought you were suffocating or something! Char, maybe we should get you to see the doctor."

"Saura…" Char gasped. "I guess I had… some kind of vertigo, and… I… saw Dialga!"

"What, you mean the statue?" Saura questioned oddly. "It's right over there, see?"

"No…" Char insisted. "Saura… I didn't see Dialga… I remembered Dialga!"

Char looked at the statue again. His heart started beating wildly once again as he gazed at it.

"It was blue and silver," Char said.

Before Saura could respond, a different voice rang out amongst them.

"You two," it said. "Did you take a wrong turn?"

Char and Saura turned to see Ursa standing on the other side of the archway, his arms crossed.

"Ursa!" Saura shouted. "I—we—we thought you wanted us to find our way back upstairs, so we tried to look on our own…"

"Oh, no," Ursa said, shaking his head. "While you were talking to Domo, Shander came and said Scythe wanted to see me. I had no choice but to go. Although, I was assuming that you'd just wait there outside of the dojo for me to come back, not go running off yourself. I went to go looking for you, and I was lucky I caught sight of you going down this way. It's not one of the places I would have looked!"

"We're sorry we ran off," Saura said regretfully. "We really thought you were testing us."

"No worries," Ursa said. "But we have to go. Scythe wants to see you now. Apparently he decided he couldn't wait for tonight."

As Char followed the others out of the meeting hall, he took one last look back at the statue of Dialga. However, the moment he stepped foot out of the room, the magical torches snuffed themselves, turning the room black once more.

On the way to meet Scythe, only one thing looped through Char's mind:

Could Dialga have something to do with my past?

*Chapter 7*: Chapter 6: The Test

Chapter 6

"Well, at least you made it this far," Ursa said as he led the Charmander and Bulbasaur back in the right direction, after they had taken the wrong turn.

"I can't believe how easy it is to get lost in this place," Saura said. "It's so… big."

"Well, you know, the Gold Division didn't build this place," Ursa said. "We just adapted it for our own purposes. Supposedly, it was once an elite training academy for Pokémon, but that was some five hundred years ago or something. Sometime after the Master rose to power, he sabotaged it and forced everyone out. He even sealed the main entrance so nobody would ever be able to enter again. I guess the Master wasn't too thrilled about a school he didn't get to teach, you know?"

"That's pretty dumb," Char said. "This 'Master' is getting worse every time I hear about him."

"So, I guess you got back in?" Saura asked. "How'd you do that?"

"Well, someone, somewhere along the line, found other ways in, I guess," Ursa said. "And, I guess the Master has always assumed this place was empty ever since, because he's never checked back here. In fact, it's been so long, he might have forgotten it even exists. Anyway…"

Ursa led them around some unfamiliar corners, and they finally stopped at a new doorway.

"I thought we were going to see Scythe," Saura said. "What's over here?"

Instead of answering, Ursa opened the door. Within the small and darkened room, Scythe and Shander stood waiting for them. At their side was a new Pokémon, an Espeon. It looked as if the three were all hiding out in this room, waiting for something secret or forbidden. A lump formed in Char's throat.

"Finally, they're here!" Scythe said, turning his attention to the door. "Thank you for your help, Ursa. You can go."

"Can't he stay?" Char asked.

"No, no, I'll go," Ursa told him. "Scythe's keeping his deals with you under wraps, and I don't want to be the one to question what's going on. Besides, I have work to do. Don't worry, we'll be seeing each other again soon… I hope."

Ursa left, closing the door behind him. Char and Saura stood at attention, uncertain of what was about to happen. Now that Char recognized Scythe as a high leader of sorts, he was too afraid to say anything to him for fear of disrespecting him, and even more afraid at how the great bug kept eying him suspiciously. He was starting to feel very uncomfortable, very fast.

"Now, remember how I told you we would need to test you for something?" Scythe said, stepping forward. "We're going to do that now."

"What are you testing for?" Saura asked. "Will it hurt?"

"It will hurt only as much as you make it," the Espeon replied smoothly, revealing that it was a female. "I need to look into your mind. Struggle, and yes, it will hurt. But if you relax and let me work, it will be over quickly."

"Don't worry, we are not looking for your personal thoughts or memories or anything like that," Shander said. "We are looking for something very specific."

"Are you ready?" Scythe asked. "I want to know the results as soon as possible."

"Uh… I guess…" Saura said. "Char, are you ready?"

Char nodded, even though he didn't feel all too ready.

"Good," Scythe said, motioning for the Espeon to approach. "Saura, you'll be first. Char will be next."

Saura gulped heavily as the Espeon approached. She stood over him, the gem on her forehead starting to shine as she readied her power.

"I am Eva," the Espeon said, almost condescendingly. "I have helped Scythe, as well as some others in this division, search for a Pokémon with The Call for years. That search may end today."

"The Call?" Char repeated.

Ignoring Char, the Espeon thrust her forehead closer to Saura.

"Close your eyes," she commanded, her gem shining very brightly. "Try not to move or speak."

Saura did as commanded. Char held his breath as he watched. He still didn't have any idea what was going on, but he hoped that it would be revealed to him soon. He wondered just what the Espeon was doing with her power. She said she wasn't looking for memories, but could she see them nonetheless?

Would she be able to see his memories? Even the ones he could not see? Memories from before his transformation?

"Ugh…" Saura suddenly grunted, tensing up.

"Easy," Eva commanded. "Try not to be too sensitive. I'm almost where I need to be."

"Ugh…" Saura said again. "It feels so… weird…"

"Don't talk," Eva said, a hint of anger forming in her voice. "It only makes things harder for me."

Saura tried to relax. His leg muscles loosened, and his mouth fell open a little bit. His eyes remained clenched, trying to bear the unusual sensations of having his mind read.

"Aaaaaaahh!"

Suddenly, Saura cried out in agony. Not even opening his eyes, Saura unleashed his vines and whipped them forward, wrapping the Espeon and trying to force it away. His teeth were clenched tight, and his vines became taut as Eva pulled back on them. Char bit his tongue very hard at the sight. Scythe looked worried.

"Get off me!" Eva yelled, clawing at the vines and trying to get them off. "I'm finished! I'm done with you! Let go!"

Saura wouldn't let go. He panted violently, grunting and growling with each breath. His eyes remained glued shut as tight as could be. Char's claws formed fists. Did it really hurt that bad? he wondered.

Char gently rubbed Saura on the back, hoping to comfort him. Saura's vines eventually grew limp and fell to the floor. His eyes opened weakly, and his breath calmed.

"Ugh…" Saura groaned. "Eva... I'm sorry. It's just... that didn't feel very good. It was like having a horrible headache…"

"Well…?" Scythe asked impatiently as Eva finally freed her legs from the vines. "Did you find anything?"

A little angered, Eva bowed her head. "No," she replied. "The Bulbasaur doesn't have the Call."

"It's not surprising," Shander said plainly.

"Yes, well, my real hopes were with the Charmander, after all," Scythe said. "Char, it's your turn. Prepare yourself."

Char felt a very familiar feeling overtake him—the feeling of anger. He abhorred the thought of having his mind… probed… by the Espeon. He didn't want to experience the pain he saw Saura take. Not only that, but it seemed this Espeon was not the gentle type. Something told him that she did not exactly take care when intruding into the minds of others.

Char's tail flared. A fiery taste filled the back of his throat.

"Char…" Scythe said sternly, noticing his change of mood. "Remember what happened last time you tried to resist? It will happen again. We need this done."

"Char, it's okay. Settle down," Saura said, still groaning in pain. "Just get it over with."

Char did his best to resist his instincts, but he really wanted to fight back again. Not only that, but it was a tough call between fighting and running away. He glared at the Espeon, the enemy, despising her for what she did to his friend and what she was about to do to him.

"No," Eva said suddenly, taking a step back.

"What?" Scythe asked. "What's the matter?"

"I'm not going to read the Charmander's mind," Eva said. "It is a waste of my time and effort."

"Eva, please," Scythe said. "Don't judge me by the fact that the Bulbasaur was without the Call. He was brought only as a precaution! There are many… strange things about this Charmander, on the other hand."

"No," Eva said again, turning tail and walking to the other side of the room. "I will not. In fact, I am so convinced that the Charmander does not have the Call just by looking at it that I would happily give up quite a number of things if I were proven wrong."

"Then name one, and I will call your bet," Scythe growled. "I did not risk staying overnight with the Watchers to bring these children all the way here, just to have you not cooperate with me. Eva. Test him."

"Fine," Eva sighed, turning back to face Char. "If you insist on being shown you're wrong, fine. But it won't do anything but make you look stupid. Charmander, come here."

Char gritted his teeth and tried to calm himself as Eva moved close to him, aligning her gem to his forehead. He felt her breath on his face, and it made him want to lash out and bite her.

"Close your eyes," she commanded. "Try not to move or speak."

Char closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable pain, however it would feel, of the Espeon's mind probing his.

No pain came.

Ugh, this is killing me! Char thought. Why won't she start? Get it over with already!

Many seconds passed. Still, Char felt nothing out of the ordinary except for the horrid feeling of anticipation. He wondered if something was wrong. He wondered if he was failing the test.

Maybe it's not hurting because I have "The Call"? Char wondered. Or did she not even start yet?

Finally, a voice that was not his own rang out in his head.

I'm not going to do this, the voice said.

Eva? Char asked with his thoughts. Is that you?

Yes, it's me, Eva replied telepathically. I'm not going to test you. It would be pointless. But we've got to make Scythe happy, alright? So, here's the deal. You pretend I checked you. Now, if I find out you told Scythe about this… I will make trouble for you. Do you understand?

Wait, we're going to lie to Scythe? Char asked. Why? Is it really so hard to test me? Eva?

Char opened his eyes to see Eva backing away, the light fading from her gemstone.

"…And?" Scythe said, his face full of hope.

"Do I even need to say it?" Eva sneered. "No, Scythe. This one is without the Call as well. Nice try, though."

"See?" Shander said. "The time isn't right."

"But… I know what I heard," Scythe stammered as he stared, wide-eyed, at the floor. He thrust one of his blades downward, putting a visible scratch in the ground. "The Call is unforgettable… It haunts you, and doesn't let you go. And… I know I felt it…"

"Don't tell me. I know what the Call is like, as well," Eva said. "Remember, I was there the last time it happened. Now, why you thought either of these two children had it, I will never know. Perhaps you were imagining things? Perhaps… you heard it only because you wanted to?"

Scythe remained silent. He stared at her indignantly.

"Eva, enough," Shander said. "Any other Pokémon would have done the same thing if they thought they heard it, including you. Don't persecute Scythe for doing his job."

"Hmph," said the Espeon, turning away again. "Well, next time, make sure you're not just wasting my time. Otherwise, word about your foolishness might get out… somehow."

Blackmail! Char realized. Not to mention that Scythe could have been right all along, and Eva wouldn't even know it, because she didn't even test me!

"Now, get out of my room," Eva ordered.

Gladly, Char thought. I don't think I can stand another minute with you.

Nice to meet you, too, Eva's telepathic voice responded, startling Char out of his wits.

… … …

"So much for that," Scythe said quietly to Shander as they walked back down the hall. "Maybe you were right. Maybe this was all just a big mistake."

"Don't say that," Shander said with a wry smile. "We still rescued them from the Master, right? Not to mention that they look like a promising couple of fighters."

Scythe peered back at the two little Pokémon following his lead down the hall as they constantly chatted with each other. He watched Char intently, knowing full well he still held secrets… secrets he felt inclined to unearth.

"That, they do," Scythe finally said. "That, they do. I think I'll enjoy training them."

When they were done conversing, Shander left the group to continue with his work, and Scythe took it upon himself to finish the tour.

"Judging from what Ursa says he has shown you, there are only a couple more vital locations in this place you must still see," Scythe said. "Keep your strength about you, the next place is a rather long walk from here."

"I hope we're not going to be tested on all this!" Saura said.

"Oh, you will be tested," Scythe said. "Every day, you are tested. Every single day."

… … …

The next place they visited—after the promised lengthy walk—was a cramped, well-lit little room. The strange thing about this place, though, was that the walls and floors were all bright white. The floor was made of something that looked like marble, and the walls appeared to have been covered in a coat of white sand. At the front of the room, displayed neatly on the wall, was a series of stone tablets with engravings on them.

"I knew you'd have to come here eventually," Scythe said. "Now, take a good, long look at the tablets, if you will."

Char stepped up to the first one and squinted to see the small inscriptions on it. He didn't have much luck, because the writing was no language he'd ever seen before. It was made up of markings which looked like tiny Pokémon footprints.

"Uh… I can't read this!" Char said. "What's it say?"

"You can't read footprint runes…?" Scythe said. "Hmm… perhaps Saura could give it a try."

"Hmm," Saura said. "It says… 'Freedom, peace and war, our fathers lived through once before. Freedom, peace of mind, one dream to live for all mankind…' And that's only the first part. This is long."

"It's a song," Scythe explained. "We call it the 'Resistance Creed'. It doesn't mean much; it's mostly just flowery nonsense. However, you must learn it word-for-word. Otherwise, there's no guarantee that we'll let you back into the base once you leave. See… we use it as a password. Whenever you approach an entrance to the Gold Division, you are given a prompt, which is a line from the creed. You must recite the next line to gain entry."

"That's pretty long, for a password!" Saura said, his eyes glazing over as he scanned the many tablets. "Why does it have to be this long and complicated?"

"The creed is long enough that it cannot remain at the forefront of your mind at one time; thus, it is difficult for a psychic spy to read the entire script from your mind," Scythe explained. "At best, they will garner only one or two lines, which is likely not enough for them to gain admission. That is also why we use a call-and-response system for our password; you are meant to forget the song as a whole, but remember the lines sequentially. Hearing a line from the song will easily trigger your memory."

"But… if I can't read it, how am I supposed to remember it?" Char wondered, looking blankly at the massive tablets filled with markings.

"You'll have to work closely with Saura," Scythe said. "…But it's unusual for you to not be able to read. Most intelligent Pokémon know how to read footprint runes."

"What about Unown-script?" Saura said. "I'm sure Char would be able to read that!"

"Ah, I didn't think of that," Scythe said thoughtfully. "Unfortunately, we don't have a copy of this song in Unown-script. You'll just have to manage without one."

For the next hour or so, Scythe forced the two reluctant children to stay in the room until they had completely memorized the first two stanzas. Char became very annoyed that he couldn't read the tablet for himself, and he soon found himself bored out of his skull.

"Fears that we come to know, and the sorrows we ignore," Saura recited.

"Our lives come to be truth or mystery," Char answered. "The fools… we believe, the lies we can't—I mean, the lies that we… were meant to believe. I mean, see."

"Almost," Scythe said, "but it's truth and mystery. Not or. And. Remember, every word must be accurate, even the ones which sound the least important. Otherwise, you could very well be a Zoroark spy trying to get into our base. Or maybe even a Ditto. That's just the way things work around here."

"Can we go yet?" Saura said, trying not to sound whiny. "We'll practice this more later. The words are all getting mixed up in my head now."

"Fine," Scythe said, waving his blade. "That can be enough for today. Let what you've learned today sink in. You'll know whether or not you've truly memorized it if you can remember it later at will. Now… if I remember correctly, we only have one more place we absolutely must visit today. Come with me."

Char was happy to get out of that white room, even though he knew that he and Saura would have no choice but to return there many times in the future.

… … …

As they made yet another trek through the caves, Char noticed that there weren't nearly as many Pokémon competing with them for room.

"It's midday," Scythe explained. "Everyone's out on their missions. Just like you'll be tomorrow."

"So soon, huh?" Saura said, growing weary already from all the constant walking. "Are you sure we'll be up to it?"

"I guess that's something you're going to find out all on your own," Scythe said. "You learn best by doing. But if I were you, I wouldn't be too worried about your first mission. You've already shown me you can crawl dungeons. But before you can go on any missions, there's a place you have to go first…"

At last, they reached their final destination: it was an office. It had a desk, lots of paper, and rows upon rows of shelves, all filled with paper. The shelves went back farther than Char could see. At the desk sat a very gruff-looking Granbull.

"The registration office," Scythe said. "Here, we keep records of most everything that goes on here in the division. All of our missions, our successes, our failures, our teams and members… its' all here somewhere, immortalized on paper. Everything is important; we can't afford to forget anything."

Oh, no! Char realized. A name! A team name! We didn't think of one yet!

"Saura, quick!" Char gasped. "What should we name our resistance team? That's why we're here! We're here to start the team!"

Scythe stepped up to the desk as the Granbull was furiously flipping through some papers.

"Jay, could we see you for a moment?" Scythe said calmly.

"What kind of moment?" It asked back, not even looking up. The voice was distinctly female. "Intelligence wants this summary in two hours, and I've got no idea where I put it. I'd rather you come back later…"

"Jay, you're always busy," Scythe said. "Later won't do us any good. I need you to register a new resistance team."

Jay paused for a moment to glance at her visitor, then immediately shuffled her handful of papers and set them down neatly on the table. "Oh, Scythe. Good afternoon to you," she said kindly. "A new team, huh? What, don't tell me you quit Team Remorse? That ol' dog finally break the last straw?"

"Oh, no, it's not for me," Scythe laughed. "These two."

Jay peered over the desk and onto the floor, where she just barely caught sight of the Charmander and the Bulbasaur standing at attention on the floor below, both looking extremely nervous.

"Hah!" she laughed. "These two? Well, well, we've got some ambitious children nowadays, huh? Now… let's see if we can make this quick. Are you the only two?"

"Yes," Scythe answered for them.

"Wow. And your names? And which one of you will be the leader?"

"I'm Saura, and this is… Char. He'll be the leader," Saura said weakly.

"You sure?" Char said, surprised at Saura's assertion.

"Far enough," Jay said, before Saura could answer. "Now I just need a team name. What'll it be?"

"Uh…" Char groaned, digging deep for a good idea. "Er… How about… Team Freedom?"

"Taken," Jay said, flipping through her papers. "And not only that, but taken by the sixth team ever on record. Hope you've got better ideas than that…"

"Team Courage?" Char tried again.

"Taken," Jay said flatly, "by the eighth team ever on record."

Char glanced back at Scythe, as if for emotional support. The Scyther looked amused.

"I've got it!" Saura said. "Team Fire Flower. Sounds catchy, doesn't it? And it represents us."

"Taken, sadly," Jay said. "And by 'sadly', I mean it's one of the most ridiculous names I've ever had the displeasure of writing on file."

"Hmm," Saura said. "How about… Team Regret? You know, like 'Remorse', but different."

Jay scoffed, dropping her ink pen on the table and making a blotch on the team record. "Scythe, these two haven't had much of a history lesson, have they? Well, I'll have you know that, once upon a time and all that, there was Lucario. He founded the resistance force which later split into the three divisions. His team was Team Regret… the first team ever on record."

Scythe snickered. Char grew angry at the fact that their trainer thought it was a laughing matter and refused to help them out.

"Well, any others?" Jay said.

"Um…" Saura groaned, wracking his brain.

"Good, good," Jay said, putting a stamp of approval on the file. "Team Peanuts it is."

"Team Peanuts?!" Saura shouted. "What?! We don't want that name!"

"Why not…?" The Granbull said, barely betraying sarcasm in her voice as she scribbled on the paper. "The name fits you! You're tiny, inexperienced…"

"Are you serious?!" Saura stuttered. "T-that can't be! That's a horrible name!"

"Then you should have given me one in the first place," Joy said, not even breaking a smile. "But no, you come down here to waste precious seconds of my time trying to decide on a name that you should have decided beforehand. So, I picked one for you. Welcome to the Gold Division, Team Peanuts!"

… … …

"I don't believe this!" Saura said again, gritting his teeth in anger. "Team Peanuts? Peanuts? That's who we are now? Some sissy little kids who can't take care of ourselves?"

Scythe had spent the rest of the day showing the newly-formed Resistance Team around the more interesting (but unimportant) parts of the base. They stopped for dinner at the mess hall right before most of the resistance teams returned from their missions, narrowly missing the rush. Afterwards, Scythe led them back upstairs toward Team Remorse's rooms.

I guess it just goes to show how brutal this place can be, Char thought to himself. We really need to be on top of things, otherwise we might be humiliated beyond belief! Ugh… Saura's really angry right now. I mean, sure, the name is bad, but… I guess it really means a lot to him.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to prove to the division that you shouldn't judge a team by its name," Scythe said encouragingly. "You could become a surprisingly competent team, and your foes would underestimate you because of your name! Then who would be laughing?"

"Hey, Scythe…" Char said, noticing where they were going. "Um… weren't you going to show us to our rooms? Why are we back here at your team's rooms?"

"Oh… there's been a little change of plans," Scythe said, a subtle smile on his face. "You're going to be staying with us from now on."

"Are you sure?" Char said. "Does Daemon know about this?"

"Not yet," Scythe said with a smile. "But there's not much he'll be able to do about it. I need you to stay with me if I'm going to train you. In a few months, we can talk about you moving somewhere else. But you've got your first mission coming up tomorrow… I want to be the one to walk you through it."

"Wow, thanks," Char said. "I… don't know what else to say."

"It was the least I could do," Scythe said humbly as he bowed to Char with the most subtle gesture possible.

… … …

At last, after a whole day of walking, learning, and humiliation, Char and Saura found themselves back in Scythe's room. Char found the hard floor much more comfortable today for some reason. The opposite was true for Saura, who seemed too restless to keep his eyes closed.

"Ugh, Char, this is going to be hard, isn't it?" Saura groaned. "And we have our very first mission tomorrow. I wonder what that's going to be like?"

Still, Saura's willing to persevere, Char thought, even after today. I'm starting to think he wasn't kidding at all when he said he'd stay with me…

"Say, Char…" Saura said, suddenly glancing around the room to make sure that Scythe was still gone. "Did you notice Scythe today? He was acting really funny."

"How so?" Char asked, resting peacefully on the floor.

"Well… I don't know why, but I get the feeling he knows about you. I think… he knows you're a human."

Char opened his eyes. "Why do you think that?" he asked.

"Well, just the little things," Saura said. "First, he didn't think it was funny that you didn't know footprint runes, but still know Unown-script. That's what we call your human writing, by the way. Unown-script. Oh, and earlier, when we were with Eva, he said there were 'many strange things about you', but he said it in a way like he already knew what it was."

I still have to tell Saura… and Scythe too… about Eva's blackmail, Char remembered. I don't trust her at all. She doesn't deserve to have me keep a secret like that.

"And just now, when we were walking back to the room, he bowed to you!" Saura said. "I know he did! He said 'it's the least I could do', and then he bowed to you. Char, that must be it! Scythe must know your secret! I don't know how, but he found out."

"Maybe someone read my mind?" Char guessed. "Maybe Eva told him, or something."

"Well, this might not be a bad thing, anyway," Saura sighed. "That's probably why he decided we should stay in his room. He found out you're a human, and we're getting special treatment because of it. If this keeps up, it might make up for the fact that… well, the fact that we're Team Peanuts now. All I know is that I don't want to be around Daemon when he finds out his team is affiliated with that kind of a name."

Char wondered something. "Hey, Saura," he said, "why would we be getting special treatment just because I'm a human? Do all Pokémon hold humans in high regard, or something?"

"Oh, of course," Saura said, acting surprised at the question. "We Pokémon have something of an innate respect for mankind. Actually, for most of us, our greatest dream is to befriend a human and to serve them. Well, I can't speak for all Pokémon, but most of us are like that… and I know I'm one of them."

"I wonder why," Char thought aloud. "Did we do anything to earn that respect?"

"Remember when I told you earlier that all Pokémon start out wild and only become intelligent if someone teaches them?" he asked, rolling over onto his stomach to face Char. "In the beginning, the very beginning, all Pokémon were wild. Every single one. We were animals, living only by our instincts. We couldn't talk. We couldn't think for ourselves. We weren't intelligent creatures. Now, any guess how we wound up with intelligence?"

"…The humans," Char realized.

"The humans gave Pokémon the gift of intelligence," Saura explained. "They took us and trained us at their sides. They brought us up to their level. Now, whenever we think for ourselves, we know the humans are the ones who made it possible in the first place. You humans made us who we are."

"I never realized…" Char said.

"And not only that, there's more," Saura said. "Even the great dragons… Dialga, Palkia, and even Arceus… are said to have started out as primal beasts. They say that humans are the ones responsible for imparting wisdom even onto them. So, yes, Pokémon have a deep respect for you humans. To us, you're… legendary."

Char had no problem falling asleep that night. However, his head was filled with strange dreams of Dialga eating peanuts.

*Chapter 8*: Chapter 7: First Outing

Chapter 7

The day began with two little words:

"Get up!"

Rubbing the crust from his eyes, Char rolled onto his back and found himself gazing up at the face of a very cheerful Scyther.

"This is it! Today's a big day. Are you ready?"

"Ugh… you bet," Char said, trying to sound just as excited and failing.

"How long did we sleep, anyway?" Saura groaned, trying to raise himself. "It didn't seem long at all."

"About seven hours," Scythe said. "Team Remorse usually gets up at the crack of dawn, but I let you sleep in a little bit today."

Gee, thanks, Char thought to himself, rubbing a kink out of his neck.

"Pay attention to everything you see today," Scythe warned. "The routine I'm about to show you is something you're going to need to learn to do nearly every day you live with us. You can rely on me for now, but there will come a day when I won't be here to show you the way. So pay attention, and don't let yourselves become mentally lazy. Am I clear?"

"Alright!" Saura said, finally mustering his energy and jumping to his feet. "Our first day! Let's do our best, Char!"

… … …

"Wait, don't we need to, you know, get ready?" Saura asked as Scythe led the two newcomers down the hall. "We're just going to leave? Just like that?"

"First lesson," Scythe told them. "Prepare for your mission the night before. You may have noticed that I was gone from the den for a while last night; I was preparing for our trip. If you're going to learn to do things the efficient way – and the right way - you need to choose your destination, pack your bags, determine which teammates will join you, all before you retire for the night. That way, in the morning, you can leave immediately! The limited daylight is more valuable than you may think. Many teams take it for granted. Not mine."

Near the front door of Team Remorse's personal quarters, Scythe took a small, bulging bag which hung on the wall (somehow without cutting the straps with his blade) and tossed it to Char. It wasn't too heavy, but it sure was awkward and burdensome. Char needed a moment to find his balance as he held the bag.

"Here," he said. "This is our bag of supplies I prepared last night. As a Pokémon lucky enough to have proper arms and hands, you get to carry it for the day."

As Char struggled to get used to the weight of the brown, stitched bag, Scythe pushed open the team's stone door and proceeded out into the base. Shander stood right outside, reading a piece of paper affixed to the wall between two torches. Char noticed something funny about the torches: they were a deep orange color, rather than the usual yellow.

"Morning," Scythe said. "Daemon and the others already head out?"

"Long ago," Shander said, not lifting his eyes off the notice. "Basin Canyon is a long way. They've got a tall order ahead of them today. Of course, he wasn't too thrilled at how you so cleverly got out of the trip. Nevertheless, he wanted to wish Team Peanuts good luck on their first task."

At hearing the sound of their new team name, Saura frowned immediately. "Oh… you know what? I completely forgot about that," he said, his smile dashed.

"The name is brilliant, by the way," Shander said, casting a smile at Saura. "It's the best new name for a team I've heard in quite a while."

"Uh, okay," Saura mumbled. "If you say so…"

… … …

As they continued down the hall, Char noticed that all of the torches which lined the walls had turned this strange color. Is something wrong with my eyes? Char thought.

"Is it just me, or is the fire a different color today?" Saura asked.

"Good observation," Scythe said. "The flames turn different colors depending on what time of day it is. During the day, they're yellow to signify sunlight. In the evening, they turn red to warn of the coming night. They turn blue when the Watchers are out, then they turn orange in the morning to signify the all-clear. Our resident ghost Pokémon take care of the spell. It affects all the fire in the entire complex. Even yours."

Char glanced back at his tail, and indeed, his flame was the same orange color. He was curious to see what it would look like for his flame to turn blue at night.

"We call it 'spiritual fire,'" he further explained. "It doesn't create smoke, it doesn't burn air, and so we can use dozens of torches down here without suffocating ourselves. Interesting, isn't it?"

Coming to the first main chamber of the Gold Division base, Char found that it was a madhouse. Pokémon scrambled to prepare for the coming day, filling the caverns with a dull roar. A Sneasel rushed in front of Char, cutting off his step without even seeing him and almost causing him to trip backwards.

"You see? This is why our team gets ready the night before," Scythe said with a grin. "Otherwise, you have to deal with all this. You don't even want to know what Kecleon's shop or the cafeteria looks like right now. Meanwhile, we can just walk out the door."

"Ugh… you mean, we aren't going to get breakfast at least?" Char groaned, hoisting the bag. "I'm kinda hungry."

"I packed food in there," Scythe said. "We can all eat on the road. Now… today, we'll be using the northeastern entrance, since our destination is to the east… "

Char's vision was soon obscured by two green vines which hovered in front of his face. They mercilessly wrenched the bag from his grasp and set it on the ground.

"I'm hungry, too," Saura said, digging through the bag for the promised food.

Not able to blame him, Char helped Saura dig through the contents and soon found a pear and an apple. Saura ate the apple in nearly one bite as Char hefted the bag back onto his shoulder and took a bite of the pear. He was disappointed that the bag didn't seem to get any lighter.

On the way out, Scythe led them onto an elevator which was occupied by several other Pokémon.

"Hey, Scythe! Morning!" a Raichu suddenly shouted right next to Char. "I heard about your new apprentices. How're you doing with that?"

"Morning to you, Ray," Scythe said cheerfully. "I heard you were going to Blackriver City today, I wish you a safe journey. And these are my students right here, if you'd like to meet them. I'm just about to take them on their first mission."

"Oh, boy! I bet you're excited!" the energetic Raichu cheered, smiling at Char and Saura. "I've got a new teammate going on his first mission today, too. Maybe later you can share stories with him."

"The Vulpix, right?" Scythe said, raising an eyebrow. "He seemed a bit young and apprehensive. Are you sure it's wise to be taking him to Blackriver City on his first day of service?"

"Ah, I'm sure it will be fine," Ray said. "We're going to teach him that there's no reason to be afraid of everything all the time. Especially when you've got a team to back you up and all. Good luck on your mission, you guys! I'm sure you'll learn a lot!"

"Thanks," Saura said. "We'll do our best!"

"Besides, with a name like Team Peanuts, how can you lose?" the Raichu laughed.

A second time, all the color left Saura's face. His smile became a limp, broken frown.

"…How'd you know?" he asked sadly.

"Me? Oh, whenever a new team is formed, they announce it in the bulletins," the Raichu said. "I usually don't remember the names of new teams, but this one really stood out. Great choice, you two! It's a really memorable name!"

"Thanks, I guess," Saura said, looking away.

… … …

Moments later, they'd reached the final tunnel which led out of the base. A giant marking, something which resembled a Tauros footprint, had been embedded in the wall above the tunnel entrance. Char assumed it was to signify the north-eastern exit of the base. He remembered how Scythe explained that the way they'd entered the base in the first place had a security system in the form of a hallway lined with traps, so he expected another long, boring walk through a featureless tunnel.

Along the way, Char walked among many other Pokémon, both alone and in groups, who were also heading out for the morning. Many other teams passed by as he kept near Scythe. He was impressed by the sheer number and diversity of the division's members.

"You know, I had no idea that so many Pokémon opposed the Master," Saura said. "I thought everyone just did what the Master wanted or… you know… paid the price. If I knew that there were organizations like this, I don't think I would have been so afraid of standing up to him."

"Unfortunately, it's better that the resistance remains unknown," Scythe said. "If we caused too much awareness, we'd attract attention from the Master's forces. That's why we work in teams; teams can pass themselves off as small guerrilla groups without provoking the Master's wrath. That's also why we try to limit the number of team members who go on a mission at any one time. Too many, and the Master might consider us a threat, and decide to crush us with sheer strength."

"As if the Master were the only one with sheer strength," a new voice said from beside Char.

Char turned to notice a second team of Pokémon who now walked alongside him. The team was made up of a Luxray, a Machoke, and a Grovyle. The Luxray walked in front like the leader, eying the little ones amusedly.

"So, Scythe, these are the children you've taken under your wings," the Luxray said with a powerful and proud voice. "Very nice, very nice. Consider yourselves lucky."

"We know," Saura said.

"Let me introduce myself," the Luxray said. "I'm Kain. I lead Team Absolution. Our team has… very high standards. We like to consider ourselves at the level of Scythe's team."

"They're a respectable team," Scythe said with a nod. "One of the highest ranked in this division."

"Like you?" Saura asked.

"Well, we are known for our different strengths," Scythe said. "Kain and his team are known for their unrivaled strength in battle."

"And Scythe's team is known for their tactics," Kain added. "I'd give anything to know how that mind of his works. He and Daemon single-handedly took back Wraith Falls from one of the Master's best generals. And he still to this day refuses to tell anyone how he did it. But I take every opportunity I can to learn from him. You should be sure to do the same."

So, this Team Absolution must be another well-respected team around here, Char considered. I wonder if Team Remorse considers themselves their rivals.

"I look forward to working with you two," Kain said to Char and Saura. "By the way, your—"

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Saura said, rolling his eyes. "Our name is interesting. We've heard it before."

"Hmm, have I said something wrong?" Kain asked, looking surprised. He glanced back at the Machoke, who responded with a shrug.

Char nodded respectfully to the Luxray, hoping it had not been offended by Saura's remark, and their groups parted ways soon after.


Herring Forest

Before he knew it, Char found himself walking through a lush forest, surrounded by bushy shrubs and looming trees of all shapes and sizes. Tiny, annoying bugs buzzed around his head; he struggled to swat them away and still keep a hold of his bag. A calm stream ran nearby, reflecting the dim red light of the early sun…

Wait, what? Char realized. How… did I get here?

Char was looking forward to seeing the north-eastern entrance to the base, having heard that it was "even more cleverly hidden" than the previous one, but he found that he had blacked out. Char wondered if he was more tired than he realized.

"Did you catch that?" Scythe said. "We're out of the base. The north-eastern entrance isn't all that hidden, actually. It's only a cave hidden behind a waterfall. Thing is, nobody knows where it is, because whenever you leave, Gengar and some psychic Pokémon cast a spell on you that removes your short-term memory after about twenty minutes. You'll never remember where the entrance is."

"But you can still get us back, right?" Saura asked.

"Of course," Scythe said. "Though we don't remember the location of the entrance, there are a few designated return points in the general vicinity. If we arrive at one, Gengar will escort us back into the base, before removing our memories again, of course."

"Uh… where exactly are we going today, anyway?" Saura wondered. "What's our mission?"

"Today, we're headed to a place known as Jaded Woods," Scythe explained. "It's a mystery dungeon."

"An outdoors mystery dungeon?" Char wondered.

"Yes," Scythe said. "The spell that causes dungeons can occur anywhere, whether it'd be caves, forests, plains… anywhere. No location is safe from the curse. The best we can do is track them, keep a record of known dungeons, and prepare ourselves well for when we must enter them."

"So what's the mission?" Saura asked again. "I hope it's not too hard."

"Oh, I chose an easy one for your first day," Scythe said. "Hiding somewhere near this dungeon is a handful of thieves who are responsible for many stolen item reports in this past week. We have to track them down and bag them."

"WHAT?!" Saura nearly shrieked. "That doesn't sound easy at all!"

"Trust me," Scythe said with a smile. "You'll do fine. We can sneak up on them by navigating the dungeon. That's one good thing about mystery dungeons, at least: they provide shelter and stealth, especially from the prying eyes of the Master. Inside of a dungeon you can't be found or detected by your enemies until you exit. Once we're through, all we have to do is disable them and retrieve any stolen items we can. Otherwise, they'll just end up in the hands of the Master."

Char gulped. He didn't think that sounded too easy, either. He still wasn't very excited about having to fight something stronger than himself.

"Well, if you say so," Saura said, still looking unnerved. "As long as you back us up, I guess we'll be fine."

"Of course. I'm not going anywhere," Scythe said reassuringly. "But I'd like for you to learn some things today about navigation, so try to do what you can. But for now, relax and enjoy the scenery. Jaded Woods is still about an hour's hike from here."

Somewhere in the trees, a Spearow began its morning song.


Jaded Path

Once the forest was far behind, Char and his new companions traveled a beaten path which stretched through some untamed grasslands. No other Pokémon traveled the path but them, save for the occasional Rattata that dashed across the road.

Above all, Char was worried about Saura. His attitude still hadn't recovered from the last time "Team Peanuts" was mentioned.

What can I do to help? Char asked himself. Should I talk to him? Unfortunately, I can't talk about anything that he'd really care about, like when I saw Dialga. Not with Scythe around… even if Scythe does know I'm a human. Now, what kind of talk does that leave?

Glancing up ahead, Char saw the road lurch into a vaguely bridge-like formation; there was a muddy lump of road which just barely rose above a large pool of standing water. Noticing the water, Char was struck with something to say.

"Hey, Saura, I have a question," Char said. "This flame on my tail… if it goes out, do I die?"

Char was relieved to see Saura lighten up a little bit. "Oh, no," Saura said, shaking his head. "That's a myth. Actually, it's the other way around: if you die, the flame will go out. You can't do anything to put out the flame on your own."

"Odd," Scythe said with a smirk. "You don't know about your own biology, Charmander?"

"I guess I forgot some things when I lost my memory," Char said in defense, careful not to betray himself.

Scythe shrugged, apparently accepting the answer. Char eyed him even more suspiciously now; it was more evidence that maybe he knew his secret after all.

As they were crossing the pond, Char turned his attention to the stagnant, murky water which stood below them.

So, if I put my tail into the water, it won't go out? Char wondered. That might be interesting to see. Let's try it.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahh!"

Startled, Scythe and Saura both spun around to find Char sitting at the side of the bridge, his eyes full of tears. He squeezed and wrung his flickering tail with both of his claws, the bag carelessly tossed to the side. He grunted heavily, trying to swallow the pain.

"Oh, that's just beautiful," Scythe muttered.

"Whaa! Char, what'd you do?!" Saura cried, rushing to his side. "You didn't dip your tail in the water, did you? That must hurt!"

"It stings!" Char sobbed, grabbing hold of Saura's body for consolation. "You didn't say it would hurt!"

"Char, there's a reason Charmander try to keep their tails dry," Saura cried. "Try not to do that again, will you?"

"I don't think you have to ask him," Scythe said. "I think he's learned that on his own. Char… hold your breath. It will ease the pain."

Char did so, willing to do anything to make the pain subside. He held his breath tightly, squeezing Saura hard. He felt himself holding back the fire in his belly, letting it boil. The heat filled his body, giving him a small bit of comfort. His tail flame struggled and tried to restore itself to its former size.

"Ugh," Char groaned, releasing the breath and trying to return to his feet. "T-thanks."

"You're welcome," Scythe said. "I was once partners with a Charizard who taught me some things. Now… can you walk? Let's try to keep going. The rest of the pain will only go away with time."

Char found that he could walk, but only if he used Saura for support. Scythe gathered up the fallen bag and used the back of his blade to sling it onto his shoulder.

"I'll carry this for a while," Scythe said. "You can take it easy. Next time, try asking a few more questions before doing something that violates common sense."

Char only nodded, his face locked in a woeful cringe that wouldn't go away.

… … …

Char's breathing remained heavy until the last of the sting in his tail faded away and his flame had regained its usual flare. He was sure to take his newfound fear of water to heart; the memory of that particular, harsh surge of stinging was slow to leave his mind. He still felt scarred from the experience.

On the final leg of the journey, Char warily followed his teammates into a strange new place. It was a forest, but there was something sinister about it; it became strangely gloomy the farther they went in. Tree limbs sagged low, bringing many branches covered with curling leaves down to Char's eye level. The leaves were strange; they were covered in brown spots, and looked almost like they were halfway ‑ dead even on the tree branch. Tree trunks, although standing, were covered in rot. Char started to feel a little fearful.

"We're almost there," Scythe announced. "See, the curse of the mystery dungeon affects nature itself. This forest is caught in a state between dead and alive."

"This is so strange," Saura said, cringing as he glanced at the surroundings. "These trees are… decomposing. They look like they're about to fall on us at any time. Euugh."

"Keep your eyes on your path," Scythe warned. "These trees will stand. The wild Pokémon are more important to look out for."

"What kind of wild Pokémon?" Char asked, gripping the bag which Scythe had given back to him.

"Many plant-type Pokémon defend their territory in this place, as well as a few ghost-type Pokémon," Scythe said.

I hope they're weak, Char thought with a cringe. Even those ghost Pokémon back at the base were powerful. I wouldn't want to fight a strong one…

"The plant Pokémon should be no problem for you two," Scythe said. "The ghosts… might pose a problem. But that's why I'm here."

Soon, a dark, brooding feeling emanated from the forest beyond. The tree branches hung around awkwardly, almost completely lifeless now, and a dark haze settled over the canopy which filtered out a lot of the sunlight.

"We're here," Scythe said. "Take just a few more steps forward, and we will be ensnared in the dungeon. Are you ready?"

"We're ready," Saura said confidently, nodding with Char. "Let's do this."

*Chapter 9*: Chapter 8: Jaded Woods

Chapter 8

Jaded Woods S1

The sunlight was tinted green as it fell through the treetops of the Jaded Woods, adding to the eerie scene of a forest in the very midst of decomposition. The air was thick and heavy with powerful smells. The sound of chirping birds was scarce, but animal roars periodically sounded in the distance. The small team had entered the mystery dungeon now, and there was no going back.

With a friend at one side and a powerful warrior at his other, Char knew he didn't have too much to fear… except for the looming thought that someday, perhaps someday soon, he and Saura would be doing quests like these all on their own with no guardian to guide them.

"Now, focus," Scythe said in a serious tone. "We must find our path to the next section of this forest. It's a mystery dungeon, so although I have been through this forest several times before, I cannot tell you which way to go. All we can do is search. If we go the wrong direction, we'll find ourselves walking in circles and be trapped in this place."

"So if we find ourselves back where we started, we have to take another route," Saura said. "I got it."

"Good," Scythe said, gesturing for them to lead the way. "Now, let's see what you know about navigation."

Char lead the group forward, taking each step with care and constantly analyzing his perspective of the environment. He started to notice many individual features of the forest that seemed unusual, almost alien to him. In places, colorless sticks covered in thorns shot up from the forest floor, and in others, gray rocks covered with rusty-red moss sat embedded in the ground, threatening to trip him up. Some trees were wrapped in soggy brown vines, sprouting bright green flowers which almost looked like eyes.

"See those flowers?" Scythe said, pointing to the green blossoms. "Poison. Stay away from them. Just one touch and you'll break out in enormous hives. Well, except for Saura. He has poison in his blood; he could wallow around in them and he wouldn't be affected. You and I, on the other hand, we're powerless to stop it from infecting us."

Heeding his advice, Char steered clear of the tree. Looking around, he noticed that this same vine lived on many trees and even on the forest floor in some places, forming entire patches of flowers. Choosing the path that avoided the green flowers, Char continued on.

The deeper Char pressed into the forest, the stranger things became. There were plants which sprouted roots into the air instead of the ground, huge seeds the size of rocks with bites taken out of them, and trees which sprouted colorful fruits, half of which were covered in mold. As he was gazing upon this wonder, he stepped on a rotten piece of fruit which had fallen from the tree. With a squish, his foot became soaked in grime. He groaned, raising his foot from the sticky puddle.

"Another thing," Scythe said. "Traversing a dungeon such as this will leave you hungry far faster than normal."

"We know," Saura said. "Char and I know that all too well already."

"Then you understand how to search for food?" Scythe asked. "We've packed some food in the bag already, but food is common in some dungeons, and we must always take precautions. While you sometimes might underestimate the size of a dungeon, if you've been gathering food along the way, it won't be an issue."

"Right," Saura said. "So…"

"He's talking about this tree," Char sighed, rubbing his foot in the leaves to clean it. "This fruit looks edible. Saura, help me look around on the ground for one that isn't rotten."

Char looked, but he couldn't find anything viable to eat. It seemed that the proper color of this fruit was pink, and the under-ripe ones which had fallen from the branches prematurely were green, and the rotten ones were every other color in between (not to mention swarming with flies).

"Find anything?" Char asked as he searched around on the opposite side of the tree.

"Uh… not yet," Saura responded. "Everything's rotting. Maybe if we could climb the tree, we could—"

Crash!

A reasonably-sized branch, dotted with ripe fruits, crashed to the ground between them. The base of the branch had been cut cleanly and perfectly round. Not a second later, Scythe landed back on his feet and folded his wings.

"Saves us some trouble," he said. "Go ahead, grab some fruit. Take a few; we didn't bring any of these ourselves. We might need them later."

Char did as he was told and began to inspect the fruit on the branch.

"Careful, a lot of these still look grimy," Saura warned. "They'd probably make you so sick if you tried to eat them."

"You're right," Scythe said, "but that probably wouldn't stop you from eating a rotten one if you were starving to death. Shander and I were once in a position like that. It wasn't pretty, but it saved our lives. Now, Shander always insists on gathering some bad food even if we have plenty of good food. We've never had to resort to those kinds of desperate measures again, but we usually just throw them at the wild Pokémon. For amusement."


Jaded Woods S2

The morning sun shined brightly among a cloudy sky as Char traveled deeply into the forest.

Scythe continued to follow along quietly behind the team wherever they would choose to go. Char started getting a little unnerved by the feeling of Scythe's gaze burning into the back of his head; the warrior never ceased to watch him, examine his every movement, and wait for the right moments to give his advice.

I know he's only here to keep an eye on us, Char thought. But this feeling that he's always watching me and judging me is a little uncomfortable. Especially if he knows I'm a human… But if he knows I'm a human, why doesn't he just say so? Why are we playing this little game? Then again, if I know he knows, why don't I just tell him myself? Ugh… I don't know. I just get the funny feeling that I shouldn't…

"Hey, wait," Saura suddenly said, stopping in his tracks.

"Something wrong?" Char asked, stopping with him.

"I can't tell," Saura said, glancing around. "I don't know, but I just got this weird feeling"

"Your instincts serve you well," Scythe hummed. "Now, focus. See if you can understand what your intuition is trying to say. Maybe you noticed a subtle change in the environment?"

Char inspected his environment closely. The trees seemed no different. The shrubs sprouting from the ground were in the same shapes and proportions as before. But the ground itself was tilted. Looking down the slope, he could see a tiny water-filled gorge flowing a fair distance away. Struggle though he may, he couldn't see what Scythe had so cleverly noticed…

"The leaves," Saura eventually noticed. "There aren't any leaves on the forest floor. They've all been… cleaned. Just like… oh, no."

"What? What is it?!" Char begged.

Wide-eyed and taking careful steps, Saura descended the hill. He kept himself aligned with trees, as if to hide from something.

"What?" Char begged again. "Please tell me! It's a wild Pokémon, isn't it?"

Still wordless, Saura crept through the trees, keeping himself low and hiding in the bushes wherever possible. Char followed.

"There," Saura said quietly. "Look."

Glancing around a tree, Char saw it: in the side of the shallow hill, there was a hole in the earth. A trench had been dug around it to shelter it from sight. Some of the water from the stream gently flowed up through the impression, pooling into a calm little puddle near the hole.

Standing at the side of the stream, taking a drink, was a Bulbasaur.

"See," Scythe whispered, "the feeling he had must have been familiarity. This is a Bulbasaur den."

"Huh," Saura said. "It's so weird to see another Bulbasaur here. Do you think we'll have to fight it?"

"Probably, unless we avoid it," Scythe said. "Not that I don't think you two could be able to beat it. It'd probably be a good exercise."

"Uh, I don't know…" Saura said hesitantly. "I don't know if I'd be able to fight another one of my own kind. It'd feel so…"

"Uh?!" the wild Bulbasaur shouted.

Startled, Char turned to look. The Bulbasaur had noticed them.

"Well, looks like you've got no choice now," Scythe sighed. "Better go get the first strike while you can."

Char gulped. He tried to heed Scythe's advice, but his body didn't want to move.

"Grrrrrrrrrr…." The Bulbasaur growled, turning to them and taking a hostile pose. Slowly, it started to walk toward them…

To Char's surprise, Saura lunged first. He jumped from the shrubs, lashing out with his vines and brutally whipping the enemy. The Bulbasaur took the brunt of the attack and was knocked aside. It quickly rolled back to its feet, but Saura jumped on it, sending both of them tumbling dangerously close to the running stream.

"Raaaaa!" The wild Bulbasaur yelled in frustration, throwing off Saura.

Saura quickly got back to his feet. He jumped forward, producing a flurry of tiny leaves from his seed which soon engulfed the enemy and knocked it backward into the puddle. After thrashing in the shallow water for a few moments, the Bulbasaur leaped up and landed on the shore. It now had many small cuts across its body, but it gritted its teeth and continued to stand its ground.

With an angry cry, the Bulbasaur produced vines of its own and slapped back at Saura with them. Before Saura could react, it had wrapped the vines around his body.

"Augh!" Saura cried as the Bulbasaur lifted it into the air.

The Bulbasaur slammed Saura against a nearby tree. Then, it somehow fired a series of small projectiles, too fast to be seen with the eye, at its captive target.

"Ow! Ow ow!" Saura yelped as the bullets punctured his skin. "W… what was that?! What did it just do to me?"

Saura struggled to free himself, but the Bulbasaur held on and slammed him back down to the ground.

Furious, Saura sprouted his vines and reached for the enemy. His attack connected, and soon, both Bulbasaur were held in an awkward stalemate as they each constricted the other.

"Char, you could help, you know!" Saura yelled, locked in the tug-of-war.

Char hesitated, his stomach tied in a knot from watching the confrontation.

"Go," Scythe commanded. "Don't just stand and watch. Help him. Your fire could end this match in a heartbeat."

My fire! Char remembered. I keep forgetting… it's such a weird ability, being able to breathe fire. Now… how do I summon it?

He remembered how it felt when he used it on the Spearow a few days earlier, and again when he almost attacked Eva, and especially when he first tried to escape from Scythe. He remembered the fire burning in his belly, fueled by his anger, begging to be discharged from his mouth.

Char jumped out of the shrubs to confront the enemy Bulbasaur. It winced, seeing that it now had two opponents, but kept its hold on Saura. Char took a deep breath and reached for the fire inside of him…

…But, for some reason, he couldn't find it.

He stood before the enemy Bulbasaur for several moments, searching for his fire. He tried to imagine the flame in his belly flaring up, ready to be breathed out… but again, it didn't happen.

"Char, what's wrong?!" Saura demanded as he struggled. "Attack, already!"

"I… don't know how!" Char cried. "My fire… it isn't there! I can't use it!"

Char was confused. Was it an instinctual response, perhaps only activated by extreme peril? Was it linked to other feelings that he couldn't yet identify?

"Char, do something!" Saura cried as the enemy Bulbasaur found a wave of strength and squeezed him tightly.

Char charged at the Bulbasaur. He tackled it, swiping with his claws and leaving gashes in the enemy's side. The enemy twitched violently and threw Char off, but its own hold on Saura didn't waver. It glared angrily at Char, as if ready to lash out at him with its teeth.

Suddenly, Char had an idea.

"Yaaaaaaaaah!" Char bellowed, rushing at the Bulbasaur again. He leaped and spun in the air, swatting the Bulbasaur's face with the flat of his tail.

The Bulbasaur caught on fire.

"Aaaaggg! Aaaaag!" yelped the Bulbasaur, suddenly feeling the excruciating burn on its shoulder. It released its hold on Saura and tried to bat Char away with its vines, but Saura acted quickly and lifted the creature off the ground. He sent it flying into the river, and it hit the muddy water with a squish. A little cloud of steam rose into the air as the fire went out.

When it re-oriented itself, it seemed content to sit, humiliated, at the edge of the water. It made no move to continue battling.

"Ah, ha," Scythe laughed warmly. "I think it's had enough. You did well."

"That wasn't too hard," Saura said, panting. "It's still weird to be fighting a brother, though."

"Well, you can't take anything for granted in a place like this," Scythe said. "If you meet an enemy, regardless of what kind of Pokémon it is, you must defeat it in battle or run away from it. They will all see you as a hostile and try to fight back. But, as you travel and become more experienced, you will learn to spot the signs of the different Pokémon habitats and avoid them if you want to conserve your strengths."

Warily, Saura stepped up to the tired little Bulbasaur. Now that it wasn't moving around, he saw that it was smaller than himself. He watched it as it gave itself a bath in the water, nursing its wounds and grumbling to itself.

"Hey, bro…" Saura said. "You take care of yourself, okay?"

"Grrrrrrr…" it responded with a scowl.

"Saura, let's keep going," Char suggested. "If we stay too long, it might attack again."

Somewhat reluctantly, Saura turned from the creature and returned to his team. Together, they progressed farther into the forest.


Jaded Woods S4

Getting to the next part of the forest wasn't as easy as it had been so far. Char and Saura had gotten into a scuffle with a Rattata, knocked out a feral Shroomish, recovered from a surprising ambush by a Seedot, and spent an hour wandering around in circles before Scythe finally pointed out the right way. With a bit of humiliation, Char and Saura marched onward into the fourth sector of the mysterious dungeon.

"Hey, Scythe," Saura said, trying to lighten the mood as they walked down a steep hill. "I've always wondered something. How do these Pokémon survive in mystery dungeons? I mean, they look like they're just living in their own natural habitat, but… how can that be, if their environment is always changing?"

"Nobody knows," Scythe answered. "Nobody knows."

"Really?" Saura said. "Not even a guess?"

"Our best guess is that the wild Pokémon who live in the cursed dungeons… have become part of the anomaly itself," Scythe speculated. "As far as we can tell, none of the wild Pokémon understand that their environment is unusual. We've inducted many wild Pokémon we've found in dungeons into society… and none of them could shed any light on the matter, either."

"Huh," Saura said. "That's… weird."

"Hence, mystery dungeons," Scythe said. "We might learn about the rules and patterns which govern them, but in the end, they just don't seem to make sense, no matter how you look at it."

When they reached the bottom of the hill, the forest opened up into a tiny, somewhat shaded clearing. Taking a careful step around a poisonous flower vine, Char entered the area. A single ray of tinted sunlight pierced the canopy, and a rather large, white, table-like rock rested on the opposite end of the space.

"Speaking of which, this dungeon is starting to take its toll on my stomach," Scythe announced. "How about you?"

"Well, now that you mentioned it, I think I am getting a little hungry," Saura said.

"Me, too," said Char, putting a hand on his stomach.

"Well, in that case, let's take a little break to eat," Scythe suggested. "That rock looks like a good place to rest. Char?"

Char nodded and hefted the bag high onto his shoulder, heading for the rock.

Crunch!

Before Char had time to wonder where the sound came from, the ground below him simply gave away. With a yelp, he tumbled head-over-tail down into a pit of darkness. For a split second, he tried to grab for something—anything—to hold, but all he caught was a piece of the broken debris that used to be part of the ground as it rained down around him.

Splunk!

Char landed headfirst in a puddle of something. It didn't smell nice, and it was… extremely sticky. The substance immediately glued his arms and legs together, and he found it rather difficult to move his body. Groaning, he decided to rest for a second before trying to struggle for freedom.

"Char!" Saura and Scythe yelled in unison from up above.

"I'm here," Char squeaked, lifting his muzzle out of the goop. "I'm okay, I think. I might need some help getting out of here, though."

Out of the corner of his eye, Char saw Saura and Scythe peer over the edge of the pit.

"No!" Scythe growled. "The bag fell in, too…"

Char craned his neck to the side. Indeed, the fallen bag sat next to him in the ooze. It was wide open, too… a pear, a cloth, and one of the fruits they'd picked from the tree earlier had tumbled out and now sat in the substance, hopelessly covered in it.

Saura's vines encircled him underneath the elbows, and Char felt a pleasant tug on his body as Saura tried to pull him out. Scythe climbed down into the pit, digging his blades into the dirt wall to keep from falling in. He carefully lifted the bag from the sludge, causing another apple to tumble out. He shook his head in shame.

When they'd finally gotten both Char and the bag back to the surface, they stared incredulously down into the pit and at the now-useless items sitting in it.

"What a waste," Scythe sighed.

"What is that?!" Char demanded, limping around and trying to cope with the sticky green blotches covering him.

"A pitfall trap," Scythe explained. "Some of the more intelligent Pokémon set them around to impede intruders. I'm sorry I didn't notice it, I guess I was too focused on my stomach… eh, well, just be thankful it wasn't one with poisonous spikes at the bottom…"

Char blinked. He didn't even want to know those kinds of traps existed.

"Just take a bath in the next stream we find," Scythe instructed to Char. "It takes work, but that stuff will come off eventually. Just… try not to submerge your tail this time."

Despite the disruption, the three sat down at the rock and had their snack. However… there were only three pieces of food left in the bag: one apple, and two of the fruits they had harvested from the tree. Scythe insisted that Char and Saura split the apple, and that he could press on without eating for the time being.

After continuing on for a time, the team got into a fight with a wild Gloom. Saura fought it off, as Char's toes were still sticking to the ground with every step.

About twenty minutes later, a pond of standing water finally presented itself. Char was still more than a little squeamish about getting in the water, though, and Saura practically had to shove him in. It took almost an hour for Char to get all of the gunk off his skin.


Jaded Woods S6

The team had come a long way through the forest and had fought at least a dozen battles with wild Pokémon, but the forest still wasn't short of surprises for them.

As they reached the beginning of their sixth mile, Char's stomach started to growl again. The half of an apple he ate wasn't nearly as much food as he wanted. But he considered, each time his stomach groaned, how much hungrier Scythe must have been…

"How much farther, do you think?" Char asked, resisting the urge to complain about his belly.

"We're far over halfway there," Scythe estimated. "Jaded Woods is only about seven miles wide."

"How do you know we'll get the thieves when we leave the forest?" Saura asked. "Couldn't they be, you know, anywhere at all?"

"Bandits like to build their hideouts near the edges of Mystery Dungeons," Scythe said. "That way, nobody comes after them for fear of getting trapped in the dungeon. Except for us, the exploration teams, of course. I have a good idea of where they probably are, but if not, they shouldn't be too hard to track down. I'll show you how to look for them."

The team ventured through a particularly dark patch of the woods. The trees above shrouded the sky with many layers of canopy, turning the surroundings a deep, dark green. Char even started to see the light from his tail as it flickered across the tree trunks and rocks he walked by.

"Huh," Scythe said all of a sudden. "Wasn't expecting this."

"Uh… what?" Char asked worriedly.

"Look ahead of us," Scythe said, pointing forward. His face contained a satisfied smile.

Char looked. A single, low-hanging branch stood out among the row of trees. It was dotted with large fruit.

"Ah, an apple tree?" Saura said excitedly. "Wow! Let's eat! I can't imagine how famished you must be, Scythe. I know I'm really hungry."

"Wait, wait," Scythe said. "Remember what happened last time we lost sight of our path for food. Mistakes are meaningless unless you learn from them."

Char stepped aside to let Scythe check the area for the dreaded pitfall traps. Once he assured them it was all clear, they proceeded to the much-desired food…

Sorting through branches of the moldy and half-bruised fruit, Char searched for something to satisfy his restless stomach. The apple tree was like the rest of the forest—less than healthy—but there were plenty of bright red apples among the bad. He found a good one and picked it, only to turn it around and find that a large red caterpillar was already feasting on it. He tossed it aside to look for another.

"Excellent!" Scythe roared, slashing down a whole branch for himself. "We got lucky this time. Now we can make this last leg of our journey a strong one! Eat your heart out!" He skewered an apple on the end of his blade and devoured it.

"Wow!" Saura said, pulling down an apple for himself. "I guess we got lucky, Char!"

Still searching for an acceptable apple, Char pushed his branch out of the way in favor of another one. But as he reached up, he suddenly noticed something else entirely. A nearby tree, only a small distance behind the apple tree, sprouted large blue fruit. And it was fruit he recognized, too…

No way! Char thought. Is that an oran berry tree? Aren't those the fruits that heal you? I think there was one in the bag… but we could use more than that, couldn't we?

"Hey, Saura! Scythe!" Char called, wandering closer to the tree. "Look at this!"

"What?" Saura asked, his mouth full of apple.

"I think it's an oran berry tree!" Char exclaimed. "Should we pick some?"

"Oran berries? Sure!" Scythe said, swallowing a big bite. "We can never have enough of those. Just be careful. Keep an eye out for anything that might be dangerous—wait."

Char approached the tree, looking for a berry close enough to pick. The berries sprouted under large, green leaves in huge clusters near the end of branches. There was something else, though: some vines dangled among the branches, some green and others red. He followed them with his eyes… right to a conveniently low-hanging branch.

"Char?" Scythe called, looking up from his food. "Are you sure those are oran berries?"

"I think so," Char said, reaching for a berry from the branch.

"Char! Wait!" Scythe called.

Like the speed of light, Scythe opened his wings and launched himself toward Char… But it was too late.

As Char reached for the fruit, his hand brushed up against the red vine. He noticed how the vine twitched oddly around his claw…

"Schluuuuurk!"

A feral roar struck fear into Char's heart.

Before he could blink, Char was slammed to the side. He found himself lying on the ground with a throbbing sensation in his head. Scythe stood over him, panting nervously.

"Char, that was close," Scythe said. "Get up!"

"W…" Char started

"Get up!" Scythe repeated. "We have another battle on our hands."

"Schluuurk!" The roar sounded again, louder and angrier this time.

Baffled, Char looked back at the tree. Hanging from the branches was a horrible-looking creature, attached by the same red and green vines his claw brushed against. A massive, thorn-covered head hung at the end of the vines, gashing its ridiculously long teeth at the air where Char was.

"Carnivine," Scythe hissed. "Char, you were almost done for! If it captures you in its mouth, nothing can make it let go. They like to live in chesto trees and eat any Pokémon who try to take the fruit."

Twitching wildly, the Carnivine dropped to the ground.

"Watch out for its mouth," Scythe warned, taking a battle stance. "It attacks fast. It'll still try to eat you. Char! Keep your distance! It still wants you!"

"W—what do I do?" Char stuttered.

Char instinctively took a step backward, and Scythe lowered a blade in front of him. "Let me take care of this one," he declared. "Stay away from it!"

Wings buzzing, Scythe dashed forward at the enemy. He moved so fast, Char couldn't even see him for a moment. But the Carnivine jerked out of the way, narrowly dodging the attack. Char recoiled at the sudden movements and took yet another step away.

"Saura! No!" Scythe yelled, noticing Saura rushing forward and trying to give assistance. "I'll handle this. Stay away!"

Scythe hovered in the air above the Carnivine for a few moments. With the same blinding speed as before, he dove down and slashed at the creature, narrowly missing as it dodged and leaving a deep gash in the ground. The Carnivine catapulted itself up at him, but Scythe parried the attack with crossed blades and countered by slicing off one of its tentacles.

"Char! Look out!" Saura cried.

With its spine-chilling scream, the Carnivine launched itself straight for Char. Char leapt backward in panic as Saura sprouted vines in an attempt to defend him… but Scythe shot by, swiping at the Carnivine again with his blades, and sliced Saura's vines apart.

"Auughh!" Saura cried in surprise, retracting what was left of his vines.

"Get out of my way!" Scythe yelled again.

Re-appearing from his agile movements, Scythe lunged at the enemy and finally connected. A big, horrible gash appeared in the side of the foe's head, and its left leaf hung by a thread. It roared in protest.

Char couldn't take it anymore. It was too much. He panicked and dove for cover behind the nearest tree he could find, leaving Scythe to battle for him. Once he convinced himself he was safe, he peered around the tree to watch the battle take place. Scythe's movements were indescribably swift, but the Carnivine's erratic moments kept it free from damage most of the time. Still, Char was confident that Scythe would prevail. Saura soon joined him in his hiding place, not wanting to further get in the warrior's way as he fought.

"I can't believe you almost got eaten!" he gasped. "This place is really dangerous! I guess we'll have to learn what Carnivine look like—Oh, no!"

"What now?" Char asked, turning to him.

"Char, aren't these the poisonous flowers?!"

Char looked down. He immediately recognized the green, eye-like flowers that Scythe pointed out earlier. And not just one, but a whole patch of them. He was laying in them, his whole body covered in their leaves and petals, and hadn't even noticed.

After that, Char didn't remember much of what happened… only that he tried to move his body, but failed, and that he tried to scream for help, but no sound came out… His vision swirled as reality seemed to fade away…

*Chapter 10*: Chapter 9: Team X

Chapter 9

Dialga?

Though the vision was cloudy… Char knew it was the same vision as before.

Surrounded in a white nothingness, the glorious dragon Dialga stood before him, bowing its long, silver-lined head. Still, despite the feeling that Dialga was telling him something of immense importance, Char heard nothing.

This isn't just some dream, Char determined. It's something from my memory. I remember this happening to me! But… why can't I remember anything else? What is Dialga doing to me? What's he saying?

But then, in the midst of the whiteness, a new object appeared floating in the air in front of Char. It, too, was gleaming with supernatural light, so much so that Char couldn't tell what it was.

All he could tell was that it was round and about the size of his fist.

His heart began to pump viciously at the memory of this object. It was an object of importance. Grave importance. But… what was it?

I think… I might know what this is! Char exclaimed to himself. I know what this is! It's… It's… Wait, I remember this! I really do!

I know it's something… Something I'm here for? Something I came to get? Something I brought with me, maybe? It's got to be something like that.

Unfortunately, just when it started to feel closer, the memories began to fade away.

No, wait! Come back! Char pleaded. No! Why, oh, why is it ending now? I was so close to remembering!

But try as he might, he couldn't stop the white shadow from sinking into the black bowels of his mind's eye. Soon, Dialga's luminous blue form became nothing but an outline, an etching in his head.

Come… back… Char pleaded again, reaching for the memory that he could no longer grasp.

… … …

The sounds of voices swirled around him, reminding him of the reality he was returning to.

He remembered the poisonous flowers which infected him during his mission with Scythe and Saura. He felt himself reflexively swallowing something cold, presumably medicine, that'd been shoved into his mouth…

"See? He's going to be fine," a voice said. "He's already starting to move."

Is that Scythe? Char wondered. Where am I? ... We didn't abort the mission because of me, did we? I hope not!

Char's eyes blinked open momentarily. Seeing a blur of dark green, he knew he was still in the forest. For a moment, he felt much better knowing that his first mission wasn't a failure because of his stupid mistake. Though, he couldn't help but wonder how long he'd been passed out. Blinking again, an image of Saura's face flashed before him, looking like he was about to force something into his mouth.

"Hey, Char, how're you feeling?" Saura said, giving him a yellow piece of fruit with fuzzy, pink skin. "You were poisoned pretty bad."

"I feel great," Char responded, taking the piece of fruit into his mouth and trying to sit up. "How long was I out?"

"Less than a minute," Scythe said, stepping up and kneeling beside him. "I took care of the Carnivine as fast as I could, then Saura told me what happened."

Feeling good enough to return to his feet, Char noticed that, indeed, they hadn't moved from the place the battle had been fought. He noticed the poor Carnivine, almost completely dismembered, lying next to a tree trunk and ingraining its roots into the soil to re-grow.

"Remember that tree where we got the fruit earlier?" Scythe said. "It's pecha fruit. Eating them can purge most poisons from the body. Very useful. You only needed a few bites, and here you are, good as new. There wasn't any reason to worry. Although, I'd finish the rest of it, just in case."

The fruit left a very sweet taste in his mouth, almost sickeningly sweet, as it went down his throat. Saura handed him the other half of the pecha fruit, looking infinitely relieved that he was better.

Though Char still felt rattled, he was able to follow Scythe and continue the journey, the old warrior taking over the job of leading the team for the time being.

"I guess I've got a long way to go before I become like Team Remorse and never make any mistakes," Char muttered after swallowing a big bite of the fruit.

"You're well on your way," Scythe said with a smile. "After all, the one who makes no mistakes is the one who has already made all the mistakes in the world. You've learned a valuable lesson today about spotting a certain type of enemy, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Char said, "and one about watching where I dive for cover."

"Well done," Scythe said. "Of course, Team Remorse makes mistakes every now and then. There isn't a Pokémon who doesn't. Remember how I didn't spot the pitfall trap earlier? Remember how I slashed Saura's vines apart in the battle? I can get clumsy sometimes. Again, Saura, I'm very sorry about that."

"Don't worry," Saura said. "It didn't hurt, after all. And they're already starting to grow back."

"Really? You didn't feel that?" Char asked, eating another bite of the pecha fruit.

"I only feel the tips of the vines," Saura explained. "And I'm glad for that, too. It wasn't the first time they got cut. Once, I even got them tied in a big knot…"

"But regardless, these mistakes pale in comparison to some," Scythe continued, gaining a strength in his voice. "Mistakes such as… misjudging the strength of the enemy. Incorrectly predicting where the enemy will attack. Forgetting where your alliances truly lie, or trusting those who should not be trusted. Mistakes that cost Pokémon their lives. The mistakes we made today were reparable. Many in life, especially for a resistance team, are not."


Empirical Falls

Elsewhere, in a well-concealed cave next to a riverbed, a Seviper sat curled up in the shadows and waited. He occasionally glanced around at the sizable piles of possessions which surrounded him.

"Where is that idiot?" it hissed, uncoiling itself from restlessness. "I swear, if he doesn't come back in two hours—"

Not a moment too soon, a second Pokémon, a Croagunk, bolted into the cave. It stood for a moment to recollect itself and catch its breath, then brandished two items it was holding: a gold-colored cup, and a smaller, circular piece of jewelry.

"Where were you?!" the Seviper nearly exploded, leaping at him.

"Just getting these," it answered, ignoring the serpent's anger and tossing the items into the corner along with the rest of the junk. "What? You should be proud of me!"

"Croagunk, you don't seem to get the idea. We hunt at night, under the cover of Watchers. We retreat in the sunlight. Why is that such a hard concept for you to grasp?!"

"Shut it," croaked the oversized frog as it sat down to lounge on the floor. "Heh heh, look at you. Getting all fussy just because I decided to pull some overtime? You should be thankful. It was your fault we didn't get anything done last night."

"Besides the point!" the viper spat. "Is it worth risking being spotted? At this time of day, they could be sending police to come get us at this very moment! Or maybe they even reported us to one of those blasted 'resistance forces'! Then what? We'd have to run, we'd lose all our work from the past month, and… what do you think the boss would say? We'd be better off just running away and never coming back."

"Quit worrying so much," the Croagunk sighed, closing its eyes. "There isn't one Pokémon in all of Iron Town with half a brain enough to come after us."

"Would you bet your life on it?!" the viper demanded. "Or do you think this is just some kind of a game? Going out in the daytime is dangerous. You might as well just tell the boss his face looks funny."

The Seviper slithered over to the corner where the golden cup had landed. He inspected it.

"By the way…" it grumbled. "Being out in the sunlight and all, you did make sure nobody was following you… right?"

… … …

"See?" Scythe said from behind a rock, pointing out the cave entrance to Char and Saura. "Told you they'd be easy to spot."

Saura peered over the rock. "Wow, that was pretty easy," he said, surprised.

"Well, this particular bunch wasn't really trying," Scythe laughed. "Now, let's go and meet them. If they're as bad at battling as they are at stealth, I bet even you two could take them out."

"Uh… I'm not so sure," Saura said with a frown. "That Croagunk looked strong… shouldn't you take them out instead?"

"Yes," Scythe said. "But it doesn't mean you're not going to help. Now, get ready for a lesson, you two… I'm about to teach you one of the oldest tricks in the book."

… … …

"Hey!" a voice yelled from outside the cave.

The Seviper jumped up at the sound, scowling.

"Croagunk!" it hissed. "Did you hear something?"

"Go back to sleep," the Croagunk mumbled. "It's probably just—errrrk!"

The Seviper clamped down on the frog's arm with its sharp fangs, causing it to jump wide awake.

"Was that necessary?!" It blasted in rage, rubbing its arm.

Before it could say another word, the voice outside the cave sounded again.

"Hey! You!" it called.

"Impossible!" the Croagunk scoffed. "I checked all around. Unless they came through the Jaded Woods…"

Both waited in silence, cowering around the corner. More calls came, louder each time. The Croagunk clenched its fists, realizing that, yes, there were intruders.

"Someone's here!" the Seviper hissed. "You did let someone follow us, didn't you!? You…"

"Wait, wait," the Croagunk said, holding up its hand to silence the snake. Very carefully, it peeked around the corner to glance outside, only to see a Charmander and a Bulbasaur standing at the cave entrance.

"We know you're in there!" Saura called.

"It's just some kids," the frog scoffed. "Heh heh, boy, did they pick the wrong Pokémon to follow. Relax. They'll be a cinch to deal with."

"Good, because now that they've found us, we don't have a choice," the Seviper hissed in annoyance.

Adopting a cocky and confident stance, the Croagunk marched out of the cave and into the sunlight. Seeing his greater size, Char felt a twinge of fear as the frog stepped up to him. Like Saura, it, too, was a creature of poison. All Char knew was that he didn't want to be poisoned again.

"Well, hi, you kids," it said evilly. "Is there somethin' I can do for you?"

"You're a thief!" Saura said fearlessly, stepping closer to him.

"And you're annoying little kids who sound like you know too much," the Croagunk replied. "Is that all you came to tell me?"

"W-we came to get back what you stole!" Char said awkwardly, trying to join the act alongside Saura. "So… surrender, or we'll fight you!"

"Yeah, you heard him!" Saura shouted. "Give us back your stuff!"

*Croak!*

The Croagunk's cheeks inflated, emitting a frightening sound that intimidated Char and made him want to run.

"For your information, we're Team X, and we never return what we take!" it said, stepping even closer to Saura and sizing him up.

"Well, we're Team Peanuts, and we never go down without a fight!" Saura returned. "So, what'll it be, huh?"

"Heh. Heh heh. Heh heh heh! *Croak!* " The Croagunk laughed. "Is this some kind of joke? You actually want to fight me, don't you? You think you have a chance? Team X is undefeated!"

"You can't beat us," Char said, forcing out all the feeling he could manage. "Your poison is powerless against him, and my fire will burn you to a crisp!"

"So, you've done your homework, eh?" it replied. "Heh. Funny kids. Think you know everything. Well, yeah, sure, if you were lucky, you'd be able to beat me. But I'm not all there is, you see?… Seviper! Come on out, why don't you? There's some kids out here who want to meet you!"

"Oh, no!" Saura cried. "There's… a Seviper, too?"

Char wore his best expression of fear—which was at least partially sincere. He turned to the cave to watch for the Seviper who would inevitably be emerging…

*SLASH!*

*SLASH!*

In the blink of an eye, both the Croagunk and the Seviper were now somehow sprawled out across the rocks, moaning in agony. Long, red cuts covered their bodies. Scythe stood over the viper, blades raised. All he'd needed was for both enemies to be drawn out of the cave—a task that Char and Saura had performed admirably.

"Takes care of them," Scythe commented, folding his wings and turning his attention to the cave. "Good work, you two. Good distraction. Let this be a lesson: if your enemies don't know how strong you are, there's no limit to what you can do with them. It is one of the most important and basic mechanics of war. Now… let's see what kind of loot these thugs have hidden here."

Even though Char was expecting Scythe's attack, his mouth was still hanging wide open at the display of his speed. Both the enemies, for all their talk, were now on the brink of unconsciousness and looked like they were welcoming it. The Croagunk's own poison oozed out from its sliced sacs, and the Seviper's body was contorted into an indescribably awful shape. Both were still bleeding profusely.

"No, Char, I didn't kill them," Scythe said, anticipating his question and motioning for him to follow him into the cave. "While there are times when you must kill your enemy, this wasn't one of them, and I prefer not to finish my opponents unless it is truly necessary."

"Huh," Char nodded. "So… they'll heal?"

"Char, who cares?" Saura said. "They're thieves. Let's go take their stuff before it's too late."

… … …

The inside of the cave was like a garbage heap, filled with mounds of carelessly tossed-aside valuables mixed with useless scraps and trinkets. Some of it sparkled, some of it leaked, most of it was broken or scratched. Char gazed upon the handiwork of the thieves with wonder, doubtful they'd be able to rescue it all in a single trip.

"Amazing," Saura gasped. "So this is what a thieves' den looks like. I wonder where all of this was stolen from?"

"All across the countryside, probably," Scythe said, sifting through the junk. "These guys have been around. I've met them before, never saw them as any sort of threat. I thought it would make a good practice mission for you two."

"So, what now?" Char asked, gazing into the reflection of something shiny in a nearby heap of possessions. "Do we take it all back?"

"No," Scythe said. "Right now, we're going to load up our bag with the most valuable things we can find here and take them back to the base. After that, we'll report the location of this cave so that all the citizens of Ambera can rebel against the thieves on their own terms. The thieves are probably in league with the Master, but nothing can save them if the local Pokémon find them out. They'll have no choice but to run away."

"And if they run, they'll take their most valuable possessions with them," Saura said with a nod. "That's why we've got to find them now. I get it!"

"You're learning," Scythe said with a smile. "Now, help me search for things worth taking."

Char dove into the nearest pile, tossing aside things that looked unimportant. A golden plate. Was gold valuable to Pokémon like it was to humans? Or was it just another color? He tossed it aside. A small, tarnished knife. Interesting, but his own natural weapons were much better. He tossed it. A small blue orb of some sort. Magical? Perhaps it could be appraised by Kecleon? He let it roll away…

"Hey, this looks interesting," Saura reported. "Char, I can't get it, my vines haven't grown back in yet. Could you help?"

Char and Scythe gathered around Saura to see what he'd found. On the pile in front of him sat a small, glistening crystal. Saura nudged it, and it fell off the pile and rolled across the floor.

"Good find," Scythe said. "That's a 'feral-shard'. It's a very special sort of rock that most Pokémon in Ambera require to evolve. The Master hoards those like there's no tomorrow. They're actually quite rare in this day and age. Put it in the bag."

A feral-shard? Char wondered, picking up the stone. Hmm… So, this could turn me into a Charmeleon once I grow stronger? I thought Pokémon just evolved when they grow strong enough. Why do I need a feral-shard to evolve?

As he held it and watched it sparkle in his claws, he noticed Saura shirking away from it just a little bit. He still couldn't imagine why Saura was so afraid of evolving, but felt it would be impolite to ask him directly…

Char tossed the sparkling stone into the bag, and the team proceeded to scour the rest of the cave for anything worth taking. They found quite a bit of things, ranging from jewelry to rare stones to some blue orbs. Much to Char's dismay, the bag got quite heavy.

"Good enough," Scythe said, kicking a stray scrap of metal across the floor. "Nice work, you two. I think we've gotten all we can. We've accomplished our mission! It's time to head back."

When they turned to leave, they found the Croagunk and the Seviper standing at the cave entrance, casting silhouettes of their weakened, defeated forms. They were both barely able to stand. Scythe stepped in front of Saura and Char, meeting the thieves' scowls with his own. A chill went up Char's spine as the Croagunk eyed him. Although he did not speak, the Croagunk's message was clear: this isn't over.

With hatred burning in their eyes, and without saying a word, the thieves turned around and left.


Jaded Path

It was early in the afternoon as the trio hiked back to the base. They had to take the long way around the Jaded Woods and be tremendously careful not to re-enter the mystery dungeon on accident. Char struggled with the bag, but Scythe agreed to take turns carrying it.

"Well, our mission was a success," Scythe proclaimed as they found their way back to the Jaded Path. "And this will be the first of many. Such is the life of a resistance team. Today, we'll return back to the base, record our mission in the registry, then prepare to do it all over again tomorrow."

"What do you think, Saura?" Char asked. "We didn't do half bad today, but is being on a resistance team what you thought it would be? Do you think we'll be able to handle it?"

Saura didn't answer. Instead, he forced a smile.

Wow, I hope Saura didn't get discouraged over it all, Char thought to himself. Maybe he's starting to realize he doesn't like this job after all? It's an awfully harsh job, and we've really got to sacrifice our freedoms if we're going to do these missions each and every day. Or… or maybe seeing that shard-stone-thing reminded him of what Domo said about evolving. Or maybe…

…Maybe it was when he told those thieves who we were.

"Scythe, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Char said, eyeing Saura just a tiny bit. "Is it possible to change the n—"

"Yes. Yes, it is," Scythe interrupted with his most mischievous grin yet. "I was really starting to wonder how long it would take you to ask that."

Scythe turned his head and grinned at him, casting a gaze that told Char, without a doubt, that he knew what he was talking about.

"What?!" Saura croaked. "What is it?! Whaat? You're keeping some kind of a secret from me!"

"I believe you'll find out shortly," Scythe assured him, still smiling at Char. "But don't look at me. Trust your team leader. That's what he's there for."

Saura turned to Char with a confused, questioning expression. Char only smiled back, but his mind was racing.

Now that I seem to have more time to think about it, he wondered, is there anything better that we could name our team?

*Chapter 11*: Chapter 10: The Fire Within

Chapter 10

It was a long, long way back to the base. Not only did Char, Saura, and Scythe have to walk all the way around the Jaded Woods and back down the entire path, they had to do so with a bag full of valuables. Char tried not to whine about the discomfort, but couldn't always help himself. Whenever he'd complain, Scythe would assure him that he was building his endurance and that it wouldn't always be this hard. Still, it didn't do much to comfort his weary limbs.

As soon as Char regained his awareness from the memory loss spell, he found himself sprawled across the floor in Scythe's room. His feet and his arms both hurt like nothing he'd known before, throbbing constantly as they tried to regain strength.

"Ugh… what a day…" Saura moaned, lying on his side. "That was a lot of walking."

"You're telling me!" Char groaned back. "You didn't even have to carry the bag!"

"Hey, you think this thing on my back is light?" Saura griped. "I have trouble traveling long distances anyway because of this seed. I know exactly how you feel."

A few moments passed in silence as the two tired little Pokémon enjoyed the peace.

"So… what do you think?" Char asked again, hoping Saura would respond this time.

"Score one for Team Peanuts, I guess," Saura said, rolling his eyes. "I'll admit, I was a bit disheartened today because of the accidents. And it was so tiring… But I'm sure we'll get better as we go, just like Scythe said…"

As the two laid in silence, Char's mind floated back to the events of the day. He remembered the sight of that Croagunk as it cast its last threatening gaze…

It was no match for Scythe, but… Scythe wouldn't always be there to protect us, Char thought. If they come back to exact revenge when Scythe isn't there, will we be strong enough to defeat them?

Char then thought about something else which wasn't sitting well with him: the vision of Dialga.

He had seen it twice already: first as a memory jogged by laying eyes upon the statue of the dragon in the deserted meeting hall, and then again after passing out from poison. It had indeed been the same vision both times, but the second time had been clearer – clearer enough to see that object, that vitally important object, which hovered before the dragon.

But what was it?

I just don't remember, Char cried inwardly. It's right there in front of me, but I can't… I can't reach out and grab it! If only there were other ways to jog my memory…

Char tossed and turned on the floor, trying to find a position that wouldn't strain any of his poor muscles. But just when he thought he found a comfortable place, voices arose from outside the closed door.

"Good, and now that you've had the opportunity to lead them through a trial run, they can go out on their own," a voice said.

Daemon! Char realized, recognizing the voice. He must be talking about us!

Char heard Scythe respond, but his voice was much lower than the hound's. Char couldn't quite tell what he was saying.

"Scythe… how are they ever to learn?" Daemon grumbled. "You can't coddle them! What good will that do!? They need to learn to depend on themselves!"

Char crawled across the room and listened intently through the door, but still couldn't make out anything Scythe said.

"Then when do you plan to have them ready?!" Daemon spat. "In two days? Three? You said you'd train them, not do all their work for them! Send them out on their own mission and see how they fare. If they're to fail, they need to learn what failure tastes like! They'll grow much stronger that way."

Pressing his ear against the door, Char could finally hear Scythe's voice.

"No," Scythe said. "They won't. At this point, failure could destroy them. I must keep protecting them for the time being. I'll start to let them take control of the missions themselves, but I'll continue to stay with them."

The hound growled in protest.

"Scythe, do what you will," he grumbled, "but remember that we have a reputation to uphold. If we, Team Remorse, are to train this 'Team Peanuts', we must train them by our ways. And so far, I believe that you are giving them the wrong impression of our ways. Only suffering and failure can light the fire within, and make them understand what it means to fight. These children must be taught to feel that fire, or they will be useless to us and to the entire division."

"They'll suffer plenty, with or without my help," Scythe said lowly. "You don't need to worry about that part."

At the sound of shuffling feet from outside, Char quickly leapt away from the door and back to Saura's side.

"Huh?" Saura responded, halfway asleep.

Ignoring him, Char waited for the door to open and someone to barge in. After a few more minutes of Scythe and Daemon discussing some ongoing conflict at a place called Basin Canyon, the Scyther barged in.

"What? Asleep already?" he called loudly, entering his room and dropping a bag onto the floor. "What's the deal, sleeping in the middle of the day? We aren't nocturnal, you know…"

"Day?" Saura wearily replied.

"You thought it was night already?" Scythe laughed, stepping up to them and shoving them both with the blunt ends of his blades. "It's only the middle of the afternoon. There's still plenty of daylight left to get things done. Anyway, just now, I recorded the day's mission, and I put all the valuables into storage so they can be examined later. Next time, I'll have to show you how that's done. But for today… I'll let you go free."

"Free to do what?" Char wondered.

"Do whatever you feel you need to do," Scythe said. "Remember, I'm just your guide. You're your own team. You should take this time to go about the base and find things to do that will benefit your team. I wouldn't recommend leaving the base, but you're free to go wherever you want."

Scythe almost shoved the lazy Saura a second time, but he jumped up to his feet and leapt out of the way.

"Okay, we'll go already," Saura said, shaking his head. "Hmm, Char… I don't know.I feel like getting something to drink. I'm famished after that walk."

"Great! Go on down to the mess hall, then," Scythe said. "Just be back before nightfall. When you get back, I'll show you how to prepare for tomorrow's mission. Then, we can all get some sleep."

"Fine with me," Char said, following Saura to the door.

"Oh, and one more thing," Scythe said just as they were about to leave, complete with his devious smile. "Two more stanzas."

Char and Saura groaned in unison.

… … …

"So, where should we go?" Char asked as they walked through the now-crowded upper level of the base. "We can go have lunch, but what about after that? Where can we go to… 'benefit our team'?"

"I thought Team Remorse got their food delivered," Saura grumbled. "But anyway, Scythe obviously wants us to memorize more of that dumb poem."

"I know, but what else?" Char said. "He said it as if… eh, how about we just think about it while we eat?"

"Sounds good to me," Saura shrugged. "Now, which way was the mess hall again…?"

… … …

Down in the cafeteria, the lines were quite longer than they were the previous day. The training teams, which all finished their shorter and significantly easier missions, were all filing past the counters and making it hard to move around. Char stood in line, wondering if it was ever going to move faster. Saura couldn't do much to help him carry food, but he stood in line to keep him company.

"Hey! Careful where you swing that thing!" a voice yelped from behind Char.

Char turned to find a Treecko, and a female one at that, cowering against the wall in overly-exaggerated fear of his burning tail.

"Uh… sorry?" Char said meekly, gathering his tail in his hands.

"Thank you," she sighed, regaining its composure. "Some of us burn easily, you know. But hey… wow. You're an actual Charmander! I've never actually seen one of your kind, only in pictures. You must be those kids training with Team Remorse."

"Yeah!" Saura said, grinning. "That's us! We're Team Peanuts! Nice to meet you!"

"Well hey, I'm Taka," the Treecko said, shaking Char's hand and patting Saura on the nose. "I'm only on a training team right now, Team Stripes. They work us really hard, but I can't imagine how much harder Team Remorse is working you two!"

"Uh… yeah," Char said.

"You're so lucky. You must be getting the best training of any newbies ever to set foot in this base. How's Scythe treating you?"

"He's… pretty nice, actually," Char said, taking a step forward with the rest of the line.

"He's an undisputed genius," Taka continued. "I read about some of the things Team Remorse has done, and wow, talk about achieving the impossible! I'd give anything to be in your place."

Char was about to respond, but a new voice called from nearby. A Raichu pushed his way through the crowd.

"Hey, Taka, there you are!" it said. "Sorry, I had to spend an hour unpacking. Mind if I…?"

"Yeah, go ahead…" Taka said, rolling her eyes and letting him in line.

"Hey, aren't you Ray?" Saura asked the Raichu. "Didn't we meet this morning on the elevator?"

"Oh, hey, it is you!" Raichu laughed. "Team Peanuts! Nice to meet you again! Want to chat over some food?"

… … …

Ten minutes later, the group finally got their food and sat down together. Char determined the food to be sweet potatoes—or something similar—and dug in. Saura downed a whole bowl of water in what seemed like a heartbeat. The other two Pokémon ate their food much more slowly, chatting at every opportunity between bites.

"So, how did it go?" Ray asked eagerly. "How was Team Peanuts' first mission? Come back with a lot of good stuff? Did Scythe teach you any of his secrets yet?"

"It went fine, I think," Char said, awkwardly playing with his empty plate. "We made some mistakes along the way, but we made it. We uncovered a thieves' den and came back with their stuff. I think the police is gonna try to give most of it back to their rightful owners, so we don't get to keep it, but yeah… it was a good trip."

"Wow, incredible!" Ray cheered after taking another bite. "Nobody's first mission is ever a success! I guess that's what you get for training with Team Remorse, huh?"

"So, what about you?" Saura asked. "How'd your day go?"

"Oh, we failed our mission," Ray said.

"Oh…" Saura said, tilting his head. "It… wasn't too bad, was it? You didn't get in trouble?"

"Nah," Taka said. "It wasn't an important mission. Team Bladewing dropped something in Blackriver City on the way to their destination yesterday. It was a gold band that they were going to sell. We were assigned to go find it."

"We couldn't do it, though," Ray said. "Blackriver City is a brutal place. We got attacked by ghosts, and they forced us to bail out…"

"Nobody expects a training team to accomplish their missions," Taka explained. "That's why they give us pointless missions, so it won't hurt anyone if we screw it up. But when we learn to start accomplishing the missions, we can get accepted into a real team. That's how things work around here."

"For me, it's always been my dream to join Team Remorse," Ray said with a smile. "My older brother was on that team for years before he retired, and I want to take his place. It'd be an honor to serve under the legendary Scythe!"

"Ray's got a long ways to go, though," Taka groaned. "But he's sure got the enthusiasm for it. Me, I don't care where I go, just as long as I'm good enough to do my job, you know?"

Char and Saura glanced at each other, sharing an expression of awkwardness.

"So… uh… how far are you at memorizing that poem?" Char asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, I finished it," Ray said. "I had it down since the second day I was here. You kinda have to, you know? Otherwise they won't let you back into the base! Why, did you not get a chance to memorize it yet?"

"Uh… yeah, we uh, we're finishing it today!" Char rambled, getting a sudden and surprise glance from Saura. "We've just been busy these first few days."

"Uh… okay," the Raichu said with a wink. "If you say so."

Very suddenly, Char felt extremely uncomfortable. The blaring noise from the active cafeteria, the constant sounds of plates scraping against tables, and especially the non-stop sounds of the Raichu's voice, all suddenly culminated into a mass of… unbearable irritation. He felt his stomach sink, like the fire within him had receded by half. Suddenly, he wanted to be alone, away from all the crowds and banter. He wanted to be somewhere quiet.

"Saura, let's go," Char said suddenly, climbing to his feet. "There's somewhere I want to go."

"Char…? Is everything okay?" Saura asked oddly as he jumped down from the table.

"Ray, Taka, nice to meet you both," Char said in a flat voice. "Saura, let's go."

… … …

Char felt a measure of peace sweep over him as he stepped once again into the huge yet deserted theater. The torches along the walls flared up in sequence as they entered, inviting him in with the warm glow of his element. He sighed. He really, really wanted this solitude all of a sudden, although he couldn't place why.

"Want to talk about something?" Saura asked, coming to Char's side as he took a seat on the top step.

"Not really…" Char said. "I just wanted to come here."

Char fixed his eyes, once again, on the incredibly-detailed statue of Dialga at the front of the room.

"You sure?" Saura said. "You don't feel bad lying about memorizing the poem, do you? Because I'm pretty sure Ray just thought you were joking."

"No, it's not that," Char said, not taking his eyes off Dialga's figure. "I guess… this place just suddenly made me feel uncomfortable. I had to get away. It's… it's about Scythe more than anyone else, I think. Since Scythe's training us, we're suddenly held up as these lucky people—Pokémon, sorry—and everyone's saying that we're training with the best warlord that ever lived or something. But we didn't pass today's test because we were good. We only did it because Scythe was there, and he did everything for us. But now, everyone thinks that we're... prodigies, or something. I don't want that. Especially since we're not even playing by the same rules as the rest of the… entire division."

"Maybe Scythe's just teaching us his own way," Saura offered, shrugging. "Maybe he knows what he's doing."

"Or maybe he's just treating us like this because he knows I'm a human!" Char returned. "Maybe he's just giving us extra protection because he's a Pokémon and I'm a human and he feels he needs to serve me. Just… like you, Saura. It's just… I don't want to be treated special if I don't deserve it. It makes me feel really bad. I don't want other people to have expectations of me that I can't live up to."

"To tell you the truth, I kind of feel the same way," Saura said in a genuine tone. "But I have faith in Scythe. I think he knows what he's doing."

But I can't help thinking that maybe Daemon was right, Char said to himself. Maybe learning for ourselves would be the better way to grow. But… I guess I have nothing to do but to put my faith in Scythe at the moment…

Char sat for a moment, enjoying the quietness of the large space lined with fiery torches. It made him feel a little better knowing he was safe and sound inside of this beautiful room. He watched Dialga's stone skin rippling with light from the flames, and he tried to imagine that the great beast stood before him in the same room, ready to tell him that which it had soundlessly spoken in his dreams.

"What do you see?" Saura asked, changing his tone. "Is it bringing back any of your memories?"

Char told Saura about the dream he had during his poison-induced coma as best as he could, describing how he felt that there was something else—something indescribably important—that these dreams were still failing to reveal.

"No wonder," Saura said. "Right before you woke up, you said Dialga's name. I should have known you were having another dream."

"That's the thing, though," Char said. "I don't think they're dreams at all. I think I really am slowly remembering things that happened to me before I transformed… I just wish I could remember more."

The more Char stared at the statue, the more he tried to visualize it acting out its behavior in his memory. But no matter how hard he tried, the memory wouldn't return the same way it had. It seemed like it was teetering on the brink, but never fell into place.

… … …

After spending a good deal of time sitting in the peacefulness of the theater, but failing to induce another memory, Char pulled himself away and decided to head to the little white room where the poem was posted. There, they both rubbed their heads as they glanced upon the two stanzas they should have remembered from yesterday, and the two stanzas after that.

"Do you… remember any of it?" Saura asked.

"Uh… Something about peace that our fathers had before," Char said doubtfully. "Really… I still don't see how I'm supposed to do this if I can't even read…"

After spending a grueling length of time going over what they had forgotten of the first two stanzas, they tried painfully to pave more room for the next.

"Ho, oh, miracle, Lessons learned and lives retold," Saura recited.

"Ho, oh, tales of old, it's how we live by what we know," Char answered.

"Good, good," Saura said. "Now, let's see if we can get the next one without pushing that one out of our heads."

… … …

Eventually, when they learned everything Scythe required of them for the day, they eagerly leapt out of the room and back down the corridors. Since there was still a bit of time left in the day, they discussed other places in the base to visit. Saura suggested stepping into the dojo to see if it was available.

"I'm a bit tired still," Char had replied, "but I don't see why not…"

As Char and Saura entered Domo's Dojo, a Scyther who looked suspiciously like Scythe buzzed around the center of the room, attacking a giant rock which sat in the middle of the main platform. His movements were awkward and clumsy, though, and he didn't move with the same blinding speed which Scythe had used before.

"Oh, you two," the Scyther said to them (with Scythe's very voice), letting himself get distracted from his makeshift opponent. "Right, you remembered me telling you to come in today. Very good. If you're not busy, we can have a lesson."

Before Char could say "yes," Domo lunged at him, causing him to panic and jump backwards. In doing so, though, he tripped and fell, hitting his head against the rock platform.

"Scared you, didn't I?" the false Scythe sneered. "One thing you must learn… I will teach you… is not to panic when faced with an opponent. Never panic. Yes, it is a survival instinct built into your mind, but the instinct is wrong! It can be overcome, so that you will never lose your good reasoning during battle."

"But first, you have to teach us how to fight," Saura interrupted. "Confidence only comes from knowing you have the skill to do something."

"Wrong!" the Scyther yelled. "If you panic, you will never acquire skill in the first place! It all starts with the ability to turn off your lower-level instincts when they are not needed, and see things only from an objective point of view. A vital skill to learn! Now… show me what you know about battle!"

With a shift of his form, the Scyther became a Kabutops. When the transformation was over, it reared back, ready to lash forward with its spiked limbs.

"Get ready for me!" it squealed in its distorted voice. "Now…"

"Wait! Please!" Char pleaded. "I'm… not ready."

"Why?" the Kabutops demanded. "What's the matter?"

"I have a question," Char said weakly. "I was wondering if you could answer it, being the combat trainer and all."

"Oh…" Domo said, dropping his hostile pose. "Well, what do you need?"

"Something's been bothering me," Char told Domo. "Today, when we fought another Pokémon on the mission, I… couldn't use my fire breath. I tried to use it, but it didn't come out. I was wondering if… you know… you knew anything about how it works."

"Well… let's see if I can remember," Domo said, shifting forms once again. In only a few short moments, Domo had shrunk down in size to exactly Char's height. In fact, he had become Char.

Is that really what I look like? Char wondered, staring oddly at the real-life reflection of himself. I look… weird!

"Ah, to be a fire-type," Domo spoke with Char's voice, adding to the strange scene. "I've been spending a deal of time in your form, and the fire-nature is starting to return to my memory. Now… you said you lost your inner fire, did you?"

"Yeah," Char answered. "It wouldn't come out."

"Well, let me tell you how it all works," Domo said. "All fire-aligned Pokémon have a flame which constantly burns inside of your body. It is called your Ember. Your Ember is your very life force; it's what sustains you and animates you. In essence, you are a living tongue of fire encased in a catalyst of flesh. That fire is your spirit; if it were to ever go out, it would mean that your life is over, regardless of what condition your body is in. Now, while all fire-type Pokémon have this Ember burning inside, it will… express itself in different ways, depending on the species. For some fire-Pokémon, such as Ponyta, Infernape, or indeed, Charmander, the flame remains exposed to the air through a natural ventilation system of sorts - hence, the flame on your tail. For other fire-types, like Vulpix, the flame is harbored within, and will only be expelled when the Pokémon intends to use it, for instance, to defend itself."

So it is a defensive mechanism after all, Char realized. There must be some way to control it, then…

"Now, even though your tail flame will burn for as long as you live, you must always keep it protected from things like the cold or the water," Domo continued. "Not only does it hurt immensely for undesirable elements to come in contact with your flame, but you could become seriously injured, indeed, even to the point of death."

Yeah, I found out the hard way how that works, Char thought.

"As a fire Pokémon with an open flame, its appearance can be useful in judging your health," the Ditto explained. "The flame you see on your tail will always be a reflection of the state of your inner Ember. Sometimes the flame will flicker and weaken, letting you know that something is amiss within your body. However, the opposite is also true. Sometimes, when you are healthy and overflowing with vitality, or if your spirit is touched in the right way, your Ember will swell, sometimes to the point of overflowing. In those times, you can use it as a weapon against enemies by expelling it from your throat."

"How do I get it to swell?" Char wondered. "That's the thing. I tried to make it do that, but it didn't work!"

"It's mostly an instinctual response," Domo explained. "It will often be your body's reaction to when you are… worried, desperate, or otherwise offended."

Offended? Char repeated silently.

"That makes sense," Saura chimed in. "Remember? I remember when we were fighting that other Bulbasaur. You didn't really want to join in and fight in the first place."

"I was afraid to," Char said. "I was… shy."

"Right! If you were being cowardly, of course your Ember wouldn't have risen to your aid," Domo explained. "Now, with enough training, you can learn to trigger your Ember whenever you want. It will get easier when you become a Charmeleon and a Charizard, but you can learn it at your age, too. A good way I found to do it is to pretend my pride is being threatened. Think to yourself: 'You can't tell me what to do! I don't deserve this! This shouldn't be happening to me! I deserve more than this!' and so on, and so on. And you have to mean it, too. If you do it right, you should feel your fire swelling. Try it."

Char took a deep breath. Focusing on his inner fire, he—

Whack!

"Hey! Ow!" Char cried, recovering from the blow to the head which the other Charmander had delivered. "That hurt!"

Pow!

Next came a clenched fist to Char's belly, knocking the wind right out of him. He fell back onto the floor but quickly scrambled up. The other Charmander quickly approached him.

"Ugh!" Char grunted.

"Yes, yes, feel that?" Domo replied. "Now you're being offended. Don't forgive me! Demand respect from me! Demand repayment for the harm I have caused! Who is the better Charmander, huh? Me or you? It's your decision!"

Char scowled at his doppelganger. He knew what he had to do, now. He had to hate him. He had to loathe him. He had to feel the same hatred that he once felt for Scythe, and also for Eva, and for the Spearow that attacked Saura. But… could he bring himself to hate his trainer? It didn't seem to be working. He knew he had to think of something before he collected more bumps and bruises...

No, he realized. He could not hate those who were his friends. He could not turn his fire on them. But… there was one thing that he could learn to hate…

The Master, Char said to himself. The Master. I hate… the Master. The same way Saura hates the Master. The same way Scythe hates the Master. The same way all the other Pokémon in this place hate the Master. He who tears families apart… He who kills and steals without remorse… he is the one whom I hate!

Char felt invigorated; his tail flame had instantaneously grown to twice its normal size. The flames roiled in his belly, ready to be spewed outward at his command.

"Good!" Domo shouted. "I see you've gotten the hang of it. Now, since you understand how it works, it's only a matter of practice. Use your fire to defeat your enemies in battle, and—"

My fire burns… Char said to himself, not listening to Domo. Wait! That's IT! That's PERFECT! My fire burns… to destroy the Master!

*FWOOM!*

A decently-sized fireball rose from Char's chest, blasting out from his mouth and striking the doppelganger in the middle of his speech. Domo fell onto his back onto the stony floor below.

"Nicely done!" he cried, leaping back to his feet. "See? You experience elation! Your fire rises to your aid! Can you do it again?"

*FWOOM!*

Char coughed out another plume of fire, and this time the Ditto leaped out of the way to avoid the attack.

"You learn!" the other Charmander said. "This is the key! This is the first step in learning how to use your fire in battle. You have learned well!"

Char felt the pleasant, searing heat in his chest. He glanced at his tail, watching how the flame doubled in size. He smiled.

My fire is there, he realized. It has always been there. All I really needed… was a reason to fight.

And maybe… I don't have to be a coward anymore.

For the first time since his transformation, Char felt the faint twinkle of an emotion he had forgotten how to feel. He felt a flicker of real, true happiness.

"Thanks," Char muttered, bowing to Domo and raising his hands to show that he no longer wanted to battle. "I think I understand. I know how to control the fire."

"Trust me, you have not yet begun to learn!" Domo proclaimed, shifting back into the form of Mew. "You have learned the most basic kind of attack your fire is capable of: a simple discharge of your fire from within to without. This basic attack is known by Pokémon as the "Ember attack". But there remain dozens, perhaps hundreds more ways for you to learn to utilize your fire. But, perhaps, those can be lessons for another day."

"I understand," Char said, bowing again. "Thank you."

"Thank you for the opportunity to train you," Domo replied. "It is an honor. I have forgotten what it was like to be a Charmander, or a Charizard. You have given me the opportunity to remember what a strong, passionate nature they have."

Smiling in glee, Char stepped off of the stone platform and returned to Saura. His tail burned brightly as his thoughts kept running in circles, proclaiming "I have my fire! I have my fire!"

"And you, little Bulbasaur!" Domo called out. "Surely, you have not come to me in vain! Come, approach me! It is now your turn."

"Um… okay," Saura said, turning to Domo. "Uh… well, since I'm here, I have a question for you, too. Earlier, I fought a Bulbasaur, but he attacked me in a way I didn't recognize…"

"A new attack?" Domo said, already in Saura's form. "Describe it to me."

… … …

Although Char and Saura both wanted to do something else before retiring to their rooms for the night, they couldn't think of anything to do after the lessons from Domo. All the while, Saura was too busy singing to Char about the new attack the Ditto taught him, called "bullet seeds". Char was just thankful that it distracted Saura enough not to remember his team name, or anything else that might dash his good mood.

Eventually, it came time to return to Team Remorse. Satisfied at their accomplishments of the day, Char and Saura hiked back upstairs and walked down the tunnel which lead to the elite team's rooms…

"Well, I guess that's a wrap for our first day," Saura laughed as they headed back down the tunnel. "Not only did we accomplish our first mission, but we learned some new skills, and we made some new friends! Team Peanuts is on the road to victory!"

There he goes again, Char noticed. And… what? Don't tell me… he doesn't seem to mind the name anymore…?

"And tomorrow, we'll wake up and do it all over again," Saura sighed. "This really is kind of exciting, anyway. The more victories we get, the more well-known our team name will be, and the more famous we'll become! The Master's forces will cower before our… um… famousness!"

Char bit his tongue.

"Hey, Char, I've got an idea," Saura said, leaping around. "What if we had some sort of motto? Maybe our motto could be something we say every time we meet the bad guys! Imagine. The bad guys are there, thinking they're getting away with it. Then suddenly, we leap out of nowhere, and they know they're in trouble when they hear the words…"

Saura jumped ahead of Char and turned around, facing him like an enemy and smiling evilly.

"…To protect Ambera from devastation! To destroy the Master's domination! To denounce alliance with evil's hand! To resist all those who plague our land! Team Peanuts is here to stand for what's right! We'll never go down without a fight! Ha-HA!"

Hey, that's not half bad, thought Char as Saura leapt again and performed a little pose. Char cracked a smile.

But just as Char's grin covered his face, Saura's suddenly disappeared.

"Oh, Char. It's just no use!" Saura moaned in a sudden bout of anguish, surprising Char and dropping to the floor in hopelessness. "I've tried so hard to get used to our team name. But… I can't! I just can't, Char. I don't care if everyone else likes the name. I hate it! I… I don't want to be a peanut. I don't want to be something weak and silly and stupid! Why'd we have to get stuck with such an awful name? I'm sorry, Char. I shouldn't be acting like this. But every time I hear the name, it just sucks all the energy right out of me…"

Char stepped forward and gave him a big hug.

"I know, I know," Saura sniffed, almost ready to cry. "We knew from the beginning this wouldn't be easy. I shouldn't be whining like this. I really shouldn't."

Char smiled.

"Saura," he said gently. "I was wondering something."

"What is it?" Saura grumbled, casting a questioning glance up at his friend.

"Would you like to change our team's name?"

Saura held his breath. His eyes widened.

"You can do that?" Saura cried. "I didn't know that!"

"Neither did I, until I asked Scythe earlier today," Char explained. "He told me that it's easy. You just go down to registration and request a name change for your team. We might even be able to do it before the office closes tonight. You have to write down the new name on paper, though, so you may have to help me with those footprint-things everyone writes with. And you can only get one name change per year, or something…"

"Char, I'd love to…" Saura sighed. "But… do you have anything in mind? Anything better than Team Peanuts, at least?"

"Oh… I might have something in mind," Char replied, staring thoughtfully into the distance.

… … …

Later that night, a Pidgeotto swooped down into the hallway. Casting a glance of acknowledgement toward the Charmander and Bulbasaur who stood nearby, the Pidgeotto set itself down on the hallway floor. It emptied its talons of some rolled-up sheets of paper. Taking one in its beak, it applied it to a nearby bulletin board with a few pecks.

"Interesting news today," the Pidgeotto commented. It quickly gathered up the rest of the papers in its talons, rolling them into neat little scrolls, then took off again.

"Take care," it called as it flew away, leaving a feather or two behind.

Saura approached the large posting on the board, completely covered in blocks and blocks of footprint runes, all of varying sizes.

"Hmm…" Saura said. "It says… Team Absolution finished a week-long campaign in the mountains. And Team Remorse is still fighting at Basin Canyon. Hmm… They said it would be here…"

Saura grinned in eager anticipation, finding the passage of text he had been looking for. Char held his breath, savoring the look on his friend's face.

"Furthermore, Team Peanuts… by the request of the team's leader, is hereby to be known as… Team Ember…"

Wow, we really are in the news, Char realized, feeling the fire in his belly tingle with glee. Everyone in the rest of the Gold Division is going to read this tomorrow morning…

"Despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback from their previous name, the newly-founded team has requested this change for personal reasons," Saura continued. "While it is not nearly as unique as Peanuts, we here at the registry unanimously agree that the new name is…meaningful and well-chosen. Good luck to you, Team Ember, and to all of our newly-joined members!"

Saura glanced back at his friend.

"Well, it's official," he said. "We're Team Ember now…"

"What do you think?" Char asked. "Do you like it? Do you have any regrets? I felt a little guilty for naming the team after fire, you know… But I thought it was just a good name that meant something. Something we can both be proud of."

"Char… I… really don't know what to say," Saura gasped, nudging Char's leg as he looked back at the news post. "The name's perfect! Thank you so much! I… You have no idea. It really takes a load off my back not having to be ashamed of the name anymore… and not having to pretend to like it!"

At that, the two little Pokémon turned to head for the door of Team Remorse, ready to sleep and begin the day anew with high hearts.

*Chapter 12*: Special Episode: The Resistance Creed

"The Resistance Creed"

The poem just never seemed to end.

After more than two hours of trying to cram a few stanzas of the blasted Creed-code into their heads, Char and Saura were already stricken with terrible headaches.

"Ho, oh, miracle? Lessons learned and… lives retold," Saura recited.

"Something, something… It's the way we live by what we know," Char answered.

"Well, apparently we don't know this poem," Saura grumbled, rubbing his forehead against the wall. "I don't know how everyone else gets it. It just… doesn't make any sense."

Saura read the next stanza of the creed. He read slowly, enunciating every word in hopes they would stick in his memory. The words were unpredictable and meaningless. At times it consisted of random words thrown together in a rhyming manner, and at other times it hinted at some vague silhouettes of meaning. To Char, it was the most uninteresting thing he'd ever seen in the entire division base, even worse than the formal papers and rulebooks he had been given to read due to being a team leader.

It was going to take quite a while for him to garner enough interest to actually remember any of it, not to mention the fact that he couldn't actually read the text; they were in that strange Pokémon-footprint language he was not yet literate with.

"You're doing it wrong," a voice suddenly called from the other side of the room.

Char and Saura turned to meet a Zangoose. It was lounging against the far wall, reading the tablets alongside them. Its white fur camouflaged the creature against the marble-colored walls of the room.

"There's a trick to it," the Zangoose mumbled. "It's not just a poem. It's a song."

"A song? I don't see how," Saura said, looking over the stone tablets. "There's no rhythm. It's just a big pile of words…"

"There is rhythm," the Zangoose assured. "You just have to find it. Listen."

The Zangoose closed its eyes and, to their surprise, began humming. In spite of its low, raspy voice, the melody it sang was clear. It was a mysterious tune, somehow sad and touching…

Opening its eyes again to read from the tablets, the Zangoose started to sing.

Freedom, peace, and war,
Our fathers lived through once before,
Freedom, peace of mind,
One dream to live for all mankind.

Our lives sing the song, destiny goes on,
Light for the ones astray,

Those who have lost the way.
Our lives come to be, truth and mystery,
Fools that we now believe,
And lies we were meant to see.

Ho, oh, miracle,
Lessons learned and lives retold,
Ho, oh, tales of old,
It's how we live by what we know.

The tale never dies, legend, it abides,
Fears that we come to know,
Sorrows we ignore.

Dispelled, trapped in time, power in its prime,
One who has paid the price,
The final sacrifice.

Ho, oh, ebb and flow,
Time will tell if all will hold.

Ho, oh, tears of woe,
Our time is here before we know.

Our foes fill the sky, darker than meets the eye,
Watching until the dawn,
And from the light, withdrawn.
They wait for the sign, dawn of the coming time
Power sustains their greed
for only the one they need.

Ho, oh, miracle
Stars in darkness shine and glow,
Ho, oh, golden moon,

light the way through dark and gloom!

We stand on the spire, sheltered from the fire.
Timing is all we need
for efforts to all succeed.
A beast to be slain, fighting to end the reign,
Sorrow for what's been done,
we stand, in the end, as one.

Lay low, wait and grow,
Seeds of strength to reap and sew.
Lay low, keep ahold,
Await the day of fate untold.

Our call is our key, greatest mystery
Legends we call our friends
and foes to make amends.
The waves in the sea, sound and majesty,
Prayers to beckon the lord
through him, all is restored.

Freedom, each their own,
Perched upon the silver throne.
Freedom from the grave,
This is how the Hero lived.

The last is the first, breaking through the curse
Holes open in the sky,
We watch, and we wonder why.
The last turns to dust, words without the trust,
Futile is our attempt
To turn and reverse the past.

Ho, oh, run away,
Seek the victory to repay.
See, now, how we've known
in the end, we are alone.

Hypnotized by the song, Char was surprised when it ended.

"Does that help?" the Zangoose rasped. "That's how it's supposed to sound. Once I learned that, it helped. I'm learning the song fast now."

"I'm impressed," Saura said with a sincere smile. "Now it's hard to forget that melody. Thank you!"

"Good to hear it," the Zangoose said. "Anyway, I'm Zachel, trainee on Team Carrier. Nice to meet you."


(The lyrics are sung to "Great Canyon" From Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red / Blue Rescue Team.)

*Chapter 13*: Chapter 11: A Team Effort

Chapter 11

"The first thing you need to do when preparing for the next day is to examine the options which are available to you."

The firelight which illuminated the cave's tunnels had already turned red for the night, but Scythe wasn't yet ready to let Team Ember sleep. As he had promised, Scythe needed to walk the new team through the process of choosing the next day's mission. With the help of Shander to deal with the paperwork, they presented Char and Saura with an array of job requests.

Blinking from the impending sleepiness, Char watched as Shander somehow held the papers between his claws and set them onto the floor. He still couldn't read the text, but tried to follow along as best as he could.

"So… I'm guessing you two always hang out together because Scythe can't do all of this on his own? Without having hands, I mean?" Saura asked curiously.

"About right," Shander responded, sliding his last paper into place. "Scythe has chosen me to be his hands. Although, it's been a little harder of a job ever since I evolved. And I keep telling this overgrown bug that all he needs is to grow up and get some pincers, and he wouldn't need me anymore."

"And I keep telling this overgrown mouse that pincers are pathetic excuses for weapons, and I have no intention of trading my blades for anything," Scythe said with a warm smile.

Char could tell that it was all just an excuse for these two Pokémon to spend time together, as they were obviously great friends. He knew they even shared their secrets with one another, most notably their quiet search for The Call. Char couldn't help but wonder just how Shander, out of all the other Pokémon in their elite resistance team, had won Scythe's favor as a close friend.

"Hey, Char!" Saura called playfully. "I don't have hands, either! Guess what your new job is?"

"Bag-carrier and official team scribe?" Char groaned sarcastically. "Oh, the humility… And I still don't even know how to read!"

"You will have to learn eventually," Shander said. "It's as vital a skill here as being able to talk. But in the meantime, if we pull a few strings, I bet we'd be able to get some of your papers transcribed to Unown-script… since Scythe tells me you know that language."

Ugh! Char grumbled to himself. Not this again! Did Scythe actually tell Shander that I'm a human? Does his whole team know? I don't want to talk about it right now…

"So… what are our options?" Char said quickly, trying to change the subject. "Do we get to choose where our destination is? Is that what these papers are about? You have to do this every day, don't you?"

"When you come to be on a… high-priority team such as Team Absolution or Team Remorse, then no, you don't choose missions each and every day," Scythe explained. "Our missions are long-term, sometimes taking months to complete. But our team holds a meeting each and every night, and we discuss the plans for the next day as a whole, how we will progress our efforts, and so on. But overall, we try to keep our jobs limited to only one or two larger campaigns at a time until they are done."

"Like Basin Canyon?" Saura blurted.

"…Yes, like that," Scythe said. "We understand our role to play in this division, so we try to take on the more dangerous and large-scale jobs that other teams will not. So, no, this list is not for us. This is actually a copy of the task list that the training teams receive."

"Wow, these jobs look really boring," Saura said as he skimmed over the paper. "Escort a family of Nidoran through Gulch Valley? Deliver a shipment of fruit to Sitrus City… Wait, why would a resistance team even be in charge of stuff like this?"

"You'd be surprised at the number of things we actually do to usurp the Master's influence," Shander said. "Delivering food lessens a city's dependence on the Master's suppliers, for instance. It's a very low-risk task as long as you evade detection."

"Hmmm," Saura hummed, not looking very impressed.

"Here's something else which may help you decide," Shander said, pulling a very large, rolled-up piece of paper from the burlap sack he'd hefted into the study-room.

Carefully laying the scroll on the bench and unrolling the rust-covered paper under his claws, Shander revealed something incredible: it was a colorful, comprehensive map of the entire Ambera region. Even by the light of the red-tinted flame on the ceiling, the individual cities and counties seemed to leap from the paper in an unbelievably vivid patchwork of color, all meticulously surrounded by all the descriptions and notes of each individual detail of terrain that could come in handy to a traveler. Char couldn't believe his eyes; the Ambera region was huge! It was a continent. The footprint-runes which labeled the map were tiny and mercilessly crammed together in places with many features, yet easy to see. It was quite a work of art. Shander used some clips to pin down the map to the sides of the table so it wouldn't go rolling itself up.

"The Map of Jirachi," Shander announced as he smoothed out the remaining wrinkles on the paper. "It's the most accurate map of Ambera ever to be drawn, and only the resistance forces have copies of it. Study it all you want, use it on missions, but please make sure it doesn't get lost or stolen!"

"Especially this particular copy," Scythe added. "This one even shows the locations of the division bases and the areas they're all responsible for. See this shading? That's where the Gold Division's jurisdiction lies. Past these lines, the Emerald Division is responsible for the area, and the Black Division down there. You can see all the cities inside of our area, and even the known mystery dungeons are marked."

"Hmm… what's this shaded area?" Char asked, pointing out a plot of land toward the center of the map that seemed to lie outside of all three jurisdictions.

"That… is where the Master's castle stands," Scythe told him, a hint of a shudder echoing through his deep voice. "No resistance teams go there, at least those who are not willing to risk everything. You'd risk giving away our locations, our plans, our missions… everything. In the history of the resistance forces, only four missions have required us to infiltrate the Master's residence. Only the most trustworthy and reliable teams are assigned to those tasks, and even so, it's never a pleasant occurrence."

"Scythe was on one," Shander noted. "It was only eight years ago, too…"

"Don't remind me," Scythe grumbled in annoyance. "I was only on that mission because I knew the territory personally. I barely even helped with the mission otherwise."

That's right, Char realized. Scythe once fought for the Master, didn't he? I keep forgetting that. Looking at him now, it's so hard to imagine…

"Anyway, back on track," Scythe said. "When you go over the list of tasks, make note of the areas you'll be required to visit to accomplish those tasks. Ask yourself: how far away is the destination? What roads should I take? What obstacles lie in the way? What mystery dungeons could I sneak through to evade detection from the Master's spies? What kind of Pokémon live in those territories, and how could I best deal with them? Which teammates could most help me with the mission? What tools would I have to lug all the way there in the bag?"

Saura looked over the list again, occasionally glancing at the different locations on the map. Char wanted to provide input, but still couldn't understand any of the symbols on the papers.

"How about this one?" Saura asked, pointing his paw to an area on the map. "It's close, it looks easy…"

"What is it?" Char asked. "What's the mission?"

"Ravine Woodlands. It's a sentry mission. It says… 'Ravine Woodlands is a medium-priority tactical region which must be regularly examined for enemy activity. This mission requires traveling to the aforementioned destination, preferably by way of the neighboring mystery dungeon to avoid detection, and spending no less than four hours policing the destination. If gathered enough reason to believe the destination is infested by or is being used as an enemy thoroughfare, do not engage in battle. Return immediately to the Division Headquarters and report the issue. Risk Level: D'"

"Hmm, that's a possibility…" Scythe hummed. "It's nearby, straightforward…"

"And it's another forest," Saura added. "Plant Pokémon should live there. Char and I should have no problem with those."

"Excellent point," Scythe said. "So, is that your choice?"

"What do you think, Char?" Saura said. "We'd only have to walk around and explore the woods for a few hours. Sound good to you?"

Char briefly considered the offer, and didn't see anything wrong with it—other than the possibility that it might be a little on the boring side. Or maybe not, Char considered. Fresh air, exercise, more experience against wild Pokémon… and maybe even another dungeon to crawl…

Char nodded in agreement.

"Great," Scythe said with a nod. "You've made a good choice based on your current abilities. That's the first step. For the next step… follow me."

… … …

Char and Saura followed Shander and Scythe out of the team's quarters and into the base's tunnels, which were barely even active at this time of the night. Before long, they found themselves taking a familiar path.

When Char stepped down from the staircase, he recognized the floor immediately.

"It's Kecleon's shop," Char noticed. "Are we going shopping for items?"

"We could go shopping at this time, yes," Scythe said, "But your Team Ember doesn't have any money yet, does it?"

"Uh… I guess not," Char said. "How do we get money, anyway?"

"There are various ways to get Poké," Shander explained. "The best way is to gather merchandise on your travels and sell them to Kecleon. He buys everything, and he can pay a real hefty sum if you give him something he really likes. But the way most of the resistance teams make a profit is by taking jobs that have bounties. The one you chose has a small bounty, if you hadn't noticed. The one you did earlier today with Scythe had a rather large one, though."

"Really?" Saura asked. "Do we get any money for it?"

"Of course you will," Scythe said. "I've even taken the liberty of opening your account down at the treasury. The reward will get deposited into your new account sometime tomorrow morning after the records are examined. But, since you're still training, I'm going to go ahead and take eighty percent of your profit from your mission yesterday. That can be incentive for you to learn how to operate on your own."

"Oh…" Saura said, slightly dashed.

"But," Scythe continued, "since you're going to do even more of your own work tomorrow, I'll drop that to sixty percent for your next reward. And when your training is done and you are operating on your own, you will be allowed to keep all the money you earn – save for the tax which the Division itself takes from you, of course."

"So, you're going with us again?" Char asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course," Scythe said. "I'm going to come with you on your missions until I'm comfortable that you've learned the basics."

"Don't you think Daemon would disagree with that?" Char asked, curious as to the answer he'd receive.

"Of course he would," Scythe said, not skipping a beat. "Daemon is Daemon."

Scythe kept walking as if nothing had been said, but Shander couldn't hold back a grin at the comment.

"But no, we're not going to Kecleon's tonight," Scythe said as they passed right by the store entrance. "There's no use buying things we already have. We're going to pay a visit to the storage room."

… … …

Char followed Scythe into the storage area lobby. It was completely empty. There was a counter separating the entrance of the room from the back, like most shops would have, but the counter was completely barren, and there was nothing behind it but a bare wall. There was no Pokémon to be seen, and not even a door or window to suggest there was an area in back where Pokémon could have been busy working.

"Um…" Saura said. "Are you sure this is the right place? It doesn't look like anything's here."

"Ha, haha. That's what I said, too, the first time I came," Shander laughed. "You'll see here in a moment."

Char waited for a while, not knowing what to expect. Then, suddenly, a Gengar stepped out from the solid stone wall, startling Char to bits.

"Heya," the Gengar said, jumping up to the top of the counter. "What can I do for 'ya tonight, Scythe? Ah, and Team Ember's here too, huh?"

"This is Morrik," Scythe introduced. "He's in charge of storage. When he carries something, he can take it through the wall with him, and he can keep all your valuables back there in completely isolated cracks in the earth. Somehow, he keeps track of who owns it all."

" 'S not that hard," Morrik scoffed.

"Before you head out on a mission, always make sure you have what you need, and keep the rest in storage," Scythe explained. "If you drop something in a mystery dungeon, you usually can't go back for it. It's lost forever, unless you're willing to scavenge the dungeon again or hire another team to do it for you. So, you should only take with you the things that you need, and give the rest to Morrik."

"I see…" Saura said.

"Now, usually, when you do this, you've got to know already what you're going to ask Morrik for," Scythe told Char and Saura. "To figure that out, you've got to do more research on the destination and the route you'll take to get there. For example, if you're going into a place with poisonous Pokémon, you make sure to take pecha fruit. But today, just this once, I'm going to do it for you. And since you have no supplies of your own yet, I'll lend you some of mine…"

… … …

Ten minutes later, Char awkwardly stumbled out of the storage area holding an absolutely stuffed bag full of supplies.

"That should do it," Scythe said cheerfully. "Congratulations, you two! You're all prepared for your journey tomorrow! All that's left to do now is to get a good night's rest. But I have to warn you, this process won't always be this easy. As you learn how to be a resistance team, it'll get a little more complicated. But we'll show you everything you need to know when the time comes. For example, normally, when you decide on a mission, the first thing you need to do is go down to Registration and tell them so that other teams won't take the same mission. Training teams can usually skip that step, though."

Char was barely even listening. He was too occupied with trying to carry the bulging bag and stay standing at the same time. It was really heavy.

Thump. Overcome by the bag's weight, Char tripped over his own feet and landed face-down on the floor. He released a muffled whimper as he tried to get up.

"Careful," Scythe said nonchalantly. "You've got to pace yourself. Lift from the knees! You've got a long way to carry that thing tomorrow!"

As Saura helped Char up, Scythe effortlessly stole the bag and slung it onto his own shoulder.

"I'm joking, of course," Scythe said with his smile. "I'll carry it. I'm just going to be watching you two, anyway."

… … …

Later that night, Char sat awake in Scythe's room. He knew he was supposed to be resting up for the next day's mission, but instead, he stayed awake and stared at his tail flame, the only active light source left in the room. All the other spirit-torches had been somehow disabled. It burned an unusually deep shade of red due to the color-flame spell which affected all of the fire in the complex.

"Ugh… Char, are you alright?" Saura asked groggily, noticing his friend's wide-open eyes. "Having trouble sleeping or something?"

"No…" Char said simply.

"Then why don't you rest?" Saura croaked. "I don't want you collapsing on us tomorrow—"

Suddenly and soundlessly, Char's tail flame flickered. It re-lit itself almost immediately, but now was bright blue! The base-wide spell had been activated, changing the color of every flame to indicate that, for the seven darkest hours of the night, it was not safe to travel outside.

"Whoa…" Saura gasped. "That's… weird."

"Yeah, that is," Char said, running his claws through the blue fire. "I just wanted to stay up and see that happen. I'll go to sleep now…"

"Good night, Char…" Saura sighed, closing his eyes again.

Char imagined the Watchers and recalled everything he'd been told about them. It made a shiver run down his spine knowing that the wicked ghosts were now unleashed across Ambera, doing whatever it was that they did. He knew for certain that he never wanted to see them with his own eyes.

"Well, Dialga, I'm still here," Char whispered to nobody as he situated himself on the floor for sleeping. "Any time you'd like to come and let me know what's going on, I'd appreciate it…"

Thus ended a very, very long day for Team Ember… but it was nothing compared to the next one which loomed on the horizon.

… … …

"Get up!"

Char blinked repeatedly. He'd been awake just moments ago, and he was sure that his tail had still been blue. Had Scythe been waiting for the precise moment the fire would change back?

"No sleeping in today!" Scythe called, nudging them both. "Let's be off! The day will not wait for us!"

Char nodded and stretched as he rolled into a sitting position. Through his blurred eyes, he saw that Scythe was already holding their bag of supplies and ready to embark.

Wow, he just keeps getting more zealous each time I see him, Char said as he rubbed his eyes. Maybe he's not taking it easy on us after all.

Scythe lit the room's torches to make it impossible to fall back asleep, and he had both Char and Saura on their feet within five minutes.

… … …

"Good to see you awake at this hour," a familiar voice said as the group ventured down the team's hallway.

Char cringed. It was Daemon again. He and two other members of Team Remorse, Shander and an Exploud, stood at the side of the hall.

"Good morning, Team Ember," the hound said condescendingly. "Having a little trouble waking up?"

"Good morning, Daemon," Saura said obstinately.

"Scythe, the team has sorely missed you at Basin Canyon lately," Daemon said pointedly, turning a disgusted look at the bag of supplies he carried. "Do you think you'll be returning any time soon?"

"I think the rest of the team knows what they're doing," Scythe said, obviously trying to evade him and get out the door. "I'm confident there won't be any problems until settlement."

"If you keep this up, you won't be ready for settlement," Daemon reminded him. "We need you at the Canyon, not running around with these children! Otherwise, this could all turn into one big mistake. Finish up with them and get back to the task at hand! If it takes too long, dumping them into a training team would be the only acceptable solution."

"Wow, he even insults Pokémon who are standing in the same room," Saura hissed to Char.

"Understood," Scythe said. "But that will not be necessary. You seem to have things well under control at the moment. And, like I said before, I will review your logs, and I will come to the settlement. Now, are we going to waste any more time standing around and talking, or do we have missions to accomplish?"

Daemon bit his tongue and turned toward the door.

"Let's move it," he barked to his teammates. "Nidoroch's team needs to be relieved as soon as possible, and we need four more tunnels cleared out by the end of the day. Oh, and Team Ember?"

"Y-yes?" Char squeaked.

"Have good luck on your mission."

He and the team hustled down the hallway and out of sight.

"Wow, he said something nice…?" Saura said with fake surprise. "Never thought I'd see that happen."

"'Good luck' is his favorite insult," Scythe told him, leading them down the hall. "Daemon constantly likes to remind everyone that winning has nothing to do with luck, and that only the amateur need to rely on it. As he likes to say… 'To the skilled, luck is nothing but a minor convenience.'"

… … …

The group took the western entrance, the same way they'd entered the base on the very first day they arrived. Just like the previous morning, they were joined by other teams on their way out for the day, but many less Pokémon than usual; after all, these were the true early birds, the Pokémon who jumped at the crack of the dawn to begin their missions. Not very many teams were up to the challenge of awaking quite this early. It hadn't even been fifteen minutes since the torches changed from blue to orange.

Nevertheless, as Char munched on a big green apple he'd pulled from Scythe's bag, he started to recognize some of the other faces which followed him. Apparently, Saura did as well.

"Hey, is that Taka?" Saura said in surprise. "Wow, she's up really early!"

Char turned to look, and sure enough, Taka was following along behind him, along with a Shinx and a Zangoose.

"Hey, look! It's Scythe with Team Peanuts!" the Shinx crowed.

"Team Ember, you moron," Taka rebuked. "They changed their name. Learn how to read the news."

"Oh… they did? I liked Team Peanuts better," the cub replied, cocking his head.

The little Shinx scampered toward Char, its teammates unenthusiastically following behind.

"Hey, Taka," Saura said. "Do you training teams usually get up at the crack of dawn like this?"

"Lately, yeah," Taka said. "It's mostly Ray's fault. He says he's training to be on Team Remorse, but he just wakes everyone else up with him."

"Good for him!" Scythe cheered. "We could certainly use energy like his on the team. It's hard enough getting half the team awake on time."

"So, where are you guys headed?" Saura asked. "Anywhere interesting?"

"Hardly," Taka said, rolling her eyes. "It's a four-hour sentry mission at Ravine Woodlands. About as dull as they come."

"Wait… that sounds familiar," Char said. "That's…"

"Hey! That's the same place we're going!" Saura cried. "Does this mean we'll all get to stick together?"

"Hmm, I wonder how this managed to happen," Scythe said. "Perhaps a mix-up at the registry. Hmm. A group of six is really pushing it, but… since this is a training mission, and such a low risk, I don't see why not."

"Wow!" The Shinx cheered, leaping excitedly into the air. "We're going on a mission with Scythe? For four whole hours? This is awesome! This'll be the best mission ever!"

"It'll sure make things a little more interesting than they were going to be," Taka said. "It's hard to be bored when you've got so many Pokémon to talk to. Oh, by the way, this is Zachel." She gestured to the Zangoose. "She's from Team Carrier, but she's tagging along with us because she got stuck going to the same destination."

"Morning," Zachel replied with a wink. She was carrying the bag for the rest of the group.

"And this little guy is Leo," Taka said, indicating the Shinx. "He's just a little spark of energy. Just like Ray. I guess it's an electric-type thing."

"It's an honor!" Leo yelped. "I can't wait to tell Ray that I was practically on Team Remorse for the day! He'll be so jealous!"

Wow, this might be really fun! Char thought to himself as he took another bite of his breakfast.


Great Flatlands

Like always, the group was due for a long walk. After they'd braved the ridiculously long staircase, said "hi" to Gate the Haunter, and set foot onto the Great Flatlands, it seemed like one big hike into the middle of nowhere. The sun was barely just peeking over the horizon at that point, leaving the terrain practically as dark as night. The speck of sunlight was, apparently, enough to ward the Watchers off. Char shivered a little; the fresh morning air was a little chilly today.

He found it amusing how all three of the trainees instantly shut their mouths whenever Scythe said a word.

"So, Team Ember," Scythe said. "Which way do we go? This is your mission, after all."

"Um…" Saura said, looking in all directions. "I thought I knew… It was to the south-west. But… this place looks all the same to me! How can you tell which way to go?"

"Even we know this one!" Taka said with some pride. "Saura, look. In a place like this, finding the directions is as easy as reading a compass. See the sun? The sun's in the east right now, so south-west would be that way."

"Oh, right, I should have known that," Saura said. "But yeah… we go south-west, we find the Etcher Ravine, and we follow it south. That should take us right into the Woodlands."

"Sounds like a plan," Scythe said. "And we always have a map if we get lost. Now, one other thing: are we going through the mystery dungeon, or around it?"

"We were going to go around it," Taka said, "but now that we have you guys, we could go either way."

"Yeah, let's go through it!" Leo suggested. "There's no way we can lose today! Not with Scythe and Team Ember here!"

"Well, Char?" Saura said. "What do you think?"

Char couldn't agree more. Soon, it was decided: they'd all brave the Etcher Ravine mystery dungeon.

*Chapter 14*: Chapter 12: A Pleasant Journey

Chapter 12

Etcher Ravine S1

Spirits were high as Char and Saura led the massive team into the Etcher Ravine. The six members marched proudly across the border of the Mystery Dungeon, not looking back.

The Etcher Ravine was a long, narrow canyon with a small but violent river running through the center of the valley's floor. From wall to wall, a lush, humid garden of trees and vines sprouted up around the stream—many budding with colorful flowers and fruit. Even though the environment was so inviting, Char found himself a little nervous on the venture; it was a very difficult place to find one's way through. Not only were the bushes and saplings often difficult to push past, but the ravine walls themselves cast the whole place into an eerie twilight—even though it was already mid-morning by the time they arrived. Ultimately, though, Char wasn't worried; as the little Shinx had said, there was no way they could lose today.

To add to everything, the solemn silence that had taken up most of Char's trip through the Jaded Woods was replaced by the constant banter between the team members. It was like a party! Even Scythe seemed cheerier than normal, and the tag-alongs took every opportunity to chat with him.

Before long, the group had met their first wild opponent. To Char's horror, it wasn't anything he'd expected to meet in the dungeon the night before. It was an Azumarill—a water creature. It had been trying to climb a tree when the oversized resistance team barged into its territory, and it immediately dropped to the ground in a hostile stance.

"Hey, look!" Leo shouted. "It's one of those big water mouses! I forget what they're called! Who wants to fight it?"

"Uh… wait!" Char said, a lump now lodged in his throat. "What's that doing here? A water Pokémon? I thought there would be more plant Pokémon here, not this!"

"Oh, yeah!" Taka said. "Etcher Ravine is home to a lot of water Pokémon—Marill, Quagsire, Poliwag... Don't you research your dungeons before you go out?"

"Uh…" Char answered, slowly backing away as the Azumarill centered its gaze on him. "It's looking at me all funny! What do I do?"

The mouse took aim at Char, and with a mighty squeak, unleashed a stream of water at him. Overcome by panic, Char dove for cover behind Scythe as fast as he could.

"AHH!" he cried. "HELP!"

"Let me try this!" Saura said, stepping up into Char's place. "The perfect place to use my new move!"

Saura squatted with his front legs, lowering his head and pointing the tip of his bulb forward at the enemy. He focused, and soon the bulb began to vibrate with built-up energy. As the energy got more intense, Saura closed his eyes…

A shower of tiny projectiles erupted from the tip of the bulb and flew towards the enemy.

Saura opened his eyes to find that some nearby trees now had a few punctures in their bark where the bullets had landed, but the enemy itself was unharmed.

"It missed?" Saura said in disbelief. "Aww, come on!"

"You really thought you could aim with your eyes closed?" Taka laughed. "That move is next to impossible to hit with as it is. But good job learning it! It's something I've still got to do."

As Saura stared with disappointment at the results of his failed attack, Leo stepped up next to him.

"My turn!" he shouted.

Leo gritted his teeth in concentration. His fur stood on end, and some yellow bolts of static electricity rippled across his form as he charged energy. Before the Azumarill could dodge, Leo released a bright static spark at the creature. The water mouse screeched in surprise as it was violently electrocuted. With eyes frozen wide, it collapsed backward onto the ground. Leo followed up by quickly slamming the creature with a headbutt, sending it flying a few feet and tumbling against the trunk of a tree.

But the Azumarill was strong. It soon recovered and was back onto its feet, even though it was still clearly rattled from the attack.

"Hey, hey! Good job, Leo!" Saura shouted, surprised at the little guy's performance.

"I'm not so strong yet, but I'm getting good practice!" Leo answered with pride.

The mouse looked like it would retaliate, but it was unsure of itself.

"Alright," Taka said, stepping up to the front with the others. "I can finish it. Stand back!"

Taka cupped her hands together. As she slowly spread them apart, a glowing sphere of light materialized between her palms. It started at the size of a marble, but kept growing as she kept it balanced in front of herself.

"Whoa!" Saura said, watching in awe. "What's that?! How're you doing that?"

"Energy ball," Taka replied simply, trying to concentrate.

When the energy ball grew to be the size of her head, Taka thrust her hands forward to throw it. The Azumarill bounced to the side to evade it, but the ball swerved in mid-air and changed its course, connecting with the enemy in a brilliant explosion.

The next thing anyone saw, the mouse was upside-down and smashed into the side of a bush, the front of its body completely charred. Tears dripped from its eyes; it was out for the count.

Saura's mouth was agape. "You have got to teach me how to do that!" he cried, examining the completely debilitated animal from afar as it twitched and tried to free itself from the thorny twigs.

"Is it over?" Char yelped, still cowering behind Scythe's leg. With his eyes closed tight, he hadn't seen most of the battle.

"It's over," Saura told him. "You can come out now…"

"Scaredy-cat…" Taka added lightheartedly.

"Hey, I hate water, okay?" Char grumbled as he got up, a hint of shame in his face. "The last thing I want is to get hit in the tail with a water attack. Besides, I just wasn't expecting water Pokémon here…"

"Now you know the value of doing your homework," Scythe said. "You assumed there'd be plant Pokémon here, instead of looking it up for yourself. Thankfully, today, we're more than equipped for the water creatures. I don't think you have any reason to worry. Team Stripes came prepared."

"Yeah!" Leo said. "I eat water Pokémon for breakfast!"

"Heh heh, good for you," Scythe laughed. "Saura and Taka here also have an advantage over them, being plant creatures. Just keep a wary eye for the enemy, and you'll be fine."

"Yeah, Char," Saura said. "And remember what Domo said about panicking."

Ugh, just shut up about it, Char thought, his face growing warm from embarrassment.

Suddenly, Char gasped. Wearing a look of pure horror, he pointed up to the sky. "LOOK OUT! A PIDGEOT!" he yelled.

"AHHH!" Saura and Taka yelled in unison, casting panicked glances upward. "Where?! WHERE?!"

Terrified, they both leaped to Scythe's legs and held on tight. Char, however, was laughing so hard that he couldn't stand. What was even funnier, though, was how Scythe had also gotten a shot of adrenaline from the prank. For a moment, he'd cast a worried gaze to the sky, his scythes slightly raised in preparation for attack. But he'd dropped the stance and smirked at Char as soon as he realized the truth.

It wasn't long before Saura's expression of terror faded into a scowl. "Okay, Char. Very funny," he said, stepping away from Scythe. "Point taken, point taken…"

"Hmph," Taka said, crossing her arms and recovering from the humiliation.

After walking a little while longer, the team ran into a Poliwag. Char wanted to prove his courage by helping to defeat it, but ran for cover as soon as the tadpole blew a stream of bubbles at him. Saura stepped forward to swat it senseless with vines and knock it out of the way. After that, they stopped to rest for a while and eat before ending the first mile of their journey.


Etcher Ravine S2

"This dungeon is pretty straightforward," Char commented. "We just follow the river. How long is it, by the way?"

"Four miles," Taka said in a flat tone. "You know, it says this stuff right on the map."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, we need to do more research," Char said. "I got that already. But this is only our second mission, after all."

In this leg of the trip, the shrubs cleared up a little and allowed some breathing room in the cramped jungle. The ground here was mostly gravel, so the trees couldn't grow. Char was thankful for it; it meant that there weren't so many hiding places for Water Pokémon to jump out from.

"So far, so good," Saura said, taking a deep breath.

As they walked, Saura noticed something odd about Leo's face. At times, his facial expression would scrunch up, and he would squint as if he were getting the sun in his eyes.

"Uh… Leo? Are you okay?" Saura asked. "Is something wrong with your eyes?"

"I'm practicing!" Leo answered, squinting around again.

"Uh… practicing what?"

"If I try hard enough… sometimes I can see through stuff!" he replied.

"Whoa! That's cool," Saura said. "That's what Luxrays can do, you know."

"I know that," Leo said. "I'm not dumb. But it's hard. I have to focus really hard or it won't work. And there has to be lots of light… Hey! There's something! I think…"

"What is it?" Char asked, looking around. "What do you see?"

"There!" Leo said, pointing forward at a large stone. "I think there's a Pokémon there! Behind the rock!"

Eagerly bounding forward, Leo took a look around the large stone. As soon as he peeked, he jumped back and returned to the group. An angered Chikorita chased him out, frozen in surprise when it saw the whole group. With a startled "kiiu," it stood its ground and prepared to fight the trespassers.

"Chikorita, huh?" Taka said. "Hmm… those can be really strong."

"I'll fight it!" The little Shinx called, his fur starting to sparkle with static.

"Maybe you shouldn't, Leo," Taka suggested. "Plant Pokémon are resistant against your electric power. I know: let's give Char a chance to fight this one! I know he must be itching to fight something that's not going to spray him with water."

"Okay!" Leo said, calming his static and jumping behind Char and Saura. "Good luck, Char!"

Char took a small step toward the enemy, fists clenched. It would be his first real battle of the trip. He had figured out that plant Pokémon burn easily, thanks to his battle with the Bulbasaur and Taka's earlier remark, so he didn't expect to have much trouble.

"Go on, Char," Saura said encouragingly. "Show them all what you've got."

My fire, Char remembered. I need my fire to fight. My "Ember," it's called. Where is it? Is it going to help me this time?

The Chikorita struck first. Twirling its little leaf, it jumped into the air and flung something like a single green blade straight at Char. Before he could dodge, it struck its target, cutting a sizable gash in Char's stomach area. But the gash wasn't too deep, and it didn't seem to hurt all that much…

"Oww!" Char moaned, rubbing the wound.

I've got to focus here! Char said to himself. Yeah! Here we go. I need… emotion. I need to feel angry! Right! That Chikorita will pay for what it did to me! It has no right to injure me, the mighty and powerful Charmander! It will feel my fire! I will make it respect me!

It wasn't much, but Char felt it when the flame in his stomach started to rise and flare. The pleasant smell of smoke entered his mouth and his nostrils.

I did it! Char cheered to himself. I summoned my fire at will! All on my own! But… it's not very strong. Do I have to get even more annoyed than this?"

The Chikorita stood in its battle pose for a moment, examining the environment. Then, it leapt into the air, pivoted, and jumped into a shallow puddle of water which ran off from the main stream through the gravel underfoot. Little droplets of water rained down on Char, one causing a disturbing sting as it managed to strike his tail flame and turn to steam. It started slapping the water with its leaf, trying to keep Char at bay.

"Heh heh, smart," Scythe commented.

Oh… that is it! Char said to himself, immediately becoming infuriated with the enemy.

Char exhaled in the Chikorita's direction. He spewed a great bright ball of fire, bigger than any he'd produced yet, which completely engulfed the enemy and set its entire body ablaze.

"KIIIII!" it yelled, flailing wildly and trying to put the fire out in the puddle.

Oh no, you don't! Char thought again. I'm not done!

Char reared back and exhaled again. Another fireball of equal caliber came forth, lighting the Chikorita on fire all over again. Desperate, it leapt into the rushing stream. Char saw that its body was almost completely black, like a chunk of coal, as it bobbed in the surface and washed away.

Char turned back to the group, still panting from the experience. Black smoke bubbled from behind his teeth and through his tiny nostrils. Team Stripes let loose a cheer for him.

"That was awesome, Char!" Saura congratulated. "You're really getting the hang of using your fire!"

"Did you see that?!" Leo said. "His tail fire was as big as he was! And it turned blue on the inside!"

"Okay, remind me never to make you angry," Taka said, exaggerating a shudder. "I wouldn't be surprised if that poor thing doesn't even live!"

"Good work," Scythe said, smiling warmly to him.

Char looked down at himself in wonder. He stared at his light-orange underbelly, wondering how bright his inner Ember really could get. With enough battles, perhaps he'd find out…


Etcher Ravine S3

After another whole mile and dozens more battles, the team's morale hadn't changed one bit. Char even got to help with another battle against an annoying Nincada—it was fast, but it couldn't dodge Char's blasts of fire. Char felt more proud of himself the more he used his "Ember".

On the third mile, the trees and bushes closed in once again, making it hard at times to keep pushing forward. Scythe was more than happy to lend a hand, effortlessly slicing down the thicker clusters of plants to make a passage for the rest of the team.

This stretch was quite unusual; almost no wild Pokémon attacked. There was a Rattata and a Wooper, but they both fled without battling, and it was all anyone saw. The team wasn't complaining, though, especially Char, who stayed at the front of the line most of the time and held the lead.

After about an hour, everyone took another break to eat. Scythe encouraged them not to be afraid of eating their fill, as both bags held enough food to last them for the rest of the day, and even more hung on the trees all around them. After the short rest, it was back to crawling through the ravine.

As they walked, Leo started humming a catchy little melody.

What a great big world, a sight to behold,
What a perfect place to be!
What a great big world for life to unfold
and it's filled with mystery!

All my friends are gathered around
and it's such a sight to see,
and we work and play and get through the day
Like a great big family!

From the mountains to the parries,
The heavens down to the ground,
All the creatures great and small,
Our song makes the world go 'round!

It's a great big world, a sight to behold,
An enormous place to explore,
With the friends we make and treasure we take
Who could ask for something more?

In this world there's so much to do
And so much we can't understand,
But we work and play and get through the day
And we do the best we can!

In the mornings when we wake up,
And in the night as we lay,
All our spirits join together
In song, to sing our tears away!

The song quickly got stuck in Char's head.

"Leo's so adorable," Saura commented to Taka. "How'd a kid that young get into the resistance force, anyway?"

"I heard he was orphaned," Zachel said quietly. "His parents were killed in one of the Master's raids, and the good guys got there too late. Found him alone. Took him in. That was two or so years ago. He's been living with the resistance teams ever since. He only joined Team Stripes two months back."

"If that's the case, he sure is taking it well," Char said.

"Same thing I say," Zachel said. "Remarkable little kid he is. And he's got a personal reason to fight. I think he'll be something great someday."

"Enemy!" Leo announced. "Uh-oh. It's a Parachisu. Or however you say that. Those squirrel things! Sorry, I'm still learning my Pokémon! They're electric, right?"

Char looked forward. The Pachirisu scampered down a tree trunk, looking very eager for a fight. But that wasn't all; a second one followed behind it. Both faced the group, static bolts jumping over their white-and-blue fur.

"Uh oh," Leo said. "What do we do?"

"Hey, I've got an idea," Taka said, examining the squirrels. "Let's all ATTACK AT THE SAME TIME!"

In a flurry of vines and claws, all six team members gleefully bounded forth into the fray. Priceless expressions covered the Pachirisus' faces as they beheld the wave of Pokémon descend upon them.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" they squeaked, quickly darting away into the depths of the forest and never looking back.

"Hah hah HAH!" Saura laughed. "Good job, everybody! We showed them!"

Saura and Taka spent the next hour having a silly argument over who the Pachirisu were more scared of, and Scythe chimed in with a hearty laugh whenever one made a good point. Leo's energy was still bottomless, and it just Char happy every time he saw the little child leap around in joy. Zachel was mostly silent, but wore a constant smile.

Char sighed contently. Surrounded by his friends and nearing the end of a pleasant and successful journey, he was sure that the day couldn't get any better.

He was right.


(Note: The lyrics are sung to "Treasure Town" from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)

*Chapter 15*: Chapter 13: Scizor

Chapter 13

Ravine Woodlands

"Um…" Leo said suddenly. "Are we out of the dungeon already? I thought you said it was four miles! That was only like three!"

Char had noticed the change in the ravine; it was as though they had been warped to a forest in the gorge. He had written it off as a quirk of the mystery dungeon.

"Hmm… odd," Scythe said, examining the surroundings. "Very odd. I remember this place being four miles long as well. I've never heard of a dungeon shrinking in size before…"

"Look," Zachel spoke out, quickly taking the map out of the bag and checking it. "Etcher Ravine is four miles long, according to this."

"Well, that's… unexpected," Scythe said. "It's possible we've discovered a new kind of mystery dungeon anomaly. But I've been through more dungeons than I care to count, and they've always been the exact same length each time. If they change in size, they grow; they do not shrink. And even then, they only expand over the course of decades."

"Are you sure we're outside of the dungeon?" Char suggested. "How do you know we're not?"

"Do you see the way the terrain changed?" Scythe said, indicating the trees around him. "This is the Ravine Woodlands now. We've arrived to our mission's destination. But I'll have to admit, I'm puzzled."

"Time flies when you're having fun," Char said. "Maybe we just didn't notice the distance."

"Wait, wait…" Scythe said suddenly, pacing from side to side and periodically staring off into the woods. "There is one other explanation for this… But it's… unlikely. It's something that I've only seen happen once before in all of my travels."

Scythe knelt to the ground, keeping an eye on the treetops and the canyon cliffs which surrounded them.

"… There is a possibility that we have been found," Scythe said quietly.

Everyone gasped.

"Found?! By who?!" Saura demanded. "I thought you can't find someone when they're in the middle of a dungeon!"

"Quiet, Saura. And all of you, keep your voices down!" Scythe warned. "But yes, that is normally the case. You're completely hidden when you're crawling a dungeon. But there is a chance… a highly, highly unlikely chance… that… if someone sufficiently powerful knows exactly where you are within the dungeon… most notably, the Master's magicians… and it needs to be a perfectly precise guess… they can tear the shelter of the Dungeon's curse right out from over you, revealing you to be seen. It is called… performing an unveiling. And we may have just witnessed it happen to us."

A brooding quiet came over the group. Char saw worry form in everyone's eyes, Saura's most of all.

"What do we do?" Saura whispered.

"To be on the safe side…" Scythe replied, "We should turn around and go back through the dungeon, back to the base, and report the mission as a failure. However… if someone's watching us, they may be waiting for us at the other end of the dungeon, since this ravine is so linear. We'd have to climb up the ravine walls to escape."

With a unanimous "sounds good to me," the group hastily performed an about-face and started back toward the dungeon they'd just inexplicably exited.

"Wait, wouldn't it be a successful mission?" Char wondered. "I mean, if we spotted enemies at the Ravine Woodlands…"

"But we didn't," Scythe said, now sounding annoyed and a little uneasy. "We haven't gathered evidence that there are enemies here. We're aborting the mission for the sake of keeping everyone alive, just in case there are enemies. Char… remind me to never let such a large group come with us ever again…"

Their happy clamor now only a nervous silence, the group backtracked through the ravine. Scythe led the group this time, and he insisted they travel against the ravine wall for shelter.

"If you see anything out of the ordinary, tell me," Scythe said gravely, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

"Right," Leo said, squinting around and trying to use his special vision. "It's kinda dark here though, but I'll try."

And then…

"I see something!" Leo said, startled. "Up there! Behind that rock, on the cliff ledge! I can't tell what it is…"

"Is it a Pokémon?" Char asked.

"Whoa!" the Shinx said in surprise. "I know that Pokémon! It's a Scizor!"

Scythe stopped cold in his tracks. He reeled back, like he'd just been hit in the head with a boulder.

"Are… you sure?" he asked quietly.

"It has to be," Leo answered. "Right there, behind that rock!"

Char saw Scythe's demeanor change. He was afraid. He could see a streak of true fear behind the old warrior's eyes. He realized it was the first time he'd ever seen the Scyther in this state of mind before. Char's heart filled with uncertainty; he could only imagine what would happen now that even the fearless Scythe was shaken.

"All of you," Scythe rasped. "Get up against the cliff. Behind me. And don't move. Do not move! If you move… you might be killed."

Char and the rest followed his command unquestioningly.

"So, it's come to this…" Scythe hissed to himself, watching the indicated rock intensely. "Adiel…"

Adiel? Char wondered.

It was like a standoff. For a full minute, then two, then five, everyone was frozen and dead silent. Only the sound of the animals from the jungle and the rush of the rapids could be heard alongside everyone's muted gasps for air. Scythe's gaze never wavered.

"Is it still there?" Scythe hissed to Leo.

"I don't know," Leo admitted. "I can't see anymore. The light's all wrong."

"What is it, anyway?" Taka asked carefully. "Why are we being so… like this?"

"If there is really a Scizor up there," Scythe whispered, "It's the one responsible for pulling us out of the dungeon. And we are all in grave danger… I believe I know this Scizor, and the only reason he would ever show himself to you is if the Master is looking for your blood…"

Taka's face paled even further, as did everyone else's. Scythe kept his sights on the rock which sat on a shelf on the cliff side far about their heads.

A bounty hunter employed by the Master? Char thought. This is bad. What do we do?! Where do we go?! Can Scythe protect us from this? This happened because our group was too large, didn't it? Are we going to die today…? … … Or is the Scizor even still there?

Finally… after nearly ten minutes of silence, the Scizor chose to reveal itself. It stepped up to the edge of the cliff, taking a few moments to examine the terrain beneath. Then, it jumped. Within seconds, it'd landed on the ground several feet in front of Scythe.

All of the Pokémon behind Scythe let out a muffled cry of terror at the sight of the Scizor, cramming even closer to each other for safety. Scythe lowered his head and raised one blade into the air, a feral stance with a clear meaning: come any closer, and I will fight.

Char felt his heart beating faster than he'd ever thought possible as he gazed at the wicked beast before them, its crimson, full-body carapace standing out among the green trees of the forest. The Scizor was nearly the same size as Scythe, but its broad wings, massive pincers, and long three-horned faceplate gave it the illusion of being even greater and more powerful. Char had to look twice at the spiked pincers; not only were they bigger than the creature's head and looked like they could snap the body of a younger Pokémon in a single grasp, but he felt a nameless fear at the sight of the spotted eye-marks on their sides. The Scizor's eyes were a burning yellow, its piercing and unblinking gaze locked with Scythe's.

Char's fire raged greater than ever before from the terror instinct; he felt as though it would even suffocate him. He could only struggle to suppress it.

The Scizor took a single step forward with one of its two-toed feet, and Scythe's stance jerked and became even more threatening than before.

Then, the Scizor spoke.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" it said in a low, powerful, authoritative voice. "I thought there was a mirage, but it truly is you, Scythe. You know, I thought it was odd when you didn't show up at the canyon yesterday, but this? Protecting your… students… from me? You've really outdone yourself this time."

Scythe said nothing, continuing to scowl. The Scizor took yet another step forward.

"Congratulations, yet again. This is a momentous occasion! This must be the first occurrence in the history of the world where such a perfectly-executed unveiling has been thwarted. And by none other than the legendary Scyther everyone knows and loves. Seems I can never stop underestimating you. You're an amazing creature, you know that? Absolutely incredible. I wonder how you knew to come here? Pure luck, perhaps? Well, either way, I certainly wouldn't put it past you to have predicted this. Well played. Very well played."

"What are you doing here?!" Scythe demanded violently.

"Well," it answered, "ever since I noticed your teams coming back to this place on a regular basis, I couldn't resist planning a little… surprise visit one day."

"This is what you have come to?" Scythe hissed angrily. "Preying on the young? Aren't there enough of you that slaughter innocent children already?"

"I don't see it as slaughtering the innocent," the Scizor replied smoothly, yet pointedly. "I prefer to see it as slaughtering the guilty."

"You can't fight me," Scythe hissed again. "Not here."

"Ah, hah hah, Scythe," the Scizor laughed evilly, giving a graceful bow. "Calm down. After bearing witness to your brilliant devices, I'm no longer in the mood to fight. I gladly concede. You're the one who wins today's little game. Besides, I wouldn't want to make you look bad in front of your children. Even I know you don't deserve that..."

The Scizor paused in mid-sentence.

"...Oh? What's this?" it said in an exaggerated tone of surprise. "What do we have here?"

Taking its eyes off Scythe, it glanced down at the group of cowering Pokémon against the cliff side. It took Char a second to realize something: it was staring right at him! ... No. Not at him. At the Pokémon beside him, the one whose body he was gripping in fear.

"Bulbasaur!" the Scizor spoke, pointing a pincer at Saura. "And not just any Bulbasaur, but Saura, our newest recruit! Are you ready to join us yet? You only have three days remaining!"

Saura's mouth hung open, as if he'd lost complete control of his body at hearing the Scizor's words. Char held him all the tighter.

"I'm… not… joining you…" Saura croaked out.

"You don't have a choice," the Scizor said, its tone of voice becoming stern. "The Master has chosen you. Nobody truly escapes from the Master once they are chosen. Nobody. Although, at times, he may allow you to think that you have."

The Scizor eyed Scythe as he spoke the words, yet Scythe didn't even flinch.

"Well, I'd love to stay and talk, but I'm very busy today," the Scizor said. "Go on home, have your fun… I'll be seeing you again shortly. Especially you, Bulbasaur. But once again, it's been an honor to have met you today, Scythe. I hope the next time we meet will be under… different circumstances. Come, Dusknoir! It's time to leave!"

The Scizor bowed to Scythe, Then, wings buzzing, it deftly leaped up the ravine walls and was soon out of sight.

The silence remained for what seemed like hours. Nobody moved. Char felt Saura trembling uncontrollably, caught in a state between weeping and speechlessness. Even his own fire was reluctant to secede, questions looping endlessly in his mind: What… just happened? What does this mean?

"Well," Scythe finally groaned in a desolate tone as he relaxed his stance, "let's go. We're done for today."


Great Flatlands

On the way back to the flatlands, the group shared a morbid silence. Everyone's spirits were either too crushed or confused to say anything. Char walked alongside Saura, rubbing him on the back for comfort. He felt so terrible for him, seeing him even having trouble lifting the seed on his back to walk. He knew exactly what was going through his mind: maybe I didn't escape from the Master at all…

"Scythe… what was that?" Taka said, finally breaking the silence and speaking what was on everyone's mind.

At first, it seemed like Scythe wasn't going to answer. Then, after a long sigh, he replied.

"Adiel," he said. "Long ago, before the Master came for me, he was one of my clan-mates."

So that's why he seemed so… friendly, if you even want to call it that, Char thought.

"He turned to the Master?" Leo asked sadly. "That's awful."

"The Master's forces came for me one day," Scythe explained. "That's when I joined them. But after I escaped from the Master's grasp, they went and took Adiel to replace me. He resisted the Master at first, but the Master's brainwashing worked quickly on him, and he stopped struggling… And since he and I had similar training, he went on to become… one of the Master's greatest generals, commander of a large portion of his servants. The Master only uses Adiel when he truly means business, and he rarely fails his tasks… Also, he's made it a personal mission to… find me, and dispose of me."

That is awful! Char thought.

"Well, look on the bright side," Taka said with a squeak in her voice. "He didn't attack us!"

"There's a very simple reason he didn't attack us," Scythe said, speaking without looking back at the group. "It's the very reason I didn't attack him. It is because… if he were to fight me, he doesn't know who would win the battle."

There was a moment of quiet as this sunk in.

"You are all very lucky to still be alive," Scythe added. "Adiel isn't merciful. If I hadn't been defending you, he would have taken one of you down before any of us would have realized it."

"Hey, I guess Daemon was wrong after all," Char said, trying feebly to lighten the mood. "If we were out on our own today, it would have been a disaster! It's good that you came with us today!"

"Yes, it is," Scythe said grimly. "It would have been a mistake to send you out on your own already. To some degree, I suspected something like this would happen. So… I had to ignore Daemon's complaints and do what I knew was right."

"I've always wondered," Leo said. "If Daemon's wrong so much, why's he your partner?"

"Because, little one," Scythe said, filling his voice with gravity, "For every time I've corrected one of his mistakes, he's also corrected one of mine."

"Really?" Leo replied.

"Yes," Scythe said, still keeping his eyes on the road ahead. "Our basic natures clash, and that is why we are a perfect pair. Daemon is a brilliant Pokémon who can question me, challenge me, find flaws in my plans where I cannot see… and that's why I keep him at my side. And by the same token, I help him make his decisions by disagreeing with him. Do you think it would do any good for my team to choose a partner who constantly agrees with me?"

Wow… Char thought to himself, I never thought of it that way. And now I see why Daemon is so valuable to Team Remorse. Scythe is much wiser than I gave him credit for! And now, he even saved our lives! I can't believe I was starting to doubt him.

From now on… I'll give Scythe my complete trust.


Division Base

It was early in the afternoon.

With bags still half full, the disheartened crew of six made their way back to the base and dispersed to their various teams. No goodbyes were shared, no smiles were displayed; it seemed that they simply wanted to put the day's events out of their minds. To Char, it was his first failed mission.

So much for the immaculate Team Ember, Char thought silently. And now we've got a powerful enemy out for us. What a fortunate day, indeed.

As Char, Saura, and Scythe returned to Team Remorse's hall, they ran into Ursa reading a news bulletin on the wall.

"Well, you're back early," Ursa commented upon seeing them. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't four hours. Wait, you didn't fail, did you?"

"Ursa, go to Intelligence and have them issue a twelve-day ban on all training teams," Scythe commanded. "And tell them to increase the risk on the Ravine Woodlands missions to five-star."

"Wow, what for?" Ursa gawked.

"Because… Adiel is on the move," he replied in a low tone.

Scythe didn't have to ask twice. Ursa could barely contain his shock, shooting looks of disbelief at Char and Saura. It was then that he noticed the glaze of fear which still hung in their eyes, even Scythe's.

"Right away," he muttered, leaving quickly.

"What do we do now?" Char asked once he was gone.

"I'm going to have a talk with the rest of the team, as soon as they get back from the mission," Scythe grumbled, opening the team's door. "We have much to discuss. Unfortunately, that can't happen for a while. The members that went out this morning aren't coming back until tomorrow night. As for you… go do whatever you need to do. You won't be going on a mission tomorrow."

Although it didn't surprise him, Char was hurt to hear those words. He knew it was for his own safety, and he knew it was by no fault of his own, but they certainly didn't help to cheer him up.

"Come on, Saura," Char said. "Let's go eat."

Saura nodded, and the two went to the mess hall.

… … …

"Come on, won't you cheer up?" Char said to Saura, who was refusing to even start on the plate of food in front of him. "You know that Scizor only said that stuff to scare you, right? There's no way he can get to you down here! We're protected by ghosts and traps and hundreds upon hundreds of powerful Pokémon. And after today, Scythe is sure to keep protecting us, even when we go on missions. You're safe!"

Saura didn't answer.

"You know, if you really want to, we could lock ourselves up in the deepest level of the base and stay there for three days," Char suggested as kindly as he could.

Saura's voice creaked. He looked at Char with sad eyes.

"You know, I think I would like that," he said.

Char frowned. "Saura, eat your food," he ordered. "It'll make you feel better. Besides, I don't care how powerful that Scizor is. He's bluffing. There must have been hundreds of Pokémon who have angered the Master in so many other worse ways, and they survived! And we're just a couple of kids! Compared to all them, we're… peanuts!"

Saura plucked a slice of food from his tray and slowly chewed it.

"Listen, all we have to do is follow the rules and be a good resistance team, and we'll do just fine, Scizor or not. Let's just wait and see what happens, okay?"

"You're right," Saura said lowly, setting his forehead on the table. "I'm… just a big whiner, aren't I?"

"Saura…"

"No, no, you're right," Saura said again. "I'm just being a coward. This is a dangerous job. I… have to accept that. But at the end of the day, it's a job I really want to do. Scizor or not."

Char glanced at his surroundings. The cafeteria was nearly deserted, the Pokémon all gone on their missions for the day. He was still trying to swallow the loss, and the feeling tugged at him of being left out of the day's events. What he really wanted to do was start the day anew with a clean slate.

"Saura… how about we go learn some more of the Creed, then turn in early today?" Char suggested. "I don't know about you, but I got up pretty early this morning. I'm tired already."

Saura smiled. It was just what he was thinking… except maybe for the part about the Creed.

… … …

And so, even though the day ended on a low note, Team Ember's resolve could not be snuffed. They spent the rest of the mid-afternoon learning another portion of the Creed, studying the map of Jirachi and researching nearby dungeons, and exploring a new tunnel of the base to help them remember their way around. Soon, there was nothing to be done but to retire for the night and wait for the dawn of the next day.

In the early evening, Char and Saura returned to Scythe's room all on their own. Scythe, however, wasn't there that night for some reason – as he'd accidentally fallen asleep in the planning room – so the two set themselves down to rest without him. They had a long, peaceful rest.

The next day…

"Get up!"

Ugh, Char wondered as he twisted his body across the ground, reluctant to wake up. Again?! I thought we weren't doing any missions today!

"Get up, sleepyhead!" the voice repeated. "We've got work to do! Get up, you lazy bum!"

Char opened his eyes and painfully sat up. He scanned the room with his blurred vision, trying to make sense of it.

"Saura!" Char realized. "Where'd Saura go?! What happened to him?"

"Saura got up long before you did," the voice said. "Now it's your turn."

Char was very confused. The voice was not Scythe's. It was definitely not a voice he recognized before. Maybe another member of Team Remorse?

As Char's eyesight returned to him, and he could pick out the shapes and colors of the room, he identified his visitor. It was… a Haunter?

"Gotta pull your weight in the Gold Division," the Haunter said. "No loafing! Now get up! Since you're not going out today, you need to stay inside and do some chores!"

"Chores?!" Char repeated.

"Yeah, chores, you know, menial labor!" the Haunter said. "The guild don't run itself! Saura's on cleaning duty today. You, on the other hand, will be doing something far more useful. Come with me."

Before Char could react, the Haunter grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. Before he knew it, he was being dragged through the corridors of the base toward a destination he could only guess at. Then, something really strange happened… Char walked right into the wall! He realized that, being touched by the ghost Pokémon, he had the temporary power of intangibility. Char watched as many familiar and unfamiliar rooms flashed by as they walked through the very walls of the base.

"We're here!" The Haunter announced, pulling Char into a cramped room. "Here's where you'll be working for today."

Char looked at the room. There were no doors, no windows, no passageways to the outside. He was absolutely trapped. There were no light sources, save for his own, so Char had to lift his tail to investigate the room. There were only two features of the room which he could see: a large gemstone in the shape of a rectangle, and a few smaller diamonds sticking out of the wall.

"…What's my job?" Char asked.

"What's your job?" the Haunter repeated. "Isn't it obvious? Don't you recognize who I am?"

Char looked at the Haunter again. Then, it struck him. He didn't know how he missed it before, but it was clear as day now: the ghost was Gate, the sentry of the base's north-eastern entrance!

"S…sentry duty?" Char guessed.

"Yup," said the ghost. "I need a vacation, so you can take over for me today."

"W…what do I do?" Char wondered nervously. "How do I do this job?"

"Oh, it's easy," Gate said. "You know your Pokémon, right?"

"…What if I don't?" Char squeaked.

"Oh, ha hah, you're joking, right?" Gate laughed. "Everyone knows their Pokémon. Now, here's what you do. See this big gem? You can see the Pokémon who try to enter the base on it, just like a big camera. Your job is to identify each Pokémon who tries to enter the base.

"That's it?" Char said. "Just identify them?"

"Yep," Gate said. "And when you identify them, just touch this little gem here, and say their names! The magic will do all the rest. Well, almost all the rest. You know the Creed, right?"

"…uh…" Char grunted.

"Hah, of course you know the Creed!" laughed Gate again. "Everyone knows the Creed! Now remember, there are over four hundred Pokémon that could enter the base at any time, and you need to get every one right! Get just one wrong, and you could doom us all!"

"Uh, I'm really not so sure about this," Char said, starting to eye the room for a way out. There was, of course, none.

"Oh, it's really not that hard. Here, I'll do one for you. See the screen?"

Char looked at the screen. The image was so very fuzzy, but if he squinted, he could just barely make out the shape of a Pokémon. The Pokémon was… red. And… furry. And… had six hands. And three feet sticking out of its head.

"Quick, Char!" Gate said. "What's that Pokémon? Remember, you can only get two wrong!"

"Uh… Uh… I… Don't… I don't know!"

"Oh, come on! It's an Octofus! Get your act together!"

"What?"

"What about this one?" Gate said, pointing to the screen again. "Oop, too slow! You should be faster than this, Char! It's a Freezle!"

Char gulped. He was on the verge of panic. Were these new Pokémon species he'd never heard before? And how did Gate expect him to know every species of Pokémon by heart?

"Now, there's just one thing left," Gate said. "After you've identified the Pokémon, touch the gem and recite the entire Creed from the top. Careful; if you miss one word, you have to start all over. That's how the spell checks and makes sure the visitor got the password right. And that's it! I'll see you at the end of the day!"

"NO!" Char cried as the ghost floated away. "Gate, stop! I can't do this!"

"Cya, kiddo!" the ghost said, floating into the wall.

"NO! Come back!" Char screamed at the top of his lungs, diving forward as the very last of the ghost disappeared into the solid rock. Char's head brutally collided with the rock. But he didn't even feel it; his heart was racing, and his mind was spiraling in complete panic.

"GATE!" Char yelled, pounding on the wall. "GATE! COME BACK!"

… … …

"Aaahhhhhhh!"

Panting heavily, Char jumped awake. He was in Scythe's room. It was dark except for just his blue tail flame. Saura slept soundly beside him, emitting the peaceful sound of steady breathing.

It had been a dream.

"Ahh… Ahhh…" Char breathed heavily, trying to calm his racing heart. "So… glad… it was… just… a nightmare…"

As his breathing returned to normal, Char's eyes fluttered shut again. He set himself back down on the ground, hoping to the legendary dragons that the next dream would be better.

And then, it happened.

With his eyes closed and his mind already starting to return to the state of sleep, Char started to feel inexplicably dizzy, like he'd just been tossed off the face of a cliff and couldn't tell which direction was up.

Char opened his eyes to try to get a bearing on his physical position… but he found that it didn't help. In fact, he wasn't sure if he'd even opened his eyes again, as the image on his mind's eye hadn't disappeared.

What's… happening to me? Char thought. Is this a dream? I just had a dream, and this doesn't feel even one bit like it.

Next, the sound of a deep, powerful hum flooded his ears. Not just his ears, his being. And it wasn't even a sound, more like a feeling. His body reverberated with a tremendous energy that somehow seemed like a sound, yet it could not be heard. He felt like he was floating in space and listening to some sort of great beast humming a one-note song.

What is that noise? Char wondered. Is that… me? Am I making that noise? It doesn't feel like a noise, or any feeling I've ever had. It almost feels like… telepathy!

Suddenly, a loud, mighty bellow of indescribable caliber rang out from the nothingness! Like the humming, it sounded as a deafening silence that couldn't be heard or identified. As the roar sounded through the dark void, brilliant colors erupted before Char's eyes.

Is this… another one of my visions? Char wondered again. No, it can't be! This… this isn't a memory. This isn't a vision. This is… this is… an experience of some sort… It's like I'm peeking into the spiritual realm itself, or something…

The bellow escalated. The colors became even more vivid and intense, turning into rings which circled Char's sense of presence and surrounded him. He couldn't tell if it was getting lower or higher, but it was certainly getting "louder," though it still always remained silent. Char had the urge to cover his ears; but he couldn't move his body. He couldn't even see his body. It seemed like his body was missing entirely.

Finally, the roar exploded into a full-blown, soul-shattering feeling that gave Char the sensation of being blasted away at high speed. With each pulse of the soundless cry, Char could have sworn his entire being had been ripped into a million tiny pieces.

The cry wasn't just a cry; it came with emotion. Some sort of all-consuming emotion flooded Char's being, soaking through every crevice of his soul. It was the feeling of despair, of hopelessness.

The roar, then, became a voice.

DIALGA!

Dialga? Char wondered, using every ounce of his will to retain his self-awareness as he watched the supernova erupt.

I am here, answered a voice.

This voice was not like the roar. It was powerful, yes, but it was calm and wise, and also sad.

And then, before Char's eyes, a figure emerged. It was a great, wingless dragon of incredible proportions. Its blue hide, lined with countless silver blades, glimmered brilliantly in the inexplicable light. Its mighty tail swung behind it, an expression of its dominance. Its eyes were blood-red, and on its chest rested a diamond that shone so bright it could not be seen.

D…Dialga! Char called, his spirit ecstatic. Dialga! It's me!

But Char's voice fell flat to the endless roar.

DIALGA! the mighty roar said once again. PLEASE, HELP ME!

I cannot, Dialga answered sadly. I am powerless!

Suddenly, just as soon as the experience had started… it was over.

Char found himself sitting awake in Scythe's room. He did the only thing he could do—stare wide-eyed at the wall. At this point, he could not put any of his questions into words. He flexed his hands in front of his eyes to make sure he was still solid.

The door's room flung open.

Scythe stood in the doorway, his gaze immediately locking with Char's. Wonder and awe filled his eyes. In the dim light of the room, Char saw something sparkle on the side of the Scyther's face—he was crying.

"Char…" Scythe gasped. "I… heed your call!"

*Chapter 16*: Chapter 14: Answering The Call

Chapter 14

"Every so often, a Pokémon is born with a special ability known as The Call," Scythe explained to Char as they, along with Saura, rushed through the deserted corridors of the base.

Char had no idea what was going on. Before he could respond, Scythe had hastily ushered him and Saura from their sleeping place. Char found himself following close behind as they hurried through the blue-tinted halls. Saura had the hardest time keeping up as they ran, still trying to come to his senses after the rude awakening.

"Char has the Call?" Saura asked groggily, trying to get his eyes to stay open. "I didn't hear anything! What is the Call, anyway?"

"You don't hear it," Scythe said. "It's a telepathic call. It only affects you on a subconscious level. Hah, they didn't believe me. Nobody believed me! Not Eva, not even Shander! But here you are, Char! Right here in our grasp, right in front of our very eyes! Hah! Quick! This way!"

Scythe dashed into a dark side-tunnel, and Char did his best to keep up by the light of his tail. It all strangely reminded him of the dream he'd just escaped minutes before.

"Where are we going?!" Char demanded.

"We need to hide!" Scythe hissed.

"Hide?" Char repeated. "What, can't we hide in your room?"

"No, not even there," Scythe said. "If I am correct, soon, all fourteen hundred Pokémon in the entire base will be wide awake and looking for us. We need to be out of sight until it all passes over."

Char was amazed at Scythe's reaction to the whole thing. The old bug was absolutely ecstatic. Fire burned in his eyes as if he was witnessing something legendary. His steps were nervous and impatient, yet he took great care not to move too fast for Char. He constantly cast nervous, worried glances toward every adjacent corridor.

Down the stairs they went, down into the lower floors of the base. As they descended the spiral staircase, a low rumble came from down in the dark depths. Even after they'd only passed three floors, it became clear that other Pokémon were coming, and they would be overrun.

"I hear them," Scythe said in a trembling voice. "The base is coming alive! We're almost too late…"

"Do you know of a good hiding place?" Char asked.

"I was going to have us hide under the very bottom of the stairs," Scythe said. "Nobody ever goes down there… but now I don't think we'll make it. Now, we'll just get intercepted."

"Quick question," Char said suddenly, remembering his recent dream. "If a ghost Pokémon touches you, can it drag you through the wall just like it does with items?"

Scythe froze.

"Brilliant!" he cheered. "Char, you're incredible! The storage area. We're only two floors away from that. Quick! We can make it there!"

Running faster than ever, Scythe bounded down the stairs five at a time. Char's feet fumbled about as he followed behind, trying to keep up the speed yet not take a spill and tumble down the stairs. He knew it was a long way down, with a lot of stairs to hit on the way…

After they descended another floor, the unmistakable sound of footsteps began to echo through the stairwell. Soon, it was accompanied by the low murmuring of barely-awake voices. Char wondered why it would be dangerous to be spotted by other Pokémon, but since now was clearly not the time to ask, he could only put his full trust in Scythe and keep running.

Finally, they emerged into the seventh floor. To Char's surprise, no Pokémon were patrolling the halls of the floor just yet. By the bright blue lights of the torches, he could see that the main halls were empty. Scythe dashed down the hall, beckoning the others to follow as fast as possible.

At last, the final stretch was visible. The hub which led to Kecleon's shop and the storage area opened before them. Char's heart skipped a beat when he noticed that both doors were closed for the night with planks of wood.

*CRASH!*

Before Char knew it, Scythe had barged straight into the door of the storage area and taken it down. Splinters of wood fluttered to the ground as Char followed him inside, holding his breath in anticipation.

Morrik the Gengar leaped out of the wall in anger, screaming "WHAT IN THE NAME OF AR—"

"Morrik, we need your help," Scythe interrupted. "Hide us in the storage area."

"W-what?" Morrik said, reeling back. "Y-you're kidding, right?"

"Morrik, this is vital," Scythe roared. "Hide us, fast!"

"W—all three of you?" Morrik said in disbelief. "Well, I've never done anything like this before, but if you say so, Scythe… Uh… hold on, I guess?"

Char grabbed hold of the Gengar's arm, half-expecting his claw to go straight through the ghost's skin. But it turned out to be tangible, and he held on tightly as his friends did the same. Once they were all ready, Morrik sighed and led them straight into the back wall. Char braced himself as he saw the solid rock wall coming closer and closer…

Walking through the wall was one of the weirdest sensations Char'd ever experienced. He found himself blind. The sound was muffled as though Char was underwater; all Char could hear were low, haunting reverberations that reminded him of the vision he'd just experienced only minutes ago. A painful tingling sensation burned at the tip of his tail as the flame couldn't quite stay alive. A clenching feeling arose in his chest: his lungs deflated and were frozen in place, as there wasn't any air…

But the worst feeling of all was the hunger. Walking through the wall was exhausting, somehow, and was quickly draining his body of any semblance of energy he'd attained from the nervous rush to hide. Even his grip on the Gengar weakened as they went, but Char didn't want to think about what would happen to him if he were to let go. He wondered if he instantly die, becoming a petrified fossil in the middle of the wall.

Just when Char was starting to lose his grip on reality, a rush of ice-cold air engulfed him and brought him back to his senses. They'd arrived at a storage pocket. With a strange little sizzling sound, his tail flame re-lit itself as it popped out of the wall and brought light to the absolute darkness of the chamber. It wasn't a very big room, and it was packed from wall-to-wall with orderly piles of items, clothes, and food. He heard himself taking a big breath for air along with his two friends.

"Now, uh, you know you can't stay in here for too long before you suffocate, right?" Morrik reminded them.

"We're fine for now," Scythe said, panting. "Thank you for your help, Morrik…"

"You're welcome, I guess…" the ghost said, scratching its head. "Now… uh… wait here for a sec."

Morrik leaped into the wall, and soon re-appeared holding a pile of clothes. He set them on the floor.

"Mobile scarves," he told them. "You can use these when you want to leave. Just put them on and walk straight that way. Just be sure they get back to me; they belong to Team Dread."

"Thank you," Scythe said again. "And I'm sorry about the door."

"Ahh, 's not a problem." Morrik said, walking back into the wall. "I'm sure you had a good reason."

Morrik left, but Char still didn't feel peaceful. The air was terribly chilly, taxing his poor little flame and giving him frostbite on his nose. It didn't help much that his stomach wanted to retch from starvation. He noticed Saura frantically jumping around the room, examining the piles of items and gobbling up the first pieces of dried food that he saw. Char joined in, not caring what teams they were stealing the food from.

Char soon collapsed onto the floor, his stomach satisfied for the time being. He was still cold, and tired, and confused…

"Scythe, what is going on?" Char managed to say. "What are we running from? Are we in danger?"

"Not really, no," Scythe said, sitting against the oddly-angled corner of the room. His smile had never left his face the whole time. "All I know is that I don't want to be the one to explain to everyone what just happened. But, can you believe it? This is all your doing, Char! You released a call so powerful… It was truly touching, it made my eyes water."

"So, what is this 'Call', anyway?" Saura asked again. "Can't you tell us? Or does it have to stay a secret still?"

"I can tell you," Scythe said. "Like I said, every so often, a Pokémon is born with an innate ability we refer to as 'the Call'. It stays dormant for most of the Pokémon's life, but at unpredictable times, when it activates, it will telepathically cry out to other Pokémon, and anyone who hears the Call will come to you. It all happens subconsciously, so neither the caller nor the answerer will realize what's going on. Depending on a Pokémon's sensitivity to the Call, the other Pokémon will simply be disturbed, or find themselves strangely drawn to you."

"Uh… okay," Char said, trying to wrap his mind around it.

"The Call comes only every several decades," Scythe continued, "and the power of the call varies. One Pokémon's call might only fill one room, while another's might reach out to a whole city. But… then, there are Pokémon like you, Char, whose call is so vast and immeasurable, even the legendary dragons would heed it! And when the call is that powerful… strange, unpredictable things happen! We knew that the next time the Call would appear, it would be more powerful than ever before… And those few of us, like me, who are so sensitive to the Call that we can hear and understand it on a conscious level, we've been searching for it… searching, and waiting… and now, the wait is over, Char, because you're here!"

"So, wait," Saura said. "Char let out this telepathic cry that I didn't even hear, and now the whole base is awake and looking for him? And that's why we have to hide?"

"Exactly," Scythe said. "Like I said, they wouldn't hurt you, but I think it's safer this way. After tonight, most of the Pokémon in this base will know that we've found the Call, but for safety's sake, we're going to keep a secret of who exactly has it…"

"There's something I don't understand," Char grumbled. "What's so special about the Call, anyway? Why were you looking for it and waiting for it for so long?"

"That's the most important part," Scythe said gravely. "The Call which is so powerful that it can summon even the aid of the legendary dragons… can win the war!"

There was a moment of quiet as the words sank in.

"You mean… we can actually get them to fight for us?" Saura said in disbelief. "We could summon Dialga and Palkia to fight on our side?"

"Yes!" Scythe answered excitedly. "Throughout history, this power to call upon masses of Pokémon has won wars and kept entire civilizations of Pokémon and humans alive. If we were to harness this power to call upon the gods, the resistance force would become undefeatable! But, would the Call have fallen into the hands of the Master, the same could be said about him. Whichever side obtains the Call would be the victor. That's why it's so extraordinary that you're here today, Char! It means that the Call has finally been secured, and the resistance forces can finally win! The Master will finally be brought to feel his due remorse!"

Maybe this is my purpose, then? Char considered. This Charmander body… if it possesses both the Call and the ability to hear the Call… that must really be something rare and special! Maybe I was put here to summon Dialga to help the resistance forces win the war! But… didn't I call to Dialga? I did, didn't I? And Dialga answered me! It said it was powerless! How could Dialga be powerless? What… could this mean?

"But… there's one thing I can't understand," Scythe said, his smile finally fading. "Eva tested you, both of you! Using her psychic abilities, she can sense the Call in Pokémon even when it's not active. Yet… she didn't find it in either of you. And she made me look like a fool, at that…"

This is it, Char thought. Now is the time to say it…

"Scythe… I have something to tell you," Char mumbled, his face full of shame. "Eva didn't test me. She lied to you… and she threatened me to not tell you. I'm… sorry I didn't say this earlier. She just pretended to test me, but she said it wasn't worth her time."

Char held his breath as he watched for Scythe's reaction. Scythe blinked.

"Char, you're kidding!" Saura said, shocked at the news. "I didn't like Eva, but… that's ridiculous. She didn't test you? And you even turned out to actually have the Call?"

"That arrogant brat…" Scythe spat. "You know, this doesn't really surprise me. Part of me never wanted to trust Eva in the first place, but because of her power, I ignored my instincts. I should have listened to them. She will hear about this. I will not go lightly on her about this. It could almost be considered treachery. Char… you should have told me sooner. You should know that Eva can't do anything to you. Not here."

"I'm sorry," Char said again.

Scythe got up, his eyes wide in concentration. He paced around the tiny room, muttering strings of thoughts quietly to himself. Char couldn't imagine all the things that were spinning in the warrior's head. He was starting to see what it all meant. He wasn't just a Pokémon. He was an important Pokémon. His power could change the world. What now? What could he do?

"What now?" Char decided to ask. "Is there a way I can use my power to help?"

"That's the hard part," Scythe said. "As far as I know, there's no reliable way to trigger your Call. It happens all on its own, on its own time. We will just have to wait. Although, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if your call tonight reached out to the ancients. It was… so powerful… I shudder in memory of it! But now, I will live knowing that I could wake up one day, and Dialga would be standing at our front gate, ready to help us. We just have to wait and see what happens."

After about twenty minutes of Scythe's excited banter and Char's nervous silence, Char started to feel a little short of breath. Having less air to feed on, his tail flame slowly died down, dimming the light of the room and making it harder to see. Regardless of what was happening out in the base, it was time to leave.

As Char slipped the scarf that the ghost had given him around his neck, there was one last question he felt he needed to ask Scythe as long as they were confined to this cell, away from all the other Pokémon in the base. Part of him didn't want to ask the question, but the other part of him knew he had to, especially now that his purpose was starting to be revealed to him. At last, when they were ready to step through the wall, Char hesitated. Gathering his courage, he turned to Scythe.

"Scythe, there's one other thing I need to ask you," Char said nervously. "Do you—"

"Yes," Scythe said, eying Char with a blank face. "Yes, I do."

"Oh, come on!" Saura growled. "Not this again! Scythe, please, just answer's Char's question."

"I did," Scythe said, turning to the wall again. "The answer is yes."

"I'm a human!" Char cried. "There! I said it! Now you know. I'm a human. Now we don't have to play this dumb game anymore. Now you know my secret. Because I trust you, Scythe. I really do. I need you to know, so I can stop worrying about it. So there."

Silence. In the dying light of his flame, Char watched Scythe for a reaction. He resisted the urge to bite down hard on his tongue. Had he just make a big mistake? The warrior had his back turned, staring at the wall through which he was about to walk, contemplating his reply. Char held his breath as he awaited the answer, even though he was already getting dizzy from lack of air…

"You look like a Charmander to me," Scythe said quietly, not turning around.

Before Char could respond, Scythe stepped into the wall and disappeared from sight.

… … …

Using the strange "mobile scarves," Char and Saura passed through the wall and back into the main corridors of the base. To their surprise, the directions that Morrik had given them didn't lead back to the storage area lobby; they were now in a familiar, yet unrelated hall. Scythe was nowhere to be seen.

It was still in the dead of night, but this time, a few Pokémon wandered through the hallways. When Saura casually asked a passing Pikachu why it was up so late, she told them that she had trouble sleeping tonight and just felt like taking a walk upstairs. A Minun said it was sleepwalking and it found itself several floors away from its room when it woke up. A Growlithe claimed it was awake because it swore it felt an earthquake and wanted to go upstairs to escape the base, before realizing that getting caught by the Watchers was a much more horrible fate than being buried alive. A Typhlosion asserted it had a dream about Dialga, and a voice told him to go upstairs and visit Team Remorse's chambers.

With each Pokémon they questioned, Char felt more and more nervous about his power. He could see its gravity right before his very eyes, how it had the power to literally control the minds of the Pokémon around him.

"This is so weird," Saura commented as they walked back up to their rooms and passed countless numbers of confused Pokémon all suffering from insomnia and wandering around. "The entire base was… looking for you."

"And apparently I summoned them all," Char muttered.

"Hey," Char said quietly, passing by an annoyed group of Nidoran trying to find their way back downstairs. "I just realized something. Do you remember when I first met you?"

"Vaguely," Char said. "It was only a few days ago, but it feels like weeks…"

"Well, that night, I was taking a walk," Saura said. "But when the night came, I… I decided to keep going farther into the forest, instead of heading back home. Even though I knew the Watchers were coming. I felt… I felt like I really wanted to go to the cave. Do you think… that I heard your call?"

"That would make a lot of sense," Char thought out loud.

"Also, how do you think Shander and Scythe found us?" Saura continued. "They probably heard the same call I did! They were drawn to the cave, and they found it even though I thought it was hidden, and… and Scythe was the only one who understood what was happening, since he was looking for the Call all along. And that's why he took us here to the base to be tested. It makes perfect sense!"

That does make perfect sense, Char realized. Of course, that would also mean… that every good thing that has happened to me since becoming a Pokémon has happened because of my power: Saura finding me, Scythe and Shander finding me, Scythe and Shander taking me to the base, even Saura and I getting special treatment with Team Remorse… If it weren't for the Call, I'd still just be a lonely Charmander sitting in that cave, too afraid to go anywhere… It's almost like the Call is bending my surroundings to best suit me. No wonder it's such a coveted power!

Char continued to gawk in awe at the effects of his call. So many Pokémon had been disturbed from their sleep! Some were even lounging and sleeping in the hallways, too tired to make it back to their rooms. He could only wonder what he would hear about this crisis the next day.

… … …

Meanwhile, Scythe was headed in a different direction. He crept in the shadows and tried to avoid being seen—since it was his rooms that all the Pokémon had been drawn to, and it was him that they would all question—and made his way down to a certain hallway of residence. His heart was set to give a certain Pokémon an earful of his frustration.

"Eva!" He hissed angrily, arriving at the Espeon's door.

Without waiting for a reply, Scythe tried to force to door open. It didn't budge; it was blocked from the inside. Eva had to be home.

"EVA!" Scythe yelled a little louder. "I'm not going to let you hide from this. This is your error, you will be the one to face up to it."

No reply.

With a snort, Scythe reared back…

*Slash!* *Slash!*

The wooden door fell into several pieces, and Scythe barged inside.

The room was completely dark. All the candles and torches were turned off and snuffed out.

"Eva…" Scythe said again, becoming even more annoyed at the Espeon's stubbornness.

Just as the Scyther's irritation was about to become full-blown rage, he realized something he should have seen sooner: the Espeon wasn't there after all. Her sleeping mat was empty.

"Eva…" Scythe growled to nobody but himself, slashing at the air. "You coward! What do you think you're doing?! Where did you run off to?"

Growling incessantly, Scythe fled the room.

… … …

When Char and Saura arrived back at Team Remorse's front door, what they saw was an odd sight that, in reality, didn't surprise them. About twelve Pokémon were sleeping in that very corridor, too lazy to return to their own rooms after being summoned by the Call. Char gritted his teeth as he carefully stepped over a sleeping Meditite on the way to the door.

Just as Char's first knock connected with the door, a rage-filled voice rang out from behind it.

"GO AWAY!"

"Uh…" Char said. "But… we live here!"

"PLEASE!" the voice demanded again. "FOR THE LOVE OF ARCEUS, LEAVE US ALONE!"

"Uh…" Char said again.

Then, Char noticed something: he was still holding the mobile scarves from before. With an evil smirk, he quickly tied one on and put the other one on Saura, and they proceeded to march straight through the locked door…

They met a weary, infuriated Gabite, a member of Team Remorse, on the other side.

"Oh… it's you two," it said indifferently. "Ugh… And here I thought it still wasn't over. There's no way I'm getting up for the mission tomorrow. Too…tired…"

… … …

"You know, I don't think I'll even be able to sleep now either," Saura said as the two once again tried to relax in Scythe's room. "Tomorrow's going to be a crazy day. You know that, right? Everyone's going to be talking about this… And when word gets out that the Call caused this, we'll never hear the end of it…"

That's for tomorrow, Char told himself. Tonight… it's time to finish our sleep.

As Char's eyes fluttered closed, he knew one thing was for certain: his purpose in the world of Pokémon was slowly but surely becoming clearer. Although, for the first time, he found himself starting to wonder if he really wanted to find out what it was.

*Chapter 17*: Chapter 15: I Can Explain

Author's Note: In early 2013, I began a minor revision of this story. As of now, this revision ends here. I apologize to new readers if you encounter an increased number of typos starting with this chapter.


Chapter 15

Empirical Falls

"Remember… we've got to do this fast. This is our last chance to grab our stuff!"

The sky was dark and cloudy the night a humiliated Seviper and Croagunk made their way back to their pillaged hideout. The previous day, word was officially out that a gang of thieves kept a den full of stolen goods south of Jesterville and right on the border of the Jaded Woods—thanks to a certain meddling resistance team—and come sundown of the next day, the thieves knew there'd literally be nothing left of it. Their last chance to salvage anything was in the darkness of the night, as the Watchers hovered in the sky.

With only three hours left until sunrise, the two arrived at the Empirical Falls.

"I don't see the point," the Seviper snorted. "The boss will have our hides for this! Have you even thought about what we're going to tell him?"

"It's his own fault," the Croagunk mumbled, trying to find the path back to the cave. "If he'd been here, we could've taken down that stupid Scyther. He picked a real bad time to go on an errand…"

"Didn't have a choice," the Seviper replied. "Adiel called him away. Besides, it's your fault this happened! Quit trying to pin the blame on someone else! There will be no twisting the truth when the boss gets back. I'm not taking the fall for you. Not again."

"You could just run away, you know," the Croagunk suggested evilly.

"That's not a bad idea," the Seviper said, dripping with sarcasm. "What's the point of staying with—"

The sound of moaning came from below, cutting off the Seviper's masterfully-crafted insult. It was the voice of a ghost Pokémon lying in wait for a victim. The Seviper froze, waiting for the inevitable attack. The Croagunk shivered in anticipation.

A large Shuppet rose from the ground before them. With eyes glowing white, and a face of evil glee, it emitted a hiss and started bobbing through the air towards the Croagunk. He took a few steps backward, preparing a strike to defend himself.

But then, the ghost's moan echoed. The sound came from all around him.

"There's more than one," the Seviper warned, his voice fearful. "They're closing in…"

Another Shuppet popped out of the earth, directly behind the Seviper. Soon, three more emerged from the shadows, all glowing with dark energy. The ghosts hovered menacingly in the air, forming a tight circle around the thieves.

"Blasted Watchers," the Seviper spat. "Don't they know their allies when they see them?!"

"Apparently not this time," the Croagunk mumbled. "Get ready…"

The Seviper struck first. He uncurled violently and flung himself into the air, sending its bladed tail at the nearest ghost like a whip. The ghost fell back, disturbed. Then, all five of the ghosts dove inward at the intruders like hungry Carvanha to a feeding frenzy. The Seviper lurched in an attempt to strike away a ghost with its fangs, but the ghost dodged back and quickly countered, latching onto the Seviper's head. The Croagunk furiously punched at the ghosts, but most of his attacks passed straight through the bodies of the ghosts, who proceeded to throw themselves at him, the cursed dark energy leaking from them…

"No, you don't!" The Croagunk shouted as the Watchers swarmed him like flies. "Not today!"

With a loud croak, the frog Pokémon held his breath and focused on a well of dark energy in his chest, a power which was given to him upon induction into the Master's service. He prepared to use one of the techniques which had aided him many times in the past in defending himself against the Watchers. A small, shadowy ball of power formed between his hands…

"Ugh! Get off!" The Croagunk roared noisily as he released his power. A pitch-black pulse of shadow exploded from him, engulfing the Watchers. They shrieked as they were all flooded with dark energy, and soon went limp and faded away back into the ground.

"Meh heh heh, that'll show them," the Croagunk mumbled, rubbing his forehead and trying recover from almost getting cursed by the ghosts' power.

"The Watchers aren't supposed to even be watching this region tonight," the Seviper hissed in annoyance, picking himself off the ground. "Dumb ghosts."

"The Watchers go wherever they please," the Croagunk reminded. "It's not like we can tell them what to do."

The two rushed onward, and soon found their hideout. Not wanting to attract any more Watchers, they hurried inside. Croagunk lit a lantern, and the Seviper reeled in horror at everything the resistance team had taken.

"See?" Croagunk said with a ridiculously faked carefree tone. "Everything's still here!"

"No!" the viper shouted, slithering forward to examine the piles of stuff. "You fool! Everything of value is gone! The scarves, the orbs, everything that's of use to us! The boss will be outraged!"

"Nonsense!" Croagunk scoffed, searching through the piles himself. "They left plenty of stuff. Like… oh, no!"

A horrified gaze now in his eyes, Croagunk dug through a pile of scraps, furiously shoving everything away.

"They didn't! They couldn't have! This is impossible! They…"

He reached the very bottom of the pile, the stone floor of the cave, and angrily smashed a nearby stack of scraps with a clenched fist. Something of glass shattered within it.

"…they took my feral-shard! Do you know how hard those are to find?"

The Seviper didn't answer, instead just smirking at him with a "you deserve it" look upon his face.

"I was this close to being able to evolve! Meh, you're right. We really blew it this time."

"You blew it," Seviper said again, angrily. "I wasn't the one who decided to be an idiot and go out hunting during the day."

"Well, good evening to you both,"

At the sound of the new voice, both Pokémon spun towards the entrance of the cave. A large, menacing Dusknoir floated in.

"BOSS!" The two Pokémon yelled in unison, trying not to betray their nervousness.

"W-welcome back from your mission, boss!" the Croagunk stuttered.

"How was your mission with the Scizor? Did it go well?" added the Seviper.

The Dusknoir hung its faceless head, floating farther back into the cave. "No… it was a complete failure," it uttered. "I performed the perfect unveiling. The single most accurate, most skillful unveiling in the history of the Master's reign. But it was undone by… the Scyther."

The Seviper and Croagunk cast worried glances at each other, their nervousness growing by the moment.

"Somehow, the Scyther knew about our plan, and he chose that one day to guard over his team members. Scizor and I had to back down."

Without further ado, the powerful Ghost unleashed his pent-up anger at the nearest wall. He punched with all his might, setting a huge hole in the rock and causing pebbles to fall from the ceiling.

"That wretched Scyther!" it growled angrily. "How can one Pokémon be so brilliant? How does he predict our every move, time after time? He's been a scourge in our sides for over a decade now. He is like a mastermind! Like… a human, almost! This must end! He must be brought to humility!"

The Dusknoir punched again, shaking the entire cave and causing a huge boulder to fall out from the wall and crush a nearby pile of stolen supplies.

"Graaaaaaah!" it yelled.

The Dusknoir stood still for a moment, looking down at the hole he'd punched in the wall. Seviper and Croagunk were, simply put, scared stiff.

But, just as suddenly as the ghost Pokémon's rage had appeared, it was gone.

"So, how were your days?" the Dusknoir asked in a surprisingly friendly tone. "Get very much accom-wait, what did you do with my Dusk Orb?"

"Dusk Orb?" Croagunk gulped. "I, uh, didn't do anything with it."

"I need it back, I wasn't done with it yet," the Dusknoir said. "It still had plenty of energy left in it. Someone must have moved it. It used to be right here, right next to the…"

Dusknoir froze again. He glanced around at the contents of the cave, then to his two teammates. He took immediate notice of the forced smiles spread across both of their faces, and the way their muscles twitched like they were about to run away as fast as possible.

"YOU FOOLS!" The Dusknoir raged, slamming its fists into the ceiling and causing more rocks to fall around. "YOU WERE BLOWN OPEN, AND YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN'T NOTICE?! Can't I leave you alone for THREE DAYS? THREE DAYS? THREE DAYS, AND ALREADY WE'VE BEEN ROBBED?! ALREADY WE'VE LOST HALF OUR WORK?"

Croagunk tried to run, but the Dusknoir lurched forward and slammed him against the wall.

"WHAT HAPPENED? WHO DID THIS?" It roared, seething with dark energy.

"I—I can explain!" the Croagunk pleaded. "It… the… the…"

"The Scyther attacked us," the Seviper admitted shamefully in place of his partner. "We'd just settled in for the day, when… They ambushed us from within the dungeon! The Scyther used a little Bulbasaur and a Charmander to trick us, and… he almost destroyed both of us. There was no way we could have fought back. Not without you here."

The Dusknoir dropped its captive.

"A Bulbasaur and a Charmander, you say?" it replied, the anger once again vanished from its voice, replaced with a calm and thoughtful tone.

"Yes, and it sounded like he was… training them. Leading them through the forest," the Seviper explained.

For a moment, Dusknoir was silent.

"Ha. Hah hah. Hah hah hah," The Dusknoir said, almost a faked laugh. "Hah hah. Hah hah hah hah! That's… that's funny. You see, those two were also with him during the unveiling. You're meaning to tell me that… the Scyther… not only did he attack you when I was away, and then put a halt on Scizor's operation immediately afterwards, completely uprooting us both at the same time, he's walking his students through the process as well? This is… this is his way of schooling them?"

Croagunk started to join in the laugh, but Dusknoir fell silent again.

"We all know that the Scyther is brilliant," Dusknoir said, "But this… goes too far! Now he's just rubbing it in our faces. Heh, heh, heh! It's funny! I think it's time we've done something about this… this Scyther. I think it's high time we crack a plan that not even he will see coming."

"But who can come up with a plan like that?" Croagunk wondered. "Not even Scizor has been able to do it yet!"

Dusknoir glided over to very, very back of the cave, where even the lantern didn't shine. Truth was, he wasn't all that upset about the hideout getting discovered… just so long as the one thing which mattered most to him was still there.

His arm becoming intangible, he reached it into the wall and felt around for a little pocket of air which he'd been keeping a secret even from his two minions. He was relieved to find it exactly where it was supposed to be. Eagerly, he yanked it out and looked it over: it was a small, round object of incredible value. His hands trembled as he held it.

"Remember what Scizor is always telling us," Dusknoir said evilly. "If your opponent doesn't know how strong you are, there's no limit to what you can do with them. And now… I think it's time to unleash one of our… hidden weapons."

"Bwuh?" Croagunk said, confused. "What's… that you're holding, boss? I don't remember stealing something like that."

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" the ghost yelled suddenly. "Besides, what ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Start PACKING! We have to be gone by sunlight! GO!"

"Yes, master!" the two yelped in unison as they started scrambling around for things they could take with them.


Division Base

"Get up!"

Ugh, thought Char, rubbing his forehead. Do we have to get up like this every day?

"I'm dead tired," Saura groaned, rolling over. "Can't we sleep for just a little while longer?"

"We don't have a choice," Scythe said. "The division's holding a meeting. We have to attend."

"A meeting!?" Char repeated in annoyance. "I wonder w— oh."

"Indeed," Scythe said. "Something last night created quite a disturbance. So, first thing this morning, they're sounding the alarm to have a meeting. We need to get down to the grand hall."

Char felt sick, not just because he'd been up for several hours the previous night, but also because it scared him to even imagine what would be said at this meeting. Surely, they would be discussing the Call and its effects on the base. Would they find out he had it? It wasn't something very difficult to figure out. He was one of the new kids sticking around with Team Remorse. Would he have to stand up before the entire division? Would he be ridiculed, or, far worse, have to spill the secret of his humanity?

This morning, instead of his usual zealousness, Scythe wore a frown as he ushered Char and Saura out of the room.

"This all could have been avoided if it weren't for Eva," he reminded them as they proceeded down the hall. "And now, I don't even know where she ran off to. I stayed up last night searching the entire place… couldn't find her. The registry claims she's still in the base somewhere, but… she might have fled."

"She ran?" exclaimed Saura in disbelief. "Because of all this?"

"It's because of her that we couldn't take the necessary precautions to prevent something like this from happening," Scythe said scornfully. "Now that she's seen her mistake, she's hiding so she won't have to deal with it. But she can't hide forever. She'll turn up. And when she does… she'll hear about it."

When they reached the end of the hall, a large group of Pokémon stood lined, talking amongst each other and waiting for their leader. Char realized that this was the first time he was able to see all of Team Remorse together, save for the few who were still out on the mission. On one side of the hall stood a Marowak, a Nidoking, a Feraligatr, and an Umbreon, and on the other, there was a Gabite, a Breloom, a Crawdaunt, and Ursa the Ursaring. As Char and Saura approached, the team looked down at them oddly.

"The teams will go down to the meeting in procession," Scythe explained quietly. "You'll have to be in back this time. Stick with Ursa."

"Morning, Team Ember," Ursa said. "Hard to tell what's going to happen today, you two. We've got to keep our fingers crossed that this doesn't all turn into a fiasco."

The murmuring stopped as Scythe stepped up to the front of the line and turned his attention to the entire team.

"Well, well," he said, addressing the team. "I can only think of one thing to say, and that's to be prepared for anything. At best, this could be a monumental occasion that we've finally found what we've been looking for. At worst… this could cast the entire division into schism. But anything in between could happen."

Wait, Char realized. Does that mean Scythe told everyone about me? About the Call? I don't know whether to feel safer, or more nervous…

"What will we do if it does destroy the division?" The Nidoking asked. "Have you thought about that?"

"I will make one thing clear," Scythe said, holding his head high. "I will always fight the Master, regardless of what happens. Anyone who wants to stay at my side and keep Team Remorse alive, it's your choice."

"I'm not going anywhere," the Nidoking said firmly.

"I'm staying," the Gabite announced. "Got nowhere else to go, anyway."

"Let's all be honest with each other," the Umbreon spoke up. "There's no breaking up this team. Where Scythe goes, we go. Right?"

The team cheered their unanimous decision, although there was a clear streak of uncertainty in everyone's voice. When everyone was nice and collected, they opened the door and started their procession down to the lower levels of the base in two, orderly rows.

… … …

On the way down, all Pokémon, no matter how crammed the hallways were, cleared a path for Team Remorse. But as he proceeded with them, Char watched as all the Pokémon glared suspiciously at him, causing his stomach started to get tied in knots all sorts of knots. He could tell, just by looking at them all, that they probably knew the secret. It didn't take a psychic to tell that not everyone had gotten a good night's sleep, and that they all suspected what had caused it. Char did his best to stay hidden between Saura and Ursa until they reached their destination.

For the first time, Char got to see what it looked like for the Grand Hall, easily his favorite room in the entire base, to be filled. The simple beauty of the vast dish-shaped room, with its large, circular stair-steps, outer ring of torches, and gargantuan statues of the legendary dragons was now impossible to see, buried under hundreds, no, at least a thousand Pokémon all filing into their seats and clamoring about not having slept well. Each and every Pokémon was grouped by team, with the more important teams near the front and the training teams at the back. It was the first time Char noticed all of the many special places for the irregular Pokémon to watch from, such large side-caves for the Onix and high perches for the Pidgeotto. Once more, Char couldn't tell whether to feel safe and sound with so many allies, or worried that his safety and sanity was about to be put into danger as soon as the meeting began. He felt his Ember churning like an upset stomach as he filed in near the very front row with the high-ranking resistance team.

"Wow," Saura said for the third time as he watched the seats quickly fill up by the bright orange light of the hundreds of torches on the wall. "This is… a lot… of Pokémon. This is like… a whole city. Just to see everyone in the same pace like this…"

"Yeah, the Gold Division is easily the biggest of the three," the Umbreon said from next to Char. "We've developed a habit of housing more refugees than we should, but, in turn, we've had the highest recruitment rate on record. The other divisions are more of the elitist type. Anyway, I don't believe we've met. Everyone calls me Raon."

"Hi, Raon," Char said, again trying to shake his hand before he realized the Umbreon didn't really have any.

"Of course, you two need no introduction," he said. "You've only been here for a few days, but everyone's talking about Team Ember! I think you're going to be even more popular than us!"

"Did Scythe… tell you about us?" Char asked carefully. "I mean, like…"

"Like you having the Call?" Raon said. "Of course he did. Last night, when he came back to the room, he woke everyone up and gave us all the news. But don't let that worry you! Team Remorse is on your side. Now we all know to look out for you."

Char was going to say something, but bit his tongue when he noticed that the entire room had gone dead silent. The murmuring stopped, and the rustling of feet and wings quickly faded out. Char turned his gaze to the center stage only a few feet in front of him. A Chatot fluttered onto the stage, followed by an Alakazam.

"This is it!" Saura whispered. "The meeting is starting!"

"Good morning," the Chatot announced to the entire audience. Even though he was so close, Char was surprised his voice was so loud.

"It's a trick of the architecture," Ursa whispered. "The ceiling is a giant dome, so you can hear voices from the stage anywhere in the room. That, and Alakazam likes to broadcast the words with Telepathy at the same time, so everyone can understand what he says."

"Thus begins the thirty-eighth grand convention of the Gold Division of the Great Resistance," the Chatot continued. "I apologize for the… sudden and inconvenient timing of such a meeting, but due to recent circumstances, we have much to discuss. So, without wasting any more time, it's my pleasure to introduce to you… your greatest servants, High Intelligence."

A procession of Pokémon climbed onto the stage and stood at Alakazam's side. First came a Slowking, apparently Dr. Orde from the hospital, then a Xatu, then finally, coming down from levitation, a mighty Metagross. With a gentle but enormous crash, its four limbs came to rest on the stage.

"There he is," Raon said. "Metagross. If the Gold Division had a leader, it'd be him. It never sleeps. It spends all day and all night reading records, and piecing together parts of the puzzles. It assigns most of the missions the Division accomplishes each and every day. Alakazam and Xatu are his assistants, and Dr. Orde is considered one of them, just because of his intellect. Together, they can see the entire division as a whole and make decisions regarding all of us."

Char held his breath as the Alakazam took to the front of the stage.

"First and foremost…," it spoke loudly, its voice echoing both audibly and mentally, "the issue that's on everyone's mind at this early hour… Late last night, at approximately three twenty-two A.M., by the human clock, there was… an epidemic amongst the entire division."

Voices arose from the audience, signifying their acknowledgement of his words.

"Over half of the members of the Gold Division awoke last night, almost instantaneously, and began to wander around the base in a state of half-consciousness."

More murmuring from the crowd. Char's heart escalated, but he took deep breaths and tried not to panic.

"There have been many rumors surrounding this strange occurrence," the Alakazam said, "but Metagross has determined the most likely cause…"

Here it comes, Char thought. The Call! The Call! This is it!

"…An earthquake."

Huh?!

As the entire room came alive with uproar, Char glanced at Scythe. Shock covered his face, and so with the rest of the team.

"What?!" Scythe said, shaking his head. "Now… This, I didn't see coming…"

"Quiet, please!" Alakazam pleaded, silencing everyone. "Yes, yes, at about Three-twenty-one, a minor earthquake shook the base. It was only a three on the Diglett scale, but it would have been enough to awaken everyone from sleep and affect them subconsciously."

"It was the Call!" someone shouted from across the room. "The Call!"

"Quiet, Quiet!" Alakazam pleaded again, just before the uproar could restart. "While evidence suggests it could have been the Call, the likelihood of such an occurrence is simply… benign. Not only is a Call of such magnitude practically impossible, but the timing is not right. The last Call was only twenty-four years, six months, two days, and five hours ago, and according to Lucario's pattern, a call, indeed, one of such magnitude, would not have appeared for at least another two years, five months, seven days, and sixteen hours. Keep in mind that these are not simply statistics, but solid, proven scientific facts."

"I… I don't believe what I'm hearing," Scythe said, completely incredulous.

"You don't think…" Ursa said. "You don't think this could be possible, do you?"

"I… wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes," Scythe muttered. "High Intelligence… is lying!"

"You might be wondering how this explains why everyone was somehow drawn to the quarters of Team Remorse. There is a very simple explanation for this: you all respect Team Remorse, correct? You all trust them as powerful allies, do you not? Well, in your states of half-consciousness, you sensed danger, and you fled to Team Remorse for protection, the same thing you would have done on a battlefield."

"It is difficult to believe, yes," the Xatu said calmly, "but… Metagross is rarely ever mistaken."

"Scythe!" the Feraligatr said softly. "You know, we could put an end to this right here and now! Just shout out! You're in a position to do it!"

"It's no use," Scythe said. "If High Intelligence sees fit to lie like this, they already know the truth, so there's no sense in arguing. Besides, this division trusts their words much more than us. Ugh… I bet those four brains of his took two seconds figuring out the answer and thirty minutes conniving a good lie to cover it up."

"Anyway, it is in the past," Alakazam continued, trying to calm the roaring crowd. "It does not affect us now. Now, we must move on to the second important issue on our agenda… Yesterday, after returning from a mission with his apprentices, as well as a few members of Team Stripes and one of Team Carrier, Scythe reported that he'd had an encounter with Adiel, the Scizor."

A gasp of horror rose from the room, followed by more muttering.

"Thankfully, Scythe and all five of his companions escaped with their lives and lived to tell the tale," Alakazam said. "But yes, it's very horrifying news that the Master has once again employed Adiel among his forces. The news could mean unforeseen trouble for us. Rest assured that Metagross has already begun to think about it. Since we got the news, he's been ceaselessly considering all possibilities of what the Master could be planning next."

"Due to these circumstances, I regret to announce… that… we must now place a twelve-day restriction on all training teams," Xatu said. "No training teams will be allowed to embark on missions until the restriction is lifted. We are… sorry for the inconvenience, and we know full well how far behind schedule this will put many of you, but… it is for your safety. Scythe's party only survived because of his presence. If their mission had been a routine one with no supervision… they would have not returned."

"I don't get it," Scythe stammered, not even listening to the new announcement. "Why? Why has this happened?"

"Obviously, Metagross thought it was the best course of action," Marowak said, fidgeting with his bone. "It's just like you said earlier, Scythe. Tell the truth, the division goes into schism. Lie… and it's a better outcome for everyone."

"Better outcome for everyone, my foot," Scythe rasped. "The Call could win the war. How is that not the better outcome?"

"Maybe Metagross sees other unforeseen consequences that you can't comprehend," Marowak suggested.

"He's doing us a service, Scythe," the Feraligatr said. "They know the truth. We know the truth. But now, we'll just less attention over it."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Ursa added. "Everyone who's important believes you. That's all that matters."

"This isn't the way it should have happened," Scythe insisted. "I don't care if it is the better outcome. It doesn't feel right."

"Now, we must let our brethren of the resistance know about this news as well," Alakazam said. "Thus, I declare two missions: to send the warning of Adiel to the Black division, and to send the message to the Emerald division. Both missions are at the two-star level of risk, and have a bounty of four thousand Poké. These missions will become available at the registry as soon as this meeting adjourns."

"One thing's for sure," Scythe said. "I wish Daemon and the others were back. All of us need to have a serious discussion."

The rest of the meeting covered minor, silly issues which had obviously been thought up by Metagross to justify calling a meeting, such as a reminder to everyone not to allow their teams to get too big on missions.

"Hey, Char, you're dozing off," Saura hissed when Char's eyes stayed closed for too long, causing him to jerk back to attention. "So, that wasn't as bad as we thought, huh? The Call is still nothing but a rumor to the rest of the division."

Char, though, couldn't help but share Scythe's discomfort. If the Scyther's instincts told him that something wasn't right, something wasn't right, and it didn't make him feel any safer.

*Chapter 18*: Chapter 16: Keeping Busy

Chapter 16

The door closed behind Team Remorse as they returned to their private cave.

"I still don't understand," Scythe muttered to the group. "It just… doesn't make any sense. Why has intelligence done this to us?"

"It's a lie that makes sense to tell," the Crawdaunt said. "They didn't want the news of the Call to get out of hand, and now, they don't have to worry about it. It's a brilliant strategy… something you of all Pokémon should appreciate."

"Yes, I know that," Scythe said, staring at the floor. "But now, I can't help but wonder… has Intelligence ever lied to us before? I, for one, have trusted them unconditionally since our team was founded. Has it been a mistake?"

His words rang powerfully among the team. There was no response.

"Regardless," Scythe said suddenly, picking up his head and swinging a blade through the air, "This affair will… simmer. There will be no speaking of this to anyone. The last thing we need is to become an enemy of the Division. Raptor, you and Craw have your missions to do. I expect them to be done as usual."

"Of course," the Gabite said with a nod. "Though, you must excuse our… sloth. We had a long night."

"Ursa, Markov. Red Haven. Just like we discussed last night."

"No problem," the Feraligatr said. "Simple mission. We'll be back before lunch."

"Raon, I want you, Nidoroch, and Kyria to take the care of the Ravine Woodlands duty for today," Scythe said. "I have a feeling that mission isn't going to be a popular choice among the division."

"Sure thing," the Breloom said with a nod. Surprisingly, it was female.

"Marrow, you can hang around the base and give me a hand with the files," Scythe ordered. "In all the chaos, and without Shander here, I haven't finished with the records from yesterday. Intelligence will be wanting them as soon as possible."

"Lovely, paperwork!" the Marowak grunted.

"Good, now, be off," Scythe commanded, motioning to everyone. "Daemon and the others will be back this evening. Be prepared for the meeting."

Char and Saura watched as Team Remorse quickly dispersed to follow Scythe's orders.

"Oh, and you two," Scythe said, turning to Char and Saura. "No mission today. Stay at the base, get your rest. Oh, and just in case… try to keep a low profile. This isn't a day to be visiting with friends."

"Understood," Saura said.

"Oh, and just one more thing," Scythe said. "I also expect you two to be at the meeting tonight. When the torches turn red, make sure you are back here as soon as possible."

"I can't believe he wants us to attend the meeting," Saura sighed as he and Char wandered off to find ways to occupy themselves for the day. "It seems, you know, a little over our heads… But I guess he needs to train us like that…"

I know why he wants me to be at the meeting, Char determined. It's because this is all my fault in the first place. I'm the one who has the Call. Now, whether I like it or not, I've got to be involved in everything. And if this power can go off at any time, I've got to be ready for anything!

As they walked through the base that morning, Char noticed how a lot of the other Pokémon gave him suspicious looks. It was extremely unsettling. It made him want to crawl into a hole and cower there for hours on end.

"But, oh well, what can we do?" Saura wondered. "Actually, I'm surprised Scythe didn't say 'hey, two more stanzas!'"

"It's probably implied," Char speculated, trying to keep from making eye contact with anyone else "We can go and learn some more later today."

"Wow, this is pretty uncomfortable," Saura said quietly. "Everyone's just staring at us…"

"Yeah," Char said. "It's a shame Scythe took those mobile scarves away when we slept. I bet we could use them now."

"Hey, that's an idea!" Saura said. "Maybe we could buy some of our own! We might have money today from our first mission. Let's go to the treasury and check our account!"

… … …

Although it took a little work pushing through the morning crowds and standing in line, Char and Saura made it down to the treasury in one piece. Thankfully, most of the Pokémon were too preoccupied with getting ready for the day, forcing their way into and out of the cafeteria, to take much notice of them.

Surprisingly, the treasury was not at all crowded like the other locations on the floor. Only a few Pokémon lingered here and there, some holding big brown bags stuffed with something heavy. Gold? Char thought. Or… Poké, as Shander called it? I wonder why there aren't more Pokémon here. Isn't money something important to the division?

The lobby to the treasury was very ornate. The stone walls had been carved and colored to resemble bright red bricks. Four giant gold pillars were positioned near the corners of the room. In the center of the floor lay a huge red frilled rug laced with shiny, golden weavings of winged Pokémon. On the far end of the room, two giant rectangular windows were carved out of the wall.

"How can I help you?" asked a Persian on the other side as Char awkwardly approached the lower of the two windows.

"Uh… hi," Char squeaked. "We're Team Ember. We want to see how much we have in our account."

"Of course," Said the Persian, lowering its head behind the wall and searching for something. "I believe I remember you. Scythe opened the account just earlier this week. Ah, here it is. Your account holds… twelve thousand, seven hundred and eighty-four Poké."

"W-what?" Saura cried. "Are you sure that's ours? We can't have that much money already! We only accomplished one mission!"

"Very well," The Persian sighed, reaching down below the wall again. "I will show you your statement. Here. Tell me if anything seems amiss, and we will try to look into it."

The Persian produced a neatly folded sheet of paper and slid it across the window to Char. Char opened it, but of course, he couldn't read a word. All he saw was a list of numbers. He handed it to Saura, who slapped it down onto the floor and stared intently at it.

"Uh…" Saura said, scanning the statement. "Here's where our account was opened, and it started out empty. And here's where our first bounty was awarded. Retrieved stolen goods. Reward: four thousand, five hundred Poké! Oh, but Scythe took away eighty percent, leaving us with only twelve hundred… And… wait, what? Another bounty?"

He re-read the line, tracing over it with his paw.

"Reported enemy activity in Ravine Woodlands? Reward: nine hundred Poké!"

"Wow, and I thought we aborted the mission because of the Scizor!" Char said, mouth agape. "I just assumed it was a failure!"

"I guess it was technically a success!" Saura said with a smile. "After all, we did exactly what the mission objectives said to do. Wow, that feels good to know! Oh, but Scythe still took some of the reward. We only got five hundred and forty."

"Then where did the extra money come from?" Char wondered. "That only accounts for about two thousand."

"Hold on, I'm still reading," Saura said. "W—wha?! Donations? We're getting donations from other teams? Seventy from Team Stripes, Five hundred from Team Absolution? Two hundred from Team Duskhunter? And… oh, wow."

"What?!" Char pleaded. "What is it?"

"It says… High Intelligence: monetary grant: ten thousand Poké! Char, we really are rich! High Intelligence gave us a ton of money! And… according to these records, it just happened less than a day ago. Wow! Char, I wonder, what can we buy with all this?"

But why did High Intelligence give us that money? Char wondered. To pay us off for lying?

"Let's go to Kecleon's!" Saura said eagerly. "Maybe we can buy one of those scarves. Or two!"

"Is everything alright?" The Persian asked, stepping up to the window again.

"Yeah, we're great!" Saura said. "Now, how do we… withdraw our money? We want to go shopping!"

"Oh, that's not necessary," Persian explained. "You don't need to withdraw money unless you plan on using it outside of the division's base. If you just want to buy something from Kecleon's, or if you want to transfer funds to a different team, it can all happen behind the scenes. Now, to prevent theft, Kecleon demands that you send him the money beforehand. So, if you'd like to buy something from him, you'll have to transfer your funds to his account. If you don't use all the funds, you can ask him to send back the remainder, or simply keep it there until you wish to purchase something else."

"Uh… okay," Saura said. "So… uh… can we do that?"

"Certainly," the Persian said, flipping through the papers beneath the window. "How much do you wish to spend at Kecleon's?"

"Uh, I don't know how much things cost," Saura said. "How about… five thousand? That should be enough to buy something, shouldn't it?"

"Five thousand it will be, then," the Persian said, scratching something onto a slip of paper with his front claw and sliding it to Char. "Here, take this receipt. Kecleon only checks his account in the morning, so you'll have to show this to him if you want to buy something."

"Thank you!" Saura said.

"It's our pleasure," Persian said kindly. "I look forward to helping you again, Team Ember."

Saura was beaming. "C'mon, Char. Let's go buy something!"

… … …

"FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND?"

"Yes," Kecleon said. "I'm so very sorry for the extravagant price, but you, sir, have very expensive tastes. Mobile scarves are among the rarest and most valuable items in the land, and I've only got one, and I refuse to part with it for less than that."

Saura was speechless, and Char was just a little bit disappointed. Casting a sad glance up at the green reptilian Pokémon before him, Saura gave a hopeless shrug.

Kecleon's shop was filled with Pokémon trying to stock up on supplies for the day's journeys, and Char and Saura had to stand in line for over half an hour just to get in the door. Kecleon himself spoke fast and with urgency, as if to move the two along and help other customers, but his friendly, polite demeanor never wavered. He let his brother, a pink-colored Kecleon, help the rest of the customers as he spoke with the Team Ember.

"I'm so very sorry," the Kecleon said again. "Perhaps I could interest you in something else? If stealth is what you seek, I have several of the fabled invisify orbs! Just activate one, and you'll be invisible for up to a whole hour! Only fifty thousand each!"

"No, thank you," Saura sighed. "We can't afford those, either. Eh, and here I thought we were rich… I guess we've got a long way to go."

"Do you have anything for beginning explorers?" Char asked, trying to lighten the mood. "Something cheap and useful, you know, for general purposes?"

"Oh, but of course!" Kecleon said, walking quickly to a nearby shelf of clothes. "I am made of that sort of merchandise! How about a Pecha scarf? Very popular with the new recruits!"

"What's it do?" Char asked.

"Prevents poisoning," Kecleon explained. "It's coated in a potent antidote made from Pecha Fruit. Wear one, and the antidote will constantly circulate through your system, rendering you as immune as a poison-based Pokémon!"

"That sounds like a really good idea," Char said. "I was poisoned once, it felt awful…"

"Well, with one of these, you'll never have to fear the poison ever again!" Kecleon said. "Or, how about this little item over here? The 'escape orb'! Incredibly vital for every Mystery Dungeon mission! Activate it within a dungeon, and it will instantly perform an unveiling, freeing you and all your allies from the dungeon's curse! This is the one thing you'll always want on hand, just in case something goes horribly wrong. Why, even the bravest and best of resistance teams bring one on every mission!"

Saura didn't look too impressed, but nodded kindly in reply. "What do you think?" he asked Char.

"We'll take them," Char decided. "One of those scarves and… three of those orbs."

"Very good!" Kecleon said with a smile. "The total will come to seven hundred Poké. You can take the items with you if you are in a hurry, or I can have them delivered to your storage later. It's your choice."

Saura requested the items be sent to storage, and Kecleon thanked them for their business and hurried to the next customer in line, apologizing for the wait. Team Ember left the shop feeling strangely unsatisfied.

"Just wait and see," Saura said. "We'll become so great, that one day, we'll buy that mobile scarf! Yeah! And a bunch of those invisible orbs, too!"

"Well, that was a good waste of an hour," Char groaned. "Now, I wonder if Domo's available? I'm starting to feel like some exercise…"

… … …

When Char and Saura entered the dojo, they were greeted by the sight of a mighty Charizard spewing flames into the air, lighting the torches to open for the day. Char was once again awed at the sight of his future form, and suddenly felt the desire to train rushing back to him. His heart melted at the thought of having wings, and the absolute freedom which came with them.

"Oh, early birds, are we?" Domo hummed upon seeing them. "Of course, we were all rudely awakened this morning… But anyway, congratulations, you're still my first visitors of the day! Come to practice?"

"Yeah," Saura said. "We're banned from doing missions today, and for another whole week, too. We're trying to find ways to keep busy."

"Well, I can keep you busy for a few hours," Domo said proudly. "If you must know, I've been training ceaselessly with my Charizard form for the past two days, all because of you! Are you ready to learn some more techniques?"

"You bet!" Char shouted.

In just a moment, Domo had finished lighting the torches and was now a perfect copy of Char, ready to begin the demonstration. Saura retreated from the platform, giving the two combatants some room…

"So, have you been practicing with your fire?" Domo asked. "You should have the hang of things by now. Have you learned how to summon it at will?"

"Mostly, yeah," Char answered, not fully honest. While he had been getting better at it, his fire had been weak at best, and he knew he still needed a lot of training if he wanted to fight with the best of Pokémon.

"Good," Domo said. "Now, I will teach you a couple advanced techniques you can perform by skillfully manipulating your fire. First… prepare your Ember for battle!"

Char tried to do as instructed. He recalled some of the more annoying memories he'd experienced over the past few days. He remembered the Chikorita in the ravine, how it so cleverly splashed him with water… just to annoy him…

…and the Scizor that would have effortlessly crushed his skull into pieces, had his trainer not been there to help him…

It worked. His fire rose to his aid, ready to be spewed forth.

"Is that all?" Domo asked. "How weak. You need lots more practice. When you're really serious about battle, your tail flame should grow larger than you are, and it should even change from red to blue, then from blue to white. Well, of course, that can't happen while you're in this base, but still. Your fire is inadequate."

Char looked back at his flame. It was now roughly half his size, and still didn't look too terribly violent. He felt a little ashamed of himself, but the desire to better himself only grew.

"Nevertheless, this will do for the first lesson," Domo barked. "Now, here's what I want you to do. I want you to spit a small ball of fire at me, just like you normally would to an enemy."

Char focused. He felt as the fire slowly rose up his throat. Soon, it teetered on the edge, the urge to spew it becoming unbearable…

"BUT!" Domo suddenly shouted. "Just before the fire leaves your mouth, I want you call it off! Hold it back! Cancel the attack at all costs! Understand? Now, go! Breathe! Prepare for the attack, then stop it!"

Ugh… this isn't going to be pleasant, Char thought, wanting badly to relieve himself of the pressure.

Char cringed. Finding a spark of courage, he took a deep breath—the deepest he could possibly manage—then let it out.

But at the last moment, Char shut his muzzle tight, preventing any fire from escaping. At once, tiny little flames burst from his nostrils, and a terrible pain shot through his throat and stomach like he was about to explode…

Char coughed. It wasn't a painless cough, but a cough that felt like a claw tearing through his chest. He simply could not hold it back. Immediately, another cough followed, then a third. Char dropped to the ground, tears streaming from his closed eyes, as his lungs erupted over and over with painful spasms…

"Char!" Saura cried. "Are you okay?"

Char heard the voice, but couldn't answer. Instead, he coughed again, releasing a long, whistling wheeze that squeezed his lungs for all they had.

With each violent exhale, another pitch-black could of smoke was released into the air. When Char was finally starting to recover and open his eyes, he noticed that he literally could not see two inches in front of his face.

"And that's it!" Domo exclaimed, trying to fan the smoke out of the way. "That technique is known as the Smoke Screen. With it, you can fill the air with smoke and reduce the accuracy of your enemy's attacks. Also, being a creature of fire, you have a distinct advantage in a room filled with smoke… as you can breathe it freely like air… but your opponent may not be so lucky."

"Does… -cough- does it… -cough, cough- always have to be this painful?" Char hacked.

"Of course not," Domo said. "As you train, you will learn to bring your fire up to just the right level, and hold back at just the right time to release the smoke without injuring your lungs. It takes practice, but trust me, it's a skill you really want to learn…"

As the smoke spread and filled the whole room, Saura started coughing as well. But the smoke cleared soon after as it hit the ghost-flames on the ceiling and walls, somehow getting filtered by them. In only a minute, the air was as clear as always.

"Next, I have another skill to teach you," Domo said after transforming into Charizard. "Ah, look. Your flame has even grown! I knew your first attempt at producing a smoke screen would leave you annoyed. Perfect! Now, the technique I am about to teach you is a difficult one, and will become mountains easier once you evolve, but with a little bit of effort, you can learn it as a Charmander. Now… ready your fire!"

He doesn't have to tell me that, Char thought, still trying to recover from the painful experience. He… he deserves a giant fireball to the face for making me do that. Yeah! I'll show him weak!

Char clenched his fists, trying to act as offended and vengeful as he could manage, to fuel his fire even further…

"Ready?" the Charizard growled. "This time, don't hold back! Release your fire with all your might!"

Once again, Char focused. His fire was so much more powerful this time, flowing easily like a river of lava within him as it oozed up into his throat.

"BUT!" Domo boomed. "When your lungs have completely deflated, do not cease your attack! Just keep pushing as hard as you can! Do you understand? Keep going, even when you think you are out of power!"

Char couldn't wait for Domo to finish talking. With a great fwoosh, he spewed fire at the Charizard's belly. And held.

Whoa! Char realized as the flames kept coming from his mouth. I didn't know I could do this! I'm… sustaining the flame! How long can I keep this up?

Soon, his lungs were completely empty, but Char kept on pushing. The flame didn't even waver. For the first time, Char realized that maybe his Ember wasn't even controlled by his lungs in the first place. He wondered if there was a different, unseen organ in his body responsible for the attack. As long as he kept his mouth open, the flames just kept on coming…

The Charizard suddenly leapt out of the way of the fire, and something incredible happened. Char saw his fire fly several feet across the room!

Upon seeing the power of his attack, Char had to finally cut himself short. He took a deep breath to recover from the imminent suffocation.

"And that technique has been dubbed 'The Flamethrower'!" Domo explained to the wide-eyed Charmander. "Its magnitude is limited only by the level of your Ember's arousal. Its duration is limited only by how long you can hold your breath. You cannot spew fire and inhale at the same time, you see. But your Ember is ceaseless, and once the attack has been triggered, it will not stop until you cut it off!"

"That's awesome!" Char yelped once he regained his breath. "But… it's tiring!"

"Yes, indeed, it is tiring to use your fire," the Charizard said. "That's why you would normally just use the basic Ember attack when your enemy is weak, to conserve strength. Also, once you evolve, your body will become greater and stronger, able to withstand much more exertion than now, and your lungs will be able to hold more air. Your fire attacks will become… truly devastating."

The more Char thought about it, the more he couldn't wait to become Charizard. His mind drifted back to that feral-shard that he'd held a few days earlier, and wondered if it were still in storage.

"Now, just between you and me, when you evolve into Charmeleon, come see me immediately," Domo hissed. "I don't yet have a Charmeleon transformation."

"Wow, Domo!" Saura cried in amazement, approaching the Charizard. "Got any new techniques to show me?"

"Sorry, Saura," Domo said, shaking his head. "Like I said, I've been spending all my time as Charizard lately. But I promise, next time, I will be prepared with new techniques for you."

"Aww, okay," Saura said.

"Well, that's all I have to show you at the moment," Domo said. "Practice these new techniques well. If you use them properly, you might one day find yourself undefeatable!"

"Oh, we will!" Saura said happily. "I'll make sure Char gets plenty of practice. Just make sure you have those lessons ready for me!"

The lesson coming to an end, Char and Saura bowed to their combat trainer. Char started to experience the twinges of a feeling he never thought he'd have: true self-confidence. Using these new attacks, he knew he could count on himself to perform well in battle. It was a very pleasant, invigorating feeling. He wished for nothing but more of it.

"Glad I could help!" Domo shouted as they started to leave. "See you later, Team Peanuts!"

Char and Saura stopped in their tracks. They turned around oddly to see the Charizard with a gleaming smile on his face.

"What?" Saura blurted.

"Team Peanuts," the Charizard repeated, smiling even wider.

"You know we changed our name, right?" Char said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," the Charizard said, a slight giggle sneaking its way into his voice. "But… I just can't help but laugh whenever I hear that name. It's a shame you abandoned it when you did. Team Peanuts! Truly, a brilliant name!"

To Char's surprise, Domo began to chuckle.

As he did, parts of his Charizard body started to glow bright white, as if it were transforming, yet trying to resist the process. Its legs wobbled, growing and shrinking in size, and its wings and arms briefly turned the color of purple. Its face distorted and flattened, becoming a weird, almost nightmare-inducing blob of flesh.

"Right, Ditto can't hold their forms when they're laughing," Saura said to Char, rolling his eyes. "But seriously, I still don't see what's so great about that name. Why'd everyone like it? It's the worst team name there could ever be!"

Domo soon composed himself, and was able to revert back to his Charizard form. He concentrated and was able to keep from laughing, yet the smile stayed stuck to his face.

"You have to understand something," the Charizard said. "I don't know if you've realized it yet, but life on the resistance force is brutal. Every day we wake up, we have to cope with the fact that we chose this as our vocation, to fight as soldiers in a never-ending war against impossible odds. Pokémon die every day in defiance of the Master. And for what? They'll never know. We'll never know. There may come a day when the Master will finally fall. We'll never see it. And it's not going to be my doing, or yours, but the work of the truly great ones like Scythe. We're all just here to support them, really, doing our little parts to keep the world running… And every day, we have to just keep getting up and doing it again, and finding ways to… keep smiling."

"…Oh," Saura said. "So… it was good, because… everyone laughed at it?"

"It put a smile on everyone's face, yes," the Charizard said warmly. "And it made us laugh. You have to understand, we weren't laughing at you, but with you. Knowing that you chose that sort of name made us all respect you ever the more, and it gave us a little bit of joy as we went through our day. I, for one, pictured you becoming a great team such as Team Remorse, and keeping the name; that would have taught the Master to mess with peanuts!"

"Well, for the record, we didn't choose the name in the first place," Saura said flatly. "The secretary did, because we couldn't think of one."

"Ah, of course," the Charizard said, trying to hold back another laughing fit. "I suspected as much. You see, this sort of thing has happened before… Jay has a knack for making the best names. Several years ago, she registered a… a… 'Team Dumb Bunny'…"

That was it; he couldn't take any more. Domo erupted into laughter again, causing entire chunks of his form to fade into a purplish ooze. Char had to look away; watching involuntary transformation made his stomach retch.

"Well, let's go find something else to do," Saura suggested, rolling his eyes again at the Ditto.

… … …

When Team Ember decided to head for the mess hall for lunch, they were surprised to find it still pretty full, even though it was long past time for all the teams to be busy with their daily activities…

It's because of the ban, Char realized. These are all training teams who can't be on missions today. Just like us.

"Hey, I wonder if Team Stripes is here," Char wondered. "Maybe we could—"

"No, no," Saura said quickly. "Remember what Scythe said. No conversing with friends today."

Right, Char remembered. I almost forgot—we're still in the center of a huge controversy. Don't want to attract attention until this all blows over.

So, without saying a word to anyone else, Char went to go stand in line. Thankfully, the Pokémon around him seemed friendly to him, greeting him only with respectful smiles. He wondered if it was because they were all children on training teams who didn't quite comprehend the gravity of the mood that day.

"Everyone likes lunch!" the Bellossom cheered as it passed Char a tray of food and drinks. "Lots of mouths to feed today! Enjoy your food!"

Applesauce? Char wondered, looking at the food.

Without incident, Char gathered enough food for himself and Saura and returned to their table, one positioned inconspicuously in the room's far corner.

"How are you supposed to eat this without getting it all over you?" Char wondered, setting the food down and staring at the big mountain of golden substance in the middle of his plate.

"What's wrong with getting it all over you?" Saura asked. "That's normally what happens when you eat…"

Char crossed his arms. "Well, where I come from, that's considered rude," he said. "Humans have these things called—"

"Hey, guys!"

Char turned to see three Pokémon quickly approaching their table. It was Team Stripes. Ray, Taka, and a Meowth surrounded them, and Leo quickly brought up the rear.

Great, Char thought, his stomach upturned. Okay, nothing bad will happen if we don't say anything stupid. Just be friendly...

"Hi, Ray," Saura said, clearly with the same uncertainty as Char. "How's your day going?"

"Boring!" Taka answered, sitting down to the table. "I can't believe we're stuck at the base for a whole twelve days. This is going to be a long two weeks… It's hard to find ways to keep yourself busy."

"We know," Char said. "We've been trying all morning."

"Did you really see the Scizor?!" Ray asked excitedly. "What was he like? Did Scythe battle him? I still can't believe I wasn't there! I would have given anything for just one day out with Scythe like that!"

"Raaay!" the little Shinx whined. "We were there too, remember? We told you about this ten times!"

"Yeah, he never gets tired of hearing the story," Taka said, rolling her eyes. "And he's also never going to forgive himself for passing off the Ravine Woodlands duty to me."

"Well, I think you're lucky you weren't there," Saura said. "Scythe says we could have died."

"Nah, I really doubt it," Ray said. "Not with Scythe there with you. I still wish I was there."

At a pause in the conversation, Char took the opportunity to start on his food. Hesitantly, he lowered his mouth down to the plate and ate like an animal, getting the sweet, sticky substance all over his muzzle. When he looked up, he was surprised that none of the other Pokémon thought weird of the behavior. He wiped his mouth with his arm.

"So… guys," Ray said, lowering his voice. "Is it true? Do you have the Call?"

A lump formed in Char's throat. This was exactly the sort of thing Scythe didn't want happening.

"Uh, we don't really know," Saura lied. "I just thought it was an earthquake."

"Eathquake, shmeathquake!" the Meowth spoke. "Have you seen High Intelligence lately? They've been going nuts!"

"He's right," Taka said. "I heard that High Intelligence has been acting really weird ever since the big night last night. Even Dr. Orde really isn't himself today. We're starting to think the whole earthquake thing was just a cover-up."

"Uh, well, there's really no way we can tell for sure," Char said. "I mean, Scythe thinks it's the Call, but… well, it's not like we can tell what it was. We were asleep!"

"Then it has to be the Call!" Ray said. "Scythe's instincts are never wrong. That's why you're with him in the first place! He knew it from the moment he first brought you here."

Saura cast a mean glance at Char. Char bit his tongue.

"Hey, you two," Ray said quickly. "You know, you don't have to worry about us, right? We're on your side. We're not going to go blabbing your secret to everyone. That's not what friends do."

"Yeah! My lips are sealed!" Leo proclaimed.

"Our lips are all sealed," Ray said with a nod. "But… it's crazy. I've just been thinking about this all day… I think that big things are about to happen here. It'll be a real honor to be witnessing it."

Char's tongue was tied in many knots; he had no idea what to say. All he knew was that it was going to be a long two weeks.

*Chapter 19*: Chapter 17: A Meeting of Minds

Chapter 17

"C'mon, Char… you can do it! Think!"

Saura was almost ecstatic. They'd spent the last three hours in the white room, memorizing the Creed… and it was all about to pay off. Char leaned his head against the wall, racking his mind for that last handful of words…

"C'mon, Char!" Saura begged again, his excitement wavering a little. "This isn't too hard! We don't have to start all over again, do we?"

After nearly two whole minutes of silence, Char lifted his head and cast a beaming smile at Saura. "Futile is our attempt to… turn and reverse the past!"

"Yes!" Saura shouted, jumping in the air. "Char, we did it! We memorized the whole thing! Wow, isn't Scythe going to be thrilled?"

"That wasn't so hard after we found the rhythm," Char agreed. "That really wasn't so hard at all."

There were many other Pokémon feverishly studying the Creed in the little white room that day, mostly due to the training team restriction. They all gave Team Ember a weird look as Char and Saura shared a little hug.

Char really felt good about himself. For once, the Creed didn't feel like some bulky baggage in his head, like trying to carry the bag of supplies through a dungeon. He felt it ingrained in his memory like a catchy tune. Knowing the whole creed made him feel a little stronger, as if he'd just evolved; now, he was ready to take on just a little bit more of the world than before. For once, he started to feel as if he were a part of a real resistance team.

"What will we do to celebrate?" Saura asked eagerly, pacing around the room. "Should we go show off to Scythe? Or maybe to Gate! Let's leave the base for the first time, and then—"

Suddenly, the room's light changed color. The Pokémon all yelped in surprise, muttering to themselves as they glanced up at the now-red torches on the walls.

"What?!" Saura cried. "Already? It can't be! It doesn't feel late yet! You can't tell me we just spent a whole day!"

"Time flies when you're having fun," Char suggested. "Come on, Scythe's waiting for us. We have to attend a meeting."

… … …

Char and Saura hurried up to Team Remorse as fast as they could. When they arrived, Char eagerly rapped on the front door.

"Hey, Scythe!" Saura called. "Scythe, guess what we learned!"

The door slid open, but it wasn't Scythe standing on the other side; a very displeased-looking Houndoom stared back at them.

"…Oh," Saura said suddenly. "Uh… good evening, Daemon. Welcome back."

Daemon didn't look impressed. The hound was clearly worn out from his two-day venture, and it showed in his eyes. Char guessed he wanted badly to sleep, but Scythe had insisted he stay awake for the long-awaited meeting.

Saying nothing, the hound turned and left. Char and Saura followed soundlessly, sure to close the door behind them on the way in.

"So, everyone's here?" Scythe grunted authoritatively as Daemon led Team Ember into the war room. "Good, good. It's a bit daunting how much we have to discuss tonight. You three missed too much."

"Well, it'd better be important," Daemon growled, sitting down near the front of the table. "And I don't see why we had to wait for these children."

"You have no idea," Ursa told him.

The war room, tiny as it was, was packed. The members of Team Remorse were crowded around the rectangular table at the center of the room, with Scythe and Daemon near the front and the rest standing in two ranks down the sides. Scythe motioned for Char and Saura to take their places at the very end. Trying his best not to be intimidated by the whole scene, Char obeyed.

"Now, first off," Scythe said, standing up at the front of the table, "The status at the canyon."

"…It's going as expected," Daemon said. "The tunnels are completed. The citizens are prepared. Settlement is in two weeks."

"Nothing went wrong?" Scythe asked forcefully. "They're all prepared for the settlement?"

"If you would have been there, you could have seen for yourself," Daemon growled. "But no, nothing went wrong. Everything is according to plan. All that's left is for you to do your part when the time comes."

"Good," Scythe said. "It's what I wanted to hear."

Char cast a glance at Daemon. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked as though he was ready to collapse onto the table right then and there. His teeth were partially bared, as if he was struggling to stomach the grating sound of Scythe's voice.

"Here, though, things haven't been so fortunate," Scythe said, lowering his voice. "Adiel is out."

Shander and the Exploud gasped.

"Oh, my," Shander muttered. "This adds a twist into things…"

"No!" Daemon snorted. "Where? Who spotted him? I heard some rumors that he'd been spotted at the canyon, but I wrote them off…"

"Do not write it off," Scythe warned. "He was at the canyon. And he was here. I know… I saw him with my own eyes. While I was taking these two on a routine mission to the Ravine Woodlands… he came."

Daemon's mouth hung open. "So… he targeted the Ravine?" Daemon repeated, a measure of humility entering his voice. "That doesn't make sense."

"Indeed, it doesn't," Scythe said. "When we spoke, he claimed that he was simply trying to pick off some easy prey. But I suspect something greater is at hand here. Metagross is currently focused on this issue. We will have to wait for his thoughts on the matter. But if you ask me, it looks like… he's trying to create some sort of a diversion."

Daemon's face had changed at the news, like someone had struck him in the heart. Char knew why; Daemon had realized that, if he had it his way and sent out the team all on their own, it would have been a big mistake.

"Did you see this coming?" Daemon demanded. "Is that why you insisted on protecting the children?"

"In the back of my mind, I suspected Adiel might have been somewhere behind the conflict at the canyon. It seemed like his style," Scythe said. "But if I told you I predicted just what would happen, I would be lying. But there was something in the air lately, and it didn't make me feel comfortable."

"In that case, I expect that you've requested at least a seven-day hold on the trainees?" Daemon snorted. "Wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."

"Twelve days," Scythe responded, "Just to throw them off this time."

Daemon slouched back, defeated. Char couldn't quite tell if it was in humility, or just exhaustion.

"What do we do?" Shander asked. "We can't keep a constant watch over Basin Canyon for the next few weeks, can we?"

"With Adiel afoot, we have to," Scythe said. "We don't have a choice. A well-placed strike could ruin our months of hard work."

"But there's no time! The Red Haven mission could be at stake as well!" Craw noted, pounding a pincer on the table.

"Right, we still haven't found the perpetrators," Markov the Feraligatr reported. "We need more forces there if we want to get this done before the Master crushes us."

"And we've got to focus on the base if we care for the safety of the division," Ursa noted. "If Adiel pops up somewhere else, we've got to be here."

"Hmm," Scythe hummed, staring down at the table in thought. "There's got to be a solution to this. I get the feeling Adiel's trying to pull something… and we've got to pay attention of we want to catch it."

"Hey, some of us could pull double-duty," Raon suggested. "We could stagger our missions so that we're always in both places at once."

"Just like the Aero Cliff mission?" Ursa said. "Might work. That was a little tiring, though."

"Please, do not bring up that mission," Daemon growled, shaking his head. "We were all living corpses by the end of the week. It was almost a complete failure!"

"But we did pull it off," Raon said. "We could do it again!"

"We were lucky," Daemon said. "I thought Aero taught us a lesson. We can't rely on luck. We only succeeded because the Brutals underestimated us and launched only five squads to assault us. If there'd been six… or even five and a half…"

The entire team fell silent, taking Daemon's words to heart. Char could barely follow along, but he started to understand how much effort the team put into their work.

"I've got it!" Scythe announced, triumphantly slamming his blades down on the table. "We get help."

"Help? From who?" Nidoroch shouted in surprise. "Team Dread? Team Entei? You don't think they'd be up to this, do you?"

"Team Absolution," Scythe said firmly. "They'd be the most reliable choice. They just finished their last mission, and they haven't accepted a new one yet. Last I saw, they were just running errands for the division."

Daemon snarled disapprovingly. "Team Absolution is a handful of brainless juggernauts," he said. "With all due respect, they couldn't strategize their way out of a box! You expect them to hold their own on this venture?!"

"Hold their own, no," Scythe said. "They'd accompany us and give us the increased headcount we need. We'd still be directing the venture."

"It wouldn't be very good publicity," Daemon noted. "I can't remember the last time we asked for help. It would make us look like we've spread ourselves too thin and succumbed to bad judgment."

"Well, we haven't," Ursa said. "We've spread ourselves just right, just like always. It's Adiel who's screwed it all up. With him in the picture, our hands are suddenly too full. I think the division will understand—they even announced the whole situation at the meeting this morning."

"In that case, I would have to agree," Daemon said. "It would be a good move. Fine, alright. We get help."

"Would they be accompanying us to the settlement at Basin Canyon, then?" Shander inquired.

"I don't see why not," Scythe said. "I think their strength would make a good addition to our efforts there. Daemon—do you think you could take over Red Haven once Team Absolution is on board? Think you could lead them down the road?"

"My pleasure," Daemon said.

"And I guess that leaves me with the canyon," Scythe said. "If Adiel shows up there… I could thwart him, especially if Team Absolution's here to help."

"So, good enough?" Shander sighed. "Problem solved? I'm a bit tired, myself…"

Char was quite impressed at the team's problem-solving skills. Through an open forum, and input from multiple team members, they'd quickly arrived at a solution to a dire problem. One day, Char would have to be the one making decisions for his own team. It was a scary thought, but if Scythe was the one teaching him, he'd probably turn out alright. Char knew that this ability would only come with more skill and experience, especially the kind which Scythe possessed.

"Since we're here, there is another issue I'd like to bring up, if I may," Daemon said, assuming his serious posture once more. "About these children. Team Ember…"

The entire team, save for those who still didn't know the truth, held their breath. Char did as well, sensing that the focus of the meeting had just shifted to him.

"Oh, I was just getting to that," Scythe said, taking a deep breath. "You see, when I said that something was in the air… I suppose I could have been a little more specific. Daemon, Shander, Brock… I would like to announce… that we have uncovered the Call."

Char still felt a little nervous as the whole team turned to fix their eyes on him and Saura. He gulped.

"What?!" Daemon spewed.

"The Call…" Shander said, his eyes full of awe. "Which one? Which one has it?"

"Char does," Scythe said with a gleaming smile.

"How… how powerful is it?" Shander asked, simply stunned. "Is it… just as we expected?"

"It's more powerful than we could have imagined," Scythe said. "Just last night, he woke the entire base. The entire base. The entire base was on our doorstep last night. All because of him."

For a moment, there was silence. Daemon's jaws were closed tight, and a faraway look hovered in his eyes. He was speechless.

Shander backed away from the table, then approached Char with a sort of awe and reverence that could barely be contained. Char bit his tongue as the Sandslash stood over him, examining him with his black, beady eyes…

"There was a meeting this morning to address the… issue," Scythe explained.

"You've done it," Shander interrupted, placing a claw on Char's head. "Scythe, you've done it! I never thought it would be possible, not now, but you've done it. You found the Call. It's here. It's finally here! But… Eva…"

"Eva was a fitly liar," Scythe said simply. "Eva lied about checking him… and she missed the only diamond in the sand. But here he is, right in front of us… the living legend!"

"I never imagined you would do it…" Shander continued, starting to smile. "I can't believe I didn't believe you. You did hear it! And…what now? What can we do now? How do we… deal with this?"

"That's the other thing," Scythe said. "At the meeting this morning… High Intelligence…"

Suddenly, a sound echoed through the room. It was the sound of a knocking. Scythe silenced himself and glanced at the door, looking very surprised.

"Uh… is someone here?" Ursa wondered. "One, two, three… yep, all twelve of us… and Team Ember, too…"

"Who could have the audacity to bother us now?" Daemon growled. "It's almost after-hours!"

"Oh, by Arceus, is it happening again?" Raptor the Gabite groaned, holding his face in his claws. "Not again, please…"

"No, no," Scythe said. "Believe me, if this was the Call again, I would have heard it. Somebody! Ursa! Get the door!"

Ursa hurried out of the war room to open the team's front door, while everyone else waited nervously to see who, of all Pokémon, could be visiting them at such a strange hour…

When Ursa returned, he wore an expression of wordless surprise.

"What was it?" Scythe asked him.

Ursa didn't answer. Instead, he simply stood in the hallway and gestured into the war room. To everyone's surprise, a Xatu filed into the room, followed by an Alakazam.

"It's High Intelligence!" Saura hissed to Char.

"Good evening, Team Remorse," The Alakazam said respectfully as Ursa closed the door behind them. "Scythe, if we may, we would like to have a word with you and your team."

For a moment, Scythe looked afraid to say anything. The Alakazam spoke with extreme authority and urgency; Scythe knew nothing he could have said would have made a difference. Although he was clearly displeased at the sudden intrusion on his team's meeting, he gestured kindly to the guests and conceded his position at the front of the table.

"Of course," Scythe said simply. "It's an honor to have you here. The floor is yours."

"The honor is all ours, Scythe," the Alakazam said, standing at the head of the table and staring down the team. "Because of you, a new era in the resistance has begun."

What's going on? Char wondered. Are they going to apologize to us for lying?

"As you probably know," the Alakazam said, "the disturbance last night was not caused by an earthquake, as we might have suggested earlier today at the gathering. It was undeniably, unmistakably, the Call. Of course, you have probably figured this out by now. We have come here tonight because we wanted to clarify our position to you. You, Scythe, and your team have always been one of our division's greatest assets, and we do this because we would like, despite recent developments, to continue to have your complete trust."

Char looked into Scythe's eyes. He was annoyed at the words, bordering on infuriated. He figured that the psychic Pokémon, of course, probably picked up on this as well.

"Yes, we knew," Scythe said lightly, controlling his temper. "But why was it necessary to lie? What was wrong with telling everyone what they probably already knew? Now, the base is divided between those who agree with you and those who do not."

"I wanted to announce the news," the Alakazam said. "It was my intention to do so when I first called the meeting. But Metagross didn't agree. It ordered me to cover up the news with a fabrication of truth. Despite the moral ambiguity of such an act, I knew it would have been foolish to disobey him."

Scythe didn't respond, but he still smoldered on the inside. The Alakazam walked over to the confused little Charmander, his hands folded behind his back, as a short silence hung in the air.

"We know how you've been searching for the Call," Alakazam said, glaring down at Char much in the same way that Shander had done earlier. "But we also know, now that you've found it, you still are unable to comprehend its power, its effect on our very surroundings. Metagross insisted that, if the news of the Call were to become public… the division's members would be split in a much direr manner. They would, too, be unable to grasp the Call's power… its gravity… and, in doing so, may make decisions the division would regret."

"What do you want us to do?" Scythe demanded politely. "Do we pretend to be oblivious to the whole matter? For how long?"

"Do not take us wrongly, Scythe," the Xatu said. "The Call can, and will, tilt the balance of the war. But… it will only come in due time. Alakazam and I… have begun a new leg of research dedicated to this phenomenon. We… have been recovering and reading all the earliest records of the Call and its effects. Once we obtain a deeper understanding of its power… it is our intention to announce our findings to the division at large. But… until then… we must trust Metagross that it is best to be dishonest."

"All attempts to measure the magnitude of this Call have been unsuccessful," Alakazam continued. "It has surpassed any scale we thought we had. It is indeed possible that a legendary may have heard it. What we are dealing with… is, for the time being… above our heads."

Alakazam knelt down to Char's level, examining him from head to toe. Char was so nervous that he felt he would die from hyperventilation, but as the Alakazam looked him over, he felt a sudden feeling of relief come over him, subduing his vibrating nerves and helping his spinning head come to a rest. Char knew that the feeling was coming from the Alakazam.

"It is you, isn't it?" The Alakazam said, smiling warmly.

"Y-yes," Char replied.

"You may not yet understand it, but the world's balance now rests in your hands," The Alakazam said softly. "We want your trust. Let us help you to understand and use your power. Will you do that?"

"Yes."

"Good," said the Alakazam. "You are in good hands here with Team Remorse. Let them continue to guide you, and we will do all we can to uncover the secrets of the Call. With your cooperation, Charmander, and yours, Scythe, we could bring about changes the world has never seen."

"As has been my life's mission," Scythe said, "to change the world."

"Keep training him," Alakazam said, standing back up. "Help him develop to his full potential as a Pokémon, so he may be ready when the time comes."

Xatu and Alakazam bowed, then excused themselves from the room.

… … …

The meeting dispersed rather quickly after High Intelligence had left, as Scythe had nothing left to say.

As another day finally came to an end, Char and Saura settled down in Scythe's room to rest. Scythe was still away, presumably preparing for the next day's missions, as Char reflected on the day's many events.

"I'm not sure whether to feel comfortable or not," Char sighed to his friend. "On one hand, Team Remorse and High Intelligence are working with us. On the other hand… I don't know if I'll ever be able to take all this. I'm just a little Charmander! I hope Dialga knew what he was doing when he sent me here."

"You should try to feel comfortable," Saura suggested, his eyes already closed. "You know what I think? I think that your Call ability has a lot to do with why you were turned into a Pokémon. If Alakazam and Xatu are going to help you with the Call, they might help you uncover your past, too."

"I didn't think of that," Char admitted.

"Still, you're right, this is getting really stressful," Saura said. "I'm starting to lose count of all of our problems. But I'm sure we'll feel better in the morning…"

Just as Char was ready to close his eyes, the door slid open. Char took a glimpse at the entrance, expecting to see Scythe back from his errands… but it wasn't.

"Daemon," Char said groggily, standing up and meeting his superior at the door.

"Team Ember," Daemon replied.

Char saw that Daemon's eyes were still broken and longed for rest, but he noticed a change in the Houndoom's voice. Was it… weakness? Friendliness? Saura rushed to Char's side as fast as he could.

"There is something I must say to you," the hound said. "For the past week, at every possible opportunity, I… have been treating you unfairly. I apologize."

Char didn't know what to say. He wanted to accept the apology, but he didn't want to sound rude.

"Thank you," Saura said simply.

"It's because I doubted Scythe when I shouldn't have," Daemon said. "You must understand something about Scythe and I. We do not tend to get along. He likes to rely on his instincts, whereas I… try to use common sense wherever possible. He's always had a gift for that sort of thing. You might have noticed how he loves to try and finish your sentences when he knows just what you're going to say."

"Oh, yeah, he sure does," Saura said, breaking a smile. "It can get really annoying, too."

"Indeed," Daemon said. "His instincts tend to be accurate more times than I can predict, however illogical they may be. As was the case with you. When he first brought you here, I couldn't stand the sight of you. And now that it is revealed you have the Call, I see now that I should have trusted him, but instead, I chose to voice my disdain without giving you the benefit of the doubt. For that, you deserve my apology."

"Apology accepted," Char said. "We didn't mean to make you mad. We were the ones dragged into all of this, after all."

"However," Daemon said, his voice strengthening, "You still have a long ways to go if you wish to earn my respect. But, from now on, know that you have my support."

After wishing Team Ember a good night's rest, Daemon left.

"Wow, now that was something I wasn't expecting in a million years," Saura yawned, settling back down. "I guess Daemon really isn't so bad after all. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel a lot more comfortable."

As Char's eyes fluttered closed, he knew he couldn't agree more.

… … …

"WHAT'S GOING ON in here?!"

Char and Saura jumped nearly a foot in the air as a screeching voice rang out across the room, waking them up. Scythe stood at the door, looking very displeased.

"You're sleeping?" Scythe roared. "And you haven't prepared for tomorrow?"

"W-what do you mean?" Saura yelped.

"What do I mean?" Scythe repeated. "You are a resistance team! Resistance teams accomplish missions to serve the division! Each and every day! You think you can just lounge around the base forever? You had your day of rest already!"

"B-but…" Saura stuttered. "I thought… we were banned from missions! For twelve days!"

"That ban was placed on training teams," Scythe said. "You are not a training team! You are a full-fledged resistance team! Now, go! Get out of here!"

"Yeeesh!" Char whimpered as he and Saura rushed out of the room.

*Chapter 20*: Chapter 18: Hands Full

Chapter 18

Char and Saura once again filed into Team Remorse's planning room, which was like a cramped little office with a small desk at the center stuffed with papers. Char unrolled the map of Ambera onto the desk as Saura dug around in a stack of paper for the task list.

"Okay, let's get this over with and get back to sleep," Saura said, jumping up onto the table and setting down the task list. "What should we do?"

"Something nearby, hopefully," Char said. "Remember, that Scizor is around."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," Saura said worriedly. "Yeah, definitely. Something close. Um… How's this? Guard Duty at Kestra Town? It's only ten miles to the south of here."

"Guard duty?" Char repeated. "Are you sure that's a good idea? If something bad happens, we'd be responsible to take care of it. We're not that strong yet!"

Saura nodded thoughtfully. "Well, we'll still have Scythe to help us, right? … But that means he'll just take more of our bounty if he has to do all the work. Oh, and the bounty on this one is only four hundred Poké. Lame!"

"Hey, why not check the bounties first?" Char suggested. "Find a nice big one! Then we can think about taking the mission!"

Saura skimmed down the list. "I don't see any," he reported. "I guess this is because it's only the training list. Urgh, It's a shame we have to use this list in the first place, but I guess we're not strong enough for… Hey… wait! What's this?"

Saura pointed at an item near the end of the list. Char couldn't read, but he saw the numbers as clear as day: five thousand Poké!

"Now that's more like it!" Saura cheered. "It's a place called Red Haven! It's pretty far away, but for that money, I could be motivated!"

"Red Haven?" Char repeated. "Isn't that where Team Remorse is working right now?"

"Oh, you're right," Saura said. "That wouldn't be a very good idea. And the risk level is 'A'. Hmm… If I'm right, they wouldn't even let us take that one with our level of experience. Well, let's see what else there is…"

Saura continued to skim down the list, tracing his paw across the bounties. Most of them were pathetic amounts, as could be expected for training teams, but one suddenly stuck out… there wasn't even a number listed.

"This is weird," Saura said. "There's no amount for this one. For a bounty, it just has… question marks. What do you think that means…?"

"Maybe the bounty isn't decided?" Char wondered. "Or maybe it's being kept a secret!"

"That's interesting," Saura said with a grin. "I want to see what the reward is. Want to give it a shot?"

After agreeing to take the mission with the mystery reward, the twosome poured over the map and did some research on the locations involved. This time, they were sure to make note of just what kind of wild Pokémon they'd be up against, instead of assuming based on the landscape. Saura plotted a simple course across the map, one that didn't involve any dungeons, and helped Char to write a list of the directions to follow and the items they'd probably need.

After doing all they could in the limited amount of time they had—everything would be closed for the night once the torches turned blue—they hurried down into the base to run their last-minute errands. Char rushed out to Kecleon's store to stock up on dried food and items, and Saura made his way down to the registration office to confirm the mission for his team. As there weren't very many teams who made a point of getting preparation done the night before—and certainly not any of the training teams, who rarely ever confirmed their missions in this manner—the job was clear to take. Soon, both were back up in Scythe's room, eager to get some rest.

… … …

"Wake up!"

Just as quickly, the rest was over.

"Ugh… Good morning, Char," Saura groaned as he rolled to his feet.

"Up and at 'em!" Scythe cheered, bursting in the door. "Let's head out! There's work to be done!"

Char wasn't going to slouch this time. He jumped to his feet, ready to take on the day. He enjoyed a nice long stretch as he waited for Saura to come to his senses…

"Oh… you two might want to cover your ears," Scythe said suddenly, interrupting Char in mid-yawn.

"WAKE UUUUP!"

The massive voice, practically an earthquake, blasted from the door behind Scythe. It took Char's breath away, knocking him completely off his feet. Saura cringed, his vines tightly plugging his ears.

"Ahh, good ol' Brock," Scythe chuckled, shaking his head. "It's a big day for the whole team, you know. Everyone's got to be up this time! Thanks to a certain Scizor, our hands are going to be full for the next few weeks. We've all got to start out strong..."

"So! Where'd you decide on today?" Scythe asked as the threesome walked down the hall.

"Goldenrod Meadow," Saura said proudly, hoping to impress his trainer. "The mission is to escort a few Buneary children to Sitrus City. Their mother wants to make sure they get there safely, so she's asking for help."

"Hmm, good enough," Scythe said.

Char took a deep breath of relief, thankful that Scythe wasn't horrified at their choice of a mission.

"Got everything you need?" Scythe inquired.

"We sure do," Char said proudly, hefting the bag over his shoulder. "Enough food for all of us, a pecha scarf, since there's a chance we could run into some poisonous Pokémon like Butterfree and Beedrill, a detect band, which should give us an edge against the agile Rattatas, five oran berries, and an escape orb if we accidentally wander into the small dungeon to the north."

"Good!" Scythe applauded. "I'm impressed! You've done your research! Now… got anything for breakfast? I'm hungry!"

"Uh…" Char said nervously, digging through the bag.

"And what about those Buneary kids? They'll need to eat, too! Got enough for them?"

Char bit his tongue. Of all things, he didn't think of that.

"Not to worry," Scythe said as they arrived at Team Remorse's front door. "I know you can't learn everything at once. I wasn't sure you remembered to pack your bag, so I brought one of my own. Off we go!"

With an exaggerated wipe of his forehead, Char mouthed "whew" to Saura.

… … …

As Scythe took up his own bag and prepared to lead the team out into the base, the team members were all starting to creep out of their rooms. Char saw Daemon, Markov, and Ursa out in front, all trying to shake off the weariness and get into gear like they had probably done hundreds of times before.

"Scythe," Daemon called out. "Before you leave, what should we have Team Absolution do once they agree to our deal?"

"We should be fine for today," Scythe said. "Just give them the basic debriefing. If they're willing to come with you today, so be it. Send them off to Red Haven with you. I'll give Kain the whole story this evening when I come back. If not, we can all take one double shift to start out with… It'll be good to get us in the mood."

"So be it," Daemon grunted with a nod. "And Team Ember… I wish you success on your mission today."

"Thanks!" Saura answered. "You, too!"

Daemon turned his attention to the main corridor which connected the team members' rooms. Not all the team members were awake yet; those who were lucky enough to be on their feet already slowly filed down through the hall.

"Team Remorse!" Daemon bellowed, almost at the top of his lungs. "Why do we rise?"

The rest of the team, Scythe included, sounded their reply: "So that he will fall!"

That's pretty cool, Char thought as he headed out. What a great way to get up in the morning—to remember your purpose. Maybe Saura's right. We could use a motto. Maybe something to do with fire? Something about… spreading the fire? The fire that will never die? I dunno… I'll have to think about it.


Goldenrod Meadow

"Oh, thank you so much for helping us!" a Lopunny said to Char as they met at the edge of the gorgeous golden meadow. "I heard rumors that the Master's army has been around lately. I was worried sick! We're moving into the city because it's safer there. Would you please make sure my children get to the city safely?"

"That's what we're here for!" Saura assured the mother. "Just leave everything to us!"

"Oh, thank you!" the Lopunny said once more. "I would take them myself, but… My husband broke his leg last week, and I have to stay here with him until he's healed. Here, let me introduce you to the children!"

Seeing the beauty of the land spread before him in the light of the early dawn, Char was suddenly reminded of his first day as a Pokémon. Was it really only five days ago that he'd emerged with Saura from that first cave? Maybe it was just his Pokémon emotions, but he was starting to feel that he'd spent his entire life in Ambera. Every time he looked at the landscape, especially at this wonderful meadow as the orange light of the dawning sun gleamed off the grass, it seemed like home to him. Whenever he saw it, he knew exactly why so many Pokémon dedicated their lives to protecting it from the Master's evil whims. It was, indeed, a treasure.

"Here they are," the Lopunny reported, tearing Char's attention away from the surroundings. "Wait just a moment, I'll have them awake for you, if you'd like to get going as soon as you can."

A long, flat slab of rock sat implanted in the ground. Char examined it, and saw that a narrow trench had been dug underneath it. The mother bent down and spoke into the hole, gently prodding the sleeping children that lay within.

"Kids! It's time to wake up! You've got a long road ahead of you today! Wake up!'

"Ugh, already?"

"It's so early!"

"Do we have to go to the City?"

"Just a little while longer, please?"

"Sorry, but it's time to go," the mother said sternly. "Your guardians are here. Now, come on! Get up!"

One by one, the Buneary kids crawled out from the hole. The first one looked like a living fuzzball, its unkempt brown fur hopelessly tangled from a restless night's sleep, its ears drooping lazily onto its face. It didn't look very happy to be up. A second little bunny followed, a slightly larger child with much longer ears, its fleece stained with dirt.

"Come on, don't dawdle!" the mother goaded. "Your guardians shouldn't have to wait on you!"

Two more children jumped out from the hole, eyes blinking.

"So sleepy…" one moaned, stretching out on all fours.

As Char was watching the children wake up, Scythe emitted a quiet sound of displeasure.

"What?" Char whispered to him. "Is something wrong?"

"You tell me," Scythe replied. "There are more of them than us!"

Again, Char felt some butterflies in his stomach. The job description never said how many children they'd have to watch for.

"Don't panic," Saura told him. "We can do this."

"Beary…" the mother called into the hole with a displeased tone. "Beary, you come out here right now! Your brothers and sisters are all awake! Ugh, I'm very sorry about this, sirs, Beary is a stubborn one."

"Eehh! No!" a voice cried from inside the trench as the mother reached in for him. "I don't want to go!"

"I'm going to count to four," the mother warned. "One… two… three…"

The last child, the smallest of them all, quickly leapt out from underneath the rock. He didn't look too happy to be following orders.

"So, here they are," the mother said. "The smallest one is Beary, and then there's Meary, Teary, Leary, and Heary. They're very well behaved… except you'll probably have to keep an eye on Beary. He can be a little… energetic at times."

Char looked closely at the littlest bunny. Already, he could tell that Beary was different from the rest. His nose twitched, his eyes darted, and one paw restlessly combed a tuft of grass upon the ground, as if he was being forced to stand on a sharp rock and couldn't wait to move.

"Don't worry!" Saura said, holding his head high. "They'll be no problem!"

"You know how to get to Sitrus City, right?" the mother asked. "Once you get there, you need to take them to Genevieve, my friend. She's a Nidoqueen. She lives near the center of town in the Pearl Dome. It's not hard to find once you get there."

"Not Aunty Genevieve!" Leary whined. "Why do we have to go there?

"Listen, all of you," the mother said firmly. "We've discussed this before. It's not safe for you here right now. You need to be somewhere where you aren't in danger. Daddy and I can take care of ourselves, but we need you to be safe, too, until the danger goes away, okay? These nice Pokémon are going to lead you all the way to the city. You listen to them and do exactly what they tell you, okay? You're all going to be in big trouble if I hear you were disobedient!"

The children all gave a nod, some reluctantly.

"I don't know who you are or who you work for, but I can't thank you enough for this," the mother said, turning to Char. "I couldn't sleep at night because my children are in danger."

"Happy to be of service," Saura said again, smiling brightly. "I've been to Sitrus City more times than I can count. Don't worry, your kids will be home by this evening!"

Saura's really optimistic today, Char noticed. Maybe it's that reward he's after. Yeah, I sure hope it'll be a good one… especially if these kids turn out to spell trouble!

… … …

And off they went. Sitrus City was far up north, far past the meadows and forests that bordered on Saura's old homeland. It had taken a few hours of walking to even reach the meadow in the first place, so now there at least was adequate sunlight to guide the way. The path was very straightforward, but it would take a bit of walking and patience to get there.

Yes, patience. Definitely patience.

"Mister frog!" one Buneary said. "Why is there a big plant stuck to your back?"

"That's just the way I am," Saura laughed. "This seed soaks up the sunlight and gives me strength when I need it most. It's almost like a big battery! Sometimes—"

"Why are you on fire?" another one asked of Char, interrupting Saura's explanation. "Doesn't that hurt?"

Char sighed. "It's because…"

"I'm tired! Can you carry me?"

"I'm hungry! Can I eat something?"

"How long until we get there?"

"Silence!"

The five Buneary kids stopped in their tracks and froze at the violent sound of the voice. Even Char and Saura were taken off guard, turning to Scythe in surprise.

"Has your mother not taught you to take turns?!" Scythe demanded of the children. "We can answer your questions, but not all at once!"

"Answer my questions first!"

"No, don't listen to him! Answer mine!"

"I'm still hungry!"

"Silence!" Scythe yelled again, louder this time. "You must not make a racket. You must be quiet. Talk… quietly. Whisper. Like this."

"Why?" asked Meary, softening her voice as instructed.

"Because, if you don't…" Scythe said in a quiet whisper, "the Master could hear you. And if he hears you… he'll come and CUT OUT YOUR THROAT SO YOU NEVER SPEAK AGAIN!"

Scythe swung a blade inches from Beary's face as he suddenly screamed this, causing all five of the kids to gasp and jump in fright.

That did it. Since then, the kids huddled tight behind Saura's lead, trudging along in complete silence.

"Hey, thanks," Char said quietly to Scythe, glancing back at the kids and the fearful looks on their faces..

"Don't mention it," Scythe said with a smile. "It's what I'm here for."

Twenty minutes passed, and still, the kids followed faithfully behind, never bothering their guardians and never letting their voice rise above a dull murmur.

"Hey… Hey? Mister? Mister frog thing?" asked Teary, the littlest of the two girls, in a respectful voice. "I'm still hungry…"

"We could stop to eat," Char suggested. "I'm in the mood for breakfast, myself."

"We could," Saura said with a wink, "But… is this a safe place to eat? Will the Master catch us here?"

Scythe smiled again. "Hmm, I don't think so," he reported. "We're not safe out in the open here. We need to find a good place to hide before we can stop to rest."

"If the Master tears out your throat, I bet it can be really hard to eat," added Char, joining in the fun.

"Ah, yes, it is," Scythe agreed, shaking his head. "In fact, I once had a good friend… a Houndoom. He was a talkative one. He just would never sit still and be quiet. Then, one day, the Master heard him, got annoyed—ripped out his throat, plain and simple. I never heard the poor fellow speak ever again. And he had to be force-fed for the rest of his life."

"Whoa!" Meary exclaimed. "What happened to him? Did he make it?"

"He starved to death," Scythe said sadly. "Couldn't take the pain of eating. Poor guy, I tried to tell him to be quiet and respectful around his elders, but he just… he just didn't listen… Why, oh why, didn't he listen…?"

Scythe hung his head, pretending to reflect upon the memories of an old friend. Char almost giggled as he heard the Buneary kids give a collective gulp, some even feeling their necks to make sure they were still in place.

"Ah-ha!" Scythe exclaimed, motioning forward to the path ahead. "Look! A tree! The perfect shelter from the Master! We can stop to eat there!"

"Why does a tree shelter us from the Master?" Leary wondered.

"Because," Scythe said wisely, "nobody suspects a tree."

After a good half-hour's walk, the procession stopped at a sizable pear tree near the side of the barren road. Char dropped the bag onto the ground and dug around for some food as the little bunnies all gathered around.

"Dried plums," Char said, pulling out a small pouch. "Who wants them?

"Ewww, yuck!" Leary yelled. "I don't want that! I want a poffin! Do you have any poffins in there?"

"Yeah, do you?" Meary begged. "I want a spicy poffin! Please?"

"Spicy poffins are gross!" Leary proclaimed. "Give me a sweet one!"

"Sorry, I don't have any of those!" Char cried. "Look… you can have plums, or apricots, or apples, or Sunflora seeds. Or pears from this tree."

"Eat up, because we've got to keep moving," Scythe said, skewering a pear on the end of his blade. "If you don't eat, you won't gain energy. If you don't gain energy… you might get worn out along the way… and get left behind."

"Yeah, and then, nobody will be able to save you from the Master!" Saura warned. "So eat whatever you can!"

Leary regretfully picked the sack of plums and tried to open it. "Auntie Genevieve makes the best poffins," he said. "Maybe she'll make some for us when we get there."

"The Master isn't really that bad, is he?" Heary, the oldest of the children, asked. "Would he really… you know… tear out our throats? He wouldn't really do that… would he?"

"Yes," Scythe said plainly. "And worse. The Master… does whatever he feels like. If you annoy him, he may have you tortured and killed. If you oppose him… there's no telling what he'll do to you if he catches you. There are… far worse fates than pain and death."

Char noticed the change in Scythe's voice as he said this; he knew he wasn't just joking around anymore.

"What do we do if he finds us?" Meary asked, slowly munching on a slab of apricot.

"You run away as fast as you can, and never look back," Scythe said gravely. "If he still catches you… you can at least say you tried your best."

Scythe continued to entertain (and frighten) the kids with stories and warnings of the Master as they ate. Char found it hard to tell when he was joking and when he was being serious, but he ultimately realized that it didn't matter: he was trying to instill the children with a fear of the Master, something that could one day save their lives or their freedom… just like it had for Saura.

After everyone ate their fill, the group lounged around the tree for another hour, watching the world around them come alive as the sun rose higher into the sky. Char and Saura took the opportunity to chat with the children and get to know them a little better. As the Buneary kids became more energetic, they were eager to tell Char all about their life in the meadow.

"And then, this one time, this huge Starraptor flew right out of the sky and almost ATE me!" Beary described. "he was huge! Like THIS BIG! And so I dodged REAL FAST and curled up, and he missed me!"

"Nuh-uh!" Meary said. "You did not. You only got away because Daddy scared it off!"

"Daddy's so awesome," Leary said. "He can beat anything in battle! He could even beat a big scary bug like you!"

"Oh, really?" Scythe chuckled.

"Yeah!" Leary insisted. "He protects us from stuff all the time! Someday, I'm going to be as strong as him!"

"No, no!" Beary insisted. "I beat the Starraptor up! With my teeth! And I saved mommy, too!"

"In your dreams, Beary," Meary said. "You're just making this all up to impress people!"

"Nuh-uh!" Beary whined. "I could do it again right now! See that Pidgey up there? See it? HEY, PIDGEY!"

"Shut up, now you're just embarrassing us!" Meary screamed, running to tackle him.

…And so on.

Eventually, the group had to wrap up their little picnic and continue down the road. Having eaten a good breakfast, everyone was now wide awake as ever—especially the kids. It was apparent that Scythe's tricks wouldn't work for very much longer. Char could only hope things wouldn't get out of hand…

*Chapter 21*: Chapter 19: Grave Responsibility

Chapter 19

Route 370

"Route Three-seventy" Char reported, looking at the map as the long journey continued. "This curves to the northwest and goes right into Sitrus City. But… it's still a six-hour walk."

"Yeah, it's pretty far," Saura said. "But we should still make it, no problem. I'm just worried about the trip back home. Do you think we can make it back to base by evening?"

"If we keep a steady pace, we should be able to, yes," Scythe said. "But, if not… we could always stay overnight in the city. Worst that'll happen is Daemon will get worried about us."

As they left the golden meadow behind, Char looked ahead at the upcoming landscape. It was a pleasant-looking countryside, with a tree sprouting up here and there to provide shade from the sun. The dirt road which they traveled upon was faint and hard to see, overgrown in places with grass and shrubs. Char got the impression that this was a road less traveled.

"Why aren't we meeting anyone else?" Char wondered. "If this is such an important road… we haven't seen any other Pokémon at all."

"Pokémon don't travel much anymore," Saura explained. "They don't feel safe. There are too many thieves out, some work for the Master, some just getting whatever they can from the weak and defenseless."

"The Master also uses these roadways to transport his forces from place to place," Scythe said, "so Pokémon stay off the roads for fear of running into them."

"I remember when I was younger, lots of Pokémon traveled this road," Saura said. "I would go to visit Sitrus City every month. But then, the Master started increasing his forces in this area, and the thieves started breaking out, and everyone started getting scared. That's when I started battling against wild Pokémon and learning to defend myself."

"We haven't been to Auntie's in a long time," Heary said. "Mommy said all the roads got blocked, so we just stayed at home."

"I see," Char said simply, falling silent to ponder this information. No wonder Pokémon would request an escort for themselves and their loved ones, he determined. The Master never stops getting worse every time I hear about him. He's really got the entire country afraid to do anything on their own for fear of crossing him… Well, that's why we're here! Nobody's going to stop us from getting these kids safely to the city!

The children stayed manageable for a while, at least. Char and Saura lead them down the road in a single-file line, and Scythe brought up the rear so he could keep an eye on all five of them at once.

After another hour's worth of walking, the inevitable happened: the children started to realize they were bored. After a couple miles of the dull dirt road underfoot and the unchanging countryside, the Buneary kids were more restless than ever, starting to yell and jab at each other and sometimes run around off the side of the road. Scythe did his best to keep them in line from behind, but something else… something other than mere scare tactics… had to be done.

"How much farther?" Meary asked. "My feet are starting to hurt!"

"But we just took a rest an hour ago," Saura said, looking disappointed. "You can't be getting tired already!"

"Hey, how about we play a game?" Char suggested.

"Game?" Saura asked. "What kind of game?"

"Yeah, let's play a game!" Beary shouted. "What kind of game? Finders Seekers?"

"Oh, no you don't!" Saura said. "We're not getting anyone lost! Not here! Not with the Master out!"

"I'm not scared of the Master!" Beary said confidently. "I bet I could just bite him in the toes and make him cry!"

"Er… how about… I Spy?" Char suggested.

"What's that?" Leary asked. "I've never heard of that game before!"

"It's easy," Char said. "First, you try to spot something cool, but don't tell anyone else what it is. Then you say what color it is, and everyone else tries to guess it. Like this: I spy something… green. Can you guess what it is?"

"This is nature! Everything is green!" Beary proclaimed. "That's boring! Let's play battle!"

"I'm RAYQUAZA!"

"Not fair! You're always Rayquaza!"

"I'm Groudon!"

"I'm Groudon, too!"

"Hey, that's against the rules!"

"I don't care! EARTHQUAKE!"

"HYPER BEAM!"

"I'm DIALGA! I summon a BLIZZARD and knock Rayquaza out of the sky!"

"You can't do that! Rayquaza stops your blizzard!"

"I'm ARCEUS! I can beat all of you!"

"Hey, you can't be Arceus!"

"Can too! I sing the death song! La, la, la, la! Now you're all going to die in three days!"

"Dialga goes back in time and stops you from singing the song!"

"Arceus goes back in time and UN-MAKES DIALGA! Now you can't beat me!"

"Now you're frozen because there's NO TIME STREAM!"

"Hey! Look!"

Heary suddenly shouted over all the others, pointing to the side of the road. Sitting and staring at everyone was a small, pink Nidoran with its ears perked high. It didn't look happy.

"Whoa, it's a Nido!" Teary said. "Hey, Nido! Are you alright? You don't look too good!"

"I think it's a wild one!" Leary said.

"Aww, it looks scared stiff," Saura said, stepping forward to examine the Nidoran. "Hey there, little guy…"

Quivering in fear, the Nidoran took a step backwards. It hunched down, as if prepared to pounce and defend itself. It didn't look like it wanted to run away. Saura wanted to console it, but it only scowled and lowered its poison tip to strike.

"Whoa, what's its problem?" Heary said.

"I think we should leave it alone," Saura suggested. "It doesn't look like it wants—"

"Let's BATTLE IT!" Beary proclaimed, leaping forward. "Nobody can beat the mighty GROUDON!"

Before Char or Saura could do anything, Beary pounced on the Nidoran. The wild Pokémon hissed and dodged backwards.

"What the heck are you doing?" Saura cried in horror. "Stop that! Leave him alone!"

Beary pounced again, but this time, the Nidoran attacked! They collided, Beary just narrowly missing the poison horn, and they both fell to the ground in a scuffle, the Nidoran violently growling. Beary found an opportunity and nipped at its nose, causing it to squeal and jump away again.

Saura rushed forward to break up the fight, but it was too late. The rest of the kids had decided to help out their brother and were already jumping into the fray on all fours.

"I'll get it!"

"Take THIS, you dumb Nido!"

"HYPER BEAM!"

"Oww!"

"Hey, watch it!"

Saura lashed forward with vines and wrapped the closest bunny, trying to fish him away from the brawl.

Char quickly yanked his Pecha scarf from the bag and tied it around his neck. A numbing, tingling feeling spread across his skin as the antidotes diffused into his system. He rushed forward, although he had no idea what he was going to do to help the situation.

The Nidoran sprung itself up above the pile of bunnies, still refusing to back down and run away. Char cringed as he saw it come down with a violent headbutt upon one of the children, but the Buneary shifted away just barely in time. Another Buneary struck back, its ears laughably swinging like whips, and batted the Nidoran away.

"Guys, stop! Someone's going to get really hurt!" Saura cried, each of his vines yanking on a different bunny as hard as he could. "Nidoran are poisonous, you know!"

Char rushed in and tried to detain a bunny, but it squirmed and fell out of his grasp.

"Scythe!" Char yelled. "Scythe, we could use some help here!"

"Fine," Scythe sighed.

-Slash!-

Once again, Scythe swooped in with blinding speed, slashing at the poor little Nidoran. It was tossed into the air from the impact, and fell to the ground some feet away from the Buneary kids. A deep, red slice was now visible across its face. It wormed around in the grass, trying to bear the pain. The kids instantly stopped their struggling, all amazed at the show of the Scyther's speed.

"But I thought for sure, between the seven of you, you could chase away a little Nidoran…" Scythe said, folding his wings. "Now, come on, everyone, let's go. We don't have time to—"

Then, even Scythe paused in surprise, joining Char, Saura, and all the children in a speechless stare. The injured Nidoran, after slowly and painfully climbing to its feet, stood once again with its legs locked, refusing to back down. Its entire body shook with weakness and blood dripped from its wound, but it scowled and stood its ground.

"It still wants to fight?" Char said, amazed.

"A tough one," Scythe said thoughtfully. "Though, it's probably just defending its family. We should go."

All of a sudden, the Nidoran's ears perked. It blinked. A genuine look of fear came over its face, even more so than before. With a yelp, it turned and bounded away into the wilderness.

"…Or not," Char commented. "I guess it figured out it couldn't take any more."

"We did it!" Beary yelled. "Bye-bye, Nido!"

"It didn't stand a chance," Leary said.

"Nidoran, Nidoran, run away home!" Teary sang.

"That was awfully weird," Saura said, frowning. "When it ran, it almost looked like…"

"Quiet!" Scythe hissed suddenly, staring intently at the ground. "Something's wrong…"

On command, the children silenced themselves and tensed up.

The group stood still for a few moments. All Char could hear were the distant songs of Pidgey, and the sound of the gentle wind… He looked over at Saura, who shared a shrug with him.

"We… weren't too loud, were we?" Heary said, shuddering. "Do you think… did the Master hear us?"

"Perhaps…" Scythe said, squinting into the distance. "Perhaps…"

Scythe's eyes widened.

"There!" he hissed. "Do you feel that? Feel how the ground shakes underfoot?"

"I don't feel anything," Char admitted, looking down at his feet.

As Char looked down at the ground… he noticed a little pebble shifting across the ground. Only then did he begin to feel the tremor. It was like an earthquake, except that it was not a constant vibration; it came in pulses, as if a giant were marching across the land.

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble…

"I feel it!" Saura said. "What is that?"

"The Master's army is upon us!" Scythe said, not moving his eyes.

The children once again gasped in horror, hugging each other for comfort.

"W-what do we do?" Saura cried. "Do we run?"

Scythe knew there was little time to waste, but he stood and thought for a moment. He looked around at the landscape, analyzing it…

"Char, Saura, take the kids and go that way," Scythe ordered quickly, pointing into the wilderness to the north. "I'll be right back. I want to see what's going on."

"Scythe, don't go!" Saura pleaded. "What—"

"Go!" Scythe ordered again. "I'll be back in five minutes or less. I promise. Now go!"

The earthquake steadily got heavier. Char looked to the road ahead, but didn't see anything. There was a shallow hill in the way, blocking his view of the horizon.

"Kids! You've got to come with us!" Saura barked. "We could be in danger. Let's go this way!"

Scythe darted away down the path, and the children unquestioningly followed Saura to safety. Char brought up the rear, carefully watching to make sure none of the children would get separated. They all scampered into the safety of the deeper wilderness, never daring to look back.

Rumble, rumble rumble…

After a quick search, Char and Saura found a concealed ditch, a good place to hide. But the rumbling was still getting louder…

"Mr. Saura, I'm scared," said Heary quietly.

"Me too," Teary said.

"We're all scared," Saura said. "But don't worry. Scythe is a really good fighter. He'll help us get through this. We're here to protect you."

… … …

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

They waited for what seemed like half an hour… until, finally, Scythe showed up, leaping down into the pit and scaring everyone half to death. He looked astonished.

"Good hiding place," Scythe said as he gasped for air. "I almost passed it right by."

"What's going on?" Saura demanded. "Did you see them?"

"Hundreds," Scythe gasped. "Rhyperior, Blastoise, and Tyranitar. All marching down the path. And bad news… I think they had scouts. Some of them are coming this way! I think they saw us!"

"Scythe, what do we do!?" Saura cried.

"There's only one thing we can do," Scythe said, dropping his bag. "We've got to make a break up north. Char! Isn't there a dungeon up north? Get out the map!"

Char fumbled around in the bag, pulling out the map. He unrolled it as fast as he could.

"We are here, approximately," Scythe said, pointing to a brown patch on the map near Route 370. "The Sitrus Orchard is only a mile north of here. It's your only chance to hide. From there, you can lose the army and possibly still make it through to the city."

"A mile is too far!" Char said. "We can't run that fast!"

"You'll have to," Scythe said. "If you go now, they won't see you. But you have to hurry!"

"Us?!" Char gasped, noticing Scythe's choice of words. "Aren't you coming with us?"

The rumbling never ceased. Scythe glanced up at the sky. He looked extremely worried, as if torn in a decision.

"I really should come with you, yes," Scythe said, slicing the dirt in frustration, "but… I can't understand why the Master has his forces here… and I don't have the slightest idea where they're going…"

"I thought you said the Master uses the roads for his troops," Char said. "What's so different about this?"

"Never this many at once!" Scythe said. "It just doesn't make sense! Char, Saura, I'm sorry. I need to go follow them. It's my responsibility. For the good of my team and the whole division, I need to know what the Master is doing with all these Pokémon! I want you to go on without me. Take these children to the Orchard and get them to safety!"

"No, Scythe!" Saura pleaded again. "Please! Don't leave us alone! Not now!"

"Saura," Scythe said sternly. "This is not an easy situation for either of us, but we are a resistance team, and we must function as one. Besides, I have confidence in you. Gather your courage, use what I've taught you so far, and save these kids!"

Saura gulped.

"I'll meet up with you later," Scythe said. "I promise. Now, go! Wait any longer, and they'll see you! Go!"

Without another complaint, they went. Char and Saura ushered the Buneary children out of the ditch and hurried as fast as they could toward the orchard up north.


Sitrus Orchard S1

Everyone was out of breath when they finally reached the boundary to the orchard, but it wasn't nearly the end of the road. Char and Saura hurried the kids inside as fast as they could, gaining the protection and shelter of the dungeon's curse from the Master's army. The fact that the shaking of the ground had stopped was a relief, the sight of the thick and confusing woods ahead of them was not.

"Children!" Saura barked, trying his best to sound like a leader. "Listen up! We have escaped from the Master, but now we're in a very dangerous place. This is a Mystery Dungeon. If you meet any wild Pokémon, they will attack without hesitation. If you take a wrong turn and get separated from the group, you will get lost for a very long time. If you don't pace yourself, we will run out of food and get very hungry. I want you to stay very close to Char and I. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Saura," some of the Children replied.

"Good," Saura said. "If your belly starts to hurt, tell us, and we'll feed you. Now come on. We've still got a long way to go if we want to make it to your auntie's. Char, you lead the way. I'll bring up the end of the line."

The Buneary children huddled close to their guides as Char and Saura as they began their expedition.

The Sitrus Orchard looked anything like an orchard. It looked like a thick, overgrown forest, and there wasn't even a single fruit tree in sight. Green and brown vines ran across the leaf-padded ground, running up tree trunks and strangling dead logs. Char couldn't take a step without his claws or toes getting snagged on the vines, and it made him wish Scythe was there to slice through all the overgrowth for him. The smell was fresh and humid, as if it had just rained. The incessant sound of insects buzzing and birds chirping filled the air; it made Char really wonder if there were other animals besides Pokémon in this strange world.

Char was more nervous than he'd ever been. He knew that the day would come when he and Saura would have to brave a dungeon without Scythe, but he never pictured having a whole handful of kids in his care!

What an overwhelming responsibility, Char said to himself, glancing back at the party following him. I can't believe I'm even doing this!

"It's okay, Char," Saura said. "I've got us covered in the rear. Just keep going."

Char turned back to the path at hand, doing his best to push and forage his way through all the shrubs. He tried to keep an eye out for anything that could pose a threat to the team; it wasn't easy, since animal sounds came from all directions and visibility was often limited to a foot in front of his face.

After a few more minutes of walking, Char stubbed his toe on something. He looked down to see a small grey rock. A small green vine ran over it, sprouting green eye-like flowers as it went.

"Guys, poisonous flowers," Char reported. "Watch out."

"Uh oh," Saura said. "Kids, Look out for the green flowers. They'll poison you."

"We know that," Leary said. "What was that song mommy taught us?"

"Ruby flower will give you power. Sapphire berry will make you wary. Emerald eye will make you cry," Heary recited. "The Rageflower, Chesto Berry, and Dragon's Eye."

Char had a thought. He curiously inspected the green flower, then plucked it right from the vine. Immediately, his fingers tingled violently as the antidote from the Pecha scarf neutralized the poison.

"Mr. Char!" cried Heary.

"It's alright," Char said. "I can't be poisoned right now, I have a..."

"Mr. Char, LOOK OUT!"

Char spun in all directions, looking for danger. When he didn't see anything, he turned to Heary, who was pointing into the air…

"CHAR! ABOVE YOU!" Saura cried.

Char felt a horrible stinging sensation as he was knocked aside by something very large. Immediately his back flared with the tingling feeling, warding off a new shot of poison. A horrible buzzing sound filled the air, and the kids all shrieked.

Char turned around to see a Beedrill harassing the group. Not just that, but a second one popped from behind of the tree leaves and joined it.

The first Beedrill circled in the air, coming for another attack at Char, but Saura skillfully extended his vines and swatted it out of the way. As it wobbled through the air and tried to re-orient itself, Saura followed up with a barrage of tiny seeds from his bulb. This time, the attack hit; several holes immediately appeared across the bug's body. It fell to the ground, where it hopelessly buzzed and thrashed in place.

The second Beedril hung in the air far above Char's reach, as if waiting for a moment to strike. Char concentrated, fueled his inner fire, and a long stream of flames exploded from his mouth. They engulfed the bee before it could even react, lighting it ablaze with flames and knocking it right of the air.

Char panted heavily as his fire subsided. He surveyed the damage.

"Good job, Char," Saura said. "We did good."

"Yeah, we did," Char said, watching as the Beedrills both slowly ceased moving. "Maybe we can get through this on our own after all."


Sitrus Orchard S3

As they went farther into the dungeon, the trees thankfully started to space themselves out and give the group some breathing room. Still, Char didn't really know what to think about the place.

"Why is this place even called an 'orchard', anyway?" Char wondered as he helped the kids carefully descend a small drop-off.

"Well, it's a long story," Saura said. "A few years ago, this place was a beautiful orchard where Sitrus berries grew. There were at least a hundred trees here, and they were all in orderly rows… It was really beautiful. Wow, it really brings back some memories… That's what made Sitrus City so popular. Everyone would always go there for the Sitrus berry medicines, or just to pick them from the orchard… the city was filthy rich, and it was a great tourist place, too. But when the Mystery Dungeons started cropping up, one of them consumed the entire orchard and turned it into a dungeon… and because of the temporal anomaly, it got all weedy and overgrown in no time."

"Wow," Char said, unable to believe the messy forest he now walked through was once a lush garden. "Are there… any Sitrus trees still here?"

"There should be, yeah," Saura said. "But because of the spatial distortion, you never know where they are, and just searching for them is pretty dangerous. That's why Sitrus berries are so rare. Nobody likes coming in here and searching for them."

"What are Sitrus berries, anyway?" Char asked. "What makes them so special?"

"You're kidding, right?" Teary said. "You've never had a Sitrus berry?"

"Sitrus berries are one of the best medicines known to all Pokémon!" Saura explained. "Eating just one feels invigorating, and it takes all your pain away. They speed up your body's own regeneration if you're injured, and they can even keep you alive if you're on the verge of dying."

"Wow, that must be a pretty powerful fruit," Char said.

"Yeah," Saura said. "And they even say that if you eat Sitrus berries when you're perfectly healthy, you'll add years to the end of your life."

"Maybe we can find some," Char said, still unable to see any fruit trees around him. "I think I'd like to try one."

"Hey, Mr. Saura," Meary said, "I'm getting hungry now."

"Really hungry, or just sorta hungry?" Saura asked.

"Just starting to get hungry," Meary said.

"Me, too," Leary said. "Can we have a snack?"

"Not quite yet, but we will soon," Saura said. "If we don't pace ourselves, we'll run out of food. You can waste food if you eat too fast, you know. Eating a lot of food really fast doesn't always mean it'll take you longer to get hungry."

"We'll take a rest soon," Char promised. "But for now, we've got to keep pushing on. This trip isn't going to get any easier."

"Uh oh," Saura said, glancing up. "More enemies on their way. A Beedrill, and a Butterfree. Get ready!"

Char and Saura took out the intruders before they even had a chance to pose a threat. Char found it easier than ever to control his fire, and he was getting really good at aiming with his flamethrower technique.

Saura's gotten good with his bullet technique, too, Char noticed. We're actually getting fairly powerful. Just a few more miles left! We can do this!


Sitrus Orchard S5

An hour later, there was no doubt about it: it was about time for a break.

After having singed at least ten feral bugs to a crisp, and gotten into a rather heated battle with a Roselia, Char was getting pretty winded. Still in the lead, he limped along and looked for a good place to stop and eat.

"My tummy hurts a lot," Heary reported. "Can we eat now?"

"Yeah, my belly's getting pretty empty, too," Saura said. "I think it's time to stop. Char, see anywhere to take a break?"

"Not here," Char said. "Maybe this way…"

The ground was littered with nothing but thorny shrubs and Dragon's Eye, so Char pushed through some more foliage, hoping to find something more fortunate on the other side…

…and tripped over the anchor-thread of a large Spinarak web.

The Spinarak leapt down to subdue the potential prey, but Char rolled onto his back and spat fire upward, burning the web and snapping the spider up into its own string. Saura quickly jumped in, wrapping up the spider with his vines and tossing it away.

"Guess not," Saura said disappointedly. "But we can't keep this up for much longer. I really don't want to pass out. Not in this place!"

"I know, I know," Char said, pushing on. "I'm starting to get dizzy… Here."

Char reached into the bag and produced a small apricot. He passed it back to the children.

"This'll tide you over until we can find a stopping place," Char said, grabbing another apricot to pass back.

"Char, watch it," Saura warned. "Willow trees up ahead. There might be Weepinbell."

Char kept a wary eye overhead, wondering if the dungeon would ever let him take a rest.


Sitrus Orchard S6

"Char… I can barely see straight…" Saura moaned. "Please… Let's just stop right here… I don't care…"

"We can't," Char said. "Not… safe…"

"Oh, not again," Saura grumbled. "You're right. Char, watch out. Get ready…"

Some bushes rustled, and an annoyed Ledyba emerged. Char sighed, taking aim at the bug, then reached for his fire.

…But his fire was not there. His inner Ember felt like a smoldering, flameless chunk of coal…

"I… -cough- I think… I'm… out of fire," Char moaned, backing away from the wild Pokémon.

"Char, your tail," Saura said. "It's…"

Char turned to glance at his tail, and was horrified at the sight. It was almost out, reduced to just a tiny, flickering candle flame. It made him feel even weaker knowing how close to the limit his body was…

"And I'm out of bullet seeds," Saura said. "Here… I'll take care of it…"

Saura stepped forward to confront the little ladybug. Grunting in weariness, Saura dispelled a small flurry of leaves at the enemy. Most of them missed, and the ones that hit only helped to disorient it. Saura panted, disappointed at his effort.

Char jumped at the enemy, but its wings buzzed and it flew out of the way. It circled around and tried to dive-bomb Leary, but the bunny whipped its long ears at the bug and bumped it away.

"Char, maybe we should just run," Saura suggested. "We're… not doing so well."

"I can't run," Char gasped. "I'm…"

"Char, just go," Saura said again. "If we go, it can't catch up with us. The trees are too thick for it to fly."

Too tired to argue, Char picked himself up from a slump and ran forward as fast as his numb legs could carry him. His entire body stung as he pushed himself through the wall of shrubs, twigs and rough leaves scraping all over him…

And then…

When the shrubs cleared, they cleared. Char was awestruck at the sight before him: the forest ended, and a small clearing opened up. The messy ground became a gorgeous, rolling plain covered in short, soft, lush grass. Sprouting up in the clearing were no less than twelve large, fruit-bearing trees aligned in perfect rows. It was like a well-tended garden. An orchard.

Is this… a mirage…? Char wondered, his vision so very blurry…

"Char, this is a miracle!" Saura cried, pushing his way into the open area. "Sitrus trees! We found Sitrus trees! We did it! It all paid off!"

"No way!" Teary cried upon seeing the small fragment of the once glorious orchard.

Nobody even had to be asked. Char, Saura, and all of the bunnies rushed forward to the nearest tree as fast as they could. Char pounced on a low-hanging branch, grabbing a whole handful of the golden berries. He stuffed them into his mouth, and was immediately overcome with the sweetest, most wonderful taste he'd ever felt. He grabbed the branch again, viciously tearing off another handful of berries and stuffing his face with them. He felt the thick, sappy juice smeared all over his muzzle, but he didn't care.

"Heavenly," Saura moaned, his mouth full of fruit. "The gift of Arceus…"

Char collapsed against the tree truck, still munching. A total, absolute comfort flooded him; he felt life pumping back into his stagnant limbs, his sight shifting and sharpening, returning to normal, and his inner fire sparked back to life, bringing warmth back to his belly.

Char wanted to just fall asleep in contented bliss, but strangely, the berries would not let him. They had an invigorating effect, rather than a suppressive one. In just a few minutes, he knew his belly would be satisfied, his fire would be re-fueled, and he'd be ready to stand back up and lead the team on a strong final leg of the journey.

"Char, here," Saura said, holding a branch of berries with his vine. "Put as many of these as you can in the bag! If we just take some of these with us, we'll be undefeatable!"

Char smiled, and completely emptied the bag onto the ground. He sorted through the contents, replacing only the most important items like the orbs, and filled the rest with the magnificent berries. Twenty-three berries fit into the bag before the thread wouldn't close anymore, and even while it was stuffed, the contents were unbelievably light.

"Ahh," Saura sighed, enjoying another berry. "I thought we were done for, but we did it. We pulled through again."

"I hope Scythe's doing alright," Char said, lounging on his back. "He said he'd meet us later. I wonder if he's waiting for us on the other side of the orchard."

"Wow... I never thought our first mission alone would be so stressful," Saura said. "But it's actually pretty satisfying, knowing we're actually doing—"

"Mr. Saura?"

Heary approached the two, his fur tangled and stained with both dirt and Sitrus fruit. He still looked scared.

"What's wrong, Heary?" Saura asked. "What do you need?"

"Where's Beary?"

"What do you mean, where's Beary?" Saura repeated, looking around the orchard at the rest of the bunnies. "He's… wait…"

Even Char could see it… there were only four bunnies in sight. The fifth… the little rebellious one… was nowhere to be seen.

"Beary!" Saura gasped. "He's… he's not here…? W… where is he? How… how… how long… was he missing?"

"I don't know," Heary said, almost ready to cry. "I was so hungry, and dizzy, I didn't see him… I don't think he came into the orchard with us…"

Char and Saura realized the same was true of them. They'd been so disoriented and tired, they both failed to notice that one of the children had not been with them for a while.

"No… By Arceus, no…" Saura whispered, trying to grasp the horror of having left a child behind in the brutal depths of the dungeon. "Char… We have to find him. I don't care what it takes. I'll spend the rest of my life in this dungeon if I have to. We're going to find Beary!"

*Chapter 22*: Chapter 20: To Safety

Chapter 20

Sitrus Orchard S6… still

Team Ember had made a solemn promise to the Lopunny mother to keep her children safe. Now that the youngest of the children had gone missing somewhere in the cursed orchard, there was no question in Char's mind that the kid had to be found at all costs. But how does one rescue someone amidst a spatial anomaly, where "back" and "forth" are meaningless, and you can never count on the terrain to look the same? It was quite an understatement to say that Beary could be anywhere.

"This isn't the way we came!" Saura cried, already on the verge of panic. "This looks nothing like the place we just were! How do we find our way back?"

"I don't think we can," Char said. "This place is cursed, remember? It tricks you into going the wrong way. We'll just have to keep wandering around until we find him."

"Char, you take two of the kids and go that way," Saura ordered. "I'll go this way."

"Are you kidding? You want us to lose each other, too?" Char responded. "We've got to stick together or we'll be just as lost as Beary. We just need to stay in this section of the forest and keep our eyes open."

"I'm sorry, you're right," Saura said. "I guess I'm not thinking straight right now… But… I just hope he's okay… I still can't believe I wasn't paying attention!"

"We'll find him," Char said, hoping to convince even himself. "We can do this. Just keep going."

The search through the overgrown, enemy-infested forest continued for at least half an hour. The children were sure to stay extra close, and helped out by calling to their missing brother.

"Beaaaaaaaaaary!" Teary yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Beary, answer us if you can hear us!"

"You dumb bunny! You're going to get yourself killed!"

Of course, the sound of their calling only served to attract more enemies. A wild Venonat, a Rattata, and a Beedrill all heeded the voices and came quickly to purge the intruders. Despite some bumps and scratches in the battle, the enemies were dispatched quickly whenever they came.

Even though the group stayed in the same sector of the forest for a very long time, the wild Pokémon just kept coming, no matter how many of them were punctured and burned down by their attacks. It was almost as if the enemies appeared out of nowhere when their backs were turned. Char was starting to wonder how long it would take before they'd see any signs of progress…

"Hey, Char," Saura finally said with a distraught face, "This is the third time we've passed this tree. I'm getting really worried."

"Are we lost, too?" Teary asked. "Can we still find Beary?"

"Hey, Saura, I just thought of something," Char said. "Maybe the spatial distortion doesn't work the way we're thinking. Maybe he could be farther into the dungeon. Remember how we only saw part of the old orchard? The other part might be in a completely different place. So we might have a chance of finding Beary if we continue on to the next section of the forest."

"But what if you're wrong?" Saura said. "I don't want to leave Beary behind!"

"Saura, you even said it yourself. We've been going in circles for the past—I don't know how long. He's not here. Maybe we can find him if we move on."

"I can't do that! I'm not going to risk leaving him behind!" Saura growled, digging his paws into the ground in frustration. "I'm… sorry! We're not going anywhere until he's found."


Sitrus Orchard S7

"I hope to the ancients you're right," Saura mumbled sadly after facing the fact that there was nothing he could do but continue forward. "It doesn't make sense, but… Oh, please… I just wish he's here somewhere… Please…"

I do, too, Char thought to himself. Dialga, if you're watching out for me now… You've put us through so much… is it too much to ask for you to lead us to the missing child?

"Where are we going?" Heary asked, looking sad and confused. "We're not leaving Beary alone, are we?"

"Mystery Dungeons are strange places," Char explained. "We think if we go forward, and leave behind the place where we lost him, we'll find him."

"Oh…" Heary replied, clearly not understanding.

"What if he's dead?" Teary wondered out loud. "He's been missing for an awful long time! What if he got killed by a bee?"

"Teary! Don't say that!" Saura yelped. "Please! Don't even think about that! Just… help me look for him! Keep looking!"

"But what if he is dead?" Teary said again. "What will Mommy say…?"

Saura turned to the four kids who followed him, continuing to unquestioningly persist through the forest at his command. He could tell it by the looks on their faces: they all wanted to ask the same question.

"Listen!" Char said firmly. "I don't care if Beary's dead. We're going to find him, alive or otherwise, and that's final! We're just going to search every last inch of this forest until we do. Do you understand?"

The kids all solemnly nodded.

"I don't want to hear any more talking about 'is he dead' or 'what will we do if we don't find him', okay?" Char told them. "Save it for when we know for sure. Until then… we just keep going."


Sitrus Orchard S11

For six more grueling hours, they searched that forest, inspecting every tree, digging through every leaf pile, diving into every ditch, and fighting the endless stream of wild bug Pokémon as they went. Still, there was not even a single sign—not even a footprint—of the missing child. Worry mounted in Char's heart as the end of the forest drew close—only one more mile remained.

Saura no longer showed signs of panic, anxiety, or weariness. He was beyond it all. He marched through the forest, emotionlessly following Char's lead, scanning everywhere the light touched with his unblinking eyes and rustling through everywhere it didn't with his vines.

The children had changed a bit, too. Char noticed that they were beginning to act a little differently: after only the first half hour of searching, they no longer complained about hunger or weary muscles. Silently, unquestioningly, they followed the commands given to them by their leaders and trudged along beside them. Whenever Char noticed a child starting to get teary-eyed from strain, or starting to limp from fatigue, he'd administer a Sitrus berry and hope it would be enough to help.

The forest was not merciful. The enemies never stopped coming, especially the Beedrills. Every time a Buneary's little voice echoed through the woods, calling out for the missing brother, an angry Beedrill seemed to respond with wings buzzing and poison stingers at the ready. And there were countless more Spinarak webs to walk into, Weepinbell traps to avoid, and Rattatas to fend off… Char even once fell into another pitfall trap, only to have Saura act quickly and catch him in mid-plummet, saving him and all the items in the bag.

There were poison spikes at the bottom of that one.

Eventually, the sunlight started to deepen in color, signaling the beginning of evening. In just three more hours, the light by which they walked would be gone, and in one hour after that, the Watchers would be out. But the search continued on, the group unwavering in their efforts…

…Until Heary, after a very long time of the group not speaking to one another, spoke up.

"Mr. Saura?"

"What is it, Heary?" Saura spoke flatly, but trying not to sound unfriendly.

"You said that Beary might have gone forward in the forest, right? That's why we left behind the orchard and kept going forward?"

"Yes," Char answered.

"Well… What if he went backwards?"

Silence rose from the group.

"What if we couldn't find him because he went backwards, instead of forwards?"

Char and Saura turned to stare at one another, pondering if it could be true. It was, after all, the most likely possibility yet to be offered.

"But you can't go backwards in a Mystery Dungeon," Saura said. "…Or can you?"

"…if you somehow get trapped in the spatial anomaly, maybe you can," Char considered.

"What if… we left him behind before we found the orchard?" Heary wondered. "We looked everywhere for him back there, but maybe we were too late!"

Again, silence. Saura's eyes faded to a faraway gaze.

Was it true? Had they left the child miles behind? It seemed to make perfect sense. Maybe they'd left Beary farther back than originally thought, and that's why their most thorough searches all came up empty. But even then, it was a horrible thought to behold. How would they rescue him now?

"Here's what we'll do," he finally decided after a few minutes of thought. "We finish this search. Then, when we leave the dungeon, one of us goes on to the city with you Buneary, and the other explores the dungeon from the very beginning."

Char knew the idea was absolutely crazy. There was simply not enough time left in the day to scour the dungeon from the beginning. But, he knew that, between Beary and himself (since it was obvious he'd be the one staying to search, since he was the only one with a light), he was the one more deserving to be left as prey for the sinister ghosts. He was the one who screwed up and let his attention slip long enough to lose the child. He was the one who would face the dark of the night to find him—or die trying.

"Sounds good to me," Char said, knowing that he didn't have any other choice. "Onward it is, then…"

Just as Char was ready to continue forward, Meary gasped.

"Wait! I heard something!"

"What is it, another Beedrill?" Char asked, looking up to the treetops.

"No. It sounded like Beary!"

"Where? Which way?" Saura demanded. "You sure it was him?"

"I… I'm not sure, it might have been," she said. "That way!"

Without a second thought, the group rushed forward as fast as they could in the direction Meary indicated.

"I heard it again!" Meary said. "It was louder!"

"I didn't hear anything," Saura said. "What did it sound like?"

"It sounds like Beary crying!" she insisted. "It's getting louder!"

"You heard her," Char said. "Keep going!"

"BEAARY!" Teary cried. "We're here! We're going to find you!"

After traveling just a few more yards, Char thought he started to hear something strange, too… but it wasn't the sound of a child crying. It was like a low humming sound, sometimes escalating in pitch to sound like a shriek. He couldn't quite tell what it was…

"That's not Beary," Saura said, disappointedly. "But… what is that…?"

The noise kept fluctuating, making it hard to follow or identify. Char moved in the direction of the sound, even though he didn't see anything quite out of the ordinary…

But then, Char pushed aside a leafy branch, and he saw it. Everyone froze in horror; it was the last thing they wanted to see.

A small alcove opened in the forest. In the center of the forest, there was a tree. You couldn't tell it was a tree, though; it was covered, completely swarming with Beedrillls. It was a hive. The sound of buzzing wings faded together to form the terrible humming noise.

For a few moments, Char couldn't tear his eyes from the sight. Many cocoons and paper nests stuffed with larvae hung from the branches…

"Oh, no!" Saura whispered upon seeing the invested alcove. "Everyone, run!"

But it was too late to run. Some Beedrills spotted the intruders and quickly called upon their kin to help defend the hive… soon, almost a hundred of the angry bees began to swarm towards Char…

Almost without thinking, Char prepared to blast his fire, then held it back at the last second to release a thick cloud of smoke at the swarm of insects. The cloud spread quickly, reducing visibility…

Trying to resist a coughing fit, Char turned to flee with his companions…

Although some of the Beedrils had become confused as they entered the smoke screen, throwing off their course and directing them into tree trunks, most of them shot straight through and kept coming. They closed in on Char at an incredible speed…

"We're not going to make it!" Heary yelled as he glanced back. "AHH! Mr. Char, LOOK OUT!"

And with that, the swarm was upon them. Nothing could save them now.

Char ducked, narrowly avoiding the poison tip of a Beedrill as it passed by. Saura tried to give him cover by sending out a flurry of razor-sharp leaves, but to his surprise, most of the leaves were stopped by tree branches and foliage—obstacles which the Beedrills so agilely zoomed around as they closed in and surrounded the group…

"CHAR! We're not going to make it this time!" Saura cried, batting at the bees with his vines as best as he could. "CHAR! USE THE ESCAPE ORB!"

The escape orb! Char had completely forgotten about that!

"But... we're not to the end of the forest yet!" Char cried, leaping to shield a terrified bunny from an attack. "What if the Master's forces are still out there? They'll see us!"

"Char, we don't have a choice!" Saura cried desperately. "These kids are all going to die! Char, use the orb!"

It was true. Saura was succeeding in defending the group from the swarm as they hurried for whatever kind of cover they could find, but he couldn't keep it up. The number of bees on their tail kept growing.

"Also, maybe this is our last chance to find Beary!" Saura yelled. "Remove the curse, and the forest might become easier to search!"

Char quickly ducked behind a tree, throwing the bag onto the ground and plunging his claw down into it. Sitrus juice burst from the berries and stained his hand as he dug down for the orb…

When he found it, he held it hesitantly in his hand…

"If the Master's soldiers are still out there…"

"Char, we have to take the chance," Saura said again. "Please, Char! They're starting to… OW! OW!"

At once, Char grasped the shiny, opaque orb with both of his claws. A telepathic voice entered his head.

This is an escape orb, the voice said. Activate?

Yes, activate! Char answered.

The orb emitted a powerful pulse, a strange ripple that spread through the air in all directions. As it passed, the buzzing of the bees and the frantic screaming of the bunnies all seemed to cease for a moment…

Activation successful, the orb said. The curse has been broken. Your party may now leave the dungeon at will.

With that, the orb's color faded, becoming glassy and transparent. It soon collapsed into thin shards which fell to the ground and dissolved away…

And then there was silence.

Char looked around. The bees had… simply disappeared. With the breaking of the curse, they had either given up on their attack and flown away, or vanished into thin air, trapped in a sort of alternate dimension. The forest and the sky looked a lot different, too… it almost felt like they were standing in the true Sitrus Orchard, the one that had been shrouded by the Mystery Dungeon curse for so long. Most of the overgrowth had vanished, and Sitrus trees blossomed with flowers and berries all around…

Char saw Saura still cringing, wrapping all four of the Buneary at once with his vines to protect them... he saw as they opened their eyes, one by one, seeing that the danger was gone…

Saura's eyes snapped open, surprised.

"It… worked," he said. "They're gone… We're safe…"

It was true. There were no more enemies to be seen, and the forest seemed… much more peaceful than it used to be.

"Okay, quick," Saura said. "Now that the dungeon is gone, everyone split up and search for Beary. It should be much easier to find him now that the place isn't all distorted."

So they did. And Saura was right: it was much easier to find Beary. In less than ten minutes, the search was over.

As Char wandered through the forest calling Beary's name, a muffled sound answered him back.

-Hic!-

Char looked up.

"Uhhhhhh…" -hic!-

Sure enough, it was him. Char spotted the little Buneary laying in the branch of a nearby Sitrus tree. His fur was hopelessly stained with Sitrus juice, and his belly was absolutely stuffed. He moaned in pain, half-asleep...

"Beary!" Char exclaimed, rushing to his aid. "Beary! Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"

"Mr. Char…" the bunny moaned vaguely, his eyes half-open.

"What happened?" Char asked, trying to pick him up and take him off the branch. "We searched everywhere for you!"

"I got tired… I couldn't keep up…" the bunny muttered. "I… think I'm sick… I ate lots of berries to help me feel better…"

When Char succeeded in picking up and carrying the child, he noticed the problem: there was a gaping, messy wound in the child's side. Scabs had already started cover it, thanks to all the Sitrus berries he'd eaten, but they were having some trouble doing so: the skin underneath the child's brown fur had turned a bright green, bubbling up into large boils around the opening. He was poisoned.

"Oh, Beary!" Char cried upon seeing the wound. "You were stung by a Beedrill, weren't you?"

"No… it was…" the child tried to say. "I think… the Nido got me… I thought it was just a scratch… but it got bad and it started making me tired… so I couldn't keep up…"

Char gently set the child onto the ground to look over the wound. It was infected pretty bad.

"I hid in the tree, because you said that nobody suspects a tree, right?"

"Here, take this," Char said, quickly slipping off his scarf and tying it around the gaping injury. "This should make you feel a lot better. It won't cure the poison, but it should help until we get you some medicine."

"I want mommy," the child moaned sadly as Char picked him up and carried him away.

"How about your Auntie?" Char said gently. "We'll be there soon. Don't worry. You'll be okay."


Route 370

Saura, and the rest of the children, were absolutely overjoyed at the missing brother was found. Once re-united, they all pushed their way out of the forest as quickly as they could, leaving the vicious, unforgiving dungeon behind.

"About time," Scythe called to them as they emerged from the orchard. "What took you so long? It's almost evening!"

Leary answered him. "Sorry, Mr. Bug," he said, "but Beary got lost!"

Char and Saura both bit their tongues as Scythe cast a worried glance toward them.

"You lost a child?" he said with surprise. "Really? You lost him? In the middle of a dungeon?"

"…Yes," Saura answered regretfully.

"But it looks like everyone's all here," Scythe said with a smile. "You found him again. Good for you! You could have been a little faster, but you two did good. I'm very proud of you. Children! How was the Orchard? How'd it go?"

"It was scary!" Leary said. "There were Beedrills and Spinaraks everywhere!"

"I wasn't scared," Beary said, limping along with one hand on the scarf that covered his would like a bandage.

"Mr. Saura helped keep us safe," Teary said. "Mr. Char helped, too."

"I almost cried when Beary was missing, but Mr. Saura said we'd find him," Heary added. "It took a long time, and we got really tired, and hungry. But he promised!"

"Mr. Char is the best at fighting!" Meary said. "But I still think daddy could beat him!"

"I don't know about that! Mr. Char has FIRE!"

"I bet Mr. Saura could beat Mr. Char! Mr. Saura saved us from a whole swarm of Beedrills at once!"

As Scythe led the group back to Route 370, Char and Saura both released a great big sigh. Even though they weren't exactly proud of themselves for everything that had happened, they were relieved that it was all over. The five kids were all alive as promised, and Sitrus City was just over the horizon.

There was a problem, however… nightfall was coming a bit too fast. Noticing this, Scythe ordered everyone back off the path and into the grasslands.

"Where are we going?" Saura asked. "Don't we have to head for the city? We're almost out of sunlight!"

"Exactly," Scythe said. "There just isn't enough sunlight left. We'll never make it to the city at this rate. Here. Dig!"

Scythe slashed at the ground, flinging dirt into to the air.

"Dig?" Saura repeated.

"Yes, dig," Scythe said, putting another long slice into the dirt. "The Watchers never attack a shelter, no matter how it's made. Now, help me! It's our only chance to escape them!"

The team spent the rest of the evening digging a hole for shelter from the looming darkness of night. Thankfully, the Buneary children seemed quite skilled at this activity, and with a little effort, they now had a musty, narrow trench to crawl into. Once they'd hit the layer of clay, they dug the rest of the hole at a slant until the sky could no longer be seen from the very bottom.

There, the Buneary snuggled around Char and Saura, and everyone had a well-earned rest after such a very tiring, stressful day.

The Buneary took turns with Char and Saura retelling all the events of the day to Scythe. He listened amusedly and proudly as they told stories of Weepinbells, pitfall traps, Beedrills, and Beary getting lost. The only time he stopped to reprimand them was the part where Saura explained his plan to take the children back to the city while one of them stayed behind to search.

"I admire your courage," Scythe told them sternly, "but never, ever forget the most important rule of all. Never, ever, ever travel alone."

"Oh, you mean like how you ran off on your own to go spy on the soldiers?" Saura retorted sarcastically. "Sure. We'll remember not to do that. Thanks for setting a good example for us."

"Okay, you got me," Scythe said with a grin. "But still. I was not traveling. I practically stayed in the same place, even as I followed the soldiers down the road. You were the ones who had to traverse the dungeon. That is not wise to do alone, no matter how experienced, or desperate, you may think you are. At the very least, had you carried out that plan, you should have kept the most able-bodied child with you."

Char ignored his excuses. He knew Scythe didn't have to explain himself; that he, not them, was more than able to venture off on his own whenever he wanted. He and Saura agreed never to even consider breaking the buddy rule in the future.

Char got to the part where they broke into a Beedrill hive, saved their lives with the escape orb, and rescued Beary. The children agreed that, by far, it was the most frightening thing they'd ever been though. Beary, though, seemed to be a little disappointed that he missed the event.

"That was the part I didn't understand," Char said, holding his tail close to his chest so as to not accidently burn anyone. "How come the land just changed like that when we used the escape orb?"

"From what we know of Mystery Dungeons, they are simply alternate dimensions that overlay certain areas of the terrain, absorbing their features and arranging them in random shapes," he explained. "If you use an escape orb, it actually transports you from the Mystery Dungeon dimension back into the real dimension which still exists underneath. The result is that you become visible to those around you, and you are able to simply leave whenever you want. Although, if you stay unveiled too long without fleeing the dungeon, you will just get sucked back into the curse. You were lucky you found Beary as fast as you did. In the future, remember to always get out as fast as you can once you activate an escape orb."

"Noted," Saura said. "There's no way we're going to waste something that useful."

"Oh, and another thing," Scythe said. "It is very likely that you could not find Beary because he was dispelled from the dungeon."

"Dispelled?" Saura asked. "I never knew about that part. How's that work?"

"If you lose consciousness in a dungeon, and nobody revives you for more than about a minute, the dungeon will expel you," Scythe explained. "Usually, that means you will be separated from the rest of your team who remain in the dungeon, and unable to join them again until they leave."

"No wonder," Char said, remembering Beary's predicament. "So that's why we couldn't find him anywhere!"

"But he's here now," Teary said. "That's why I'm glad."

"Heh, us too," Saura said.

Char passed out a snack of dried apples that had somehow survived at the bottom of the bag all day, and the weary children started to drift off to sleep.

"So, Scythe," Char said, long after the kids had all passed out for the night. "Did you find out what happened with all those soldiers?"

Scythe closed his eyes for a moment, deep in concentration. Char knew that the day hadn't gone too well for him, either.

"Maybe," Scythe grumbled, staring at the ground. "I can't be sure. They looked as though they were heading to the southwest…"

"Well, at least that means my family is safe for the time being," Saura sighed.

"One thing's for sure, though," Scythe muttered. "The settlement at Basin Canyon will have to be postponed. We shouldn't risk it while the Master has such a strong hold on the nearby area. The team's not going to like this one bit. Especially Daemon. I already know I'm going to have a hard time explaining it to him."

"Why's that?" Char wondered. "It looks to me like your team trusts you unconditionally. Even Daemon."

Scythe forced out a laugh. "Ah, ha ha ha," he grunted. "Sure, but just watch how they respond when I tell them we'll have to work overtime for an entire month. Maybe even two or three, just to keep an eye on the place. I've got to put it to Adiel… he has a way of accidentally executing plans that are more effective than he can imagine. Just by appearing to us, he's forced us to act and put strain on our entire operation."

Adiel, Char remembered. Oh wow, I almost forgot. When he appeared… he said that Saura only had three days left of freedom… and that was two and a half days ago. That means… he only has one day left! After tomorrow, he might come looking for Saura… I sure hope we're safely back in the base when tomorrow night rolls around!

"Say, Scythe," Saura said after yawning. "I've been wondering. What's up with Basin Canyon, anyway? What are you doing there, exactly? Well, I mean, if you're even allowed to tell us."

"It's a very long story," Scythe muttered. "But, I see we've got nothing better to do at the moment. Hmm… Where to begin…? Basin Canyon is a colony. A good number of years ago, a tribe of Sandshrew and Sandslash lived there. They had a whole network of tunnels and chambers in the walls of the canyon… and that was their home. They cherished it and defended it for generations. So, naturally, when the Master moved into the area, they… they stood their ground. Even when the Master demanded they clear out… they refused. They defended their home with their lives, and a war broke out. Many lives were lost. Sadly, most of those lives were the Sandslash that tried to put up a fight."

"But why would the Master do that to them?" Saura asked. "Even for him, that seems kind of low. Why would he force them out of the canyon? He had to have had a reason of some sort, right?"

"Because, the Sandslash were hiding a secret," Scythe told them. "Down, beneath the depths of the canyon… there was a mine. A mine of feral-shards. And when the Master found out this secret, he wanted all the feral-shards for himself, so he went to go take them by force. Even back then feral-shards were very rare, so you can imagine how wealthy the Sandslash made themselves by selling the stones to the markets. But the Master was determined to be the only one in control of the stones, to prevent Pokémon from becoming too powerful for him."

So, they're fighting for the feral-shards! Char realized. I remember when we found one in the thieves' den… no wonder Scythe got all excited when he saw that. I bet they're really valuable!

"Well, the battle over Basin Canyon raged on," Scythe continued. "When this battle was almost at its breaking point, my team decided to go in and help them. So, Team Remorse gathered their strength and fought for the Sandslash. But we soon found that even we were not strong enough. We had underestimated the Master's efforts… and we knew that the battle would be lost. So, we did what we could to evacuate the Sandslash safely. But, during our very final battle in those caves, a very… unfortunate thing happened. It was something I thought I could have avoided, but in hindsight, I know now there was no way for me to prevent it. The soldiers attacked us… and they killed Jahzara, the leader of the tribe."

As he said this, he hung his head as if in respect for the memory of a fallen hero. Char also saw a little resent in his eyes. He could tell that the story was very important to the old warrior; it was a memory he lived in the shadow of, wishing he could change.

"And when the dust settled, and it was all over, Jahzara's tribe was defeated and demoralized. They had lost everything they ever held dear—their home, their precious stones, and even their leader. So, we did the only thing we could do: we led them somewhere safe, somewhere they would thrive and stay hidden for as long as they could. And, that day… I gave a solemn vow to them. I promised them that one day, I would lead them back to their homeland."

"And that's what you're doing now, isn't it?" Saura said. "That's what this 'settlement' is you keep talking about. You're going to take the Sandslash back so they can settle at the canyon again."

"Indeed," Scythe said. "Even after all these years, I kept it in the back of my mind. I never forgot my promise. Well, it was hard to, anyway; it turns out that I had taken a little reminder with me. You see, when Team Remorse turned and left the Sandslash in their new home that day, a little Sandshrew, the second-youngest of Jahzara's seven sons, followed us and wanted to join us. His name… was Shander."

Char smiled. He finally understood why Scythe and Shander were such great friends. Scythe also smiled warmly at the memory, but his smile soon faded as he continued his story.

"Now, when the Master took control of the canyon, he found something he did not expect. The feral-shards which he so zealously sought after were buried at the very bottom of the Basin's deepest chambers… which had, at some point in time, become blocked by one of the longest, most difficult Mystery Dungeons known to this day. After trying unsuccessfully to send forces through the dungeon and claim the stones, he gave up. And now, finally, we have a chance to fulfill our promise to Jahzara's tribe. It wasn't easy to get this far, but we're almost ready to lead them back home and give them adequate protection while they settle in."

"Wow, do you think the Master will fight back?" Saura wondered. "That sounds like a difficult task, defying him openly like that."

"Oh, we already know he will fight back," Scythe said. "But we can fend him off this time. If we can just fend off the Master's first counterattack, and show him that the Sandslash intend to stay, he'll back off and leave them alone; after all, he doesn't even care about the canyon anymore. And believe me, to say that we've put a lot of thought and planning into this effort would be the understatement of the decade. Our master plan is flawless. We will win. Not even Adiel will stand in our way."

"So, seeing those soldiers today threw another whole kink into things, didn't it?" Char asked. "Now you have to postpone the settlement."

"Yes," Scythe said. "One of the most important things our plan hinges on is the size of the Master's forces in the surrounding area. This year, it's been at an all-time low, the perfect opportunity to execute our plan. But now… we will have to wait until we know for sure what the Master is doing with these soldiers. But, rain or shine, we're going to get this done."

"Well," Saura said, now with his eyes closed, "if there's one Pokémon in the whole division that can pull this off, it's you."

After that, the team drifted off to sleep to the sound of wild Kricketot and Noctowl from the surface above, and, of course, the ever-present gentle roar of Char's flame…

… … …

In the middle of the night, Char found himself awake.

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, he made the mistake of craning his neck against the dirt wall to take a quick glance at the world above…

…And what he saw horrified him. A cluster of hundreds of dark shadows, like a giant black cloud, floated slowly through the sky.

Watching.

It took him a while before he was able to calm himself enough to return to sleep.

*Chapter 23*: Chapter 21: The Greatest Treasure

Chapter 21

The next morning, Char awoke to the sound of Scythe's call, as usual. This time, he finally felt like his body was getting used to it… until he looked up and saw the sky past the roof of the ditch. It was nearly noon! They'd slept in for a long time!

"Well, I couldn't wake up the kids too early," Scythe said with a smile after Char had mentioned this. "Especially not after yesterday. That would just be irresponsible!"

So, when everyone was wide awake and ready to go, the team headed off on the final leg to Sitrus City. The kids were more eager than ever to see their auntie, and Char and Saura were more eager to know that another successful mission had come and gone.


Sitrus City

"Well, here we are!" Saura exclaimed as they entered the lively Pokémon community. "Sitrus City! What do you think?"

Char didn't really know what to think. For some reason, he'd expected something a lot different; something like a great big cluster of skyscrapers, streets, and vehicles. A human city. This, though, looked more like a giant garden or a city park. There were buildings, but in shapes he never thought were possible, and almost none of them were more than one floor tall. Decorative trees, plants, and flowers lined the sides of the wide, stone-paved pathways.

"It's pretty," Char answered. "Not what I pictured, but it's very pretty."

"It's a nice place to live," Saura said. "A lot of my brothers lived here at some point in time, and I stayed here a lot, too. It's so relaxing…"

As they walked through the town, they passed many Pokémon. A Ponyta tugged a cart full of stones somewhere. A Delcatty and two Skitty lapped water from a pond. A Pelipper flew down the street, stopping at mailboxes to deliver mail.

"It's almost like the Division," Char noticed.

"It is," Scythe said. "Pokémon who live in cities help one another out, just like the division. For most of us, it's vital to our survival to live in a community."

While Char could certainly appreciate the colorful and inviting sight of the city, he couldn't imagine living there. He knew he much rather preferred to be back in the Division base, surrounded by rocks and fire rather than plants…

They didn't stop to enjoy the scenery, although Char did his best to take in the strange and interesting sights. A lot of the houses were things like tents and teepees, but there were also a number of structures made of brick, stone, or metal. The architecture of some of these buildings was so odd, Char really had to wonder about the different Pokémon that lived in them and what kind of reasons they would have for, say, a house shaped like the head of a Totodile, or a house which stood upon two pillars with the entrance several feet up in the air, or a house shaped like a giant pyramid with slits down the sides, or one that resembled a giant, vertical arch with one window.

I know that Pokémon got the idea of building houses from humans, Char laughed to himself, but maybe something got lost in translation! This place is ridiculous! Or… maybe it's just… I don't know… fun.

Saura led the team quickly through the city he knew well and to the place known as the Pearl Dome. At first, it appeared to Char like a big, pink igloo made of polished rock. As he saw more of it, he noticed that it had several entrances around the circumference, which probably housed different Pokémon.

"That one!" Meary shouted, pointing at one of the dome's doors. "That's where Auntie lives!"

As soon as Teary rapped on the door, the Nidoqueen burst out. With a cry of joy, she gathered all the bunnies up in one big armful and gave them a big hug. Most of the children didn't look too thrilled.

"Ohh…. Children!" she gasped. "You all had me so worried! Your momma sent me a message that you were supposed to be here yesterday! I stayed up all night… oh… I'm so glad to see you're all safe! Oh, you're all so filthy! We'll have to get you cleaned up! Oh, Beary! You went and hurt yourself again, didn't you? We'll have to get you a good slice of Pecha fruit right away!"

When the eager Nidoqueen was done squeezing the living daylights out of the kids, she turned to their traveling companions.

"Sirs, I must thank you for all your trouble," she said amiably. "We can't tell you how much this means to us!"

"It was our pleasure," Saura said proudly.

"Well, well, I suppose I owe you something for your babysitting," she rambled, disappearing back into her house for a moment. "Here, wait just a moment…"

This is it, Char realized. The reward! I wonder what it will be?

Char and Saura were all smiles as the old Nidoqueen returned, holding something in her claw. Char preemptively stretched out his own claws to accept the gift…

"Here you go," she said kindly. "It's not much, but consider it our way of saying thanks."

Two little round coins, amounting to twenty Poké, fell into Char's grasp.

Words could not express the disbelief on Saura's face. Scythe even looked a little bit surprised.

"Hey, if you want, you can stick around for a while," the Nidoqueen said invitingly. "I'm sure the kids would be happy to have you around! I even made some poffins for them. You're welcome to share!"

"Uh… no thanks," Char said, clenching his claw around the money. "We've… got to get going. We've… got more work to do."

"Oh, too bad," the Nidoqueen said. "Well, thanks again for everything! Kids, why not say goodbye to your kind guides?"

After a barrage of adoring goodbyes from the five little kids, the adventurers turned and left. Their mission was finally complete… but it all felt somehow unsatisfying.

"Say, you two," Scythe inquired to the still-speechless Team Ember, "you didn't by chance take a mission with an unmarked reward… did you?"

"We did," Saura admitted. "Is that why…?"

"Well, when you see one of those, it means that the Division won't reimburse you for the mission, so the only reward you're going to get is whatever the client decides to give you."

"…Oh," Saura grumbled. "I wish I would have known that before. Oh, well, I guess the greatest reward was knowing the kids are safe and sound, right?"

Char opened his claw and stared at the two tarnished coins in his palm. Yeah, Char determined. That must be it.


Division Base

"Thirteen Sitrus berries?" Kecleon cried, examining the contents of Char's bag. "THIRTEEN whole Sitrus berries? Wow! Where on earth did you find these?"

"Uh… the Sitrus Orchard?" Char said awkwardly.

"Well, my young friends, you've certainly hit the jackpot!" he shouted, patting Char on the back. "These things are so rare, and even when Pokémon around here do get their hands on them, they're never willing to let me have them!"

Remembering Shander's advice, Char decided to try to sell his spoils to Kecleon to see if he could produce just a little bit more profit from the trip than he'd received from the Nidoqueen. To his surprise, Kecleon went completely mad at the sight of a couple pieces of fruit.

"I'll take them!" Kecleon proclaimed. "Seventy thousand for the whole bag."

"Wow, really?" Saura cried. "They're that valuable? That's amazing! I guess this was a profitable trip after all!"

Char smirked. "Seventy thousand for the whole bag, except one," he said. "We want to keep one. And that's our final offer."

"Well, you, my good sirs, have got yourselves a deal!" Kecleon exclaimed, bowing his head to Char and eagerly snatching the bag away. "Absolutely fantastic! Just wait until my brother hears about this! You two, my good sirs, may you have the best day in the history of Poké-kind. Incredible! Sitrus berries! Incredible!"

And so, Team Ember's perfect record continued with their third successful mission. It was the hardest one yet, but they persevered, defied the odds, and came through! As they did so, Char and Saura learned more about their world, the mysterious dungeons, and their lives as a resistance team.

After the victory had been reported to the registry, Team Ember happily stocked up on supplies. After all, they would just be getting up tomorrow and doing it all over again; a resistance team needs to serve the division each and every day. Making sure to steer clear of the unmarked bounties, they decided on their next day's endeavor and were all prepared before the torches even turned red.

Scythe was given a good talking to by Daemon for staying out longer than planned as well as dropping Team Absolution in his lap without coming back to give them the promised explanation. Then, at the evening's meeting, he described all the latest developments and broke the bad news that the Basin Canyon campaign would have to continue a lot longer than previously planned. Surprisingly, the team took it very well; they all seemed full of morale and ready to give their all, even though it would probably turn out to be their most difficult endeavor yet.

After a satisfying dinner and a glance at the evening news report, the torches changed colors and Team Ember retired to Scythe's room for the night.

… … …

"Hey! Wake up!"

Char stirred at the sound of Scythe's voice. He felt horrible. How early was he getting up this time? Was it because he slept in so long the night before?

That's when he glanced back at his tail flame—it was red. Red, as in, it was still late in the evening.

"What do you want, Scythe?" Char asked.

"Get Saura up," Scythe hissed. "You've been summoned."

"Summoned by who?" Char wondered. "High Intelligence?'

"No, Team Stripes!"

"What!?"

"Team Stripes has requested your presence down in their quarters," Scythe said. "Now, come on, we don't want to keep them waiting!"

So, Char woke up a very annoyed and grumpy Saura, and Scythe dragged them both down more stairs than they cared to count. Char could only wonder what in the world Team Stripes wanted with them…

Down they went, all the way down to the eighteenth floor of the base…

Through the dull, dimly-lit hallways of the training teams…

All the way to Team Stripes' headquarters…

And when they got there, they were in for quite a surprise.

… … …

"THREE…!"

Team Stripes had welcomed them at the door, then hurriedly ushered them inside…

"TWO…!"

Inside, they found the last thing they'd ever expect to see—a party.

"ONE…!"

The room was filled with Pokémon. All twenty-seven members of Team Stripes were there, cheering for Saura. There was even a huge cake, prepared by the kitchen masters for this very occasion…

And at the very moment the torches turned blue, the room erupted in one great cheer…

"HAPPY FREEDOM, SAURA!"

The last day before Saura was to be captured by the Master's forces and forced into servitude had just finished passing by. By the Scizor's promise, tonight was the night Saura was supposed to be lead away in captivity… but instead, he was at the very, very bottom of an underground cave, surrounded by friends, and with no intention of ever giving into the Master's demands. It was official: he'd escaped. He was free.

Saura cried tears of joy, thanking everyone for the wonderful surprise and friendship, as the whole of Team Stripes tackled him and gave him a big hug.

Scythe admitted that he'd planned the whole event ever since he learned when Saura was scheduled to be taken. Having served many terms in the Master's army himself, Scythe knew how precious freedom was, and felt it needed to be celebrated.

They spent hours into the night stuffing themselves with cake, telling stories, and conversing about all of their endeavors with the division. Nobody cared that they'd be dead tired the next morning, as the training teams were still restricted.

At one point, a Weavile came down and visited the party, requesting to see Saura.

"I'm Vazidor, of Team Dread," the Weavile said to him. "I heard a rumor that you were in the market for one of these."

He grinned, presenting Saura with nothing other than a mobile scarf. Already drained of all the tears he had, Saura managed to weakly choke out a "thank you" as he speechlessly accepted the gift.

"Happy freedom," the Weavile said just before leaving. "It's the greatest treasure you will ever have. Never let anyone take it away."

At last, the party ended, and it was time for everyone to sleep. Saura's head reeled from everything, and Char couldn't help but be happy for him.

As they gathered themselves and prepared to leave, one of the members of Team Stripes came to them. It was Ray.

"So, did you like it?" Ray asked. "We worked really hard on this! How was the cake?"

"It was all amazing," Saura said, his bright smile never leaving his face. "Thank you so much for everything. I can't tell you what this means to me."

"We knew it all had to be perfect," Ray said. "I'm really glad you liked it."

… … …

After they said their goodnights, Char and Saura headed for the door, but Ray stopped them again.

"Uh… listen, you guys," he said, a little bit nervously. "Since you're here… do you think… we could talk? There's something I've been meaning to say… and I thought now would be a good time for it…"

"Eh, why not?" Char shrugged. "What's the matter, Ray?"

As the rest of the team scrambled and clamored, cleaning up their room in the wake of the celebration, Char and Saura stepped out into the quiet hallway with Ray.

"I've been trying to work up the courage to ask you this," Ray said, fretting with his tail. "Could you… I mean, could I… Would it be okay if… you let me… … … join Team Ember?"

Char blinked. The question really took him by surprise.

"Y-you don't have to answer right away!" Ray said quickly. "If you… if you want to think about it for a while, that's fine!"

"Really?" Saura said in surprise. "You want to join our team? Are we… even allowed to do that?"

"Well, usually, the new recruits like me stay on the training teams until they either form their own team, which they almost never let you do… or until one of the other teams lets you join. And I was wondering… if you'd let me join. It's… up to you, really."

Char and Saura looked at one another, unsure of what to say.

"Listen," Ray said. "It's just that… Ever since I started working here, I've only had one dream: I wanted more than anything to be on Scythe's team. The heroic exploits of Team Remorse have always been an inspiration to me, and I've just… always wanted to be a part of it. I give my all every day, hoping that someday, somehow, they'd accept me. I even evolved as fast as I could so I could get stronger. I know that day is still a long way off, but… now you're here, and you're a team of your own, and it's… really a dream come true for me if I could be on your team! The thought of personally training with Scythe every day… just like you two do… it would make me really happy."

When Char saw the eagerness and hope in the Raichu's eyes as he awaited an answer, he knew he couldn't let his dreams down.

"We'll have to see if Scythe approves of it," Saura said. "But… we'd love to have an extra hand! What do you think, Char? You're the leader, the decision is up to you."

Char didn't wait a single moment to answer.

"Ray, we'd be honored to have you on our team," Char said gleefully, holding out his claw for a handshake.

Once again, no handshake was returned. Instead, the Raichu leapt joyfully into the air, sparks of static electricity buzzing across his fur.

"Sweet!" he cried. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won't regret it! I'll never slack off, and I'll give ten hundred percent effort to your team! Thank you! I can't wait! Yes! I'm on Team Ember!"

It was really, really late as Char and Saura finally got around to sleeping that night. After talking to Scythe about letting in a new member—which he had no problem with, especially after he heard who the candidate was—they spent another hour wide awake, just talking about all the crazy events of the day.

"You know, we made a lot of Pokémon very happy today," Saura said. "The Buneary, and their mom and dad, and that Nidoqueen, and Ray, and even Kecleon!"

"Yeah, and you, too!" Char added. "Who would have guess they'd throw a party for us? I couldn't believe my eyes! I thought those kinds of parties were only a human thing!"

"Oh, Char, I can't tell you how much that meant to me," Saura said happily. "Last week, when I ran away from home, I was on the verge of despair. I thought it was all over. And now, look at me. I found you, and we found this place, and everything's… okay."

Maybe that's the real reason we fight the Master, Char thought. We spread happiness while the Master wants to take it away.

After everything was said and done, Char finally settled down and closed his eyes…

… … …

It's… it's happening again!

Char felt himself in the midst of another vivid memory. He floated in a realm of blinding whiteness…

It… feels so real!

The great blue dragon, Dialga, stood before him, its eternal eyes glowing brightly with power. Radiant beams of light reflected from its scales and blades…

This… is the clearest memory I've ever had!

Char tried to move, to turn his head, to cry out with his voice, but it was all futile. It was only a memory recorded in the recesses of his mind, unable to be changed…

The great Dialga began to speak. This time, Char heard its voice… although he could not understand it. It was too quiet, too distorted… or perhaps it was in a different language…

No! Dialga, what are you saying to me? I… can't understand!

But he saw the Dragon's face much more clearly than before. He saw how the great lord of time stared down at him, its eyes full of sadness, but at the same time, full of pride. It spoke as if it were about to do something reluctantly, yet reverently…

Suddenly, Char felt his vision change. Something else entered his line of sight. It was…

A bipedal dragon, equally as mighty as the first, lined with dark red stripes and adorned with great wings and pearls…

P-Palkia! Char realized, his heart erupting uncontrollably. Palkia is here, too! What… what does this mean? What's happening?

The great master of space bowed its head as well, its many jewels shining like stars…

And, holding out its hands, it presented Char with an object.

The little round floated before Char, shining brightly with the same supernatural light. It was the object of grave importance.

Except, this time, Char could see it so much clearer than last time…

It was such a strange little thing… so small, yet so powerful… so simple, yet so dangerous… it was something… something that shouldn't have even existed in this world…

And then he recognized it. He knew exactly what it was.

The realization made him jump awake. He gave a loud gasp for air as he sprung to his senses in the middle of Scythe's chamber.

"Char, are you okay?" Saura asked weakly, stirring from his sleep. "Nightmare?"

"Saura!" Char gasped, still in disbelief. "I saw it! I saw the thing in my vision!"

"What? What is it?" Saura asked, now wide awake.

"It was… a Pokéball!"


Elsewhere...

"Faster! Faster!" Dusknoir shouted to his servants as they wearily pushed themselves across the land, under the shadow of the Watchers.

"Erk… can't we just take a rest?" Croagunk pleaded, dragging the heavy bag full of salvaged valuables with them. "I think we've gone far enough for one night…"

"We're not safe until we reach the fortress," Dusknoir said softly. "Until then, danger could come out of any—"

"You're awfully late."

Dusknoir froze at the sound of the voice. A Scizor stood before him, watching the travelers from atop a rock.

"Adiel," the Dusknoir addressed reverently in surprise. "I swear, we were going as fast as—"

"I gave you your orders," Adiel said. "I expected you at the rendezvous point yesterday."

"Yes, I know," the Dusknoir replied confidently. "We are sorry. We will be there by morning!"

"Listen, Dusknoir," the Scizor said, leaping off the rock and approaching the ghost. "I intend, for once, to outwit Scythe. I only have once chance at it. I need your assistance to do it. You are not going to blow my one and only plan apart because you're too lazy to keep your servants under control. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," the Dusknoir said. "You know I wouldn't miss the opportunity to help with his undoing."

Satisfied, the Scizor nodded at his answer. He was about to give his final comments and leave, but suddenly noticed what the Dusknoir held in its hands…

It was a small, round object the color of violet. The ghost had been fiddling obsessively with it ever since they left the cave.

A Master Ball.

"You know, we could just end the Scyther's efforts once and for all most easily with this," he said. "I would be more than happy to perform the deed for you, Adiel…"

"Dusknoir," the Scizor said, a dark anger seething behind his voice. "You know very well that ball was meant for one Pokémon, and one Pokémon alone. Do not do anything foolish."

The Dusknoir looked disappointedly at the Pokéball.

"Yes, Adiel," he said shamefully. "You are right. I would not want to displease the Master in that way."

"Good," the Scizor said simply. "Now, move yourselves faster. I expect to see you there by morning. Right now, I'm off on a little mission of my own. Unless I'm mistaken, there's a little Bulbasaur whose time is up…"

The Scizor dashed away into the darkness.

End of Season I

*Chapter 24*: Special Episode: Betrayal

Special thanks to EkaSwede and nightdragon0, whose comments led to the inspiration for this chapter.


Betrayal

When the young Scyther set out that night, he knew he was about to attempt the riskiest, most insane mission of his life. But he knew what had to be done, and there wasn't the slightest doubt in his mind that he would pull it off; after all, he was used to attempting the impossible. It was what he was trained for. It was what he was known for.

In perfect silence, he perched in the branch of a tree, hiding in its shadows. Watching the ground below. Waiting for the perfect opportunity.

Since the day of his hatching, he'd endured the harshest of training by his clan, and in time, the elite ways of the warrior had become second nature to him. He learned that it wasn't enough to see, hear, and sense, but also to understand and to predict. He learned that everything, everything, meant something—the rustle of the leaves in the wind, the scent of the air, the angle of the moonlight as it filtered through the branches—and he learned to interpret and understand the meaning of every slightest signal received by his senses.

The rustle of the leaves, and the pattern in which they stirred, told him that he was safely downwind from his unsuspecting predators. The scent of the air told him that the night-guards were nearby, and would soon be returning on their patrol. The angle of the moonlight as it hit the forest floor below told him that he would have the first chance to see his opponents before he would be spotted himself. He knew that understanding one's own limits and perceptions was not nearly enough; the truly skilled must also understand the limits and perceptions of the enemy. That was the true secret to formulating superior strategy.

Of course, there was a time when the Scyther could recite word-for-word the eighteen rules of duel tactics, the four greatest mistakes when deceiving the enemy, and the most efficient ways to disable an opponent without killing them, just the way his sensei had taught. But theory was entirely lost to him now; all those words had simply melted away into a sort of all-encompassing instinct that dictated his every move in any given situation.

In fact, he was constantly surprised at the omniscience of the instinct which lived in him, hidden beneath the surface of his consciousness. He couldn't even begin to understand how it worked or how it had developed to such a high level, all he knew is that he could command his body to take action, and it would simply comply with such impressive responsiveness and precision that he wondered if a foreign spirit were actually taking over his body and making his moves and decisions for him.

At first, the Scyther considered this instinct as a foreign beast; an alien. But it grew to be his best friend, a friend who never let him down in any situation, a friend he could always trust. As he grew, the instinct enveloped his entire being. It became him. It defined him.

Down below, two Mightyena came into view. He knew the window of opportunity was upon him.

With the agility of a Grovyle, the Scyther nimbly leaped forward through the trees, leaving behind a sound no greater than that of the wind.

Although the natural gifts of speed and cunning were always intrinsic to the Scyther's race, his had somehow developed to a level far above and beyond all his brethren. His skills among his clan were unmatched, and he proved them time and time again in battle against his enemies. He had garnered a powerful respect even from the oldest and wisest of his elders. When the clan leader had chosen him as a successor, it was no surprise to anyone.

But it was never meant to be. Fate, it seemed, other plans for him. He was indeed bound to a destiny as great leader, but not nearly the kind of leader he or his brothers had expected…

The Scyther leaped and flew from tree to tree, careful not to emerge above the treetops lest the night-watchers of the sky catch sight of him. As the end of the forest drew closer, the Scyther found it harder to jump as the trees grew farther apart. He stopped once again to catch his breath and to wait for his chance to evade the next round of guards.

As he glared forward, letting his subconscious churn the information and determine the best route to continue, his consciousness had to ward off a few stinging thoughts.

I can't believe I'm doing this. After the years I spent escaping this place, I turn around and return in a week? Am I mad?

No, his instinct told him. This was not madness. He was doing the right thing, and he was the only Scyther among his clan who would even have a chance. He knew these grounds. He knew every tree and rock in this forest. He knew every stone in the castle's wall. He knew every hallway, path, and secret chamber in the castle. After all, he'd lived there for fourteen whole years under the service of the Master. During those years, he'd gained an intimidate knowledge of the stronghold's layout, and for only one purpose: so that one day, he'd be able to lay it all on the line and execute his masterfully-crafted escape plan.

And it worked. After three long, patient years of manipulating his surroundings into a window of opportunity, he fled the master. His escape was clean and flawless, just as he had planned, and he soon found himself miles away from the horrible place which had held him captive.

But when he escaped, he became faced with this difficult mission. He knew how the Master's forces worked, what halls they walked and what patterns they patrolled. He knew what kinds of Pokémon were stationed there, and how powerful they were. Only he had the skill and the knowledge of the Master's forces, and he had to do it alone.

When the Master's dark castle came into sight, the Scyther's mind was filled with awful memories of the things that he'd done while in the Master's command. He forced them back, trying to assure that his instincts had enough room to do their work, but they burned like torn scabs…

He remembered his youth. His foolish, ignorant youth, when he didn't understand who the Master was and what he stood for.

With his talents, the Scyther was a prime pick for the Master's servants. When he was chosen out of all his brothers to be one of the Master's high leaders, to be the commander of his troops, he considered it an honor and eagerly accepted. He was taken to the Master's castle, where he was presented to the generals and branded as one of the Master's own. From that point forth, he lead legions of Pokémon under the Master's orders with the same cunning precision and efficiency that had his clan had known him for. He was, indeed, one of the greatest of the leaders the Ambera region had ever known. His name became known to all; enemies would shudder and allies would bow down at its sound.

The Scyther was very proud of his work. He ruled over entire portions of Ambera, staving off anarchy and enforcing the Master's law. Day by day, he became more satisfied with the respect he received from his fellow commanders. As he gained more of the Master's trust, he felt his life gaining fulfillment. He was happy.

But then…

The Scyther gritted his teeth, feeling the most painful of memories ready to rush in and pounce from the shadows. He tried to focus all his concentration onto the task at hand, but the memories could not be held back. Like his powerful instincts, they, too, had become part of who he was. They, too, defined him.

As the Scyther grew older and more mature, he started to see the world with a new perspective. He began to open his eyes, recovering from the rush of power that had brainwashed him. He realized that some of the commands bestowed upon him by the Master didn't seem… right, somehow. The cities of Ambera were not being treated with respect. The thought occurred to him that the way the Master ruled over Ambera was not that of a wise, compassionate leader, but a sadistic, apathetic child. The Master appeared to bark out orders, not because he had a grand purpose behind them, but just because he could. It was not unlike how the Scyther reveled in his own command over the Master's army, gleefully ordering them around. He started to suspect the Master's true motives; maybe he was, at the very core, drunken by his own power…

So, the Scyther, even in his seat of authority, began to grow suspicious of his Master. Utilizing his powers of intuition and his manipulative nature, he determined that he would somehow, some way, learn the Master's motives for himself.

But he did not have to wait for long before the truth was revealed to him. Once again, he found that his instincts had been doing all the work for him all along, and he only had to wait and reap the rewards; for not long after the Scyther started his campaign to unravel the Master, his superiors approached him. They told him how the Master was very, very pleased with his work, and the Master had chosen him to become one of his closest, most-trusted Pokémon. They tempted him, telling him that he would share all of the Master's deepest secrets, that he would be counted as among the most elite and powerful Pokémon in the country. That he would rule from the Master's side as one of his second-in-command, as a privileged member of his council.

Naturally, he accepted…

And that's when he began to learn the horrifying truth.

The Scyther had traveled a long way in such a short amount of time. It was the only way to infiltrate the castle without being seen. Soon, he found himself standing before the great black brick wall that formed the circumference around the fortress. It was nearly twenty feet high, ensuring that no pesky ground-dwelling Pokémon would be able to get in. But with the power of flight, and the knowledge of which areas of the wall were watched more closely than others, it was barely an obstacle to him. He crept along the wall, hiding deep in the shadow cast by the moon, and found his entry point…

His sharpened instincts rendering him immune to fear and nervousness, he took a deep breath, opened his wings, and leapt up and over the wall in the blink of an eye as a cloud floated across the moon.

…And once again, he found himself in the place he knew so well, yet the last place on the face of the earth he ever wanted to be.

His entry had gone off without a hitch. He had not been spotted, and he had not triggered any of the traps. However, it was only the first of the challenges. He knew he was likely to meet some resistance along the way. Wasting no time on bitter memories, he dashed forward to the Master's castle.

As promised, all the Master's greatest secrets had been entrusted to him that day. Even the Master's nature and true identity, something that remained unknown to everyone but the closest of his followers, was revealed to him. It was something that not even his instincts had been able to predict…

And then he realized… not once had the Master made a move to help the people of Ambera.

Beneath it all, the Master was leaving Ambera to wither. To die.

All along, the Scyther hadn't been helping to rebuild Ambera. He'd been helping to destroy it.

"Anyone who opposes the Master or his great plan… will perish."

The words echoed through his mind as he crept through the castle's corridors.

"Anyone who questions the Master… will be slain."

The words… even his instincts, which always kept his mind at the peak of alertness and sanity, abhorred them…

"This… is your duty."

That was when the Scyther realized it. He was not hired as a servant. He was a slave. All of Ambera… were slaves.

"Every morning, you will get up…"

The Master saw his mind. His inexplicably brilliant mind, the mind that could analyze and understand and accomplish the impossible. The Master needed that mind to further his ends. It was the only way for him to be unstoppable.

"And you will watch over the country with your unblinking gaze…"

The Master, all along, was using him for his talent. He was not even a slave, but a tool. A mere tool.

"And you will find those who seek to defy the master…"

The Scyther grunted, trying desperately to cut off the awful memory…

"And eliminate them."

At that moment he heard those words, he knew it in his heart: he would escape the Master.

But he knew, deep within the bowls of the Master's ranks, it would be near impossible to escape him. He could not simply run. He would have to cover his tracks. He would have to evade and confuse those who would follow him. He needed to leave without betraying himself, without leaving the slightest hint of a trail or any other clues that could betray his plan.

It was a long three years, but his brilliant mind did not once let him down. One by one, every piece of his plan fell into place. Every deception was planted flawlessly into his surroundings…

But, for every inch closer he came to freedom, he had to carry out another one of the Master's horrible orders… under penalty of death. After all, failing to obey the Master meant that he was only becoming one of the very Pokémon he had been ordered to eliminate.

A rebel.

The Scyther's silence threatened to fail him as he crept through the dark halls of the castle. The memories were overpowering… And the remorse… It was stronger than he'd ever felt it before. He'd already spent many days beneath the sun, shedding all his tears for what he'd done, learning to harden himself to his past… But it all seemed null and void as he once again traversed through the Master's fortress.

He caused so much death…

So much blood had stained his silver blades…

So many innocent lives had been destroyed at his command…

And every night, he had to make the same decision.

Either he could defy the Master and die, never to take another innocent life…

…or he could keep going, in hopes that one day he could escape from the Master's grasp and cause more good than he had caused evil. To perhaps even bring the Master down by his own blades.

He knew he was probably making the wrong choice. He knew that the remorse might overpower him. But, every day, he made the same decision: he chose life. It was what his instincts told him to do.

And the day finally came when he escaped. On that day, as he fled, he no longer felt satisfied with himself. He did not cry out in joy. Instead, his flight was silent, solemn…

The Scyther who had been inducted into the Master's service so many years ago was different. Changed. Changed by violence, by oppression, by death…

When he returned to his clan, he was met with another horrifying discovery: upon noticing his absence, the Master's forces had come for a replacement. A fellow Scyther, the one who would have been the heir to the clan's head in his absence, had been kidnapped against his will and taken to serve the Master.

So, he told the clan to disperse, to flee from Ambera. It was the only way they for them be safe. Meanwhile, he knew it was time to start undoing all the evil he had caused. He knew what he had to do as his first mission.

"By Arceus, it's him!" a voice gasped.

The Scyther froze, noticing a Houndour who had been traversing the same hallway and snuck up on him from the shadows. It was frozen in shock.

"Mawile!" it cried. "Mawile! Send for he—"

-Slash!-

Without a second thought, the Scyther attacked, and the Houndour fell with a pained squeal. Behind him was the Mawile, already running away, its huge jaw-like protrusion gnashing at him.

-Slash!-

And the Mawile's body fell as well, its huge jaws hitting the floor a couple feet away. It writhed on the floor in agony, clutching at the stump atop its head.

The Scyther knew that the attack had not been a silent one, and could already hear several crying voices down the hall and the sound of footsteps scuffling in indistinguishable directions. It would not be long before his presence was made known to the entire fortress. He knew that it was impossible to remain hidden the entire way, but now, he had to hurry to put his plan into motion.

He dashed forward as fast as his legs could carry him, opening his wings to propel at an even greater speed. Fast as he was, though, he could not outrun some of the Pokémon that attacked. A Kadabra, hearing the cries, attempted to block the hallway. The Scyther tackled it, slashing against its psychic barriers until they were pierced and he could knock it away. A Quilava latched onto the Scyther's shoulder, and he spun to throw it off moments before it could singe his head with a burst of fire. A Cubone swung its weapon and hit him squarely in the forehead, but he slashed back, unfazed, and put a bloody gash across its chest.

Once past the group of Pokémon in his way, the Scyther fled on down the hall. He could hear them screaming curses to the legendary dragons about his re-appearance as they hurried after him and barked orders to put the fortress on high alert.

All according to plan so far…

With the Pokémon hot on his tail, especially the quadrupedal creatures, he ducked around a corner, down a flight of stairs, through a doorway. Slamming the wooden door behind him and nudging the lock into place, he took a moment to catch his breath.

The room was a small, cramped one, like an empty closet…

-Boom-

The Pokémon pounded at the door.

"He's in here!"

"PUSH!"

"We've got him!"

"Nobody will believe this!"

"HARDER!"

-BOOM-

The door's hinges creaked. It wobbled weakly on its lock..

"EVERYONE AT ONCE! THREE! TWO! ONE!"

-SLAM!-

The door fell down, and several Pokémon poured into the room, all on guard to take down the famed hero-turned-fugitive that had inexplicably returned.

But the Scyther was no longer in the room.

"Of COURSE!" the Kadabra said. "Look! The hole in the ceiling! He took the secret passage. Quickly! Cut him off on the other side!"

So far, so good, the Scyther told himself as he dropped into a completely deserted room.

Indeed, his grand entrance had gone just as could be expected. Everyone and their brothers knew about the secret passage in the old water closet, but nobody seemed to know about the secret passage within the secret passage that lead all the way to the training room on the opposite side of the complex. So, while the entire base went on high alert and legions upon legions of Pokémon were most likely crowding around in the armory waiting for him to emerge, he found himself completely alone. It was a perfect distraction.

With just enough luck, it would give him all the time he needed to get down to the holding cells…

Almost there, he told himself, looking back up at the trapdoor in the ceiling to see if he could hear if anyone had followed him. Just… a little further, and this madness… will be over…

Mustering his energy one more time, the Scyther prepared to leave the room…

… but there, standing at the door of the room, was the silhouette of a creature he didn't expect to see.

"Adron…?"

The Scyther winced at the sound of his name. Worry mounted in his heart as the creature took a few steps forward, revealing itself in the torchlight of the training chamber. Its body was about the same size as his, but covered in a shining, red carapace…

It was a Scizor.

"Adiel?" gasped Adron, trying to calm his surprised heart. "Is that… you?"

The Scizor calmly took a few steps forward, squinting in the poor light of the room.

"Adiel… You… sacrificed your blades!" Adron growled in disappointment. "You have forsaken the code of the Adrellos… is this what it has come to?"

"I have become stronger," Adiel said simply. "I've always wondered what it would be like to be as strong as you. Now, I finally know. But… I… I cannot bring myself to believe that you're here. Why are you here? After such a spectacular vanishing act, you've returned?"

"Adiel," the Scyther said, shaking its head to orient itself. "I expected you to be in the holding cells. I don't know what you're doing here, but… If I am to rescue you, we've got to act quickly and flawlessly. There cannot afford to be a single mistake. I have it all planned-"

The Scyther found himself interrupted by the sound of an amused laugh. The Scizor stepped closer to him, their gazes burning into one another.

"Is this why you came back?" Adiel chuckled. "To 'rescue' me? Why do you think I need rescuing?"

"Adiel, you don't understand," Adron growled, growing uncomfortable. "The Master… he's… a monster. To serve him is the greatest curse in all the world… I do not want to doom a clanmate to that fate, no matter how dangerous it may be."

Looking oddly at the Scyther, Adiel stepped to his side, inspecting him from a different angle. The Scyther kept his gaze locked the Scizor's.

"Listen, we've got to get out of here," Adron said again. "My diversion won't last long enough for chatter. We can talk later."

"It looks to me like you're the one who needs to get out of here," Adiel said oddly. "I'm a servant of the Master now. I have accepted my fate. I don't intend to leave. And besides, that wasn't a very good diversion. They told me you were climbing through the secret passage. By secret, I assumed they meant the one that wasn't known to everybody and their brother."

Adron's heart beat a lot faster now. He felt his fight-or-flight instincts rousing within him, but he wasn't done yet.

"Honestly, I don't understand why you gave up when you did," Adiel said. "This is a glorious position of power. I spent my entire childhood thinking that my training would never amount to anything useful. I thought that my future was to command the clan… but now, here, I have an entire army to command… Just like you…"

"They… replaced me… with you?" Adron asked, surprised.

"They knew how powerful you were," Adiel said. "You left a pretty gaping job opening when you left, you know that? They needed someone of equal skill to fill the void. Of equal upbringing and credentials. Yes, they took me against my will, they held me down when I struggled, but then… they imbued me with this power… they made me a Scizor…"

The Scyther seethed. He couldn't believe it. His own clanmate was following the very same path he had. He was becoming drunk with power.

"Adron…" the Scizor said, "I renounce my status among the Adrellos. I'm happy where I stand. This is my true purpose in life. If you want to live, you should leave."

"No!" Adron screeched at the top of his lungs and whirled around, causing the Scizor to jump back. "I am not leaving you here to suffer! You do not understand, Adiel! The Master isn't… he isn't… what he seems! He's… a devil! A monster! Nothing matters to him. He will just use you for his own… amusement. He only wants to use you like a tool! Like a… scythe to cut down his grass. Is that the life you want, Adiel?"

"I still don't understand. Why should the scythe be unhappy that it is fulfilling its one true purpose?"

Adron pounced at the Scizor with blinding speed, slamming him against the nearest wall and looking straight into his eyes. The Scizor's eyes were indifferent. Complacent.

"Adiel, they told me things," the Scyther said with a raspy, desperate voice. "They made me one of their most trusted. They told me things! They told me of the Master's greatest plan... They told me all his secrets… If they tell you, Adiel, they will not set you free. They will bind you! They will bind you to slavery and misery and pain for the rest of your days! The Master… is not what he seems!"

The Scizor forced him off, but he stood still against the wall. Through it all, the Scizor continued to remain calm and collected, much to Adron's dismay.

"I know his secrets," Adiel said. "They already told me."

Adron reeled back, as if hit with a powerful blow to the chest.

"They… already told you."

"Yes," Adiel said. "I became part of the council the day I became a Scizor. I made my vow. They revealed everything to me."

"But… how…" The Scyther gasped. "It took them years to trust me… why you…?"

"The Master was desperate. He needed a replacement for you as fast as possible. I simply gave my word to remain loyal… and I was in."

"So… you… you know?" Adron said, now having to strain the words from his throat.

"I know everything," Adiel said. "And I still don't understand what your whole uproar is about. I'm happy to comply with the Master."

"You are happy with tearing Ambera down by its threads?! You are happy being a weapon of slaughter?!" Adron demanded.

"I am happy building the Master's kingdom," he replied simply. "Those with power are the ones who can choose the fate of the world."

The Scyther still could not believe his ears. His clanmate was truly betraying him. And, it was not by a strong sense of determination that he spoke, but only because he did not know any better. He was like a child. He was like an indoctrinated little child, like a trained little animal, raised by the way of the warrior and taught that power is meant to be used.

There was no changing his mind.

And if he tried further, there was no guarantee he would escape from this castle a second time.

"You want to know why I resisted?" The Scyther growled bitterly. "Because my instincts told me to. They wouldn't let me further my horrible purpose."

"Really? Is that it?" Adiel said. "Knowing you, I was expecting something more… complex. But… are you really so weak-willed, my brother, that you cannot resist the simple cries of your instincts?"

"WHO among us is the weak-willed?!" The Scyther snapped violently. "You are the one who can't resist the weight of your power. I was the one who resisted my fate! I was the one who fought and changed my future. And tonight, I was willing to do the same for you. I didn't want to see you fall prey to the Master's schemes. As a friend, I couldn't bear to let that happen."

"You are making less and less sense every minute," Adiel said. "I am no prey. I am the predator. You are the one who chose to become the prey."

Adron's instincts were unbearable now. Go, they said. Your window is closing! You will be trapped! GO!

The Scyther looked reluctantly at the door, then at the Scizor.

"Besides, you were the one who betrayed the Master," Adiel accused, his calm, gentle voice gradually gaining a sharp edge. "He trusted you with his secrets, and you walked out on him. You now must live with what you have done. How can you tell me that you do not want me to suffer the same fate as you? Are you not here, trying to convince me to betray the Master as well? No, Adron. I will not suffer the same fate as you. I will stay here and serve."

Adron did not reply. His mind was screaming at him so loudly now…

"But now, look at you," Adiel said. "Will you be able to keep the Master's secret within you for the rest of your days? Or will it burn you alive from the inside?"

"I will keep the secret," Adron growled. "I have to. There's no other choice."

"You can say that now, but ten years from now?" Adiel said pointedly. "You, who can hardly fight his own instincts… how can you live with something so powerful tugging at you from the inside? But you understand that if you were to let it out, you, and the rest of Ambera, would perish…"

"Yes," Adron responded quietly. "And so would you."

Adron felt the subtle shake of the ground as forces moved about the base. He took a step towards the door.

"They will order me to slay you," Adiel warned. "You are a traitor. If you value your life, you should leave Ambera. I will stop at nothing to hunt you and cut you down."

"Never," Adron solemnly proclaimed. "Not until I have seen the Master fall from this throne that we have all elevated him onto. I will oppose."

"So be it," Adiel said. "But, you know what this means. The next time we meet… you will be the prey."

"No," Adron said powerfully. "I will be the fellow predator who protects your prey. From now on, Ambera is my garden. I will take it from the Master and sow the seeds of a new age. I will be the one to protect it and watch it grow, untouched by the Master's evil hands."

Adron heard voices now. The guards were coming to inspect this part of the castle. Shamefully, regretfully, angrily, he stepped to the door.

Taking one last glance at his old companion, he uttered his final words…

"And if you try to harm it, I will be the scythe that will cut you down."

In the blink of an eye, the Scyther was gone.

Adiel had been right. The secret had burned. It burned a hole straight through his heart, and it did not stop there. It burned his entire being until it left him numb.

Like the memories, the secret had become an inseparable part of him. It defined him.

So much had changed since then. The Scyther had discovered the great resistance, something that changed him and gave him a brand new beginning. Adron was dead, replaced with a new Scyther that sought only to keep his promises and to undo the horrible deeds that the mighty Adron had once committed. A Scyther that played the role of wise leader to his faithful team of friends. A Scyther that kept no secrets from anyone.

…except for one, a secret he even wished he could keep from himself.

But, as he sat awake in his own personal chamber deep beneath the surface of the earth, hidden away in a place that not even the Master saw…

As he glanced at the Charmander, the Bulbasaur, and now the Raichu that slept peacefully in the far corner…

He knew the time was coming when the great, burning secret might finally be unleashed onto the world.

The Charmander…

…the human…

…had changed everything.

*Chapter 25*: Chapter 22: Storms Brewing

Season II: Emerald


Chapter 22

"Well? Are we ready?"

"I don't think it's possible to be any more ready if we tried. I know, because we did try."

"Are you sure we didn't forget anything?"

"We went through the bag at least four times last night. We're fine!"

"Plenty of food?"

"We got enough food to last us two days."

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be worried… I'm just a bit nervous…"

"I know. I am, too."

Not two minutes after the all-clear had been sounded signaling that the world above was safe to travel, Char, Saura, and Ray stood at the southeastern doorway of the Division base. The hall was dead silent save for only a couple other early-bird teams who insisted on seizing the day the moment it became available. But, unlike Team Rattata or Team Firebolt, who were still blinking the flakes from their eyes and trying to walk straight, Team Ember was as alert and energized as if they'd already been awake for two hours prior. Actually, they had; it was a bit difficult for any of them to get a good night's sleep with nervous anticipation tugging at their minds…

Team Ember was ready to embark on their very first mission… alone.

"C'mon, guys, we'll be fine!" Ray said comfortingly, hefting the bag over his shoulder. "We're experienced enough. Scythe knows we're ready for this! Just think… months from now, after we've done hundreds of missions and become a famous high-ranking team, we'll be standing at this same door, and we'll look back, and think 'Wow, remember how scared we were the first time?'"

"Scared? Hah!" Saura laughed heartily. "I'm not scared! I just want to make sure we're not going to make some stupid mistake, like forgetting to pack our orbs, or... okay, fine. I'm scared. But that doesn't mean I'm not excited!"

"I'm scared just as much as you," Ray admitted. "This'll be the first time ever I've gone into a Mystery Dungeon without a trainer. You two at least have that Sitrus Orchard mission to look back on. Me? Nothing. Team Stripes had always supervised their dungeon explorations. But c'mon, we can't just dwell on everything that could go wrong! This is our day to show everyone how bright we can shine! Just think of how proud Scythe will be of us!"

"Yeah," Char chimed in. "We're a fully capable team, and this mission will be easy! As long as we give it half an effort, it'll be over before we know it." Then, under his breath, he added, "…And if I keep saying that, maybe I'll start actually believing it."

The team took a deep breath, trying to muster up the last bit of courage needed to begin the day's journey…

"Hey, you three," a Rattata yawned from behind. "Gonna move, or what?"

"Oh, sorry!" Char yelped, stepping aside. "We're just… getting ourselves ready…"

"Scythe's kids, right?" The Rattata said, eyeing them oddly as he and his team walked by. "First day on your own? Bah, you guys probably got nothin' to worry about. Just get it over with."

"He's right," Saura said with a surge of confidence. "Guys… it's time to go. Whatever happens, we can at least say we tried, right?"

With gritted teeth and heads held high, the team headed out.

It had been five whole weeks since the addition of Ray to Team Ember.

The day following Saura's freedom party, Scythe helped to complete the paperwork that would officially make Ray a member of the team. Scythe seemed very thrilled with the idea; he'd long since known about Ray's desire to eventually join Team Remorse, and agreed that letting him join Team Ember would be the perfect opportunity to bring him closer to his dream. Saura admitted he was a bit surprised at how willing Scythe was to allow the new addition to his group of personal apprentices, but Scythe shrugged and said that it was part of the learning experience.

"You are a full-fledged team, after all," he'd said, "so why shouldn't you be able to recruit new members from the training teams, just like all the rest? Deciding on new members is one of the most important decisions a team needs to make. A new member requires a heavy investment in companionship, understanding, and trust, not to mention resources. If you've chosen a poor teammate, you'll find that life can become very difficult, very fast. But, frankly, I don't think I could have picked a better choice myself for your new teammate. I think we'll all get along very well."

And he was right. Char and Saura soon found that it was very hard not to get along with Ray. The Raichu was constantly beaming with energy, and never once made even a tiny effort to contain his happiness. As he joined the team on their missions, he eagerly soaked in every lesson and piece of advice Scythe would give, and proved to be quite a formidable opponent against the wild Pokémon with his powerful electric attacks. Sometimes, it even seemed that Ray was giving more effort than Char and Saura put together, and the two were constantly surprised at how he never seemed to tire out, even after the longest and hardest of missions. In fact, Char was secretly beginning to think that Ray would make a better team leader than he ever could. But Ray never once complained about the team's leadership; he always had the highest level of respect for his teammates and especially his mentor, and it seemed that he wanted nothing more than just to wake up another day and face the world alongside his friends.

It wasn't long before Char and Saura started to experience the repercussions of having a new teammate. Even though Ray obviously never wanted to be unfriendly or bothersome, his overeager nature made him intrusive at times. Seeing that it was something that simply could not be changed, Char and Saura knew that they'd just have to get used to it. Ray had a very unique personality and always saw things in ways that Char and Saura could not, and his input on potential missions and strategies could be quite unexpected. His preferences for missions and even for items to fill the bag with were different than Char had been used to, and it often took a bit of compromising among the three to arrive at a final decision. The team's nightly planning sessions had never been the same.

But the negative was easily outweighed by the positive. Having an extra set of hands meant that shopping, packing supplies, and running errands were many times easier. Having a larger group meant that bigger and tougher challenges could be taken on, and having an electricity-wielding Pokémon on the team meant that they would be better suited to take a wider variety of tasks. But, most of all, having another close friend made the harsh life of a resistance team seem so much more comfortable and bearable. A feeling of fellowship quickly formed among the three, and it made everything seem worth it.

Even after just four days of having Ray on the team, Char and Saura began to understand what Scythe had meant. Even with just one new member, Team Ember was now a completely different team than it had been before. Char saw that accepting a new member was not a small matter, and one that he knew he couldn't take so lightly again in the future.

For the following five weeks, Team Ember fell into the daily routine of a resistance team. Each day presented a brand new opportunity to score another victory, to build upon the team's reputation (as well as their bank account), and to help make the world a better place beneath the shadowy reign of the mysterious one whom they all opposed.

Despite his overloaded schedule, Scythe somehow found the time to accompany the fledgling team on their missions, taking every opportunity to teach them what he could about all the different types of challenges and environments they met. Under his watchful eye, the team grew in knowledge, experience, and confidence…

…But, in what seemed like no time at all, a certain fateful day fell upon them.

"Listen," Scythe had said to the team as they planned out the next day's events. "I need to accompany my team to Basin Canyon tomorrow. They need me over there, I can't get out of it this time. So… you'll be on your own."

Although Char was able to smile and nod in reply, he felt a surge of panic erupt inside of him when he had heard those words. If there was one thing his adventures had taught him, it was that there was no such thing as a simple or easy mission. Many things could go wrong, and commonly did go wrong, and Scythe had always been there to get them out of their worst binds. Knowing they'd be on their first independent mission suddenly brought back horrible memories of that fateful day in the Sitrus Orchard; he could practically taste that feeling of despair and anguish he'd felt when he'd realized how badly they'd screwed up…

"Let's make this a test," Scythe had said. "If you succeed on the mission without me, I'll let you start taking real missions instead of using the training teams' agendas. And maybe, if I am so inclined, I'll stop taking half your earnings."

"Don't worry about us!" Ray had said. "We'll do it! We'll pass your test!"

Of course, it was always like Ray to be overly optimistic. This time, though, it didn't seem to make Char feel any more confident.

So, after the longest and most intensive preparation session yet, and after a rather restless night's sleep, Team Ember found themselves heading out on their very first unsupervised mission.

It was a rescue mission, much like a couple others the team had done. One of the Division's messengers reported the disappearance of a Pokémon, a Furret, outside of Iron Town. It hadn't come back before dusk, so it was safe to assume it had taken refuge from the Watchers in the caves outside of town and gotten stuck in the Iron Crevice Mystery Dungeon. The dungeon wasn't a difficult one, but being fifteen floors and filled with rock- and steel-type Pokémon, it would not exactly be a walk in the park, either. But with a handful of tactical advantages, a bagful of supplies, and weeks of training from a true master, they knew they were up to the challenge… even though it didn't really feel like it.


Cliffside Academy

The southeastern entry to the Division base was the most interesting of them all. Being the "main" door to the entire base, it needed protection from the most innovative and convoluted security system Metagross could come up with. And that's exactly what it had: the entire entrance was disguised as a business establishment on the outskirts of Iron Town, built into the edge of the great plateau that housed the underground base. It was a training academy, to be exact. The academy—and it actually succeeded in functioning as one, to maintain the most believable guise possible—stood in for the elite and prestigious establishment that once made its home in the very caves of the Division base. So, whenever legends spoke of this academy, Pokémon assumed it referred to Cliffside Academy, having no earthly idea of its true identity, or its fate. It was the perfect cover-up for the underground resistance force in nearly every way, and a very profitable one at that; tuition fees were a close match for the income earned by the Division's everyday efforts like missions, taxes, and piracy from the Master's trade routes.

After ascending a very lengthy staircase, Team Ember met with a Slaking who served as the keeper of the southeastern gate. After bidding them a good day (between heavy yawns, being so early in the morning), they proceeded through a fake dormitory building and out the front door.

Taking a deep breath of the chilly morning air, Char shuddered in anticipation of the day's events. He was thankful that it was Ray's turn to carry the bag, but he knew he'd have to be the navigator in exchange. Unrolling the map and trying awkwardly to hold it in the light of his tail, he struggled to see the path the team had marked in what could practically be the dead middle of the night.

"You know," Char commented, flipping the map around when he realized he was holding it upside-down, "one of these days, maybe we could sleep in and do our missions like everyone else, you know, in the middle of the day."

"We could, but then… well… wouldn't we just be like everyone else?" Ray said with a smirk. "Scythe is trying to train us above the standards of the other teams. I don't think he'd be too thrilled about seeing us break the sleep schedule he's been molding us into for the past weeks."

"Yeah, plus, this is a rescue mission," Saura added. "That Furret spent all night in that dungeon. We have to get him out as fast as possible! But I agree with you, Char. It would be nice to take a break and sleep in once and a while, especially if we're becoming independent from Scythe… but if we do, I think we have to consider how it would affect the missions we plan."

"I don't know about you two, but I wouldn't be able to sleep in if I tried!" Ray exclaimed. "Training is just too exciting. But maybe if we get a fourth team member someday, you two could take the day off from time to time…"

"Ray, that's not what I'm saying at all," Char laughed. "I'm not a wuss! I'm just saying… some sunlight wouldn't hurt for some of our missions."

"Luminous orbs are five hundred Poké a piece at Kecleon's," Ray winked. "Maybe next time, we could pack one."

Char grumbled. He could never win against Ray. With the Raichu around, Char and Saura found it much harder to even ithink/i about being lazy; they quickly learned that they could count on their new companion to push them hard and rebuke even the slightest suggestion of slacking. Beneath it all, though, he and Saura were thankful for every bit of it.


Route 325

"Okay, here we are," Char announced, squinting at the map as they approached the outer boundary of the campus. "We follow the cliff down south. But we should stick to the path if we don't want to wander into the wild Onix and Graveler. Six and a half miles, and there it is: the Iron Crevice."

As always, the crack of dawn always felt like the dead of night, and the homogenous landscape didn't help with the visibility. Devoid of any grass or trees, the badlands south of the academy were comprised of flat, barren stretches of clay-saturated dirt, riddled only with the occasional standing boulder or rock pile. Route 325 was the only true spectacle to be seen amidst the dull scenery: a wide, bright white walkway paved with fine gravel that wound its way down to the south. The small rocks that made up the road seemed to be cemented in place; they never shifted underfoot.

Char glanced at the eastern horizon, but wasn't surprised to see that there was still no sign of the sun. If it had started to peek over the horizon, there were too many distant hills in the way to see it.

"Walking is always so fun," Saura said, rolling his eyes. "It feels… weird, though… Scythe is always here to lecture us while we walk. But now…"

Letting the statement hang, Saura cast the group into the very thing he feared: a nervous, uncomfortable silence…

Ray started whistling a little tune. Char immediately recognized it as a children's nursery rhyme he often heard among the Division. He'd first heard it sung by Leo the Shinx on a long-ago mission, where it had gotten stuck in his head and stayed there permanently, much like the Resistance Creed. He started to sing along. What a great big world, a sight to behold...

It was a children's song, but it did the trick. Char always felt his spirit lift whenever he heard it.

Char had long since started disregarding how weird it felt to have Pokémon instincts and emotions, and even started to completely forget how he would have expected himself, as a human, to feel. It scared him a little, but he was honestly starting to feel comfortable as a Charmander, and starting to feel like he'd been a Charmander for his whole life. It'd been a whole month since his last vision of the legendary dragons, which was all but forgotten in Char's mind as he went about his day-to-day life…

"Something wrong?" Saura said quietly, as if to keep Ray, who was still whistling, from hearing. "Are you okay?"

Char cringed. He knew that reflecting upon his humanity had caused a change in his demeanor, which Saura instantly noticed. Char sighed, displaying a small, broken smile on his face. Saura was such a good friend. He was always so sensitive.

"Nothing, it's just…" Char mumbled back, reluctant to answer. "I… think I'm slowly forgetting that I'm a human."

"Oh…" Saura said, his tone changing, becoming more empathic. "That's right. You… haven't seen Dialga and Palkia for a while, have you?"

"No…" Char said.

"Well, I'll always be here to remind you," Saura said comfortingly. "Someday, we'll figure out your past. I'll never forget that it's our main purpose for being together. I did make you a promise, you know."

Char's smile brightened. Not only was Saura sensitive, he was compassionate. He always knew just to say to make him feel better.

As Ray started into another verse of the song, Saura looked back to Char.

"Hey, Char," Saura said, a bit awkwardly. "Have you… considered… you know… whether or not we should tell Ray about… you know… everything?"

Char was actually rather shocked at the question. No, he hadn't thought very much of the idea. Ever since Ray had become a team member, Char had started to consider himself a Charmander through and through. It never occurred to him to extend the intimate details of his identity and his fellowship with Saura to a third member. For the first time, he tossed the idea around in his head a little bit, trying to judge it. Ray probably already knew that he had the Call. In fact, he was sure of it; Scythe had since referred to his ability many times in casual conversation with both Team Ember and Team Remorse, and Ray never found it odd. But Saura, and probably Scythe, were the only ones who knew his deepest secret. How would Ray handle the truth? How would he react when he learned that Team Ember was something a little more than just a Resistance Team?

"Hey, what's going on?" Ray suddenly called forward. "You're not telling secrets, are you? I'm part of the team, too! I don't want to be left out!"

Although Ray was obviously just concerned and not trying to be rude, Char had to bite his tongue before he said something he'd regret.

"Ray, Char and I have a history together," Saura said politely. "Sometimes we just like to comment to one another. Can you blame us for that? We don't mean any harm."

Char sighed again, happy that Saura had found a good response. Yes, he realized, among the three of them, Saura was definitely the one who had a way with words.

Ray didn't respond, but a hint of disappointment flickered through his eyes. Again, Char considered the question of whether or not to let Ray in on the secret. Surely, he couldn't bear to hurt the Raichu, friendly and loyal as he was, by making him feel rejected or distrusted… but did he actually trust him enough? He'd trusted Saura on the very first day they met, but that was out of necessity. Yet, after knowing Ray for as long as he had, he was still reluctant.

I'll think about it, Char determined. This is a really big deal. On one hand, we're a team. We really shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other. But on the other hand… Ugh, I just don't know if he's ready to know.

Saying nothing more to Saura about the matter, Char simply fell silent as he and his team continued hiking down the path.

Rumble…

About half an hour later, an ominous sound from the sky above brought Char back to his senses from his thoughts and daydreams. Thunder? Just the suggestion of getting caught in the middle of a rainstorm made him start to tremble. He looked up and tried to scan the sky for clouds. Even though the sky had now turned from pitch-black to dark gray, it was still too dark to tell.

"Uh-oh," Saura said, also noticing the noise. "Think it's going to rain?"

"For Char's sake, I hope not," Ray said.

They kept going, hoping that it had just been a far-off roar or perhaps a Pokémon's electric attack. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Rumble…

About one minute later, the sound once again echoed down from the invisible clouds. Char's throat started to tighten. He knew that Charmander were perfectly capable of braving a rainstorm—the tiny drops of water would all evaporate on contact with his tail—it wasn't a pleasant experience. At all. Having been on a few missions during some scattered showers, he liked to compare the experience to getting caught in a hailstorm and getting constantly pelted with painful chunks of ice. He would live through it, but the pain and pressure would impede his ability to produce powerful fire attacks, reducing him to a weary deadweight in the upcoming mission…

"Hmm," Ray said, a little disappointed. "I did check the weather report last night, and there wasn't any mention of a thunderstorm…"

"Well, as they say, I guess Kyogre goes where it wants," Saura said. "If it starts coming down too hard, we packed an Airlock Orb, didn't we?"

"We packed one," Ray said, "but it was supposed to be for the dungeon…"

There was a tiny sizzling sound as the first little raindrop struck Char's flame. Char winced, the sensation not unlike a pinprick to the skin.

"On the other hand," Ray said, noticing that the rain had begun falling, "I guess we see how heavy it gets. If it gets too bad, we'll use the orb. But, in the meantime… maybe we should pick up the pace a little bit?"

In unanimous agreement, the team's steady hiking soon became a jog.

To everyone's dismay, the rain never let up. Fifteen minutes and about one mile later, the rain was still falling at a steady pace, accompanied by the occasional lightless thunder that would erupt from the sky. It wasn't bad enough to warrant blocking the weather with the power of the orb, but it was easy to tell that the rain was—ever so gradually—getting heavier. Char remembered the law of storms, perhaps from his humanity: storms leave exactly as fast as they come in. Judging by that, he knew this storm would probably be hanging in the air for the remainder of the morning…

Having long since packed the map into the bag, Char resorted to dashing on all fours down the road as fast as he could. Ray and Saura had followed suit and did their best to keep up, Ray trying to balance the bag over his back as he ran. But, it was ultimately futile; with a rush of the wind, the falling rain soon turned from a drizzle to a moderate downpour, and they were still a few miles shy of their destination.

Trying to bear the stabbing feeling in his tail, Char glanced back at his teammates. Both of them seemed to be enjoying the rain, especially Saura, as it provided his seed with a fresh drink of water to absorb. He knew their concern was solely directed at him.

"This is getting heavier," Saura called. "If you want, we could try to move closer to the cliff and get some shelter."

"Not now!" Char answered. "We can't risk getting beaten up by wild Rhydon!"

"If this gets any worse, we'll risk having you pass out!" Saura cried. "Please, I don't want to see you faint before we even get to the dungeon!"

"I'll be fine," Char called back. "It's just an annoyance. It's not serious."

"Char, don't try to be courageous now," Ray warned. "The moment I see your tail start to flicker, we're heading for shelter, no questions! Got it?"


Iron Outskirts

Char's tail didn't last for ten minutes. It soon began to waver, sometimes appearing to go out for a split second before re-lighting itself like a gas-powered lamp, as it always would when Char experienced relentless suffering. There was no arguing with Ray, and soon, the team left the path and it was off to the shelter of the cliff-side. Thanks to a light breeze, the rain fell at an angle; getting close enough to the cliff would protect them from most of the downpour, but it would require treading on the territory of the local wild Pokémon. Although they weren't in a Mystery Dungeon and thus the wild creatures would not be constantly driven to attack them, the team knew from experience that many of the Pokémon would probably not like being disturbed at such an hour…

Char was the first to rush up the incline and to the cliff wall, hugging it for dear relief. He stopped to catch his breath and let his fire recover. Char gathered the end of his tail in his claws and held it against his belly, trying to protect it from the stray raindrops blown by the shifting wind. Saura cast a consoling glance of pity at him.

"Okay, now is the hard part," Ray said. "The dungeon is still two miles away. I guess we should stick to the wall and keep going. Just be prepared for anything."

Navigating the base of the cliff was difficult. The ground was nothing but a big, uneven pile of rocks, making it very difficult to keep one's footing. The team found that hurrying forward was no longer an option if they wanted to stay dry.

After twenty more minutes, as the sun was just starting to hint at granting some useful visibility, Char noticed why he couldn't see the sky before: it was completely, utterly covered in a dark blanket of clouds for miles around. The menacing thunderhead crawled across the sky, plunging them into the endless depths of a severe storm. The wind was picking up, the rain was worsening, and the lightning was starting to seethe within the clouds…

"Wow, I wouldn't be surprised if Kyorge actually was around here somewhere," Char commented in awe of the weather. "This is a pretty bad storm! You can't tell me that nobody saw this coming!"

CRASH!

Lightning struck somewhere over the top of the cliff, and Char jumped three feet into the air. It was so close by, there wasn't even a delay between the flash and the big bang. Char felt his ears starting to ring.

"How much farther?!" Char cried. "This is getting ridiculous!"

"A little more than a mile," Ray reported. "C'mon, if we keep moving, we'll get there."

Rumble…

Another alarming noise crashed through the air, this one even closer. As Char was starting to wonder just how it would feel to be struck by a bolt of lightning, he noticed Ray stopping dead in his tracks.

Rumble…

"What?! What is it?" Saura demanded, trying to yell over the noisy storm.

Rumble…

Fear flickered through his eyes. "I don't think that last one was thunder…"

Just then, the endless pile of rocks underfoot shifted, like something was crawling around underneath. Char and Saura both went pale for a moment when they realized it…

And then, the pile of rocks simply erupted in all directions, knocking the three off their feet. From underneath the rocks emerged a rather small-sized Onix—but a very angry one. The stones that made up its body had blended in perfectly with gravel pile it slept underneath, which it angrily tried to shove out of the way to confront the intruders who had the audacity to step on him during his rest.

"Ahh…" Saura cried, startled, trying to fill his lungs with air after the fall. "Well? Ray? Do we fight? Do we run? We were prepared for anything, but what do we do?"

"Hold on," Ray said, quickly standing upright and charging electricity in his cheeks. "I think I might be able to take care of this…"

"Ray, you know it's just going to ground your attack if you try to shock it, right?" Saura told him. "I don't think that's a good idea! You'll only make it more angry!"

"He can't ground it completely," Ray responded. "Onix is a rock creature. He can still take some damage! Now… stand back if you don't want to get shocked!"

As the giant rock beast shifted and glared crossly at the little orange rodent, Ray sidled away from his friends, focusing on his target…

Soon, an impressive positive charge had built up across his whole body. Bright white Static rippled across his fur and jumped from the tips of his ears to the end of his tail, some of it discharging into the rocks around his feet…

"Oh, and you might want to cover your ears," he warned with an evil smile.

Just as the Onix reared back to attack, Ray threw his arms up into the air, summoning a bolt of lightning from the storm clouds above! The air flashed brighter than day, and a soul-shattering KABOOM shook the ground…

Ray opened his eyes, ready to accept the raw energy of the lightning into his body and to discharge a mighty Thunder attack at the opponent, when he realized something was wrong.

"…Huh?"

As Char and Saura were uncovering their ears and opening their eyes, Ray saw that the scene had not changed. The lightning had not actually struck him or his opponent, and while the Onix was a bit fazed from the strike, it remained unharmed.

"W…what happened?" Ray wondered, his eyes darting around for any sort of explanation. "I thought I did a perfect thunder-attack..."

"Ray, what happened?" Saura cried. "I think that lightning bolt struck behind us!"

"What?! How's that possible?" Ray cried back. "I missed? That's… that doesn't make any sense! Lightning doesn't work that way! Besides, this is a thunderstorm! How did I miss during a thunderstorm?! What's going on?!"

Baffled, Ray turned his attention to the Onix once again. It was no use complaining about a failed attack when the Onix had almost recovered from the jarring surprise and was about ready to retaliate…

Focusing once more on his charged electricity, and this time relying on his own power, Ray's body started to shine with a bright yellow aura. With an angry cry, Ray discharged his Thunderbolt point-blank at the Onix's face.

To his horror, it missed.

Ray couldn't believe his eyes. As soon as the bright, zigzagging bolt of electricity left his body, it turned a sharp corner, flew right over the heads of Char and Saura, and into to the darkness.

"WHAT?!" Ray yelled in frustration. "What in the name of Zapdos am I doing wrong?! I can't be…"

It was then that he noticed that his friends were no longer paying attention to him. Their gazes were turned in the direction the thunderbolt had gone…

From out of the shadows emerged a truly massive beast, even more intimidating than the Onix. Its body appeared to be made completely of rock, adorned with orange plates of armor. A long, pointed horn protruded from its forehead.

A lightning rod.

Truly infuriated, the Rhyperior barreled forward, swiping its long, blunt arms at the trio of friends. Gawking at the sight of the incredible Pokémon, It took Char a second to realize he had to actually move his legs if he wanted to escape alive.

"RUN!" Char ordered, dropping to all fours and dashing back out into the pouring rain. Saura and Ray unquestioningly followed. They knew there was no way they were going to defeat two powerful Pokémon at once. Char barely even felt the agonizing pain on his tail as he ran for his life.


Route 325

So, it was back to the road.

The rain had become worse. Much worse. It was coming down in torrents, easily enough to reduce visibility. The wind had grown so strong, it sometimes made it difficult to stand upright.

I'm strong, I'm strong, I'm strong, Char kept telling himself, trying to hold his own in the merciless weather… I can do this. It's only a little tingling. It's only a little pain. Any respectable Charmander could make it through the rain... I just... I just have to take my mind off it and keep pressing forward... Oh, what a great big world... a sight to behold... what a perfect place... to...

Suddenly, Saura felt something snag him from behind. He turned to see that Char had completely thrown himself onto his back, and was hugging him tightly. Tears streamed down his already soaked face, his front teeth biting down hard on his quivering lower lip. With just one look into his eyes, Saura knew that he'd been reduced to a whimpering fool.

"Ray," Saura said flatly, "use the orb."

"Yes, sir," Ray said, looking sorrowfully at his broken friend.

It only took a minute for Ray to dig through the bag and find the proper item. He quickly produced it and held into the air, telepathically ordering it to activate…

Not even thirty seconds later, the last raindrop hit the ground. While the clouds still hung in the sky, exchanging bolts of lightning amongst each other, the rain had been sealed away by the spell of the Airlock Orb. It was an item that attempted to copy Rayqaza's legendary power of stopping any and all harmful effects of the weather, leaving them with a sky that neither rained nor shined. Unfortunately, using up the orb meant that one of their planned strategies for battling through the Mystery Dungeon would be a lot more difficult to pull off, but it was a price Char was happy to pay for getting there with his sanity intact.

"Thank you," Char whispered, dropping limply to the ground.

Char's friends waited patiently for him to recuperate, nurturing him whenever they could. Char used all the techniques he knew of to help re-light his Ember, to breathe deeply and hold his breath often, and soon, he was starting to feel much better. About twelve minutes and several Oran berries later, Char made a full comeback, and from then on it was smooth sailing all the way to the dungeon entrance.

But the day's troubles had still only just begun.

As the resistance team rushed down the road in hopes of making it to the Iron Crevice before the orb's effect would wear off, a pair of eyes watched them from behind one of the faraway boulders that lined the ground…

"Heh, there they are," Croagunk muttered, peeking around the side of the boulder. "Just like we planned…"

"Very good," said the Seviper, smiling with satisfaction at the remaining shards of the rain-orb they had just activated. "Now, it's about time we finally put this plan into motion."

"I still say it won't work," Croagunk groaned. "It's not like we can count on those kids to be stupid after they've been trained by that Scyther…"

"We've got to make it work," the Seviper hissed. "Boss is counting on us to do this. We can't let him down this time! Besides, we're not trying to make them agree to something stupid… it's something smart!"

"Heh heh, you're right, you're right," the Croagunk chuckled.

At that, Team X fled from behind the rock, closely trailing Team Ember all the way to the dungeon…

*Chapter 26*: Chapter 23: The Hard Way

Chapter 23

Iron Crevice B1F

The Iron Crevice was a relatively uninteresting place; it was just one of the many cracks in the wall of the great plateau. Unfortunately for explorers, it was expansive enough to provide a home for a good deal of dangerous Pokémon, and complicated enough to easily get lost in. The walls of the cave contained many heavy metals and minerals, giving the place its name, and making it an ideal habitat for the wild Pokémon who relied upon such things for food—namely, those of the rock- and steel-type. Civilized Pokémon races in the past had once tried to mine resources from the cave, only to get chased out when the local inhabitants violently expressed their disapproval of the disturbance. Eventually, the Mystery Dungeon curse had struck the cave, and ever since then it had been nothing but a dark maze of moderately powerful Pokémon and remnants of the failed mining operations. It branching corridors extended deep into the plateau and fifteen floors beneath the surface of the earth.

And somewhere down there was a poor, terrified Furret… It would be up to Team Ember, as a test of their skill, to find and rescue it.

"If Scythe were here, he'd be telling us to watch for the wild Pokémon," Char mentioned, leading the way by the light of his tail as he would normally do. It was something that Scythe made a point of reminding them about at the beginning of every dungeon exploration. Even though it was a painfully obvious point that there were wild Pokémon inside of dungeons, he'd been trying to show them how vital it was to learn to spot their habitats, recognize their cries, and expect them coming.

"He'd also be telling us to think about our formation," Ray noted. "We already know which Pokémon live here. In the upper level, there are Geodude, Graveler, Aron, Skorupi, and Paras. And if we go deeper, we might see some Onix, Bronzor, Rhyhorn, Rhydon…"

When a faint squeaking noise filled the air, the group instinctively halted to survey their surroundings. Not a second later, a fireball, a bolt of static, and a razor-sharp leaf converged on a poor Zubat that had been hanging from the ceiling nearby. It dropped to the ground, completely destroyed.

"Wow!" Saura laughed nervously, staring at the dead bat. "I guess we're a little tense at the moment, huh?"

"You didn't say anything about Zubat being in this cave," Char said dryly, also surprised at his own sudden attack.

"This is a cave. Zubat is a given!" Ray responded. "You know that! And Rattata, too, probably. Those things are everywhere. But we've grown so strong, they're practically not an issue. But, yeah… as I was saying… formation. We can't be wasting all our energy attacking at once. Saura, you should probably be the one leading the way, you're the best we have against Rock Pokémon. That, or at least be ready to back Char up if he needs it. Char, if we run into any Steel Pokémon, you're going to be our biggest hope, so you should follow Saura."

Char almost laughed. Ray was starting to sound like Scythe! But it was a sensible plan, so he complied.

"And what about you?" Char asked with a smirk, falling back to Saura's side. "I guess you get to stay back and watch us fight?"

"Well, we knew all along that I'd be a little bit out of my element here," Ray said with a shrug. "I'll just keep an eye out in the rear. And remember, we've got that Rain Orb. If you need me to use it, just holler. I won't even hesitate."

Right, Char remembered. The Rain Orb. Char had forgotten about that particular tactic, and probably on purpose, too. They'd brought one along as a backup plan to help support Ray's electric attacks in a pinch, but since they ended up prematurely using the Airlock Orb before they even reached the cave, they'd have no way to dispel the rain once it would start… leaving both Char and Saura at a disadvantage. It was definitely not something Char was looking forward to—he'd already gotten wet enough for one day.

The group commenced with systematic exploration of the first basement floor. Char let Saura lead the way, but stayed at his side just in case any of the potentially dangerous Aron or Bronzor would show up. Ray kept a watchful eye on the group from behind.

The ceiling, walls, and floor of the Iron Crevice were composed of shiny brown rock, somewhat resembling petrified mud. The path through the cave itself was unpredictable and difficult to follow, with a floor that never stayed flat and many sudden corners to turn. While Char had seen his share of caves during his time serving the division, he'd frequently find himself surprised at the effect the Mystery Dungeon curse could have on a cave. Some, like the Gravelrock Tunnel, had spacious and easy-to-travel corridors, and others, like the Fossil Pit, were hard to even call "caves" due to their perfectly flat floors and walls, and passageways that appeared to have been meticulously carved out by human hands. Not this time, though—the Iron Crevice was very deserving of being called a "crevice", and was quickly proving to be a true spelunking mission.

Scattered within the walls of the cave were shards and chunks of metal which formed odd protrusions as they jutted out from the surrounding rocks. Char saw how some of the formations sparkled like opaque crystals in the light of his tail flame, while others were as dull and gray as tarnished silver. A few times, he even caught sight of Pokémon-made steel beams sticking out of the wall, reminding him that the spatial anomaly was in full effect and sending a shiver up his spine. He started to wonder what the true Iron Crevice looked like, the one which existed underneath the curse…

As the team explored the floor, they started to unwind. Although the place was a little hard to navigate, things were going well. They encountered a few more Zubat, none of which posed any threat whatsoever, and quickly located the room with the staircase. In it, they were met with a new opponent: a Geodude, who'd been snacking on a pile of gravel that had avalanched from a nearby wall. A well-aimed Bullet Seed knocked it senseless before it had the chance to cause any harm.

So far, so good, Char told himself as he followed Saura down the stairs.


Iron Crevice B2F

At the beginning of the first hall on the second floor. Char thanked himself for not being particularly claustrophobic. The walls of this path were closer together than they had been before, and the deposits of metal jutting from the walls sometimes blocked the path enough that Char and Ray both had to duck or sidle up against the wall to progress. Still, it was scary to reflect upon how deep they were already under the surface of the earth in this forsaken place, and how deep they still had to go.

Midway through the hall, Char started to see something he feared he'd see: bite marks in the metallic deposits. Some of them very large bite marks, completely mutilating the surface of the rocks.

Char couldn't help but gulp.

"Hey, if all we meet are Zubat and Geodude, this will be simple," Saura joked. "Think we'll be so easy? Scythe says that sometimes, he's gone for dozens of floors in dungeons without meeting even one Pokémon…"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ray said. "I think I hear something."

Stopping for a second to listen closely, Char noticed it too: there was a deep, raspy noise coming from the next chamber. Breathing.

"Okay, there's definitely something over here," Saura agreed. "We should get ready to fight…"

"What is that?" Char wondered. "What kind of Pokémon breathes like that?"

"Hmm… I can't tell," Ray admitted, listening closely. "It can't be a rock Pokémon. Most rock Pokémon don't even have lungs. Well, I guess we'll have to find out the hard way. We should be able to take it, whatever it is!"

Slowly and warily, Saura stepped through the archway to the next chamber. Char followed close behind with his light source, ready for anything…

But after a few more steps, the breathing stopped.

"Whatever it is, I think it saw us," Saura muttered. "But for a second there, It sounded like it was coming from the ceiling…"

Suddenly, a hoarse cry filled the air. The team froze.

-SLAM!-

Before anyone could tell what was going on, A large creature dropped from the darkness and slammed into Saura, sending him tumbling backward. It disappeared just as quickly.

"Waaah!" Saura cried, scrambling to get up. "I still didn't see it! What was it?!"

As Ray quickly leapt in front of Saura to shield him from another attack, Char stepped farther into the room to confront the creature. His fire had already swelled to a moderate size just trying to guess at the foe's identity, but seeing Saura get attacked sent his instincts into a state of elation. He was ready to battle.

Again, the roar filled the air. Char quickly turned in the direction the noise had betrayed, and could clearly see the creature hovering in the air before him in the now-brilliant light of his tail. Flapping its wings frantically and hovering in place was a Golbat.

"Yes! I see it!" Char announced, preparing to attack.

Char wasted no time in unleashing a wave of flames at the creature. It dodged, but the fire nicked the side of its wing and sent it careening wildly through the air.

Then, something very odd happened.

"Whoa!" the creature cried. "Hey! Easy, there! Watch where you're firing!"

Did… that Golbat just talk? Char wondered. Eh… I must be hearing things! I've got to take this thing out!

Char launched himself into the air at the Golbat. His attack struck, knocking the bat to the ground.

"Ow!" the bat cried as it struck the floor. "Cut it out!"

While Char thought it was weird that the bat was pleading for mercy, he wrote it off as some trick of the mind since the bat was still acting incredibly hostile. Char tried to pin it down, but it struggled and broke free, tumbling wildly around on the floor and gnashing at him with its pointed teeth.

Obeying his battle instincts, Char pounced onto the bat again. The bat performed an unnaturally swift maneuver and leapt backward, evading Char's claws. He pursued it, unleashing a stream of fire which hit the beast dead-on, stunning it. Closing in quickly, Char spun and broadsided the bat with his tail, slamming it against the wall.

"What are you doing?!" the bat cried. "STOP! I'm serious! This really hurts!"

"You started it!" Char yelled back, following up with another assault. With no second thought, he rushed to the wounded bat and started slashing at it furiously, leaving big red slices across its leathery skin…

"What are you TALKING ABOUT?!" the bat cried. "I'm… OW! OW! Stop! Please! Ow! Stop!"

That's when Char realized that something was very wrong. He halted his assault, taking a moment to realize the horrible truth…

Do I… recognize that voice?

"Char, I'm sorry for doing this," the Golbat said, rearing back…

-POW!-

Char saw stars. Pain rippled across his forehead. He backpedaled for a few steps, struggling to stay standing…

When the stars cleared, Char saw the truth. In the corner, exactly where the Golbat had been laying… was Ray. He was severely wounded, his orange fur covered in dark scorch marks and dripping with bright red blood. He glared up at Char, his fist still clenched from the punch he delivered.

"Ray!" Char gasped, rushing up to him. "I… I didn't… do this, did I? I thought… I was attacking the Golbat!"

Ray nodded. "It must have hit you with a Confusion Ray," he grunted, letting Char help him up. "You just went crazy on us all of a sudden. We didn't know what to do."

"Ray, I'm really sorry!" Char blurted. "I didn't mean any of this! I'm serious! I don't know what to say!"

"It's… okay," Ray sighed, his face clenching in pain as he moved. "You were confused… you couldn't help it…"

"Is Saura okay?" Char asked frantically. "I didn't hurt him too, did I?"

"I'm right here," Saura said, approaching Ray. Char saw that he was unharmed, but still a little shaken from the incident. "I'm fine. You gave me a good headbutt once, but I had to run and hide in case you attacked me with fire."

Char almost wanted to cry. Starting to feel weak from pure shame, he leaned against Saura and hung his head low, working to catch his breath.

"I… I think I need a minute," Char gasped. "I still can't believe I lost it like that. One minute, I saw the Golbat, and then it started talking! But… I couldn't stop attacking… and… Hey, wait. Where's the Golbat now? What happened to it?"

When his friends didn't answer his question, Char turned to Ray, wondering what the matter was. The Raichu returned an odd gaze, as if he couldn't quite think of a response.

"What? What is it?" Char begged.

"Char, it's… on you."

Char turned his head to find that the Golbat was still alive and well, and was, in fact, latched firmly onto his back with its teeth. Sucking his blood.

Char felt another wave of weariness wash over him, and realized that it had very little to do with his shame. He tried to lift his tail to burn the bat, but the flame was flickering, and he found it difficult to bring his muscles to obey…

"Hold still," Ray commanded, walking around to Char's back. "I don't know how much this'll hurt…"

The moment when Ray first touched the Golbat, Char felt it. Its teeth were really hooked under his flesh, sending a stinging sensation through his back at the slightest movement. His whole body cringed.

"Oh, man," Char uttered at the pain, squeezing his eyes shut. He almost felt like letting the thing stay on his back as long as it wanted.

"Wow, I barely touched it," Ray said. "Okay, so this could hurt a bit. But we've got to get this thing out, or you'll pass out from blood loss. We have to do this."

"But if you do it, I might pass out from shock!" Char gasped.

"Easy, Char," Saura said, sprouting vines and tying Char's hands to his own body to keep him steady. "We've got plenty of Oran berries in the bag, you can have as many as you want, okay?"

"B-but we've barely… even… We're only on the second floor!" Char stammered. "We can't waste them -YOWWWWWWWWWWW!"

Hoping to act while Char was distracted, Ray yanked on the Golbat as hard as he could. Char saw red streaks of lightning before his eyes, and his body uncontrollably convulsed from the horrible pain. Saura held on tight, keeping him from thrashing about.

"…It didn't even budge," Ray said regretfully. "Wait, wait! I know what to do. Char, sorry if this feels a little funny…"

"As long as it doesn't involve pulling harder," Char grunted, his body tensed. "Just…"

Char was suddenly cut off when a sharp buzz of electricity filled his body. A chilly feeling engulfed him, like he'd just been plunged into a sea of ice-cold sand. Char tried to comment on the sensation, but found that his mouth was not working. In fact, his entire body had become unresponsive. Unable to keep standing, he slumped down onto Saura's back like a ragdoll.

"Sorry," Ray said again. "I paralyzed you, and the bat too. Now, you shouldn't feel anything when I…"

-Schlork!-

Having gone limp from paralysis and not able to keep its mouth locked on Char's back, the Golbat easily slid out of place. Char felt nothing, only hearing the sickening sound of Ray separating the creature from him.

"Ooh, that went deep," Ray commented. "And it looks like he poisoned you, too…"

"Paralyzed and poisoned?" Saura said, setting Char gently onto the floor. "I think it's time to get out a Heal Seed…"

Char recovered from the incident in no time, as was expected with the multitude of medicinal supplies they'd brought along. Ray force-fed him a Heal Seed, then shared a handful of Oran Berries with him to help dull the pain and heal the wounds.

It was unfortunate that a Heal Seed had to be used so early in their mission. They were rare and valuable items, difficult to get from Kecleon's at a decent price and impossible to find in the wild. They were the result of science; to create one, a botanist had to graft together the twigs of several plants, including the Pecha tree, the Cheri tree, and the Rawst tree. These hybrid plants took incredible dedication to stabilize and cultivate, and if one actually succeeded in surviving, would produce a vile-tasting fruit which contained seeds that, although infertile, could be ingested by Pokémon to cure a variety of illnesses and harmful effects. It was a major convenience for doctors and Resistance Teams alike to carry around these tiny, all-purpose seeds rather than different kinds of medicine for particular illnesses, but they were so pricy that Team Ember had only ever gotten their hands on two of them, and hadn't dared to use one up until now.

When Char ate the seed, the paralysis faded away quickly, allowing him to move and feel. This wasn't necessarily a good thing, though; there was a terrible stabbing pain in his back where the Golbat's fangs had penetrated. He made a break for the supply bag where he proceeded to jam Oran Berries into his mouth until he started to feel better. Ray, who had also suffered his share of injuries from the fight, joined him.

"Practically not an issue, huh?" Char joked, biting into a berry.

"Um… yeah," Ray said, a little ashamed of himself. "I… guess I forgot that Zubat don't stay small forever. Well, that's the last time we make that mistake, huh?"

"You can say that again," Char said, wiping juice from his muzzle. "Maybe we should bring one of those Persim Bands next time…"

"Hey, Ray, what gave you the idea to use paralysis?" Saura asked. "That was brilliant! I don't think I would have even thought of that."

"Well, this sort of thing has happened before," Ray said, starting to smile again. "A while back when I was still a Pikachu, I was on a mission with my old team, and we… had a little incident with a Totodile. It latched onto my teammate, Shur, who was a very panicky Psyduck… Ha ha, I remember, it took us five whole minutes to get him to stop flailing around and calm down… But when we finally did, the Totodile would not come off, no matter what we tried. So… I paralyzed them both, and it worked like a charm."

"Well, we're glad to have you around," Saura said. "You're invaluable to this team, you know that, right? When you first joined, I don't think we realized what we were getting into. Now, we rely on you so much, I can't imagine how we'd get along without your help."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Ray said with a shrug.

After they felt ready enough, the team finished combing the floor. When they were certain that the Furret was not there, they proceeded.


Iron Crevice B4F

As they continued on their search for the lost Pokémon, they started to meet with more opposition as they got deeper into the crevice. Geodude were getting numerous, as were Paras. Zubat continued to be common, and the team met no less than four more Golbat along the way. Once, Char was even hit with another Confuse Ray, but this time knew better than to attack when he wasn't thinking straight, and learned how not to hurt his teammates. Ray had defeated it easily with a thunderbolt, and the team continued onward without incident.

When they reached the fourth floor, Char's eyes started to sting. He realized that the cave was a little stranger than he thought: while most caves he'd seen were cold and wet inside, this one was strangely dry and filled with clouds of what had to be rock-dust, making it a little difficult to breathe. When he started to see how some of the rock and metal formations had been sanded down smooth and flat, he didn't doubt it.

Soon, the team was fending off enemies left and right, and was getting used to doing so. Char found that the Paras would fall easily to a simple Ember attack, while Saura found that most Geodude couldn't recover from being whipped silly with his vines. Ray had a tough time since most of the rock creatures could ground out his electric attacks, but he could sometimes paralyze them to help out, and he was easily able to defeat the Golbat and Zubat that bothered them.

Soon, though, the team was met with their toughest challenge yet: a Graveler.

"Oh, boy," Saura said upon seeing the foe. "I think I'm going to need some help with this one…"

Char studied the Graveler as it stood its ground before them. The creature resembled a large, living boulder, complete with arms and legs. It was at least three times his own size. Even in comparison to some of the other rock Pokémon such as Onix, it was a strange sight to behold.

The Graveler stared back, waiting for the intruders to make the first move.

"Think you could pull off an Energy Ball?" Char suggested.

"Maybe," Saura answered. "But we don't want to overwhelm it with energy. It could self-destruct on us, couldn't it?"

"Right…" Char muttered. "Um… could you try a Sun-beam? That would probably knock it out in one hit!"

"Where's the sun?" Saura said. "I could try using my own energy, but without the sun here to help, I don't think it would work in one hit."

"Uh... how about you try wrapping it, so we can all attack?"

Saura bit his lip. "That's really risky," he said. "I can't always detain things on the first try, especially if they're… you know… that big!"

Char frowned. "Ray, do you have any ideas, besides just attacking it head-on?"

Instead of answering, Ray set his own idea into motion. Withdrawing from the bag, he chucked a seed at the Graveler. The boulder-beast winced as it saw the item coming, but didn't think to dodge. When it struck, a bright white flash illuminated the cave for a split second, and the beast fell onto its back, motionless. Ray had used a Sleep Seed.

"Ha-ha! It worked!" Ray shouted. "Problem solved. It's asleep!"

"Hmm, are you sure that was a good idea?" Char wondered. "We should save those things for when we really need them. We could have at least tried to battle it and learn how they act, right? That's what Scythe would have told us."

"You're right," Ray said. "Sorry, I should have asked you about it first…"

"It's fine," Saura said. "We have more of those seeds. It's asleep now, so let's get going…"

The group carefully slipped past the sleeping monster and into the next narrow hallway…

…and were immediately faced with a second Graveler.

This one was a little bit bigger than the last one, and didn't look nearly as patient. It emitted a strange growl at the team which almost sounded like an evil purr, and looked as though it was about to charge at any second. To make matters even worse, the ground had become rocky and uneven in the new area, and metallic structures which spurted from the walls started to resemble sharp-tipped deathtraps…

"Oh, great," Saura muttered. "Now what? What do we do?!"

"Just attack it!" Char ordered, his tail flame already bright enough to light the entire room. "We'll figure something out!"

The group complied; they'd let their battle instincts take over, and hope for the best.

Saura, being the most effective fighter against rock Pokémon, rushed forward to initiate the battle. He leapt into the air, extended his vines, and brought them down hard upon the beast. The Graveler staggered from the strike, taking a few steps backward. Saura followed by releasing a stream of seeds, all of which struck the beast's hide at incredible speeds and chipped away at the outer layer of its rocky skin.

The Graveler became furious. It roared loudly, barreling forward at Saura. Acting quickly, Char delivered the best pillar of flames he could muster straight into the Graveler's face, causing it to stop dead in its tracks and blindly swipe at the air.

Not to be outdone, the Graveler formed a mighty fist and slammed it into the ground, sending rocky shards and pebbles flying everywhere and creating a shockwave that could have shaken the entire cave. The earthquake took both Char and Ray completely by surprise, sending them off their feet. Char brutally struck the ground, feeling the light tickle of stray gravel falling on him as he moaned and took a moment to rest. When he tried to get back up, he found that he couldn't quite do it at first; the effect had left him too shaken and disoriented, and had also induced a serious headache.

Growling in determination, Saura once again launched a barrage of seeds at the enemy, but the Graveler avoided every single one.

"Aww… if only there was a way to make that attack more accurate," Saura muttered to himself.

As Saura stood at the base of the beast and tried to quickly contemplate his next move, a voice rang out from behind him.

"Look out, Saura!" Ray yelled out. "Coming through!"

Saura obeyed. He jumped to the side, giving Ray room to rush toward the beast. Saura noticed how the tip of his tail was glowing brightly, as Ray had focused enough energy within it to give it the strength of iron. He leapt and performed a very impressive somersault in midair, striking the rock monster with his gleaming tail and actually slicing into the beast, leaving a huge crack beside its face. He then discharged a surge of electricity into it, hoping to paralyze it, but it failed. He landed on his feet and quickly surveyed the effect of the attack: it had connected, but the beast didn't even seem bothered.

"Wow!" Ray cried. "This thing is impossible!"

Roaring like never before, the Graveler pounded the ground again, causing another earthquake and tossing Ray into the air. Char also lost his balance a second time and tumbled onto his side.

"Ugh! Stop doing that!" Char pleaded, curling up on the floor for a moment and holding his throbbing forehead in his claws.

Saura couldn't stand the sight of his friends suffering at the mercy of the earthquakes. "I'm going to end this!" he declared. "Just give me time to build up a good energy ball. Cover me!"

"I'm not sure if we can!" Char cried, climbing back to his feet but staggering as he tried to walk. He decided to drop to all fours.

"Char! Can you make a good smoke screen?" Ray asked as he charged his tail again for another iron attack. "If you could, it should give Saura all the time he needs!"

Char faced the Graveler, measuring the odds that a smoke screen would be effective. The beast seemed so much larger than before, now that he was down close to the ground… But he knew his skull would probably break in half if the thing caused even one more earthquake. He had to give it a try while he still had the chance. The Graveler seemed more focused most on Ray at the moment, who was dancing around just outside of its reach.

"I'll try," Char determined, preparing his fire.

Char bounded forward as fast as he could, hoping to get right in the Graveler's face and spew the cloud of smoke to confuse it… Unfortunately, he didn't catch the moment when the thing had started an attack of his own.

As he charged forward, he realized too late that the Graveler was coming straight at him. It had tucked in its arms and legs and started a forward roll.

For a moment, Char simply watched in horror as the giant boulder came upon him. It was too late. There was nothing he could do.

Char emitted a soundless cry as his entire body was crushed beneath the Graveler's weight. It rattled his entire sense of being, seeming for a moment to shut off every sense he had from pure overload. Even his sight seemed to flash white beneath his closed eyelids as the attack struck.

It was over in a split second, but when it ended, Char felt numb and senseless. He was sure that something in his body had broken. His leg seemed to hurt the most, having been resting on a misshapen rock when the Graveler had rolled across it. He tried to stir, but found that the muscle in his lower leg had been disconnected from the limb. He was crippled.

…And then…

A sudden flash of light filled the cave.

The Graveler no longer moved. In fact, it was out cold, settled in a little sloped ditch in the ground near the far wall. Ray stood near the bag, where he had produced and used another Sleep Seed… albeit a second too late.

Char could barely even see his friends as they came to his aid. It was too dark; his tail flame was barely even burning.

"That thing… crushed you!" Saura whimpered, rushing up to him. "That thing crushed you! We couldn't stop it in time… Can you… talk? Can you move? Please tell me you're okay! Say something!"

"I'll be fine…" Char managed to gasp, letting himself lie limply on the ground. "It just rolled over me. It wasn't big enough to crush anything, I think… Just… get me some more Oran Berries, please?"

… … …

Having found a nearby crack in the wall to hide from the monsters, and having helped Char to crawl there, the team once again sat down to recuperate. Char downed even more berries from the bag, thankful for the wonderful pain relief they brought and for the way they gradually started to make him feel alive and well again. He was thankful now that the team made a point of bringing enough food—especially the wonderful blue berries—to last for days. The temporal anomaly, too, helped him to recover even faster; his worst pain, the fracture in his leg, eventually started to fade as his body mended the broken bone he'd suffered.

"Wow… those Gravelers!," Ray said, eating some dried fruit from the bag. "I… don't know if we're strong enough to take them down."

"If Scythe were here, he'd tell us how to beat them," Saura said sadly. "But it looks like we can't figure it out on our own. Maybe… you're right. If every battle with a Graveler is going to end up like… like that…"

"Maybe we just need to learn some more techniques," Ray offered. "I'll tell you something, when I learned the Iron Tail trick, it made battling rock Pokémon so much easier. Before that, I was completely powerless against them. I'm sure there are a lot of other ways to take these things down. We just have to learn them. We all memorized the weakness web of Pokémon… but maybe that's not enough. We should go to Domo and learn more battle techniques."

A moment of silence. Char could feel that spirits were pretty low. Despite all they'd been through, they were starting to see that they were still a relatively weak and inadequate team.

"So…" Saura muttered, staring at the floor. "Do we… use the Escape Orb now?"

"No way!" Char answered, accidentally spewing an Oran pit from his mouth. "We're already four floors down! This isn't over until all three of us pass out! And the way it looks now, it's still a long ways away before that happens. We've still got plenty of supplies and berries… we're going keep going until we can't go any farther!"

"Agreed!" Ray replied. "This is a learning experience. If we've got to learn the hard way… that's fine. But there's no way we're giving up now! As long as we keep supporting each other, we've got a chance."

Saura smiled. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "We can't quit now. I was just… you know… making sure that… we all agreed."

As Char prepared to bite into what he convinced himself would be his last berry this time, something unusual caught his eye.

"Hey," Char interrupted, turning his attention to the deepest part of the crack in which they sat. "Is that… ours?"

"Is what ours?" Saura asked, trying to see what he was indicating.

"That," Char said, pointing into the corner. "There's an orb over there."

Not waiting for a response, Char stood up and approached the stray orb. It was half-wedged between a rock and the wall, making it difficult to spot except for the way it gleamed in Char's light. Char clutched it, easily pulling it out from its position.

This is an Evasion Orb, the orb said. Activate?

Uh… not now, Char replied. The orb said nothing else.

"Wow, that isn't ours, is it?" Saura said with surprise. "Was it just laying there?"

"What kind of orb is that?" Ray asked curiously. "Is it useful?"

"I don't know," Char admitted. "It's an Evasion Orb. I have no idea what those do."

"Hmm, I've never used one of those, either," Ray said. "Ask it what it does!"

"What?"

"Most new orbs are encoded with data," Ray said. "Ask it how it works, and it should tell you."

Char tried to telepathically communicate with the orb once again. Admittedly, it always made him feel a little silly trying to talk to an inanimate object.

Um… Evasion Orb, Char asked silently, what do you do?

Evasion Orbs stimulate the battle instincts of the user, the orb explained. After activation, the user will temporarily become more adept at dodging enemy attacks. Depending on the user, the effect lasts from ten minutes to forty minutes.

He repeated the data aloud.

"Sounds useful," Ray said. "Put it in the bag! I bet it'll come in handy later. Although… it makes me wonder how it got in here, though…"

The team's smiles suddenly disappeared, and a dark silence followed.

There was, after all, only one reason an item would be laying around inside of a Mystery Dungeon such as this one. It was a very important lesson that Scythe had taught them from weeks before…

When you fail a mission in a Mystery Dungeon, there's a chance… a very likely chance, at that… that a lot of your items will not be expelled from the dungeon with you. They will be gobbled up by the spatial anomaly, scattered among the dungeon for future teams to find.

…And sometimes, if Arceus was especially angry at you, you could even lose the entire bag. All your supplies… a week's worth of income… would be completely lost.

It was a sudden and brutal reminder that there was a price for learning the hard way.


Iron Crevice Rest Area

With a greater resolve than ever before, the team searched even deeper into the dungeon. Afraid for their lives and also for the security of their item bag, they opted to play games of stealth rather than attacking every Pokémon they came across. But with a flaming tail amongst the complete darkness, it wasn't too easy for Char to stay hidden, even when he tried to dim the light by holding it in his hands. Twice, the team found themselves having to run away from the more powerful Pokémon to get them off their tail, and it was always a challenge to keep their footing among the gravel and not to get separated in the narrow passageways.

For some reason, the wild Pokémon would never chase them down the stairs to the next floor.

After evading a young Onix, the group emerged onto the eighth basement floor. The rock snake roared at them one last time as it sat at the top of the stairs and watched them escape.

Char stopped to catch his breath. "Everyone okay?"

"We're okay," Saura reported. "What is this, the ninth floor now? We've come a long way."

"And we barely used any items on the past four floors," Ray added. "We're doing really well. Also… wait. What's this? Whoa! Look over here!"

Expecting yet another system of tangled corridors and vicious monsters, the team was discovered to find something completely different before them. A lone room, shaped like a peaceful little dome, opened up. The walls were completely smooth, and the floor was flat, unlike any of the surrounding terrain. There was something like a large crystal embedded in the ceiling of the room which acted as a light source, illuminating the chamber with an eerie orange glow.

But the most prominent and interesting feature of this room was the very large iron statue, depicting a Kangaskhan, positioned in the center. It seemed to watch the group with a warm and tender smile as they entered…

"Wow!" Ray shouted, running up to the Kangaskhan statue and inspecting it. "Do you know what this is?"

"A… Kangaskhan?" Char guessed.

"I remember hearing about these back in Team Stripes, but wow, I've never seen one myself!" Ray continued. "This room must be a rest area! It's a room in the middle of a Mystery Dungeon that's somehow not affected by the curse. We can stay here as long as we want, and nothing will come disturb us! Wow, I hear these rooms only exist near the end of the longer dungeons that have been extensively explored, never in any I've been in!"

"Interesting," Saura said. "I was getting a bit hungry, myself. How about if we stop to eat?"

The team wasted no time in settling down at the base of the statue and getting out the food.

"Hmm… but why a Kangaskhan statue?" Char wondered, fishing out a pear from the food stash. "How'd that get in here, anyway?"

"Oh, I think it's just something explorers used to mark the safe zones they've found," Ray speculated. "It has some symbolic meaning, I guess, like the love and protection of a mother or something."

"How'd they get in here?" Saura wondered. "You can't just carry a statue through a dungeon like this and drop it off!"

"You know, I have no idea," Ray laughed. "Teleportation, maybe? Maybe a skilled psychic pulled it off. I don't know… let's eat."

Saura was just about to bite into a big apple, when something caught his attention…

"Ray, are you sure we won't be bothered here?" Saura whispered.

"Uh… yeah," Ray said, munching on his food. "Why?"

"Because… I think something's coming."

The group went silent. Yes, there were noises coming from the room's entrance. Voices, even. Pokémon voices.

Wow! Who could this be? Char wondered. A different team? Why would another team be here? Did we screw up the registration or something? Or maybe it's Team Remorse coming to check on us?

But, of all the things in the world Char was expecting to see walk into the room, he would have never guessed which two Pokémon were now approaching them.

Both Char and Saura felt their breath catch when they recognized the visitors who'd suddenly invaded the rest area. A Croagunk, followed closely by a Seviper, meandered into the room. Something clicked in Char's mind, and he instantly recognized them as the two thieves he'd met on his very first mission ever as a Resistance Team.

What… in the name of… Char wondered, forgetting the name on which he was supposed to swear by. These two... Why would they be here?

"We found you!" The Seviper hissed triumphantly. "That was not a pleasant dungeon to chase you through. You're getting pretty strong if you can handle this place."

"Heh heh, nonsense," the Croagunk added. "It was easy. Unpleasant, but easy. But we knew we'd catch up to you in the safe zone if we hurried."

Char dropped his food and stood up to the intruders. He really didn't know what to expect from them, but, at any rate, he prepared for a battle.

"Team X," Char growled at them, remembering the name they called themselves back at the hideout at the Empirical Falls. "What are you doing here?!"

"Char, do you recognize these guys?" Ray asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Char answered rudely. "These guys are thieves. We busted open one of their hideouts once, and now they're out for revenge!"

"Heh heh, is that all?" the Croagunk said bemusedly, taking a few more steps toward the team. "Is that who you think we are?"

"What's wrong with being thieves?" the Seviper said coolly. "Resistance teams have got to make a living somehow!"

That line took Char completely off-guard.

"What?!" he and Saura spat at nearly the same time.

"Listen," the Croagunk said. "We followed you here because we need to talk with you in private, somewhere… but without that Scyther around, you see? We waited for you, but he always went with you on missions, so we could never get near. But now, you're alone, and it's time we had a little talk."

Saura frowned, clearly not following what they were saying. "Well, spit it out!" he snapped. "You have us where you want us. What do you want?!"

"Listen, and listen carefully, you three," the Seviper hissed slyly. "I know we didn't get off to the greatest start back there at the waterfall. That Scyther misjudged us, you see. But we're not bad guys. Actually… we're your allies!"

"Yeah," the Croagunk continued. "This is Seviper, and I'm just Croagunk. We don't bother with the whole nicknames thing, you see. Together, we're Team X, an independent Resistance Team. Now, we've seen you traveling around, and we know that you have connections to a large network of resistance forces in this area…"

Char and Saura both tensed up as Croagunk stepped closer to them, a confident and evil expression spread across his face.

"…and we want in."

Char gulped. Were they serious?

"We have information that could help you make severe blows against the Master," Seviper said. "We need to entrust this information to someone. Someone… who has the power to do something about it. That's why we need you to take us into your base with you, and let us join you."

They couldn't be.

"And we can't take no for an answer," Croagunk croaked, "so if you're even thinking about rejecting us, forget it. Operating independently without the safety of your base is getting dangerous, especially with all the forces in this area nowadays. We need a place to stay!"

"Hmm," Ray said suddenly. "…What's in it for us?"

Char felt his jaw drop when he heard Ray's question. How could Ray be trusting these… these sinister villains? He tried to respond, but part of him wanted to hear the answer. Saura was suffering a similar conflict.

"Well, as your friends probably saw when they visited our humble abode, we're… quite rich," Seviper said with a grin. "Take us in, and we'll give you a handsome… load of money."

"Hmm, well, we are a little low on funds at the moment," Ray said, rubbing his chin. "How much money?"

"Four million Poké," Seviper proclaimed. "Four million Poké, yours for free, if you let us into your base."

"Hmm… will we get the money first?" Ray asked. "Or… after we've finished our end of the bargain?"

"If you prefer, we will gladly give you a small down payment," Seviper said. "So… do you accept, or not?"

"Hmm, I like your offer," Ray said. "But… mind if I have a quick talk with my team in private? We need to discuss some of the… terms… of this agreement."

Croagunk batted a hand, and the three quickly retreated to the opposite side of the Kangaskhan statue.

"What do we do?!" Ray blurted in a whisper. "These guys are crazy! They're just trying to trick us, and they're not even trying to be believable!"

"You had me worried for a second," Char admitted. "I thought you were being serious!"

"No, just trying to get them to think we would comply," Ray said. "Otherwise… I don't know what they'd be doing to us right now."

"Okay, I got a plan," Saura said. "Ray, you talk to them again. Char will go grab the bag. As soon as he has it, we run for it. They can't find us if we go deeper into the dungeon."

"Sounds good to me," Char said, shaking his head. "Wow… Team X? Here? And now? I knew they would be back for us someday, but… not like this!"

"Well…" Ray said, wandering back around the statue and speaking to Team X, "We thought about it, and we made a decision."

"I hope for your sake it's the right one, heh heh," Croagunk said. "Spill it."

"We accept your proposal," Ray said. "On one condition."

Croagunk croaked, raising an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"We get to run!" Ray shouted.

Not skipping a beat, Ray pivoted and dashed away from the poisonous team with surprising agility. The rest of his team were a few steps in front of him, heading for the archway that would lead deeper into the dungeon.

"Oh, is that how it is?!" Croagunk roared in rage, dashing after him to deliver a Poison Jab. "You cheap little brats! If that's the case, we'll have to do things the hard way!"

"Croagunk, enough," Seviper said quickly, stopping him. "They've already crossed the point of no return, we can't get them now."

It was true. All three of them had escaped. Croagunk watched with hopelessness as they disappeared down the next tunnel. If he wanted to follow, he'd have to brave the second half of the dungeon.

"Well, that was a miserable failure," Croagunk grumbled. "I told you before that this wasn't work!"

"We can't just give up and call it a failure," Seviper said, shaking its head. "We must try again."

"Try again?! I'm not going in there!" Croagunk snorted. "We had enough trouble as it was getting this far. Do you know what lives down there?! We can't fight Steelix! Not by ourselves!"

"True, true," Seviper said. "In this case, we leave, and we try again later. Next time, we'll get them. Next time."

Team X turned and started their trek out of the dungeon.

*Chapter 27*: Chapter 24: Victorious Defeat

Chapter 24

Iron Crevice B8F

Having their rest period cut short, the group started to feel a little weary and hungry as they continued into the catacombs. The hostile Pokémon were becoming ridiculously numerous, and there were always more waiting for them around every turn…

And then the Aron started appearing, and they knew things were not going to get any easier. The little armored rodents were a huge pain to fend off; they attacked in a berserker style with head-butting and jumping, using their steely bodies as bludgeoning weapons as they ferociously pounced at the team. What made them more difficult than fighting Rattata, though, was that their steel armor seemed to make them impervious to any damage at all.

Char found himself in a standoff with an Aron. He'd engaged it in battle, but soon found it to be a very difficult foe to beat down. After a painful scuffle that left him with some bruises, he backed off to catch his breath and to figure out what his next move would be.

Physical attacks do nothing to it, Char reminded himself. Only my fire seems to do any damage. I've got to keep my distance and try to burn it!

Although the creature was slow and easy to outrun, Char didn't want to be chased into places he wasn't looking. He knew that he could stumble on an inconsistency in the floor at any time, or possibly bang his head into a metal protrusion that had been filed down to a blade by Aron.

"Okay, this one's down," Ray reported from across the room after having knocked out a second Aron. "Do you need any help?"

Char didn't respond. No, he didn't want help. He wanted to take this one all on his own. His instincts insisted. He'd been a liability for nearly the entire trip, and he wanted to prove his strength just once…

Char blasted embers at the little creature, making sure to spread his attack wide to make it hard to dodge. But he couldn't hold himself back, and his attack turned into a full-blown flamethrower. The cave passageway filled with light as Char's fire blasted through the air, the flames roiling and billowing against the rocks…

When Char paused for breath, the Aron was still standing, a black scorch mark burned into the rock under its feet and across nearby walls. The thing blinked as if to get the smoke out of his eyes, and struggled to remain standing…

But then, with an angry bellow, it charged forward again. Char flinched at the sight of it coming, having thought for sure it would have been weakened by the attack. Before he could do anything, the Aron pounced and tackled Char head-on, knocking him down and sending them both sliding across the ground. Char tried to throw the thing off, but it was incredibly heavy, and it struggled fiercely to keep itself attached. Char jerked back each time the small, toothy mouth underneath the creature's helmet viciously lashed at his chest, dodging it by millimeters.

Unable to free himself, and starting to panic, Char felt his instincts tell him to do something he'd never done before. He returned the Aron's attacks, lashing with his own jaws and biting down on its foreleg. The powerful taste of steel filled his mouth, but he bit as hard as he could… and he realized that it wasn't his teeth that were dangerous, but the internal heat of his body. The Aron cried out in sudden agony, its leg burning at a temperature that its body was never built for. As Char kept his teeth clenched, he thought he could even feel the creature's steel armor starting to liquefy and become malleable within his maw…

After several seconds holding the Aron hostage, it thrashed and struggled and bashed Char in the head, leaping out of his hold. Char was amazed when he saw the result: the Aron's leg was glowing red-hot! Yet, it wasn't down for the count quite yet. As Char was getting back to his feet, the Aron bounced back and delivered a mighty head-butt to his chest, keeping him from recovering his balance and sending him careening face-first into a nearby gravel-filled crevice. He roared at the sudden shock of having dozens of rocks covering and colliding with his face, and felt his energy level starting to drop once again.

No, I will not be defeated by a little rat, even if it is covered in steel, Char told himself. I've got to defeat it! I don't care how…

That's when Char got an idea. It was a silly, underhanded idea, but it was something that Scythe suggested in a past mission, and it had worked surprisingly well in fending off a small swarm of Ninjask that had moved so blindingly fast that they were practically immune to most conventional attacks.

-Ping!-

The Aron winced when a small piece of gravel collided with its faceplate. It blinked in confusion, as if wondering what had happened.

-Ping! Thunk!-

More rocks came flying at the creature. It blinked and glared at Char in sudden uncertainty, as if to ask "What do you think you're doing? That's not fair!"

Char grinned as he picked up another large chunk of gravel from the pile in which he lay, taking aim and hurling it straight at the foe.

-Thunk.-

The rock hit the Aron between the eyes, rattling it. It didn't have much time to recover before another one came, glancing off the end of his faceplate. As Char pitched and lobbed rocks at the thing, he saw its resolve, surprisingly, start to waver. It thought for a moment of what to do…

Ultimately, it decided that it wasn't going to be outdone by some measly pebbles, so it decided to keep attacking. But when it tried another charge…

-Schink!-

Char gasped, not even realizing what had happened. The Aron suddenly had a rather large blade lodged deep within one of the black spots in its armor. In his scramble for rocks to throw, he'd picked up a sharp metallic formation that had fallen from the wall and hurled it. The Aron gave up control of itself, falling forward from its momentum and twitching as it slumped to the ground. It had been defeated.

"Yeouch," Char whispered to himself as he stared at the sight.

Saura was there in a second to help pull him out of the gravel pile and congratulate on his victory, though he tried not to take too much notice of the gruesome and potentially fatal injury that had ended the battle. Ray, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off it.

"That was pure genius!" Ray cheered. "Wow! I never would have thought that throwing rocks at a rock Pokémon would be so effective! And, wow, what is that thing? A knife? That looks lethal!"

"Well, you did it," Saura said warmly. "You took it out all by yourself. Do you feel proud?"

"You bet," Char said with a smile. "But we should keep going. If any more of these things show up, this is going to get old very fast."

"Hey, wait," Ray said suddenly. "Look. Look in the rocks. I think there are more of those spike things. Think we should take some with us? They look like they'd make some great weapons in a pinch."

It was a good idea. The team dug through the rock pile, searching for the slim remnants of metal that had been filed down and broken off the walls. They managed to find four silver spikes to pack in the bag before two more Aron appeared and prompted them to flee.

"Okay, new rule," Char said as they raced down the halls. "No more fighting, unless something's blocking our way. We've got to take every chance to flee. I'm starting to think that this place is a little over our heads. We can't be wasting our energy and our supplies until there's just no other choice."

"Just as long as we don't pass up places to search because we're running," Saura reminded him. "That Furret could be anywhere."

"Yeah. Our mission could be over any time now," Ray said. "I mean, what are the odds that the Furret is all the way on the bottom floor?"


Iron Crevice B11F

A few floors later, it was clear that the team was reaching its limit.

Their continued efforts had almost drained the bag. Two of the silver spikes were used in an attempt to escape a Rhyhorn encounter, and the Sleep Seeds were used to disable Gravelers. On floor 10, it was the end of the Stun Seeds and Blast Seeds, too…

Once, the group finally succeeded in knocking out a Graveler. It took two fully-charged energy balls from Saura, but it worked; the second attack actually chipped away a large portion of the boulder beast's head, causing some kind of black blood to ooze out and draining the thing's desire to keep fighting. It was a short-lived victory as another one showed up shortly after, but a victory nonetheless, and it gave Char a twinge of confidence to know that the team could defeat one with their own power.

Char was getting exhausted. Opportunities to take a breather were becoming too scarce, and countless unavoidable battles left him covered in scrapes and bruises. Char didn't dare heal himself with an Oran Berry, as there were only three of those left in the bag, and he wasn't going to use them until it was absolutely necessary. As for the food, only one apple and one bag of fruit were left, and Saura had all but vowed not to eat a bite until the thirteenth floor. So much for having enough food for two days!

Indeed, as they journeyed into the deepest levels of the dungeon, Char knew that there was one thought on everyone's mind:

How long can we keep this up?

Unfortunately, they were about to find out the answer.

Between running from Onix, belching fire at Golbat, and calling out for the Furret, Char was sure to keep his eyes open for items laying around on the cave floor. That Evasion Orb he'd recovered earlier wasn't the only thing he'd found. He also spotted two more, one of which identified itself as a "Longtoss Orb", and another as a "One-Shot Orb". Both were gladly stuffed into the bag upon sight. If they were going to complete the mission, he figured, they could use whatever supplies they could get.

That's why, when Char saw another gleam in the corner of his eye, his heart leapt. Laying on the floor in an adjacent room were not one, but two orbs! They sat in the center of an empty room, free for the taking. Char was always overjoyed to see the little blue spheres; it seemed that there was no limit to the useful things they could do. Secretly, he was hoping to find one that could cure his hunger, or heal his scrapes and scratches, or maybe even let him fly… or anything, really, to make this dungeon exploration more bearable!

"Sweet!" Char yelled happily, running straight for them. "More orbs! Ray, come here! Look at this!"

"Wow, Char! You must really have eyes for these things, or something!" Ray said in surprise, hurrying over with the bag. "Let's see what they do!"

Char eagerly clutched the first one, demanding identification from it. When it came, he was surprised that the telepathic voice seemed… different, somehow, if that were even possible. The voice sounded more elderly, or royal, or mystical, than any of the other orbs that he'd heard.

Spellcaster of One-Room, it said.

Char scratched his head.

"One Room?" he repeated. "Interesting… I think this orb might be different."

How does it work? Char asked the orb.

There was no answer.

"Different?" Ray asked. "Here, let me see."

Ray touched the orb, and soon wore the same puzzled expression as Char.

"Oh, weird," Ray said. "That must be one of the really old orbs, back before they started mass-producing them. It's definitely not a standard one… and it doesn't have built-in instructions, either. Oh, well. I guess we have Kecleon inspect it later, or we save it for when we're desperate."

"I can't imagine what it would do," Saura commented. "One Room? Do you think it would do something bad, like, seal us inside of a room or something? We wouldn't want that!"

The memory of being stuck in the storage room back at the base came to Char. Indeed, he didn't want to be trapped in a crack in the earth with no way out, especially without Saura's cherished Mobile Scarf, which his friend had not yet brought on a single mission for fear of losing it.

Whatever was the case with the orb, it was not going to get left behind. Ray shrugged and put it in the bag as Char turned his attention to the second one.

This is a Totter Orb, it said. Activate now?

"A Totter Orb!" Char repeated. "Does this… do what I think it does?"

Instructions? Char asked it.

A Totter Orb will disrupt the sensory processes of all Pokémon in a nearby radius, causing confusion and increasing the likelihood of collateral damage. Sentient or highly intelligent Pokémon can easily see through the effect and will experience no negative consequences from the spell, leaving only wild Pokémon subject to the full effect. Affected Pokémon will fully recover in one to five minutes.

"Wow, this is a really useful one," Char said. "I can see this one really saving our hides! What if… uh, guys?"

"Something tells me we shouldn't have come in here," Saura squeaked.

Surprised by Saura's tone, Char took his attention off the orb and glanced at the surroundings. It was then that he took notice of the room they were now standing in. It was a massive cavern with a surprisingly high ceiling and an even floor, except for some shallow, circular stair-steps of flat rock flowing out from the center of the room. The ceiling was adorned with a huge amount of the metal deposits, which covered the rock like shining fish-scales or pearls.

The room was so big, it was impossible to see completely. The light from his tail, bright as it was, wasn't enough to see very far; the flame only cast a small circle of light around them on the floor, and everything beyond it faded into the shadows…

Char didn't even have to ask what was wrong; the subtle vibrations in the floor and the occasional sound of scraping rock told him that there was trouble.

Slowly, very slowly, the sounds became louder. Closer.

Eyes started to gleam in the shadows. Many of them. They approached the strange new source of light which the intruders had brought.

Eyes… of many shapes and sizes.

Then, when they started to enter the circle of light so that Char could make out the shape of their shadows, he became truly afraid.

He saw a Geodude. Two of them. Three of them. Five of them. Behind them, the silhouettes of no less than three Graveler. Around them on the floor, countless Aron and Rhyhorn, amounting to at least twenty. Above them loomed the distinct shadows of Onix.

…All steadily drawing nearer.

His breath starting to catch, Char instinctively took a step backward. He found himself almost tripping over Saura, who'd huddled up against him closely. Ray was also close at his side.

"Char, no wonder those orbs were laying here," Ray whispered. "It was a hoard. Wild Pokémon like to hoard stuff… This room… must be… some kind of nest…"

-Crash! Thump!-

The group collectively jumped as several Aron, who'd been enjoying a meal of metal deposits on the ceiling, dropped to the floor to confront the intruders. Three of them fell in front of the hall, sealing off the escape route.

Char could feel the panic escalating. The Pokémon were closing in. They were about to be brutally, brutally massacred, and they were powerless to defend themselves against such a huge force of opposition…

…Unless…

The Totter Orb was still in his hands, and now would be the perfect time to use it.

"I'm going to use this," Char announced. "Once… I activate… all the Pokémon will get confused, and we all run for it. That should give us time to escape. We get to the stairs as fast as we can, so they can't follow us…"

"But… we only just got to this floor," Saura said. "What if… the Furret… was here?"

The Aron encircled them from one side, and the Geodude from the other. All they were waiting for was one sudden move… one tiny little reason to be provoked… and Char and his team would find themselves buried alive under a monstrous pile of rock Pokémon.

"Char…" Ray said. "Do it. It's either that, or… we fail the mission for good…"

Char squeezed the Orb in his hands, contacting it telepathically…

The moment he issued the order, a pulse resounded from the orb, accompanied by an odd white ripple which spread across the entire room. As the ripple struck the Pokémon, they appeared to suddenly become unfocused and lost track of their targets. The orb's color quickly faded, and it then shattered into thin shards of glass which struck the ground and disintegrated.

The Pokémon which filled the room started to wander around in various directions, as if their sense of purpose had been suddenly destroyed. Char turned his attention to the door through which they came. It seemed so far away now that the room had revealed its true identity… and now that dozens of wandering Pokémon stood in the way. Char knew that the Pokémon were still fully capable of attacking in their state of confusion—he'd learned that from experience—but their attacks would probably be less than accurate. Either way, it was probably best to keep away from them as they made their escape.

But as Char was tiptoeing around a confused Aron, an awful feeling shot through his body. Before he could realize what was happening, he stumbled and fell to the floor. The ground was violently vibrating underneath, and wouldn't stop. Pulse after pulse tore through him, making him feel like his body would crumble and apart.

Dimly, Char could see that the other Pokémon in the room were also suffering from the problem. In fact, the room had erupted into total chaos as every Pokémon sought to unleash their rage onto one another for the collateral damage the earthquakes were causing.

"No…" Saura cried once he realized what was happening. "The Gravelers are so confused, they're causing earthquakes… We've got to get out of here!"

"I… I can't get up…" Char replied weakly, resigning himself to laying on the floor. "It's… too… much… I can't… see straight…"

The earthquakes didn't stop. Rocks and chunks of metal fell from the ceiling, further propelling the madness as the Pokémon all beat up on each other. Feral roars filled the air, roars of both rage and pain, as well as the constant sound of stomping and clashing…

Char felt himself being pulled in Saura's direction, and only barely realized that Saura had sprouted his vines and was trying to drag him across the floor to safety. But the relentless shaking sensation had also taken its toll on Ray, and Saura was finding it difficult to drag them both along at once. Char knew that he wouldn't make it before the confusion would start to wear off from some of the Pokémon.

"Saura… you've got to do something," Ray moaned, unable to even move. "We won't… make it out unless you do something…"

"I'm trying!" Saura cried, pulling harder.

"No, Saura," Ray said. "Use… something… another orb… something… anything… from… the bag…"

Reluctantly, Saura let go of his teammates and attacked the bag with his vines as fast as he could manage. Swearing to himself, he dug into it, looking for anything that could possibly help the situation…

And then, there was silence.

Even though the earthquakes had ceased, Char couldn't tell… his head was still vibrating at painful speeds, making it impossible to focus. But the pain started to subside almost immediately, and the cacophony of cries that had filled the room just moments before was replaced with total silence, save for the gentle sound of gravel raining from the walls and ceiling after the last of the earthquake died down. All the Pokémon in the room… were gone.

"I used our Spurn Orb," Saura reported. "Now, quick! Get up, before we lose our chance to escape."

Char understood. Spurn Orbs contained spells designed to tap into the spatial anomaly of a Mystery Dungeon, causing sort of funnel which sucks in surrounding Pokémon and scatters them randomly about the same floor. The enemies were far from gone, and their safety was only momentary at best; it would only be a matter of time before the Pokémon would recover from confusion and find their way back to their nest room. In fact, he couldn't decide whether using the orb had been a good or a bad idea, as it simply filled the rest of the dungeon floor with the same countless crowds of Pokémon that had once been confined to the single room… but what was done was done, and now, survival was the first priority…

Char tried to stir, and felt as an Oran Berry was shoved in his face. He gobbled it up, and waited eagerly for his head to stop spinning and pounding. Ray also welcomed the berry that Saura fed him, and did his best to find his senses quickly.

The moment Char got back to his feet, there it was: the sound of Pokémon cries echoing through the halls. They were on the move, and they were everywhere

When the group was finally ready to escape, they began their all-out rush back to the hallway to search for the stairs and to be rid of this awful, unfortunate floor…

…but it was not meant to be. After only a few paces back into the hall, they could tell that the wild Pokémon where there, fully recovered from confusion, and in an all-out stampede. There was no way to continue onward.

Panicked, the team retreated back to the nest room, and quickly checked for another way out of the room. There wasn't one.

That's when they realized… even after all that, they would have to fight. There wasn't any other way out of it.

The Pokémon were coming. Nothing was going to stop them this time. Char, Saura, and Ray stood before the nest room's entrance, waiting for them to arrive.

"You know," Ray said feebly, "remember when Scythe taught us that it's a lot easier to fight enemies when they're funneling down a hall, rather than when they're surrounding you? Well, at least we have that advantage…"

It was true; fighting enemies as they practically came single-file down a hallway was so much easier than fighting them out in the open… but somehow, now that they were about to be faced with an entire wave, the tactical advantage didn't seem all that… advantageous.

For the next few moments, the team stood in silence as they waited for the Pokémon to arrive. In less than a minute, they would be there… Char could feel his heart pounding harder than ever before, anticipating, in horror, the hopeless and brutal scene which was undoubtedly about to play out.

"Char, I need to know something," Saura said, breaking the silence. "Before this happens, I just want to know what our resolve is. Do you want us to use the Escape Orb when all seems lost, or… are we going to… fight to the very end? Whatever you say now… it will be the final word. I just need to know what you want us to do."

Char thought for a moment. He recalled all of Team Ember's previous missions. They'd failed missions before, even under the guide of Scythe… but never this badly. Char saw in retrospect that he'd decided upon a mission that he was in no position to take. Why? Why, he asked himself, did he agree to this mission? Was it because it sounded easy? Or was it because he let Ray talk him into it, in order to impress Scythe? Or was it just because he overestimated his strength, and the strength of his team? Or was it because he was afraid of underestimating their strength, and wanted it proven to him? Did he get caught up in Team Ember's hype? Their popularity? The way that other teams praised them as prodigies? Why, oh, why, did they pick such a mission as their first independent mission, the one mission they would always remember as their first opportunity to truly prove themselves?

Honestly, Char didn't know. But, in thinking about it, one thing became abundantly clear. He didn't know whether to call it courage or insanity, and he wasn't entirely sure it wasn't just his inner fire speaking for him, but he knew the answer to Saura's question.

"We fight," Char said solemnly, even though his voice was wavering with weakness and uncertainty. "If we fail, we learn what failure tastes like, and just how badly it hurts, so we can become stronger and take our risks that much more responsibly next time. But if we have a chance… just… whatever slightest chance we may have to get through this… if the legendary dragons were to smile upon us and grant us the power to win… If there's even one chance we'll someday be able to look back on this mission and not see a failure, but an incredible victory against all odds, or a story to tell… we can't turn it down."

"Well said," Ray replied. "I didn't expect anything less from you, Char. Since the moment I joined this team, that's exactly how I expected you to feel. This is the Team Ember, after all! Well, whatever happens, I'll be right here, fighting at your side, until I can't fight anymore!"

"Then, it's decided," Saura said. "No using the orb. This isn't over until all three of us pass and get expelled from the dungeon. Whatever happens… we fight to the end!"

"To the end!" Ray cheered. "To the end! To the very end! We fight!"

"The fire will never die," Char said to himself, breaking a weak little smile, "until the last ember fades."

Char knew that Team Ember finally found its mantra. Just saying the words for the first time sparked something powerful inside of him, just like it had the first time he heard Team Remorse collectively proclaim why they rise each morning. It was a purpose, a phrase he could live by. He knew, now, what he wanted the team to stand for: they were united by a burning passion for victory, and they were in it together, no matter the cost… and it would not be over until it's over.

The grunting and grumbling of an agitated Onix sounded from down the hall. Char didn't see anything yet, but he could tell that the final moments were upon him.

"We… have to use everything," Char realized. "Now's the time. All the orbs… All the tricks we have … If we want to have a chance, we've got to use them all now!"

Ray dug into the bag. He produced the one they'd been waiting to use, the Rain Orb, and activated it. Immediately, a dark blanket of clouds formed just beneath the cave's ceiling… which soon produced a moderate drizzle. It was a truly impossible to sight to see a rainstorm inside of a cave, but the power of the orb could not be questioned. Even though it would weaken Char's power, it caused a great advantage over all the rock Pokémon, who were damaged by water, as well as gave Ray an opportunity to summon lightning bolts from the storm itself, his most powerful technique. Char did not welcome being covered in rain, but his tail fire was now burning so brightly that he felt barely any pain from it.

Next came another orb: the Evasion Orb, the first one they found in the cave. It would only work for one user, so Ray decided to give it to Char to compensate for having to bear the rainstorm. He used it, and he felt his reflexive instincts rise to a level he never thought possible.

Finally, Ray distributed the remaining supplies to everyone else: He gave the two silver spikes to Char, the Cross-Eye Seed to Saura, and he held the One-Shot Orb for himself. Then, he tossed the bag into the farthest corner of the room, and waited with his teammates in a moment of burning tension for the attack to begin.

The first wave came: One Onix, two Graveler, and four Aron. Char got up close to the Onix and blasted fire in its face. Whenever it tried to strike back, it seemed to Char that he could see the attacks several seconds before they actually happened, and was able to nimbly leap out of harm's way each time. Eventually, he found that he could use the spikes he held as slashing weapons, and that they were especially effective for damaging the beast. Brandishing the spikes like metallic claws, he managed to leap onto the rock snake's back and repeatedly thrust the spikes into one of its body segments until the rocky skin was pierced in multiple places and the weird black blood oozed out. After taking enough injury, the Onix crashed to the ground. Char was the victor.

Flashes of lightning illuminated the intense battle as Ray summoned the power of the thunderstorm, targeting the Aron and electrocuting many of them at once. They swarmed forth like rabid dogs, but they fell like flies to Ray's attacks, and he was able to cull the flow before they got any closer to him or his teammates.

Saura focused on the Graveler, assaulting them with a barrage of bullet seeds. When they were sufficiently damaged, he stepped back to prepare an energy ball. In the confusion of the battle, the Graveler were distracted and didn't seem to notice Saura much, giving him plenty of time to cultivate the ball to its maximum size, take aim, and release at the nearest one. When the attack connected, a shower of dust and rock shards exploded from the Graveler's side, knocking it out. The second one, he realized, was preparing a truly devastating attack—to self-destruct in protection of his home—so he cried for help, and Char pounced on it to drive the metal spikes into its body. Char figured that he'd struck a weak point, because as soon as the spikes were plunged in, the Graveler's eyes rolled into its head and it fainted, falling onto its side and settling motionlessly against its arms and legs. To Char's disappointment, he could only recover one of his spikes, the other was hopelessly wedged in.

When the last of the enemies fell, the team stopped to catch their breaths and to gaze upon the pile of defeated Pokémon which surrounded them. They gave a wholehearted and triumphant cheer, truly impressed with their own strength.

The next group came, composed of several Rhyhorn, Many more Aron, and two Onix. Ray began the attack on the Aron, only to find that the bolts of lightning he created diverged from their paths and were drawn harmlessly to the Rhyhorn. Cursing the existence of the biological lightning rods, he focused power into his tail to attack them physically. Running past the sea of Pokémon and barely dodging their attacks, Ray unleashed the Iron Tail technique upon it, missing his target but slashing deep into its face and mortally damaging it. On another one, he unleashed the power of the One-Shot Orb, causing its consciousness to leave immediately. On another he charged his tail once more and attacked, this time connecting perfectly and lopping off the beast's horn, disabling its bothersome ability. He repeated the process twice more with the remaining Rhyhorn, not resting until he could make his electric attacks work again, but taking considerable damage as he rushed through the sea of attackers to single out his targets.

Between batting away the pesky Aron with his vines, Saura rapidly launched his leaves at the nearest Onix which pierced the sides of its rocky flesh in many places. The snake took notice of him and descended to attack, But Char jumped in the way. He leapt onto the beast's head and plunged his spike between its eyes. The snake thrashed about for a few moments before collapsing onto the pile of beaten Pokémon and becoming part of it. Char retrieved his weapon, shuddering as he found it covered in the thick, oily substance…

Char turned to the second Onix, taking aim with the spike to attempt the same trick. However, when the Onix loomed near, Char was suddenly struck in the face by an angry Aron and tackled to the ground. Saura rushed into help, tossing the Cross-Eye Seed at the Onix to destroy its sense of vision. He grappled at the rock snake's head with his vines to pull it close, then launched an energy ball point-blank into its face. It couldn't recover, and slumped down.

Soon, after Ray had succeeded in his efforts to destroy the Rhyhorn, lightning once again rippled through the sky and brought a quick finish to the rest of the Pokémon that were not resistant to it. Before they knew it, there was another moment of silence when the second wave had been finished off.

The team gave another heartfelt cheer at their accomplishment, but a weary one. They could feel their energy getting drained as they repeatedly used their most powerful attacks, and their wounds were getting quite numerous as more and more wild Pokémon successfully connected attacks with them. But the rain continued to fall, and Char still felt the full effects of the Orb he'd cast on himself, and many of the attackers were still heavily damaged from the earthquakes earlier—Team Ember still had plenty of fight left in them.

But then, the third wave arrived, and it was much more than they were prepared for.

A fully-grown Rhydon, A rather large Onix, several Graveler, an entire swarm Geodude and Aron, of Golbat and Zubat…

And that's when the floodgates broke. The team found themselves having to fall back, letting the Pokémon trample over the pile of fallen foes and pour into the room. That's when Char realized that they were probably not going to win a third time.

Char charged at the Rhydon with his spike, but soon found himself in awe of how massive the beast was! It swept its tail forward, which Char easily jumped over, then bent down to swipe at Char with its claws. Char jumped onto its face and prepared to finish it with the spike, but the beast lurched and threw Char all the way across the room. He hit the ground hard and skidded across the wet rock floor, stopping when he collided with a large stalagmite near the corner of the room. A clang resounded as his spike hit the floor a few feet away.

… As he lay there, he felt strange, like he was falling out of reality...

...He was blacking out.

No, no, no! Char said to himself, feeling his senses fading. I'm not finished! I can't fall asleep now. No… no…

Char knew that his limit was drawing near. The battle that raged on the other side of the room seemed so distant, as if it was in another reality, or a memory. Char could barely feel his own body… He couldn't feel the rain hitting his face, or his tail… He winced wildly, fighting the urge to succumb to weariness…

After a while, Char had the horrible realization that he didn't have the slightest idea how long he'd been laying there.

They need me, Char told himself. I need to fight. I need to… get up! They can't do this without me!

Taking no time to recover his spike, he pulled himself up and dashed on all fours back to the front line.

But when he got there, he found that the wild Pokémon had all settled down.

…Saura and Ray were nowhere to be found.

Pure dread washed Char. He didn't waste a moment wondering what happened; he knew. While he was down, both of his friends had been defeated. They'd taken too much damage and gotten expelled from the dungeon, leaving Char completely alone with the army of enemy Pokémon.

"Orr?"

The Onix grunted in surprise as turned to Char, noticing that the intruders hadn't been completely eradicated. It scowled and assumed its battle stance once more, and the rest of the Pokémon congregation did the same.

This isn't even possible…

Char gazed upon his enemies. They filled the room, outnumbering him almost fifty-to-one. He was faced with dozens of Aron who'd been feasting upon their dead comrades, dozens of Golbat that lined the ceiling and stared at him, Several Graveler that stared back with their evil gaze… and, in front of them all, one giant Onix that loomed above them all, like some kind of leader or commander. The rock Pokémon waited and watched the little Charmander for a move that could provoke them…

I'm not going to win this battle…

Char felt very sick to his stomach. He'd never been faced with such overwhelming odds before. He was so little, and weak, and they were so numerous… And he was so hungry, and tired… For the first time, he noticed the stinging of the rain against his flame.

But… we promised to fight… Ray and Saura fought until the end… and now, it's my turn…

And then, Char felt something truly incredible. A sort of euphoria overtook him, igniting his fire and bringing it to a full-bodied blaze. A brilliant white light filled the room as Char's flame grew to a marvelous size. Char felt all his pain and discomfort fading away. His dizziness, his hunger, and the feel of the rain were all drowned out, leaving him with only the burning feeling.

When a Charmander is faced with its final moments, Domo had told him once in a training session, it will experience a sort of second wind, re-igniting its Ember and giving its fire unprecedented power. When you find that your energy is no more, when there is no longer fuel for your fire, you will start to use your very life force as fuel. It is during this time that you can reach your full potential as a Pokémon, able to overcome impossible challenges and insurmountable tasks…

Char clenched his fists. Even his fear was fading away now, giving way to the passion that engulfed him.

Once you feel the blaze of your second wind, he remembered Domo saying, don't hold it back! Let it all out, for it is your last hope for survival, and you might be impressed at just what it can do… Just let yourself go, and let Moltres take control!

Char couldn't really remember what happened next. He attacked, and it was like a fire spirit was taking over his body and discharging power he could not comprehend. Still under the effects of the Evasion Orb, he could dodge nearly every attack that came at him, and retaliated with incredible streams of fire. Every Aron that got close to him was burned. Every bat that got too close was singed out of the air. The Onix became infuriated as Char easily danced around his efforts to attack while spitting red-hot embers into its eyes.

As much as Char tried, he couldn't stand his ground. The Pokémon flooded in, pushing him farther and farther back towards the corner. But he kept dodging, and attacking, and dodging some more, not able to count all the Pokémon that fell… but the wave just kept coming.

The bag!

At the sudden realization, Char began an immediate retreat, lunging for the back of the room. It seemed to baffle the attacking Pokémon, and they approached a little more slowly, giving Char some extra time to gather himself…

He spotted the bag and dove into it. An Apple. The Escape Orb. No, no… that's not what he wanted…

He pulled out the strange Orb that he'd found in the same room. The "Spellcaster of One-Room". He hadn't the slightest idea what it did, but if it was something at all useful, he needed it now more than ever!

Activate! He cried to it with his mind.

As the Orb cracked and discharged its power, Char started to feel the very last thing he wanted to feel: an earthquake. Up and down, side-to-side, the ground shook violently. Char grabbed the bag and held on as tight as he could to the nearest stalagmite, still not knowing what to expect from the Orb's power…

To his amazement, Char watched as the walls of the room simply crumbled away, revealing the halls and corridors beyond the room. And those walls, too, were also soon destroyed, revealing even more corridors and halls. The walls seemed to unnaturally collapse in on itself, leaving an impossibly small amount of rubble behind… The chain-reaction continued until char found himself standing in a flat sea of darkness, surrounded only by the circle of light from his tail, and the faraway noise of collapsing rocks as the spell continued to work, and, of course, the gentle sound of the rain…

That's it! Char realized. One-Room… it turns the entire dungeon floor into one room! Yes! That's exactly what I needed! Now I can keep going! I can win! I don't believe this. I was right! We really did have a chance. Dialga and Palkia must really be smiling on us!

He hefted the bag onto his shoulder and made a mad dash away from the angry crowd of Pokémon. They were still very numerous and scattered all around the dungeon floor, but with no obstacles in the way, Char found it so easy to avoid them. Now, all he had to do… was find the stairs…

And he soon found them. They were at the very, very corner of the entire dungeon floor. There was just one problem.

Coiled around entrance to the stairwell, guarding it, was a rock snake more massive than any he'd ever seen before.

It was not an Onix. No, instead of having a rough gray hide, this one had a shining silver sheen. Its jaws mouth was many times bigger and filled with a large row of teeth… almost like a dragon's…

And when it spotted the tiny little fire-lizard, its evil eyes betrayed its resolve:

You will not get past me!

Char knew he had to defeat it if he wished to get past it. He could see in its eyes that it would not have things any other way.

Char dug into the bag one last time. He grasped the last useful thing he had, the remaining Oran Berry, and started to pull it out… But he realized that, if he ate it, his firepower would return to normal, giving him no chance whatsoever against the Steelix…

So, with a determined sigh, he tossed the bag aside and turned to the monster.

It was steel. Fire could melt steel. And he had fire. He had a chance.

Char focused his fire on the beast's face, deducing that it was the best weak point. He saw, though, that the rain did not seem to be bothering the Steelix as much as it did the other Pokémon, and was only helping to dowse his own fire attacks.

The Steelix responded by sounding a high-pitched screech and uncoiling itself, aiming its long, spiked tail at Char's position. Seeing the attack coming, he rolled out of the way, just to have the tail smash the ground beside him, barely missing his feet. Char somersaulted out of the tail's reach before it could glance him with a sweeping blow.

Seeing Char out of range, but not wanting to back away from the stairs in which it guarded, the Steelix reared its head into the air and roared, releasing a bright beam of light from its mouth. Char wondered if it was a Hyper Beam, and took special care not to get hit by it. He came in closer, prompting the Steelix to cease the attack and to try again with its tail. Like a giant mace, it snaked forward and tried to bludgeon Char's entire body…

But as the Steelix jerked its tail forward, it lowered its head and gave Char just the opportunity he was waiting for. He leapt over the tail as it passed underneath him and caught the ridges on the monster's face, quickly climbing out of the reach of its toothy mouth.

And he bit down as hard as he could.

The Steelix thrashed violently, slamming its head against the wall and trying to knock Char off. It roared in fury, working its tail up near its head to try to remove Char, but it couldn't quite reach, or it couldn't think of a way to unhinge the Charmander from its forehead without also hurting itself. It proceeded to uncoil itself and bash Char against the ceiling, then shake violently in hopes of throwing him off.

Through it all, Char's jaws held on.

He could feel, underneath his tongue, the steel starting to melt. He could see as the red-hot glow started to creep from underneath his maw…

The world seemed to turn in all directions as the Steelix contorted itself in unbelievable ways. It managed to squeeze Char between a segment of its tail to rip him out of place, but Char held on. It took huge bites of rock out of the wall and slammed its head into the craters, but Char held on. It whined and wailed as its faceplate actually began to melt, repeatedly slamming itself against the floor and shaking the cave with earthquakes, but Char, with all his strength, held on. His blazing Ember drove him.

Finally, when the metal between his teeth became too soft to grasp, when his face was practically smeared with molten steel, Char let go.

…And the Steelix crashed to the ground, unable to survive the impalement.

Char was thrown off and finally fell back to the floor. The battle was over, but he didn't feel all too well himself. After everything the Steelix had done to him, he felt like one living bruise…

I defeated a Steelix… with my bare hands…

An odd sensation came over him. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, but somehow, it felt… pleasant…

I don't believe it… I can't believe how powerful I am… I defeated… a Steelix…

Char stumbled around, his vision spinning wildly before him. His whole body tingled and responded strangely to his commands.

Why… do I feel like this? What's happening to me?

Char tried to keep walking, wondering about this new sensation that was overtaking him as his surge of fire was dying down. He welcomed it, wanting it to intensify…

No, it can't be! I… I must be… evolving!

A gleeful smile formed over Char's face as he looked down at himself.

Finally, I've exerted my strength, and I'm going to be a Charmeleon! I'm… so happy…!

Char's next step didn't connect with the floor. He slumped down onto his face, unconscious. Of course, he hadn't been evolving at all; he'd passed out from hunger.


Iron Outskirts

Blurry…

Muffled voices…

Light… it was light…

Hunger…

Pain…

Char began to stir, not having the slightest clue where he was. He deduced that he was lying on his back, and that he was outside. He was soaking wet, covered with sweat. No, not sweat, but the rain from the cave. A blurry blob entered his line of sight, and it took him a moment before he recognized it as Saura.

"He's waking up," Saura said.

"Finally," Ray said from somewhere else.

"Char, how do you feel?" Saura asked gently.

Unable to speak quite yet, Char simply shook his head. He felt a little better than before, but not by much.

"Ray is looking for food," Saura told him. There was a distinct sadness in his voice. "As soon as we are ready, we'll… head back to the base."

"We… lost…" Char struggled to say.

Saura nodded. Even Char could see that he was holding back tears. Yes, the dungeon had overpowered them. They had not succeeded on their mission to save the Furret. They had quite a story to tell Scythe and the others, but it wasn't one with a happy ending. Char just sighed and rested his body, watching the dark storm clouds in the sky shift by, reflecting upon the monumental effort he'd just given, and feeling proud of it, in a way. They did exactly what they promised to do—they fought until the end. For better or for worse, they fought until the end.

It had been a victorious defeat.

Of course, the bag had been left behind in the cave, so the team had no food or supplies at all. Ray searched around and found some odd little twig-shrubs growing among the gravel and bearing tiny blue berries. After Saura confirmed that they were not poisonous, Char filled his aching belly with them and eventually regained enough energy to stand. About half an hour later, after his body had regenerated enough, and after his team had taken one last look at the dungeon entrance, Char hung his head and took his leave with his team, heading back to the road to begin their journey home.

…But then…

"Hey! Hey! Come back!"

When they were just a few paces away from the dungeon entrance, a voice cried out. It was coming from the cave.

Surprised, Char turned… and could not believe his eyes.

A little brown Furret, in a state of absolute joy, bounded out of the entrance of the Iron Crevice. Tears of happiness flooded from its eyes as it rapidly approached Char's team. There was no doubt in Char's mind: this was the Furret they had been tasked to rescue. And now, it seemed, after all their effort, it had simply rescued itself…?

"Hey! You! Come back!" it said again, running closer.

"Not possible," Saura said, shaking his staring blankly at it. "If that's the Furret… the one we were looking for…"

In a state of speechlessness, the team allowed the Furret to approach them. Once it did, it jumped for joy in their faces and ceaselessly uttered words of thanks.

"You were in the cave, just now, right?" It asked, standing on its back legs and bowing before Char. "You were the ones who were exploring the cave?"

"Yes, that was us…" Saura managed to say.

"Well, you have my greatest, deepest thanks! Indeed, indeed! Yes! I had given up all hope, every last ounce! But now you're here, and I'm free! I don't know who you are, but I owe you everything!"

"Um…" Char said meekly. "What… happened to you? I'm a little confused…"

"Well, you see, I was out late last night," the Furret explained. "But it got really dark, and I was too far away from Iron Town, so I hid in a cave. But the cave was a Mystery Dungeon, so I got trapped there, and I hid in the shadows for my life, hoping that my friends would notice my disappearance and report me missing. But nobody came… I waited for hours, but nobody came… Well, at least it felt like it was hours, it's a little hard to tell how time passes in those dungeons, anyway."

"Yeah, but how did you get out just now?" Saura asked. "Why are you thanking us? The dungeon wiped us out!"

"Well, you see," it explained, "I was getting really hungry, so I started searching the floor for food. Rotten old berries, gummies, anything… And then, I found something that wasn't there before! A bag! And the bag had food in it! And not only that, but there was an Escape Orb in there, too!"

Char felt his jaw drop. It just couldn't be possible. Could the legendary dragons possibly favor him any more?

"I'd searched the floor dozens of times before, but it had just appeared there, so the only explanation is that you guys left it behind and it somehow got sent to me. So, you're the ones who saved my life!"

The Furret suddenly lunged forward and gave Char a hug.

Char was unable to say anything as he returned the sudden embrace. He held the Furret tight as it trembled from pure relief and joy, while he himself could only stare blankly at the cave entrance.

*Chapter 28*: Chapter 25: Return Home

Chapter 25

Route 325

It was a little after midday as Team Ember began the trek back home, the overjoyed Furret in tow.

Broken blankets of dark clouds still spread across the sky, but the rain no longer fell. The sun now found plenty of places to shine through, shedding rays of light onto the drenched landscape and making it sparkle. The ground had become a sea of mud covered in standing puddles, the wet gravel road forming an endless bridge through it and into the horizon. The morning storm had finally passed, and it was looking to become another warm and gorgeous spring day.

Char still wasn't feeling too well as he walked. He felt like half the muscles in his body had been pulled, and the other half paralyzed. The mission had been won and the day's work was over, but he was in no mood for celebration; nothing pleased him more than the thought of getting back to base, plopping himself down somewhere, and endlessly stuffing himself with food until he'd fall asleep. He figured that a visit to the doctor was probably in order as well; he had, after all, just come closer to death than ever before, evidenced by the brand new experience he'd felt of having his body activate its last-resort response. Surely Dr. Orde owned plenty of advanced regeneratives that could help him heal and make him feel better in no time, ready to attack the world anew the very next morning. But, for now, he took the road one step at a time and tried to find comfort in chatting with his companions.

To pass the time, Char exchanged stories with his teammates. Saura explained that he'd caught sight of Char's brutal encounter with the Rhydon, and in his distraction had gotten nearly smashed by a Graveler. He described how, in the last moments before the end, he'd also felt the final surge of power to give his all; that his body was growing so fast that he barely had time to release all his attacks, and that he was able to even produce and control six vines at once, something that he'd never been able to do before. But, it wasn't enough to save him, and the vicious little Aron eventually ganged up on him and finished him. Ray, left alone on the front line, met his end soon after. They knew they were finished when they awoke in the "real" dimension, and together, they waited around in the cave for Char. They knew they couldn't stay forever, or else they'd just be assimilated back into the dungeon and become just as lost and helpless as the Furret. But they stayed as long as they could, and sure enough, Char eventually materialized, beaten up and unconscious. He was easy to pinpoint, as usual, due to being the only source of light in the entire room, and Saura and Ray carried him out of the cave.

Char, of course, had a much more monumental story to tell, and had to assure his friends that he hadn't just dreamed it up—he could still feel the lump on his head from where the Steelix had repeatedly slammed him into the ceiling. Once he convinced them, they were quite impressed, and gave him a hearty showering of praise for his victory.

But in the end, it didn't really matter how Team Ember had gotten thrown out of the cursed cave; the mission was behind them, and it was time to look forward.

"So…" Saura whispered, trying to be discreet around the Furret, "I can't decide. Did we succeed, or did we fail?"

"We won," Ray said. "We accomplished the objective, right? If it wasn't for us, that Furret would still be trapped in there. We saved it. That's exactly what the objectives said. We got lucky, but we still did it. We get to report the victory and get our reward."

"Well, yeah," Saura said. "But…"

"Both," Char suddenly spoke up, his voice betraying his pain. "It was both. It was a win and a loss at the same time. We've got to learn from this… Now we know how weak we are in places like that. We've got to train… and get some better supplies… maybe even a new member…"

Char looked back to the Furret. It was a polite little creature, hanging back a ways to let the team converse in private. But its smile never faltered, and it seemed content to just gaze at the rocky wasteland through which they walked as if it was some sort of gorgeous natural wonder. Char knew that the creature had given up all hope of seeing the outside world again, and just watching the sunlight gleam off the murky puddles was a glorious sight for its little eyes.

"Hey, Furret," Char called to it, causing it to jump to attention. "Who are you, anyway? What's your name?"

It wasted no time in bounding forward, closing the distance between itself and the team.

"My friends call me Fern," it said, a little nervously. "I'm… Well, I'm nobody special, really. I was the only daughter in a family of twelve, so I came to Iron Town to get away from my brothers, and it took me three years to earn a feral-shard. There really isn't much to do around here, you know, if you're not a student at the academy. Just work, work, work… I have some friends around town, and we like to eat at the gardens sometimes, or go swimming , but… yeah. That's me."

Char shrugged. He hadn't asked for the creature's life story, only her name, but he wasn't going to sound rude and cut her off. This was obviously the most eventful thing that had happened to her in years, he figured he'd let her ramble and enjoy herself.

"Oh, come on, there must be something special about you!" Saura laughed. "Don't sound all depressed!"

"No, no, really, it's true," Fern said. "I don't have much in the way of hopes or dreams. Never felt much like starting a family… Never got interested in battling, or training, or exploring… My only real desire is to wake up each day and see the morning sun one more time… and maybe contribute a little bit of work to society along the way… I'm not going to lie to you, my heroes, but I'm about as boring as Pokémon come!"

It took Char off-guard a little bit to hear her answer. A Pokémon without hopes and dreams? Was she really content with just dwelling in some house or burrow day after day, never striving for something great? From the day he first awoke in the Gravelrock Tunnel, Char found himself constantly surrounded by Pokémon who shared a powerful sense of purpose, and rose from their sleep every day to further themselves toward it. Were the Pokémon who lived among the civilizations of Ambera different from the inhabitants of the Gold Division? Were they all such stagnant souls with nothing to do? Or was it just his humanity speaking within him again, unable to acknowledge that Pokémon didn't need the same ultimate desires for fulfillment or greatness that he always did?

"You only have one life to live," Char said. "You can't tell me that you'd just let it waste away without making something of it. When you close your eyes at night to sleep, do you ever dream about anything? Have you ever dreamt about having some sort of power that you could only yearn for? Or doing things you wished you could do? Or do you see people in your dreams you wish you could meet? Or maybe places that you could see?"

Fern smiled oddly, a little surprised at the questions. "Well, I think everybody dreams about flying," she laughed. "But I don't fret over it. Furret can't fly. All we do is stand around and feel jealous of all the Charmander!"

Char frowned, not at the horrible joke, but because the Furret still didn't seem to reveal any further depth to her character. Maybe it was just because of his pain and frustration, but he couldn't accept the thought of a sentient creature living such a shallow existence.

"Well, now that I think about it, maybe there are some things I'd like to do before I die," she said thoughtfully. "I've always wanted to meet a legendary Pokémon and ask them what it's like to be so powerful. Yeah, silly, I know. How many times does that happen? Pokémon spend their entire lives searching for Lugia and Ho-Oh and never even come close to catching a glimpse of them. But since you asked, I suppose that's been a little fancy of mine for as long as I can remember."

"Why don't you?" Char insisted. "Search for them, I mean? If your dream is to see Lugia or Ho-Oh, why don't you start on a journey to find them?"

"Eh, I suppose because it's dangerous," Fern shrugged. "If I stay here in a wealthy city, I know I can live out a good long life, and that's what I want more than anything else. Even coming here from the meadow, I had a few close calls. Traveling is dangerous, you know. Wild Pokémon aren't always safe to be around. And then there's the Master to worry about… never know what he's going to do next, and don't really want to be there to find out. I don't think it's all worth it just for a chance to satisfy some silly little whim."

Char closed his mouth tight, afraid that he'd lose control and start spewing impolite words. You say that now, Char said to himself, but I think you'd change your mind if you were standing face-to-face with Lugia. I can't believe you! You can't just live without a purpose! Settling for just the simple pleasures in life is called being simple-minded! Do you enjoy being simple-minded, Fern?

"Char, are you okay?" Saura whispered in a concerned tone, noticing his flaring tail flame. "She's not bothering you, is she?"

"Nah, not really," Char sighed back. "It's not her. It's just—"

Char's expression changed as he suddenly realized something. Like most of the Pokémon he'd met, Fern said she felt threatened by the presence of the Master. Perhaps… this was the ultimate reason she ignored any dreams she might have felt, writing them off as silly and impractical?

How many Pokémon like this have been robbed of their dreams because of the Master? Char wondered. How many Pokémon live trapped in their cities for survival like this, afraid to live life the way it was meant to be lived?

"…Just what, Char?" Saura insisted, still eying the flame.

"I just want to get home and rest, that's all," Char said. "It's been a long morning."

"Hey, but enough about me," Fern said. "You're the interesting Pokémon! Who are you, if I can ask?"

As Scythe had since taught them, it was best not to talk too much about the Division. Even saying your name could be pushing it, as it could give the Master's agents something to keep track of.

"Just Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Raichu," Char lied. "We don't really have names."

"Oh, I see," Fern said. "You know, until now, I didn't know that Charmander still lived in Ambera! I thought you all left a long time ago to go live in the human countries. So… are you guys all part of some kind of club? Maybe a rescue force or something?"

"We do this for a living, yeah," Char said. "But… it's a secret. We can't talk about it."

"Wow, a secret club!" Fern said. "I bet that's really exciting!"

"You're right about that," Ray laughed. "It really is!"

The rest of the walk was uneventful. Fern fell mostly silent after she learned that her heroes were members of a secret organization and couldn't afford to reveal too much about themselves. Through it all, something about her still deeply bothered Char; although she clearly appreciated the rescue, she was quiet, content, and unquestioning. She was resigned to her life, and truly had no regrets about anything. Char knew that he was probably just looking at it irrationally and it was probably normal for Pokémon to accept their place in life, but something… Something within him disagreed with her.

Of course, he realized, that's why he was on a Resistance Team in the first place: the state of Ambera was unacceptable to him, and the best way to change it would be to defeat the Master.

… … …

After quite a long walk, they finally arrived to Iron Town, an active truly impressive stronghold that spanned miles and easily outweighed the Silver Division in terms of population by at least twofold. The vast Pokémon dwelling was probably the most human-like city Char had ever seen in all of Ambera; buildings and structures were all composed of the area's most abundant natural resources—metals—and, despite their odd shapes and architecture at times, rose high above Char's head like miniature skyscrapers. The sight of the city always made Char happy somehow, sparking faint reminders of his humanity.

Fern lead the team through the network of paved gray roads, and they soon arrived at her house. It turned out to be a little, discreet building among a spaced-out neighborhood near the edge of town. The foundation and pillars of the house were made of some kind of metal, and cemented to them were walls made from the same material as the roads, a blindingly white stone that almost resembled sandstone, sparkling to the eye from every direction.

"Wait here!" Fern said before scurrying into the house. "I'll be right back! I really need to give you and your secret club a reward for what you've done."

Char had long since stopped exciting himself over most of the rewards given by the clients themselves; They rarely amounted to more than a hundred Poké, or maybe an odd possession or article of clothing every now and then. Most Pokémon of Ambera didn't really have much in the way of possessions, or at least that's what it seemed to him by the jobs from the training list he'd taken; he figured that he would probably start to see greater rewards when Team Ember became ready for the more high-priority jobs, but for now, he'd have to rely on the reimbursement set by the Division itself… something like two thousand Poké for this particular job.

That's why Char didn't quite expect it when he saw the Furret struggling to drag a huge, stuffed bag from her home.

"Here!" she declared. "It's all yours! Take it back to your wonderful club with you and keep up the good work!"

With one final yank, she plunked the large bag directly in front of Char. It was filled with coins.

It didn't take a psychic to tell what kind of a reward the Furret was offering them—it was her life's savings.

Team Ember didn't quite know what to say.

"No, really! It's yours!" Fern insisted, nudging the bag a little. "If it can help you save the lives of Pokémon, then it belongs to you! Arceus knows I don't need it. If I hadn't been rescued today, I wouldn't have had much use for it anyway, would I?"

"Listen... Fern," Saura said politely. "Our organization pays us for the jobs we do. We know you're grateful to us, and we thank you for your generosity, but we can't accept this."

"If you really don't care about doing anything with your life, why did we even bother rescuing you?" Char blurted.

Char bit his lip, wishing he could recall the harsh words that had escaped his mouth. He saw immediately that his words had hurt her. He also saw the shocked glances that his teammates cast him, which made him feel like burrowing deep into a hole and hiding from the world. He knew he wasn't in a polite mood; why, oh, why didn't he just let Saura speak for him? He was in no position to say something like that in the first place; Team Ember hadn't even rescued her by conventional means, by proving their skill or strength, but by complete luck. Her rescue was an accident.

"I'm sorry," Char said humbly after a moment of burning silence. "I didn't mean what I said."

At that, Char bent down and accepted a very small handful of coins from the bag, amounting to about fifty Poké. He knew that he hurt her feelings, but the least he could do was not completely reject her heartfelt gratitude. He clutched the coins in his claws and forced a weak smile onto his face, returning a polite nod to the Furret.

"Thank you," he said softly. "This will be enough."

Fern didn't reply, but managed to nod back in acknowledgement.

"We should get going," Saura said to both Fern and the rest of his team. "We're happy we could help."

And so, Team Ember began their final walk back down the road toward the academy in a sort of contemplative silence. Saura and Ray didn't bother to bring up Char's outburst; they all knew that it had been a long morning, a morning that finally needed to end...

However, when they were halfway out of the neighborhood, a familiar voice called to them.

"Hey! Wait! Come back!"

Char knew the voice belonged to Fern, but couldn't imagine what she wanted now. He'd just insulted her; why would she want anything to do with him now? He turned around and saw her approaching fast, gasping for air as she caught up with them as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"Fern!" Saura said in surprise. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"You're right," Fern gasped, grinding her dash to a halt right before Char. "I didn't want you to go away and think that you hurt me, because you're right about everything, Charmander. I'm selfish, and rude, and there's nothing for me here in Iron Town. I always knew that. I just… always… thought that… I mean, you're right. I should be doing something with my life. I owe it to you after what you did today. I just… never gave any serious thoughts to anything… I was happy here…"

Char noticed a pause in her speech and was about to respond, when she cut him off.

"Listen, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Raichu… There really isn't anything for me here in Iron Town. Could I… come with you?"

Char was absolutely floored. She wanted to… join them? He'd only said a few words to her, and now she was driven to change the direction of her life?

Incredulously, Char glanced at his friends. Their faces had both lit up. He didn't even have to ask them; he knew they both approved of the idea.

But Char had to think about it for a second. There were rules to the way recruitment worked in the Division. Resistance Teams were strictly forbidden from bringing civilians into the base with them, unless they were refugees who were under real and imminent danger from the Master, or unless there would be specific plans to induct the new member onto the team. He could not simply send Fern off to join Team Stripes, as that was against the rules; Fern would need to join Team Ember.

"I heard you talking earlier," Fern admitted. "I thought I heard you said you needed to find a new member. Maybe… that could be me? Could I be part of your secret rescue team? I'll… I'll be a fast learner, I promise! I always am!"

Char knew what he needed to do next: he needed to huddle with his team and discuss the matter. But, since he already knew precisely what his teammates would say, he figured he could skip that step this one time. Besides… he'd already made up his mind.

"No," Char said simply. "Sorry, Fern, but I don't think it would be the right job for you. I don't want to get you into something you'd regret."

"Oh…" Fern said, dashed. "It's okay. I… understand."

Saura and Ray were both equally surprised at the suddenness and bluntness of Char's response. Fern cast longing glances at them, as if expecting them to respond.

"Don't look at us," Saura told her. "He's the leader. He has the final say."

"Don't get me wrong, it's great that you're looking for something to do," Char told her, "But what you need to find is a life's dream, not a moment's impulse. Besides, our job is not the kind of job you can back out of once you commit. If you join us, you're stuck there for a very, very long time, and before you know it, you'll probably be yearning for your old boring life here in Iron Town. You want my advice? You've got lots of money and you live in a big city. Form a team and go chase the legendaries."

Char really couldn't tell if she was taking his suggestion to heart or just disregarding it, but she politely bowed to him one last time, said her final thanks and goodbyes, and scampered back off to her house.

And then, just like any other client, she was gone, out of sight and mind.

"You know, Char, that was actually a very good decision," Saura admitted as they left the city. "I didn't even think about things like that. I was ready to welcome her to the team! But you're right. Now that I think about it, she wouldn't have fit on a Resistance Team at all."

"I guess that's why Char's the leader!" Ray said happily. "He knows these things by instinct! Just like Scythe!"


Division Base

When team Ember finally arrived to the academy, they checked in, recited the proper lines of the Creed to Slaking, and headed back to Team Remorse's quarters room to see if Scythe had returned for the day.

Upon knocking at the front door, they were greeted with a unanimous cry of relief.

"Finally!" he heard Markov the Feraligatr shout jubilantly from somewhere far behind the door. " They're here!"

"It's about time!" Raptor the Gabite grumbled. "Took them long enough. Any longer and I was getting ready to hunt them down myself."

Huh? Char wondered, waiting for the door to open.

"I got it," Ursa said with his deep voice. "Stand back, want to give them some room."

The door slid open, and Char found himself faced with Ursa, Raptor, Markov, and Raon all crowding around the door and standing at eager attention…

…Only to see their smiles immediately fade.

"Oh, it's you," Ursa said. "Sorry, we thought you were Bellossom. We're all starving to death. Oh, and congrats on your first mission alone, hope that went well and all."

"Hey, we'll come in and be hungry with you, okay?" Ray said as they headed inside.

For the past month, Team Remorse had continuously demonstrated just why they were the most hardy and capable team in the entire division. Every single day, the team pulled double-time across several ongoing missions at once, most notably Basin Canyon and Red Haven. Although they'd formed a strong partnership with Team Absolution to help lighten the load, the whole idea was still completely insane to Char. Members of both teams were continually coming and leaving at all hours of the day and night, staying only to take a rest, eat, or to discuss plans with one another. A lot of times, they even stayed multiple days and nights at the destination; sometimes groups left with massive bags stuffed with supplies, only to come back an entire week later. It was always impossible for Char to tell who was going and returning and when, but Char figured that all he had to do was focus on his own team. Through it all, until the most recent mission, Scythe had always been at Team Ember's side to continue their training, even through the backbreaking effort he and his team gave.

And the effort was certainly taking its toll on Team Remorse. Char saw how every member of the team was gradually showing serious signs of strain, both physically and mentally. One thing that never wavered, though, was their confidence; they were the Team Remorse, and they knew it. They would see the missions out until the end. They did not intend to fail. They did not make mistakes.

Char, Saura, and Ray lounged in Scythe's room, waiting lazily for Bellossom to deliver the food. Before the appearance of Adiel and the straining effort they gave in response, it was a service that Team Remorse had not abused; but now, they had requested a steady stream of four deliveries a day. Seeing how the team clearly deserved enough respect to not have to descend to the mess hall for every meal, the Division complied and sent them all the food they wanted. Although, Team Ember ended up getting themselves spoiled with the service.

Char wondered sometimes if Team Remorse was coming close to draining the Division's entire supply of Chesto Berries, as they devoured dozens of them many times per day in an effort to keep themselves awake and alert.

As Char lay sprawled on the rock floor, feeling his muscles throbbing back to life, he reflected upon the day's events, especially about Fern. What if she had joined the team? While he was convinced that he made the right decision, and had no regrets about doing so, he couldn't help but imagine the polite, withdrawn little Furret on the team. As he pictured her going on adventures with Team Ember, it only made him feel more of the same way; not just because he didn't think she was up to the task, but also for another reason entirely…

I don't even completely trust our third member yet, Char realized. How would I handle a fourth? I'm not ready for another member, not until I can bring myself to trust Ray like I trust Saura. But… that still means I have to tell him I'm a human. How would he react? Would he think I'm crazy? Even if he did believe me like Saura did… would he take it well?

Char's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knocking at Scythe's door.

"Hey, Scythe, I need to talk to you," a voice said. "Got something to ask you."

Char recognized the voice as a member of Team Remorse, but couldn't quite place it. It was one of the members he hadn't been as thoroughly acquainted to. Realizing he was the closest one to the door, he groaned as he climbed to his feet to answer it.

"Uh, Scythe's not here," Char responded, pushing the door open. "It's just us…"

Char's eyes nearly popped out of his face when he saw what was standing at the door: it was a Pokémon that he'd never seen before in his life! It was a brown-furred, bipedal rodent, almost looking like—if there were such a thing—a male, middle-aged Kangaskhan. Its head had the distinct shape of a dragon's, but also somewhat resembled that of a mouse or a rabbit, with small, cup-shaped ears and a long, toothy snout.

"Oh, then, sorry to disturb," the unidentified Pokémon said. "I thought I heard Scythe come in, but I guess it was only you after all. When he gets here, tell him that I… what?"

Suddenly, the strange Pokémon's eyes widened, as if he just realized he'd forgotten something. He grasped at his face.

"Oh, lovely," it groaned. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you out of your wits. It's impolite of me."

"What… are you?" Char blurted out, not yet making the connection.

"Oh, it's just Marrow," Ray said, also approaching the door, amused at the sight. "Hard to recognize without his helmet, isn't he?"

Marrow? Char repeated to himself. The... Marowak? But... he doesn't have his skull!

"But… what… I mean…" Char babbled. "I thought…"

Marrow snickered. "Heheheh, yeah, I admit, I get this a lot when I forget I'm not wearing the thing," he laughed. "I'm really not supposed to show my face in public, but yeah, in case you're wondering, it's just a helmet. It's not attached to my head. Although, some Marowak wear them for so long that they do actually get stuck in there, and can't take them off without breaking them apart. Not me, though. It gets really sticky in there, I like to clean it out once in a while."

Char still couldn't stop staring blankly at the unmasked creature, which combed its claw through the matted fur on its face as if to illustrate its point.

"I thought…" Char started to say absently. "I mean… is it… really… your… mother?"

Marrow rolled his eyes. "What are you, a human?" it scoffed lightheartedly. "Maybe there was one Cubone in the entire history of the known world that killed its mother and tore out her skull, or something, I honestly don't know, but it gave the rest of us a bad name, and all the humans started spreading ridiculous myths. I mean, I knew both my parents, I grew up with them, I had a happy childhood… I don't quite understand what the big deal is. Just because we like bones. Char, you like fire, right? Well, I like bones. It's just my nature. They're lightweight, durable, make good weapons… and if you polish them, they can get as hard as ivory. My helmet is actually a Charizard skull. Scythe gave it to me when I joined the team, beats me where he got it, probably sent for it from overseas or somewhere."

"… … …Oh." Char managed to say after trying to digest everything.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Marrow snickered once more, and Ray looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

"Well, I really should, you know, finish polishing this thing before I forget again," Marrow said, starting to walk away. "Tell Scythe I wanted to talk to him, a'ight?"

"Yes, sir!" Ray said cheerily.

"Oh, that reminds me," Marrow said, suddenly doubling back and lowering his voice. "You know Scythe's got a pretty big gift to give you, right? Hope you've got good news to tell him from today!"

Ray shut the door as soon as Marrow was gone, leaving Char staring blankly at the wall. I just saw a Marowak's face! He realized. Have I just witnessed one of the greatest mysteries of Pokémon-kind?

"We had a Cubone on Team Stripes a while back," Ray said offhandedly, returning to his resting place. "That's how I recognized him, in case you're wondering. Though, I don't remember very much about that Cubone… except that he cried a lot, and we eventually let him go."

Thankfully, the food arrived soon enough. After fighting with Team Remorse over a tray of fruit and bread, Team Ember was rewarded with a filling lunch and a nice long rest for the remainder of the afternoon. The last thing to do was to wait for Scythe's return, so they could retell the day's events and possibly even find out what the big reward would be. But Team Ember didn't keep their hopes too high; depending on the work he had cut himself out, they knew it was very possible they wouldn't be seeing him again until the next morning.

… … …

That evening, Ray awoke from his nap. Having felt rested enough for the time being, he decided to leave the room and travel about the base. One thing that the team had completely forgotten about, ironically enough, was to record their victory at the registry. After he took care of that little technicality, he wandered around in search of other things he could get done while he was around.

He remembered something the team had discussed earlier that day, about better preparing themselves against wild rock Pokémon. He figured he could schedule another session with Domo, and ask him to teach them some new techniques to help them…

Ray was greeted by the sound of clashing blades as he pushed aside the curtain and entered the dojo.

Two Kabutops sparred in the center of the room, constantly yelling and conversing as they leapt around each other and lunged with their blades. They almost reminded him of watching Scythe's furious battles against his doppelganger, except with much less finesse and acrobatic skill than a Scyther match, and much more brute force and berserker techniques.

"YAAH! Nice try!"

"You were lucky!"

"There is no luck! Only skill! YAAAAH!"

"Your defense is faltering. You will not last much longer."

"Nonsense, I am only fooling your subconscious into thinking that I am weakening!"

"Your movements are so painfully obvious, you couldn't fool a rabbit into playing dead!"

"Perhaps not, but I could do THIS!"

"Your attacks are insulting to my intelligence. A blind Squirtle could defeat you."

"And a Cubone could defeat you! YAAH!"

"Oh! Excellent move!"

"Ah, it's all in the distraction, my brother!"

Ray waited for a few minutes, but the battle didn't show any signs of stopping. Eventually, he rolled his eyes and stepped forward.

"HEY!" He called to the combatants.

The two Kabutops froze stiff at the sound of Ray's voice, and for a second seemed like a pair of statues depicting an intense snapshot of the action.

"Um, yes, can we help you?" one of the Kabutops said, straightening up and addressing Ray.

"Uh… which one of you is Domo?" Ray asked. "I was watching you two fight, and I can't tell!"

"Oh, neither of us," the other Kabutops said. "Domo is actually not within this base at this moment. This morning, the base received word from a messenger of the Black Division that there's been a Registeel sighting down in the southern mountains, and Domo took off like a rocket."

"We can't blame you for not knowing about it yet," the first added. "It's going to be announced in the news post this evening."

"Hmm…" Ray said, disappointed. "Interesting. I guess we can't train, then… We were hoping to learn some new fighting techniques…"

"Well, we can't help you with that," the first Kabutops said. "Neither of us would have the slightest idea about the physical capacities of a Raichu such as yourself. But here's a tip: try going to Kecleon's and asking the Pink-colored brother for… Training Machines. He might be able to help you."

"Training Machines?" Ray repeated. "You mean, the human… things? We have them here?"

"Oh, of course," the Kabutops said. "Kecleon tries to keep them discreet, but yes, he's what you could call an expert on them. He can get you what you need."

"Whoa, no way," Ray said. "I had no idea. Well, thanks…"

Unfortunately, when Ray hurried over to Kecleon's market, the pink brother was nowhere to be seen, and the green brother refused to comment on his whereabouts. Not wanting to waste the trip, he took the opportunity to purchase some supplies and have them sent over to storage. As he was browsing the shop for the usual things, something caught his eye.

"Hey, Kecleon… are these for sale?"

"My boy, everything is for sale at the right price!" Kecleon answered, hurrying over. "What is it you have your eye on?"

The store was so cluttered and filled with merchandise that even after visiting time and time again, new surprises always waited… for today, just behind the enormous pile of Escape Orbs, Ray spotted a long pegboard filled with things that looked like long, gray nails. The items looked, somehow, strangely familiar.

"Ah, yes, the Silver Spikes!" Kecleon sang. "One of Iron Town's specialties. Each one is forged from pure steel from the caves of the Great Plateau. An especially popular item to use against those pesky Rock Pokémon, especially for those not naturally suited for fighting them. Your friend Char would fall under this category, yes?"

"Yes!" Ray said. "That's… awesome! I'll take them! I'll take… fifty!"

… … …

Later that evening came the moment everyone had been waiting for: Scythe's return.

The exhausted, frustrated, and ruffled warrior was met with a warm welcome as he marched through his team's front door. His meeting was short and to the point, since only a small fraction of the team was actually there that night, as usual, the rest all out on the ongoing missions. Char and his team waited patiently for him to finish his business, wondering more than ever how he'd receive their story.

The Scyther's weary scowl turned to a warm smile when he opened the door to find Team Ember waiting for him inside.

"Good evening, you three!" he said. "So, tell me everything! How'd it go?"

So, they all gathered around, and to the best of their memories, they told him of the torrential rain, the confusing Golbats, the ground-shaking Gravelers, their encounter with Team X, their last stand against an endless wave of feral Pokémon, and how they accomplished the mission against all odds. They told him about Fern, the way Char exploded at her, and how she was turned down from joining the team. Through it all, he sat and watched them thoughtfully, listening intently to every word, giving only a nod of understanding from time to time…

And when they could think of nothing more to say, they fell silent and awaited his response.

"Well," Scythe finally sighed. "I'm… disappointed."

Char gulped. He thought this may have been coming, but he was hoping the fact that they accomplished the mission would at least offset some of his trainer's displeasure…

"Ray," Scythe said, turning to the Raichu. "How many times do I have to tell you this? Even your best electric attacks cannot harm Pokémon with lightning rods!"

"I know," Ray responded.

"Then, what about that Onix you mentioned before you arrived to the cave?" Scythe asked. "What were you thinking, trying to hit it with a bolt of lightning in the first place?"

"It was storming," Ray insisted, "So I thought I could do some damage… I know that the rock Pokémon always take some damage, even if it's not a lot, so…"

"No, no. Wrong!" Scythe said vehemently. "The damage is negligible. You are not to waste your energy like that. Kain did not survive twelve days at Onix Mountain by the strength of his electricity, and neither could you. Do you understand me?"

"Yes… sir," Ray said, fidgeting with his tail as he would usually do when he got nervous. He hung his head, acknowledging Scythe's disappointment and taking his reprimands to heart.

"And Char," Scythe said even more angrily, "Getting distracted by some shiny orbs and running headfirst into a corridor without looking? Arceus knows all the horrible ways that could end up!"

"Sorry," Char said meekly. "I wasn't thinking…"

Char was cringing, expecting an entire wave of criticisms about his bad judgment or poor planning skills, when Scythe's frown suddenly turned into a gleaming smile.

"Well, other than that, I'm very proud of you. I can't say I have any other complaints. Congratulations on a job well done!"

"Wow, that's it?" Saura said. "You're not going to call us on how we basically failed the mission? We won by a complete stroke of luck!"

"I can't fault you for any of your judgments," Scythe said. "I probably wouldn't have done things exactly your way, but… I taught you how to think for yourselves, and you've made your own decent decisions. To be completely honest with you, if I'd joined you in the cave today, I would've questioned your final judgment to let yourselves be destroyed… but, then again, if I convinced you to escape, the Furret wouldn't have been so lucky, would she have? There's nothing wrong with being lucky sometimes. I can't count the number of times I've won missions due to dumb luck. I know Daemon would be quick to tell you that you can't rely on it, but, you see, the thing is, whenever you find yourself lucky, it usually means that, somewhere along the way, you really did something right."

Scythe then proceeded to congratulate them on all their good decisions, from the judicious use of their berries, to their idea to use the silver spikes to counter the rock beasts, to the triggering of the rainfall, to even the handling of Fern's sudden desire to join the team. Char felt his ego growing like a bonfire at each of his praises, convinced that it would be enough to see the big reward that Marrow had hinted at…

"The only part that confuses me… is Team X," Scythe admitted. "Just when I thought I had enough on my plate already, I can't imagine what they're up to…"

"What do we do if we see them again?" Saura asked. "They really freaked us out when they appeared out of nowhere. They were stalking us!"

"If they appear again, just… fight them off, don't agree to their demands," Scythe told them. "You could try tricking them if you think you can get them to spill something, but if you ask me, it looks like they're just some no-name thugs trying to get into the base—the least of our worries. You're strong enough; if they come back, I have no doubt that you could even be their rivals."

Char exchanged a glance with Saura. He never thought about it like that before. Rivals? Really? Could they really Rival the sinister poison team?

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm tired," Scythe finally said, changing his tone, "I think we should all get some rest. Oh… I had a good surprise in store for you today if you completed your mission, but… I'm not convinced you deserve it quite yet. You did basically fail the mission."

Scythe smirked as he said this, making Char really have to wonder why he suddenly chose to send the mixed signals.

"But, I think you're more than deserving of a second chance" he said. "Tomorrow, I've got to head out for Red Haven to check on the progress out there. You'll be on your own again. If you can succeed a second time in a row, Not only will I gladly hand over my prize, but I'll throw in something else, and it's something extremely valuable. I don't think you can afford to disappoint me."

Ah, typical Scythe, Char thought, shaking his head. He's just trying to buy time for himself out at Red Haven. Well, I can't say I blame him. We won once, we'll get up tomorrow and do it again!

"You'd better have those prizes ready for us tomorrow, because we'll deserve them!" Ray declared. "No excuses this time! We'll pass your test!"

And so, after an eventful, draining, but successful day, Team Ember finally settled down for a well-deserved night's—

"Guys," Ray suddenly said, breaking the silence just as the team was starting to float away into peaceful sleep, "Char. Saura. We didn't take a mission for tomorrow..."

Char blinked.

"Aww, nuts," Char grumbled, rising back to his feet.

*Chapter 29*: Chapter 26: Gaining Trust, Part 1

Chapter 26

The next day, nothing was going to go wrong.

Char learned from his experiences down in that godforsaken crevice. There was no use trying to act brave or strong by taking a challenging mission; he wanted Scythe's rewards, plain and simple, and he wasn't about to let another close call ruin the team's recent winning streak. So, for his second independent mission, he sought out the easiest and most straightforward mission on the list, not even caring about whether or not it had a nice reward. He wanted a mission that his team couldn't mess up unless they tried.

And they found one. In their rushed attempt to pick a job and get back to sleep, they found a mission that would, quite literally, be a walk in the park: a sentry mission at a place dubbed "Shadow Meadow."

There was nothing shadowy about it, though, except for how it was shaded on the map of Jirachi. Because of its landscape, it had been in the past a favorite perch for thieves to lay in wait for travelers on routes 412, 414, and 415 which surrounded it; the coloring on the map was an indication to travelers to exercise caution when in the area. The division regularly assigned missions to make sure it was clean of thieves, as these routes were commonly traveled by its members; but ever since the patrols started, there hadn't been a report of a single thief in months…

There were a few risks involved, but they were minimal. For one thing, there was a Mystery Dungeon nearby, but it was a "Wanderer's Dungeon"; that is, it was such a small and low-risk anomaly that a traveler could simply wander into it, and then out of it again, without knowing anything had gone wrong. This was a good, because it was unclear where it exactly started and ended. For another thing, the destination was a good distance from the base… it would be a day-long venture, for sure.

But, since the mission was essentially to wander around and explore nature for a few hours, Char didn't see how anything could possibly go wrong.

…And, for once, he was right. Fate had very little in the way of unforeseen complications to throw at Team Ember that day. But, that's not to say it didn't still have a surprise or two in store for them…

"Until the last ember fades…"

At the sound of the voice, Char stirred in his sleep.

"Until the LAST EMBER FADES…"

That annoying voice, it was getting louder this time. Char rolled over and covered his ears.

"Oh, come on! I'm not even supposed to be the one saying this in the first place!"

Oh, it's just Ray, trying to get me up, Char realized absently. It's too early. I feel like I just went to sleep. Even Scythe doesn't get us up this early, does he? Why can't Ray let me sleep in a little—

Char's body was sent into a violent spasm as a jolt of electricity filled him, causing his eyes to snap open and his arms and legs to involuntarily spring out to their full length. His breath left him for a second, and he could have sworn his heart even stopped for a few moments before gathering itself and starting up again. Ray was standing over him, looking disappointed.

"Awake yet?" Ray hummed, retracting his forepaws from Char's shoulders.

"Y-y-y-yeah," Char struggled out.

"Good. Scythe's already gone, and Brock's not here today to wake us up, so it was up to us this time. We still need to pack the bag and do some last-minute stuff we didn't do last night. Saura and I've been awake for awhile, now we just need you to catch up."

When the feeling flowed back into Char's muscles, he rolled onto his side and tried to force himself up onto his feet. It was hard, though, because he felt covered in pins and needles, and every little contact with the floor felt like cactus writing beneath his skin.

"You still need to say the response!" Ray said. "We're not going to let that awesome motto of yours go to waste. Until the last ember fades…"

"The fire will not die?" Char answered.

"Awesome!" Ray applauded. "Now we're ready for the day! C'mon!"

Char smiled. Ray loved his job so much. It was still hard not to like him, even when he was electrocuting you awake in the morning.

As he limped out of the room, Char once again wondered about a question tore at him lately, ever since Saura had brought it up the previous day: it was clear to see how much Ray desired to be a skilled and respectable resistance team member. Would Ray's impressions of the team change if Char told his secret? Part of him saw how Ray had proven himself as a friend and ally, and he was starting to think he should tell him everything. But… would it be like ruining his dream? Would it be like a betrayal? As Saura had assured him many times, the first purpose of their team would always be to help Char find his identity and his purpose, but that's not what Ray had signed up for when he joined the team. To Ray, it was just an opportunity for firsthand experience with Team Remorse, not some… secret club, as Fern had called it. Yet, in reality, it was more like a secret club than anything else. Would Ray want to be a part of it?

Enough, Char told himself. I won't let this bother me right now. Right now, we have a ridiculously easy mission to accomplish. Let's get it over with!


Route 410

Team Ember hit the road at the break of dawn, as usual, and set off down the paths to their faraway destination. The simple beauty of Ambera's countryside was pleasant as always, even as it faintly glowed in the tiny sliver of sunlight that escaped the horizon. The only problem so far was that it was Char's turn to carry the bag this time.

"Hey, Char, I'm getting hungry," Saura said. "How about some breakfast?"

"You read my mind," Ray said. "Want to stop for a second and eat? We've come a pretty long way."

Char groaned as he flung the bag off his shoulder and onto the ground, welcoming the chance to unburden himself. It was so heavy! He despised carrying the bag, especially at the beginning of the day when it was still jam-packed with supplies. He recalled the first time Scythe took him to the storage room and teased him about carrying the bag for the following mission, when he couldn't even stand up while holding it… Char realized too late that it hadn't been a joke at all; the bag actually was that heavy, and he found himself lugging it along on mission after mission. If anything, his arms were getting really strong.

As the team sat on the side of the road and enjoyed a light meal, Char watched the eastern sky as it turned various shades of blue and yellow. A few puffy clouds hung around the advancing sunlight, and a tiny but chilly breeze swept across the land. No stormy weather today. It would be clear sailing all the way out to the meadow. But, probably due to being only the second mission without Scythe, a thought popped into Char's mind.

"Remind me again why we go out so early in the morning?" Char asked, popping a raisin into his mouth. "Why can't we do our missions later in the day? It'd be the same, just with more sunlight."

"Weren't we just over this yesterday morning?" Ray laughed. "We do it because that's how Team Remorse does it. If we want to be as great as them someday, we've got to get ourselves into this habit. Someday, our team could be responsible for defending whole cities and directing armies and stuff. We can't be slacking!"

"Why do you care so much about how great Team Ember gets, anyway?" Saura asked jokingly. "We all know where you really want to be! You'll abandon us in a heartbeat when Scythe invites you to join Team Remorse."

"I've got to prove myself," Ray answered. "Scythe's not going to let me on his team until I help make this team the best it can be! Hah, by the time he finally invites me to join, Team Ember will probably be his equals. Or greater! Besides, I'll always consider myself one of you guys, even after I join Scythe's team. I promise!"

Char forced a smile. "That's great, but that's not really what I was worried about," he said.

"Oh?" Saura said, pausing his search through the bag for more food. "What's the matter now?"

"Well," Char said fretfully, "It's just that I realized something. Look at where we are. It's so dark out. There could be thieves waiting to jump out at us! Or the Master's forces could run into us, and we'd never see it coming. Traveling this early in the morning is just as bad as traveling at night."

Saura tilted his head. "I don't think Pokémon get up early enough to cause a problem," he said thoughtfully. "We've been out at sunrise dozens of times, and we've never seen an ambush."

"Yeah, with Scythe," Char said. "But now that we're alone… There isn't some big scary Scyther to chase away thieves!"

"I don't think we should worry too much about it," Saura said. "I don't think very many Pokémon get up at this time of day, anyway. And even if they do, we're powerful enough to resist them, I think. Just stay on guard, and we should be fine."

"Yeah, plus, you've got a big scary Raichu on your side!" Ray said evilly, letting some static sparkle across his fur. "I didn't evolve for nothing! Thieves better know to stay away, or they'll find out what it's like to get struck by lightning!"

"Struck by lightning? Oh, I am so scared!"

The voice came from nowhere. Dread filled the team as a pair of shadows approached from the wilderness off the side of the road.

"Big, scary Raichu, huh?" a second voice said. "I don't know who could consider a little rat to be scary."

Just as the voices clicked into place in Char's head, the newcomers came close enough to be seen: they were none other than the bothersome Seviper and the Croagunk.

"Team X," Char spat, throwing his pear onto the ground in disgust. "They're still stalking us! I don't believe it."

Saura and Ray had already assumed the stances for battle, and Ray's body was beginning to glow in the dark as he prepared a powerful discharge for the rival team. Char got to his feet quickly and joined them, sending a scowl at the poison Pokémon.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh. Relax, we're not here to hurt you," Croagunk said as it walked up to face Saura. "I told you before, we're your allies. Why'd we want to hurt you?"

"We're still not letting you into the base!" Saura said forcefully. "It doesn't matter what you say. We don't trust you."

"And just why not?" Seviper asked curiously. "What reason have we ever given you to distrust us? We've never even attacked you!"

"Let's put it this way," Croagunk said coolly. "What could we do to earn your trust? What could we do to prove to you that we're on your side?"

Char searched for a clever retort, and couldn't find one. He then searched for a serious answer, and couldn't quite find one either. He couldn't think of a single thing the poison Pokémon could do to clear their names from his book.

"…See? See?" Croagunk said, anger growing behind his voice. "You don't have an answer. It just goes to show how hypocritical you are. How can a resistance team like us operate like this? Answer that."

Char frowned even harder. "Do you serve the Master?" he demanded of them.

"We do," Croagunk said. "With all our hearts."

"Then how can you call yourself a resistance team?" Char exploded. "Resistance teams don't serve the Master! Resistance teams resist the Master!"

"Hey, hey, wait for a minute," Croagunk said. "You're assuming something. You're just assuming that the Master's forces are all on the same side. The Master's forces aren't nearly as… unified… as they might seem. In fact… there are whole legions of troops and generals that… betray him. And then there are the teams like us that resist them and try to bring them back under the Master's true reign. Honestly, did you think that the Master really wants all this destruction to be happening? What's happening now is that the Master's reign is out of even his own control!"

"That's a lie," Char challenged. "Our Scyther friend has seen the Master's forces from the inside out, and he says that the Master's forces never fight amongst each other."

"That's precisely why we couldn't afford to approach you while he's around," Seviper explained. "He would slice our heads off before we would have the chance to even make our case. Your Scyther friend knows very little about the Master's forces. If he once knew much, the information is probably obsolete. Times have changed"

"The Master is not evil," Croagunk tried to assure Char. "If we lived by his rules, there would be peace in Ambera that would even make Arceus smile. But these are changing times. Some Pokémon resist the Master, and so, we have war. Team X wants to do its part to resist the Master's forces who've gone astray, and we think we could help by siding with your base for the time being."

Char paused for a second to collect his thoughts, but he found that he couldn't. Their story was so ridiculous, so contradictory, that there were simply no words with which he could reply.

"Go," Char finally said. "Go away. Just go."

"What? Haven't we convinced you of anything yet?" Croagunk pleaded. "What more do you want?"

"No, you're not even close," Char told them. "If you really are our allies, then… just turn around and leave us, and stop stalking us. Don't come back until you figured out something much more convincing to say. I don't know. We just don't trust you. We can't. So leave. Because if you keep bothering us, I think you should prepare for a fight next time."

Croagunk emitted a loud croak, making Char jump in surprise.

"Well, if that's the way things are," Croagunk said, "Fine. Be that way. But we're not finished with you yet. Resistance Teams such as you and I don't just give up. We'll come back, and you'd better be prepared to change your minds. Because if you don't…"

Char waited until the suspicious team had turned their backs and were walking away before he ordered his own team to do the same.

"Well, that went a little bit better than last time," Seviper said. "I think we might have swayed them a little bit. I told you, the better strategy is to act diplomatic, not hostile."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Croagunk grumbled. "But we're still not any closer to making them trust us. I told you, that Scyther taught them good not to be idiots and fall for every scam they hear."

"You know," Seviper said, "I don't think anything we say is going to get us into that base… I think we must to do something for them. Actions do, after all, speak louder than words."

"Well, we've got to figure out what it is," Croagunk said. "We've only got until the end of the month to get into that base. Otherwise, Dusknoir will have our heads. And Adiel will have his!"

Team Ember picked up the pace down the road, taking Char's previous worry to heart. Ray's body sizzled with excess energy, Char's flame had grown sizable from his rage, and Saura furiously scanned the surroundings for more trouble.

"I can't believe those guys," Char said. "Yesterday they were trying to bribe us, and today they thought just acting friendlier would work better? They couldn't tell a convincing lie to save their lives. What do we do next time?"

"We do just like you said," Ray growled. "Next time we see them, we fight."

"Hopefully, they won't show up again," Saura said. "With any luck, tomorrow we'll have Scythe back, and they'll stay far away…"


Route 412

After two hours of walking and chatting nervously about things like what prize Scythe was going to give them, the sun was finally high enough to light the world and the birds were all giving their morning cheers. The team was able to relax a little as their path and surroundings became clearer.

After four hours of walking, Route 410 converged into Route 412, the road which would lead them right to the meadow. But as the excitement of coming down the final stretch started to set in, so did the anticipation of accidentally wandering into the dungeon and getting lost. They had to leave the path and head to the meadow eventually, but where?

"It's useless," Ray said, looking over the map. "This travel map doesn't even have the dungeon marked like the big one does. We'll just have to take our best guess."

"Bah, it's not like the dungeon is much to worry about, anyway," Saura scoffed. "Worst that'll happen is we get turned around and lose a few hours, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Char said, yanking the bag back up to his shoulder to keep it from slipping. "But there are Pidgey and Spearow in there, and there's even… ugh… a slight chance we might see a wild Scyther."

Not to mention the fact that a few extra hours will probably do it for my arms, Char added silently.

"Oohh, okay, okay, point taken," Saura said, shuddering at the thought of feral birds attacking him. "Eh, we shouldn't worry about it. We'll probably miss it completely, right?"


Wanderer's Meadow

"…We're in the dungeon now, aren't we?" Saura groaned, suddenly noticing that there was no way to tell where they'd come from or where they were going.

Sure enough, when they picked a place to step off the road and head into the meadow, they got caught up in the tiny Mystery Dungeon. There was nothing to do now but find the way out. Char knew somehow that it'd been inevitable.

"Don't worry, this'll be a cinch," Ray said, surveying the cursed meadow. "We'll be out of here before you know it. The birds here don't stand a chance against me, and Char's a Steelix slayer!"

Char tried to give an awkward little laugh at the statement, but it was muffled by a grunt when he pulled the bag back up to a balanced level. He was tempted to exercise his authority over the team and designate Ray as the permanent bag carrier, as his larger body and taller form were better suited for the strain. He just wanted to get out of the dungeon and into the meadow, where he could set the thing down and set up the watch they'd hold for the remainder of the day.

The Wanderer's Meadow was as tame a dungeon as they came. A gentle, serene countryside spread out before them, a few rocks and trees dotting the landscape in places. There were no birds in the sky, or any feral Pokémon at all, to be seen. Char hoped that it would stay that way.

"Hey! Ow, that hurt!"

At Saura's cry of pain, Char glanced back to see that a Pidgey had appeared from absolutely nowhere and was repeatedly attempting to swoop down and peck at his friend's back. Saura waved his vines around like whips to try chasing the thing away, but the Pidgey was agile enough dodge them and zero in on its target.

"Ugh! Not fair!" Saura yelled at the thing when it raked its talons across his side.

Ray jumped into action, readying his electricity for discharge. He took aim and released what appeared to be an amorphous orb of static at the bird. It barely dodged the attack, and it gave a startled cry as it retreated higher into the air to avoid a further brush with electricity.

Then, with amazing agility, it switched targets, swooped back down, and nailed Char in the forehead with its beak!

"Augh! Oh, man, that hurts!" Char yelled, dropping the bag and clutching the fresh dent above his left eye.

Do that again, Char said to himself, feeling his Ember rise higher. I dare you. Do that again!

As if in response, the Pidgey doubled back and came at Char again. But this time, Char was ready for it. Just as the bird was about to collide with him a second time, he released a torrent of flames so powerful it halted the bird's attack in mid-air and left it struggling to stay aloft. It failed, and it tumbled down to the grass covered in flames.

"Good riddance," Saura said, watching the bird tumble around to put the flames out. "C'mon, let's go. I don't want to stay in here longer than we have to."

They wandered around for a few more minutes, looking for the exit. The Wanderer's Meadow was said to be smaller than a mile, so it was like a painful tease as Char watched the repeating landscape, knowing that the exit was just barely out of reach the entire time. Through it all, no more birds attacked; it seemed like they'd knocked out the only Pidgey in the entire dungeon at the time. Char once again hoped that the remainder of the dungeon would be peaceful.

… … …

Twenty minutes passed, and Char couldn't take the strain anymore. He had to pass the bag to Ray, grumbling that they should have been there already and that he'd pay him back later. Free of his burden, Char watched the meadow intently for the tiny details that would mark the end of the curse and allow them passage to Shadow Meadow. When he found something that looked like a new feature of the landscape, he rushed to it in hope that it was the way out.

A few minutes later, they were back where they started.

"I don't believe this," Char groaned. "I know it usually takes people an hour to get out of this place, but there's got to be some way…"

"Chirp!"

Although a little startled, Char recognized the sound as another Pidgey, probably trying to sneak up on him from behind. He turned, preparing to loose his fire again…

But when he turned, he did not see a crazed bird homing in for an attack. It stood on the ground just a few feet away, looking at him.

Odd, Char thought. It doesn't want to fight? I thought the curse makes them—

That's when Char took a good look at the bird, and saw that some of its feathers had been discolored. Black burn marks covered its body.

It was the same Pidgey that had attacked them before.

"Um, is that thing… following us?" Saura wondered, eyeing the little bird as it hopped closer. "It doesn't look like it wants to fight."

"It's the same one we beat!" Char said. "What's it doing here? Didn't we leave this thing behind?"

"That's really weird," Saura said, stepping away from the bird. "I wonder how long it's been following us like that. Maybe it's trying to attack us again, but it's too weak?"

Char decided to ignore the bird, focusing his attention again on finding the way out of the cursed meadow. But with every step he took, he glanced back to see that the Pidgey was hopping along behind him in procession, as if it considered itself part of the team.

Finally, it took off and flew over Char's head, landing directly in Char's path and presenting itself to him.

"Chirp!" it said again.

What do you want? Char wondered. Are you trying to tell me something?

"No! Wait!" Ray suddenly cried, his voice full of excitement and surprise. "Char! Do you realize what's going on? Char! You impressed it! I don't believe it! You impressed the Pidgey!"

"What's that mean?" Char asked, bending down to inspect the bird up close.

Ray rushed forward, nearly pushing Char out of the way to get a good look at the bird. The bird winced as Ray practically ran into him, but it stayed calm and kept its eyes fixed on Char.

"I heard stories about this happening, but I… I never thought I would actually get to see it happen!" Ray said. "Char, you beat it in battle, and you earned its respect. Now it sees you as its master!"

"What?!" Char cried in response. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah! That's why it's following you!" Ray said. "That's how resistance teams recruit wild Pokémon from Mystery Dungeons. But it never happens! Char, you have no idea how rare this is! I mean, I've even heard of teams in the resistance whose purpose is just to try to get wild Pokémon to join them. They use psychic tricks and even wear special pieces of cloth just to increase the odds of impressing the wild ones… but they're still lucky just to see it happen once a year! But just to have this happen to us, with no planning or anything… what a stroke of luck! It's like… being born shiny!"

"Chirp! Chirp!" the bird said, as if it were trying to communicate with Char. Respect glittered in the little bird's eyes as it hoped to be acknowledged. As Char looked at the bird, the little thing just tugged at his heart. It was adorable, like a lost little child looking for a friend. He smiled at it, and it ruffled its feathers in joy.

"So, what does this mean?" Saura asked. "Is it just going to keep following us like this?"

"It'll follow us anywhere!" Ray said. "It thinks Char is its master now. It'll follow us out of the dungeon, and all over the world, and even back into the base if we take it there. It'll even obey Char's every command if it can understand him."

Really? Char wondered. It'll do what I say?

Curious, Char waved his hand, signaling the Pidgey to come to his side. It instantly complied, then looked to Char for more orders.

"Whoa," Char said, just trying to consider all the implications. He wondered if this was what it was like to be a Pokémon trainer.

"You know what this means, right?" Ray said, still excited. "Impression is the first step for a Pokémon towards sentience! Char, if we wanted to, we could make this Pidgey smart! You know the day care center back at the base? They could help us raise it! And then, we could have it join the team! …Or, we could send it away. It's your choice, Char."

"Hold on a moment," Saura said. "Do we even want it to join the team? If we wanted a bird on our team, we could have our pick from anyone on Team Silverwing."

Char realized that Saura was right. Team Silverwing was a very reputable training team of the Gold Division, one that Char had the pleasure of working with several times on past missions. Its membership was limited exclusively to bird Pokémon, all of which had been given top-notch training and were ready and willing to serve on a resistance team. He knew that any member of Team Silverwing would probably leap at the chance to join Team Ember.

Yet, this little Pidgey which stood before Char, this wild, weak, inexperienced little Pidgey… couldn't be turned down.

"I… want to keep him," Char said, petting the bird on the head.

"Really?" Saura said. "We just turned down Fern, and now you want a little Pidgey chick? Fern might have been a better choice!"

"I don't know, I just… want to keep him," Char said again.

Saura frowned. While he didn't dislike the idea, he thought Team Ember could do better than just a little bird as its fourth member. But, like all Pokémon, he knew it had the potential to grow and become stronger, and maybe even become a good friend. Either way, there was no way of changing Char's mind. He was infatuated with it, like a trainer with his first Pokémon.

"Well, if that's really what you want," Saura sighed, "I guess I can't complain. If we were so lucky to impress him, I guess we should take advantage of it. I'll trust you on this one, just like with Fern."

"In that case, I guess we take him back to base and enroll him in day care," Ray said. "Hey, little guy! Welcome to the team!"

"Cheee!" it happily replied.


Division Base

And, just like that, Team Ember had a fourth member.

Well, what can be said about the rest of that mission? It came. It went. It was a cinch, as expected. But Char didn't do much in the way of watching for bad guys, as the mission required. He was too busy giving attention to the Pidgey. Something in his heart had snapped—whether it was with his human or his Pokémon instincts, he couldn't tell—but he saw the Pidgey like a brother or a son, and he just couldn't let the little thing down. He wanted to see the Pidgey through growth and development.

It was nearly evening when the team's watch time was up. When they returned to the base, Ray went down to the registry to report the mission completion (the area was clear, as expected) and Char and Saura took the Pidgey down to a wing of the base they never had much of a reason to visit before: the day care.

The day care was a facility composed of several spacious rooms, including classrooms, playrooms, and bedrooms, for the extremely young children to live in. Pokémon who were too young to actively participate in the teams, such as orphaned survivors of the Master's raids, were given a home there until they were old and mature enough to participate in the Division's work. Char had known about the day care for a while, but never knew it also served the function of raising wild Pokémon…

An elderly Kangaskhan greeted them at the front lobby. Its pouch was empty; Char figured that her baby was probably off playing somewhere.

"Oh, it's Team Ember!" the Kangaskhan exclaimed. "Well, now! What brings everyone's favorite team down here, dears?"

"Well, we found this Pidgey on a mission today, and it followed us here," Saura explained. "We were wondering… if… you could help us?"

Kangaskhan smiled as her eyes scanned over the little bird, inspecting it thoroughly. The Pidgey had looked a little scared and unsure of itself since entering the base, but it stayed close to Char and never stopped casting glances of trust at him.

"Well, aren't you lucky?" she said. "It's a handsome young boy! It looks nice and healthy, too! Hmm, wow, it's got some pretty big talons for its age, hasn't it? And look at that sharp little beak! He's an armed little fellow! I bet his attacks could really hurt!"

They do, Char wanted to say, remembering the still-healing gash in his forehead.

"So, can you, um… help us take care of him?" Saura asked.

"Of course, dears!" Kangaskhan hummed. "We'd be glad to; that's why we're here! As long as you pay the fee, of course."

"Fee?" Saura repeated. "How much is the fee?"

"For one hundred thousand Poké, we'll keep him here, and we'll raise and educate him until he's ready to meet the standards of your team."

Saura gulped. "…That's a lot of money," he balked. "I don't think our bank account can take that big of a hit right now! We might have to think about this!"

"Oh, not to worry, you don't have to pay all at once!" Kangaskhan assured him. "We'll bill you gradually. Raising children doesn't happen all at once, you know!"

Char and Saura agreed that it was a good idea, so they agreed to Kangaskhan's deal.

"You won't be disappointed," Kangaskhan said. "After all, we can't afford to disappoint our beloved Team Ember! We'll give him the best education we can manage, and when he's ready, we'll make sure he gets personal training by Team Silverwing."

"How long do you think all this will take?" Char wondered. "How long will it be until we can see him again? Years?"

"Oh, sweetie, you can come and visit him whenever you'd like!" Kangaskhan laughed. "But the whole process might take around… oh… two months?"

"Two months?!" Char repeated in disbelief. "That quick? Are you sure?"

"Of course, as long as we keep him on a proper diet of gummis!" she answered. "In fact, that's where a lot of your money will go to. Gummis aren't cheap, you know!"

"Um… what's a gummi?" Char asked. "I've heard of those, but I've never seen one before. Are they food, or something?"

"They're supposed to make you smarter if you eat them," Saura said. "I've never had one myself, but I've heard a lot about them. Kecleon once had some in his store, but they were really expensive!"

"Oh, gummis don't actually make you smarter," Kangaskhan said. "They don't feed knowledge or experience into your head, after all. But if you eat enough of them, they'll keep your mind stimulated and open, and let you learn new things faster! In fact, if your little friend here eats his gummis, we might be able to have him speaking in just a few weeks. Speech seems to come naturally to Pidgey."

"Interesting," Char said. "Do you think we'd get any smarter if we ate gummis? I wonder what they taste like."

"If you want, I can let you try one," Kangaskhan said. "Just a moment, I'll be right back!"

Kangaskhan leapt away and disappeared down the hallway, and soon returned holding some colorful pieces of candy. One was red, and the other was green. Char recognized them immediately: they were jellybeans!

"Here you are, sweeties! On the house!" she said, handing Char the red one. "Enjoy! I think you'll like them!"

Char looked over the small, shiny jellybean. He sniffed it, but couldn't discern anything unusual. He popped it into his mouth. It tasted like nothing, until he bit down and broke the glossy skin of the candy…

And then, Char felt his entire mouth erupting with flavor.

It felt like a bomb had exploded in his mouth! It was an extreme, ultimately indescribable taste: it had a subtle kind of sweetness to it, but it was drowned out by an overbearing… stabbing sensation that spread into every smallest crevice of his mouth as well as down his throat. Char thought it tasted like a combination of fire, which he was familiar with, and the hottest cinnamon he could have imagined. His taste buds felt like they'd all come alive and were busting at the seams, pleading for mercy from the intense onslaught.

…And he liked it.

When he finally, reluctantly swallowed the candy, his eyes were watering. His entire mouth was tingling.

"Well? How was it?" Saura pleaded, his own green-colored gummi sitting on the ground in front of him. "Do you feel any smarter?

"Not really," Char managed to answer, gasping for breath to cool down the lingering taste of fire in his mouth. "But I think I want another one."

Saura sniffed at the candy in front of him, then hesitantly gobbled it up.

Char watched amusedly as Saura's eyes widened. He chewed once.

But then, his face turned into a horrible, disgusted scowl.

"BLAUGH!" he spewed, spitting the candy back onto the floor. "EUGH! That's the most disgusting thing I ever tasted! It was bitter, and slimy! Eughh, I think I'm going to throw up!"

"Oh, no! I'm so, so sorry!" Kangaskhan cried, horrified. "I'm sorry! Oh, dear… I must have given you the wrong kind! That must have been one for the bug Pokémon. They're the same color, so I get them mixed up sometimes… Here… Here… I brought more… I think I have the right kind here…"

Kangaskhan dug into her pouch, and produced an assorted handful of colorful gummis. She sorted through them and picked out another green one. It was discernibly a lighter shade of green than the mess Saura had left on the floor. Kangaskhan handed it to Saura, who glared at it suspiciously.

"It's okay, you'll like this one," She told him. "Go on! Try it!"

Saura cringed as he took the second gummi into his mouth, but as soon as he chewed once, his face lit up with a big smile.

"Wow! Now that's more like it!" he exclaimed. "It tastes like… a really fresh salad! With honey! Wow, that's really wonderful! Do you have any more?"

"Sorry, but if you want more gummis, you'll have to pay for them, fair and square," Kangaskhan laughed. "Everybody loves them, but nobody seems to have a budget to eat a lot of them. So, we just use most of them on the younger children to help with their development. Speaking of which…"

She handed another gummi, a turquoise-colored one, to the Pidgey. The bird took it from her hand and tossed its head back to swallow it down.

"There you go, little guy," Kangaskhan crooned. "Better get used to eating those! Oh, that reminds me of something. One more important thing before you leave: do you want to give him a name? If you do, you should give it to him now, so that he'll be able to associate the name with himself."

"Otto," Char blurted out. "We'll call him Otto."

Saura and Kangaskhan both gave him a funny look.

"That's… an interesting name for a Pidgey," Kangaskhan said. "Any reason for the name?"

"No, not really," Char said. "It's just the first one I thought of."

"Well, whatever you wish," Kangaskhan said. "That'll be what we call him, then. Well, I know you two are very busy, so we can start getting little Otto acquainted with his new home right away…"

So, Char and Saura said goodbye to Otto the Pidgey. It was hard, but Char eventually got the Pidgey to see that he wanted it to go away with the Kangaskhan. The Pidgey looked sad to go, but its desire to please its master was strong, so it obeyed. Char told it that he loved it, and that he'd visit it as often as he could.

Then, he was gone.

… … …

"Otto?!" Saura said to Char as they returned to their rooms. "What kind of a name is that, anyway? That almost sounds like a name for an Oddish."

"I don't really know," Char admitted. "I just suddenly remembered out of nowhere. It might even be from my human life."

"A human name?" Saura said. "Interesting… you humans must have interesting names. Do you think… it could be your name?"

Char dug through his thoughts, but his memories, save for his visions of Dialga and Palkia, were still completely blank. He couldn't place the name anywhere, much less on himself.

"I don't know," Char said. "But… I think I need to have a talk with you. Without Ray here, I mean."

"Okay, sure," Saura said. "To the meeting hall, then?"

Char sat with Saura in the empty meeting hall, just like they always did when they wanted time alone. The grandeur of the hall and the sight of the dragons always gave Char a level of peace that he couldn't seem to find anywhere else.

"My team is four members big now," Char sighed, relaxing and spilling his thoughts out for his best friend. "But you and I are still the only real members. I think it's time we told Ray. Ray is… well, our friend, and our teammate, and I'm really starting to feel like I want to trust him as much as I trust you. But, whenever I think about it, I can't seem to get the courage to tell him."

Saura nodded thoughtfully.

"It's just… we have four members now. What about when we have five? Six? Or ten? I really feel like things could get out of hand. If we get more members, and I still only trust you, I feel like… our team won't be able to work. So, I want to tell Ray about my secrets. I think I owe it to him. I just don't know how he'll take it. What do you think? Do you think he's ready?"

Saura thought for a moment before answering. "Ray is… well, at least from what I tell… he's thrilled to be a part of something big," he speculated. "That's why he wants on Team Remorse so badly. That's why he sets such high standards for himself and us, too. He wants to see the legends as they happen. He wants to be the one making them happen."

Yes, Ray certainly had a clear purpose in life. To Char, that much was certain. Unlike Fern, who may have fancied seeing the legendary Pokémon but never intended to do anything about it, Ray was giving his all day after day to make his dreams come true. But Saura was right: he'd never really considered why Ray had the dreams he did. He always thought it was because he idolized Scythe and wanted to be like him.

"And, any way you put it, Char, you're a legend," Saura continued. "The way I see it, Ray would be honored to know you for who you are."

"Maybe you're right," Char said, "But… I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think about telling him. You'll have to help me do it. You're so much better at talking than I am."

"I'll be right behind you," Saura promised. "That's not going to change. Whatever happens, I'm right behind you."

They sat in peace for a while before deciding to head back to Scythe's room, remembering that they had a reward to receive.

*Chapter 30*: Chapter 27: Gaining Trust, Part 2

Chapter 27

Later that evening, the team congregated in Scythe's room to give him the day's news. They'd spent all day anticipating what his big reward was going to be, so they were all smiles when they reported that their second independent mission had gone off without a hitch. But Scythe had a rather unexpected response.

"Let me get this straight," Scythe said, almost laughing. "You chose the easiest mission possible, just so you could tell me you won, just so you could get the reward I promised?"

Somehow, the way Scythe said it made Char's smile fade. He hadn't considered that Scythe would actually disapprove of the idea!

"There's a word for that," Scythe said. "Cheating! That's not how I trained you! I expect you to take the missions you're capable of, not the ones better left for Team Stripes!"

"I'm sorry," Char said, his smile long gone and his head hung. "You're right. I just wanted the reward."

"That's just not how the division works," Scythe continued. "Imagine what would happen if my team took the sentry missions day after day. Not only would the training teams all be out of business, but… It would take us years to make any money! Plus, who would take the bigger jobs? Who would get the real work done? The Master would smash us in the blink of an eye!"

"We understand," Saura said. "It won't happen again."

"So," Scythe sighed, "I'm sorry, but this really was a cop-out on your part. I don't think I can give you the reward quite yet. Better luck next time."

Char slumped back, defeated. In retrospect, he really should have seen this coming. Scythe had every right to scorn them for taking the easy way out. Exchanging glances with his teammates, he saw that Saura and Ray both returned expressions of disappointment in acknowledgement of their failure. Ray, especially: he saw something fiery burning deep within Ray's eyes, a belief that it was mostly his fault for letting the team down by agreeing to take the easy way out, and a determination to never, ever let the team slack again. Honestly, it scared him a little; Ray wasn't exactly easy on him in the first place.

Oh, well, Char thought. At least we accomplished something today. We have Otto, and—

"Naah, I'm just joking with you," Scythe suddenly laughed. "The reward is all yours! You won fair and square."

The team froze, speechless. Char blinked.

"You should have seen the looks on your faces," Scythe chuckled. "I just couldn't resist. It's all good. Really, it is. You were being opportunists, which demonstrates good judgment. Some Pokémon with big egos actually have a lot of trouble lowering themselves for the sake of a good profit. Like Daemon, for instance. He'd be the one telling you everything I just said. But he's not here right now, so his opinions don't matter. Congratulations, you three. You've earned your reward!"

Team Ember responded with a weak, nervous laugh which shortly escalated into a hearty cheer.

Scythe took them down the hall, explaining the rewards he had planned. Team Ember was to move up in rank! They would now have free reign to take the more difficult missions from the division-wide task lists. They would be allowed to take missions up to the two-star risk level. But, best of all, they would no longer pay half their earnings to Team Remorse; only a miniscule ten-percent tax would be required from now on, since they were still apprentices and not completely independent.

This alone was enough to make Char and his friends leap for joy, but Scythe had something else in store.

As he lead them to the front door of his team's quarters, Char noticed that several other members of Team Remorse were falling in line behind them. Marrow was there, as was Raon, and Shander…

When Scythe reached the front door, he stopped to address them.

"As you can imagine, a higher rank implies greater responsibility," Scythe announced with his authority. "Since you have grown in strength, and in skill, and in number, more will be expected of you. That's why, as your reward for attaining a new level of reputability, I will bestow upon you… chores!"

Again, Team Ember fell silent and tongue-tied. When Char glanced back at the other members of Team Remorse, he realized why they'd chosen to come. They were all struggling to hold back laughter. They had expected this, and wanted to watch in amusement as it played out. By now, Char was used to being the subject of Scythe's good-hearted jokes, but he couldn't quite understand this one…

"Chores?" Char repeated. "You mean, like, manual labor? On top of doing missions?"

"Of course!" Scythe said, not even cracking a smile this time. "We all have our chores to do while we're not on duty. What, you think you can just spend all that time lounging around the base and doing nothing? You've got to make yourself useful! So, today, I'm assigning to you a chore which I expect to be done every day. As a reward."

"What's the chore?" Saura asked, with strangest expression on his face that Char had ever seen.

"I was just getting to that!" Scythe bellowed. "Now, you must understand that this chore is of utmost importance. If you ever fail, the Division's opinion of you might plummet. Understand?"

"Uh, okay," Char said. "Understood."

"Now, this is the chore: from this point forth, you, Team Ember, will be responsible for cleaning one of the division's halls downstairs. You must keep it swept, washed, tidied, and free of clutter. Every single day. Understand?"

Char couldn't stop his heart from sinking this time. He'd expected Scythe to surprise him with something positive, as he usually did. He was expecting the chore to be an honored privilege or something, but it turned out to really be a chore. A rather annoying and unpleasant one, at that.

"Now, come with me," Scythe ordered, opening the door. "I'll show you."

So, Scythe lead the disillusioned team out into the halls. Scythe's teammates still followed, as if still eager to see some kind of reaction from them.

They went down one flight of stairs…

And then down a hall that appeared similar, if not identical, to the one above it. In fact, it was a hall that Char and Saura had mistaken for Team Remorse's quarters a few times in the past.

He lead them down to the end of the hall. When the hall ended, there was a door, not unlike Scythe's door one floor above.

And then, Char saw it.

Above the door, adorned with four billowing torches, was a stone plaque. Etched into the plaque were five large human letters: EMBER.

Char was about ready to faint. Scythe was giving his team rooms all to themselves!

"And here it is," Scythe said, proudly introducing the door. "Do you like it?"

"No way! This is for us?" Saura cried. "Scythe, it's beautiful! I don't know what to say!"

"Wow, Scythe! This is too much!" Ray gasped. "I would have done ten independent missions for this!"

"Well, it's yours," Scythe said. "This old hall has been abandoned for a few years, ever since Team Flamewheel picked up and moved to the Emerald Division. For some reason, the Division wouldn't let anyone else take it for the longest time… but I convinced them, finally. So, here are your own rooms. Use them, abuse them, just try not to get them too messy, alright?"

"Scythe was waiting until he could get some rooms close enough to ours," Raon explained. "In fact, I don't think he's even planning on ever letting you become totally independent. I think you're stuck with us forever."

"Yeah, Scythe has loads of plans for your team," Marrow said. "One day, you'll probably wind up as our personal helper team. Imagine: you'll be training new recruits, running your own missions, and helping us with ours all at the same time. It'll be a blast, really!"

"You might change the world someday, and we will keep doing everything in our power to get you ready, as Alakazam instructed us to do," Shander said mainly to Char. "With this new home of yours, your team can enter a completely new phase. You are now free to expand your team as you see fit without overcrowding our rooms."

Char was so happy, he had to resist the urge to run up and give Scythe a hug. It was a marvelous, thoughtful gift, even if it was just another step in their development as a team. Char could already imagine the sweet privacy of his own room, of not having to be woken up by a Scythe or a blaring Exploud each morning, of being able to recruit some new members and giving them decent places to stay…

"Thank you," Char said sincerely. "It's perfect. It's just what we needed."

Scythe blinked. "Well, those are all very interesting responses for just showing you the front door. Want to take a look inside?"

Without waiting for an answer, Scythe rapped on the door. A moment passed before it slid open, revealing several members of Team Stripes standing on the other side, including Taka, an Eevee, and a Larvitar.

"You'd better like it," Taka pronounced. "Team Remorse had us working on this for two whole weeks just for you guys. It was not easy."

"Hey, quit your complaining! We paid you!" Marrow said. "We would have done it ourselves if we hadn't all been busy enough!"

"Yeah, as if Team Stripes even gets to keep more than ten percent of our money in the first place," Taka said. "But yeah, whatever. It's done. Go on in and look at it."

Ray hung back to chat with Taka for a little while, and Char and Saura eagerly stepped in to explore their new living quarters.

It was better than Char had expected. The personal hall had the exact layout as Team Remorse's quarters, complete with fourteen bedrooms, a long yet spacious main corridor, a meeting room, a planning room, an office, and an extra storage room. The hall was lined with twice as many ghost-torches as Team Remorse had, all in various, ornate kinds of containers that stood on the floor or hung from the walls and the ceiling—presumably in honor of the team's name. A bright red-and-orange rug lined the main hall's floor, embroidered with images of Moltres, Entei, Flareon, and Charizard. Char first wondered if the rug was custom-made for them, but figured it was probably left behind by the previous team who, judging by their team name, were obviously just as associated with the element of fire as his team was.

Taking in the visage of his new home, Char felt similar pangs of awe and joy to how he had when he'd first seen the interior of the base. The Charmander within him was deeply satisfied and wanted to live there forever, and the human part of him could barely keep up. He ran from one room to the next, inspecting them all and watching as the magical torches flared to life at his proximity. The rooms all had extremely simple furnishings, but no more than a Pokémon would need to be happy: a rug, a sleeping pad made of something like artificial straw and cloth, and a few bare shelves to keep belongings.

Finally, Char found the last room at the end of the hall: the team leader's room, just like Scythe's room upstairs. It was as big as two of the other rooms put together, and filled with many more pieces of furniture, including golden statues and crystal-imbued wall ornaments. The bed was bigger, too, and it was made out of a different kind of tough, cloth-like substance that had to have been fireproof, but still appeared invitingly comfortable. Char's heart leapt when he realized why the bed was so huge: it was big enough for a Charizard!

On both sides of the bed were huge, floor-mounted dishes of billowing fire. Upon further inspection, Char realized it was real fire, giving off warmth, smoke, and a forceful roar. The smoke was all filtered out by the many surrounding ghost-torches, leaving the air as clear as could be expected. Char leapt up onto his bed and let the bliss simply overcome him, relaxing and nearly falling asleep right on the spot. The fire calmed him in more ways than he could count, and he knew he never wanted to sleep anywhere else again, especially not on the hard stone floor of Scythe's lair.

…Come to think of it, he never noticed whether or not Scythe even had a designated sleeping place in his own room. He'd always sleep sitting upright somewhere on the floor.

"…Lucky!" Saura shouted as he wandered into Char's room, causing him to snap back from his blissful daze. "How come you get the only good room, huh?"

"You can always sleep in here if you like," Char said, sitting up on his bed. "We all stayed in Scythe's room when we were up there, right? You can stay here if you want."

"Oh, no thanks," Saura said. "I don't think I could feel comfortable with… those things… in the same room," he said, indicating the live torches. "I think it would feel like sleeping on the edge of a bottomless pit."

Char laughed. There was no way he was going to give up his torches.

"This place is just amazing," Saura said, exploring Char's spacious lair. "Scythe really outdid himself this time! I'm going to enjoy coming home to this place every day. Now, if only I could get some sunlight to shine in my room, it would be just perfect."

Char agreed, it was more than he would have asked for. But as much as having an entire upper-class hall to himself made him feel giddy, it also made him feel guilty. He knew full well that he didn't deserve any of it, that it was all due to the favor and generosity of the high-ranking team that trained them. He had seen the cramped, diminutive rooms that he'd always expected to have one day, the rooms the other teams called home; the hall of Team Stripes only had two rooms total, forcing most of the members to share, and even the fairly reputable teams such as Team Dread only had five tiny rooms to dwell in. He always figured that the rooms of the division base were not built for luxury, but judging from where he now sat, he knew that some exceptions were made.

"Do you think, one day, if we work hard enough, we might actually deserve this?" Char wondered.

"Hmm?" Saura answered absently, inspecting a wall decoration that had the likeness of Ho-oh.

"You heard Marrow," Char said. "Scythe expects us to become one of the best teams. So does the whole Division, probably. This is big. I knew from the beginning we had a lot to live up to, but this is getting a little scary!"

Saura was about to answer, but Scythe, Ray, and Shander all barged in.

"Ah-ha, you already found your place," Shander said to Char with a smile. "I bet you like the fire, don't you? We had to pull a lot of strings to get those. Don't tell High Intelligence about them, now; real fire was declared a safety hazard a while back, and we had to deactivate all of those things. Hmm, remember how furious Char was when he had to give up his fire? The old Char, I mean."

"Oh, don't remind me," Scythe said, shaking his head. "Yes, it was all because some poor Staravia suffocated somewhere downstairs when the fire was burning the air faster than the spiritual torches could replenish it. As you can see, we've made sure to go overboard on the spiritual torches, so you should have no reason to worry. But Intelligence may throw a fit if they find out, so don't let them in here if you can help it!"

"Got that," Char said, jumping off his bed.

"Hey, Char, nice room!" Ray cheered. "This even looks better than yours, Scythe!"

"Oh, you know that I don't care about things like aesthetics," Scythe said dismissively. "A room is for thinking and sleeping. The rest is just excess."

"Yeah, right, then why'd you go through all the trouble to make this place look so nice, huh?" Ray laughed. "Hey, Char, Saura, I was just talking to Taka. She doesn't want to admit it, but I think she's starting to reconsider wanting to join the team! I don't think she can stand seeing this place and not living here! Not to mention all the rest of Team Stripes, they all want in, too!"

Scythe took some time to explain a few of the details about housekeeping, such as how the locking mechanism worked on the doors and how they'd have to either use their Mobile Scarf or ask a ghost Pokémon for help if they would ever accidently lock themselves out. He explained how to get their own copies of the news posts, the registration documents, and the task lists. He explained how to turn on and off the ghost torches, and what telepathic commands they would respond to. He also explained that, while the food delivery service was available to them, it depended solely on the Division's willingness to grant it to them on a case-by-case basis, and shouldn't be abused until they were sure they'd gained enough of a reputation for it.

After all was said and done, the torches turned red for the evening, and Scythe was ready to give his final words and return to his own team.

"Well, I can see you're all eager to settle in, so I guess we can all call it a day," Scythe said. "But, I expect you all to report to my door tomorrow morning. Don't forget to take a mission for tomorrow, and have a good night's rest!"

"Scythe?" Shander suddenly said. "Um…"

Shander held up his claw. He was holding a strange sparkling object. It seemed to Char like a gold nugget, or some kind of jewelry.

"Oh, of course," Scythe groaned. "I almost forgot! I know I also promised I'd throw in something else… well, here it is."

Shander offered the strange object to Char, who accepted it and looked it over. It seemed like a glimmering pebble made of gold, but there was something strange about it that he couldn't place. It was incredibly lightweight, and it had a shell that was smooth and unbreakable. It almost seemed like the object was… organic.

"This, my friends, is one of the rarest, most valuable items in all the land," Scythe said. "It's also one of the best-kept secrets of the highest-ranking teams. Want to know how we really manage the impossible jobs? Well, sometimes, it can all come down to just a few of these."

"We call them Reviver Seeds," Shander explained. "Nobody knows where they come from, or how they form. We can't engineer them from plants like we can make Heal Seeds or Sleep Seeds. The only places they are ever found are in Mystery Dungeons, and they are incredibly, incredibly rare. You see, somehow, a tiny spirit has gotten trapped within this seed. The spirit is a benevolent one, and it's aware of its surroundings. If you have it in your possession, it will consider itself your guardian. In effect… if you suffer a fatal injury, the spirit will break out of the seed and it will heal you completely, curing every wound, poisonous effect, or even reconstructing your body from dismembered pieces if that's what it comes to."

"Say you're walking along in a Mystery Dungeon, and a wild Scyther jumps out and decapitates you!" Scythe roared, making a dramatic motion with a blade in illustration. "The seed would save you. Say you make a misstep and plummet to your death into a pitfall trap! The seed would heal you and lift you out. Say your food is depleted and you finally pass out from hunger. The seed would revive you, return you to full strength, and even fill your belly so you don't soon starve again. There is nothing the seed will not do to revive you! It is a lifeline for all circumstances. A second chance."

Char's grip on the Reviver Seed loosened as he heard what it was capable of. He held it reverently, in respect for its incredible power.

"There is a catch, though," Shander said. "It seems to rely upon the strange nature of Mystery Dungeons to perform its work, and so, it can only save you when you are within the confines of a dungeon. Outside of one, it cannot help you, and you will succumb to death as normal. Also, after the spirit has done its work, it leaves, so the seed loses its power and can never be used again."

"There are times when things happen that are simply out of your control," Scythe said. "A Reviver Seed gives you the ability to overcome those things. But never, ever plan on using it. You must pretend with all your heart that it is not there, and fight until the very end. Protect it as you would your very life, for someday, that's what it could become."

As Scythe and Shander left to return to their own rooms, Char was still staring incredulously at the priceless gift he held in his claws. He didn't notice Scythe's reverent gesture to him right before he stepped out the door.

… … …

After Team Ember had finished using their brand-new facilities to plan and prepare for their mission the next day, they lounged idly in Char's room. Upon following the instructions Scythe had given them to request the full task list, they were overwhelmed when the registry presented them with several pages of difficult tasks that were probably more than the entire division could accomplish in a single month. Feeling fairly confident in themselves, and still with some lingering shame of their arguably underhanded choice the previous day, they took a moderately difficult task of risk "B" and called it a night soon after.

"So awesome," Ray said, taking a good look at the Reviver Seed for himself. "No wonder the teams can take the really tough dungeons. I wonder how many they use? They'd probably never tell us. Well, now we have one of our own, imagine what we could do!"

Char took a really deep sigh. It was time. The mood, the setting, the sense of confidence it all instilled… it was all perfect, and he wasn't going to let himself escape it. So, taking a deep breath, Char asked…

"Hey, Ray… what do you think about… humans?"

Ray blinked, wondering where in the world the question had come from. "Um… what do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, what do you think of them? Do you like them? Do you hate them? What's your opinion of them?"

Char glanced at Saura, who now held a serious and steadfast expression. He understood what was happening, and he was ready to back Char up at the slightest indication that he needed help.

"That's a really weird question," Ray said. "Um… well, I don't really know. I never met one, so I… really don't know."

"Really?" Char asked, worriedly. "Not even… the slightest little… anything?"

"Well, to be honest, I can't imagine myself liking them."

Char felt a jolt of horror shoot down his spine. He suddenly felt weak.

"I mean, don't get me wrong," Ray said. "If I met a human, and it was a nice one, it'd be a dream come true! But… It's just… it's hard to have a good impression of humans when… well, you know."

"What?" Saura said, stepping in. "When what?"

"Well, you know," Ray said again. "The only human that Ambera has ever known is… so horrible."

There was a moment of silence as Char tried to understand what had just been said.

"Wait!" Saura yelled suddenly, startling everyone. "Hold it! Hold on a second. You aren't talking about the Master, are you?!"

"Well, yeah," Ray said. "What other human would I be talking about?"

"You think the Master is a human?!" Saura yelped, surprised out of his wits.

"I thought that was common knowledge," Ray said. "How else would he have gotten so many Pokémon to follow him? He's a Pokémon trainer who turned evil."

"That's not what I heard growing up!" Saura gasped. "I was taught that the Master was a Pokémon! I heard he was a skilled psychic that could brainwash other Pokémon into doing his will."

"I've never heard that one," Ray rebutted. "There's no way we would have let just another Pokémon become so powerful!"

"Hey! Stop!" Char yelled loudly, putting a halt to the foreseeable argument. "Why don't we get this cleared up and ask someone who does know? Like Scythe? He met the Master himself, right? He would know."

… … …

So, out they went, back upstairs to the place they'd just moved out of, to clear up a disagreement that they hadn't until that point even known existed. Char felt his head spinning, no longer from anticipation of Ray's opinion of him, but of the possibility that the Master could be a human. He'd always just subscribed to the belief that Saura had fed him, that the Master was a Pokémon. But… a human? He'd never heard such a theory! He had to know for sure if he wasn't alone after all in the world of Pokémon, even if the Master was the most wretched creature in existence…

"Back so soon?" Scythe said with surprise, answering the front door. "Need something?"

"Scythe, we need you to clear up something for us," Char said. "We need to know—"

"Wait!" Scythe exclaimed, silencing him.

He looked intently from Char, to Ray, to Saura, not saying a word. The silence dragged on for several seconds.

"Gah, forget it," Scythe sighed. "I have no idea what you're going to say. Anyway, go ahead. Carry on."

"Scythe, we need to know something," Saura said. "The Master. What is he? I always thought he was a Pokémon, maybe a legendary. Ray here thinks that he could be a human. Who's right?"

Scythe's face changed.

While Char had always considered Scythe to be a close, albeit powerful, friend, the expression Scythe wore at hearing the question truly frightened him. Char was expecting a simple answer, but instead, the Scyther returned a gaze that could have meant "What business do you have knowing that?!"

However, after taking a moment to seemingly collect himself, Scythe opened his mouth to answer.

"The Master…"

Char clenched his fists in anticipation.

"…is a Pokémon."

"Ha!" Saura gloated. "I knew it! There you have it, Ray. That's your answer."

Ray looked deeply shocked. "W-what kind of Pokémon?" he asked meekly. "If the Master's a Pokémon, what is he?"

Again, a moment of burning silence. Char's stomach broiled as he watched Scythe's face betray something horrible within him, like a struggle was going on inside of his head. After seeing what kind of effect the first question had on Scythe, he knew the second question was wholly unnecessary and better left unasked, but he bore the torture and waited for the answer.

Finally, Scythe hung his head.

"…I don't know."

"W-what?!" Saura cried in response. "You saw him with your own eyes, didn't you? How could you not know… oh, I get it! He's a kind of Pokémon we haven't seen before, isn't he? A new Pokémon?"

Ray, however, responded differently. His ever-present smile faded, and his eyes wavered, looking betrayed.

"You aren't lying, are you, Scythe?" Ray asked sadly. "Please say you aren't lying."

"LISTEN!" Scythe suddenly roared at the top of his lungs, causing Char and his friends to jump in fright.

Char could see it: Scythe was becoming enraged. He wanted to just run away and say nothing more of the matter, but it was too late. Scythe stepped out, slammed the door behind him, and pulled the team into a corner.

"You will never, ever, accuse me of lying," Scythe growled. "There are a lot of things that I tolerate, but this… is not one of them. It hurts. It cuts deep into my heart to be called a liar. You have no idea. If ever you want to offend me, reduce me to a broken shell of a Pokémon, that's how you can do it. You can't…"

Scythe took a breath, recovering from his initial outburst. Char felt himself trembling.

"If only you knew how much I despise telling un-truths… It offends me… It defies my very nature. I do not lie. I never lie. Ever! Unless… unless I need to, for the safety of the ones I love. Do you understand? And even then, it's… it feels like I would rather die. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes," Char barely squeaked.

"I'm sorry," Ray said, starting to cry.

"Let me tell you something," Scythe said. "You've seen my team. You see how we work. Do you want to know what ties us together? What gives us the… the power to overcome the things we overcome? Trust. Total, complete, unconditional trust. My teammates trust me. They obey me because… because… I have given them reason to place their trust in me. Not just most of their trust, but all of it. To those I trust, I tell everything I know. I will not have it any other way. Without trust, this team… and even, to an extent, this Division… would fail."

He took another deep breath. Char saw in the Scyther's eyes how he regretted the show of emotion he'd just succumbed to.

"There are times," he said gravely, "when it becomes necessary to tell a lie. Or… to keep a secret. If I find that I must keep a secret… I try to keep the secret even from myself, to confine it to only the farthest reaches of my mind, to pretend, to act that it does not even exist. Do you understand, … Charmander?"

Char understood.

It dawned on him, for the first time, why Scythe refused to ever acknowledge Char's humanity. He knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, Char's secret. But it was a secret he'd forced himself to keep from the rest of his team… and, likewise, from himself. A secret he buried away in the farthest confines of his mind, to pretend that it wasn't there.

For once, Char understood the reasons behind Scythe's behavior.

"I get it," he answered.

Trust.

The backbone of friendship.

"What gives us the… the power to overcome the things we overcome? Trust. Total, complete, unconditional trust."

Char knew now, more than ever, that he'd made the right decision in choosing to tell Ray what he needed to tell him. Now… he just needed to do it.

… … …

Team Ember sulked back to their own rooms, thoroughly shaken by Scythe's reactions to their questions. They'd never seen their leader act that way before, and didn't really want to see it happen again. They took the message he sent, and did their best to just look forward. Ray, especially, suddenly looked really tired and intent on just heading to his room for a good night's rest.

Just before the threesome was about to split up and head into their separate rooms, Char stopped them one last time.

"Ray… I have something I need to tell you."

Ray already looked somewhat annoyed with some sparks of static escaping from his cheeks, but he visibly tried to swallow it and answered calmly.

"Yeah?"

"Ray… This is… hard for me to say," Char said, his voice trembling everywhere. "But there's something that I really, really need you to know if you're going to stick with us on this team. After what Scythe just told us, I know there can't be any other way. Scythe has his team, and I want to trust you the same way he trusts them. So… I need you to listen. Okay?"

Upon hearing this, Ray's expression changed. His anger was drowned out by an expression of sympathy.

"Char, relax," Ray said gently, his ears folding to the back of his head. "We're friends, remember? You can tell me anything you want."

Ray was listening attentively. Char swallowed hard, then opened his mouth to speak…

"Ray, Saura and I have been keeping a secret from you since the very beginning. The fact is… I'm… not… what I… look like. I'm a human trapped in the body of a Charmander."

For Char, time seemed to stop as he held his breath and awaited Ray's response. For long, too long, Ray didn't say anything. He blinked once.

"Are you… … sure?" he responded, his expression turned completely blank.

"Yeah, we are," Saura told him. "It's a long story, but we'll tell you the whole thing if you want. I found Char in the Gravelerock Tunnel dungeon, just laying there. He had no memories of how he got there, who he was, or even what his name was. All he knew was that he was human."

"And then… there was Dialga…" Char said nervously. "I've been having visions of Dialga and Palkia. I think they sent me here to do something… and Saura and I are trying to figure it all out. Then we got caught up in the Gold Division, and that's why Team Ember exists. And Scythe… he found out about it, somehow, and that's why he's been protecting me and giving us all the special treatment."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Saura added. "I think we're getting special treatment because Char has the Call. You knew that, right? I don't see how you couldn't. Scythe mentioned it a lot."

There was another moment of heavy, expectant silence as Char and Saura waited for Ray to say something. Ray slumped down onto the floor and sat there, his eyes with a faraway look.

"Wow," he finally said. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Dead serious," Char said. "I wouldn't lie to a friend. Not anymore."

"Wow," Ray said again. "That's… huh. Wow."

Ray's eyes shifted, his gaze locking with Char's.

"Um… am I supposed to bow, or something?"

Char and Saura both released their breaths with a little nervous laugh.

"Nah, you don't have to," Saura said. "Scythe likes to do that, though, but Char just thinks it's annoying."

"So, are we okay?" Char asked, already starting to let himself relax. "Are we still friends?"

"Are you joking?!" Ray said, wearing a bright smile and getting back to his feet. "You really expected me to say no? This has to be the most amazing thing I've ever heard in my entire life, Char! Having you as a team leader is like… being trained by a trainer! It's an honor! A real honor!… I'm allowed to call you Char, right?"

Char nodded, then held out his hand.

"In that case," he said sternly, "Ray, if we're still friends, I want you to shake my hand… er… claw, and say that you're still my friend."

"Shake your claw?" Ray laughed oddly. "Why?"

"Just do it," Char insisted. "Hold my claw, and shake it. The handshake. It's a human gesture of trust. I've never seen you Pokémon do it, but I want you to do it this time. Please?"

"Whatever you want, Char!" Ray cheered with his newfound glee. "Handshake!"

TZZAP.

A brilliant flash of yellow light filled the corridor as a giant spark of electricity rushed down Char's arm and filled his body. Char fell backward onto the ground, stars dancing before his eyes. Ray recoiled in horror, realizing that he might have gotten a little too excited…

"By Arceus! I'm so sorry!" Ray cried. "Char, are you okay?! Char?!"

… … …

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

In the dead of night, there was a rapping at the door.

Saura's eyes fluttered open. It took him a second to realize that he was now in a room of his own, rather that Scythe's. The night-light torch in his room was glowing blue. It was the dead of night.

Someone's visiting us? Saura wondered. Who could it be? Did someone get locked out?

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

Okay, already, I'm coming! Saura thought, rolling to his feet and wearily dragging himself out into the hall.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The rapping was getting forceful. Saura wondered how long it had been going on before one of them had finally woken up.

When he reached the end of the hall, he limply extended his vines and slid the door open…

On the other side of the door stood a very, very tired and agitated Scythe, and a serious-looking Alakazam.

"Get Char," Scythe ordered.

"W—" Saura started.

"There has been an important development concerning Char's… abilities," Alakazam announced. "We must discuss things immediately."

*Chapter 31*: Chapter 28: Untimely Intrusion

Chapter 28

Char had never seen the inside of High Intelligence's chamber before, and got the impression that not very many Pokémon did. It was shaped like a large hall, or a throne room, almost. A calm white light shined from the ceiling and filled the room, not by a ghost-torch, but by a giant glowing crystal. Huge shelves piled high with books, orbs, and relics lined every wall, and several tables occupied the space in the center of the room. Metagross stood at the back and watched silently and motionlessly as the meeting took place, listening to each word spoken and committing it to memory.

Char knew he would have been in awe of the place if he hadn't felt so intimidated, not to mention sleepy. He felt especially uncomfortable since Alakazam forbid Saura from joining him in the meeting. Of course, that didn't stop him from resolving to tell Saura and Ray every single word spoken in that chamber, no matter how much Alakazam or even Scythe would insist against it.

"My most sincere apologies for this… untimely intrusion," Alakazam said with a bow. "But, as a service to you both, I have chosen to inform you of things as immediately as possible. You must also understand that we would not have the time or the coordination to hold this type of conference during the day; our plates are simply too full, just as I am well aware that yours are as well, Scythe."

Scythe responded with a gesture that somewhat resembled a half-hearted bow, but said nothing. Char copied his motion.

Alakazam lead the two over to a larger table. Char was too short to see on top of it, but soon noticed a convenient stone brick located near the base and stepped up. An extremely large map of Ambera, covered by a layer of glass, spanned the surface of the table. It was larger and more detailed than any map he'd ever seen before, and cluttered with countless small objects on the tabletop that undoubtedly represented things like locations of key efforts and known positions of the Master's forces. It appeared hand-drawn and shaded, and it was covered with enough hand-written notes and descriptions to make Char's head spin. He wondered if this was the real Map of Jirachi, which had simply been transcribed into smaller copies for ease of use.

"You must understand that the information I am about to impart to you is of the utmost level of secrecy," Alakazam warned. "Only a select few Pokémon share this knowledge. It will remain unknown to the remainder of the Division. And, although you might take me for a fool, you must remember that I am a psychic, and I can see your emotions as an open book. I have not even spoken, yet you both are resolute upon spreading the knowledge to your trusted teammates. While I feel that I must respect the relationships you hold with your associates, I must make a few things clear: first, that in the best course of action, you should keep this a secret even from them, that imparting it would be most unfavorable and dangerous, and could ultimately prove to be catastrophic. However, since I have nothing in the way of control over what you choose to tell them, I will simply impart the information to you and leave it to your own best judgment. Secondly, that, should you ultimately chose to tell those whom you trust, you must make them undeniably understand the gravity of the situation, just as I am making you understand now, so that they would never, under any circumstances, allow the information to spread farther than themselves. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Char felt himself gulp.

"I do, your honor," Scythe said, nodding his head.

"Yes, sir," Char said simply.

"Good, now," Alakazam said, sitting on one of the blocks and folding his hands on the table, "over the past month, my colleagues and I have devoted over four hundred hours to the research and study of the phenomenon known as the Call. Through it all, we have found… nothing."

Char and Scythe both listened intently, knowing full well that Alakazam didn't bring them for nothing.

"The Call's power changes with each new incarnation," he continued. "The legends and history books speak of its effects. But never, in the history of the recorded world, has the Call's power matched that which we witnessed that fateful night thirty-nine days ago. Analysis of the Call is also rare among the records, amounting to nothing but flimsy and useless speculation. In effect, we do not have an answer for what triggers it, or how it could be manipulated to call upon the servants of Arceus. The appearance of the Call was untimely. We wish only that our ancestors had kept better records, so as to help Ambera in its time of desperate need."

Arceus. Char kept hearing that name, over and over and over, and from every Pokémon he ever knew!

"What is Arceus?" Char asked. "I keep hearing the name, but what is it, and why do we swear by it?"

Alakazam grunted, not expecting the question. Char could tell that he was not amused by it, as he expected it to be common knowledge, but Char really wanted to know the answer.

"Arceus is a Pokémon," Alakazam said. "Arceus was the first Pokémon. Arceus created the universe. Arceus created Dialga, to tend to the river of time, and Palkia, to tend to the void of space, and from their powers combined, the universe came into being. By the power of Arceus, Mew was born, and all other Pokémon came into being. Arceus is the legend of legends, the god of gods, the omnipotent, the supreme. If we succeed in using the Call to evoke the sympathy and the wrath of Arceus' most powerful servants, you will see with your very eyes why we swear by the name.

Incredible, Char thought, trying to digest the words. A Pokémon that created the universe? Could it really be possible for a single Pokémon to be so powerful, to have total control over existence itself? What about humans? He said that Arceus created Pokémon, but did he create humans? And since Arceus is a Pokémon, could he be caught, like any other Pokémon? What would happen? What would happen if the god of all the universe came under the control of something lesser than himself? Would the universe collapse? This is so mind-boggling! How can the creator of the universe be a Pokémon?

"Please, try to focus," Alakazam requested. "Believe me, I know your head is now filled with silly questions, but you would be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon to answer any of them. They are mysteries to us all, and will probably remain that way until the end of time. You see, Arceus has never been seen. While Dialga, Palkia, and every other Pokémon of legend has made appearances throughout history to demonstrate their powers and to conform our world to the will of Arceus, our great and powerful father has never once visited us. Because of this, we must assume that Arceus is somewhat detached from creation, choosing instead to delegate power to the various legendary Pokémon and simply choosing to sit and rest in whatever plane of existence it calls home."

Oh, I see, Char thought. That makes sense. Arceus uses other Pokémon to do his work instead of dealing with the world directly. Guess we don't have to worry about him getting caught, then… yeah, that was pretty silly of me to worry about… But still, wow! An omnipotent Pokémon! I knew Dialga and Palkia were powerful, but Arceus sounds… absolutely mythic!

"But I am deviating from the matter at hand!" Alakazam said, shaking his head. "I must move on to the purpose of this meeting. Just this evening, we received word of the impossible. It is something that signals the changing of the threads of fate, something that suggests the legendary dragons could be on the move as we speak, and it is something… that could have everything to do with you, Charmander. Xatu, in her meditation this week, sensed something amiss, and flew far out to the north to investigate. It was then that she met with a group of Pokémon who had come all the way from the Emerald division in pursuit of a similar inkling, and they told her of their discoveries, and she returned this evening to share her tale…"

THUNK.

A brass cylinder hit the table, completely without the aid of Alakazam's hand. Char watched as Alakazam moved it with telekinesis, sliding it across the map of Ambera, around the countless other blocks and coins used as markers, and to the very northern boundary of Ambera itself. There, he released it from his hold and returned his attention to Scythe and Char.

"Temporal Tower has been revealed," Alakazam announced. "It can be found in this vicinity, north of the Emerald Division near the border of Zerferia, obscured by the surrounding—"

"Temporal Tower!" Scythe gasped suddenly, cutting Alakazam off. "We did it! We called upon Dialga! Could he be coming to our aid…?"

"What's Temporal Tower?" Char asked shamefully, hating himself for not understanding what were probably the basic legends of Ambera. "I'm sorry, sir. I was sheltered…"

Alakazam sighed again, stopping to explain things.

"Temporal Tower is a symbol," he explained. "It is a symbol of Dialga's power over our realm. Just as the very bodies of the legendary dragons are, themselves, symbols, since the servants of Arceus are, in actuality, pure spirits. While most Pokémon associate the form of Dialga with a great, sapphire, diamond-studded dragon, and Palkia as an equally majestic pearl-laden beast, those forms were merely chosen by Arceus so the Pokémon of the temporal realm, you and I, could more easily comprehend their existence, even when their beings far transcend the physical boundaries we see. For we are but creatures of flesh with no comprehension of the astral plane, and we can only believe what we see…"

"And, just as the dragons show us symbols of their beings, they also show us symbols of their authority, their power, and their connection to this world," Alakazam said. "In the history books, we can glimpse at some of these symbols, these monuments which represent the roles they play in governing time, space, and the other forces that control life itself. One such monument, spoken of in countless legends, is known as Temporal Tower, which represents Dialga's control over the time stream of this planet. It is said that, when Dialga visits the physical realm to intervene in whatever way it wills, Dialga's body, its physical form, dwells at the top of Temporal Tower to watch over the Pokémon down below. It is also mentioned in the legends that, in the times of greatest need, Pokémon have climbed to the top of Temporal Tower to beseech the aid of the time god."

"So Temporal Tower is where Dialga lives?" Char asked, his heart already starting to beat faster. "So that means Dialga's here? We could visit him?"

"This is the idea, yes," Alakazam said. "Although we must be wary of jumping to conclusions and rushing headlong into the affairs of the dragons, I fear we may have no choice. Temporal Tower is not a stable phenomenon. In the blink of an eye, it could be gone, hidden again from the eyes of mortal Pokémon. Legends even suggest that its location is not constant. Some speak of the Tower hovering above the ocean, others miles in the sky… To us, it appears inconsistent, not rooted to any location at all. For Temporal Tower is not actually a place, but something far more significant; it is a state of being, an expression of authority, given the appearance of a place."

"What now?" Scythe rasped. "What step do we take now? Do we… attempt Temporal Tower?"

"You shall," Alakazam said. "But again, it should not be a public affair. Because we have reason to believe that your ability has caused this, Charmander, it involves you and no one else. Scythe, you may choose to oversee his journey if you wish, but this is not an official mission. This is off the record. If word of Temporal Tower spreads beyond a simple harmless rumor, it could cause a wave of panic that would entice the Master to take drastic action, destroying everything we have. Do you understand?"

Char had to wonder if he was dreaming. It all seemed so… unreal. Alakazam wanted him to travel across the land, climb a mystical tower, and seek the aid of Dialga? Without the help of his team or even any of the Division? …Seriously?

It all happened so fast, Char knew it was going to take a while to sink in. Already, in his weary, half-asleep state of mind, he felt scared. Truly scared. Too much was expected of him. He'd just gotten used to being a Charmander, to facing risks and dangers that were at his level, and to feeling comfortable with his new friends in his new home. But now, as he was called upon to face the consequences of his supernatural ability, to unravel what was perhaps another milestone in his journey to find his purpose, he knew he would buckle.

For a second time, he wondered if, deep down, he really wanted uncover his past.

"You will take three days to prepare," Alakazam dictated, standing upright once more, "And on the fourth day, you will leave for the Emerald Division. I will try to arrange a viable means of speedy transportation for you. In the meantime, pack your supplies, and do everything you can to prepare yourself."

Saura is coming with me, Char determined. I don't care what anyone says. I don't care what Scythe says. I'll defy Scythe if I need to. This is exactly what Saura wanted in the first place, to help me reach this point, and he's going to be there with me when it happens… because I need him.

"I see that you fear this task, little Charmander," Alakazam sympathized. "In the pit of your stomach, you feel a quiver when presented with this task. Yet, inside of you, there is also a pride that could be controlling your actions instead. Do not make yourself so vulnerable. Take pride in your glorious purpose! The very existence of Temporal Tower here and now means that something is happening behind-the-scenes, and you, little ember with the power to woo the gods, can play a role! One day, all of Ambera may sing songs about a little Charmander who summoned the gods and saved them from the Master's wicked reign. Besides… I sense another emotion in you. There is something… about Dialga that troubles you. Or maybe intrigues you. You look up to Dialga. You seek Dialga for… some type of fulfillment, or… some type of answer. This will be your one and only chance to satisfy this longing in your life. Seize it while you can."

He's right! Char thought. I can… I can meet Dialga… face-to-face… and ask him everything! I can ask him why I'm a Pokémon! I can ask him where I came from! I can ask him why I'm here and why I have the Call! But… still… this is all unbelievable, to be caught up in the affairs of the gods like this… I just hope that Dialga will be nice to us…

"You, Scythe, also seem troubled," Alakazam said. "But I will not attempt to intrude upon your mind; you are a grown Pokémon and are capable of consoling yourself."

When he said this, Char thought he noticed Scythe casting a rather dangerous glance at the Alakazam, but only for a second. It was apparent to him that Alakazam was right: the information and the assignment, although extraordinary, disturbed him somehow.

And that was that. The meeting ended with some awkward formalities, and Char found himself being lead by Scythe out of the Alakazam's chambers and back into the halls of the base.

… … …

Char felt himself stumbling. He knew he needed sleep, but he started to wonder if, after hearing the news, his body would even let him get back to bed, the thoughts throbbing as if a cold blade had been slid into his head and left there. Half of his mind was in a fiery debate with the other about whether or not he wanted these events to be happening in his life, whether he wanted to fulfill his role as a human or just settle down and live life as a Charmander, whether or not, in the end, he'd even have a choice in the matter…

But as he walked with Scythe up to the rooms, he soon discovered that Scythe had a lot more on his mind than he did.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Scythe muttered, practically to himself.

"What?" Char asked, wondering if he was supposed to have heard it.

"This isn't supposed to be happening," Scythe said again with more certainty.

"What do you mean?" Char wondered aloud. "I thought this was the moment you were waiting for! Dialga could help us defeat the Master once and for—"

"Not now, not now," Scythe said. "No, not now. I had different plans."

Char was taken off-guard by the new tone in Scythe's voice. He almost sounded… crazy. It may have been his sleepiness speaking for him, but…

"I had it all figured out," Scythe said incessantly. "But then this happened. It was the wrong time. Do you realize how hard it is to conceive the perfect plan? Do you know many sleepless nights it takes? And then when it finally all clicks together, and you have a perfect plan, a perfect answer, something that couldn't fail… and then it's all thrown apart by…"

To Char's surprise, Scythe stopped walking. He slumped himself down in the corner of the hallway beneath a blue torch and stared into space, looking lost.

"Scythe, are you okay?" Char asked, approaching him warily.

"No, human, I'm not," Scythe replied. "I'm… disheartened. I'm not supposed to fail. Nobody expects me to fail. But I'm about to fail. Everything is about to come crashing down. Everything is…"

Scythe shook his head, as if to try, futilely, to break himself out of his looping thought patterns.

Char stood, wide-eyed. Scythe's weariness was making him drunk, making him say things that he would not otherwise say. Char realized that Scythe was being personal with him, that his innermost thoughts were starting to untie themselves and rise to the surface. Just how many nights had he been staying up?

"Basin Canyon," Scythe muttered. "I cannot lose Basin Canyon. I can't lose. I can't lose it, human. I can't. What do I do now? I had the perfect plan. But… It's…"

Char stood still, wondering if he should speak with Scythe or just walk away.

"What happened?" Char decided to ask. "Why… did your plan fail?"

"Because, I can't be in four places at once, I can't!" Scythe cried quietly, shaking his head. "It took me this long just to figure out how to be in three places at once. But now I have to be with you, at Temporal Tower, and it's all gone. All gone. It was the wrong time for this. It was the wrong time! The plan won't work anymore…"

"Scythe… No, don't say that," Char gasped, not knowing what else to say. "I can go to Temporal Tower alone. It's okay. As long as Saura will come with me, you can stay here and—"

"No, no, no, no, that can't work," Scythe whined, shaking his head faster. "No. I have to come. It is the only way. I have to come. I will come with you. It is the only way. But it… it will make me… give up… you…"

What is he saying? Char wondered, grimacing.

"I will… I'll have to lie to them," Scythe muttered. "I'll have to tell them we're at the Emerald Division. Visiting. My team... can't know… where I am… It's… the only way…"

Scythe shifted. Char knew that he was falling asleep.

"If you… tell Saura… don't tell Ray… don't tell anyone else… Just… you… and I… and Saura… or else… she… might know…"

His eyes fluttered closed, and his head fell. He was fast asleep.

Char stayed standing, frozen in place, wondering what had just happened. He knew now that it was true: Scythe respected him as a human. If all the times he'd shown Char the reverent bow-like gesture weren't enough to convince him, this definitely did. Even though he wasn't in his right mind, the fact that he'd offered such a deep and personal confession to Char meant something; Char had to really wonder if there was anyone else in Scythe's life that he could share his deepest feelings with, or if they'd all just been buried away, just like the secrets he kept…

Char's daze was broken when a wince shot through him, making him realize that he was about to fall asleep himself. He took a step away, then another, until he started to feel his heart rate picking up enough to allow him to complete the walk back to his room.

He knew, when he'd wake up the following morning, everything would be as normal. Scythe would pretend nothing happened, and so would he. But as he left Scythe on his own to sleep in the deserted corridor that night, he started to realize that, no, he couldn't just accept his existence as a Charmander. He couldn't seek to leave behind his humanity. Not when the world revolved around him. Not when Pokémon served him and respected him as the human he was. Not when gods answered to his Call.

The next step, he determined, was Temporal Tower.

When he returned to his room, he'd barely touched the front door before it shifted away in front of him, revealing a weary-eyed, but softly-smiling Saura on the other side. He knew that his best friend had stayed awake to await his return.

*Chapter 32*: Chapter 29: A Bad Day

Finally, a very special thanks goes out to rabidcatking and Sicarius Riuyoh for giving me assistance with parts of this chapter!


Chapter 29

A majestic Charizard soared across the sky, enjoying the powerful sensation of the wind whipping across its face and beneath its wings.

This is heaven, it thought. I could never ask for anything more.

The Charizard gazed upon the endless splendor of the sky which surrounded him. Towering clouds formed a landscape of mighty pillars and hills, casting the orange sunlight into streaming rays. The ground was so far below, it was invisible. But the ground was irrelevant. Only the sky existed, his gorgeous and eternal playground.

He danced in the heavens, swooping and spiraling and bursting through the mist of the clouds. He felt the way his course was changed at every little twitch of his wings, every little effortless flap propelling him faster and higher…

He had no idea where he was going, nor did he care; only the bliss of his momentum, his dominance over the world of the sky, mattered to him…

But then, he beheld something unusual emerging from a far-away cloud. A shining ball of fire appeared in the distance, almost like a second sun, ablaze with a strange and glorious radiance as it hung in the air. The Charizard emptied his wings and dove closer, curious to inspect this new entity which had joined him among the world of the heavens.

As he approached, the shape of the fire began to take the form of a great orange bird, whose perpetually ablaze wings cast explosions of flame across the sky with each flap.

Oh, it's just Moltres, the Charizard realized.

"Hey, Char! Good morning to you!" Moltres called, drifting around in a semicircle to fly alongside the Charizard. "Are you ready to head back to the base? We're all getting tired of waiting for you!"

Char felt a sudden dismay fill him.

"I can't," Char replied. "I would, but I can't."

"Why not?" Moltres asked concernedly. "Is something wrong?"

A horrible feeling began to fill Char's body. It was a feeling that Char knew well, but couldn't quite place. It felt as though someone was weighing his body down with sandbags, piling one after another onto his shoulders, until it took all his heart to even move a muscle. He found his flight simply slowing to a stop, and he couldn't do anything about it. He knew this was the end.

"Because… I can't move," Char said to Moltres. "Forget about me… Go on without me… I'm fading… away…"

Soon, reality itself seemed to disappear, leaving only blackness.

… … …

Aww, man! Char thought absently. What an awesome dream that was! So vivid! Maybe… if I stay completely still, and don't open my eyes… it'll come back!

… … …

Char the Charizard arrived back to the mountain range which he called his home. He soared between rocky cliffs, following a gorge that apparently lead back to his base.

"Hey, Char!" a Dragonite yelled from a cliff. "Good to see you back! Ready for the big day?"

"Hey, Ray!" Char called to it. "Good morning!"

Char flew on, disregarding the odd feeling that something about Ray wasn't right today.

After navigating over the craggy landscape and between the jutting mountains, Char found his home. It was a mountain cave crawling with Pokémon—his team. Dragons flew in circles around the peak, and rock Pokémon teemed across the slopes and cliff faces. They all gave a cheer when they noticed him.

Char crashed down onto the platform in front of the main entrance to his cave, and was immediately met with a small congregation who were waiting for him, lead by Dialga and Palkia. He was surprised to see them, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he expected them to be… well, bigger, as they were only about the size of himself.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Char asked the temporal dragon. "Aren't you supposed to be… um… somewhere else?"

"You recruited us, remember?" Dialga answered. "We're on Team Ember now!"

"Today's the day we head out for Temporal Tower," Palkia said. "Maybe we'll finally figure out why you're a human!"

A few more Pokémon joined the group, including Mew, Entei, and Groudon. At the end of the line, a Leafeon emerged from the cove, bursting with excitement as it stepped up to Char.

Whoa… Char thought, staring at it. Why does that Leafeon look so familiar?

"Are you ready to go, Char?" the Leafeon asked. "We have to get going! It's now or never!"

Oh, it's Saura, Char realized. Wait… SAURA?! Why is Saura a Leafeon? That makes no sense! Oh… wait! That's right! I remember now! I finally convinced him to evolve! Hah, this is the best resistance team ever!

Rayquaza flew down from the sky and stood at attention.

"Happy to help out, Char!" it said. "Ready, steady, go!"

Char stumbled. The dreadful feeling of heaviness was back, and was quickly spreading through his body. He tried to take a step forward, but collapsed to the ground and resigned himself to his fate…

Oh, why won't they last longer? Char whined to himself. I never have such awesome dreams like this! They always happen in the morning, right when I'm about to wake up… But usually… I always… get woken up… by…

Char and his friends were on the road to the destination, wherever it was. He didn't know where they were all headed, but it sure wasn't Temporal Tower. Instead, Char found himself soaring over oceans and prairies and forests that repeated themselves over and over. After a while, Char started to get annoyed, wondering when the journey would end.

They finally arrived to a small, secluded cottage which sat in the middle of a meadow. Some Nidoran and Buneary were dancing around outside. When Char and his friends crowded around the door, a large Nidoqueen stepped out and greeted them.

"Hey, you're back!" the Nidoqueen said merrily, welcoming them in with a wave of her arm. "We missed you! Hey, why not bring all your friends inside? I've got a lovely dinner waiting for you!"

So, they all went inside. Char had to keep from tripping over the countless Buneary kids which constantly circled around his feet and asked him questions about why he was so awesome. Char performed tricks to impress them, such as using his skills with telekinesis to pick up the children and make them float in the air.

Some of the other children were bothering the legendary dragons.

"Dialga! Can you send me back in time so that my head is on backwards!"

"No can do," Dialga said, shaking his head. "If I sent you back in time you might meet yourself and the world would explode! Want to be sent forward instead?"

"Hey Palkia!" another kid pleaded. "Could you turn me into Lugia! I want to fly! Pleeease?"

"Sorry kid," Palkia said. "I can't let you do that, you'd drown in the ocean! How about a game of tag instead?"

"Hey Rayquaza!" another child said. "Could you help us build a big tower of blocks?"

Suddenly, all the talking in the entire room ceased. Everyone froze in horror. A fork dropped somewhere.

"Oh, no," Char muttered, cringing. "He didn't… he didn't just say that…"

Rayquaza uncoiled itself and floated up to the top of the room, seething in anger.

"BLOCKS?" it roared. "You want me, the legendary dragon of the skies, to play with blocks?"

Char covered his eyes and peeked through his claws, awaiting the inevitable response….

"RAYQUAZA DOES NOT PLAY WITH BLOCKS!" it boomed, shaking the entire building. "RAYQUAZA UNLEASHES HYPER BEAM AND DESTROYS ALL!"

A brilliant yellow glow filled the inside of the house as Rayquaza charged its hyper beam…

But Char didn't get to see the end. As the yellow light increased in intensity, the heaviness had set in again, leaving him only able to close his eyes and drift away as the dream came to an end…

… … …

The dream was gone, but the yellow glow remained.

Yellow…?

Char's eyes drifted open. His body was finally satisfied with the sleep it had gotten, and it was ready to wake up for the day. A terribly blurry vision came to him as his eyes opened farther, flooding his sense of sight with yellow and causing him to squint…

Yellow… Char thought. This seems unusual. Usually when I get up, it's…

"W-AAAH!"

A horrible realization suddenly dawned upon him. He jumped awake, almost falling out of his new bed. It couldn't be!

He frantically scanned his surroundings. The torches which lined his room, as well as the two large dishes of fire which continued to burn away on either side of his bed, were all burning bright yellow… the normal color of fire.

It was already midday. He'd slept in.

"AHH!" Char yelled again, leaping onto the floor and out into Team Ember's hall. "The mission! Saura! Ray! We're late! We slept in! Oh, man, are we in trouble! The first day on our own, and we can't even—"

Char rushed into Saura's room, but it was empty.

"Saura?!" Char called, making sure he wasn't missing something. "Saura? Are you here? Ray! What about you? Are you here?"

Hurrying into Ray's room, he found it empty as well.

"You guys didn't leave me behind, did you?" Char demanded of no one. "This is horrible! I only slept in because of Alakazam—"

Another thought crossed his mind: he remembered that he really needed to speak with both his friends as soon as possible! They had to hear about what happened the previous night, about Scythe and Alakazam and Temporal Tower, so they could start preparing for the expedition. It was the first thing he had intended to do that morning, before even the mission or anything else… and now, it seemed, it was a little too late.

Char looked around at the empty corridors, feeling seriously confused. Why had his friends abandoned him like this? Why didn't they wake him up, like normal?

Maybe they didn't leave on the mission yet, Char speculated as he trudged to the front door. Yeah. I bet they're just up with Team Remorse. Or maybe, they're having lunch! Yeah! I bet Ray finally took my advice, and we're running our missions in the sunlight now!

As he soon found, none of it was true. There was a note tacked to the wall by the front door, surely left by Saura and Ray to explain their absence. He tore it off and held it before his eyes, squinting to read it.

Footprint runes.

"Grr…" he growled in frustration, rolling his eyes. "Why does everything have to be written in footprint runes?!"

… … …

It was understandable of Saura and Ray to leave him a note in the language he still didn't understand: to the Pokémon, his human writing ("Unown-script" as they called it) was non-standard and difficult to learn. Neither Saura nor Ray knew his language, so they did the best they could to communicate to him on paper, knowing that he'd be able to figure it out somehow. Char scanned the page and could make out his name written at the top, as well as Saura's name at the very bottom, but all the other words were gibberish to him, as usual…

"This is so embarrassing," Char moaned, crumpling the edges of the paper with his claws and hanging his head in shame.

"Uh… hey! Hey, someone! Anyone! Can anyone help me?"

Char stood at the balcony to the main room of the base and waved his arms, trying to catch the attention of any bird Pokémon that would come close enough to notice him. A Pidgeotto eventually flew near and heard his call.

"I'll help if I can," the Pidgeotto said oddly as it landed before Char. "What's the trouble?"

"Well, um, I'm having trouble reading my friend's handwriting," Char lied, trying to keep a straight face while he held up the note. "He left me this. Could you maybe read this for me?"

"Hah," the Pidgeotto squawked amusedly. "Nice try! Hey, don't take it the wrong way, Char, but everyone knows you're illiterate."

Char balked, and suddenly felt a little humiliated. He should have known. It wasn't a secret that Scythe would have kept from anyone. Wow, he thought. That that's sure to change the way I feel about all the other Pokémon in this base. This day is really starting out great, isn't it?

"Hey, now," the Pidgeotto said quickly, hopping forward. "I told you not to take it the wrong way! Besides, you can write human, how many Pokémon can do that? Now, let me see this note already."

Meekly, Char held up the note and turned it around for the bird to see.

"Erhm. 'Char—Ray was still feeling guilty about zapping you, so he convinced Scythe to let you have the day off. Enjoy your rest, and we'll see you when we come back from the mission! Saura. Postscript: the fire will never die!' Well, now, isn't that thoughtful of your team? He-he-he, I see your Raichu friend must be having some electrical discharge problems?"

"I've got to go," Char said, feeling like he was blushing. "Thank you for helping."

… … …

Char went to the only place he could think of to go: the meeting hall. For the first time as a Pokémon, he felt overwhelmingly lonely. Saura had always been by his side, and he could always talk to him, even in the middle of the night if he had to. Not only was Saura gone, but his other two most-trusted friends had gone with him. And now, more than ever, Char just really needed someone to talk to—and he figured that Dialga was as good as anyone at the moment.

"Well, Dialga, here I come," Char whispered humbly as he sat just before the great statue. "I'm coming to visit you in only three days. I have to tell you something: I'm really scared. I've heard so many legends about how… how mighty you are, and how great your rage can be… But I know that you had something to do with why I'm here, so... I hope you'll take me in and tell me what's going on."

The dragon, of course, didn't answer, but Char gave himself a moment of silence so he could at least pretend that it was listening.

"Wow. This is going to be a huge trip," Char continued. "I'm scared just thinking about it. We'll have to pack so much… I hope that Scythe lets us take some of his supplies…"

Again he paused, just to let his own words sink in. Yes, the trip was going to be insane. The thought of traveling so far from the base, his now-beloved home, made him feel unspeakably uncomfortable, especially when considering the Watchers and the Master which inhabited the overworld. He didn't even know the first thing about getting ready; he would have to trust Scythe to guide him through the plans.

"Scythe," Char whispered. "Something's wrong with Scythe. He told me about it last night. I think he's about to fail his mission! What can I do to help him? I can't do anything! I'm just…"

"HEY!" a voice suddenly screeched from one of the room's many entrances, echoing madly through the whole dome-shaped hall. "HEY! YOU!"

Char jumped up in surprise and stood at attention. A Ghastly had found him.

"What are you doing here?" it demanded. "Don't you know this room is off limits?"

"I—uh—" Char tried.

"Get OUT!" the Ghastly blasted. "NOBODY'S supposed to be here when there's no meeting! Besides, don't you know how much power it takes to burn all these torches? We can't run the rest of the base and this room at the same time! Go! Get out of here!"

Char was about to complain, but he felt the taste of fire escalating in the back of his throat. So, he shut his jaws as hard as he could and simply walked out of the room, speechless.

… … …

I'm going to scream! Char thought, clenching his fists as he crossed the hallway to go to the cafeteria. I can't believe I can't go in the meeting hall anymore. What am I supposed to do now?!

"Hey, whoa there, little guy," an Ariados said, grimacing at the sight of Char's swollen flame. "Careful with that fire…"

There's got to be some way I can calm down, Char thought, completely ignoring the spider. Maybe some breakfast will help.

… … …

"Sorry, we don't have anything ready yet!" Bellossom said. "Breakfast was over a long time ago, and lunch isn't for another hour! Could I get you a glass of water?"

"No, thank you," Char tried to say politely. "I hate water."

Char sat himself down on a nearby bench to mope. Even the cafeteria, he now realized, was mostly empty, save for a few Pokémon that were relaxing at other tables to read piles of documents. Setting his head in his claws, he took a deep breath and tried to console himself.

There's got to be some way to pass the time, Char thought, feeling the minutes pass by like hours. This place is always boring when there's no job to do. But there's a hundred Pokémon in here… I'm going to find someone to help. There's got to be someone.

After a quick walk downstairs, Char rapped on the door of Team Stripes. An Eevee greeted him.

"Hi, Char," it greeted cordially. "Can I help you?"

"Hey, Evan," Char said. "Hey, uh… I got stuck at the base today, and I'm kinda bored. Want to do a mission?"

"Sorry, I can't," he replied. "I got stuck back today, too. I've got work to do."

"Well, um… could I help with it?" Char offered.

"I don't think it's anything you could help with," Evan laughed kindly. "I got stuck with the accounting today. And they say you can't read, so…"

"Ah," Char said dismissively. "Well… that's okay, then. I'll find something else to do."

"Are you feeling okay?" Evan spoke concernedly, eying his tail. "We could talk for a few minutes if you want to... I think I could take a little break…"

"Nah, that's okay," Char said politely. "I shouldn't distract you from your work. I'll find something else to do."

… … …

Char trudged back down the hall, wondering if he was the only Pokémon in the base that felt left out of the resistance for the day.

Maybe I could talk to Team Remorse? Char wondered. No… not after how much they're straining themselves. They need all the peace and quiet they can get… Maybe Team Entei? No… they're probably out on missions… it's not worth the walk to their room…

That's when Char realized that there was one Pokémon in the entire base that he knew, with some certainty, he'd be able to talk to. With a light smile forming across his face, he took off down the hall.

Char waited anxiously on the bench of the day care lobby when Kangaskhan emerged from the door, guiding a little Pidgey with her.

"Here he is!" Kangaskhan sang. "Hyperactive little guy, he's been. He plays rough with the other kids. Bet he's happy to see you!"

When Otto noticed the figure before him, he gave a loud chirp in exaltation and launched himself into the air, fluttering and landing before his master.

"Have fun," Kangaskhan said. "Take all the time you need!"

Char cast a loving glance at his newest friend, giving him a gentle pat on the head. If he ever once assumed that birds were not capable of smiling, it was misconception totally expelled now: Otto was absolutely beaming.

"Hey there, little guy," Char spoke in a high-pitched voice, like he was speaking to a baby. "Did you have a good rest? Do you like your new—"

"CHAR!" it chirped loudly, catching him off-guard.

Char's blinked in surprise. It knew his name?

"You can talk now?" Char yelped in disbelief. "It hasn't even been a day, and… you can talk?"

"CHAR! CHAR!" it sang.

"Well… he learned your name, at least," Kangaskhan said with an amused smile. "The first things we always teach the wilds are the name of their master, then their own name. He knows his own name now, but he hasn't gotten around to speaking it yet. But he picked up yours really fast!"

"Wow, Otto!" Char congratulated the bird, affectionately ruffling the feathers on its forehead. "You're just a little genius, you know that?"

"CHAAR!" it squeaked.

"Oh, and another thing," Kangaskhan said, putting her hands on her hips. "This little guy won't stop eating gummis! And after he ate practically all our gummis for bird Pokémon, he started eating the fire gummies and the rock gummis, too! He just won't stop!"

"GOOOOOOOMII!" Otto screeched.

Char laughed, pleased to see that his new friend was making such great progress.

Char was able to pass the time for a while, just telling the bird whatever came to mind. He figured Otto didn't have the slightest clue what he was talking about, but the Pidgey listened intently, happy to be in the presence of its master. After a while, though, Otto grew unmistakably bored. Char saw that the little guy probably just wanted to run off and get more exercise, so he cut off the conversation and let Otto go, wishing it good luck.

For a second time, Char was pained to see Otto leave. His heart fluttered at the thought of the day when he'd be able to speak with Otto as an equal. Or fly with him in the sky…

… … …

Well, that put me in a better mood, Char realized as he crawled the base, looking for something else to do. I wonder how much time that passed? Eh, I bet it was only about half an hour. Hey… Domo's gone, but I wonder if the dojo is still open? I could use some exercise myself…

Once Char found his bearings in the confusing corridors, he descended some flights of stairs and made his way to the dojo entrance.

Along the way, he met a few other Pokémon on their various errands throughout the base, but one seemed to be following alongside him: a Graveler, and a pretty large one at that. Char figured by its size and the way it held itself that it was a member of Team Avalanche, the Division's most well-known Rock-oriented team.

"Excuse me," Char addressed the Graveler, "Are you, by chance, going to the dojo?"

"Yeah," the boulder Pokémon replied in a low and gravely voice. "Why?"

"Could I train with you?" Char beseeched. "If you're not busy, that is."

"Uh, sure," the Graveler grunted. "Can do. I was gunna practice alone anyway."

When they got to the dojo, Char found that it was still fully active even during the Sensi's leave of absence. He waited at the side of the room, watching curiously as a Floatzel instructed a class of Poliwhirl and Vaporeon in some water-based techniques. The class ended shortly, and Char took the floor with the Graveler.

"Name's Ged. Team Avalanche," the Graveler said. "I know you're Char. Team Ember. Everyone knows you. How should we train?"

"Well, I, um, I'm not too good at fighting your kind," Char confessed. "There were a lot of you in the Iron Crevice, and they just destroyed me. So I was wondering if you could give me some tips on… fighting you."

Ged snorted. "Reveal my weaknesses?" hechuckled. "It humiliates me. But fine."

Char stood at attention as the Graveler fell silent for a moment, as if to get his thoughts in order.

"First. I hate water," Ged declared. "It gets into my cracks and makes me miserable. Strong water pressure can wash me away. I have nightmares about Blastoise chasing me. Second. I hate plants. When plant Pokémon attack, they chip away at my skin somehow. Saura would be better than you."

"Yes, I know about your weaknesses," Char said. "But do you have any tips for me? How would a fire Pokémon like me defeat you?"

"Steel," it replied. "Harness the power of steel. Learn how to channel energy so your claws become hard like steel. Then you can slice through rock. Channel your energy so your tail becomes hard like Iron. Then you can break rock. Metal is harder than rock."

Char looked oddly at his claws. "Um… I don't know how to do that," he admitted. "I guess I have to learn a new technique…"

"Can't help you. Ask Pokémon who know the techniques or get Training Machines," Ged instructed. "Second. Learn martial arts. Martial artists learn the art of breaking rocks with their bare hands. Land a well-placed punch and you can crack me open."

"Hmm, I don't know that either," Char grumbled in disappointment. "I guess I have a little more to learn. Any other tips, or anything? Wait, no, I have a question. The reason Graveler scare me so much is because they can make earthquakes. I hate that! Is there any way to stop those?"

"Heheh," the Graveler laughed evilly.

Char should have seen it coming, but there was nothing he could do about it anyway. Ged raised a foot and stomped the ground, creating a minor shockwave that caused the room to vibrate. Char clutched his head, feeling a sharp headache coming on as his skull was rattled around.

"Ow ow!" Char moaned in pain, falling to one knee. "Stooop! Ow, that hurts so much!"

"Earthquake," Ged said as the shockwave subsided. "Good, strong technique. But it hurts friends and enemies too. Someday, you can make them. Charizard are big enough. But not now. Now you are powerless against earthquakes. You can't avoid them."

"Really?" Char asked sadly. "I can't stand them. I was really hoping you could help. Are you sure there's no way?"

"No way," Ged said, "but grow wings and fly. You can't feel the earthquake from the air. Become Charizard and you will be free from earthquakes."

"Well, in that case, it looks like I should just leave all the Graveler to Saura, then," Char sighed. "Oh, well. Thanks for your help…"

"Wait, where are you going?" Ged shouted. "What about a battle? You wanted to train. Let's train!"

"What good is battling if you'll just dominate me?" Char whined. "I can't fight you! Not as weak as I am now!"

"That is why we train, to get stronger," Ged said. "Even if you lose. You get stronger. No pain, no gain, humans say. So. Let's fight!"

Char grumbled. Yes, that was what he promised, so he couldn't in his right conscience just walk out on the Graveler. He owed the rock Pokémon a battle.

"Fine," Char decided, mentally preparing himself for a real beating. "But please, just don't use earthquakes on me. Okay?"

Char concentrated on igniting his fire for battle. It wasn't hard to do; he was already irritated enough by the day's events, and the thought of getting pummeled by his opponent put him in an even more profoundly bad mood. He glanced back at his tail to find that the flame had almost risen to eye-level, more than adequate for putting up a good fight.

He started the battle by leaping close to his opponent and choking out a cloud of black smoke. As soon as it billowed from his mouth, Char had to marvel at the depth and opaqueness of the cloud as it spread and reduced the visibility of the room to nearly nothing. It was his greatest smoke screen yet, he judged, and he knew he was going to need it if he wanted to stand a chance. Ged made a strange grinding noise that sounded almost like a cough, then began to wander through the fog in search of Char.

Jumping at the opportunity to strike while the enemy was impeded, Char scurried around to the rear end of the Graveler, backed up, and made a running start for the Graver's feet…

Thunk.

Char's head brutally collided with solid rock, sending him careening back in dizziness and collapsing onto the floor. He'd hoped to knock Ged off-balance, but he'd only succeeded in getting a bump on his head.

"OWWW!" Char cried, gritting his teeth and clutching his forehead with both claws.

"What was that?" Ged laughed. "A Headbutt? You should be smarter, Char!"

"I was trying to knock you down," Char groaned in frustration, managing to get back to his feet even though his sense of balance had been rattled.

"Hahah," Ged cackled. "You cannot knock Graveler down. Every way is up!"

To illustrate his point, Ged propelled himself into a roll, emerging from the darker recesses of the fog and stopping right before Char by throwing down his second pair of hands as brakes. Char saw what he meant: with six limbs, the Graveler was always in control of its balance. Knocking it into a roll would do nothing.

"Good black cloud," Ged admitted. "But it will clear soon. What will you do?"

Char replied by blasting the Graveler in the face with a very impressive burst of flames. Ged gagged and reeled as the flames drowned out his vision, forcing him to roll backwards in retreat. Even Char was surprised at the fire's magnitude; his Ember was not letting him down today.

Still with the cover of the cloud in his favor, Char rushed close to his opponent and jumped onto its head, holding on tight and biting down hard with his jaws into Ged's forehead. While he knew he couldn't melt the rock like he could melt steel, he figured he'd be able to do some damage by ingraining his white-hot teeth and maybe putting a few dents into the Graveler's hide…

Big mistake. No sooner did Char get a firm grip with his teeth than he heard a sickening crack, and knew instantly that one of his own bones had snapped apart. Ged had responded by rolling his entire body forward and flattening Char against the ground, sending him into the awful agony of being smashed between rocks that he'd prayed he would never have to experience a second time. When he felt the giant bolder roll off him, he let himself lay in place, not even sure if what he saw with his eyes was a vision of the room or just a colorful collage of stars.

Smack! Wasting no time, Ged struck again, striking Char's poor body with the sharpened edge of his forearm. Char tumbled hopelessly away, giving himself up for lost when he came to a stop, plopping down on his stomach and finding himself unable to get up.

"I'm finished," Char begged weakly. "I'm done. You win! Please! No more!"

"Nah, that's nothing," Ged insisted. "Charmander are strong. You can take much more. Take a break and heal, then we fight again. You will do better next time."

Ged pointed to the far wall of the Dojo, where there sat a long shelf lined end-to-end with Oran Berries. It was a necessity to have them on hand, especially to the serious trainers. Already more sore than having spent all day on a stressful mission, and with a fracture in his shoulder, Char fought the searing pain and dragged himself across the room to where the Oran Berries waited.

"You must truly fight!" Ged said encouragingly. "That is the only way you can become Charizard! You must fight! Don't be fragile!"

This is going to be a long training session, Char miserably realized.

… … …

Many painful bruises and concussions later, Ged decided that Char had enough and let him go, but not before congratulating him on his great matches. He insisted that Char's technique had improved a little, that he'd learned something from the experience, even though the only thing Char was sure he'd learned was how to take even more pain. Covered in tender spots from being slammed with rocks in more ways than he could count, and with at least a dozen Oran berries dissolving in his stomach, Char wandered out of the dojo.

This time, though, he didn't have to think hard about how to further pass the time. He knew exactly where he was headed; there was a thought stuck in his mind now, a thought that wouldn't go away:

Charizard.

"Heya, Char," Morrik said as he stepped out from the wall, sensing that a visitor had entered his lobby. "Whatcha need? Oh, wow. You don't look like you're having too good a day. Is that a black eye?! Maybe y' should see Dr. Orde. There's only so much those Oran Berries can do, y'know…"

"Get me my feral-shard," Char commanded. "I know I have one in storage. I got it from our first mission. I want to evolve now."

"W…wah?" Morrik cried. "You're joking, right? I've seen your area at least a hundred times… you don't have one!"

"I have to!" Char insisted, slamming his fists down on the counter-top. "It was at Empirical Falls. We stole it from Team X. I put it in the bag myself. Can you go check, please?"

"Char, there's no way," Morrik told him. "Do you realize what kind of commodity these things are right now? Nobody has them. They're locked out of the market. It's been a problem for a few weeks now. The Master's tightening his grasp on the market. Even Kecleon can't get any."

"Please! Check!" Char ordered. "I have one! I know it!"

"A'ight, I'll go have a look, since you insist," Morrik said. "But I'm telling you. Don't get your hopes up too high."

Morrik disappeared into the wall, then returned not even thirty seconds later.

"Char!" he yelled, a look of pure shock upon his face. "I don't believe this! You were right! There was one!"

Char nearly threw himself over the counter. "I knew it!" he cheered in joy. "Give it to me!"

"Ah, heheheheh," Morrik laughed. "So gullible, heheh. No, you don't have one."

Char sent a dangerous glance to the Gengar, then slumped down onto the floor, disheartened.

"Where did it go?" he wondered. "I'm sure I had one! I was keeping it for when I knew I could evolve!"

"Uh, this is just a hunch," Morrik said, a hint of curiosity now in his tone, "but if you're so sure of yourself, I could go check in Team Remorse's stuff to see if they, y'know, took it from you. Though, I think I would have remembered transferring it."

Char nodded an unspoken consent, and Morrik disappeared again. He returned very shortly, shaking his head.

"Nope, they don't have one either," he reported. "T' tell ya the truth, I don't think there's one feral-shard in the whole storage right now." With a wink, he added, "If there was one, I'd let y' steal it. Really! I would!"

Well, that's just great, Char thought. I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up like that. Oh, but I want to be Charmeleon… so badly…

… … …

Char was sure that an hour had passed, so he forced himself back down to the cafeteria. Sure enough, it was now lunchtime. The kitchen was serving a light meal to those who were staying back at the base for the day, or those who had accomplished the mission early enough in the morning to be back by now. Char accepted his portion: it was a very strange-looking meal, something like globs of colorful gelatin with berries suspended inside. He took it hesitantly, not sure if his stomach was in the mood for something so unsubstantial or full of sugar. He sat down to eat all by himself, hoping that the food could do something to satisfy him.

Why does Pokémon food always need to be so sickeningly sweet? Char wondered, feeling the first serving wiggle around in his mouth as he chewed it. Everything they serve here is just… all…

Char felt the beginning of a gag reflex, and he knew he wasn't going to go any further.

… … …

After throwing his food away, Char was out of ideas. He decided that he'd head back up to his room and simply sleep the rest of the day away, as Saura's note had suggested of him. In hindsight, he realized that it would have been better if he'd never gotten out of bed, and wondered why he'd even left behind the soothing presence of his bedside fire. Already, as he ascended the merciless staircases back to his high-ranked lair, he could feel them… roaring away… flooding his exhausted body with warmth…

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.

Char pushed repeatedly, but the door wouldn't open.

He'd locked himself out of his hall.

"ARRRRCEUS!" he moaned, leaning his forehead against the solid tablet that stood between him and his room. "WHYYY?!"

… … …

Char awoke with a sudden start. Feeling the pressure against his forehead, he remembered that he actually fell asleep while leaning on his front door.

But something wasn't quite right. He'd woken up for a reason.

Something… changed.

He couldn't place the feeling, he just knew that something had changed. He wondered if his instincts were sensing something he couldn't see, or feel, or hear…

Or could he? The air was frozen in a sort of brooding, unnatural silence. It was very unnatural, he soon realized. This was the Gold Division's base, a place constantly alive and echoing with the voices of hundreds of Pokémon about their day's work. And now… it was quiet.

Curious, and somewhat disturbed by the unnerving feeling that the Charmander within him had picked up on, Char opened his eyes…

And the entire hallway was dark.

Black. Still illuminated, but… black.

It didn't make sense. "Black" wasn't a color in the cycle of signals the torches were programmed for. "Black" wasn't even a visible color. Yet, somehow, Char found that the hall was now filled with… as if such a thing were even possible… shining black light.

Char looked around. The torches themselves now burned with a bizarre black fire.

Is this some kind of signal? Char wondered, wandering back down the hall in awe of his surroundings, which seemed to become something new and different in the reality-defying light. Does this… mean something?

If it did, Char could tell instinctively that whatever it meant was not good.

Not wasting another minute in speculation, Char dropped to all fours and shot back to the nearest stairwell, heading upstairs to Team Remorse.

Char didn't go far before he found the team, or at least the members who had been home at the time, gathered in the hallway just outside their door. Marrow was there, as was Raon, and Markov. Char was at first taken aback by the sight of Raon: the golden rings on his body were glowing brightly, forming weird white rainbows as they mixed with the radiant black light which still filled the corridors. He knew, like his own fire, it was an indication that the Umbreon was experiencing some kind of elation; showing Char that Team Remorse was equally as upset with the phenomenon as he was. It filled Char with dread at seeing them arguing loudly and nervously amongst one another as he approached.

"What's going on?!" Char demanded as he rushed to their side, feeling his panicking instincts yearn for their company.

"This is bad," Marrow said. "Char, black means the entire base is on lockdown! Nobody can come or leave!"

"W-why would the base be on lockdown?" Char asked weakly, already imagining the answer.

"It means that the base is in danger of being infiltrated. Or attacked," Raon explained grimly. "This is very bad. They don't issue this measure unless the Master is literally on our doorstep. We need to find out what's going on, and now. Something must have slipped through the cracks."

"Char. Stay with us," Markov instructed. "We're going downstairs. High Intelligence should tell us what's going on."

Char didn't have to be asked; he clung to them as a child to his parents. After casting one last glance at his black tail flame and feeling a chill at the sight, he followed closely behind Team Remorse as they proceeded downstairs.

Down below, at least a hundred Pokémon were gathered in the main chamber of the base. But no voices rose above a solemn whisper; a terrified, yet reverent silence settled over the crowd as they awaited news of the development, or perhaps orders to carry out. They all looked lost and afraid.

"This is exactly why Scythe made sure some of us stayed back," Markov muttered. "He knew something like this could happen…"

"Then we need to do something about it," Raon declared adamantly. "What we really need to do is get out of this base before they set the traps. We need to assess the situation out there. Scythe needs to know what's going on."

"No, that wouldn't be too smart of us," Markov warned. "Let's find out why the alert was thrown in the first place, then we can think about what to do."

"By the gods, this came out of nowhere!" Raon gasped.

Char watched as more and more Pokémon filed down through the staircases and emerged into the chamber, most of them wide-eyed in fear and dead silent. He realized that the congregation was for a purpose. While he'd never been instructed of a procedure to follow, or even of the "code: black" at all, he figured the rest of the base knew what they were doing. Since most of the Divison's members were out on missions for the day, Char saw only about four hundred Pokémon attending that meeting, standing on the floor or at the edge of the higher floors' balconies, waiting for something to happen.

And still, that strange black light radiated from every torch, blinding yet invisible.

Char became even more nervous as the gravity of the situation continued to dawn on him. The base could be under attack. The base could be destroyed! The Master's forces could burst in from any of the entrances, leaving the Division with nothing to do but fight back… He felt like clinging to the nearest Pokémon for comfort.

A long, white bone appeared in front of Char's face.

"Scared?" Marrow asked, his eyes glimmering with sympathy behind his skull helmet. "I am too."

Char accepted the other end of the bone and held on, squeezing it tight to help calm his horrible anticipation.

"Remorse," a very deep voice suddenly addressed.

Kain the Luxray, leader of Team Absolution, appeared before Char and his companions. He, too, had the same look of uncertainty in his eyes as he approached Team Remorse with respect and bowed to them.

"Kain, I thought you were out at Red Haven today," Markov said. "Why are you here?"

"Today was my shift off," Kain explained. "Galavan and Arrow are with your team at the mountains. But even then, it only leaves us. You realize you and I have a grave responsibility to this division should things go awry? We could be the ones fighting on the front line in mere minutes."

"At this point, we just wish we knew what was going on," Raon told him.

"Well, I can inform you, at least to some extent," Kain said. "I heard why the alert sounded. As we speak, Adiel is stationed in Iron Town with a number of soldiers."

Char could feel the sudden tension escalate among the four of them as the news sank in. His heart felt like it was going to cramp. For a few moments, Kain and Team Remorse subsided into the same silence the rest of the room held.

"Not good," Raon choked, the rings of his body glowing brighter than ever. "Maybe it's just a random visit. We can hope that he has business there. He could be gone before evening."

"We can hope," Kain said. "Otherwise… worst case, we could see the end of the Gold Division this very day. And we would go out with a fight."

And then… the room went black. Pitch-black. The torch flames had all vanished.

A gasp rose from the crowd, then silence. Dead, uninterrupted silence.

Char could still feel Marrow's bone in his grasp, and he hung on to it for dear life, as there wasn't anything else in the room to let him know that he hadn't just descended into a spatial void. It was as if he'd gone completely blind. All light was gone, including his own flame and the markings on Raon's body. He trembled, wondering if he would soon die with his tail having gone out… or if the base was under attack…

"The traps are set," Raon whispered. "This is it… now we wait…"

So, Char waited.

With only the bone he held with Marrow for comfort, Char waited through the darkness. His world became the feel of the bone in his claws, as everything else had been taken away. Even his own source of light, which he could always count on, was now invisible; he'd never been in the dark before, and now, he realized, he was deathly afraid of the dark.

For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened.

He focused on the bone, sometimes tugging on it involuntarily. He had to. He didn't want his imagination to take over, to think about or to realize what could happen to him and the entire base. To imagine Adiel, that wretched Scizor, destroying everything he ever knew.

Is this what Scythe meant? Char realized. He said it was all going to come "crashing down" because he couldn't be in four places at once. Did he see this coming? Did he know Adiel was planning something?

That's when it hit him: he remembered that his team—Saura, Scythe, and Ray—would have finished their mission by now, and were probably even on their way back to the base.

No.

NO!

Char's breath caught.

They were on their way back to the base! They were probably returning to Iron Town at that very moment! They would walk right into Adiel's trap… They were… they were going to die!

Char released his hold on the bone, letting the end fall away.

His mind filled with horrible images of his friends fighting hopelessly against the Scizor's mighty army. Or evading the danger, only to be destroyed by the base's active security system. Or being captured. He couldn't force them away, because he knew every last one of them could be true. His friends were in danger. And he wasn't there with them.

They could be killed… or captured… or…

"Saura," Char gasped. "He's after Saura. He's after Saura! Adiel's going to take Saura! That's why he's here! That's why he's here! He's going to capture Saura!"

"Uh… oh," Raon muttered.

"Hold him," Marrow ordered.

Char felt two powerful Feraligatr claws wrap around his body to hold him still, but he struggled desperately to get away. His mind was in a full-blown panic. He had to help his friends! He had to be there! He had to save Saura!

"SAURAAA!" Char yelled, tears erupting from his eyes. "NO! SAURA! I PROMISED!"

WHACK!

Char felt himself get clubbed in the head with Marrow's bone. He fell silent.

"Geeze, get a hold of yourself!" Marrow hissed. "Quit your worrying. Scythe's got his back, alright? Actually, I'd dare to say Saura's safer than the rest of us put together at the moment! Now stand down. Don't do anything stupid."

Char knew he was right. Scythe was watching after Saura. If there was one Pokémon in the world he'd trust with his care, it would be him. Plus, they were free of the base, allowing them to escape to somewhere safe if they had to. He relaxed a little, and Markov loosened his grip until he was standing free once again. Char felt Marrow's bone thrust onto his stomach, and he grasped it again.

Saura's safe, Char told himself. We're the ones in danger. But there's nothing we can do. All we can do is wait to see what happens.

And waited, he did.

… … …

The lockdown lasted for two hours.

Char waited in the darkness, unable to move for fear of bumping other Pokémon. He kept his mind blank, like his vision, trying hard not to let his fear or worry overcome him again… To just remain still, and quiet…

Through it all, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. There was no uproar, no horrible news that Adiel was destroying the city or preparing to attack the base. After a while, Char realized that this was the most promising sign that everything would be okay.

Finally, light began to fade back into the room. It started out tiny and hardly noticeable, presumably to go easy on everyone's eyes, but it became clear that the torches were re-lighting themselves and slowly bringing order to the sightless chaos of the darkness. Char thought it was his imagination at first, but he gathered his tail into his claws and could just barely see his fire returning to him. He realized that his flame was probably still there the entire time, just turned invisible due to the spell.

A relieved murmur arose from all the Pokémon in the room as they realized the lockdown was ending. But, just when it seemed that the division would erupt into a hectic pandemonium, an extremely loud voice suddenly silenced them all.

"Excuse me. May I have everyone's attention!"

Char looked up, and saw Alakazam and Xatu standing on a high-up balcony. The uproar soon quieted down as everyone gave High Intelligence their complete attention.

"Thank you," Alakazam spoke a little softer than before, now that the crowd was calmed. "I will fill you in on the day's events without delay. Earlier this afternoon, Our sources reported that Adiel the Scizor lead an army of approximately three hundred war-ready Pokémon into the limits of Iron Town. Two minutes and forty-seven seconds after the news reached my ears, I called for the lockdown. Understand: the alarm was not to signal that the base was in danger, it was to prevent any and all members of this Division from using the portal to the academy, as fast as possible. While the Master knows our base exists, he has not yet found any of the ways in, which is why it was critical to draw attention away from the Cliffside Academy until we would no longer risk the possibility of notice. Two hours and twelve minutes later, I received word that Adiel was leaving, and so now, the alert is lifted. His motives for the visit are as yet unknown, but will be determined shortly. I also heard that he spoke with the council of Iron Town, supposedly to make a demand of them, although this news has not been confirmed. I thank you very much for your patience and your adherence to our precautions, and I am pleased to report that things are, for the time being, back to normal. However, due to these circumstances, I must also re-instate the hold on the training teams until further notice, but rest assured that it shouldn't be long to expire as last time. Also, both the day watch and the night watch will be tripled, starting immediately. Thank you, once again, and may Arceus grant blessings upon us all."

"Welp, that's that," Marrow said, gently jerking his bone out of Char's claws. "This'll be an earload for Scythe when he comes back."

"I guess we couldn't have done anything," Raon shrugged. "Alakazam would've asked for our service if he needed us."

"Be glad he didn't have to," Kain said, turning to walk away. "It could have been a bloody day."

"Well, only five hours left until we head out again, guys," Markov reminded them. "We've gotta get ready to slay some Watchers."

"Hey, take care of yourself, Char," Marrow said, giving him a gentle punch in the shoulder. "Be strong."

Team Remorse left, and the rest of the Pokémon dispersed and wandered away in their various directions, leaving Char alone.

Char realized that he was crying. He'd been crying for a long time, too, probably since his panic attack. His face was completely drenched with tears, and the muscles in his cheeks were painfully cramping. But it wasn't out of fear, or pain, or worry over his friends that he cried, it was from the simple, pure, relentless stress he'd gathered throughout the day. It had grown so unbearable that his body was simply expelling it for no other reason than relief. So, Char stood there in the center of the chamber, ignoring all the Pokémon that passed him by, and cried until his tears had run out.

With nothing else to do, Char forced himself upstairs to the storage area. He needed to borrow Saura's mobile scarf if he wanted to get back into his hall.

"Whoa! What happened to you?" Morrik exclaimed. "You looked pretty bad earlier today, but now it looks like a Gulpin chewed you up and spat you out!"

"Morrik, I need—"

"Char?"

It was a voice Char had been waiting all day to hear. He turned around to see Scythe, Ray, and Saura coming into the storage lobby.

"Did you have a good rest?" Saura asked. "Sorry we're so late. We would have been back earlier, but we got locked out of the base, and we had to wait for them to…"

Now, it was Char's turn to tackle his friend.

Without warning, Char threw himself onto his best friend and squeezed with all his heart. Now that Saura was back, he knew everything would be okay.

Until now, he'd never realized just how deeply Saura's side of the promise really mattered to him.

"Owow, hey, watch the cramps, watch the cramps!" Saura yelped, but in a welcoming tone. "I spent all day dragging carts of food around. I'm a little stiff in the knees."

"Sorry, I'm just so glad to see you!" Char sighed. "You have no idea. Please, don't leave me behind like that again!"

"You're standing in the doorway," Scythe said in an unusually harsh tone. "Care to make this day any longer than it has been?"

Char unquestioningly backed out of the way and let Scythe pass, who proceeded to the counter with his bag of supplies.

"Um… Scythe, you heard about the lockdown, right?" Char asked.

"Yes," Scythe grumbled. "And I figure I'll spend all night hearing even more about it."

"Do we… go on a mission tomorrow?" Char asked.

"Are the torches still black?" Scythe asked.

"…No," Char replied.

"Did High Intelligence place a restriction on your team?" he demanded louder.

"No," Char replied again.

"Then yes, nothing has changed," Scythe said. "Work tomorrow as always."

"No, that's not what I meant," Char replied. "Shouldn't we be… getting ready?"

Scythe looked into Char's eyes, and Char saw just how annoyed and stressed he was. The Scyther's eyes were practically bloodshot.

"Pick a fast mission, and we will prepare once it's over with," Scythe growled. "Besides that, no, nothing has changed."

Scythe plunked the half-full bag of supplies on the counter and marched out of the room.

Char looked oddly at the door Scythe left behind, then at his friends.

"To tell you the truth, I couldn't wait to get home myself," Saura explained. "Scythe's been in a really dreadful mood all day. I don't know why, I think something's bugging him."

"Long day," Ray shrugged. "I love working with Scythe, but he really didn't make today easy on us. I guess when Scythe has a bad day, everyone has a bad day."

*Chapter 33*: Chapter 30: Without Saying

Chapter 30

That evening, Char sat upon his bed and tried to relax. His body was starting to seriously ache from the cruel workout he'd received that morning, his muscles throbbing from strain. He closed his eyes and meditated upon the roar of the fire which surrounded him, trying to let it soothe his thoughts and his pains…

But, try as he may, he couldn't settle his racing mind. He'd made a decision. It wasn't a difficult decision to make, but he couldn't begin to imagine the repercussions. It worried him, knowing what he was about to do without even a second thought, and not even caring about how it would affect the Division. He had no intention of giving it a second thought.

He was about to defy Scythe.

When Saura and Ray both meandered into the room, Char knew it was time. He opened his eyes and focused on his friends.

"Okay, we picked the mission for tomorrow," Saura reported, approaching the foot of his bed. "Blackriver City. Another thieves' bust. So... you wanted to talk to us? We're all ears."

Char began with a heavy sigh. He was exhausted, but it was the kind of exhaustion that came from adrenaline and stress, the kind that gives you a splitting headache and doesn't actually let you settle down to sleep it away.

"Oh, and Char," Saura said, lowering his voice to a very heartfelt tone, "I'm sorry for leaving you alone today. We thought it would be considerate to give you a day off. We didn't realize it would have been so hard on you."

"It's fine," Char said, trying his best to mean it. "I got through the day."

"We promise to never leave you alone anymore," Ray said humbly, fiddling with his paws. "Saura's right. Now that I know you're a human, I understand that… you chose to share your secret with us, and nobody else. When we leave, you're all alone. It must feel horrible."

"Thanks," Char said sincerely. "I really mean it, you two. Your friendship means everything to me. Without you, there really isn't anything for me here, even if all these Pokémon respect me for being Scythe's friend and leading this team. As a Charmander, I owe everything to you. If I ever find out why I'm here, and how I got to be like this, it'll all be because of you."

Ray offered a very reverent bow in acknowledgement of the complement, and Saura looked very touched. Char took another big breath, gathering himself to begin with the purpose of the meeting.

"That's why… I'm telling you everything I know," Char proclaimed. "I'm going to tell you what Alakazam told me last night. I'm going to tell you all of it. There are some parts that… Scythe told me not to tell you, but I'm going to tell you anyway, because… for one thing, Ray, I didn't go through all the trouble of spitting out my secret just so I could turn around and keep a different one from you. And for another thing… Alakazam didn't even want me to tell anyone at all. It's that serious. But… no. You two are all I have, and I need you to be at my side the whole way, or I won't… I won't be able to do it. But, once I tell you this… you can't tell anyone. Don't even tell Scythe we had this conversation. I trust you."

Char paused to review the reactions of his friends. He saw in their eyes that they both understood the gravity of his words, and were willing to accept anything he'd tell them, even though they knew full well he wasn't supposed to be saying anything. Saura gave a light nod, letting Char know it was okay to continue.

"Alakazam thinks that I called to Dialga," Char said after a heavy swallow. "And I think I did, too. I remember talking to him when the Call happened. But now… Dialga must be doing something about it, and now this place called Temporal Tower appeared up north next to the Emerald Division. Alakazam wants me to go there and talk to Dialga myself."

"So that's why…" Saura gasped. "That's… incredible! If we could talk with Dialga, that could mean the end of your journey!"

"I had no idea the legend of Temporal Tower was true," Ray admitted, gaping. "This is legendary. If you called to Dialga, there's no telling what we can do… Dialga could smash the Master to bits!"

"We have two days to prepare," Char explained, "then we leave for the Emerald Division. After that… I don't know what's going to happen. But I decided something: you both are going to come with me and Scythe. I don't care what he says, it's final. If I'm such a legendary Charmander, I should at least have enough authority to get him to concede to one little thing like this, right?"

"Char, it's an honor to be of service to you," Ray declared, bowing again. "I'll come. I'll stand by your side, no matter the cost. I would battle with Scythe if you only told me to. Your decision is the law I live by!"

Wow, Char thought. Ray really takes me seriously now, doesn't he? I hope he doesn't go overboard with this servitude thing…

Either way, Char felt relieved. They were taking it well so far. Yes, that was to be expected, but it made him that much more comfortable with himself; the hard part was yet to come.

"That was the part that Alakazam didn't want me to say," Char said, his voice losing a little bit of its strength. "But there's another part I have to tell you. And this next part… Scythe… gave me permission to tell you, Saura, but he specifically asked me not to tell you, Ray… But… I'll tell you both… and I hope that I'm doing the right thing… After Alakazam talked to us, we started to walk back upstairs, and then Scythe… he…"

Char's voice suddenly stopped working. He cleared his throat, hoping to jump-start it again. It took a few tries, but he eventually got it out:

"…he almost cried."

Char watched as faces on his friends changed. He noticed the distinct sign of concern and surprise in Saura, and confusion in Ray.

"Not only that, but he started talking to me like… like he trusted me," Char said. "He started telling me things that he didn't even tell his team. And he called me a human. But I have to tell you this. I think Scythe is starting to break down from stress. He tries to hide it during the day when he's with other Pokémon, but I think he's really hurting on the inside."

"I never… I never would have known," Ray said sadly, now looking very deeply surprised. "No wonder he was so angry today. I thought maybe it was because of us…"

"I'm scared for him," Char said. "Scythe is worried that he's going to fail his mission at Basin Canyon. He says that he can't be in four places at once. He insists on coming with me to Temporal Tower, but if it's going to cause him to fail one of his missions… I can't let him destroy his own work because of me! I don't know what to do!"

"I thought for sure he had everything under control," Ray said, looking at the floor and playing with the end of his tail. "He always does! Even when all seems lost… he always finds some way to win. Team Remorse always wins!"

The voice echoed clear in Char's mind…

"I'm not supposed to fail. Nobody expects me to fail. But I'm about to fail. Everything is about to come crashing down. Everything is…"

"We have to trust him," Saura resolved, speaking up. "He knows what's best. Think about it. The mission at Temporal Tower could be the mission to end all missions! It could end the whole war and solve all our problems in one fell blow! It makes sense that Scythe would sacrifice one of his missions for this. This is serious."

"I have a feeling that something else is going on, though," Char said. "The lockdown today was… terrifying. It made me start to think the Master is trying to do something. I think there's something that Scythe is planning that he isn't telling us. He told me… that… when we go to the Emerald Division, he's going to lie to his teammates and not tell them anything about Temporal Tower."

"Then we trust him," Saura said again. "That part doesn't have to change. If there's something we need to know, he'll tell us in due time. Right now, we should just go along with what he says. Let's start getting ready for this journey tomorrow! I'm excited already!"

Ray lifted his gaze from the floor, and Char's eyes met with his. It was clear that, while it wasn't devastating news, Ray hadn't taken it completely well.

"I told you because I trust you," Char told him. "Are you okay with it? I'm sorry if I hurt you at all. I didn't mean to…"

"No, no," Ray said, trying to force his smile back onto his face, but failing. "I understand. I won't let you down, Char. I'm your Pokémon."

Char nodded to him, but in truth, he was starting to feel uncomfortable by the way Ray's personality had changed. In telling Ray his secret, Char had hoped to deepen the relationship he and Saura had with him… not to alter it. Yet, even Ray's body language now suggested that his attitude toward Char had changed considerably. Of all the time he spent anticipating Ray's reaction to his humanity, he never figured it would be like this!

Hoping that it was just due to Ray's mood, Char didn't comment. Instead, he continued with his discussion.

Char discussed the matter with his friends until he was certain, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he was on equal terms with them. It felt wonderful to not keep any secrets, and to hear both Saura and Ray continue to affirm their friendship and dedication to him, accepting what he had said.

I did it, Char realized. I defied Scythe. He was breaking down, and he was treating me as an equal, and he made one request of me… and I broke that request. I betrayed him! But… I had to! I think. I trust Ray as much as I trust Saura now, so… I had to. It's okay. I really shouldn't be worried about this, anyway. It's not like I just did something terrible… I hope.

Soon afterwards, they decided that they needed their rest for a big day tomorrow, so Saura and Ray retired to their own rooms and left Char to his privacy. Saura promised he'd make sure Char woke up in the morning as usual, and Ray gave one last bow to him before stepping out.

Char felt a tiny pang of loneliness as he watched them leave. Although he liked having a room all to himself, it was proving to be something to get used to; he was starting to miss that feeling of security from knowing his friends were resting only a few feet away…

The heart of a Pokémon is so powerful, Char realized again, laying down to rest. It's so quick to form these bonds… these deep friendships… It's only been… what, six weeks? And already, I have a relationship with Saura and Ray, and maybe Scythe too, that would have taken years for a human to have. But I can't fight it. I need it like food and water. Well, maybe not water. But I'm starting to wonder… do Pokémon need these bonds to survive? All around me, I'm seeing the same bonds in other Pokémon… in all the other teams here… even in Otto, and Ray, and Shander…

"Let's all be honest with each other," Raon had said once. "There's no breaking up this team. Where Scythe goes, we go. Right?"

All of Team Remorse has it… and really, so does this entire Division. We all trust each other, and we trust Alakazam and Metagross to make decisions for us…

The Master's army is so huge… And his minions are so loyal…

I wonder…

If they share the same kind of bonds with him?

Char closed his eyes and tried to get some rest for the night.

… … …

Some five hours later…

Char found himself wide awake, staring at the ceiling of his room. He didn't know how long he'd been awake, but his sore, throbbing body was refusing him any sleep.

I have to sleep, Char told himself, trying to get his eyes to stay closed again. Long day tomorrow. Need my strength. Why can't I sleep? Am I sick? I've had worse days than this, and I fell asleep just fine! What's wrong now? Maybe it's all this tension?

He knew, perhaps from his humanity, the body would still heal and recharge if he stayed perfectly still and relaxed, even while suffering from insomnia. Only, it wouldn't be the most refreshing sleep of his life, and it was boring laying awake for hours upon hours. And his body aches weren't making the experience any more pleasant, either.

He did everything he could think of to do… he cleared his mind of all excess thought, only counting his breaths to pass the time… he relaxed his body until it started to tingle…

His eyes snapped open again.

I must be sick, Char guessed. I just don't feel right. Do Pokémon even get sick? I didn't know that was possible. It must be, because I feel horrible…

Char sat up in his bed, wondering how many hours he had left to rest. His stomach felt funny. Queasy, almost, like he'd eaten something disagreeable, and his inner fire was having trouble burning it down. Or maybe it wasn't that at all; maybe it was just fear. Maybe the lockdown was haunting him. Maybe Scythe's behavior was haunting him. Maybe he just… for some reason… didn't feel secure.

He recalled all the nights he had back in Scythe's room where he had trouble sleeping for whatever reason… from his visions, or just from the simple nervousness of his piling responsibilities… He remembered fondly how, each and every time he couldn't sleep, Saura would always take it upon himself to stay awake with him and keep him company.

But now, Saura was in another room; he couldn't count on his company anymore. It would take barging into his room and waking him up, which would be incredibly rude, when previously Saura would always do it without being asked, whenever he noticed Char awake late in the night.

So now, Char found himself sleepless, with only his two blazing blue torches to keep him company.

Maybe it was out of pure boredom, or simple curiosity, or maybe desperation… but Char glanced at one of the torches at the side of his bed, wondering about it…

The torch was comprised of a large yet shallow silver bowl, supported on the ground by four curved, ornate legs. It was a pretty big piece of furniture, only slightly smaller than the bed on which he sat, and easily large enough to support a fully-grown Charizard standing in it. A pile of coal-like rocks filled the bottom of the dish, continually glowing white-hot and fueling the fire. The flames themselves were simply gorgeous, intense enough to be completely opaque, perpetually roaring and dancing and extending very high above Char's head.

Char began to realize… the fire looked so… inviting.

I'm a fire Pokémon, Char thought to himself, inching closer to the fire on his hands and feet. That must mean I'm fireproof… right? Could I… jump in?

He wanted to jump in. He wanted to inch closer and closer, and not stop until he was bathed in the flames. He always considered fire a close friend and ally, and couldn't imagine any negative repercussions from covering himself with it. Now, as his body yearned for comfort, he was tempted to give it a try.

Curious, he extended his front claw into the fire. As the flames licked at his hand, he received a sensation of comfort. It was warm and intense, like dipping his hands into comfortably hot water; it was the same as he'd always felt when handling the flame on the end of his tail, except much more. It sent a shiver down his spine, and he retracted his claw to inspect it. It was completely unharmed, and it tingled in displeasure from being pulled away.

He prepared to jump in.

Wait! the far corner of his mind suddenly cried. Are you sure this is a good idea? Don't you remember what happened the last time you decided to experiment with your physiology? Don't you think you should actually ask someone about it before doing it this time?

"That was with water," Char told himself. "This is fire. This is my element! I have a fire inside of me and on my tail. It doesn't hurt me! It's like my blood! What could go wrong?"

He pounced into the fire.

The first thing he noticed was that his breath had been taken away, quite literally. It was extremely difficult to inhale, as if there was no air present. However, it was still possible with a little effort, and it didn't really seem to bother him; it appeared that his body was naturally suited for such a situation.

Reality seemed to disappear, replaced by only the roaring blue flames. Char found himself completely surrounded by them, unable to see the rest of his room. All he saw was blue—dancing, vivid blue…

Then, like a delayed reaction, the warmth started to fill his body. He'd never felt a greater level of heat in his life, even when his Ember was ablaze in the heat of battle. This time, he fire poured across him inside and out, feeling like standing under a powerful waterfall that fell up instead of down. As he stood on all fours atop the burning coal, his claws, his belly, and the underside of his tail took the brunt of the heat, coming alive with the intense sensation.

He waited and waited for any sign of pain… but it never came. The fire didn't hurt at all. In fact, it felt a little comfortable.

See? Char realized. I knew it wouldn't hurt! This actually feels pretty good!

As he waited, he felt the sensation gradually intensifying. The feeling of the searing heat mercilessly engulfing his body became more pleasurable with each minute.

This feels really good, Char told himself. Wow… it's so relaxing… It's like I'm a part of the fire…

He curled up atop the coals, trying to make as much contact with them as possible, since they were the hottest part of the fire. His eyes drifted closed as he fell into a contented daze.

This makes up for all the bad things that happened today, Char told himself. I can feel… all my troubles… melting away… It's just me… and the fire…

Char decided he never needed to sleep in his bed again. Finding that his headache and his queasiness had mysteriously vanished, and he let himself go, feeling sleep approaching fast…

But then, Char felt something like a pop in his brain… and then he felt nothing.

He opened his eyes. Yes, he was still inside the fire. But now, he felt nothing of it. All the pleasure he'd enjoyed was gone. Instead, he felt… numb.

Whoa, Char thought. This is… weird. Maybe I overloaded my nerves? That's… nothing bad, right? I mean, since I'm a fire Pokémon, that could be some kind of natural—

Char suddenly started to feel the numbness subsiding, replaced by feeling. But this… was not the same feeling he had before. He felt the heat of the fire, but in a different way…

It feels… hot, Char realized.

It started out small, but escalated. Char wasn't sure what to think of the sensation, so he let it build, coming closer…

To Char's horror, he realized that the feeling was pain. It felt like the fire had turned into thousands of knife blades and pins, constantly raking his skin…

Whoa, now it's really hot, Char thought, wanting to see how bad it would get and hoping his elemental immunity wouldn't let him down.

He didn't last long. The pain never stopped escalating, until…

Char realized he was standing in a frying pan, cooking himself alive.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Char cried, jumping blindly out of the torch fire and hitting the floor head-first with a thunk. "AHHH! AHHH! AHHH! HOT! HOT! HOOOOOOOT! AHHHHHHHH!"

His vision tingling with pain, he glanced back at his body. It was not on fire, even though it now felt raw and sensitive as if he was still standing in the flames. He writhed around on the floor, wanting to caress the pained parts of his body but feeling them explode with sensitivity every time he did. Eventually, he simply laid on his back, moaning softly in agony.

Fortunately for him, the pain didn't last long. He was a fire Pokémon, after all, so his body was able to soon recover from the experience of getting burned, and he found himself feeling relatively back to normal.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh," Char still moaned, not having the strength to move, still feeling half his body tingling.

I guess I learned another lesson today, Char's exasperated mind told himself. I'm not completely immune to fire, just resistant to it. Too much, and I'll burn just like any other Pokémon. Only… it looks like my body is fireproof, so I'll never actually catch on fire, but… fire can still hurt. Ughhhh…

Char looked over his body once more, and noticed something amazing: his skin had all turned black on one side.

He'd been charred. Burnt to a crisp.

He slumped his head back onto the floor and fell asleep soon afterwards.

… … …

Char's consciousness stirred at the sound of a voice.

"Chaaar! Time to wake up!" it said.

He heard his door opening.

"The fire will never—AHHH! By ARCEUS, what HAPPENED to you?!"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" a second voice shouted worriedly, hurrying closer. "CHAR! What on EARTH?!"

Still feeling a little woozy, Char decided to stir and lift his eyelids. Ray and Saura stood above him, both gaping.

"You didn't!" Saura gasped, rushing to his side and nudging him. "You rolled over into your fire, didn't you?! Oh, Char! Are you okay?!"

"I feel fine," Char said, trying to sit up. "I feel fine. I'm okay."

"Let me see this," Ray said, crouching next to him and inspecting the black streak that covered the entire right side of his body from head to toe. "Wow, that's a pretty serious burn. The worst they come… You're lucky you're a Charmander. Anyone else would need to go to the hospital ASAP. I think you'll be okay… you'll just look a little discolored for a while."

Char climbed to his feet and tried to act as though nothing was wrong, but Saura's gaze was still glued to him.

"It didn't hurt too much, did it?" Saura asked sadly.

"Not for very long," Char replied. "I'm just fine. I promise."

Saura was not convinced, and kept casting concerned glances at him.

"Well, let's get started on our mission," Char instructed, trying to shrug off Saura's worry. "Blackriver City, you said?"

"Yeah, that's the place," Ray replied, sharing a little bit of Saura's sympathy. "Okay, let's go get Scythe and get this over with…"

The team collected their items and ascended one floor to wait outside of Team Remorse's hall for Scythe. When he appeared, Char was dismayed to see that his mood hadn't changed much since the previous day. He looked better rested than last time, but that dreadful glare remained in his eyes…

"Ready to go?" he asked. "Two bags of items this time? Are you sure you'll be needing that much?"

"No," Ray explained. "We decided to split the load in half from now on instead of taking turns. It'll be much easier on both of us."

"Ah, smart," Scythe said with a nod. "Although, it could impede your ability to react quickly to a fight—"

Char cringed, realizing that Scythe had noticed his physical affliction.

"Char, you really have to learn everything the hard way, don't you?" Scythe sighed. "Please, don't abuse your fire. I worked very hard to give that to you. Don't make me take it away."

"It won't happen again," Char said ashamedly. "I'm sorry."

"If you want to have a greater capacity to enjoy fire, wait until you evolve," Scythe said. "Let that be incentive for you. Now… I hope the mission you chose today is short—"

Scythe stopped again, but Char couldn't tell why. Char looked into his eyes, and was surprised to see a little bit of the same vulnerability he showed Char the night in the hallway. He looked almost… hurt.

"You told them," he muttered, not angrily, just matter-of-factly. "They know everything."

"How did you know?" Char asked.

"It wasn't hard to tell," Scythe said. "They told me with their eyes. You'd be surprised at how much a Pokémon can betray of themselves without having to speak."

"Scythe, I—" Char started.

"Forget it, forget it," Scythe said, turning to look into the eyes of Saura and Ray. "It's none of my business how much you trust your friends, especially after what I told you the other day. Just… understand something… understand that you can betray things without speaking, without even meaning to. Are you sure you know how trustworthy your friends are?"

Char didn't answer. A very difficult silence hung in the air between the four of them, Team Ember looking especially guilty of themselves.

"The mission," Scythe said, reminding them. "Let's go. I guess all three of you are aware of how much we must get done today. Let's get it all started."


Blackriver City

The mission was a relatively dangerous one, but then again, most of them were; Team Ember was now choosing their tasks from the real task lists, the ones which involved real danger, required real effort, and offered substantial rewards. The mission that Saura and Ray had decided upon was at a place called Blackriver City, where they'd be tasked with finding a thieves' hideout. The hideout had been known about for a while, and was hopefully abandoned, leaving any remaining valuables free for the taking. In fact, of the three similar missions the team had taken in the past, only one of them—Team X's hideout at Empirical Falls—was still occupied.

But it would not be an easy journey. Blackriver City was a brutal place. Once a military-based town, it was destroyed by spatial distortions and now lay in crumbling ruins, inhabited only by Ghost Pokémon. The city was composed of countless, evenly-spaced square towers built from black bricks, with a grid of streets surrounding them. Unfortunately for travelers, Most of the buildings were crumbling, and a lot of streets were blocked off by rubble. It would be a tough area to navigate.

That, and a Mystery Dungeon began not one block into the city.

"This place gives me the creeps," Ray admitted as they entered the city boundaries. "I've been here three times already, and it never gets any easier. But I think I feel a little better now that you guys are with me, and you too, Scythe…"

"Have you done your research?" Scythe inquired. "Do you know what dangers lurk here?"

"Ghost Pokémon," Ray said with a shudder. "And some water Pokémon, since a river runs through the center of town. But the ghosts are the worst. It could wind up being just as bad as traveling at night."

"No," Scythe said. "Nothing is as bad as traveling at night. Believe me. The Watchers are not like normal ghost Pokémon. They're unnatural. They wield powers that no Pokémon should. When we travel at night, we spend little of our time fighting them and much of it running away from them. Don't fear normal ghost Pokémon as you would fear the Watchers. Just remember not to attack them physically. Just rely on the elements you are affiliated with, your fire, your electric power, and your vegetation, and they will fall like any other Pokémon."

"Alright, we'll give it a shot," Saura said with some confidence. "We always have you to give us a hand if things start to go wrong, anyway."

"Well, not so much," Scythe said. "I'm not particularly skilled at fighting ghosts. It'll mostly be up to you."

"Oh…" Saura said, looking a bit disillusioned. Suddenly lighting back up and forming a smug grin, shouted, "Well, in that case, bring it on! Ha-ha!"


Blackriver City S1

This was, admittedly, the most intimidating dungeon Team Ember had seen yet. It was a maze of city streets through an endless forest of ruined buildings. The sky was a strange color, like there was a weird transparent cloud hovering over the city and darkening the morning sunlight, reminding Char of the light from the black torches the previous day. Just knowing that there could be ghosts hiding around any corner didn't help to instill a sense of confidence, either.

As soon as Char entered into the anomaly, he felt his empty stomach groan in protest. He'd forgotten to eat breakfast. He quickly dug through his small, lightweight bag and passed out a meal to the group. He munched on a Rawst berry, hoping it would help his charred hide to regenerate faster.

An evil laugh echoed from somewhere nearby. The group froze.

"A ghost," Ray said, stepping forward and glancing around. "Get ready."

Char waited, holding his Rawst berry still and readying his fire for a fight. There was silence, all except for a tiny wind that blew through the town.

Nothing happened. Char shivered.

"I think they saw us," Ray said. "They're watching us. Be on guard."

Finding the road blocked by rubble, the group took a detour through a dark alleyway.

"I've never fought a ghost before," Char admitted, keeping very close to his friends and lighting the way with his tail. "Domo let me train against all sorts of Pokémon, but I never trained against a ghost…"

"Ghosts have a habit of playing tricks," Scythe said. "When they fight you, they rely on your fear and uncertainty. They're less fond of attacking than they are of trying to confuse you, infuriate you, scare you, or use their spiritual power to disable you in unnatural ways. That's just their nature."

Um… why did we choose this mission, again? Char wondered.

"If you want to learn how to take down ghosts, that's one of Daemon's specialties," Scythe said. "There is a sort of dark power, some way to channel your energy, that the ghosts abhor, and Daemon has learned how to control that power. It comes natural to him, being the kind of Pokémon he is. But, if you're lucky, he can teach you some useful techniques."

Another haunting voice came from somewhere close. The group picked up their pace.

"Ghosts can also turn invisible," Ray added. "They're probably surrounding us right now, just laughing at us, and waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. That's just what they did the last time we were here…"


Blackriver City S2

A little less than an hour later, the team was very deep into the city. Somehow, they'd managed to avoid enticing any ghost Pokémon to attack them, but that didn't make Char feel any more comfortable. He found himself nibbling on an apple, but mostly from nervousness rather than hunger. Sometimes, eerie howls and groans would emanate from the dark windows or cracks in nearby buildings…

"Remember, we don't have to go through the whole dungeon," Ray reminded everyone. "Just head to the southwest and we should come to the end, that's where the hideout should be. If they don't see us coming, it should be easy."

"Just like Team X," Saura said. "Hopefully it'll be that easy."

"Hey, Scythe…" Char said, suddenly remembering something. "Do you remember that feral-shard that we found when we raided Team X?"

"I do," Scythe answered. "Why?"

"Where is it?" Char asked. "I checked storage for it, but it wasn't there. Morrik said that you didn't have it, either…"

"That's because it was never put in storage," Scythe explained flatly. "It was returned to its rightful owner, just like all the rest of the items we pulled from their hideout. What, you think we would just take it for ourselves? We'd be no better than Team X."

"Well, that's dumb," Char said, folding his arms. "I was really hoping… I had one of those on hand, for when the time comes…"

"Hah, get in line," Scythe laughed. "Many Pokémon have been wanting to evolve lately, now that feral-shards completely disappeared from the market. If you find one now, it could be worth millions—"

"Eeeeeeeeeeah!"

A voice shrieked, starting Char out of his wits and causing him to toss his apple in a random direction. The whole group tensed, expecting a confrontation.

"Here we go," Ray said, looking up in the air.

Sure enough, a ghost Pokémon materialized in the air above them. It was small and purple, with hair-like tendrils covering its head and bright red eyes. A Misdreavus. It jittered and smiled evilly at the group, releasing another chilling scream and shifting around in the air in anticipation of an attack.

The ghost's eyes locked on Char, and he froze in fright. It had become interested in him. It grinned and circled around his head.

"Char! Watch out!" Ray cried.

Char heard the warning, but he was frozen in indecision. He really didn't know what to do. He watched as the ghost's body began to glow with energy, ready to release some kind of horrible attack… Char could only cringe and cover his eyes…

ZZZZap!

Ray released a great bolt of lightning from his body, hitting the ghost dead-on and overloading it. Its eyes drifted off into a daze, and it evaporated into thin air. When Char looked, the ghost was gone.

"Don't mess with Char!" Ray yelled victoriously.

"Thanks," Char said oddly. "I… guess I didn't know how to react."

"Don't let them intimidate you," Ray said. "They're easy. Just pretend they're Butterfree."

Scythe congratulated Ray on his good aim and reflexes, and Char went to retrieve his apple, resolving to actually be of some use next time.

Unfortunately, as they continued, there was still a feeling he couldn't quite shake… the feeling that he was being followed…


Blackriver City, S4

"Are we there yet?" Char wondered, wanting the haunting excursion to be over as quickly as possible.

They'd walked for a few more hours, but there were no visible signs of any more ghosts wishing to fight. There was only the looming feeling of danger just around the corner, the thought of fifty ghosts jumping out and swarming him at a moment's notice. They'd crossed through the center of town where the river ran and engaged in battle with a wild Buizel, but other than that, no other battles presented themselves…

"I keep forgetting, you weren't at the planning session last night," Ray said. "We're almost there. This should be the last block before we can ambush the thieves. I'm surprised we haven't met with much resistance. Maybe it's the weather?"

"Could be," Scythe speculated. "Sunny weather like this tends to chase away the ghosts."

Char looked to the sky. Sunny? The weird black clouds hovered over the whole city, casting everywhere the sun touched into dim shade. He wasn't sure what Scythe was talking about, it looked like a perfect habitat for ghosts to him…

And then, Char heard something odd. It wasn't the sound of a ghost, it was more like… a voice. A voice that suddenly yelled out it pain.

"Um… did you hear that?" Char asked. "That didn't sound right."

"Yeah, I heard it, too," Saura said. "That was weird. Maybe it's just another ghost… they make the weirdest noises, you know."

"I'm not so sure," Char said warily. "That didn't sound like one. Scythe? You heard it, right?"

"I'll have to agree with Saura," Scythe said. "Sounded like a ghost to me. It's their nature to frighten other Pokémon, so I wouldn't put it past them to produce any sort of sound. So… let's just move along, and get this over with…"

"One problem with that," Ray said, examining the path. "We're stuck."

It was true. They'd walked right into a dead-end. One of the buildings had downright collapsed across two others, leaving no open way forward unless there was to be climbing involved. Char was disappointed; by turning and trying to find an alternate passage, they'd run the risk of losing their sense of direction and getting lost in the dungeon, possibly trapped within the city walls until they'd braved its whole length. They had done a great job of walking to the south and to the west, they couldn't blow it now…

"We could climb," Char suggested, gazing up at the monstrous pile of rubble. It was jagged and dangerous; every visible foothold was slanted, and the top protruded far from the base, making it very clear that climbing would not be an option.

"Maybe Scythe could carry us," Ray suggested. "Can't you, Scythe? That wouldn't be too hard, would it?"

"Hah, yeah. Good idea. Here, hold my hands," Scythe said sarcastically, offering the sharp ends of his blades to Ray. "But no. I don't think that would be possible. I can barely keep myself in the air for long. I wouldn't try carrying someone."

"Well, that's stupid," Char declared. "We came all this way, and now we're trapped by this stupid wall… unless…"

Char walked over to one of the still-standing buildings that blocked the way. He peered inside the window.

"Oh, no," Saura groaned. "You want us to go in there?"

"It's a clear way," Char told him. "Just in one window, through a few rooms, and out the other."

"Awfully dark in there," Saura commented, peering up to the window.

"Since when has dark ever been a problem with Char?" Ray laughed. "It's a good idea. Let's go."

"What if it's full of ghosts?" Saura wondered. "That's where they live! They could ambush us too easily in there!"

"Then we fight back," Char said confidently. "C'mon! We're almost out of the woods. Let's do it!"

So, with a burst of courage, Char hefted up his bag, lifted himself onto the windowsill, and propelled himself into the building through the pane-less window.

As his friends were following his lead, Char took his tail in his free hand and explored the deserted structure. There wasn't much of interest to see; there were only empty rooms cluttered with small rocks, stairs leading up… and not much else. It was odd to imagine that Pokémon once lived in here, or even found any use for the structure whatsoever. Was it an apartment of some kind? Or something else? Char couldn't tell.

As far as he could see, there were no ghosts. Thankfully.

"Hey, wait up!" Ray called, leaping in the window. Saura was not too far behind, using his vines for support to pull himself up. Finally, Scythe buzzed his wings and perched on the windowsill, lodged both of his blades into the inside wall of the room, then ducked and thrust himself in.

"Weird," Saura said, commenting on the barren cells which made up the floor of the structure. "I wonder what this building used to be?"

"A storage facility, most likely," Scythe guessed. "Though, remember that we're still in a dungeon. This building could really be a combination of two or more. Also, keep an eye out for abandoned objects. If we wanted, we could try exploring this place to see if any useful items were left behind…"

"Let's not," Char decided. "We have to keep our sense of direction and get out of here. Go that way. Find a window over there somewhere."

Char lead the way through the darkness with his flame, walking through tiny corridors from room to room. He and the rest of the team always kept a wary eye at the darkest corners of each room, halfway expecting a Gastly or some other feral spirit to lash out and spite them…

After traversing a few empty rooms, Char was worried that he wouldn't find the desired way out. Was the building itself like a miniature dungeon, subject to the same rules of random placement? It seemed so; it didn't seem like any Pokémon, or even a human, for that matter, would have constructed a building to be so nonsensical and impractical. Doors led around in circles, multiple doors led to the same room, and Char even found a door that opened up into a solid brick wall. It started to get quite frustrating, as well as creepy…

But then, Char spotted something. At first, it looked like just another dislodged brick that had fell to the ground and sat in the corner, but Char saw how it glimmered in his light…

Remembering what happened the last time he was distracted by a stray item laying on the floor—and remembering to actually heed the warning of his gut instinct this time—he diverged from his path and, with the utmost caution, approached the item.

It was a small object made out of plastic, or metal, or perhaps both. Its main body was thick and wide, bearing two red-colored lenses. Two metallic tabs protruded from the sides.

A rush of familiarity flooded Char's mind. This was a human object! It was… a pair of glasses? No. It looked like glasses, but it was much more mechanical, heavy-duty…

"I found something," Char announced, drawing the attention of his friends. He picked up the glasses and felt them with his claws, amazed at the object's existence in the world of Pokémon. He bent down the flexible tabs in amusement.

"Incredible," Scythe marveled upon seeing the object. "Excellent, excellent find. This must be something left behind by a different team. Those are goggles. And what luck to find them in a place like this! Char, these goggles were designed for seeing the invisible. They're based on the sound-vision that Zubat use to navigate in the dark. But they don't use sound to work, they use something else, some kind of energy. But in effect… they should allow you to see invisible ghosts."

"Awesome!" Ray shouted. "How lucky! Char, try them on! Now we can see the ghosts coming!"

Hesitantly, Char fit the goggles onto his head and lined them up with his eyes. They were heavy, and they fell frequently, so Char dropped his bag and held them up with both hands. He tried adjusting the frame so that it would clamp to his head and stay on, but to little effect; the goggles were too large.

Curious, he peered through the strange red lenses. He saw the room as clear as ever, if not a bit discolored.

"Interesting," Char said. "Too bad I have to hold them up to see through them. Too bad they—oh, no…"

"What?" Saura asked. "Do you see something?"

Yes, Char saw something.

Char noticed a mischievous Haunter hanging in the air directly above Saura.

And behind him, there was a Gastly.

And another one behind that.

And next to that, a Duskull.

Gazing around the ceiling, Char saw that the entire room was filled with them.

Ghosts. Dozens and dozens of them. All watching the group amusedly. Evilly. Invisibly.

Char's heart fell into his stomach. The goggles struck the ground.

"WHAT?! What is it?!" Saura demanded, growing very worried. "You saw a ghost, didn't you?"

"Saura…" Char gasped, nearly without a voice. "We've got to get out of here."

But that was it. The joke was over. The ghosts sensed Char's fear and realized that they'd been spotted. In a matter of a few seconds, they all allowed themselves to become visible. Scythe, Ray, and Saura all gasped as they appeared to fade into reality, surrounding the group and outnumbering them at least ten-to-one, backing them even further into the corner.

Almost in unison, the ghost Pokémon descended from the ceiling and faced the team at eye-level. Many of them giggled and howled in sinister anticipation, their eyes glowing red in the dark…

"Char," Scythe muttered, eyeing the ghosts and trying to keep his calm, "now would be an excellent, excellent time to use the Escape Orb…"

Char couldn't argue. His hand scrambled into the bag and searched for the item that would save them all.

There wasn't one. Char couldn't find a single orb in the bag, only a pile of apples and berries.

"Ray," Char said quickly. "You have it. I only have the food."

"I thought you had the Escape Orb," Ray said, his face turning white. "…didn't you?"

Scythe succumbed to a cringe, hanging his head in painful despair.

"We have anything capable of clearing out a room?" Char asked desperately. "Spurn Orb? Foe-Hold Orb? Anything?"

"Uh, no," Ray said regretfully. "We used those all up… and they were too expensive to buy more…"

The group fell silent, realizing their fate.

"We fight," Saura spoke, trying to swallow his fear as he felt the many piercing, red eyes burn into him. "That's how Team Ember operates. We fight until the end. Because there's always a chance we could make it. Are you guys ready for this?"

Char clenched his fists and fueled his fire. It wasn't like he had much of a choice; they were trapped in an abandoned building, all escape routes blocked by the enemy. They had to fight, for better or for worse.

He felt it when his fire was ready. It filled his insides to the brim, hanging at the very edge of his throat… Then, stepping forward to confront the ghosts, he bellowed…

"The FIRE will NEVER DIE…"

"Until the LAST! EMBER! FADES!" His teammates answered at the top of their lungs.

"Heh, heheheh," Scythe laughed. "Right you are. Frivolous optimism can be fun sometimes… Alright. Let's see these ghosts bring their best! En guarde!"

Char started the battle by spewing a great stream of fire, sweeping it across as many ghosts as he could manage. The ghosts jumped back in shock, realizing they were being attacked, and they began to swarm.

Char had to halt his flamethrower to breathe, so he dove behind his friends for cover. Ray loosed a wave of electric power over the ghosts, missing all but two as they flowed aside like a gaseous substance to dodge it. Saura pelted them with all the leaves he could muster, but the ghosts' evasiveness was impressive, and they dodged his attack as well. When Char was ready, he mustered his breath and released a ball of embers from his mouth which struck the ceiling and exploded, but it had no effect. The ghosts moved like oil atop a pond, reacting to the slightest disturbance and impossible to touch.

Sounding a feral screech from the depths of his lungs, Scythe zipped forward and swiped with his blades, which were now shining with a strange dark power. With some impressive acrobatics, he sliced through one, two, three ghosts, all of which appeared to drift apart in multiple pieces with no interest in fusing back together. They faded out of visibility.

"Hey, I thought you said you weren't good at fighting ghosts!" Char called to him.

"I'm not," Scythe answered with a grin, "but I never said I couldn't do it!"

The ghosts were not amused, and several of them at the front of the crowd prepared a counterattack. A Haunter charged a dark ball of energy between its hands, while another zoomed forward with its hands opened wide to grab hold of its victim. With a snap of Saura's vines, the second was sent careening away, but the first let loose its attack upon Char, knocking the wind out of him. It was a weak attack, but it left him feeling shaky…

"Hey! I told you not to mess with Char!" Ray yelled angrily, discharging a spark that connected with the ghost and zapped it senseless.

Four more ghosts floated forward in replacement. At once, they began to circle around their prey, suddenly growing to twice their size and releasing a shriek to startle the team out of their wits. This time, Char held steady and took the opportunity to strike back, darting underneath the ghost before him, a Shuppet, and jumping into it to crunch down with his white-hot fangs. It screamed in disgust and vanished. Saura threw an energy ball, which took out a Gastly, and Ray leapt into the air and allowed his body to explode with lightning, frying the two remaining Misdreavus in the group.

"See?" Ray said, panting in excitement. "Easy enough! Just pretend they're Butterfree!"

But that's when the battle started to go awry. The cloud of ghosts was clearly displeased. After what looked like a unanimous nod, they all rushed in for attack. At the sight, Ray's expression of confidence turned to one of dread.

Char tried to blast fire at the first ghost he could see coming, a Haunter, but it was no use. He soon felt the whole cloud of ghosts piling onto him, and at once, he felt sick, terrified, and confused all at the same time. He tried swiping with his claws to get them off, but they laughed as his effort passed harmlessly through them. He tried backing away, but he was already backed into the corner. He felt as the long, sticky tongue of a Haunter was slapped across his face, and as multiple balls of shadow energy collided with his sides, and as his body began painfully tingling.

"Char! NO!" Ray cried. "Char! Fight! Fight it!" Burn them!"

Char blasted fire, only to realize a second later that his attack had only collided with a bare wall.

"I can't do it," Saura moaned. "I'm gone! I'm done for! I think I'm confused! I can't attack!"

Char wanted to help his friends, but his vision was filled with a tornado of ghosts, all taking turns biting at him, scratching him, licking him, and flying right through his body. His actions all seemed to happen in slow motion, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't fend them off… He was ready to give himself up for lost…

Scythe battled furiously and took down a dozen ghosts with his skillful agility, but he was ultimately powerless against them. They piled onto him and unleashed their supernatural attacks, causing him to slump to the floor in exhaustion.

"I'm finished," he announced grimly, feeling his consciousness fade away…

Laying on the floor, his last vision was that of Char, Saura, and ray covered in ghost Pokémon, suffering the same fate as he…

"SCYTHE!" Saura cried, catching a glimpse of him. "Scythe! Not you, too!"

And then, Scythe's vision went black.

It was over. Char resigned himself to the same fate, realizing he was about to be expelled from the dungeon and fail the mission… He simply let himself go limp and slump to the floor, covered in ghostly curses and spent from weakness…

What happened next was the last thing Char would have ever expected.

There was a flash of blue, black, and orange. The ghosts scattered.

"Alright, playtime's over," an unexpected voice yelled.

There were another flash. A clenched fist collided with several of the ghosts in rapid succession, pulverizing them.

The ghosts rose from Char, directing their malice toward the new threat.

A streak of red. It slashed a Misdreavus right out of the air.

It took Char a moment to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Enough of this!" another voice hissed. "Gahhh! Die, die! Die, you infernal…"

Char blinked. He didn't believe his eyes.

A Seviper and a Croagunk were fighting off the ghosts. And winning.

The Croagunk waited until a multitude of ghosts had attached to him. With an angry grunt, a dark shadow of energy pulsed from his form, annihilating the ghosts upon contact. The Seviper coiled and twisted, crunching upon a Gastly with his mouth while swinging his tail like a scythe to slice apart a Duskull.

Char gasped for air. He felt like there were fifty things wrong with him, but he was going to be okay, now that the ghosts were no longer interested in him…

Like a knife to a cutting board, the Seviper's tail took out the last ghost—a Banette—and the room was clear. The two newcomers proudly inspected their handiwork.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Croagunk said gently, walking up to the fallen team. "Take it easy, and you can still finish this mission…"

"Ugh… I don't know…" Saura answered absentmindedly. "I feel like… Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

Suddenly wide-awake, Saura leapt away from his rescuers. Ray's eyes also snapped open in reaction, and he scowled.

"What?!" Croagunk cried. "Look! We just saved your rears! Can't we have just a little hospitality for once?"

"How!" Saura stammered, looking very confused. "This is a dungeon! How did you find us inside of a dungeon?! How did you get here?!"

"We followed close behind you," Seviper said coolly. "Not only that, but we've been helping you the entire way. We drew all the ghosts away from you and fought them off."

"Here," Croagunk said, offering Char a Heal Seed. "Get back up. You'll feel better in no time. Here, you, too, Bulbasaur. We brought these just for you."

Char's fire broiled. For once, his view of Team X was fuddled. Why were they helping him? Why? To gain his trust? If so… Why had they chosen to do it this way? Char ate his Heal Seed, wondering how to react to this gesture…

"Look," Croagunk said. "We decided something. We understand that our efforts to get into your base have been a little… too forward, huh? So, no more of that. We don't want into your base anymore. Instead, we're just going to just hang around the region and give you a hand from now on, and in return, we'll ask for one or two supplies from you now and then, okay?"

"All we want is to fight a certain regime of the Master's forces that has been giving us trouble," Seviper said. "That is all. We mean you no harm of any sort. We mean your resistance force no harm of any sort. We simply wish to take advantage of your resources, however lightly or indirectly, to help further our ends. In return, we'll be happy to assist your team whenever the situation arises."

"And what… regime… would this be?" asked a deep voice.

Seviper and Croagunk turned to see… to their utter horror… Scythe standing at the far end of the room, perfectly healthy and uninjured.

"No…" Croagunk gasped, emitting a croak from his cheeks. "No, no! We saw you fall! We saw you pass out! Where'd you come from?! How'd you…"

"Apparently, my students have decided this mission was important enough to have brought their Reviver Seed," Scythe explained, looking extremely displeased at their presence. "So… tell me. What's really your business here?"

"Scyther, please hear us out," Croagunk pleaded like a baby. "We want to join your resistance force. Honestly. We're actually part of a faction that's about to split away from the others, and our master plan is to spring a trap for… you know… her."

Scythe's expression changed. Surprised, yet angered at their words, he stepped closer to them.

"Who's 'her'?" Ray blurted out.

"Enigma," Croagunk said powerfully. "Enigma, the Mismagius. One of the Master's elite commanding forces. She's corrupting the empire from the inside, and she needs to be stopped."

"Oh, really?" Scythe said, a strange and frightening evil force now behind his voice. "And what, exactly, are you planning to do about her?"

"We were… hoping… for your hospitality… of… your base," Croagunk said, shuddering in fear as Scythe's eyes gleamed at him. "We need cover… safety… supplies… but… we can't… let… her know… what we're doing…"

"QUIET!" Scythe boomed in anger, raising his blades. "Enough! Your voice is grating on my nerves! You're both about to get expelled from this dungeon. Would you prefer to go painlessly, or painfully?"

"Painlessly, if you would," Croagunk squeaked. "I mean, we did just help you out…"

"Fair enough," Scythe sighed. "Now, go away, stop bothering my students with your fast-talking lies, and never show yourselves again!"

Faster than light, Scythe zipped forward and thunked the Croagunk and the Seviper upside the head with the blunt ends of his scythes, knocking the consciousness right out of them and letting them to slump to the floor.

"Idiots," Scythe muttered to himself. "Talk about a misplaced effort. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry."

Team Ember looked oddly to one another, trying to wrap their minds around the series of events that just took place.

"Thanks," Char finally told Scythe. "I was almost getting ready to believe them."

"Not a problem," Scythe said. "That's why I'm here. But I'll tell you something: their story was convincing. It could very well be the case that part of their story is true. But in the end, it's not what they're saying, it's what they're not saying that really matters. If I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that their intentions were pure, I'd let them into the base. But… it's too risky to make that call. My instincts cry out to me that they're filthy liars, so I do what I think is right. Besides… I have a bothersome hunch that underneath it all, they could be working for Adiel…"

"Did you ever figure out what Adiel's up to?" Char asked him. "Did you find out why he was in Iron Town yesterday?"

"Oh, I've known what Adiel's doing for a while," Scythe said honestly. "I figured out his plan quite a while ago. It just took a little piecing together of the clues. The hard part is going to be trying to stop him… without letting everything else I've worked hard for fall to pieces…"

When the Heal Seeds had taken effect and cured all the nasty effects the ghosts had placed on them, and when the Oran Berries had healed them enough, they pushed forth to finish their trip. Now that the ghosts were finally assaulting them at every turn, they picked up the pace, and they soon arrived to the thieves' den.

It was empty. Not a single treasure remained. With a collective shrug, Scythe and the team turned to head back for the base, their trip completely fruitless save for the hefty bounty offered by the division as well as the mysterious pair of goggles that Char had acquired…

…All the while, Char had to wonder just what had gotten into Team X…


Division Base

After recording their victory at the registry and dropping the bags off for Morrik, Scythe told the team to return to their rooms and wait for him.

"I have to get some things straight with my team," Scythe said. "When I'm done, we'll start packing for the big trip. Be ready."

The mission had been brief, and it was not yet lunchtime, so Char retired to his room for a quick rest while Scythe took care of his business.

"Well, there goes our Reviver Seed," Saura sighed once they found themselves back in their hall and closed the door behind them. "Seems a little bit unfair that we used it on Scythe… think he'll give us another one?"

"I think we need to make sure we're not missing vital supplies next time," he said, showing his friends a lighthearted glare. "But, whatever, it's fine for now. We pulled it off. We won the mission, all's well. Good job, you guys. As usual."

"It's an absolute pleasure to be of service to you," Ray said. "I'm very ashamed of myself for letting some supplies slip through like that. But, it won't happen again! I promise! I can't let you down!"

Suddenly, there was a hard rapping at the door. The threesome spun around in surprise to answer it.

"Scythe's back already?" Saura wondered. "That wasn't very long of a rest…"

Saura shoved the door open, and sure enough, Scythe was standing on the other side.

"Guess what," he said. "Alakazam just contacted me. He told us not to worry about preparing for the trip. He's going to take care of everything for us."

"Sounds good," Saura said.

"So, the rest of the day is yours," Scythe said. "Do whatever you want. Tomorrow, we'll be getting our supplies from him. And, yes, I made it clear that he would need to pack for four travelers."

Char smiled.

"Have a good day, you three," Scythe said, turning to leave. "See you tomorrow."

The door closed again, and Saura sighed happily.

"Well, that's good to know," he said. "Makes sense that Intelligence would be providing for us since they're forcing us to go on this trip. And Scythe's been in a better mood today."

"Not really," Char said. "He was only doing better at pretending. He's still hurting on the inside."

"Really?" Saura asked. "He looked fine to me! How could you tell?"

"It wasn't hard to tell," Char said oddly. "He told me with his eyes. You'd be surprised at how much a Pokémon can say without even speaking…"

… … …

Deciding to take a short nap, the trio returned to their respective rooms.

Char found himself gazing at the brilliant yellow fire beside his bed.

He touched his burn. It was painless, and it was already starting to fade away.

He held no grudge against his fire for doing what it did to him. The fire was still his friend. Only, he had a slightly greater respect for it this time around. It was raw power, a force of nature, and it did not discriminate against friend or foe. It simply burned. Yes, it was his element, but it still had to be controlled. Just like the fire within him, his Ember, he couldn't get reckless with it.

Why Char found himself thinking these thoughts, he didn't know. He was alone again, with nobody but the fire to share his thoughts with.

"Ugh! … … … Urf! … … … Ugh!..."

Saura's voice came from outside his door. Curious, he dropped from his bed to see what the matter was.

"Urrrrrrrf!" Saura groaned. "Ugh!"

Before Char could cross his room, his door slid open. There was Saura, his vines fully extended… pulling something?

It was his bed.

"Saura, what are you doing?" Char cried.

"I'm… ugh… moving in!" Saura replied, focusing solely on pulling his bed through Char's doorway. "I decided it wasn't fair to… urrrrrf… leave you alone every night…"

"Saura, no," Char said. "You don't have to! Are you sure? I'm fine on my own!"

"But you're lonely!" Saura insisted. "I know you are. I saw you… yesterday… And I saw it… in your eyes… I know you… urrrh… too well…"

"Saura, really! I'm okay!" Char said. "I'm just getting used to being in my own room…"

"You burned yourself!" Saura grunted, pulling harder. "And I wasn't there! You were all alone! And you burned yourself! And I… wasn't there! I wasn't there… to share… the pain."

"Saura, stop!" Char commanded suddenly.

Saura dropped his vines and turned to face Char. Tears were welling in his eyes.

Char was suddenly flooded with… an utterly indescribable emotion. He stood for a moment, his eyes broken with something like pity and sympathy, looking deep into the eyes of his friend.

"Saura," Char said gently. "Why do you try so hard?"

"Because I want to," Saura answered, trying to pretend he wasn't crying. "I never had a friend like you. Ever! Not even… back at home… Not even any of my brothers… not anyone. And then you came… and… I really… I don't really know what I'm doing, Char… It's just… You did so much…"

Char smiled warmly.

"It means a lot to me, Char, just as much as it means to you," Saura said sincerely. "Since, you know, I'm your friend… I just want to be… I just want to make sure… I'm a really, really good one."

You are, Char wanted to say. You're a perfect friend. You couldn't possibly be a better friend if you tried. So stop trying so hard!

Instead, he knelt down by Saura's side and gave him a great big hug until he stopped tearing up so much. He said nothing; he didn't have to for Saura to understand him.

"I thought you were afraid of the fire," Char said humorously, glancing nonchalantly back at his giant torches.

"My best friend is a Charmander," Saura said with a sniffle. "I can't be that scared of fire, now can I?"

Once the bed was moved in, Char and Saura lounged in the room, half-asleep, Char telling the story of just how he got his burn, when Char heard another voice from outside his door.

"MMMMMMMMMMMPH!" Ray grunted, trying to silence himself but falling short. "URGHHH!"

Ray, too? Char wondered, jumping up from his bed to answer the door.

Yes, Ray was there, pushing his own bed into the room. When he saw Char, he smiled.

"Uh… hi," Char said. "You're moving in, too?"

"Well, yeah!" Ray said. "You expect me to, right? That's what Saura's doing, and you made it clear that you wanted me on an equal level as him, so I thought… yeah."

"Um… not really, but come on in," Char said oddly, giving a hand with the bed and helping to pull it through the doorway. "Well, actually, I think it's better like this. It's just like the old days with Scythe! As long as nobody snores…"

"Scythe is the one who always snored," Saura laughed. "Nah, we'll finally have peace and quiet now…"

As Char helped to lug the bed across the room to the position opposite of Saura's, he hesitated. With a gleam in his eye, he glanced at Ray.

"What?" Ray asked.

"Ray," Char asked, "Why do you try so hard?"

"What, me?" Ray said. "I just… do what I can, I guess."

"No, really," Char said, sitting upon the bed and waiting for an answer that satisfied him. "You're the most zealous Pokémon I've ever met. Why? What drives you?"

"I'm flattered," Ray said. "But really, I'm just working so that I can make as many Pokémon happy as I can. It's just what I always wanted to do. A long time ago, when I was a Pichu, my older brother took care of me. I guess he did something right, because one day, Team Remorse noticed him and let him join the team. But they wouldn't let me into the base because I was too young, so he pulled double-time, working for the resistance and taking care of me at the same time. When he was away, I learned to live on my own, and I got stronger. But when he was there for me…"

Ray grew starry-eyed, immersing himself in his memories.

"He used to say to me… 'There are a lot of Pokémon in this world, and a lot of them are unhappy. But it only takes one Pokémon to change that. To make someone happy. One Pokémon, and all that unhappiness can go away. And for a lot of them, that Pokémon can be you.' "

Ray smiled fondly.

"And he told me, 'There are hundreds of Pokémon in this world just waiting for you to make them happy. But it's your choice to make them happy. It's everyone's choice. Everyone has the same choice.'… And one day, when I was a Pikachu, he finally let me into the base. But that day, he told me he was retiring from Team Remorse, and he had to go live somewhere far away… I realize now, that he could have gone off to a dangerous mission, and died, and didn't want to tell me about it. Or he could have been telling the truth. But it doesn't matter now… He's gone, he left me here in good hands, and from that point on, I promised to say 'yes' to that question. I wanted to make lots of Pokémon happy. Because… that's just the way I am."

"Wow," Saura said. "That's very touching. I understand now why you want to join Team Remorse so much. Your brother probably made a lot of Pokémon happy, whatever he did. And I bet you are, too."

Ray laughed nervously. "Well, I'm not so sure anymore," he chuckled.

This caught Char off-guard.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "You don't want to make Pokémon happy anymore?

"No, no, of course I do," Ray said. "But I've been thinking a lot lately about myself, and Team Ember, and everything. And I… think maybe… I don't want to join Team Remorse anymore. I'm happy here with you."

Char frowned.

"Really?" Saura said in disbelief. "You're joking!"

"No, really!" Ray said. "I thought about it, and I realized that it's an honor to serve under Scythe, but it's an even bigger one to serve under a human! And besides, you heard that Scythe wants Team Ember and Team Remorse to be inseparable. So, it wouldn't really matter what team I'm on anyway. I figure, I stay here, and…"

"Stop," Char said. "Ray, stop."

Ray blinked. "Huh?" he uttered.

"Stop this," Char said. "For one thing… don't compare me to Scythe. Just don't. I'm not Scythe. I'm not better than Scythe. I never will be. He's wiser than all of Team Ember will ever be, put together! Just because I'm a human doesn't automatically make me a hero. Scythe is a hero. I'm not. Get your priorities straight! You'll go a lot farther in life working for him than for me. So don't quit on him! Join Team Remorse! It's been your lifelong dream! You can't change your lifelong dream just because I said something! That's… no better than Fern was!"

Ray bit his lip. He didn't know what to say.

"And for another thing," Char continued, his voice softening, "Look. When I told you I was a human, this wasn't the way I wanted you to react. Stop acting like this. Stop acting like I'm… your master. I'm not. I'm not a Pokémon trainer. I'm your friend. Your equal. Not your superior. But now you're treating me like a king, and it really makes me uncomfortable. I hate it when Scythe does it, and I hate it even more when…"

Ray nodded. He looked a little hurt, but he understood what was being said. He looked ashamed of himself.

"Okay, fine, so you respect me more because I'm a human," Char said. "In that case, can I make one request of you?"

"Anything," Ray said meekly.

"Could you be the Ray that I made friends with?" Char requested. "Could we go back to being friends?"

Ray hung his head and stared at the floor for a few moments. Then, he took a deep breath and nodded to Char.

"I'll try," he said. "You're right. I thought maybe you'd like it better if I acted more humble around you, but I guess I didn't really think about it like that. So… okay. I'll try not to be like that anymore."

Wearing a wide grin, he extended his paw.

"Handshake?"

Char didn't hesitate for a moment, despite his instincts telling him to. He grasped Ray's paw and shook it forcefully, this time feeling no electric feedback whatsoever. He returned the grin.

It's done, Char realized. Now this team is finally the way I want it to be, after all this time. Here we are, all together…

Nobody admitted to being hungry enough for lunch, and the team spent a good deal of the afternoon simply taking a lazy nap in the room that now belonged to all three of them.

Tomorrow might be our last mission together here at the Gold Division, Char realized, watching his two best friends sleeping peacefully. Tomorrow might be the last "normal" day I've ever known…

After that, who knows what the future will bring?

Char rested his head on the edge of his bed near the fire, knowing that, for the moment, everything was okay. He really didn't care what the future would bring; he knew he'd face it proudly and confidently, for he was anything but alone.

*Chapter 34*: Special Episode: Brave Bird

"Brave Bird"

"Everyone! Quick! You have to come see this!" shouted a Taillow as it burst in from the floor hatch and flapped wildly to get the room's attention.

The room was a small oval-shaped hall, its two long walls lined with tiny alcoves and long ledges. At one end of the room, a couple bird Pokémon where perched on the ledge and were chatting about the day's accomplishments as the Taillow barged in.

"Oh, great," a Pidgey said, rolling his eyes. "This had better be good."

"What is it?!" a Staravia replied in annoyance. "I'm not budging unless the entire wing is on fire."

"Relax, he probably just saw something in the news," a Spearow joked. "We'll see it tomorrow if it's anything important."

"No, no! You don't understand!" The Taillow said as it fluttered closer, not even stopping to perch. "Master Karow—"

"Look, do you have any idea how many miles I just flew today?" the Staravia shot angrily. "I had to fly to Fort Temper—and back—without resting. I'm done for the day."

"HEY!" the Taillow shouted. "The new kid beat up Master Karow!"

A gasp arose from the room, followed by stunned silence.

"You're joking." the Spearow said. "You can't be serious."

"No joke!" the Taillow insisted. "I just saw it happen! Guys, you have to come!"

"Master Karow?" the Pidgey gaped. "That can't be! No way!"

At once, the birds rose from the ledge and flocked behind the Taillow to come see.

"I always knew that new kid was crazy," the Spearow squawked as the group landed before the entrance to the team's training chamber. "I've always been scared to battle him. It's like he doesn't know the difference between training and trying to kill you."

"Are you kidding? That kid still thinks he's in the wild," the Taillow said. "Remember what he did to Midoh? And Spear? You can't say anything to him without getting his feathers ruffled. And now this?"

"He's crazy," the Pidgey said. "Do you ever look him in the eyes? Whenever he looks at me, it always looks like he's plotting to rake me open in my sleep. He's evil. And he's always so quiet…"

"Wow, look at us. We're getting all ruffled up over a Pidgey," the Staravia said. "This is actually a little bit sad. He's the one who should be scared of us."

"What happened to Master Karow?" The Pidgey said. "Is he okay? It wasn't too bad, was it?"

"I saw the whole thing," the Taillow said. "I was in there with Master Karow, and I was watching the catmatch he was having with Otto, Master Karow won, boom. Pulled a fairy glide over the top, got him in the tail feathers. Otto kept fighting like he didn't know he lost. And he just kept going. Knocked the old man onto the ground, kept mobbing him… He just wouldn't stop! I was too afraid to help, but I couldn't stop watching."

The group collectively shuddered at the Taillow's description.

"Wow," the Pidgey said, ruffling his feathers. "That kid needs help."

Preceded by an infuriated screech, an elderly Honchkrow half-tumbled, half-flew down from the training chamber portal. The birds' breaths were taken away at the sight: the old crow was missing many feathers, and patches of exposed skin were covered in fresh, bloody scratches, the white down beneath his black coat stained with patches of red…

"Master!" the Spearow cried. "Master, you're hurt!"

"Leg's broken," the large crow grumbled. "That little wretch broke my leg… And my left wingtip… I… need to see a doctor. Get me a berry. By Lugia, somebody get me a berry. Please."

Without hesitation, the Staravia beat its wings and made for the medicine stock. The other three gathered around their elder and tried to support him, but he angrily batted them away.

"By Lugia… what was he trying to prove?" Master Karow moaned, looking over his injuries and carefully preening out a few of the damaged feathers.

"What's going to happen to him?" the Spearow asked curiously. "Do you think we should throw him out?"

"From the moment I first saw him, ERK!" he yelped, accidentally hitting a raw nerve with his beak. "I never would have let him into the guild. Not even for as much as they're paying us. You can see it in his eyes… he has no sense of authority, no will to obey, no reason to… UUURK! By the blazes, how am I supposed to fly to Boulder Pointe tomorrow like this?… But no… it's not up to me… Syr was the one who let him in… and by the blazes of Moltres, He's going to need to do something about that wretched little demon…"

The Swellow, the Pidgey, and the Spearow were both frozen in awe. They had never seen their most respected leader and trainer so filled with rage, not to mention covered in wounds. They watched as he simply hopped and limped down the hall, fluttering sometimes to gain distance, but having to rest constantly due to his injuries…

Once he was gone, a second bird swooped down from the training hall. It was small and brown, much smaller than the Honchkrow. Its coat of feathers was ruffled and disturbed, but it seemed mostly unharmed.

Its talons and beak were spattered with blood.

The Pidgey landed on the floor and stared the other three birds in the eye… first the Spearow, then the Swellow… both of which shirked back at his glance.

"What's the deal with you?" the Pidgey screeched in his face.

"Otto, what did you do?!" the Spearow yelled. "Are you insane? That was Master Karow! Our team coordinator! He's the one who runs this place! You don't tear his feathers off like he's some kind of wounded prey…"

Otto said nothing. He continued to stare at them as if completely ignoring their words. He lifted a talon to lick it clean of blood.

"You're going to get expelled from the team now," the Swellow said. "You know that, right? Do you care? Otto?"

Ignoring them, the blood-stained Pidgey flew off down the tunnel and out of sight.

"He scares me," the Pidgey said.

"He doesn't even care," the Spearow said. "Look at him. He's probably just going to go take a bath, just like he does every night. He has no idea what just happened. What is he doing here, anyway? He's still wild. After all this, he's still wild. The daycare didn't do their job."

"The daycare did everything they could do," the Swellow said. "Believe me. I asked. They used all the tricks they knew to civilize a Pokémon. And I heard he ate five times his allotment of gummis. For all it's worth, he should have been a normal Pokémon by now."

… … …

That evening, as the wing's members rested in their nesting chambers, it seemed that every bird in the room had an eye on Otto. Word spread quickly of Otto's deed toward the team coordinator, and he quickly became the talk of the entire team even moreso than he was before. Otto perched on his designated ridge and rested, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he had lost the trust and respect of everyone in the team. He stood and stared, watching them all, like he would do every night, until his eyelids would seem to close all on their own…

Having an odd inclination, another Pidgey, a slightly smaller and younger one, came to rest on the ridge next to Otto.

"Hey, Otto," the Pidgey said carefully. "Um… I heard about what you did today."

Otto didn't reply.

"I know nobody likes you, but I thought… maybe we could be friends? You could tell me what's bothering you."

Otto briefly glanced at the newcomer, then back to the rest of the room.

"My name's Brace, if you don't remember," the other Pidgey said. "I'm next to you at the meetings a lot. Look… are you okay? Maybe it's just because we're brothers of kin, but I'm worried about you."

Otto glanced at Brace again, and then at the floor.

"Why don't you ever talk?" Brace asked. "Didn't they teach you how to talk when you were at the day care? Why don't you talk?"

Otto looked Brace in the eye, and surprisingly, he opened his beak to speak.

"Nothing to say," Otto managed to squawk out.

"I think you have a lot to say for yourself," Brace said. "You have to talk so that people can understand you. Right now, Otto, nobody understands you. You've only been here for a few weeks, and you already put some birds in the hospital. Why? What bothers you? The team's here to help you!"

Otto paused for a moment. Then, he opened his beak again, not to speak, but in a gesture of hostility. Likewise, he raised his wings above his head. It was a gesture with very clear, primal meaning which every bird knew—Go away, leave me alone, or I will fight.

"Geeze! Fine!" Brace cried in frustration, launching himself into the air and flying away. "Be by yourself, if that's what you want."

Brace returned to his place at the far end of the room. He glared back at Otto for a few moments before pivoting his body and facing away from him. Otto stayed awake for a few more minutes after that, then fell asleep when he couldn't keep his eyelids open.

… … …

The next day, when Otto awoke, he was surprised to see that the roosting chamber was completely empty. There was a call to attention each morning, which he was used to, where he would follow the flock out into the main team chamber for the daily meeting. But this time, it seemed, the rest of the flock was somehow ahead of him.

"Sleep well?"

Otto jumped in fright and turned his head upward. On the ledge just above him stood a massive gray and white raptor, many times his own size. The big bird glared down at him with piercing red eyes, unsetting him a little.

"I sent the wing on a field trip today," the bird said, fluttering down and landing next to Otto. "After you knocked down my best bird, I figured he deserved the day off."

Otto said nothing in reply, but watched the mighty raptor, and prepared himself to flee at a moment's notice.

"My name is Syr," the great bird said. "I am known as a Staraptor, and I am the leader of Team Silverwing, the team that feeds you and gives you quarter. And you… you are Team Ember's recruit. When you were first brought before me, I had very high hopes for you. You looked strong and capable enough to become a good bird. And such an unparalleled ferocity… Indeed, for such a legendary team as Char's, I knew from the moment I first met you that you would be perfect addition to our team, and theirs."

Otto tilted his head, but said nothing.

"But," the great Staraptor said, "It appears as though I was wrong."

Feeling uncomfortable with the Staraptor's proximity, Otto fluttered away and set himself down on the opposite side of the room, still watching Syr intensely.

"My friend Karow has lost his faith in you," Syr sighed, wondering how much of what he said was making sense to the little bird. "The rest of the team wants nothing to do with you, either because you frighten them, or because they simply don't care. Yet… this means nothing to you, does it? But I… I do not intend to give up on you. If I did, it would mean giving up on Char and his team, Scythe and his team, and ultimately the division itself. So… while I am usually not one to train recruits, I would like to spend some time with you today. I want to understand you, so that I may help you. I want to know who you are."

Otto began to preen his itching feathers, listening indifferently to the team leader as he continued to speak.

"But, apparently you do not want to tell me who you are," Syr said thoughtfully. "Maybe you don't want me to understand you. Maybe you don't think it's important enough to care. But, as they like to say, actions speak louder than words. And if there's something you have shown us that you can do, Otto, you can act. So… if you will not tell me who you are, I want you to show me. Take your time… make sure your feathers are all clean… I can wait. We have all day."

… … …

And then, as soon as noon had passed and Syr had fed Otto with his daily allotment of gummis and seeds, he led the little bird to the training chamber.

The training chamber was the most spacious chamber of Team Silverwing's lair. The center of the room boasted an extremely high ceiling and completely unobscured airspace, a perfect place to practice complex flight maneuvers. But the perimeter of the room was lined with pillars, crossbeams, fences, winding tunnels through the walls… obstacles of every sort, representing any complicated situation a bird in flight might encounter. It was a room used frequently by all the team's members… with the exception of Syr, who was not in the habit of working closely with the Team's members.

Otto and Syr stood face-to-face in the center of the room, Otto with a blank stare on his face.

"I have commanded many birds to battle in my time," Syr said, beginning to pace around Otto. "Every bird has its strengths. Pidgeot have the strongest wings of any bird. Fearow boast the strongest and deadliest talons and beaks. Staraptor like myself are known for their excellent sense of sight, and their undying perseverance through strain and suffering. Swellow have the lightest frame of any evolved bird, and thus are usually the fastest and most agile. Honchkrow are weaker in several areas, but possess the capacity to command dark power offensively, as well as psychic power, and can learn an entire range of specialized attacks, something that other birds can only dream of…"

Syr circled closely around Otto, carefully inspecting his form.

"But you are different, I see," Syr said. "Your wings are clipped… they are small for your size. You have difficulties flying long distances. And you have the talons and beak of a Pidgeotto. Nature has endowed you with great offensive strength… most likely something you have learned to abuse."

Completing his final circle, Syr stopped directly in front of Otto once more. Mere inches away, he stared into his eyes.

"And… you are a wild," Syr said in a deeper voice. "The wild has raised and trained you. That is all you have known. You do not yet understand why you are here, even though you came here by your own choice. Your instincts and habits serve you well, for the most part, so you see no need to change them… you see, I was also a wild. In some ways which I sometimes consider… I still am."

Otto's expression changed, as if something that Syr said had touched him on a deeper level than normal. He seemed captivated by the Staraptor's looming presence.

"To understand you, then, I must speak the only language you truly understand… the language of the wild!"

Syr opened his mighty wings and parted his beak, signaling that he wished to duel…

Otto reacted instantaneously, launching himself nearly straight up and then swooping at his opponent from an unexpected angle. Syr assumed the attack would fail to factor his own momentum as he rose into the air, but to his surprise, it struck… Syr witnessed a flash of redness replace his vision, followed by a searing pain across his forehead.

"Ahh, a well-executed hook dive," Syr proclaimed as he flapped to recover from the first hit. "But I am an old bird. You were ready before I expected you to be. But now that I am ready, how will you do?"

After waiting patiently for his instructor to finish speaking, Otto circled around for a second attack. Sensing an opening, he swooped low and zigzagged around to throw off his opponent's expectations before launching himself at a high speed straight at the raptor's underbelly. Syr dodged, but Otto predicted the move and deftly swerved toward him, plunging his small talons into the raptor's chest and raking them forward before breaking off and escaping.

Syr grunted. The attack had connected with feathers, and went no deeper.

I will learn nothing if I simply take damage, Syr told himself. What I need to do is see how he reacts to defeat. That's when his true character will rise to the surface…

Syr propelled himself quickly, taking the offensive. But Otto was small and fast, rapidly darting in circles just beyond his range of attack. He focused, letting his hunter's instinct detect a subtle pattern in his attacker's movements, and found one. Not hesitating, he banked sideways and dropped into a steep dive to gain extra distance… sending Otto tumbling through the air off the brunt of his wing. Otto screeched in protest.

Surprisingly, in the course of just a few moments, Otto had recovered and was once again in pursuit of his target, circling around him and waiting for a vulnerability to present itself. The same pattern coming to his attention, Syr banked and dived just as he did before…

But to his shock, he felt a pointed beak slam him in the chest. Pain flashed before his eyes again, and he found himself falling backwards towards the ground far below.

He learns, Syr realized.

Otto swooped down fast, his spiked talons aimed directly at Syr's neck. Syr pivoted and righted himself, quickly dodging the impending attack. But then, he thought quickly and pivoted again, striking Otto in the wing and throwing him off-course, foiling his attempt to change his aim at the last moment.

But so do I! Syr said to himself.

Otto darted away, but Syr followed his form quickly and tracked him. Pushing forward faster and faster, slicing the air with his wings just right to preserve his speed, he gained distance on the agile little bird. As he came closer, Otto started trying to throw him off with unexpected swerves and pauses in his flight path… none of which had much effect. Syr followed him closely, preparing to capture him in his front talons and detain him.

…But Otto was far from done. He escaped to the far end of the room, diving behind the cover of the pillars, swooping over and under several horizontal beams and other obstacles which hung in the air. Syr, being a larger bird, had to fly much more carefully; he lost ground on his target who disappeared into the maze of obstructions soon after.

"Smart," Syr called, banking out of the obstructed airspace. "But you aren't accomplishing anything if you just hide from me. You have to fight!"

Syr lazily flew around in a small loop, waiting for Otto to re-emerge, hoping that his predictable flight pattern would tempt him. Sure enough, Otto darted out from the maze, but Syr was ready. He positioned himself in midair and flapped his wings powerfully, creating a strong current of wind that engulfed the little Pidgey before he even had a chance to close the distance for an attack, sending him careening backward into a stone pillar. As soon as the wind died down, Otto peeled himself off and retreated once more into the cover of the maze.

He has an advantage in there, Syr told himself. He can out-maneuver me. But I can out-last him.

Thus, Syr made the decision to enter the maze and chase him. As soon as he saw a brown flash between pillars out of the corner of his eye, he made a quick calculation of his opponent's future position, and propelled himself in.

What resulted was a very long, tiring chase. With so many corners to turn and collisions to avoid, Otto did not have the particular advantage of flying in an unpredictable manner. Occasionally he took an unexpected turn, but Syr kept a careful eye on the Pidgey's tail feathers and eventually grew to expect how he would act in most given circumstances. Thus, he slowly but steadily closed the distance to him…

As they made a complete lap around the perimeter of the training room, Otto was starting to slow down. Syr knew, with his smaller-than-average wings, that they were starting to burn, while he could easily fly for another several hours without having to rest. So, he kept up the chase, noting how the Pidgey took nearly the same path through the aerial rubble as he did the first time…

Now… Syr told himself, it is time for this to end, so that I can proceed with Otto's lessons. It is time for him to accept defeat.

As Syr flew, he touched upon a stream of internal energy which seemingly flowed from his rapidly pounding.

It was his favored technique, one which he had learned while in the wild and carried with him for all his life. He didn't know how it worked, exactly; he just knew that he had to charge it, causing his body to be consumed in a flame-like aura of redness… and when it was ready, all he'd need would be a clear shot at the target… the energy would propel him forward and do the rest.

On the second lap, he knew just where his window of opportunity would be. Otto would opt for a long, curved tunnel… and if he could just maneuver correctly, he could use it to his advantage…

Not seeming to take any notice that the predator which chased him now resembled a flaming fireball, Otto dove between two pillars and banked a hard right, shooting down the tunnel just as Syr had predicted.

That's when Syr unleashed his energy. His bright aura of energy became blue, propelling him forward through the tunnel at an incredible speed, far faster than he was capable of flying himself… And with a left, a right, a hard left, and a difficult bank straight up, he channeled himself through the tunnel just right, gaining all the distance he needed on the now-helpless Pidgey…

And then, just as Otto was about to escape the tunnel…

WHAM.

Syr's charged field of energy broke as he slammed beak-first into an inconveniently-placed pillar. Otto flew away.

A moment passed before Syr found he could once again think straight, the brutal pain of the concussion rippling through his head with each heartbeat. He lazily drifted down to the ground, where he stood and waited for the world around him to make sense.

So close, Syr said to himself. But he outmaneuvered me at the very end… Ugh… a good fighter, this one… Ugh… I'm too old for this…

"Errrrrrrk!" Syr moaned in pain, teetering on one talon when he realized he was about to collapse to the ground.

What happened next was something he would have never seen coming.

As his vision regained its focus, he caught sight of Otto approaching fast. Of course, the little bird would fight in a crazed frenzy until the death, or close to it, just as he had done with Karow. But somehow, that wasn't the part which bothered him.

Otto's body was engulfed in a red flame.

"No," Syr mouthed. "No. That's not possible. How could that… be possible?"

The red flame burst, and Otto's body was suddenly surrounded in a field of ice-like energy.

Syr did not attempt to dodge. He didn't see the point.

As soon as the attack struck, reality became a blur to Syr, and the next thing he knew, he was lying somewhere… he had no idea where… sprawled out across floor of the training chamber.

SLASH.

How did he know that technique? Syr's thoughts looped. That wasn't supposed to be possible. How'd he know? How?

SLASH.

I was beaten by a Pidgey… I'm too old… I'm…

SLASH.

As Syr's consciousness finally began to return to him, the horrible realization dawned on him that Otto was not yet done. The little bird hovered just above his fallen form, continuously striking at him… Again and again, Otto raked his talons across the Starraptor's crumpled form, each time tearing out more flesh and feathers…

"EEEEEEEEEKE!" Otto cried triumphantly.

"Otto… stop," Syr pleaded.

SLASH.

Otto didn't seem to listen. He swooped again, putting a gash in Syr's thigh.

"OTTO!" Syr cried. "This is enough! Let me go!"

SLASH.

Syr was beyond pain. But such a situation, he knew, was the greatest strength of his species; he could endure pain and abuse far beyond what most other Pokémon species could handle... so he continued to plead…

"Otto…" Syr pleaded again. "If you don't stop… I think… you will… regret… yourself…"

SLASH…

Fine, Syr said. Don't stop. If that is your choice…

Out of nowhere, the entire training chamber was flooded with a brilliant white light. Otto found himself blasted backward by an unimaginable, incomprehensible force; a force he had never encountered in his life.

CRASH.

The strength of Syr's Hyper Beam cut through the air, tearing down at least two of the stone pillars at the opposite end of the room which collapsed to the floor with a mighty crash. Otto fell out of the air and plopped to the ground, completely spent.

… … …

A minute later, Syr lifted himself from the ground. Inspecting himself, he found his injuries to be, contrary to what he had believed in the heat of the battle, relatively mild. As soon as his heartbeat slowed and he was able to think straight, he found himself to still be rather strong and capable of sustaining himself. It was not nearly as bad as what happened with Karow, who'd approached him with body parts practically hanging by threads.

Otto was another story.

Syr crossed the room on foot, approaching the place where the little Pidgey was laying on the floor like a little lump of feathers. He was still awake, surprisingly, but he had no will to move. He was done.

"So," Syr said. "This is what you were looking for all along? You wanted to lose in a fair fight, rather than one with silly races or rules about touching tail feathers to win? There. You have it. You have lost, fair and square."

Syr took a step closer. Otto squeaked in pain, watching his every move.

"I understand the way your mind works," Syr said. "In a way, I always have. You are wild, and that is all you know. You are not stupid. No, on the contrary, you are intelligent. Perhaps too intelligent. Especially after hearing about the mountains of gummis you consumed down there in the center, I can't bring myself to believe that you are a stupid bird. No… in fact… I believe that you are a genius."

Syr stepped even closer, bending down to face Otto's cringing, pain-filled face in the eyes.

"When I was a hatchling, like you," Syr said, "They took me from my home in the wild and brought me here, and trained me to be a civilized bird. But as they trained me, I couldn't take it. I thought it all to be a lie. That's all I saw. A lie. A terrible, convoluted lie to cover up the rules of the wild, the rules which I had lived by up until then. For a long time, I saw through the lie… It's been so long, but there came a point where I began to accept the lie as truth, and I don't remember why…"

Syr lifted his right talon and placed it gently on Otto's chest.

"And you, in all your little brilliance…" he grumbled with force, "you see through the lie. You refuse to accept it. So, you continue to live by the rules of the wild. The rules of pride. The rules of survival. We have not yet given you reason to care. Well… now is the time, little Otto. Now, it is time for you to choose: what is the lie, and what is real?"

Syr brutally forced his talon down upon Otto's stomach until it pierced his flesh.

"KEEEEEEEEE!" Otto squealed in agony.

"If you wish to live by the rules of the wild, then so will I," Syr proclaimed. "If you wish to beat upon a fallen ally because they have hurt your sensitive pride, then so will I."

"KEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAH!" Otto squealed again as Syr brought his weight down upon his lower legs.

"If you wish to believe that the victor makes the rules, and the victim suffers by them, so be it," Syr yelled louder. "I am a wild, just like you. I can live by those rules. But what do you say now, little bird? How do you like it when I am the victor, and you are the victim?"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

After adding several fresh wounds to Otto's body, Syr simply backed away. Otto writhed on the floor.

After a second, Otto almost looked surprised at the fact that Syr was not continuing to inflict pain. Instead, he simply stared down at the incapacitated little Pidgey, as if waiting for it to make a move…

"Well?" Syr asked calmly. "Do you have anything to say?"

Otto did not respond.

"Fine," Syr said. "In that case…"

Syr rose a wing into the air, as if to beckon to some unseen presence. Immediately, another bird, a large, black-feathered form, approached and landed by Otto's side. It was Karow.

"You once lived in the wild," Syr said, "But no longer. Now, you live in civilization. And in civilization, The birds of a flock are there to help one another. We teach you to fight, not so you can preserve your pride, but because it is needed for the flock to survive. Your allies are one with you. Your strength is theirs, and their strength is yours. Their pride is also yours."

Otto cringed when Karow positioned his talon straight over his face, but no further harm came. Instead, a tiny item dropped from his clutch… an Oran Berry.

"See," Syr said, "how the one you have harmed yesterday has forgiven you, and does not desire revenge. Instead, he wishes for you to be stronger. And see how you have also harmed me, but I… I wish the same."

Otto looked baffled. He looked at the Oran Berry, then at Karow, then back at the berry…

"Do you think it will mean anything to him?" Karow asked skeptically.

"Yes," Syr said. "He learns."

Otto pecked at the berry and picked it up in his beak. Unable to fit it in his mouth, he bit off a chunk and dropped the rest to the floor.

"Now, Otto," Syr said, "What I offer you is a place among my flock. A place where we do not live by the rules of the wild, but by the strength of brotherhood. You must accept our rules if you wish to live here. After all, you were not placed here against your will. You came here by your own decision, and it's a decision you can't just change. So, join our flock. Help us, and we will help you. Fly with us, and we will make sure that someday, you can be called a good bird. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Otto answered.

"Well, then," Syr said. "If you desire it, my flock will teach you the avian arts. Do you want us to teach you? Do you want us to help you?"

"Teach me," Otto replied. "Help me."

*Chapter 35*: Chapter 31: To Hatch a Plan

Chapter 31

"You're awake too, huh?"

It was some undetermined hour of the early morning when Saura's voice rose from across the room.

For yet another night in a row, Char found himself staring at the ceiling of his chamber. No, he couldn't sleep. How could he? With the Temporal Tower expedition only a day away, and with the looming thought that everything he'd ever known was about to be challenged and overturned, it was impossible to relax. As the flames in his stomach violently churned, Char knew this time that he wasn't ill at all; it was only a manifestation of his repressed fear that was making him nauseas and sleepless. Trying to fight it would be hopeless; there was nothing left to do but lay awake, bearing the agony of his racing mind and pounding heart, until the sunrise would come…

Well, almost. This time, at least he had someone to talk to.

Rolling over in bed, Char turned his attention to the source of the voice which had just called to him. Saura returned his gaze from across the room, his weary yet sympathetic eyes gleaming in the blue firelight. Now that he was awake, Char knew he'd struggle against all odds to stay up as long as it took to keep him company. It was a rule he'd established for himself long ago, and as guilty as it made Char feel to see his friend woozy from exhaustion and fighting to keep his eyes open, he could never turn down this gesture of kindness. He appreciated it far too much.

"Yeah," Char replied quietly, peering over the rim of his large nest-like bed. "How'd you know?"

"You were facing the ceiling" Saura said, not repressing a small, weary smile. "You never sleep on your back."

Grunting softly, Char pulled his body up by the rim of his bed and slung himself over it, burying his face into his claws.

"I need to sleep so bad, but I can't," Char groaned. "It's like I'm too scared to sleep. I feel like I'm about to be thrown off a cliff."

"It's discipline," another voice suddenly said, catching Saura and Char by surprise. They both turned to see Ray lying comfortably on his bed with his eyes closed tight, even though it was obvious he wasn't asleep.

"You're awake, too?" Saura laughed in disbelief. "Wow, I wonder how this happened?"

"This is… what happens… when you sleep during the day too much," Ray mumbled. "You get… bad discipline…"

Char suddenly felt like banging his head against a wall. In his bout of self-pity, he'd completely forgotten that they'd slept most of the previous day away, ironically hoping it'd make the time pass faster. Indeed, his insomnia was no fault but his own.

"Somebody has to go down to storage and get us a few Sleep Seeds," Char joked bitterly. "We could use them right about now."

"Storage isn't open," Ray replied. "Besides, seeds don't cure sleeplessness…"

"Hey, Ray," Char said nonchalantly, in hopes a conversation could bring him comfort, "are you worried at all about going to Temporal Tower? You seem… so happy all the time. You don't seem as afraid as… I don't know… me."

"I'm really afraid," Ray admitted, still not moving any part of his body but his mouth. "But I can't whine about it. It wouldn't help anybody if I complained about it. Best thing to do is to get ready and keep trying to smile."

"Maybe it'd help you feel better," Char suggested. "Sometimes your feelings need to be discharged, you know? Kinda like your electricity, I guess. Sometimes you just need to tell someone else how you feel. I know how much it's helped me."

Ray stirred. He opened his eyes and sat upright in his bed, his gaze shifting from Char to Saura.

"Well, you have a right to do that," Ray said softly, surprising Char a little bit. He wasn't used to the Raichu speaking so calmly and straightforward. "You're Char, after all. When dragons start bothering me in my sleep and showing me Poké Balls, and when everything happens to me that's happened to you, then I can have the right to complain. But I'm the one who's supporting you right now, Char. It wouldn't be proper for me to whine about my own problems when I'm helping you with yours… does that make sense at all?"

A moment of silence followed, the gentle roar of Char's fireplaces the only sound filling the air. Char lifted his head and peered about the room, watching the gentle blue glow of the fire dance across the far walls, almost like a personification of the tension that filled the air and flooded his heart. His eyes eventually rested upon Ray, who was now returning his gaze in the same manner Saura was, his own sleepiness and displeasure apparent in his eyes.

Honestly, Char didn't know how to take the reply he'd been given. He'd made it clear the previous day he wanted to be treated as an equal, not as some kind of king or hero. But now, as Ray's words still echoed a sense of inferiority, he wondered if the handshake they'd shared had truly changed anything.

"You know, Ray, you sure know how to take things seriously," Saura commented, breaking the silence.

"Well, when you put it that way," Char replied, settling upon the words he wished to use, "if you ask me, it would make me feel a lot more comfortable to know that my friends share my fear."

"Wrong," Ray said simply, shaking his head. "It's always better to act courageous with a friend than to be cowardly. Being in the company of the confident makes it easier to be confident yourself, and it makes you feel more secure. Just having company for your cowardice doesn't accomplish anything. That's one of the lessons my brother taught me. Imagine if Scythe acted unsure of himself all the time. Do you think we'd feel even half as comfortable with him?"

Char was going to answer with a reluctant "no," but a disturbing thought struck him: Scythe wasn't acting like himself lately, either. Ever since he'd taken the chance – or, perhaps, was taken by chance – to reveal a little of his weakness to Char, something about him had changed. Some part of him was acting unsure of himself. He wasn't getting sleep. His voice wavered at times when speaking about the upcoming expedition. And that lingering, regret-filled glare never disappeared from his eye. Indeed, it was making Char less comfortable in his company.

Could Scythe be sitting awake right now? Char wondered. Is he sleepless, too? Could he be afraid?

"You could be right," Saura said. "But still, it doesn't hurt to be sympathetic. You know what they say, right? Courage isn't the lack of—Char? What's wrong? Where are you going?"

"I don't know," Char muttered, crossing the room and heading for the door. "Maybe upstairs. I haven't decided yet."

After exchanging a concerned glance, Saura and Ray unenthusiastically climbed from their beds and followed behind.

… … …

"I don't understand," Shander said, fretting his claws against the floor, his voice full of sadness and astonishment. "Scythe… what are you planning?"

Scythe stood at the opposite side of the hall, staring shamefully into space… trying not to look his best friend in the eye. Shander stood behind him, saddened and shaken. It was the middle of the night, and the two had retreated around the corner from their team's front door. It was a dark and secluded corner, with only one tiny torch casting a blue tint upon their forms.

"I can't tell you," Scythe said solemnly, drawing another heavy breath and closing his eyes. "I can't tell anyone. Not even Intelligence. If just one Pokémon knew… it could all come crashing down. And after everything that's happened… and everything that's about to happen… I just can't… afford any mistakes. This has to work. Against all odds… it has to work."

A pause hung in the air. Scythe held his breath, yearning to hear his friend's response… while his friend struggled to produce one. He was speechless.

"Scythe…" Shander gasped. "I'm sorry… I don't know what to say. I've always assumed you'd be there. For as long as I've known you, I've always known that you were the only Pokémon who could make this work."

"This team can handle it." Scythe asserted, gritting his teeth and straightening his spine back to its full height. "I did as much as I could. I helped set the stage. Believe me, Shander. If I could have it any different way… I have always factored Basin Canyon into my plans. It was always a top priority. Always. It was my promise. And I never overlook the promises I make."

After listening to his own words, Scythe gathered the courage to meet the Sandslash eye-to-eye. When he did, what he saw pained him. Shander gazed up at him, looking deeply hurt. Betrayed. Lost.

"I trust you," Shander said, clenching his claws and forcing a sincere tone into his voice. "If this is what you say must be done, then I won't stand in your way. You are the greatest Pokémon I've ever known, and there's nothing for me to say, but… thank you. Thank you, for everything you've ever done for my father, and for me. And for the land we both call home."

In reply, Scythe approached him. Then, he lowered his body, until he was kneeling before his friend in a gesture of deep respect.

"Listen to me," Scythe said with tremendous strength, his piercing gaze locked with his friend's. "Today, on the day I have broken my promise to your father, I will make a new one. Shander, by the veins of Ambera, by the sacred plate of Arceus, I promise you that Daemon and the rest of our team will lead you and your people back to your homeland."

"I'm afraid we might not be skilled enough," Shander admitted. "What if something goes wrong?"

"The rest of the team will be there," Scythe said, his voice rumbling in and out of a whisper. "Daemon, Marrow, everyone. Everyone but me. And Team Absolution will be there. All of them have been over the plan dozens of times. They will not let anything go wrong. I would bet my life on it."

"Fine, then," Shander said with a sigh. "Fine. So be it. I trust you."

"Thank you," Scythe hissed. "And tell nobody else about this. Don't imply that I told you anything. Act surprised when I announce I'm not going. Understand?"

"Yes," Shander said. "This talk never happened."

"Thank you for understanding," Scythe said, slowly rising back to his feet. "Believe me, keeping all this from the rest of the team hurts me more than I can tell. It's unbearable. I had to tell you this much. I felt you deserved it."

Scythe turned once again and walked deeper into the shadows, motioning for Shander to leave. The Sandslash gave a final nod of understanding, then plodded off back in the direction of their rooms.

"Shander," Scythe called once more, as they were parting. "I'm sorry. I'm very sorry."

"Scythe," Shander responded, "When I was young, I watched my father murdered before my very eyes. I have since come to terms with the fact that the life we live is not always pleasant, or ideal. There is nothing for me to forgive."

Shander said nothing more, and Scythe hung in the shadows until the last of his footsteps passed beyond the realm of his hearing. In truth, he did not know how to take Shander's last words; he knew, in his heart, that even though it had simply been an unfortunate accident, that the loss of Jahzara was on his own shoulders. He realized that his relationship with Shander had begun with a failure…

…and, perhaps, would end with one as well.

His heart too weary to return, Scythe stood for a while longer in the shadows, staring at nothing but his own thoughts projected into the darkness around him.

Then, he drew a deep breath, and sounded a quiet call down the hallway…

"Char... it's okay. You can come out. Saura, Ray, all of you. Come here."

Char jumped, feeling a powerful jolt of adrenaline rush through his system. It subsided a little as he realized he had nothing to fear, but the feeling of embarrassment at his own stupidity didn't budge. How, he asked himself, did he think he could get away with sneaking up on Scythe, a trained hunter who breathed the tiniest details of his surroundings like the air? In truth, he didn't know why he was eavesdropping, it just sort of happened. For a second time, he felt like banging his head against the nearest wall. Instead, he took a heavy gulp and reluctantly revealed himself in the light of the hallway, his claws still clasped firmly around his tail flame to repress its light.

"It's okay," Scythe said again, his voice exhausted and defeated. "Just come here. I'm not angry."

Saura followed behind Char. His expression was one of exasperation; through his unfaltering dedication to his best friend, he'd been dragged along for this silly and accidental eavesdropping, something he would have voiced his disapproval of if Char had taken the time to ask for his opinion. But Ray was a different story; he cowered behind, last in line, almost looking as hurt and betrayed as Shander had moments ago. He approached his hero with a trembling form and wavering eyes.

"How much did you hear?" Scythe demanded, but gently, as he stepped back out of the shadows.

"Enough to understand," Saura answered for the group.

"I'm sorry, but it really must be asked," Scythe said, approaching the group and shaking his head. "What are you doing awake at this hour? You should be resting for the tasks set ahead of you. All of you should be."

"I was sleepless," Char submitted, just a little bitterly. "Were you?"

Scythe didn't answer right away. He only closed his eyes and bowed his head a little, as if trying to wade through a torrent of emotions for the proper answers. Before he had a chance to respond, though, Ray broke the tense silence.

"Scythe… what's going to happen?" Ray spoke in a broken voice, slowly stepping to the front of the group. "You're going to be okay, right? Everything's going to go as planned… right?"

Scythe opened his eyes to glance at Ray for a few moments before falling closed again. He remained silent.

Finally, with a shallow sigh, he raised a blade to push past the three young Pokémon as he started back to his room.

"Whether or not you trust me is your decision," he finally said as he walked away. "Whatever you decide, it is not something I have the power to change."

"We trust you," Char called to him. "We always have, and we always will. But do we need to worry about you?"

Scythe stopped in his tracks to glance back at the Charmander, giving him an odd gaze for asking such a question, and wondering what kind of answer he expected. Somehow, the gaze gradually melted into a pleased smile, until Scythe was staring fondly at the three Pokémon companions whom he'd trained well enough over the past several weeks.

"Come," Scythe beckoned again, this time in a friendly manner. "Walk with me. I have something I would like to tell you."

So they walked. For a while, Scythe led the three in silence down some hallways on the same floor of the base, leaving Char with no idea where they were headed. But he knew the destination was not important…

"Do you want to know who I am?" Scythe said inquisitively, turning to the three once they were a great deal away from the door of Team Remorse. "Do you want to know who I really am underneath the masks I wear?"

"Who are you?" Char asked without hesitation.

"I am a servant," Scythe declared. "And that which I submit to… is Ambera herself. Everything I've ever done… every war I have ever fought, every… every lie I have ever told… It has been in the service of Ambera. When joined the Master, I did it in service of Ambera. When I made the decision to break from the Master's will, I did it in service of Ambera. When I began Team Remorse, I served Ambera. Everything… It's all for the homeland which I serve. The homeland strangled by such a force that… wishes to destroy it."

By the gleam in his eye, and the power of the statements he made, Char knew that Scythe could not have sounded more honest than he was now. He was speaking from the heart.

"You must understand something," Scythe said, taking turns looking deep into the eyes of the three Pokémon who listened. "Listen well, understand well, because this is important. This is the most important lesson I will teach to you. The nature of being a servant… when one is a servant, it is not their own well-being which matters, but that of which… whom… he chooses to serve."

Scythe stopped the procession in front of a small balcony which overlooked the spacious main chamber of the base. But Char never bothered to take notice of his surroundings, as the true purpose of the lecture began to dawn upon him.

"When you are a servant… you own nothing," Scythe continued. "Everything you own belongs to that which you serve. And everything… when the time comes, you must be prepared to sacrifice everything. In the end, a servant who is not willing to sacrifice everything… is worth nothing."

"What are you planning to sacrifice?!" Char blurted. "You sound as if you're headed off to your death! If something bad is about to happen, why do—"

"No!" Scythe snapped. "No, not me. What I am planning to sacrifice should be no concern of yours. The real question is: what are you willing to sacrifice… human?"

"You expect me to know that?!" Char snapped back. "You know who you are under your masks. But me? I don't even know who I am! I don't even know why I'm here! How am I supposed to know what I have to do?!"

"It is my hope that Dialga will be able to clear that up for all of us," Scythe muttered. "Pray to him, that we will reach him safely, and when we do, that he will have good news for us. At this point… It's all we can hope for. Let us hope that Dialga will have the answer to all of our problems."

After that, Scythe sent the bewildered team back to their rooms, while he himself stood at the balcony to the base's main chamber and watched the darkness below for some time.

… … …

"Who am I?" Char muttered out loud, staring at the ceiling again from atop his bed.

It was a question that bugged him every now and then, and one that most deeply mattered to him. Now, more than ever, as his confrontation with his destiny grew closer, he wondered about this soul that was trapped within these little red claws, this tiny yellow belly in which an endless fire burned, this little round head… these tiny confines he came to know as his body. Who was this human he had been? What kind of life did he have? Did anybody miss him? Where did he belong?

What, if anything, should he be willing to sacrifice? Or… had he already sacrificed everything he had?

"You're Char, the kindhearted Charmander. You're sensitive. You have a heart of gold, but sometimes you lose your temper when something bothers you. But even when you're angry, you always seem to make the right decision. You're not too brave and you're not too cowardly, your courage is about just right. You really hate doing things alone, so your friends mean a lot to you. You're learning about this world for the first time, so you feel lost almost all the time, but everything's better when you're with your friends. Um… Your favorite things in life are enjoying the beauty of nature, fire, and getting your reward for hard work. You hate the cold, you hate conspiracies and dishonesty, you… hate the idea of letting people down. And you hate peanut butter, even though you try to pretend you like it."

Char winced, and almost laughed at Saura's response. He sat up in bed and found himself in the same position he'd been in before visiting with Scythe; Saura's bright red eye gleamed at him again, a well-deserved smirk stretched across his face.

"I think that sums you up. Did I miss anything, Ray?"

"You're important," Ray, laying on his belly with his eyes closed. "You mean a lot to a lot of Pokémon. You're special. You're learning to be a very determined leader of our team. Um… I'm done. I think Saura covered it."

"Well, is that what you wanted to know?" Saura said, still grinning widely. "That's who you are. But, if you want to know who you were, I have no idea. But if you were anything like you are now, I bet you were a very good human."

"Then why'd I end up here?" Char wondered. "If I was a good human, why didn't I stay a good human? Why'd I have to turn into a Charmander? Was this some sort of punishment? Or maybe… maybe I made a big mistake."

"Or maybe you chose this," Saura offered. "If you did, I bet your human self would be very proud of you right now."

"There are a lot of legends and stories about people turning into Pokémon," Ray said thoughtfully. "Most of them were made up so we can just tell fun stories around the fireplace. I don't remember very many, but there is one that sticks out in my mind… It's about a Pokémon trainer who was so horrible to his Pokémon that Arceus turned him into a Pokémon himself, so he'd get some perspective."

"Hey, come on," Saura said with a scowl. "That doesn't help things at all."

"Hey, I'm just brainstorming," Ray said, offering a shrug even while collapsed on his bed. "But hey, even if that was Char's story… I think it worked well, don't you?"

"Well, I don't like it," Saura returned. "Hey, another idea: what if you came from the future? You don't have any memories because they haven't happened yet! Maybe you found out you had the Call, so you turned yourself into a Charmander and then came back to save the world from the Master so that your future could be better?"

"Wow, if that's what I did, I must have been a brave one," Char said. "I don't feel that brave. Besides, if I had the choice to turn myself into a Pokémon, I'd become a Lucario or… I don't know, something else. Why a Charmander?"

"Well, if you're going to learn how to be a Pokémon from scratch, maybe you thought it was best to start small and learn things just like everyone else," Saura said with a shrug. "You are going to be a big strong Charizard one day, you know. Maybe you had that in mind."

They were all very fun theories, but not one of them rang a bell. Char's memories were still as blank as ever, except for the recurring visage which haunted his dreams from time to time. And the Poké Ball. Why a Poké Ball? The question tugged at him endlessly. How could his destiny revolve around an object he had yet to see with his own eyes in the world of Pokémon civilization? His theories were endless. Was he supposed to find the Poké Ball? Was he supposed to capture someone with it? The Master, maybe? Where would he even find such a thing?

"I think we should sleep," Ray moaned. "Char, you should try to feel better. It's like Scythe said. Don't worry about things. We're going to Dialga. He'll have the answers for us. Try to go back to sleep. So that I can sleep. I know I'm supposed to keep you company, but… it's getting tiring."

Char flopped back onto his bed and tried to relax. Thankfully, in due time, sleep came.

… … …

When morning came, it seemed way too soon.

"Char, time to get up!" Ray called. "The torches are already orange. We're running late!"

"Ugh… I'm coming," Char moaned, barely moving. "Please, just don't zap me."

"Well, are you going to get up?" Ray insisted. "C'mon. We have a mission to run."

"Tired…" Char said, rolling over.

"Hey, that's your own fault, you know!" Ray said accusingly. "You're the one who decided to go and bug Scythe last night. But hey. No more sleeping in! This is our LAST DAY!"

Char's eyes popped open. He was right. It was the very last day at the Gold Division's base. He didn't want to waste a minute of it.

"Now… CHAR! WHY DO WE RISE?" Ray shouted at the top of his lungs.

Char squinted back at him. "So that he—uh…"

"Oh… wait. Sorry," Ray laughed, shaking his head. "Wrong motto! I just woke up from a dream that I was on Team Remorse… What I mean is… until the LAST EMBER FADES…"

"The fire will NEVER DIE!" Char shouted back excitedly, jumping up into a victorious pose. His grin turned into a frown, though, when he saw Saura's form still sprawled out across his bed.

"Oh, yeah, Saura's not up yet," Ray said, twiddling with his paws. "He's still out. I tried to zap him already, but it didn't do anything. Maybe you could help?"

… … …

Once Char managed to rattle Saura awake, the three grabbed their barely-stocked bag (there would be no Mystery Dungeons on the mission, so a few snacks would cut it for supplies), and headed upstairs to summon their overseer. Char was anxious to see if Scythe's condition had worsened or gotten better after the previous night's events, and hoped that letting him sleep in rather than getting him up on their usual schedule, an hour before the all-clear, would have helped him…

But as soon as Scythe emerged from his doorway, it became painfully clear to Char that his condition had worsened. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and his posture was slouched. But, he greeted the team with a nod of the head, and came with them as if nothing was wrong.

"So, what's the mission for today?" Scythe asked, succeeding at sounding reasonably enthusiastic, as they made for the main floor and south-eastern exit of the base.

"A fun one," Char replied, trying not to sound worried. "We have to help build a house in Iron Town. We picked it because the job had a big reward."

"Sounds reasonable," Scythe said with a nod. "But how do you plan to help? We aren't exactly the best construction Pokémon…"

"Oh, the house is actually a burrow. And underground den, for some Phanpy, to be exact. Two of them, brother and sister. They hired some Pokémon to dig their den and help them move in, and we're included."

"Ahhhhh," Scythe said oddly, nodding his head. "Preparing an underground home for its inhabitants. I think I can help you with this. It has been my job for several years now…"

Char cringed. Completely on accident, he'd created an unsettling reference to Scythe's problem, and deeply regretted it. Indeed, he was right: their job that day would involve preparing a den for Pokémon settlement.

"Hey, who's hungry?" Saura quickly shouted. "Anybody want breakfast?"

… … …

After braving the impossibly long staircase once more, Char and his friends approached Slaking for admission to the Cliffside Academy, unaware that a disturbing bit of news awaited them…

"Eehhh, late start today, huh?" Slaking said warmly. "At least by your standards. Have a good 'un. I mean… hey! Wait!"

Just as they were about to leave, Slaking called them back. Char obeyed, turning to the gate guard in surprise.

"Uh, you should know something, before you go out today," Slaking told them in a concerned tone. "If you go to Iron Town… they uh… well, last night we found out what Adiel told the Iron Town council. Or at least part of it."

"What's the news?" Scythe demanded, his voice turning serious.

"Well, as it turns out, there's a new law, or something, a summons, I guess you would call it," Slaking explained. "There's an order that any Bulbasaur found in Iron Town should be arrested and thrown in prison. We don't know why. Arceus knows what they have against the poor things, hopefully they're just asking questions or something. But since this is that Adiel's doing, it can't be good for us, so just lettin' you know, especially since you've got one of 'em with you anyway. I can't believe I almost missed that. So yeah. I hear they already have some locked up."

Char didn't have to wait for the lump to form in his throat. His horrible suspicion had been right all along… Adiel was still looking for Saura!

"I see…" Scythe said. "Char, it seems that you now have a couple of decisions to make. What do you say to this?"

"Saura stays," Char said without hesitation. "Saura, you stay back at the base. If there's anything we can get done before the trip, do it. But I don't want you to get captured."

"Fine by me," Saura said, shrugging it off. "That's actually a little bit scary. I wonder what they're doing to all those Bulbasaur? I hope they're alright."

Saura nodded and turned to head back, his only regret being that Char would have one less helping hand with his task.


Iron Town

Char kept a wary eye to the townsfolk around him as he followed the directions to the site of construction. He spotted no less than three Growlithe actively patrolling the streets amidst the early morning workers who were all headed for their jobs. The order must have been issued very recently, he determined, for the city's guards to be so vigilant, even in the first waking hours of sunrise. He did his best to ignore their presence; as long as Saura wasn't there, they didn't matter.

After navigating the sprawling city for almost a half hour, they located their destination: a city park, of sorts, where the quantities of steel structures parted to reveal a more serene landscape of green grass dotted with small trees and lakes. Char knew that it was not a city park at all, but a habitat for the type of Pokémon who dwelled in grasslands…

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

Char knocked on the door of a small, dome-shaped dwelling which sat in the middle of the grassy region next to a little pond.

"It's the right place," Ray confirmed, checking the directions from the job listing. "But I don't see anyone."

"They're probably not awake yet," Scythe grumbled.

Char sighed. Sometimes, no matter how many missions he ran or clients he served, he forgot that civilian Pokémon were ten times lazier than the division ever let itself be.

"Just let me in there," Ray joked evilly, letting his cheeks sizzle with yellow electricity. "I'll wake them up. Just watch."

"Good idea," Scythe said, laughing along and positioning his blades as if he were about to violently pounce at the house. "They don't need their door. They're getting a new house anyway, right?"

As Scythe and Ray joked around with each other, Char wandered around to the back of the house. Sure enough, there was already a trench dug at the lakeside where the new den would be. Char knew right away that it would be much more open and spacious than their current residence… but, as of right now, it was only about one foot deep. There was a lot of work to be done.

A lot of boring, back-breaking work.

Char rebuked his pride this time. It's worth it, he told himself. The reward is amazing. Twenty-five thousand Poké for just a day's worth of work, compliments of the client. We'd be stupid not to take this opportunity.

"Oh! … … … … … Hi?"

A new voice arose, and Char realized that the Phanpy had opened their door. He hurried back around to the front of the house.

"You're here to help with the burrow?" the Phanpy said groggily. "Wow. You're… … … … … really early."

"If you provide us with directions, we can get started any time," Scythe said. "By the time the others arrive, we might have it half complete."

"Uh… … I don't think you should," the elephant replied, yawning. "We can't do anything anyway until the Diglett get here. They're doing most of the digging. You guys have to help with the rest."

Ah… I get it now, Char realized. No wonder they can pay us so much. Diglett have no use for money!

"Come back in a few hours… when there's more sun… then we can… do stuff," the Phanpy said. "Sorry…"

With that, it shut the door and left Char and his team standing on the doorstep.

"What now?" Char wondered. "What do we do for a few hours?"

Char turned to Scythe for ideas, trying to ignore his burning, stress-filled eyes. Scythe looked thoughtful, and glanced around the field.

"Maybe we could find another mission?" Ray suggested. "If it's an easy one that we can get done in a few hours, we could do two in one day!"

Scythe didn't reply. He trudged around to the back of the house, just as Char did, and inspected the pathetic attempt at starting the trench.

"Hmmmmm," he sighed softly.

"What are you planning?" Ray asked. "You want to dig without them? Even without their permission?"

"No," Scythe replied simply, continuing to pace around the dent in the ground.

"Then what?" Char asked. "What are we going to do with it?"

"Nothing," Scythe replied. "Nothing. We'll do nothing. Just like they told us."

"Well, let's go find another mission, then," Char decided. "If we can get even more money today, great…"

"I have an idea," Scythe finally said. "I know of a mission we could do."

"Awesome!" Ray cheered. "What is it? What's the plan?"

"Well, it's not the kind of mission you might be expecting," Scythe replied. "There wouldn't be any reward. And we couldn't get it done in time to come back and help with this ditch. It'd take us all day to finish. And we might need more help than what we have now. But, if you'd like to do something more exciting than building a ditch, I do have an idea you could consider."

"Wait, you want us to neglect the job we signed up for?" Char asked. "Are we allowed to do that? I don't think the division would like us very much for that…"

"I think the division would agree that these are extenuating circumstances," Scythe said. "Besides, you don't have to if you don't want. If you want to stay here and dig, fine. Nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying…"

"Well…" Char said warily, "what do you have in mind?"

"Char," Scythe said, wearing his favorite smirk, "would you like to help me break the Bulbasaur out of captivity?"

… … …

Char felt absolutely elated. He didn't give a second thought about helping the Phanpy—his last mission with the Gold Division would be thrilling, substantial, and… perhaps best of all… worthy of Team Remorse. The threesome made a few visits around Iron Town to gather information, send some messengers back to the base, and plot their plan. All the while, Char eagerly did whatever was asked of him, and waited for the opportunity to witness Scythe's brilliance firsthand.

"A little quick to act, are we?" Markov laughed as he listened to Scythe's idea. "We just saw the report in the news this morning. Alakazam made sure to let everyone know as soon as he found out."

"Nothing wrong with catching 'em by surprise, especially this soon," Marrow remarked.

After summoning a few of his team members, Scythe called a huddle with them in an alleyway to discuss his plans. Char listened intently, and Ray also seemed very pleased at the sudden swerve the day had taken.

"Exactly," Scythe said. "The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that Adiel doesn't even care about the Bulbasaur he's locking up. I think he's just trying to direct a gesture of insolence at me. Perhaps tug on the heart strings of Char here for stealing his recruit."

"Besides, there's no way we'd just walk into something like that," Marrow said. "News like this spreads quick around the base. We're the first to know everything. Adiel couldn't have thought he could actually capture Saura like this. And even if he did, we could bust him outta trouble in two seconds!"

"Exactly, which is why I think this is nothing but an inconvenience, to us and any Bulbasaur that happen to get caught up in this," Scythe said. "Obviously in a few hours there won't be any more left to pick off the streets, and if the messenger guild does its job, Clefaria and Fort Loyal and all the other surrounding cities will know not to send their Bulbasaur to Iron Town. There'll be nothing left but a bunch of Bulbasaur senselessly locked up in some cells."

"All the more reason they deserve to be free," Marrow said.

"Wait, so Adiel really isn't still after Saura?" Char asked. "He's just trying to make fun of us?"

"If my instinct is correct, then yes," Scythe said. "I'm sure that he's still a little bitter over Saura getting away."

"Aye, and when Scythe has a gut feeling about Adiel, I tend to trust it," Marrow added. "Sometimes I think their minds are one in the same."

"Now… I'm certain that's not all he accomplished when he was here the other day," Scythe affirmed. "Odds are that part was only an afterthought. His primary goal has yet to be seen. But for now… we can throw the joke back in Adiel's face by blowing it open mere hours after it has begun. What do you say?"

"Sounds great," Markov said. "What's going to be our plan?"

"Well, from what I've garnered, the Bulbasaur are being kept in Iron Town's holding facility, which is positioned literally on the back doorstep of city hall," Scythe explained. "It's heavily guarded, both by Pokémon and technology, but most of the security is on the inside, rather than the outside."

"More concerned with keeping Pokémon in than out, I see," Marrow said. "Sounds like we can launch a good insertion with some effort… But how do we get the Bulbasaur out?"

"That's the hard part," Scythe said. "The Bulbasaur are being kept down in the third floor below the ground, one of their halls with weaker security. I'm thinking… we're going to need, for one thing, an electric Pokémon. Ray… how do you feel today? Think you can take a few hundred volts to your body?"

"Pah, that's nothing!" Ray scoffed. "I've taken whole lightning bolts before."

"Good. Also, we'll need a civilian Pokémon," Scythe continued. "We'll need to pull someone off the street. There are a few of our operatives already in this city, but they won't do. We need someone with no connection whatsoever to the resistance."

"Char and I might be able to help with that," Ray said. "We know of somebody. I think she'd be happy to help us out."

"Fair enough," Scythe said. "Char… I think I'm going to have a very special role for you to play. You'll need to come with me. Understand?"

"Whatever you say," Char said, drawing a heavy breath in excitement.

"Well," Scythe said, drawing a deep breath of his own, "I think we have all the resources on hand we need to accomplish this, so… here's our plan."

… … …

In the late hours of the morning, before the sun had reached its peak in the sky, the streets of Iron Town were filled with Pokémon going about their daily errands. The town was already abuzz about the strange proclamation which had gone into effect that morning; it was posted on every bulletin board and street corner that any and all Bublasaur should be turned in, no questions asked. It was a strange law, indeed, but there wasn't a Pokémon in all of Iron Town who was ready for their city council to openly defy the will of the Master...

In the streets, a figure quickly dashed behind the cover of a building.

Keeping a careful eye on the steady stream of pedestrians, the scared little Bulbasaur cowered in the shadows and waited for an opportunity to hide himself in a crowd and progress further into the city. Using its vines, it held a small white pouch secure onto its back.

"Just stay calm," a voice seemed to whisper into its ear, making the Bulbasaur wonder if it was just its own mind talking. "Stay focused. You'll be fine."

Taking the voice's advice, the Bulbasaur swallowed hard and emerged back onto the streets, quickly darting through the surprised crowds and into the next safe haven.

"Hey, what's this now?"

As soon as the Bulbasaur had ducked into the next dark alley and focused his sights on the streets, a voice suddenly arose from behind it, causing it to jump halfway out of its wits. The Bulbasaur turned in fright, meeting a large Raticate who'd been lounging in the alley.

"Bulbasaur, huh?" the big rat said. "I take it you know the new law today? I guess you do, why else would you be so sneaky?"

The Bulbasaur gulped even harder, his thoughts flashing wildly through several possibilities of an escape route.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not gonna turn you in," the Raticate said, still lounging in its spot. "Why don't you just get outta town while you can? Why risk getting caught?"

"I… need medicine… for my mommy…" the Bulbasaur said. "We live in the outskirts… she needs medicine fast… I have to go to the store…"

"Whoa, poor little you," the Raticate said indifferently. "I wouldn't want to be in your place today, that's all I can say. My advice? Get someone to buy the medicine for you. It's not gonna be me, though. They'd never sell medicine to a dirty street rat like me… 'Course, if you ask somebody, you risk them turning you in… hmm… tough one. I'd say you're better off just praying to Arceus…"

In a flash, the Bulbasaur was gone again, quickly taking the first window of opportunity it found.

"Ehhh," the Raticate grumbled when he realized the Bulbasaur was gone. "Fine. Be that way. Leave a guy while he's trying to give you advice. See if I care…"

… … …

"Um… are you sure I can do this?"

"Just keep that tail close. Don't burn my wings. That's all I ask."

"How can I hold my tail when I'm trying to hold on?"

Char and Scythe were inside of a small abandoned building not too far from the holding facility where the Bulbasaur were being held. Char was wrestling with himself, trying to position his body securely on Scythe's back in a manner suitable for riding. It wasn't happening easily. Char tried holding his tail in one hand and holding onto Scythe's shoulder with the other, but he simply slipped off. He tried to hold his tail in his mouth, but it wouldn't reach in any manner that wasn't quite painful…

"You've got to stay perfectly centered," Scythe reminded him, kneeling on the floor as Char repeatedly attempted to mount him. "My wings move faster than the speed of sound. They could potentially slice you open if you came in contact with them from the wrong angle."

Char shuddered at the thought of being torn to ribbons at the slightest slip of his position.

"Scythe, I don't know. I don't think this will work," Char said, jumping down to the ground again.

"There's a way," Scythe insisted. "We can find it. We still have some time to figure this out. But now do you understand why I don't appreciate taking passengers? Even then, we won't be able to stay in the air for too long. I can't take the weight."

Char looked over Scythe's form once more, wondering if there was anything he was missing. No wonder Scythers are never trained to carry people, he realized. There's no easy way to do this! I'm smaller than a person, and I can't even figure this out…

Scythe peered around the room, analyzing it, as he would usually do when puzzled. He glanced out the window toward the far-away portal which was his ultimate destination—several floors above ground level.

"Char, try this," Scythe instructed. "Face me from the front. Hold my neck."

Scythe knelt down to Char's level again, and Char did as directed, hugging his short little arms tightly around the Scyther's neck.

"Good, now hold on with your legs," Scythe instructed.

Leaping up from the floor, Char tucked his miniature legs around behind Scythe's lowest body segment. To his relief, his grip was secure, even as the weight of gravity was constantly tugging down on him. As Scythe stood up, Char's flaming tail hung harmlessly out of the way.

The air seemed to fill with the sound of hundreds of angry Beedrills as Scythe suddenly opened his wings. Char cringed, hoping that his claws or feet wouldn't accidentally collide with the transparent field of motoring membranes that covered Scythe's back.

With a forceful grunt, Scythe thrust himself upward and succeeded in hanging in midair for a moment.

"I think this will work," he reported.

… … …

"Hey! You!" a voice barked. "Hey! Stop!"

At the sound of the voice, the Bulbasaur didn't waste a moment breaking into an all-out run.

The chase didn't last very long; the Arcanine pounced blindingly fast, and in just a matter of seconds, it caught up with the fleeing Bulbasaur and cut off its escape route.

"Hey there, little guy," the Arcanine said kindly, but forcefully. "You know I have to take you in, right? By order of the council…"

"Please!" the Bulbasaur pleaded. "Please… I just need to get some medicine for my family… that's all I want… I'll get out of here, I promise! Please, just let me go!"

"I'm sorry, little guy" the Arcanine said, approaching the cornered Bulbasaur. "Rules are rules. I'm sure we'll let you go in no time, but right now—"

The great dog paused for a moment, a puzzled expression dawning over her face. The Bulbasaur held its breath.

"Hmm," the Arcanine grunted, repeatedly sniffing the air. "Weird…"

"What is it?" the Bulbasaur asked oddly.

"I don't know…" the patrol dog admitted. "You don't smell right… You don't smell… like a Bulbasaur…"

"Uh… some Cubone live with me in my den," the Bulbasaur offered. "Maybe that's why?"

"Hmm, well, whatever," the Arcanine said. "Anyway, you'll have to come with me, sweetie. I won't detain you if you want to come peacefully…"

… … …

Knock, knock, knock…

A Furret opened her front door, and was suddenly face-to-face with a rather menacing Feraligar.

"Hello…" the Feraligatr said cordially. "Are you Fern?"

"Yeah," the Furret replied. "Why? Who are you?"

"Do you, by chance, remember meeting a small group of Pokémon, specifically, a Charmander, a Bulbasaur, and a Raichu?"

"I'd never forget them," Fern replied. "Why?"

"I'm here on behalf of their team," the gator said. "They want your help."

… … …

The containment facility was a very strange place compared to most of the other Pokémon architecture in the vicinity. While most houses in Iron Town, like the majority of Pokémon civilization, were lit using live torches or open windows, Iron Town employed a very human technology: actual electric wiring and circuitry which ran through the walls and powered things like florescent light bulbs and elevators. To Pokémon who were not used to technology, the glowing bulbs in the ceiling and the walls were a real spectacle…

As the Bulbasaur waited in the lobby of the prison to be checked into a cell, it gaped at the building's electrical system and wondered how many lightning bolts—or Pokémon—it took to sustain the entire facility.

The Bulbasaur nervously sighed as a burly Primeape confiscated his little pouch, which was revealed to contain nothing but a couple of coins.

"What's going to happen to mommy…?" it wondered out loud, appearing devastated. "Can somebody send her the medicine? Please?"

"I'm sure we can arrange something," the Primeape told it. "Besides, you'll be out in no time. I think that Adiel just wants to come back and look you all over…"

The Primeape led the Bulbasaur down a short staircase and into a long hallway. The gray bricks which made up the walls seemed to emanate a ghastly purple aura as the weird blue light from the ceiling reflected from it.

Near the end of the hallway, several doors began to appear in the walls. Using a rusty, mutilated-looking key, the Primeape opened the door and directed the Bulbasaur to enter.

The following room was a very frightening sight: it was a long, long corridor lined with steel panels for walls. Each panel had a small window, a hefty latch, and a keyhole. They were the holding cells. The Bulbasaur nervously peered into the tiny little glass peepholes, and his breath caught at the sight—staring back at him were several of his own kind, all looking distraught…

With a loud creaking noise, the Primeape opened the door of an empty cell.

"In yah go," it said. "You'll be number eight, I think. Hold tight in there…"

And the cell door closed, locking the Bulbasaur in the rather dark chamber, completely alone. The only light source was the tiny window in the huge metallic door.

The Bulbasaur blinked. Moments passed. Finally, the distant sound of a door slamming rose from down the hall. The Bulbasaur crept up to the door and peered out the window.

"Alright, he's gone," a voice reported. "You alright in there, Saura?"

"I'm fine, yeah," Saura replied. "It's kinda stuffy in here, though. What about you?"

"Almost didn't get to the bag before they did," the disembodied voice replied. "But we're good to go, I think."

"Hey, Marrow?" Saura called. "How do we know when to go? Is there a sign?"

"Oh yes, there's going to be a signal," the voice replied. "Just wait. Until then, might as well get these guys ready…"

The voice cleared its throat.

"HEY! LISTEN UP!" it blasted down the hall. "Yeah! Listen to me, the invisible Marowak! Believe it or not, we're about to bust every last one of you out of here, alright?"

Saura listened intently, and he could hear the faint, muffled voices of the other Bulbasaur as they voiced their surprise.

"But you've got to do exactly as I say," the Marowak said. "We only have one shot at this. Well, two, actually, but hopefully I won't get sloppy. But you've got to listen! Alright?"

"What do you want us to do?" a Bulbasaur called back. "Do you have a key?"

"Are you going to let us out?" another asked eagerly.

"No, no key," Marrow answered. "Afraid it's not that easy. But I want you to position yourself exactly as I tell you, and, just to let you all know, this might sting…"

… … …

It was a couple hours past noon as Fern approached the front entrance to the Iron Town city hall. She paused for a moment, taking in the gorgeous spring weather and the gentle breeze as it filtered through the city; she needed to calm down, her chest she was bursting with nervous excitement. She knew that nobody would believe a word she said if she didn't look like she meant it.

Once she thought she was ready, she held her breath and burst into the front door.

"Somebody! Anybody!" she screamed. "I need help! Police! Anybody!"

"What's the matter? Calm down!" a Growlithe on duty cried, quickly approaching her. "What's wrong, ma'am?"

"I just heard something horrible," the Furret gasped. "I was in my house, and then this Feraligatr came, and told me that a bunch of Pokémon were plotting to burst all the Bulbasaur out of jail!"

"I'm sorry, what?!" the Growlithe responded. "Slow down! What are you talking about?"

"The Bulbasaur that all the police hounds have been capturing today," she repeated. "They're going to bust them out of jail, unless you do something! You have to be quick, I think they're going to act quickly…"

"Ma'am… you're not making a shred of sense," the Growlithe grumbled. "What… why would a Feraligatr tell you this?"

"Because… a long time ago, I did some business with some Pokémon, and he… he wanted me to help them!" she rambled, jumping around in front of the dog. "But… I couldn't. It's not right. I don't want to be a criminal! I have to do my civic duty! I have to turn them in! You've got to stop them before they get away with it!"

The exchange went on for another few minutes, and as it went on, the Growlithe became more convinced that the Furret had simply gone nuts… until a Poochyena burst in the door, looking horrified.

"Something's going on at the prison," it said between gasps of breath. "Something knocked out the power generator! All the lights went out! We think there are intruders in the building… get backup over there, now!"

The Growlithe's eyes widened.

… … …

"Move! Move!" Barked an Arcanine to his pack of dogs as they pushed through the dark halls of the prison complex. "Third basement floor! We've just been tipped off that there are intruders trying to free the Bulbasaur. Guard that hall! Pack three, guard the rear entrance. No Pokémon enter or leave! Pack five and six, split up and search the entire floor for any signs of intrusion. Pack Alpha, guard the cells. As long as the Bulbasaur are still in there, we've got nothing to worry about."

Through the complete darkness, the hounds scattered to take their stations. In less than a minute, the alpha pack navigated down the stairs and into the hall where the Bulbasaur were held.

When they arrived, the lights flickered back on.

"Thank Arceus, I can see again," a Poochyena muttered under its breath.

"I heard it was a short," a Growlithe answered. "Something crossed the electrical cords. Live electrical cords. What could do that but an Electivire? Glad they fixed it…"

"Torturous human technology, so confusing…" the Poochyena said.

"Now, get to those doors and make sure nothing touches those Bulbasaur!" the Arcanine ordered. "Obviously, the intruders tried to shut off the lights so they could get down here without being seen. But it looks like they're too late."

The pack viciously guarded the Bulbasaur for a whole, minute, then two, then three… until the Arcanine, the leader of the pack, started to become uneasy. Something didn't smell right…

And then it hit him.

On an odd inkling, the Arcanine ordered all the cells checked, and to his horror, he found there were no Bulbasaur inside any of them. They had underestimated their enemy. They had been too late.

Their tracking skills were of no use; the scent of Bulbasaur still lingered all around the room, the same trail they'd followed to get in for the first time. After all, several of the creatures had traversed the same halls all morning long, leaving a powerful trail of the same smell all the way from the entrance to the hall in which they stood.

The Arcanine roared in fury, not able to believe his prison had been compromised so quickly and easily by unknown, unseen enemies…

And then, when it seemed things couldn't get any more confusing, a Growlithe found something strange inside one of the cells. A hole, about an inch and a half in diameter, had been drilled into the side of the solid steel, all the way through to the next cell. Upon further inspection, there were holes in just about every cell wall…

… … …

With a thrust of his feet, Scythe leapt from the open window of the building, Char hanging from his chest for dear life. Their target was an equally tall tower, several hundred yards ahead. Their flight would last for less than a minute.

"We Pokémon have a saying when we're first learning to fly," Scythe said. "Don't look down."

"We have that saying, too," Char muttered, feeling his arm muscles starting to cramp with terror just after ten seconds. He knew that if he fell, Scythe would have no chance to catch him.

"Do you?" Scythe said in surprise. "Then why are you looking down?"

Far below, Char saw the base of the prison compound, the building they'd just leapt from… it was absolute madness. Hundreds of Pokémon surrounded the building, frantically guarding it, ready to nab the intruders. He knew that somewhere inside, Saura and the other Bulbasaur were making their escape…

"Do you think any of them will see us?" Char wondered.

"You'd be surprised how many Pokémon fail to look up," Scythe replied. "Now, get ready…"

CRASH!

With a swing of his bade, Scythe shattered the glass window of the seventh floor of the city hall building. He ducked his head and zipped inside, setting Char down as soon as possible.

"Here we are," Scythe said, "This is the private room of Ervin the Arcanine, the head of security. Guess where he is right now?"

"Down in the prison, trying to figure out what the heck just happened," Char nervously laughed, glancing out the broken window. "Look at them all down there."

"Now do you know why Vanish Seeds are illegal in most of the known world?" Scythe laughed. "Because they're unfair, in every sense of the word. Oh, look. The cavalry has arrived."

Char looked up into the sky to see a flock of birds descending down to the entrance of the complex. The police force would notice them, but they'd be able to swoop down and capture the invisible Bulbasaur in their talons before anybody would suspect anything. They were, after all, the city's messenger guild, who secretly worked for the Gold Division. They were expected to arrive at the scene at the slightest hint of an incident and carry the news to the rest of the surrounding area—to the city's police force, they would simply be doing their jobs.

"Ah," Scythe sighed, smiling wide at the scene down below. "It is done. We got away with it, and everyone involved has a proper alibi. There is nothing more pleasing in this world than seeing a plan fall into place just as intended."

"That was brilliant," Char said. "I can't believe it. You did it just with a Pierce Band and… what, three Invisify seeds? Four? I had no idea Pierce Bands worked like that!"

"Ah, hah," Scythe said happily. "Yes, they're very useful, especially if you don't have as many supplies as you'd like. Just line up your targets, and throw something right through them all… If you've got good aim, multiplies the effects to every teammate. Granted, sometimes it's painful, but it works… You might want to consider investing in one sometime in the future. Very useful tool."

"Think Ray will make it out safely?" Char said, not worrying too much. "He had a dangerous job. That generator was, what, eight floors down?"

"Hah. Hahah. But he had Markov with him," Scythe laughed even more heartily. "Markov is what you would call a juggernaut when it comes to battling. Ever find it funny how the dog Pokémon who make up the police force in this place are all fire Pokémon? Heh, heh, heh, heh…"

"Wow, didn't think about that," Char said, returning a laugh of his own. "But wait… where are they going to take the Bulbasaur? To the academy?"

"No, that would actually be the worst place to take them," Scythe explained. "It would draw unwanted attention to us. No, we're taking them to a city about ten miles away called Clefaria. They can spend the night here safe and sound, and we can assign missions back at the division tomorrow to have them escorted back to their homes."

After watching the messenger guild fly away safely, Scythe and Char turned their attention to the room they'd just broken into. It was a rather prestigious room, reminding Char of his own in many ways. There was a large crimson-colored rug underfoot, several pieces of gold-plated furniture, a brick fireplace next to the outside wall, and a quite spacious worktable—which was currently covered with important papers.

"So," Scythe said, exploring the room and setting his sights upon the cluttered desk, "I brought you here because I need a pair of hands to work. Ervin is a member of the city council, the circle of Pokémon responsible for making laws in this place. In fact, just a few days ago, he, along with the other members of the council, met with Adiel himself and were forced into complying with his demands. I was hoping… to find… what those demands were. Char, if you please?"

Scythe motioned toward the desk, and Char jumped up onto the edge to wade through the papers. He began to individually present each one to Scythe…

"No," Scythe said, as he observed the papers and scrolls which passed before his face. "No, not that. No, no. Useless. Useless. THERE! That one! Show me!"

It was a shiny black book which had been sitting open on the desk. Char clutched the book and stood tall on the tabletop, careful to keep his fiery tail from touching the desk covered in flammables. He held the open book up to Scythe to read.

Scythe squinted at the page.

"This is it," he confirmed. "This is the council chamber log, conveniently opened to the last entry! Now, we will see… what he was up to…"

Char struggled to keep the book aloft for long, as it was quite heavy. After a minute, Scythe asked Char to turn back a page, and his eyes continued to scan across its lines…

And then, Scythe released a prolonged breath and bowed his head in shame.

"W—what?" Char asked concernedly, bringing the book to his eye level and trying, without the slightest hope in the world, to decipher the runes himself.

Rather than answering, Scythe walked past the desk and over to the solid brick wall, where he proceeded to slam his spiked forehead onto the hard surface.

Thump.

Char cringed.

"What? What happened?" Char cried, dropping the book back to the desk.

Thump.

"Scythe, I'm pretty sure that's not healthy for you to do!"

"I'm sorry," Scythe said, shaking his head in what seemed like humiliation. "I couldn't help myself. Adiel is… well, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. You see… when he was here… he proclaimed that he'd return in… three weeks from now… to begin working on building his newest military fortress… right here in Iron Town."

"Oh, you're kidding!" Char cried. "That's horrible! What would happen to our base? How would we operate with the Master living next door?"

"No, it's not horrible," Scythe chuckled. "It's ridiculous. It's a joke. All of this was just one, big… It's a beggar's diversion. What do you do when you know your opponent is too smart to fall for a cheap trick? You throw their allies into confusion. You throw a stunt like this…"

"I don't get it," Char said. "How do you know it's a joke?"

"A base could never be built here!" Scythe squeaked, still completely incredulous, "For one thing, the Master could not lay the cornerstone without us sabotaging it. And for another thing… it's not about what, it's about when. You see, if we had remained clueless to this whole farce, and didn't have three weeks to realize that it was a farce, we might have found out about it, what, three days in advance? And then we'd be much more likely to fall for it. Then we'd be all up in arms, ready to defend Iron Town from Adiel's return, when in reality, there would be none…"

"And you're sure there's none?" Char said. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Absolutely sure. Positively sure. In all the ways it would be possible to be sure, I am sure," Scythe said, his voice beginning to sound like an insane person's rambling. "Because if, if we would have fallen for this, it means Adiel would have just spread me thinner than I already am… because… three weeks… is when… Basin Canyon… settlement… is planned!"

Scythe sat down on the floor, looking both amused and distraught.

"Adiel," he muttered. "I don't believe you… Hah… you're going to be the end of me, yet…"

*Chapter 36*: Chapter 32: Don't Stay the Same

Chapter 32

Clefaria Town

Late that afternoon, a flock of Pelipper and Pidgeotto, members of the messenger guild, emerged from the clouds far above the humble town of Clefaria bearing incredible news about a small group of Bulbasaur who had escaped from Iron Town's holding cells…

…As well as, ironically enough, the Bulbasaur themselves.

There were eight of them in all, including residents from Iron Town, inhabitants of the grasslands in the southwest, travelers from far away cities, and, of course, Saura himself. Since other Bulbasaur had been rare to see in his line of work, Saura expressed a desire to fly with them to Clefaria and visit with them while he had time to spare.

After being dropped off at the entrance to the underground den where the escapees would be staying the night, Saura waited impatiently for the invisibility effects to completely wear off and for the other Bulbasaur to arrive.

The den was a cozy little place. It had a very low clearance, perfect for rodents and other small Pokémon such as Bulbasaur. A design of smoothed rocks embedded in the ground and the placement of a couple tiny candles in the corners gave the place a very homely feel, even though it was really nothing more than a rough ditch in the ground. It definitely wasn't a permanent habitat for any townspeople, Saura guessed, it was probably just built as an emergency shelter from the Watchers.

As he breathed the welcome odor of fresh dirt which filled the room, anticipating the company of the other Bulbasaur, Saura found his thoughts taken back to somewhere he once knew, a place which this little den reminded him of. Before he knew it, he found his mind led back to a distant thought he hadn't touched in a very long time: his family.

It had been many weeks since he'd fled from his home back at the Tiny Meadow, and he'd come a very long way. But through it all, he'd made a point, ever since stumbling upon Char and devoting himself to the resistance, to forget about it. Perhaps it was out of regret; it caused him a twinge of pain to remember everything he'd given up so eagerly when he and Char agreed to join the Gold Division. Suddenly, he remembered the days he spent exploring the meadow and the forest with his brothers, who helped him learn how to defend himself in the wild. He remembered the time he got too courageous and tried to go exploring without them, only to get trapped in a nearby Mystery Dungeon until they found him. He remembered the days he spent walking his little sister back and forth from Ivy Bluff, just so she could see her friends. He remembered his mother and father, both lazy old Venusaur, who loved and cared for their children more than anything. He remembered how he could always count on them for support, whether he'd scraped his leg on a thorn, or gotten his vines tied up in a horrible knot, or simply couldn't reach far enough to get the berries on the top branch of the tree. Yes, he could count on them for anything. Anything, that was, until one day when some Pokémon visited them…

No… Saura said to himself. I don't want to remember that part. There's no need.

He remembered his own friends, the Pokémon he liked to spend his time with. He remembered the Nidoran boy, who had no name, and all the afternoons they spent together trying to find the treasure at the bottom of Tenfold Pond, absolutely convinced one existed. He remembered the time the Nidoran somehow got wedged between a rock and a tree, and Saura had to defend him from a vicious wild Ekans while he struggled to free himself. He remembered the time they found a fallen Pidgey and spent the rest of the day getting it back into its nest, only to have the mother Pidgeotto suddenly fly home and relentlessly mob them. He remembered the Nidoran's wonderful yet twisted sense of humor, the most unique personality he'd ever met. He remembered all the adventures they had together, and how he could always just cross the meadow and visit him whenever he felt bored or frustrated with something… until one day, when he came to find that the Nidoran and his mother were not home anymore. He never saw them again…

I never even said goodbye, Saura thought sadly to himself. You, of all Pokémon, deserved a goodbye from me. I hope, wherever you went, you're okay…

He remembered Clari, the Chickorita who first showed him the secret entrance to Gravelrock Tunnel and dared him to find his way through the cave. He remembered her fiery, adventurous, daredevil personality that always had them into trouble with someone. He remembered how they always played hide-and-seek, but he never won once, because she always peeked. He remembered being endlessly jealous of her ability to sling razor-sharp leaves around, and how he unsuccessfully struggled month after month to copy the trick, relishing the thought of finally getting even with her. But not even that came to be, because one day, she said goodbye and moved far away, where it was safer for their family to be…

Everything ends, Saura reminded himself. Every sunrise ends with a sunset. I shouldn't be upset about what I left behind. I have a new life now, and I'm proud to have it. Heh… I knew, from the moment Clari showed me the Gravelrock Tunnel, that my future was somewhere on the other side! I just could never get the courage to enter it… and I never would have guessed that someone would have to chase me in!

Despite the significant effort Saura was making to convince himself he didn't have to be ashamed of anything, a strange sense of disgust welled up in his belly. There was still something he didn't feel comfortable about, and it wasn't going away.

I had to run away! Saura told himself harder. Mom and dad betrayed me! Well, I know they didn't think there was anything wrong with me joining the Master… they thought it would be a good future for me… but they… they didn't listen when I said I didn't want it… They didn't protect me… But if they protected me, they would have gotten punished… That's why I ran away…

But just then, Saura had to cut his painful reflection short as the first Bulbasaur entered the den. He knew the rest would be arriving in mere moments, so he put on his best smile and got ready to greet them.

The first one was very young—only a little sprout—and it looked scared to death. It made Saura's heart just melt looking at the poor little thing…

"Hi!" Saura said, quickly running up to the tiny Bulbasaur. "Are you going to be okay? You're safe now. Nobody's going to capture you here."

"Are you a bad guy?" the little sprout replied, backing away slowly.

"Hah, no, I'm not," Saura laughed, albeit a little oddly. "I'm a really good guy, I promise. I helped you escape!"

Seeing the little thing so shaken, Saura just wanted to give it a big hug and tell it everything would be okay. But as he tried to do so, the little sprout yelped and backed away into the corner, panting in fright.

"GO AWAY!" it screamed. "Mommy said I should NEVER let strange Pokémon constrict me!"

"That's… good advice," was all Saura could think of to say before deciding to leave the little thing alone.

Next, three more of the Bulbasaur descended the stairs and entered the dugout. They were a lot bigger and older than him; they were late-bloomers, Saura determined, being surprised that they were not Ivysaur yet. But then he remembered that evolution was currently not available, so he decided not to criticize it—especially since he, after all, didn't have any plans to ever evolve.

"Hey, guys," Saura said to the older Bulbasaur as they came in. "Happy to be out of that place? I know I am. That was a really stupid law, it just came out of nowhere."

"Yeah, and you want to hear the punch line?" one of them responded. "Bulza here was in prison for a week before that law even came out. He's a real criminal!"

"Nah, be quiet, I didn't do anything real horrible," Bulza insisted. "I just got caught stealing some food. No biggie. I won't make the same mistake again."

"Do you mean that, as in, you won't try to steal anymore, or you won't make the same mistake and get caught again?" Saura asked jokingly.

"Probably both," Bulza replied. "I'll probably quit the habit for a week, then I'll break down and go back to doing it, and I'll be better at it too! That's the way it always works."

"Oh…" Saura said, halfway disappointed, before brightening back up. "Well, you can't be a bigger criminal than me! I'm the one who helped break you out just now!"

"Oh, well, I guess we owe you some thanks," one of the other Bulbasaur said, nodding. "It was fun being invisible for a while. I wish I could'a gotten away and done something with it, though. But those stupid birds kept us…"

"Hey," Bulza said, his voice dripping with genuine interest. "Got any more of those invisible maker things, by chance? Huh?"

It was then that Saura decided he wasn't really interested in further conversation with this group of Pokémon, so he politely cut short the chatter and awaited the next newcomer.

When he saw the next Bulbasaur descend the staircase, his jaw hit the floor.

It was about his age, if not a little older than he. There was something truly incredible about it: the seed it carried on its back was the deep, dark color of evergreen, and its skin had an unnatural yellowish-green tint to it. It stared at the ground as it entered the den as if trying not to meet Saura's gaze, but it cast a glance at him as it passed.

"Whoa, hey!" Saura cried, finally gathering himself. "Look at you! You're—"

"Yes, yes, I know, I know, I know!" it exploded in Saura's face. "I get it! Okay?! I'm discolored! By Shaymin, you say it as though it was something new to me! Do you know how annoying it gets when every single Pokémon you ever meet greets you by pointing out your color?!"

"S-sorry!" Saura stuttered back, following it as it tried to walk away from him. "I-I didn't mean it like that! I was just—"

"You were just surprised at seeing such a freak of nature like me," it sneered flatly. "I know. Get in line. By Arceus, why me? I was actually glad to be invisible for a while back there, I'm so tragically sick of every Pokémon who sees me getting distracted by the shiny… Arceus, what a bad day this has been…"

It sulked over into a corner and said no more.

Saura started to eye the yellow-green Bulbasaur again to gaze at the spectacle, but then decided it was best to be polite and turned away. He was astounded that someone could have something so special and rare, but think of it as a curse!

Well, at any rate, I'm not doing a very good job of making friends, Saura realized. Let's see who's next…

"Saura?"

When the tiny voice sounded, it pierced to the core of Saura's heart. His breath caught.

For just a moment, it seemed to Saura that time had stopped, or that he was plunged into a dream. It was a voice he knew well, but didn't expect to hear, especially in a place like this…

"Saura! It's you! I knew it was you!"

He turned to the den entrance. He had to know if it was true.

It was. At the bottom of the stairs, overcome with just as much disbelief as he, stood a little Bulbasaur no greater than half his size—his little sister.

"Saurlee…?" he mouthed.

The two broke into a run and bounded across the floor towards one another, practically collided head-first. Sooner than he knew, his vines were squeezing her tightly and his forehead was tenderly pressed against hers. It was not relief, or excitement, or even joy that washed over him as he embraced her, it was something like pure love, mixed with the shame that came with knowing he'd been the one to withdraw that love from her. For just that moment, he didn't care why in the world she'd gotten herself in prison or why she was even in Iron Town to begin with, he was just happy to see her.

Although Bulbasaur were difficult to tell apart from one another, this was one that he'd never forget—it was Saurlee, his little sister, the second-youngest member of their family. Being a middle child and the one always stuck with the babysitting, Saura had become the best of friends with her, and she'd always looked up to him. This was the reason he felt regret for having run away from home, he realized: his family still loved him, no matter how much he'd try to convince himself otherwise. He knew in the back of his mind that, by leaving them, he had broken their hearts.

"It's really you!" Saurlee wailed, not daring to part with him. "I thought I heard your voice, but I didn't know it was you because you were invisible. Are you okay? We were all so worried when you just disappeared. We couldn't find you anywhere! You almost gave mommy a heart attack! I thought I was never going to see you again, Saura!"

"What in the world are you doing here, Saurlee?" Saura gasped, trying to avoid answering her questions. "You're so far away from home! How did you get here?"

"Me and Saurvor went down to the Seaside," she explained. "When we came back, we stopped to rest in Iron Town and they threw me in jail! I don't even know why!"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Saura assured her. "It's okay. It's just some stupid law they made up yesterday. You're safe now. You're okay."

"Saura, what happened to you?" Saurlee demanded, staring him in the eyes. "Why did you go away? Mommy and daddy are worried that you're lost! We searched for you for weeks! Even in the dungeons! Saura, we were so scared. It made mommy cry…"

"I'm just fine," He assured her. "I have a very good life now."

"Did you go to work for the Master?" she asked. "Just like the Flareon said?"

It was another memory he wished to repress as quickly as possible. Early one morning, his family woke to the summons of a Flareon, backed by a team of powerful soldiers, who picked him from the rest of his siblings to serve the Master. That day was like a nightmare to him; he already despised the Master, and felt that he would have rather died than given into his demands. And worse was how he spent the rest of the evening trying to convince his parents to help him, to say he didn't have to go, to shield him from such fate… and how they refused his every plea…

"Saaauraaaa!" Saurlee whined, drawing out his name just as she always would. "Did you join with the Master? Do they make lots of money there?"

"No, no, I didn't," Saura said, breaking himself away from his mental image. "But it's okay. I'm fine where I am. I make money, I have friends… I'm happy."

"You have a job now? What is it?" Saurlee inquired. "Is it fun?"

"Sometimes, yeah," Saura replied. "My job is… I help a lot of very important Pokémon do the things they're supposed to do."

"But what about the Master?" Saurlee cried. "Isn't he upset at you? Won't he punish you for running away?"

"Saurlee, I'm fine," Saura said again. "He's probably just going to pick another Bulbasaur. I think I'm off the hook."

While it wasn't completely the truth, it needed to be said.

"Oh, Saura, I missed you so much," Saurlee sighed again, leaning in again and resting her head against his neck. "C'mon, let's go back and get Saurvor, he's still in the city! He'll be so happy to see you! Tell us everything you did!"

Saura bit his lip. He just couldn't believe this. His heart leapt at the thought of spending all night with Saurvor, his older Ivysaur brother, and Saurlee, but…

"I can't," he sighed, "I don't have enough time. I have to go soon. Where I work, we're going to be taking a big trip tomorrow morning! And they need me there to help get things ready. I'd love to stay here all night, Oh, Saurlee, I'd love to. But I can't."

"Saura, please! Please don't go again!" Saurlee pleaded, wrapping her tiny vines around his leg to detain him. "I just found you! Don't leave!"

"I wish none of this would have happened in the first place," Saura grumbled. "I wish that Flareon never came to our home. But… this is how life is. Things don't stay the same. Even when they're the best things in the world"

"But I don't want you to leave again," Saurlee said again, on the verge of tears.

"Listen to me, Saurlee," Saura begged her, looking into her eyes again. "Please, don't cry. Listen. I want you to rest here for the night, and try to get along with all the other Bulbasaur. Tomorrow morning, some nice Pokémon will come and make sure you get back to Saurvor. I want you to go home with Saurvor. And when you do, I want you to tell mom and dad everything I just told you, okay? Tell them I found a place to live and they should be happy for me. Tell them that I'm safe and sound and there's nothing to worry about, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Okay," Saurlee whispered reluctantly, starting to cry. "Promise you won't be gone forever?"

"I promise," Saura told her.

"I love you," Saurlee whispered.

"I love you, too," Saura whispered back, gently wiping away her tears with his nose.

He stayed with her as long as he could, until the sun in the sky started to dim and the afternoon began to turn to evening. Then, they said their final tearful goodbyes, and Saura was flown back by a Pidgeotto to the place he was obliged to be.


Division Base

"That… was… AWESOME!" Ray cheered loudly as Team Ember, led by Scythe, Marrow, and Markov, finally returned from the day's mission. "That was the best mission I ever did! Scythe, how in the world did you think of such a brilliant plan so fast?!"

"Well, to tell you the truth, it's not a new strategy to me," Scythe admitted. "I've actually done it once before, when we made a slight error in our plans and got Raon locked away for fraud in Boulder Ridge."

"Heh, but let me tell ya', that one didn't turn out all too well," Marrow added humorously. "We got Raon out, but Scythe forgot to think of a way to get himself out, so he ended up stuck in jail—with heightened security, even—for two whole weeks!"

"Well, we got it right this time," Scythe reminded them. "I figured the right way to pull it off was to have a civilian alert the police, that way their story isn't considered as suspicious. And besides, I only got caught because I had to suggest they open the cell door to check and see if Raon was still in there, so he could sneak out. But this time, those dumb mutts did that all on their own. And I think we have Ray to thank for it."

"It was nothing!" Ray laughed. "And besides, that was awesome feeling all that electricity. With lightning bolts, I can only hold them in for a second before I have to discharge. But that generator? I had to hold those wires for twenty whole seconds! I felt like an electrode about to blast off to the moon!"

"Wow…" Char said. "Turning the prisoners invisible, then getting somebody to open the cells so they could escape. It's like they let them go by increasing the security. That's so ridiculous, I can't believe it worked. But it did!"

"That's often the best type of plot to spring," Scythe said. "Let the opponent know exactly what you are doing—no tricks there—but then, make sure their attempt to counter you will actually help you. If set up properly, you end up with a scenario where you will succeed if they fail, or if they succeed, you will still succeed. Let me tell you, there is no sweeter victory than to watch your opponent cross the finish line for you!"

"Ah, but all the mere mortals such as me and you can't hope to concoct witty enough plots to accomplish that," Marrow joked to Char. "Only the wits of the legendary Pokémon known as the Scyther are great enough-"

"BLAST IT ALL!" a voice screamed. "Not one! Not one more! Where is the order from Porcelain Town? BLAST IT!"

They were passing by Kecleon's shop on the way to storage to drop off their excess baggage when a surprisingly blustered voice erupted from inside, shouting curses that surely Dialga could have heard.

"Not to worry, not to worry," said another, calmer voice. "In sixteen days, we will have more orbs. I contacted them today and they said they were behind!"

"AUGHH!" the voice shouted again.

The pink-colored Kecleon brother appeared in the doorway, looking a little winded. His put his salesman's face back on, though, as soon as he spotted the passersby.

"Uh… what's going on in there?" Char couldn't help asking.

"Oh, it is nothing, really!" the Kecleon assured in his usual cordial manner. "My brother is just a little red at the moment, mostly because somebody got away with robbing him earlier today, and in Iron Town, no less. Can I do anything for you this fine evening?"

There was a noisy clack as Marrow struck his bone against his skull helmet. "Oh, wonderful. Almost forgot," he murmured almost silently under his skull. "Scythe, might need your hand here. I might need backup."

"Uh-oh," Scythe said concernedly. "Is this going to involve a battle…?"

Hefting the supply bag, Marrow entered the store, followed closely by Scythe. His curiosity getting the better of him, Char peeked his head through the doorway to spy on the happening.

Marrow calmly approached the front counter where the other Kecleon brother was furiously flitting through things like papers and supplies, leaving boxes and crates littered all over the ground. Char noticed that the pink-colored Kecleon wasn't kidding—he really was red, as in, the color of his scales had changed, making his appearance resemble some sort of horribly mutated Charmeleon.

"Uh, Kecleon sir, if you wouldn't mind," Marrow said.

"Sorry, sorry, terribly busy at the moment," the Kecleon replied in a very agitated manner. "Very sorry. My brother will serve you…"

Plink!

Marrow dropped a small sack filled with Poké coins onto the countertop. Char recognized it as the supply of Poké they'd withdrawn from the treasury that morning, namely, the extras left over after putting some in the tiny pouch Saura used to sneak the Vanish Seeds into the prison.

Kecleon's head turned. He eyed the sack of money.

"What is this?" he demanded. "What are you purchasing with this?"

"Nothing," Marrow said calmly. "This is interest. And this…"

Reaching into the bag, Marrow produced the Pierce Band which had allowed him to throw the Vanish Seeds straight through the solid steel walls of the prison chambers. He placed it next to the money.

Kecleon was floored. He was still furious, but shocked enough to listen for a minute.

"Marrow, how could you?" Scythe said in fully sarcastic astonishment. "This poor salesman's served you unconditionally for years, and you have the audacity to betray his trust and steal from him?"

"Our team rightfully owns two of them," Marrow explained, "but I forgot that Daemon took them both earlier this week. And I needed one for our job today, so… I made do."

Char held his breath, and it looked to him like Scythe and Marrow were doing the same. The lizard picked up the Pierce Band and appraised it, as if to inspect it for scratches.

"Well, then," the Kecleon finally replied, "In that case, have a wonderful evening, and thank you so very much for your business!"

Whoa, he's letting them off the hook? Char wondered. I wonder if Kecleon's faking being all polite, or does he really have such a one-track mind?

"I'm very sorry if I've caused you any distress," Marrow said humbly.

"No, no, the pleasure's all mine, really," the Kecleon replied with a little bow. "It makes my day to know that I have customers like you, Team Remorse. A thief who willingly returns what he steals can hardly be called a thief at all. I can't thank you enough. Always happy to be of service!"

Oh, no wonder, Char realized. Right. They're Team Remorse. They can get away with anything if they pull some strings. They've probably spent millions and millions of Poké here over the years, no way Kecleon can turn them down. But it really makes me wonder… just a few moments ago, Kecleon was screaming like some kind of enraged, rabid… monster. Makes me wonder if they're always hiding such a horrible temper underneath those smiles that are always plastered over their faces…

… … …

Once their supplies were unloaded, Team Ember relaxed downstairs and had a nice big dinner, telling one another about their day's experiences. Char explained where Scythe had taken him, and how they discovered the underhanded trick that Adiel was trying to pull. Saura and Ray gave the same reaction that Char did at first, wondering how Scythe knew that it was a bluff.

"He thinks that Adiel somehow found out when he's planning the final effort at Basin Canyon, and even though Scythe wouldn't fall for the trick, he knew that most of Iron Town would, so it would be really distracting. He called it a beggar's diversion."

"Wait, what?" Ray gaped. "Adiel knows the settlement date? That's awful! That's one of the things he's been trying to keep hidden from him. If Scythe meets with too much resistance, he'll fail really bad! I wonder how Adiel found out?"

"If Adiel's almost as smart as Scythe, maybe it wasn't so difficult for him," Char considered. "But I think Scythe's got things covered. He seems to know what he's doing."

"You're right," Ray said with a nod. "Maybe he's pulling one of those win-win plots he was talking about earlier. If that's the case, I bet Adiel's going down!"

Next, Saura told of his meeting with his younger sister. Char was really surprised. For as long as they'd known each other, Saura never talked much about his family aside from some brief comments now and then. He figured, since the day they met, that Saura held some sort of repressed resent toward his family and simply preferred not to talk about them. But now, as Saura told of his relationship with Saurlee, Char's view of him started to change.

"She was the last Bulbasaur I expected to see in that room," Saura rambled. "She told me how scared I made my parents when I left. I almost wish I could just…"

Saura's expression changed, and he cut his sentence short.

"Just what?" Char insisted. "Stay with her for the night? Go see your family again? Do you… want to?"

"I can't," Saura said, giving the biggest fake shrug Char had ever seen. "I have prior obligations. Besides, I'll see them again someday."

"I had no idea you felt that way about your family," Char said.

"Hey, Char, I'm fine," Saura claimed, wearing a big smile. "Okay, I'll admit, I've always felt a little ashamed of myself for leaving them the way I did, but I think today I made it a lot better. Saurlee's going to go home, and let mom and dad know everything's alright. So now I can stop worrying so much about them, when I know they're not worrying so much about me. But there's nowhere I'd rather be than here."

Char decided to leave it at that. He knew that, regardless of what inner conflicts Saura was keeping to himself, he'd made his decisions and was glad to stick to them… not to mention that the thought of going to Temporal Tower without him was just nightmarish.

Finally, just as Ray was telling the story of how he sabotaged the generator, Scythe approached their table.

"Eat well?" he asked.

They nodded.

"Good," he said, "because it's time to come. High Intelligence is calling for us now. Let's go."

Team Ember promptly cleared their dinner table and followed Scythe downstairs.

… … …

The next thing they knew, Team Ember had been granted entrance to Intelligence's lair. They stood at attention near the room's central table as Alakazam gathered himself, preparing to address them. Saura was impressed at the room's grandeur, and Ray was spellbound by it all, unable to tear his eyes off the collections of books, instruments, and maps that covered the walls and tabletops of the whole room. Char eyed Metagross, still standing silently at the far end of the room and watching the meeting intently. It hadn't budged an inch since Char had last seen it.

"I can't believe we're actually in here," Ray gasped. "I don't know whether to feel honored or unworthy…"

"It is settled," Alakazam said from the other side of the table. "It was a challenge to get everything arranged on such a short notice, but it is done. It is all set in place for tomorrow morning. Your transportation will be waiting for you just outside the western gate. Be there at the first crack of sunrise, and you might make the flight to the Emerald Division in only two days if the winds are cooperative."

Flight? Char wondered. We're flying there?

"Scythe, I expect that you are prepared for this mission?" Alakazam spoke authoritatively. "The responsibility of this Charmander remains in your hands. Guard him with your life."

Scythe bowed. It had already gone without saying.

"This goes for you as well, Bulbasaur and Raichu, should you accompany him," Alakazam said gravely. "Your Charmander friend represents more than you will ever know. You must be willing to put yourself at risk for him. He must reach the top of Temporal Tower at all costs, even if it means it must be at your expense. Do you understand?"

"We know," Saura said. "We're going to give this everything we have."

"So be it," Alakazam said, motioning with his hand toward the table. "Now, the evening you arrive from your flight, you will present yourself to Team Regret. They are waiting for you. From there, you will spend a single night in the shelter of their base to further prepare yourself. They have been hard at work with researching Temporal Tower as they await you; they are able to offer you more specific help than I. The following day, once the Watchers have subsided from the sky, you will be flown north to the border of Zerferia. From there, you will continue by foot approximately seventeen miles north north-east, locate Temporal Tower, and enter it."

"Why not just fly all the way to Temporal Tower?' Char wondered out loud.

"The storms of Zerferia will not allow it," Alakazam explained. "Zerferia is a land of bitter snowstorms which never cease. No Pokémon can navigate in those winds, and even those who possess enough agility to ride the air currents would find their wings paralyzed from frostbite in mere minutes."

"Wait, waiiit," Char yelped. "This Zerferia place… it's… cold?"

"Devastatingly so," Alakazam said, pointing to the gigantic, white-colored landmass which lied north of Ambera on the map. "So cold, in fact, many Pokémon cannot survive there. Even those of an alignment to ice have trouble finding enough food or shelter to make a home there. Zerferia is barren."

Char felt his hopes drop just a little as he imagined braving the described place, slogging through a never-ending blizzard as sub-zero winds whipped across his body and numbed him until only a stabbing pain remained. He imagined his flame faltering in the wind, struggling to stay alive…

"Don't fear," Alakazam said, addressing Char directly. "You, of all Pokémon, will be envied by your teammates in that blistering place. You are the one with the endless fire broiling in your heart. It will keep you warm."

"Yes," Xatu added, approaching the table and standing at Alakazam's side. "You are a stronger, greater Charmander than you were weeks ago when we first addressed you. You have grown in size and stature, and the ember within you burns brighter than ever. It will sustain you well through this journey."

Next, Alakazam placed a very large travel bag on the table. It was bigger than any Team Ember had used before, and Char could see that it was stuffed with useful items.

"Your supplies," Alakazam said. "We have received the unfortunate news that Temporal Tower carries the properties of a Mystery Dungeon. These are the best items from our holds we could spare to you. We hope they will last you through your journey."

Scythe eyed the bag thoughtfully. "Hmm, may we see what is inside?" he asked. "We'd like to know what we're dealing with."

"Very well," Alakazam said.

He reached into the front pocket of the back and pulled out a bulging pouch.

"Ten Sitrus Berries," he announced. "Use them as liberally as you must to keep yourselves in one piece. And should those fail you…"

He reached in again and produced another bulging pouch, this one embroidered with shiny, golden threads.

"Ten Reviver Seeds," he said. "These are exceedingly rare, and they represent the majority of our stockpile. We hope they will serve you in your upcoming task."

Ohhh… Char mouthed, gazing at the bag. That's more Reviver Seeds than I'll probably ever see in a lifetime… I hope we don't have to use them all…

Another pouch was set before them, this one producing a very alluring aroma, making Char's mouth water even though he'd just stuffed himself with food moments before.

"Four Golden Apples," Alakazam said. "One for you each. If you do not squander them, it will be all the food you will need."

It didn't seem like there'd be any end to the wondrous items being placed before them. There came Heal Seeds, Vanish Seeds, Orbs that would petrify massive numbers of nearby enemies and render them harmless, rally lost teammates together, render the whole team invulnerable for a limited period of time, bewitch wild Pokémon into fighting on their side temporarily, and many more. Char lost count. Finally, he produced from the bag some odd accessories.

"X-Ray Glasses," Alakazam said. "to let you see enemies behind walls. A Detect Band, to increase your agility in battle. A Speed Brace, to give you a running start. A Mobility Scarf, if you find yourself cornered and unable to escape."

Char didn't see a reason to mention they already owned one of the latter items. He wasn't going to complain about having two.

In all, the bag was packed with forty-eight items, allowing no more to fit.

"If you wish to bring any additional minor supplies to suit your personal preferences, you must bring a second bag," Alakazam said. "But we have made sure you will not be left wanting. The hearts of all the resistance are behind you."

"This will work," Scythe said, smiling very oddly, in a way that almost seemed devious. "This will work very well. Thank you."

"There is one other issue I must bring up," Alakazam said. "Due to the nature of the tower, it is hard to say what type of Pokémon resistance you should expect within. You could be faced with anything. But, from various resources we have examined, we have constructed some ideas of what kinds are more likely to be there. For one, a mysterious Pokémon known as Solrock has been mentioned in the record books. I have never seen a Solrock with my own eyes, but it is said to be a normally-docile rock Pokémon with psychic potential. For another thing, like Dialga itself, you may meet some true dragons…"

"What does that mean?" Char wondered. "How can we prepare against them? I'm bad at fighting against rock Pokémon…"

"Precisely," Alakazam said. "Though you have your companions to rely on, you are the foremost concern, so you must learn to protect yourself. Thus…"

Alakazam slid a very strange item across the table. It was like a rock, but flat, and circular-shaped. And very, very shiny.

"Whoa," Ray said. "That's a TM disc!"

"Yes," Alakazam said, "And not only a TM, but it is one, among many, which has been personally engineered by myself. With the help of the Kecleon, I have periodically engaged in the hobby of recording TM discs that have not been previously created, even by human hands."

"That's amazing," Saura said. "How do these machines work, anyway? I've always wanted to know that!"

"It is a fascinating hobby, if I may speak my own mind," Alakazam said. "I only regret that I do not have the time to make more. Using Kecleon's equipment, a disc can be engineered by any sufficiently-skilled psychic, such as myself. I need to closely observe the mental impulses of a skilled Pokémon as they perform the technique, then repeat them back into the machine in a way it can understand. If successful, the disc can transfer the same patterns into the mind of another, allowing them to learn the technique as though they had practiced it their whole life."

"I don't have any idea what you just said, but it sounds awesome," Saura said. "I've always wanted to try using one myself."

"Wait," Char said. "What if it's not successful? Can you mess up a disc?"

"Yes, it happens very often, unfortunately. They are not always easy to record," Alakazam said with a nod. "I must thoroughly analyze each one I make, since a malformed TM can have very bad effects to the Pokémon who attempts to use it. At best, it will fail to work. At worst, it could blank a fair portion of muscle memory, turning a skilled warrior into a clumsy fool. But do not worry, I craft my discs to the highest standards. "

Char picked up the TM disc and gazed at his reflection in the shiny surface.

"Now, you must take this disc down to Kecleon to use it," Alakazam instructed. "He has the equipment necessary. He also owns a vast library of standard TMs for you to browse, should you desire to expand your current capabilities. Now, he has been known to charge a very large fee at even the mention of a TM, but you should make it very clear to him that I will cover any costs you infer at his market tonight. We cannot spare any expense for such a vital mission as this!"

… … …

"Hmmmmmm…" hummed the pink-colored Kecleon as he appraised the disc. "Looks like another one of Alakazam's works. Did he tell you what this one's good for?"

"Uh, no," Char responded. "I think he forgot to. He just told me to use it."

"Well, for the record, I take no responsibility for what the disc may do to you," Kecleon warned. "But, if you'd like to use it, I can help you with that. Follow me…"

Char held his breath as he, Saura, and Ray were lead somewhere else they'd never dared explore: behind Kecleon's counter. Careful not to touch a single thing, the threesome could only gape at the museum of packed, cluttered storage rooms which they passed through.

After descending a wide but short staircase, a few torches flickered alive to reveal a room lined with shelves, each containing a long row of TM discs. At the back of the room stood an extremely large metal machine. Upon closer inspection, Char saw that the machine was practically featureless, sitting against the wall like a giant steel brick.

"Well, Char and company, welcome to the fabled TM room!" Kecleon proclaimed. "Not very many Pokémon know this even exists, and it's better that way, if you ask me. Now, Char, let's get you set up! Oh, it always gives me chills watching this wondrous thing work its magic. Technology, glorious technology, crafted by human, perfected by Pokémon!"

Before Char could say much, the pink Kecleon yanked the disc out of his hands, and then led him to…

SLAM.

Char was locked inside of a very dark, cramped room. Complex circuitry ran up and down every wall, and the ceiling was lined with something that looked like a hundred tiny, opaque light bulbs. It took him a minute to realize he was inside of the TM machine. He suddenly understood that was a chamber, rather than a machine, which explained its dull exterior.

"You okay in there, Char?" he heard Saura's voice call from outside.

"I've loaded the disc," Kecleon announced, interrupting him. "Just say when, and I'll boot it up! And let me know what it teaches you, so I can categorize it."

Char clenched his fists, not knowing what in the world to expect. He gave Kecleon the word to continue.

The machine produced many loud whirring, beeping noises as it rumbled to life, making Char feel as if he was standing inside a roaring fire. Sparks flew from several wires as they filled with power, beginning to glow shades of blue and yellow.

And then, it all disappeared.

Char blinked. He was standing in the middle of nothing. Looking down, he could see his own body perfectly, but there was no floor underfoot. Squinting into the gray void, he could see hundreds of tiny kaleidoscope-like images, but couldn't tell if they were real, or just the effects of his mind's eye.

"It's turned on," Kecleon's voice reported. "Now to begin the program. Stand by, juuuuust a moment…"

Then came the very unnerving feeling that he was not alone, followed by the figure of a Pokémon standing in front of him. It slid out from behind the shroud of nothingness, standing on all fours…

Char's startled cry filled the room. Standing before him, staring at him with deep, sparkling eyes, was…

Eva?

"Do you see the Espeon?" Kecleon inquired. "If you do, it means the program is running smoothly so far."

"Y-yes," Char responded.

"Do you like her? Hmm?" Kecleon asked giddily. "Before, we just had a disembodied voice to give you instructions, so I decided to replace it a lovely young Espeon! Thought it would make the whole experience more pleasant. Now, here we go… Get ready, Char."

"Welcome to TM-X 024 AKZ" the Espeon said in a smooth, comforting voice that didn't resemble Eva's at all. "This training program will attempt to transfer the knowledge of the technique known commonly as Metal Claw. Do you accept this?"

"Yes," Char answered, wondering just what a Metal Claw was, but figuring he'd find out shortly.

"Before we begin, you must be made aware of the risks and warnings associated with Technical Machines," the Espeon said robotically. "Technical Machines must be used with care. Improper use of Technical Machine software or use of unapproved or noncompliant Technical Machine software has been known to cause, and may result in: memory loss, blindness, depression, loss of sanity, or paralysis. Do you accept these risks?"

"Y-y-yes, I guess," Char stammered.

"Technical Machine software operates by releasing precision-guided impulses of electric, psychic, or aura-based energy, depending on the type of technique to be taught, to imprint the recorded pattern into the mind. There is an inherent risk of corruption or erasure of existing muscle memory every time a Technical Machine is used. Do you accept this risk?"

"Yes," Char said again.

"Warning. This Technical Machine is not, in any way, authorized or approved by the Pokémon League Federation. The author of this Technical Machine software is not in any way licensed or affiliated by the Pokémon League Federation. Furthermore, the technique contained herein, Metal Claw, was previously deemed unfit for transmission through Technical Machine, and subsequent releases of Technical Machine software containing Metal Claw have been banned and destroyed at the request of the Pokémon League Federation. Do you understand, and accept the implied risks?"

"Yes," Char said once more, beginning to sweat.

"Very well," The Espeon said, "The program will now commence."

Char's heart was already beating rapidly as his surroundings became a strange, surreal cloud of purple and red. He tried glancing around, but whatever direction he looked, the Espeon always stood directly in front of him, like she was painted directly onto his eyes.

"Throughout the natural course of a Pokémon's life, a Pokémon will learn many ways to defend itself," The Espeon began to explain. "A Pokémon's physical weapons, such as its teeth and claws, are usually the most natural and intuitive forces available to them. Next, a Pokémon must learn about the elements they were infused with, and how to harness them to manipulate their surroundings inside and outside of battle. A Cyndaquil is infused with fire. A Totodile, with water. A Treecko, with flora. These strengths are essential for a Pokémon to learn and understand in the quest for self-mastery."

Makes sense so far, Char told himself.

"But, there is a third type of power which lives within every Pokémon," The Espeon continued. "This power mysterious, and not yet fully comprehended by Pokémon or mankind. It is a power that may come from the spirit, or it may stem from unseen facilities in the Pokémon's body. It behaves much like Aura, and may be a subset of Aura. With enough practice, any Pokémon may learn to channel this power, to unleash it in a variety of ways useful in offensive, defensive, or practical efforts. The technique you are about to learn—the Metal Claw—involves channeling this energy into specific points in the body, strengthening them physically. With the right application, the Metal Claw is capable of breaking rocks."

Of course! Char realized. This is what Alakazam wanted. Now, I'll have an extra edge against rock Pokémon like Graveler. I can't wait! Teach me this!

A large cylindrical boulder appeared in the void before Char, sitting on nothing in particular.

"You will now break the rock with your claw," the Espeon said.

Okay… let's give this a shot, Char said, looking at his claws. Now, how am I supposed to—

Unexpectedly, a streak of ice-cold energy shot up into Char's head from the back of his neck. It didn't hurt, but it made him convulse; it felt like somebody had impaled him with a long, thin icicle. The icy feeling remained, and a sizzling, tingling energy began to permeate his body. It spread into his chest, and through his arms, where it seemed to gather into the end of his individual fingers and… solidify?

Another insane sensation washed over Char, and this time, it felt like all the flesh had been ripped from the top of his head and dozens of needles had been stabbed into his brain. It still didn't hurt, but it felt really weird, and somehow, Char found he was able to mentally track the impulses he was receiving—no, not just able to, but he was being forced to…

Ching! Crunch!

The hollow sound of metal striking rock –and winning—echoed through the strange void. Char found that, by a strange impulse, he'd jumped at the boulder and dug his claws deep into it. The rough texture of the rock, and the way his fingernails had scraped across it, sent a chill up his spine. While it didn't cut like a knife through butter, it did good damage.

Ching!

Another impulse shot through him, and Char swung his other claw, striking the rock again. The dent in the rock became deeper.

Crack!

A third time Char assaulted the rock with the pointed blades at the end of his fingertips, it cut all the way through, causing the top of the pillar to come crumbling down. It soundlessly struck the invisible floor, and the entire broken pillar blinked and disappeared from existence. It was then that he noticed his claws… they were luminous, shimmering like silver spikes dowsed in the sun's rays…

"It is done," The Espeon said. "This is the Metal Claw technique. The method of invoking the technique should now be clear in your mind. Make note that the effect does not always wear off right away. At times, it may linger, allowing increased attack strength for a period of time."

-Pop!-

With that, the Espeon and the strange purple dimension disappeared, replaced with the cramped interior of the machine as it powered down. Char felt his legs tingle—they were both asleep, as he hadn't actually moved his body physically for about fifteen whole minutes while the machine was active. It was all a psychically induced dream.

The door of the chamber swung open with Saura, Ray, and Kecleon waiting on the other side, concerned yet eager expressions spread across their faces. Char stumbled out of the machine.

"Well? Well?" Saura begged. "How'd it go? Did it work?"

"I think so," Char muttered, sitting down on the floor in a daze. "It taught me Metal Claw."

"Metal Claw?" Kecleon repeated. "That's very interesting. That's been an outlawed TM since the beginning. Something about… something about, they couldn't get it right without making you lose all feeling in your legs. Since some Pokémon use the claws on their feet rather than on their hands, they couldn't figure out a way to differentiate between them. Something like that."

Char's eyes widened. He grasped his tingling legs, and didn't feel a thing.

"Actually, no, that wasn't it at all!" Kecleon yammered. "I remember now. I was thinking of Fury Swipes. The Metal Claw TM was the one that would turn you blind! Yeah, that's why it was so bad. If Alakazam finally made one that worked right, great for him! That's quite a significant accomplishment!"

Kecleon pulled the TM disc out of the machine from a small, previously unnoticed slot at its side. He put the disc in a strange box, wrote some symbols on it, and filed it away on the shelf.

"Ah, Metal Claw," he sighed proudly, "Another great expansion to the library, and probably a first in the known Pokémon world…"

"Wait… you mean you can use it again?" Char said. "I thought TMs only work once…"

"Hah. Well, for the humans, they do," Kecleon said with a wink. "The Trainer's Federation made it that way on purpose. They recorded the moves on these flimsy discs that only worked with these portable machines that trainers had to carry around everywhere. They made them so flimsy, that they'd get scratched and become unusable after just one use!"

"W-why would they do that?" Saura wondered. "Make something bad on purpose? What's the point?"

"That's so the trainers would have to buy new discs whenever they wanted to use them more than once, and so they'd get more money!" Kecleon explained eccentrically. "That's what you call underhanded, if you ask me! So some really smart Pokémon got together one day and they went and reverse-engineered them and made their own. And now, they work as many times as you want, and we even get to record little demonstrations with them! Plus, it's a lot easier to charge per use of the machine rather than per disc! Now, who's next?"

… … …

Saura and Ray also had their turns at the machine, but nobody was willing to go in more than once. Saura learned how to command his seed to produce a powerful poison which could be injected into an opponent, and Ray claimed he learned how to conjure glowing balls of energy which did not behave at all like electricity was supposed to. Not sure whether to feel proud of their new skills or just freaked out, the team decided to head back upstairs.

"Well," Saura said, "If we want any other supplies for the big trip, now's our chance. Is there anything we need that Alakazam didn't get us already?"

"Hmm," Char wondered, looking around at the merchandise. "Probably don't need a Pecha Scarf this time. Probably don't need to worry about poison on this trip. Maybe a Defense Scarf? Or… Aspear Scarf? Wouldn't that prevent freezing? That might be useful…"

"HEY," the Kecleon shouted from the counter. "WAIT JUST ONE MOMENT!"

Char rushed back to the counter, wondering what was wrong.

"I see here," the pink Kecleon said, holding a small note card, "that, according to my morning report, your team's bank account is… empty!"

"Wait, huh?" Char cried.

"Oh, my, that's a problem," the Kecleon said sternly. "That's a problem, indeed! I could have sworn, last time I checked, you were fairly wealthy, certainly wealthy enough to use my machine. But now, how will you come up with the sixty-eight thousand Poké you owe in fees?"

Char's mind began racing. Our bank account… empty? What caused this?! And… we've gotten Kecleon angry at us! What will we do? What will happen?

Char was scanning the room for an escape route when Saura spoke up.

"Oh, heheh, yeah, you have me to thank for that," Saura said nervously. "Yeah, this morning, when you left me behind, I figured I'd get some work done. And since you were going to come home with a lot of money from your mission, And since we were about to leave on a trip and all, I… I went and made a big payment on Otto's tuition."

"Hey, you wait a minute!" Ray spoke out to the Kecleon. "Those TMs were supposed to be free! High Intelligence said they'd pay for them!"

"And why should I believe that?" the Kecleon challenged. "I've had teams pull that on me before. 'Oh, yes, I'm buying this on behalf of Team Carrier, just send the bill to them!' Oh, yes, wonderful way to get out of trouble, wouldn't it be? I do not withdraw from somebody's account without their explicit, face-to-face approval! That's just good business for everybody! Especially High Intelligence! If they had reason to accuse my brother and I of defrauding them, do you have any idea how fast we would lose our reputation?!"

Oh, man, oh man! Char said, feeling even more nervous. How awkward! We're no Team Remorse, we can't get out of this as easily as they did! That, and they gave a re-imbursement… but we're broke!

"No, really, I'm serious. Swear on the hooves of Arceus, I'm telling the truth!" Ray insisted. "The TMs were on the house! How else would Char have brought you a disc that Alakazam made, huh?"

Kecleon stopped in mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open. "Oh, hmm," he said. "Well, you do have a point there, good sir. Hmm…"

"Yes, if you really must know, Alakazam is preparing us for a trip to the Emerald Division, and we leave tomorrow morning!" Saura said. "He's the one who sent us here with the disc. He said he'd pay for it."

"Well, then," Kecleon said, soon calming himself back down. "If that's the case, I suppose I will simply get their attention at the next possible chance to verify what you said, and… that would be that. I apologize for getting angry, my good customers. My brother and I can be loose cannons when something goes wrong, especially when we have reason to think somebody's defrauding us. Please understand."

Char nearly slumped to the floor in relief.

To make up for the incident, Kecleon offered them the Aspear Scarf he'd been fixated upon, plus a few other useful trinkets, free of charge.

… … …

"Well," said Chansey, "it's a little late, but I suppose…"

Char, Saura, and Ray were down at the day care center, ready to say their final goodbyes to the someday-to-be fourth member of their team. Char hoped the little bird would take the news well of how long they might be gone… that is, if Otto's mind had developed enough to understand anything he said. But even if it hadn't, Char felt obliged to give Otto a farewell.

The Chansey who had been watching over the empty lobby disappeared through the door, and moments later returned with the little brown bird hopping in tow.

"He was getting ready to sleep, but he came running when I mentioned your name!" Chansey said. "Have fun, little guy!"

"How's he doing?" Saura inquired. "Is he learning much?"

"As much as can be expected," Chansey answered. "Oh, but you know what? We already have his interview with Syr, head of Team Silverwing, scheduled for early next week! Once he joins the team, he'll learn so much it'll make his little head explode! Well, have fun! Don't be too long!"

Otto, though tired, was beaming with joy at the sight of Char. It was almost like Saura and Ray were not even there. He eyed them occasionally, but he danced and hopped around Char's feet, valuing his attention the most.

"Hey, Otto," Char said in a high-pitched voice befitting of a hatchling. "How are you doing tonight? Feeling good?"

"GRRR-OOOOOO!" Otto squealed.

Char wondered if he was trying to say "good" or "great", but he got the gist of it, and smiled back.

"Listen, Otto," Char said while he had the bird's full attention. "We're leaving on a big trip tomorrow, okay? And we're not going to be seeing you again for a while."

The bird cocked his head and blinked. Char wondered it if was actually listening.

"We're sorry," Saura added. "We love you, and we don't like to leave like this, but we have to. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"We'll come back as soon as possible!" Ray promised. "Before you know it, we'll be back! And maybe you can be on our team!"

"Okay," Otto said.

Char was overjoyed, and his friends were also very impressed. Otto had understood!

"Wow, you can talk!" Char cheered. "You can talk now, can't you?"

"Yes," Otto answered.

"But I bet you can't say very many things yet, right?" Char guessed.

"Yes!" Otto answered again.

"Well, hah! That's just great!" Char said, rubbing the bird's head affectionately. "Listen to you, you're growing up so fast!"

Char learned that Otto's vocabulary had expanded to about six words, and if he asked the right questions in ways Otto could understand, he could converse with the little guy. It gave him butterflies in his stomach just knowing that he had helped raised him, and realizing how much he wanted see his personality take shape…

…But, that would be for another day. After a short but pleasant interaction with Otto, he had to return to bed…

…And so did Team Ember. Tomorrow would be the beginning of their greatest mission yet.

… … …

"Ah, home sweet home," Saura yawned as they retired to their hall for the night. "It's always so nice to see this place after a long day, you know that?"

"Well, enjoy it while you can," Char muttered a little sadly. "This might be the last day for a long time we get to see this place."

"It's so exciting, I can't wait!" Ray said. "Scary, but exciting! I bet I'll have trouble getting to sleep tonight. Maybe Char's insomnia will strike again and he'll keep me company!"

"Hey, about that," Char said, remembering an idea he'd had. "Storage is still open. Want me to go get some sleep seeds? If we eat them now, we'll sleep all night."

After rejecting several offers from Ray insisting that he wanted to make the errand, Char finally won out when he reminded Ray about the handshake they'd made. Char turned back and left the team's quarters, heading down the stairs for the storage area which would be closing in less than an hour.

… … …

Char took the scenic route down to the storage area that night, not caring whether he'd get there before closing. In reality, he just wanted one more good look at the spacious, sprawling cave he'd come to know as home. The Gold Division base was his home, the only one he ever knew, and if something tragic were to happen on the mission, this would be the last time he'd ever get to see it…

On all fours, he dashed down the rocky spiral staircase, down the wide, torch-lit halls, past the doorway to the base's main chamber…

They were all paths he now knew so well. He'd memorized them, engrained them in his mind. He knew the shortest distance to every last destination, from the cafeteria far downstairs, to the storage area, to the team quarters where his old and new friends dwelled… he knew the way to Team Remorse's room, where Scythe and his teammates would always consider him welcome, and the way to the recordbook room, where Jay and her assistants would chronicle the day's events for him… He knew how to get to the long-beloved meeting hall, which he still intended to tiptoe into the next chance he'd get, and the bank, where he'd transfer funds into Kecleon's account… he even knew how to get to the lair of High Intelligence, who were always quick to remind him that the world's fate rested on his shoulders…

At last, Char stood in the central chamber, gazing up and down at all its different levels, bridges, and passageways, all being traversed by busy Pokémon running the day's final errands or heading to their designated chambers for the night, the room glowing bright red from the hundreds of ghost torches embedded in the walls and the guard rails…

He stood in the same place he had seen the base for the first time, when Scythe had guided him in. He remembered how awestruck and breathless the sight had left him, pleasing his Charmander heart to no end…

…and realized that it still did. All of it did. This was his home, the place he belonged.

Char!

Char twitched, thinking he'd heard something. He disregarded it.

Char…

It happened again. Something was calling him.

But what? Char stood up like a squirrel and spun around, searching for the source of the voice which had called his name. He saw nobody, not down the halls, or at the opposite end of the great chamber…

CHAR! Do you hear me?

Again, Char whipped is head around, but didn't see any hint of who was calling him. That's when he realized he didn't particularly know what direction the call had sounded from… it had been voiceless. Telepathic.

Oh, you do hear me, the soundless voice said. Good. Now come here. I'm a floor below you, and at the opposite end of the base. Come, quickly.

Wondering about the identity of the unseen caller, Char followed its directions down the stairs and around the halls.

Down to the end of the hall, the voice insisted. I want to talk to you.

Doing as instructed, Char soon found his way into a place he didn't visit very often. All the way down the hall and to the left dwelled Team ARK, in the middle lived Team Shepherd, and at the far right, lived…

Wait, Char realized. Nobody lives down there. That's another empty space, just like ours was before we moved in. I wonder…

Char made his way further down the hall to the unoccupied lair. When he turned the corner, the identity of the caller suddenly became clear…

He saw her crouched in the shadows at the end of the hall, her velvet eyes shimmering back at him…

"Eva…" Char gasped. "You're here."

Hey, no reason to speak, Eva telepathically asserted. Just send me your thoughts. We don't want anyone to hear this conversation. Got it?

"Why?!" Char blurted. "The last time I did what you—"

SHUSH! Eva blasted soundlessly. Listen to me, Char. Thanks to Scythe, if anyone finds me here, and I do mean anyone, I'll get forcefully removed from the base for treason, or worse, locked up down in the dungeons.

"And why shouldn't you?!" Char almost yelled. "You're—AUGH!"

Without warning, Eva attacked with a sharp psychic spell, sending Char to his knees as he clutched his forehead.

If you'll just listen to me for one moment, I might be able to tell you. Eva said angrily. I know what I did. I made a mistake with you. I refused to look into your mind because I didn't think it was worth my time. I was very wrong. It was a mistake of pride. I'm sorry. But I want us both to forget about that incident.

Hah. You hid for all this time, just to tell me that?! Char returned. Oh, by the way, I did tell Scythe what you did. So no, you're not forgiven, until you get forgiven by him.

I knew you would eventually, Eva said, nodding her head. But I knew your conscience wouldn't let you say it right away. All I wanted was to buy some time to get away. I meant no offense to you in the end.

Okay, fine, whatever, Char said with a grumble, sneaking closer to her. What do you want?! You hid out here for, what, a month? What are you trying to prove?!

Char… just now, I found something horrible, Eva said. It's something I thought you would need to know.

What's so horrible? Char asked. There's not much I can do right now, Eva. I leave for the Emerald Division tomorrow.

That's the problem, Eva said. Scythe is going with you. And I just now found out what he's planning to do when he gets there! It's the secret he's keeping from you and even the rest of his team. He loves Shander like a brother, but even Shander doesn't know!

Char felt very uneasy about the direction the conversation was going. How did you find out? He inquired.

I'm psychic, Eva reminded him, swishing her tail. I can read minds. And I got him just now while his guard was down. I saw everything.

And why are you intruding upon Scythe's mind? Char demanded harshly. Even Alakazam has the decency not to do that. Don't you think his thoughts should be kept private?

Eva blinked at Char. She sat in the corner with a very proud, regal posture, her expression betraying no emotion except for her desire to be discreet and stealthy. Something about her was strange, and Char couldn't put his finger on it.

Char, I want you to listen to me right now, she said, her telepathy strong and serious. As of now, there is no other Pokémon in this base I support more than you. Not Alakazam, not Scythe, not Metagross. You. I wronged you when I refused Scythe's request. You had the Call. It was a mistake. And now I need to make that up to you. Char, I'm offering my services to you as a psychic. I'll read anyone's mind you wish. Just say the word. I know you're concerned about Scythe. I know he's been bothering you for a while. I can see it in your mind. So, I have read his mind for you…

How… much of my mind have you seen? Char asked suspiciously.

Enough to understand, Eva responded. I know, for instance, that you're a human. That is another reason I wish to make penance to you. I am a Pokémon. Pokémon serve humans. And I have offended you. And now that I know you are a human, I am indebted to serve you.

Oh, come on, I get enough of that from Ray, and Scythe, Char said. You too, now?

Why, of course, Eva said in a gentle voice that sounded sincere. By now, you must have noticed that every Pokémon you've gone and revealed your secret to has vowed to serve you unconditionally?

Unconditionally? I don't know about that, Char said. Saura, perhaps. Ray… well, I told him that I didn't think too highly of him treating me like that… Scythe… Um… well, he does respect me…

That's because he serves you as his master, Eva said. Just like Saura and Ray do. And now, it will be my turn to assume the role of your servant. You are now my master.

Eva bowed her head to him.

But quickly! We are wasting time. You must know what I have discovered! Scythe's plans are very dark and terrible. I fear that you will not survive the upcoming events if you are not prepared.

Then why are you dancing around the problem and not telling me already? Char demanded, crossing his arms.

Because I respect your decision, Eva said. Scythe has told you he cannot afford to have another Pokémon know. I am already one who does know. Do you want to be the second? I will tell you, just so long as you understand the betrayal you are making. If not, I will stay silent. It's your decision. Will you hear it?

Blindsided by the whole situation, Char took a moment to think it over. Yes, Scythe was bothering him deeply, but now, was Eva suggesting that Scythe's problems could put him in danger?

He's never given me a reason not to trust him, Char thought to himself. I even told him, I promised him that I would always trust him. He's not going to betray me... is he?

I know the answer to that question, Eva interjected, startling Char and making him realize he had no private thoughts. I don't blame you for trusting Scythe so much. He has deserved your trust until this point. But now, you have to realize that Scythe is all about playing games. This time, you're part of the game. Ask yourself: do you want to let yourself be part of his game? Do you trust him that well? Or... will you take things into your own hands?

Char paused for a moment. Then, he shook his head, not wasting his time with any more thoughts that were like an open book to the psychic. He wanted to get away from her.

No? Eva responded, looking a bit saddened as she bowed her head. Very well. I will not tell you.

I already betrayed Scythe once, Char determined. I'm not going to do it again. And this time, it really counts. He asked me what sacrifices I would be willing to make. I'll make this one.

A good choice, Eva commented. But Char, please be careful. Scythe's actions on this mission will surprise you deeply. They may even change your opinion of him. If you will not hear the truth, that is all I can tell you.

Feeling very unnerved, Char began to walk away. Eva's advancements had intimidated him, somehow, and he didn't know what else to say.

If ever you need me, I'll be right in this hall, Eva said. All I ask is that you don't tell on me, and I'll serve you unconditionally. Because, after all, I can't serve you if I'm kicked out of the base…

Goodbye, Eva, Char said, leaving her behind.

Stay on guard, and return safely, Eva said. I'll be waiting for you.

… … …

At last, the long day came to a close.

Char managed to arrive late to the storage area, but after pounding on the door long enough, Morrik conceded and gave him the desired seeds.

But when he settled down in his bed that night, he found he didn't even need a seed to help him rest. He'd risen early, and put in a full day's work… he was ready to collapse. So, he placed the seeds down by Ray's bed, careful not to wake him, and climbed into his own.

He enjoyed his comfortable bed, and the glorious fire which surrounded it; it was the final thing he had to be thankful for. He drank in the comfort, feeling the hot currents of air sweep across him and lull him into a blissful peace. Yes, he would miss them so dearly when he left…

Yes…

… … …

It was happening again. He could feel it coming.

So powerfully… so vividly…

The vision came. When it did, it was so real, so colorful, Char couldn't believe he wasn't actually there…

It's like I can see everything, Char realized. It's like… the memory is perfect this time… it's like it's not holding anything back…

Dialga stood before Char's eyes.

He saw Dialga in full, ethereal glory. It was beautiful. So much more magnificent than anything he'd seen—his previous visions, the statues down in the meeting hall, or even when the Call activated…

Char felt like he was going to cry just gazing upon the visage of the time god. It was like a living gemstone, its powerful aura pulsing across its sapphire body, shining like many suns. He could feel its presence, how time bended around its body, bowing to its will. Char felt so small in its presence, as it was larger in size than a whole building, staring down at the tiny little creature which must have been him. Its eyes, like deep red flames, betrayed its emotion—a deep humility, or respect, or perhaps… lament?

Dialga began to speak. Char gave it full heed, hoping that this time, he'd be able to understand…

"This is not something we wish upon you," Dialga breathed, bowing its head. It spoke powerfully, but so very gently… "You bring this upon yourself, by your own actions."

What? What? What is it? Char begged desperately, though he could not move or speak. What have I brought upon myself? What have I done? Why did I come here? WHY AM I A CHARMANDER?"

But Dialga… fell silent. His words once more became incomprehensible.

NO! Char exploded in grief, still contained within his own mind. No! Please! Tell me! Tell me more! Please!

Again, his visage shifted. Palkia stood at Dialga's left side, equally as majestic. A red aura rained from its form, blinding white light gleamed from its silver hide. Its wings were spread, its tail swishing mightily behind it…

Char waited for the thing he knew was coming…

And it happened. Palkia presented Char with the tiny, circular capsule… The Poké Ball…

It floated in the air, hovering between the spatial god's great claws…

Wait…

Char noticed something… peculiar.

That Poké Ball… there's something… about it…

He stared at the object, clear as day before his eyes, yet he couldn't quite tell what the memory wanted him to see…

That Poké Ball… it's special. It's very special. It's… very powerful. I don't know why, but… it's… dangerous, somehow… But… why? What's so special about it? I don't know! I can't tell! Why can't I tell?!

That's when something happened in the dream that had never happened before.

The two mythical dragons took a step backward, as if having been startled. Did they look… scared?

His vision lurched. His field of perception panned down. And, to his horror, he saw…

Claws. Red claws. Pokémon claws. Charmander claws.

No! It can't be! Char cried to himself. In this memory… I'm still a Charmander! I'm still a Pokémon! I'm not a human at all! What does this mean? What happened to me? Did Dialga and Palkia just finish turning me from a human into a Charmander? And what's with that Poké Ball? Are they going to… capture me with it?!

Char's vision lurched again. He was scared. Or, his memory was scared. Either way, he felt deeply panicked. He tried to move. He tried to flee. But…

I'm stuck! Char realized. Not just me, but my memory! It wants to move, but… I'm stuck. I can't move anywhere. It's like my feet are nailed to the floor!

Char!

He struggled, but to no avail.

Why can't I move? What is—wait! I think I know! Something's holding me back, isn't it? Something's got me from behind! Something's holding me in its grasp! It won't let me go! Why won't it let me go?

His vision shifted… around…

Hey, Char!

And behind him, he saw…

A claw.

… … …

Car's eyes drifted open. It was the middle of the night… but it was dark. So very dark. The torches at his bedside had been put out, as had all the rest of the torches in the room.

"Muhh…" Char grumbled, blinking.

"Char," Saura's voice whispered. "It's time to get up."

Char looked about him. Saura had climbed into his bed and was gently nudging him with his nose. Ray stood at his bedside. Behind him stood Scythe, bearing a packed bag.

"Char," Saura whispered again. "It's time to go."

*Chapter 37*: Chapter 33: Can't Hold On

Chapter 33

Here I am, a candle in the wind
Just a gleam, a sparkle in the sea
Now I stand, my heart is overthrown
As I leave… all I've ever known.

Even now, it feels like yesterday
Found a home, a place where I could stay
And a life, purpose I could fill
Now I watch… as it fades away.

And my heart, it reaches for the sky
For the life, the dreams I leave behind
For the strength it takes just not to cry
For the strength… just to say goodbye.


"No…"

Char vaguely felt the tug of Saura's vine as it gently led him through the darkened corridor. With barely any sense of direction to call his own, he let it guide him forward.

It felt so surreal, like he was still fast asleep and adrift in his dreams. But there he was. The time had finally come. It was time to leave.

"Hey, don't forget the other bag," he heard Saura's voice say.

Now, as he saw his home passing before his eyes, the place he loved so dearly, it looked so cold and dead. The silver ornaments which decorated the walls no longer sparkled in the firelight—they were only shadowy cut-outs in the absence of the torch flames Char never imagined would ever stop burning. The rug which spanned the distance of the hall no longer exploded with beautiful orange and red—it appeared as featureless as the gray stone floor.

"No," Char whispered again.

The aches, the twinges of regret, all started to descend upon him as he watched it all go. He knew he wasn't all that sad about leaving his team's personal hall; after all, he'd only lived there for a couple of days. But somehow, it wasn't just a comfortable living space he was leaving, it was something far greater. It was as if he was leaving his life, his own self behind.

"Easy," Saura's voice hummed gently, so that the others couldn't hear. "It's going to be okay."

"But I… I don't want to leave," Char whined weakly, not even caring who would listen. "I want to stay. Can't we stay?"

"No, we can't," Scythe rasped, hurrying the group along. "This has gone out of our hands and above our heads. We have no choice."

"But… I'm so happy here," Char muttered. "I'm so happy here. I just want to stay here…"

"Control yourself," Scythe grumbled dismissively. "You did not come this far just to be a coward. Dialga would not be proud of you. Take charge of your destiny."

"We're all going to be in this together, just like you wanted," Saura reminded him. "We won't leave you for a minute! And besides, we'll be back someday. I promised my little sister I wouldn't be gone forever. I have to make sure we come back!"

"Do you have a habit of making promises you can't keep?" Scythe asked in an unusually harsh tone.

"Huh?" Saura gasped, a bit surprised at the response.

It was then that Char noticed Scythe's disposition that morning. A hard scowl was spread across his face. His eyes were almost completely red, darting around constantly as if to check his surroundings for danger. His entire form shook with uncertainty, as if he regretted every step he made. And… for a minute, in the light of his own tail, Char thought he saw a gleam from the Scyther's face. It was a gleam he recognized, one he'd seen before. Scythe had been crying.

"Make no mistake, Saura. This will be the hardest journey of your life," Scythe tried to say solemnly, but only succeeded in adding a cutting bitterness to his voice. "There is a very good chance that you, or any of us, for that matter, will not return alive."

Char gulped hard, suddenly feeling very afraid. He understood that whatever petty homesickness he felt was irrelevant compared to Scythe's despair. For some unknown reason he had chosen not to let Eva tell him, this was a hard day for the old warrior… perhaps the hardest in a long while.

…And why, Char wondered, did he sound so sure of an imminent casualty on this trip?

"Sorry… I apologize," Scythe mumbled, shaking his head. "I know I'm not helping the matter. I didn't sleep well last night. Once I have fully roused myself, I promise I'll be able to act a little more polite than this."

"Do you have a habit of making promises you can't keep?" Char shot.

Instantly, Char wished he could recall the words. He'd lost control of his tongue, and it wasn't the first time it had happened. Immediately, he felt his breath catch in his chest and his eyes fall to a close, wishing he could take refuge in the darkness with the dancing remnants of his vision. What was this personality flaw of his, he wondered, which let him stab at his friends with cruel, piercing words? What was it that he lacked? Was it Ray's friendliness? Saura's way with his words? Or perhaps Otto's virtue of silence and brevity? Was it just part of the Charmander, or was it part of his own heart, that let him disregard his respect for his companions? And why, oh, why, did it have to happen now?

Opening his eyes again, he glanced at Saura, if for nothing more than silent support. Saura returned a glance of sympathy, but there was nothing more he could do; he couldn't fix Char's mistake. Char did the only thing he could: he emptied his lungs and awaited the consequences of his words.

In response, Scythe turned a single, bloodshot eye in his direction, causing the trail where the tears had fallen across his face to once again gleam. He closed his eyes, and, after an exasperated sigh, opened his mouth to reply:

"No. I don't."

To that, Char had no desire to reply. His apology was implied.

… … …

Once the door was shut and locked behind them, Team Ember's hall became just like the rest of the unused quarters in the base: deserted. Barren. Devoid of life. Inaccessible, save for the occasional ghost Pokémon making its rounds. And it would stay that way, a memory behind a closed door, a reserved chamber for a respected team, until the day would come when Char and his friends would triumphantly return…

…assuming that day would even come. Char knew he wanted it to, and determined he would keep telling himself it would come until he no longer doubted it.

"Hey, what gives?" a familiar Treecko's voice shouted from just outside the front door as the group emerged into the hallway. "What kind of friends are you, leaving without saying goodbye?"

Char balked. Lined up in front of his door were several… no, many of his acquaintances and friends from the resistance, gathered together to see him off on his epic mission. There was Team Stripes, lead by Taka, Evan, Nohill the Nidoran, Genie the Clefairy, and many others he'd had the pleasure of meeting and working with during his time at the base.

"Have fun at the Emerald Division!" Evan cheered. "Bring back lots of good stuff!"

Behind them stood several members of Team Remorse, Scythe's closest confidants, and Team Absolution, their recent partners in business. There was Ursa, Shander, Kain, Nidoroch, Kyria, Marrow… Even Daemon was there. The dark hound stood in front of them all, offering Char a respectful bow.

"Don't disappoint us," Daemon told him as he passed. "Don't let your fire fade."

"Make sure you come back in one piece, alright?" Ursa said. "We don't know what we'd do without you!"

"You'll do fine," Marrow asserted cheerily. "Scythe's done his work and turned you into fighters. You've got nothin' to worry about!"

"Be sure to keep an eye on Scythe for us," Kyria said. "We don't want to lose him!"

"Please," Shander added, a hint of vulnerability in his eyes. "Don't let Scythe down. He's putting his heart into this mission. I don't wish to see him heartbroken."

"Do not let your enemies stand in your way," Kain said in his deep, powerful voice that always sent chills down Char's spine. "If anyone dares to stand in your way, do not even hesitate. Burn them! Burn them to the ground!"

Finally, at the end of the weird lineup, was High Intelligence. Alakazam and Xatu stood at the end of the hall.

"Be off at once," Alakazam said. "All our hearts go with you this day. May the greatest graces of Arceus be with you, and may you bring peace to our ravaged homeland!"

Char sighed happily. His courage welled, and so did his pride, at seeing so many of his friends take time off from their busy schedules just to offer a fond farewell.

…Or not.

No, there actually wasn't anyone gathered in front of their door that morning. No Team Stripes, no Team Remorse, nobody; they had all been in his imagination. It was something he merely hoped to see, but something which did not come.

In truth, it was an ordinary day at the base. The rocky halls through which they crossed were almost empty, just as they were every other morning at the Gold Division base. Only the earliest of early birds were up and active, marching with their teams to be off for whatever jobs or journeys were in store for the day. Everyone close to Char's heart was either still fast asleep, or just too busy with their daily duties to notice. Even Team Remorse was told that Scythe and Team Ember were only setting off to an extended mission at the Emerald Division; there was not a single other soul in the base, besides for High Intelligence, who knew of Char's true destination. His mission was top secret. He was alone.

Alone, that was, except for the three Pokémon which meant the world to him, the three Pokémon whose companionship gave him more strength and comfort than he could ask for. They would be at his side, he reminded himself, and they would never stop being at his side. Realizing this, Char made the resolution to suppress his lingering sense of self-pity. He knew it was only a waste of energy and emotion, serving to hinder has fire and make him feel weaker on the inside. He knew it only made him more vulnerable.

The world doesn't revolve around me, Char told himself. Here I am wallowing in my own pains, when my friends have pains of their own… Look at Saura. He turned down an opportunity to be with his family just to come here. I bet that was hard, but he's not complaining. And Scythe… look at how miserable he is! He can barely walk straight! But he's holding on… Maybe that's why he's so much stronger than me. He's not just strong in battle, but he's emotionally strong, even under so much stress. He knows how to stop feeling sorry for himself.

This doesn't have anything at all to do with pain, Char determined. This isn't about my pain, or Scythe's, or any of our pain. This is about ignoring it and doing what has to be done. So, I've got to stop being so sensitive to pain, and the feelings that bring me pain. I have to start making myself stronger, like Scythe.

"I have a favor to ask of you guys," Char yawned, finally starting to feel halfway awake. "If I ever start to whine again, Saura, I want you to tie me up, and Ray, I want you to shock me as hard as you can."

"Hah, but I don't want to send you into a coma!" Ray answered with a smirk. "But I understand. I'll shock you just hard enough."

"Perhaps a shock is what I need right now," Scythe muttered to himself just barely under his breath.

"I think I can help with that," Ray said kindly. "Hold on for just a moment."

Scythe closed his eyes and visibly cringed, expecting at any moment for his body to be flooded with enough electric power to reduce him to a pile of ash. But after the shock did not come for a few moments, he peeked back at the Raichu… who was happily offering a blue, oddly-shaped berry to him, a berry which contained the power to ward away drowsiness for hours.

"You packed Chesto berries, did you?" Scythe said as a pleased smirk formed across his face. "Just what I was craving. Very thoughtful of you. Intelligence would be displeased if we stopped downstairs for breakfast this morning."

"We packed most of our favorite supplies," Saura assured him. "Last night, we thought about all of our missions and tried to remember which things worked best with our techniques, so we filled the bag with stuff we know how to use. That was after Kecleon decided to give us all the cheap seeds and berries we wanted for free."

"Very good," Scythe said with a smile, accepting the berry and balancing it on the end of his blade. "I'm very proud of you. I'll tell you, I find it hard to express how glad I am to see you three develop the way that you have. What I mean is, for as long as I've been around on this world, I've been a warrior. It's been my one and only role to play to Ambera. I have no regrets about that. And I don't think a minute has passed in my life where I didn't assume I would always be a warrior… I certainly never imagined I would end up as a teacher. I think it was a whimsy of mine from time to time, but never a possibility I took seriously. And then, when the time came for Char to appear in my life, it was dropped upon my shoulders… I knew I had to guard you with all my heart, the precious treasure that you are… and so, I would have to train you… Let me tell you, it was a new kind of challenge trying to pass my own experience to a new generation… And I was never convinced I was doing all that well."

"Who are you kidding, Scythe? You're the best teacher!" Ray interjected. "You always challenged us, but you always made sure we had what it took to pull through!"

"And you always set such a good example!" Saura added. "I'm sure we made ourselves a better team just by watching your team do its work. We always have to push ourselves hard just for the honor of living in your shadow!"

"Ah, hah hah hah, you flatter me," Scythe laughed heartily. "I suppose it must mean something that my students approve of my methods, even if some others don't. I really tried hard to do things the right way… many of my sleepless nights were dedicated to digging through my instincts for the answers to what to do with you. But… we're about to be put to the test, and we'll shortly find out just how good of a teacher I really was."

Char frowned. Despite Scythe's streak of cheer, there was still a dark tone lingering in his voice. It was something he wanted to ignore, just to pretend Scythe was being completely optimistic, but he couldn't…

"Let me tell you something else," Scythe continued. "When this trip was first in the works, I was deathly skeptical of everything. I planned for Char and I to travel alone. My instincts told me that taking anyone else would be an unnecessary risk that would just cause tragedy. I tried to think of ways to justify this to you, Char, and the rest of you, in a way that you would accept. But as I continued to mull over it, I realized that it couldn't be any other way. You three are a team. Your greatest strength comes when you work as a single entity, both in heart and on the battlefield. Especially after I saw how Char wasn't keeping any secrets, I realized I had to comply. I had to honor that. And besides… what business do I have tearing a human away from his Pokémon?"

Scythe flicked his blade to send the berry flying and snatched it from midair with his jaws. He bit down through the hard exterior of the fruit, eager to get the stimulant into his brain as soon as he could. With his mouth full, he eyed Char as if curious to watch his reaction.

"Thank you," Char said. "I don't know what else I can say. You've given me everything I ever needed… and I know I have a problem with being selfish. I can't really help it. I think it might be part of being a Charmander. But you asked me what I'm willing to sacrifice, and I think I have an answer for you. I'll try my best to sacrifice my pride."

"That's a good start," Scythe hummed, trying not to slur his words with his mouth full. "But I ask you something: if you have no pride, what will make your fire burn?"

Char didn't know how to respond.

"But we should stop with this rambling," Scythe said. "It's time to face what is ahead of us. Time… to see what you and I both can do."

Char decided not to take one final look at the spacious main chamber of the base as the team approached the long, darkened corridors which would lead to the top of the great plateau. He knew he'd had enough nostalgia for the time being. He needed to move on.


Great Flatlands

Team Ember didn't often get to see the top of the great plateau in the sunless hours of the early morning; the lands to the west of the division never seemed to have all that many tasks in store, particularly none of those so urgent the team needed to leap out from the shadows at the precise moment the Watchers dissipated. So, when the occasional chance arose to glimpse at the dark hemisphere overhead, obscured by no tree, faraway hill, or any sort of terrain but the flat, featureless ground, it was a marvelous sight to behold. The sun still nothing but a miniscule stain of discoloration on the eastern horizon, several stars still shimmered overhead, illuminating the dark void of space like the many twinkling torch flames down in the division base. One by one, they were going out, peering through the scattered clouds for as long as they could before drowning in the sun's rays…

The sight of the stars always touched Char's heart much more than he expected. They were something he knew, somehow; they were something he remembered strongly, even from before his transformation. Visions of the gorgeous night sky speckled with its sparkling rivers of constellations were imbued into his mind, like a beauty he had once known, a memory of pleasant nighttime walks or unobscured lookout points he may have once enjoyed. In a way, it made him sad, sad that the stars were objects of fear to the Pokémon of Ambera, their glory disregarded as a sign that danger was imminent, a reminder that the world belonged only to the savage ghost Pokémon in the hours of darkness. But no matter what the others told him, he knew that the stars were a thing of beauty, and he wished for the day when the Watchers would leave so that he might enjoy them more frequently…

As he followed Scythe across the surface of the plateau, taking in the pleasant humidity of the dawning spring day, it crossed his mind, just as it had done a few times in the past, that his memory of the stars might have been another well-disguised clue to his past. Yet, he was never inclined to give it much thought. After all, every human knew how beautiful the night sky could be… right?

"Oh, WOW!" Ray suddenly gasped. "Are those… what I think they are?"

Following the direction of Ray's attention, Char squinted at the eastern horizon. There, he spotted several silhouettes against the light of the rising sun. They stood tall and proud, some observing the sky as the last several stars blinked out of existence, their miniscule wings spread and poised for takeoff…

"Dragonite," Scythe hissed. "So this is the… transportation… Alakazam has arranged for us."

"D-dragonites!" Saura repeated, barely believing it. "Wow! What a rare kind of Pokémon they are! I was starting to believe that Dragonites were just a myth!"

Ray was absolutely wide-eyed. "This is going to be exciting…" he muttered. "I hear they fly really, really fast."

Wait, what? Char wondered. Flying…?

That's when it hit him. For some reason, it hadn't really occurred to him how exactly they would be making their journey. Even when Alakazam mentioned the word the previous day, his mind had only glazed over it, unable to comprehend it and forgetting it quickly…

He was going to be flying.

Char found himself feeling very uncomfortable , very fast. He wasn't ready for this! If there was something that he learned from hanging on for dear life by Scythe's neck for only a couple seconds, and seeing the ground so far below, he was terrified of flying. Too terrified for words. He'd done an excellent job of blocking that recent event from memory, as short an event as it had been, but… What now? Was he going to be flying for whole minutes? Hours? …Days?

"Be warned," Scythe said quietly while they were still out of the hearing range of the dragons. "Dragonite are known for their humility and good cheer. You can never tell by looking at one if it is offended by your words and actions, or even if it is burning with anger on the inside. They always have a smile on their face like they're in the best of moods, but that's because they bottle up their rage so well, you can never be sure when they are about to… release it."

"Uh-oh," Saura said. "The way you say that, it sounds as though…"

"…As though I've seen it happen?" Scythe almost laughed. "I have. Twice. I used to think I was a master at reading a Pokémon's face. But when I met my first Dragonite… never saw it coming. I can still give myself headaches just remembering the pounding it gave me… So just remember: treat them with the utmost respect, do what they say, and try not to be a bother. An angry Dragonite is not something you would be proud to witness."

Char was barely even listening; all he could think about was flying. Every step he made seemed like it was bringing him closer to the fateful moment, the moment where he would cling with all his might onto the Dragonite's back as it rose miles into the air… just one slip, and it would all be over… it would be miles away before it would notice it was missing a passenger… he would be lost among the clouds, never to be seen again…

Char cringed, trying to block the thought out of his mind.

"You alright?" Saura asked. "Still having some regrets?"

"Yeah," Char muttered back. "That, and… I don't think I'm all that ready to fly. Even just yesterday, when Scythe carried me, it was pretty bad. I don't know if… if I could survive something longer than that."

"Don't worry! It's going to be fine!" Ray assured him. "Sure, it's scary! But you have to slap yourself if you're even thinking about passing up this opportunity!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure that Alakazam wouldn't have called for them if they weren't good at flying," Saura added. "Me, I'm really excited to try this! I've always wanted to fly!"

"Oh, I don't know…" Char fretted. "What if I can't hold on? They don't even have any saddles on or anything! What if I just… slip off? I'm scared of heights!"

"Hey, Saura!" Ray barked. "Quick! Tie him up!"

"Wait, WAIT! WAIT! NO!" Char clamored, quickly backing away from Saura. "No! Okay, fine! Fine! I'll stop! It's just… not easy."

"Not easy?!" Ray cried, though very sarcastically. "Who are you, and what have you done with Char?! You stood up to fifty rock Pokémon all by yourself and beat a Steelix to death with your bare hands, was that easy? And now, you can't even let another Pokémon carry you through the sky? Dragonites are some of the most skilled flyers, ever! Where's the Steelix-slayer, Huh?"

Char took a deep breath, knowing that anything he'd reply with would probably provoke Ray to jolt him. Besides, Ray was right. He had to find some courage, and quickly. It was down there somewhere, he just needed to get it working.

Before he knew it, the team was closing the final few yards' distance between them and the Dragonite team. Curiously, he gazed upon the creatures, of which there were seven in all. They were tall, proud, and very majestic, towering much higher than even Scythe. Covered head-to-toe in bright orange scales, their forms seemed to glow like molten glass in the light of the rising sun. He couldn't help feeling jealous of the scales, given how they were strangely missing from his own body; he was often puzzled as to how he could classify as a reptilian creature when all he had for protection was a rather sensitive layer of red skin which bruised and bled not unlike a human's. He looked into their eyes and saw their pride, but also their purity of heart. Their faces betrayed such a kindheartedness and a sense of honor that Char wanted to trust them unconditionally, if it hadn't been for Scythe's prior words of warning. In all, they appeared to be very respectable, powerful creatures…

The only real thing that took Char by surprise was the size of their wings. They were laughably miniscule! He gawked at them, wondering how such a heavy, bulky creature expected to fly with wings that were not even a foot in length.

"And here they come. Good morning!" the lead Dragonite shouted cordially, noticing the group approach. "Your reputation precedes you, Scyther. I am Arshall. My fleet and I are under orders by Lucario to ferry you to the Emerald base."

"And good morning to you, and your fleet," Scythe replied as official-sounding as he could manage. "How are the skies?"

"In this vicinity, very friendly," the Dragonite replied, looking to the horizon. "Though, a wave of cold presses in from the north. Though we only noticed some tension in the clouds on the way here, we may brave some storms in our flight."

"The front carried a westward pitch," another Dragonite noted. "Luck be with us, it will avoid our course. After all, we won't be flying directly over the Master's lands…"

"True," Arshall said with a thoughtful nod. "It is a possibility. But, we can't count on Kyogre to cooperate with us. If we meet with tornadic weather, we have several points of rest charted along our course… Oh, and good morning to you! You must be the children Lucario mentioned! How are you on this fine morning, little dragon? Ready to fly?"

"I'm ready," Char choked out, not completely honest.

"Glad to hear so," it replied with a smile. "What about you, Bulbasaur? Raichu? Oh, well, I suppose Lucario was exaggerating a bit when he referred to you as children. I have no place referring to a fully grown mouse as a child. My apologies! I meant no offense."

"No offense taken!" Ray replied. "I'm really honored to meet you! I've never met a Dragonite before!"

"I suppose the honor should be all ours," Arshall said with a slight bow of her head. "Lucario seems very excited to meet you. And the Scyther of resistance legend walks at your side. You must be important! Though it's not my place to understand why. My greatest desire is just to see you through your journey through the sky."

"It is the Charmander who is the most important of these three," Scythe noted, trying his best not to sound awkward. "The others are his support. So, if anything should happen… his life means more than theirs. And ultimately, even more than mine."

"Oh, you underestimate us, Scyther!" the Dragonite laughed. "Nothing will go wrong on the flight. Nothing can! That's the beauty of flying; up there, there's nothing of danger! Nothing but the clouds, and the Pokémon perseverant enough to carry themselves through them. And besides, even if twenty Rayquaza stage an ambush from the stratosphere, our evasion skills are unmatched. You will all be delivered to Lucario without so much as a scratch. That's our promise!"

"And for that, we are most grateful," Scythe respectfully replied. "But, if you would pardon it, there's a nagging question I have… where did you stay the night? Did Alakazam grant you hospitality in the base without our knowledge?"

"Oh, no, of course not!" Arshall answered. "We found a cave not far from here, oh, about twenty miles or so, which gave us all the hospitality we required. When the sun rose, came here and waited, just as we were told to do."

"Oh, wow…" Saura gasped quietly to his friends. "Do you think… they could be referring to… you know… that cave?"

"What cave?" Ray asked. "Do you know one of them personally?"

"Yeah, the Gravelrock Tunnel entrance," Saura replied. "But that's kinda far away. There's no way they could have flown all the way up here just in the time it took for us to walk here… could they?"

"You know, I've heard that Dragonite can circle the whole world twice in one day," Ray gasped. "They could have gotten here in seconds! They're just that fast!"

"Can I ask a nagging question, too?" Char said out loud, unable to contain himself.

"Certainly, little dragon!" Arshall replied. "Although, we must depart soon, so be brief, if you may."

"How do you fly with such small wings?" Char asked curiously.

A moment of silence hung in the air, and Char could almost feel his friends shudder at his irrelevance, hoping that the Dragonite would not feel offended or annoyed by the question. Arshall, though, seemed endlessly amused by it, returning a beaming smile.

Then, something happened which almost made Char's head explode. Arshall jumped about two feet into the air… and didn't come back down

. To Char's amazement, the dragon simply hung there, supported by nothing! She held her position with effortlessness; not even her wings flapped to help stay aloft. She was levitating!

Char could hear the stunned gasps of his friends at the sight, and he struggled unsuccessfully to produce a comment himself.

"Dragonair fly without wings," Arshall explained, gently setting her body back onto the ground, "and so do we. Like the Gyrados and the Rayquaza, it isn't our wings that keep us aloft, but our hearts. Though, still, our wings are invaluable for controlling and stabilizing our flight. They are what let us steer our course with such precision! And we're thankful that they are so small; they're very unlikely to get injured, especially in an intense battle! You see?"

"I see," Char responded, full of awe.

"So indeed, little dragon, they aren't the laughable little appendages they seem to be," Arshall laughed. "Certainly, if they were, we wouldn't hesitate to laugh at them ourselves!"

"Not to mention the humans who try to raise Dragonites themselves," another added. "They teach them to flap their wings when they fly. Quite laughable, if you ask me, but also a little demeaning. It becomes such a force of habit that you can't convince them it's not needed."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Saura commented. "I never knew Dragonites were so gifted! But hey, does this mean Char will be able to fly like that when he grows up?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not," Arshall said with a wink. "No, Charizard have to support their own weight with their wings. But oh, it's not a curse! It's a wonderful gift on its own, too! In compensation, you'll be given such a limitless supply of endurance, and your wings will so strong—"

"Pardon me, captain, but time is fleeting," another Dragonite whispered. "We should be leaving soon!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! You're right," Arshall said, snapping back to attention. "Would you look at me, rambling on? Here, I was telling you to be brief, then I went and ended up wasting our time. Well, no more! To the skies!"

At that, the Dragonite team directed Char's group into getting situated for the trip. Two of the fleet members were assigned care of the bags, while the rest of them, save for the captain, took one passenger each. Char was admittedly a little disappointed and scared when the Dragonites refused to let him ride with Saura, but he clenched his fists, mustered his courage, and decided not to complain… even though he was shaking in his skin.

"Everything okay?" asked the Dragonite, another female, whom Char was directed to mount. "Nervous?"

Char nodded in response to the question as his limbs softly scrambled and panicked to find handholds and footholds on the dragon's back. Its back was as smooth as could be (except for when he happened to rub its scales the wrong way), with not even the slightest ridge or spike to grasp. Already, he could feel himself slipping down! Am I supposed to just hug with my arms? Or my legs? Char wondered, his throat tightening. I can't do it! I'm just not big enough!

"Let me guess… afraid of heights?" the Dragonite asked.

Again, Char nodded, saying nothing.

"If you ever feel insecure, you're welcome to hold my wings," the Dragonite said. "But only at the base, please. Otherwise I may not be able to control them. And if you feel like you cannot breathe, raise your head. It will help you avoid the vacuum. I'm Zahira, by the way. I'm not a member of this fleet. I belong to Lucario's team. He sent me to come with Arshall and oversee the flight. If you are who they say you are, I've got to make sure you see Lucario as soon as possible."

Laying on his belly, Char grasped the base of Zahira's wings as hard as he could. He hoped the position he had found was as secure as it felt.

"Don't be tense," Zahira assured him. "Arshall doesn't exaggerate when she says nothing is going to go wrong. Dragonite are not in the business of screwing up the simple things. Besides, there aren't any unknown factors to flying. Everything but the weather is calculated, and even that is predictable. Well… there's also the issue of betrayal. You're not planning to backstab us in mid-flight, are you?"

Char shook his head, as if to reply "Are you crazy?"

"Didn't think so," Zahira hummed. "In that case, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just relax. Enjoy the flight. And try to trust me. Can you do that?"

I can trust you, Char thought, But I'm not sure if I can trust myself!

"Pokémon! Prepare yourselves!" Arshall proclaimed. "We set a course to return home. Unlike the trip here, the return trip will be a two-day venture; we are now carrying supplies and precious cargo. Should all go well, our rest stop will be Nincadia, but if the time grows short and the weather is uncooperative, we will change course and settle in Redblood Desert before the Watchers catch us in the air. Set your bearings for north-northeast, by about three-and-a-quarter wingspan, approaching the Master's domain no closer than one hundred eight miles. Through the first leg, keep the elevation no farther than twenty-one geodes…"

The Dragonite's speech became gibberish to Char as she rambled off undoubtedly important numbers to her fleet, all of which meant nothing to him. He glanced at his friends, all comfortably seated upon their mounts and bursting with excitement. Scythe held on with only the strength of his legs, yet seemed surprisingly content with his position. Saura's vines were hooked around the base of the Dragonite's wings and held as taught as could be. Ray… didn't even appear to be holding on; it looked much more like he was uncontrollably jumping around and cheering for joy across the dragon's back.

"Ready for this, Char?" Ray cried. "Just look! Look up there! Look at the clouds! See them? In just a few moments, we're going to be up there with them! We're going to be above the clouds! Can you believe it? Are you ready?"

"Really, I'm not so sure!" Char responded.

"Oh, come on!" Ray cried. "Grit your teeth! This is going to be amazing!"

Char scowled and held on tighter to Zahira's wings, feeling a tiny wince shoot through her body as he did so.

"Char! Hey, Char!" Ray called back. "THE FIRE WILL NEVER DIE!"

When Char tried to respond, he found that he couldn't.

In fact, he could barely even breathe.

The sensation was like being pinned, face-down, underneath the weight of a Snorlax. He couldn't lift a muscle from Zahira's back.

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the ground. It was shrinking. So terribly fast. In one moment, he saw the barren plain of land which was the top of the great plateau, the Goldenrod Meadow, and… and…

And in another moment, he saw the entire plateau, and all the surrounding civilizations, like Iron Town and Fort Loyal, all like tiny pebbles in a riverbed. He saw the forest next to Saura's residence, like moss growing on a rock…

And then, he saw only white.

If he'd had the breath to do so, he would have screamed in terror.

His eyes snapped shut.


The Sky

Some time later, after his heart had calmed down enough, Char snapped back to his senses. His eyes blinked open, revealing to him nothing but a bright orange hide of scales. Without having to look, he remembered where he was: hanging for dear life on the back of a Dragonite as it rocketed through the sky, miles and miles above the surface of the earth. Though now, a small wave of acceptance, and thus peace, started to diffuse through him. Yes, he felt much calmer than before, though his grip on the Dragonite's wings never loosened. He feared his claws would soon start to cramp.

As Zahira had suggested, he decided to try and relax, though it was easier said than done. The relentless whoosh past his ears didn't help matters, nor did the force of the wind against his body, threatening to tear him away from his handholds and send him tumbling hopelessly into the sky. Breathing was not all that easy, either, even while taking Zahira's advice and raising his head to breathe. No matter how hard he tried to inhale, his lungs always seemed to collapse under the force of the vacuum before it could surrender an acceptable amount of oxygen. It reminded him of the time he stood inside of the fire, feeling the air burning away before he could suck it down his lungs. When he tried to voice the complaint, he found that his throat held no words. Any sound he tried to make fell entirely flat against the wind, especially since he couldn't collect enough breath to add force to his voice.

Another odd feeling which soon settled into his perception was the tingling. His whole body tingled as if being poked repeatedly with pine needles, whether from adrenaline or just lack of oxygen to his head, but no part as bad as his tail. He realized that his tail was blowing and waving out behind him, the flame struggling to stay alive against the might of the wind. Surprisingly, it prevailed, but not without a constant stinging sensation. Char almost wanted to gather it into his claws and hold it against his body, but didn't dare for a second to let go with either claw. After a few moments of trying to bear the pain, Char realized that the stinging wasn't actually so painful. In fact… there was an odd sort of pleasantness to feeling the wind whipping past his tail, trying, yet failing, to snuff out his flame. The feeling was perfectly bearable, especially when he stopped focusing on it so much, and he let it drift to the back of his mind behind all the other loud, overbearing sensations surrounding him…

Struggling to lift his head, he dared to glimpse at the passing sky. Immediately, he spotted the other members of the fleet. They held a formation of three arms, presumably to help them stay on course, with the captain up front, and with Char at the very end of the rightmost arm. They were spaced out rather far; the next Dragonite ahead was at least twenty yards away, and the central arm was at least forty. Squinting at them, it brought a smile to his face to catch sight of a tiny speck of green atop the neighboring dragon. He couldn't tell if it was Scythe or Saura, but just knowing his friends were so close by in this insane venture caused his heart flutter.

Then, Char did the unthinkable… he looked down.

Layers of drifting clouds passed before his eyes, some bright white and opaque, others translucent. Far, far down below, wherever the clouds had parted enough, he saw the landscape glowing in the midmorning sunlight. Rivers appeared like scars across the ground, hills were like blisters… everything but the greatest, most prominent terrain features were invisible to the eye. The ground, the place where he belonged, now seemed so foreign… so alien…

Or did it?

To his utter awe, a jolt of familiarity flashed before Char's eyes. He'd seen this sight before! He knew exactly what he was looking at! In fact, it was something he saw every evening with the rest of his team as they plotted their missions. It was Ambera, as depicted on the Map of Jirachi! Gazing out from one horizon to another, he recognized the patch of land as part of the map, one that lay just north and to the east of the division. He spotted roads which he and his friend had walked once or twice, as well as a few cities and wild Pokémon habitats. He couldn't believe it. The map was so exceptionally accurate! All along, it had been like a photograph of the land, taken from the level of the clouds!

He gazed down at the surface, pretending that all the notes written on the map were superimposed upon his view. There was Route 412, winding like a giant white seam to the west around Shellwind Point, across the Quagsire River (the same river which ran all the way down into Blackriver City), and into the Orphaned Village… and branching off from it was Route 414, which ran far to the west into lands he had never explored… And Route 427, which forked southeast into the ominous land marked as the Onix Graveyard, and to the northeast into the mountains called Red Haven, an apparent location of interest to Scythe…

Too late, Char realized that his claw was starting to slip.

The ensuing cry which erupted from Char's lungs fell flat as a pathetic squeak against the rushing wind. Every muscle in his body cramped and became unresponsive, clinging like mad to the Dragon's back in any way he could. He knew he'd made the mistake of ever-so-slightly leaning too far to the side, just to get more of a glimpse of the ground. In doing so, he had shifted his gravity off-center, gravity which was now intent on betraying him and shoving him to his doom. Millimeters of distance began to slip away from his claws faster than he could believe, millimeters impossible to regain due to the wind's pressure and his body's unfortunate position…

Char's world erupted in unspeakable panic. It was as if his mind was no longer there; all that existed was acrophobia. Again, he gathered his whole heart into a cry of anguish to alert the Dragonite of his peril, but again, no sound came out. The vacuum of wind, the same vacuum which was causing him to drift from his mount at such an alarming rate, was just too strong. Soon, his right claw would be ripped away from her wing, causing him to jerk to the side with such force that his tiny left claw would be powerless to keep hold.

Sensing something amiss, Zahira momentarily glanced back. She met Char's terrified expression with one of indifference, as if not noticing that anything was wrong. Char silently screamed at her, unable to flail for attention at the risk of losing what little hold he still had. Just as quickly, she blinked and faced forward again, leaving Char on his own and shattering the last remains of his hope…

The awful truth hit him. There was no use in struggling. He was going to fall, and nothing, save for getting Zahira to roll in mid-air or slow down, was going to prevent it. He shut his eyes, taking refuge in his lightheaded imagination, attempting to accept his fate…

A majestic Charizard soared across the sky, enjoying the powerful sensation of the wind whipping across its face and beneath its wings.

It was his could never ask for anything more.

Char felt as his claw was ruthlessly torn from its hold, snapping his body to one side and sending him tumbling from the Dragonite's back.

Thump.

He could feel the wind rushing past his body in ways he could never comprehend. His chest was exploding, tingling, like his heart was being shoved into his brain… He was falling…

He wondered how long it would take for him to hit the ground. A minute? An hour? A day? Where would he land? Would his body shatter against a jagged rock? Would he be lucky enough to land in a body of water and live to tell the tale? … Or not, since he was a Charmander now, and it would spell certain doom… Would Dialga smile upon him again, and let him fall into a Mystery Dungeon, directly atop a Reviver Seed? Or maybe… could he gather enough heart to evolve to a Charizard before he hit the ground?

Did it really matter?

I knew this was going to happen, Char told himself. I don't know how, I just knew. All along, I knew. I would fall off…

"HEY!"

Char winced at the unexpected sound of a voice.

At first, he was unable to comprehend what he saw. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins in place of blood, so his mind gathered the information in a slow, placated manner. The color of cream. A shining orange. Eyes, with black, beady pupils. A smile.

Char blinked again. It was unmistakable. A Dragonite. Zahira. She was holding him in his arms, smiling down at him, and looking quite proud of herself, too.

It hit him. He hadn't been falling at all. The thump he felt was the sensation of being caught in her arms mere moments after losing his grip. She had performed some sort of masterful maneuver, banking straight down into a loop and catching him instantaneously, without even so much as breaking formation.

"READY TO TRUST ME YET, OR DO YOU WANT TO FALL AGAIN?" Zahira screamed over the wind.

Char looked up at her like a helpless baby in a mother's arms, and nodded. He didn't really care which question he was answering, he just nodded.

"RELAX!" she shouted. "LET ME DO THE FLYING! STOP TRYING SO HARD!"

Thump.

In the blink of an eye, Zahira had pivoted in some complicated way, and the next thing Char knew, he was once more sitting atop her back.

As soon as the adrenaline started to subside and let his thought process take over, which wasn't actually all that soon, his panic died down exponentially. Clearly, Zahira was a skilled flyer, as skilled as they came, and probably knew how to catch a falling passenger in each of the thousand ways possible for one to fall. Somehow, falling didn't seem all that threatening anymore… in fact, he felt nearly as secure as if he were standing on solid ground. Still dazed and euphoric from his panic attack, but secure.

A moment after that realization set in, so did another one: he wasn't even holding on. No longer was he laying on his belly atop the dragon's back, holding onto her wings… he was sitting, almost upright, his claws both set down in front of him. Yet… the wind vacuum, vicious and merciless as it had been, seemed to have lost its effect entirely. In fact, if he was perceiving things correctly, it almost felt as though the vacuum was helping him, keeping his body firmly planted in place, giving him an impossible sense of balance.

His new position also allowed him a much clearer view of all the surrounding sights. Rather than having to shift his weight just to glance in a new direction, he found he could effortlessly see everything at once.

What changed? Char kept wondering as he looked toward the horizon, noticing the looming tower of clouds far in the distance. I feel so much better now. I can breathe. I can hold on. And I'm not being swept away by the wind. What made the difference? Is it just… because I'm not afraid anymore? Could that be it? It can't be! Confidence wouldn't help this much… would it? Maybe that was the problem. I knew I would fall. I expected it. But I had no idea I was safe all along…

"FEELING BETTER?" the Dragonite shouted back to him.

Char nodded in reply, then attempted once more to speak.

"YEAH!" he shouted, surprised that his voice could overcome the wind.

"IT'S REALLY EASIER IF YOU SIT UP," she said.

"I SEE," Char replied. "WHY?"

"WELL, BECAUSE IT'S MORE COMFORTABLE FOR BOTH OF US," the Dragonite said. "BESIDES, I LET YOU FALL ON PURPOSE, YOU KNOW. YOU WOULDN'T LIGHTEN UP!"

She WHAT? Char yelped to himself.

"SINCE YOU TRUST ME NOW, I'LL KEEP YOU BALANCED, SO IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN," Zahira promised. "UNLESS YOU DECIDE YOU WANT TO JUMP OFF YOURSELF. I CAN'T STOP THAT."

"I WON'T JUMP OFF!" Char blasted, a hint of anger evident in his voice. "WHY WOULD I DO THAT?"

So that's why it suddenly got easier to stay on, Char realized. All along, she was trying to provoke me to fall in order to prove a point. Well, she did it! I hope she's happy. I really do.

Char felt his inner ember gradually getting inflated by his glowing ire. Though the stinging sensation in his tail was dampened as his flame became bloated, he realized he was making a mistake. He didn't want to turn himself into a loose cannon at a time like this. He had to swallow his pride. He was not going to accidentally release a sarcastic remark that would drive the Dragonite into rage! Not now!

"SO, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN FLYING?" Char inquired, attempting to lighten his own mood.

"SINCE THE DAY I HATCHED!" the Dragonite replied. "WHEN A DRATINI IS BORN IN THE OCEAN, IT LEARNS TO SWIM, ON THE LAND, IT LEARNS TO FLY. TO SWIM IN THE AIR."

"I MEAN, LIKE THIS," Char yelled. "DID YOU GET TRAINING TO CARRY PASSENGERS?"

"WE CAN FINISH THIS CONVERSATION TONIGHT, IF YOU DON'T MIND," the Dragonite replied. "UNLESS YOU WANT US BOTH TO LOSE OUR VOICES YELLING!"

"YES, MA'AM!" Char responded, shutting his mouth immediately after.

Char fell silent again, trying for a time to occupy himself however he could. Though his fears were gone, and the view continued to be marvelous, Char found that his mind was so saturated and subdued with the fading fight-or-flight sensations that it was difficult to focus on anything. The tingling feeling in his limbs was more prevalent than ever, starting to remind him of the sensation of being paralyzed. Plus, aside from being momentarily traumatized, he realized that he was getting quite hungry. Dragonite apparently didn't believe in breakfast, or even lunch, and looked as though they were happy with letting their passengers starve to death for the sake of arriving on time. All in all, Char found his experience flying to be a rather unpleasant one, and started to look forward to landing.

After exhausting every pastime he could think of, including trying to find pictures in the passing clouds, imagining himself as a Charizard flying by his own power, and fantasizing about leaping off the dragon's back just to get back at her, Char fell bored. It was around noon by then, and there was still no sign of the procession stopping to eat. Char glanced down and tried to decipher the earth's surface, and vaguely recognized that they still were quite far from their destination. They had long since crossed from the south hemisphere to the north, marking only about two-fifths of their journey complete, and flew over lands of tropical forests and red deserts that Char had never thought to concern himself with. He'd been looking forward to enjoying the warmth of the sunlight while crossing over the planet's equator, but he figured he missed it; it was never too warm so high in the clouds, most of the time, it teetered on the edge of being uncomfortably chilly. He tried not to let it remind him of the cold wasteland he would soon be venturing through…

But perhaps the most frightening thought of all, even more so than imagining the numbing chill of snow and ice, was the fact that they would soon pass the Master's domain. Char knew the Dragonite team would make sure to stay far away from it, probably enough to ensure that it would not appear this side of the western horizon, but it still sent a shiver through him to know that the fabled and mysterious Master who dominated the land under an iron fist, the one whose reign caused so much pain and so many tears to so many Pokémon, dwelled in a dark fortress just out of sight. It was a place he never wished to go, a place he so dearly wished his destiny would never lead him.

Finding that he had nothing left he wished to reflect upon, and feeling as numb and sore as a stuffed animal, Char began to wonder if he could pass the time in a much more effective way.

"HEY," Char shouted to his mount. "MIND IF I TAKE A REST? CAN YOU KEEP ME BALANCED IF I LAY DOWN?"

"YOU TELL ME," the Zahira replied simply.

It was all Char needed to hear. Filled with a hundred unpleasant feelings, Char collapsed onto the dragon's back in hopes to satiate his exhaustion.

… … …

CRASH!

After what seemed like seconds since he had closed his eyes, a horrible, earth-shattering explosion made Char jump awake. He soon realized there had been no nearby earth to shatter, as he was still miles in the air. Instead, a dark curtain of smoke and mist surrounded him on all sides. The sound had been one he recognized—thunder.

"GOOD MORNING!" Zahira shouted over the winds, which were now more forceful than ever. "SLEEP WELL?"

"WE'RE IN A STORM, AREN'T WE?" Char asked, feeling the tension in the air.

"WE GOT NICKED BY THE EDGE OF THE STORM FRONT," Zahira answered. "ARSHALL ALREADY GAVE THE SIGNAL TO SLOW DOWN. WE'RE APPROACHING THE REST STOP."

CRASH! KABOOM!

There was a bright flash of light, followed by the deafening sound of splitting air as the surrounding clouds wrestled with one another and exchanged electric charges.

"ISN'T THIS DANGEROUS?" Char cried. "WHY ARE WE FLYING INSIDE OF THE STORM? CAN'T WE GET HIT BY LIGHTNING?"

"IT'S VERY DANGEROUS," Zahira answered. "DO YOU STILL TRUST ME?"

"YEAH," Char answered reluctantly. "YOU DO THE FLYING."

Char sat back up and observed the restless skies ahead. The clouds formed a kind of strange tunnel through which the dragons flew. All around, the shadow-colored formations churned and swirled in strange ways, almost making it look like the inside of a great beast's digestive tract. It was very dark, with only the glow of the masked sunlight behind the clouds and the occasional blink of lightning to guide the way. He wondered if the clouds would all suddenly condense into rain to come down upon him like a waterfall…

Before he knew it, though, something unusual was going on. The rest of the Dragonite fleet vanished, like they had been swallowed up by the dark sea of clouds when he wasn't paying attention. Then came a most unmistakable sensation—descent. Zahira had settled into a shallow dive in preparation for landing. It was the strangest feeling yet, producing a nagging fear that he would fall off in the most unlikely of directions: straight upward, rather than downward or backward. He reached forward to gently clasp the base of the dragon's wings, as he had been given permission to do, just to make certain he wouldn't become disconnected.

The feeling of descent soon intensified, re-igniting all the horrible feelings in the pit of his stomach he hoped he was rid of.

We're going to land, Char said to himself, shutting his eyes just as he had done on the ascent. In just a few moments, I'm going to be back down on land, where I belong. Just a little while longer… C'mon, I can do this. Then it's no more flying. Not until tomorrow. I can spend all night with my friends down on the ground…

CRASH! Rumble…

Another lightning bolt tore across the sky somewhere nearby. The winds became more intense.

Zahira's dive became steeper. Char cracked an eye open to see that they'd descended beneath the clouds, far enough that he could clearly see the ground, shrouded as it was by the shade of the storm. He did not have a clue what time of day it was, nor did he recognize the landscape below; he just didn't care. His mind was only in one place: the anticipation of having his feet planted back on the earth.

"THERE'S THE SIGNAL," Zahira notified Char. "I JUST RECEIVED THE SIGNAL TO BREAK FORMATION. WE'RE GOING TO LAND."

"I CAN TELL," Char replied.

"YOU'RE STILL AFRAID OF THE SKY," she noticed. "YOU HAVE A STRONG FEAR OF HEIGHTS."

"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?" Char screamed back. "THIS IS MY FIRST TIME FLYING LIKE THIS! AND I'M NOT AFRAID SO MUCH. JUST ANNOYED. "

"IT'S ALRIGHT," Zahira said, smiling back at him, and slowing her flying pace. "YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE AFRAID. IT'S NATURAL."

KABOOM! A lightning bolt dropped out of the clouds less than half a mile away, zigzagging through the sky and striking the ground far below. Char had to wince at the sound of every lightning strike, imagining each time that he would be the recipient of the million-volt surge of energy. It was just another discomfort of flying to add to his long list…

But, for as many discomforts as he counted, he knew she was right. Beneath it all, he was still afraid of heights. He feared it because there was still so much outside his realm of comprehension. After all, he didn't have wings yet. The sky wasn't his place. Of course, there was the one fear that overshadowed them all, the one fear which couldn't simply be explained away. The fear of hitting the ground.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO FACE YOUR FEAR?"

"WHAT?" Char responded. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"WANT TO KNOW WHAT A FREE-FALL FEELS LIKE?" Zahira asked. "I CAN SHOW YOU."

She… can't be serious! Char told himself. What is she saying? She wants me to jump off? No, no, no, no, no… no!

"IF YOU WANT TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR, STARE IT DOWN!" Zahira proclaimed. "ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU FEAR, YOU STOP FEARING!"

"I DON'T WANT TO!" Char asserted as loud as he could, squeezing her wings even tighter.

"I KNOW," she answered. "BUT DO YOU NEED TO?"

"YES!" Char blurted. "I NEED TO!"

"WHY'S THAT?" she asked.

"BECAUSE…" Char cried. "I WANT TO BE STRONGER!"

CRASH! Yet another lightning bolt lit the world. In the flash, Char glimpsed at the ground down below, still far enough to appear like a woven tapestry…

"THEN JUMP!" Zahira shouted encouragingly.

"I- I- I…" Char started, his heart pounding just as hard as when he had first slipped off, as he peered over the edge of the Dragonite's back and instinctively shirked away from the edge. "I… I MIGHT NEED HELP!"

Without any further delay, Zahira twisted in mid-air, rolling her body in a complete circle. When she righted herself, she no longer had a passenger.

And Char fell.

It was a humbling feeling, dropping endlessly through the void of the sky, knowing there was no hope for him to save himself. His eyes snapped completely shut, his mind filling with a deafening euphoria which drowned out all other thoughts. He felt like a toy of the wind as it rushed past him more powerfully than ever before, stinging his skin and challenging the flame on his tail for all it was worth. He felt it rush past his face, rendering his poor lungs nearly inoperable…

At first, that was all he felt. The wind. And the sound of the thunder erupting about him.

When the initial shock faded enough, Char allowed his eyes to flutter open. He perceived his surroundings from a trance-like state… he watched the ground as it moved toward him ever so slightly… he watched as several little raindrops fell with him at his side, dancing like tiny, translucent, self-sustaining flames…

And then… before he knew it…

Thump.

He was staring into Zahira's eyes again as she cradled him in her arms. He'd fallen for just over a whole minute, convinced it had been no longer than a few seconds.

"Well?" Zahira said in a quiet voice as she hovered motionlessly. "How was it?"

"That wasn't so bad," Char admitted, cracking a little smile. "I think I could get used to it!"

"It's wonderful, once you learn to fly," she said. "If only you had wings…"

While the stunt hadn't completely vanquished his fear of heights, it certainly made it retreat and cower behind a rock. He felt very proud of himself for facing his fear, and exploring the unknown which it had hidden behind. He knew that it was a big step in becoming stronger.

As the storm continued to pick up, and as Zahira carried Char down to the designated rest point, he was already starting to look forward to flying again tomorrow.


Author's note:

Zahira the Dragonite was created by rabidcatking.

The lyrics are sung to "Don't Ever Forget" from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky.

*Chapter 38*: Chapter 34: A Sunlit Story

Chapter 34

Redblood Oasis

The day's flight over, the dark of night swiftly approached.

The Redblood Desert was a dry and barren place, with a climate very comforting to Char, vaguely reminding him of the flatlands atop his faraway home. As he observed his new surroundings, though, he saw just how vague the similarities were. Unlike the pure, brilliant yellow of the plateau, the desert was a dark, rusted color. The land itself was broken and cracked from the perpetual heat, with networks of tiny black fissures spread as far as the eye could see, causing the ground to resemble the arrangement of scales on a reptile's hide. A small layer of dusty sand covered the terrain, kicking up in the downdrafts from the thunderheads which still hung overhead.

Far, far away, in a little window of the sky still untouched by the storm, Char glimpsed at the setting sun, marveling at how it painted the surrounding clouds with glowing, unbelievable spectrums of purple and orange, contrasting and almost complementing the dinginess of the landscape. For a moment, he let himself become hypnotized with the image before his eyes, which almost seemed to dance like a candle in the subtle waves of heat which rose from the earth. In his time working with the resistance, Char had witnessed dozens of sunrises come and go, yet none of them, he felt, held anything to the majesty of a sunset.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Char found Scythe standing at his side, taking a moment to appreciate the visage of the sky as the rest of the group went on ahead to the rest area. He looked just as pained as before, and perhaps a bit worse; it was obvious that he didn't enjoy the flight, which hadn't helped at all to soothe the hidden turmoil of his soul. Char knew that his sore eyes found immense comfort in staring at the sunset.

"Yeah," Char replied.

"Ambera is very beautiful," Scythe professed. "Even as the darkness of the storm threatens to choke the sun, it shines ever brighter."

Char craned his neck to observe the storm again. Overhead, it formed a seamless, absolute blanket across the sky, still flickering with lightning from time to time. Though it rained, not a drop fell to the ground; it all dissipated shortly after being formed, not allowing the dry, famished landscape a single sip of water. The front pushed to the southwest, bubbling and cresting like an ocean's tide as it surrounded the scant remnants of the daylight like a pack of hungry Carvanha about to feast.

"It always captures me, the kinds of pictures the storms can paint in the sky," Scythe said, almost to himself. "Sometimes, in the summer, if the air currents are just right, marvelous things happen in the sky above Basin Canyon. I can't count the times my team and I have simply stopped to watch the ebb and flow of the thunderclouds… It is a sight to behold, to see the storm front come in, billowing like the dust beneath a rampaging herd of Tauros, straight for you…"

"Is that why you fight?" Char asked, his heart still adrift in the western horizon. "For the storms and the sunsets?"

"No," Scythe said. "As long as the flow of time is not threatened, the sunsets will come regardless of what I say or do. No Pokémon, save for the legendary dragons, have control over such a thing, to stop the sunset… but… there are many who might silence it."

"Silence it? Char asked. "What do you mean?"

"When you see a rageflower bloom in the meadow, you might see a quaint little expression of nature," Scythe said, "but you have to realize something, that the petals are painted with the blood of thousands of Pokémon who died so that the flower could be beautiful…"

"But you don't need to fight for the flowers in the meadow," Char said, turning to Scythe. "They grow on their own, just like the sunset. …I don't get it."

"By itself, the sunset has no beauty," Scythe said, not taking his eyes off the horizon. "It is just a sunset. A natural phenomenon. It is… a rare combination of colors in an unlikely place. It only has beauty because you have eyes to gaze upon it, and it means something to you. It has a story to tell your heart. To me, Ambera tells her story in many ways, through the sunsets, the thunderclouds, the flowers in the meadow… It is a story of freedom, peace, and war… Of Pokémon who have slaughtered innocents, and those who have defended them… those who have prevailed over the oppression, and those who have paid the price… To you, it might tell a different part of the story… the joy of being alive, perhaps. But if the day comes when the sunset is just a sunset… Ambera's voice will have been silenced. And I will have failed."

That's one way to look at it, Char thought to himself, reflecting upon the interesting perspective. Beauty is something that speaks to you. It sounds almost like that saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". After all, a wild Rattata scampering across the meadow wouldn't see any beauty in the sunset…

Char stopped in mid-thought. There it was again: a tiny shift in Scythe's voice, a tone that betrayed something about the state of the warrior's mind that he didn't like—that his stress was more than just an obstacle to his success, but something that ran to his core. It was a measure of pessimism, a weakness of some sort. What was it, though? An uncertainty? A resignation to failure? Or perhaps… could it be… insanity? It was something which, he was certain, did not belong in the Scyther's character…

Biting his tongue for a moment, Char tried to find a good way to assemble his words.

"Scythe…"

Scythe groaned, knowing very well which tone of voice Char was using.

"Where is your stress coming from?" Char asked concernedly. "Why are your eyes always bloodshot? You shouldn't be hurting like this. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm an old Pokémon," Scythe sighed. "Every day, much is expected from me. Some days, when I open my eyes in the morning, I can't tell if my body is filled with energy, or just the determination to bear exhaustion. You will find, as you grow old, that you experience many different kinds of emotions. And you will learn to cope with them. You will learn to relish the pleasant emotions and harden yourself against the unpleasant emotions… And the more you harden yourself, the more you will know stress. "

"That's not what I meant," Char returned. "There's something wrong with you. You aren't acting like yourself. You haven't been for the past few days."

"Are we going to go through this again?" Scythe sighed, a hint of anger apparent in his voice. "I told you already, there's nothing I can say that will make you trust me. It's—"

"Are you scared?" Char insisted forcefully, cutting him off. "Are you afraid that your plan won't work? Are you afraid things will come crashing down?

"You won't stop pestering me until I have told you my secrets," Scythe's voice rumbled. "But I cannot do that. To reveal my plans would be to doom them to failure."

"Does the plan involve me?" Char demanded even louder. "What? What's so bad about it?"

"Char…" Scythe sighed, hanging his head. "I will say something. But if I do… you must promise me something in return. That, for the duration of this trip, you will stop bringing up this subject. Haven't I made it clear that I despise the act of keeping a secret? Every time you confront me, it hurts, like a blade to the chest. When I realized I had to accompany you here, it hurt. When I learned you spoke to Ray, it hurt. When you tried to spy on me in the hall, it cut even deeper. Even if I were to try, I cannot make you trust me. But if you are so concerned about my well-being, human, then stop trying to disembowel my heart with your meager curiosity. Am I clear?"

Char felt stunned, and his body began to slightly tremble from shame and intimidation. It was just as Saura had said… he should have simply given Scythe his trust, and left it at that. But, apparently, that was too much to ask. It occurred to him that he hadn't just betrayed Scythe once, but several times, including those which he had listed… and each time, though it hurt, Scythe continued to forgive him…

Unable to respond with words, Char took a hard gulp and nodded his head.

"Fine, then," Scythe almost spat. "No, I am not afraid that my plan will fail. My plan involves… doing something I will not enjoy. And yes… it involves you."

A sort of terror filled Char's heart.

"Another thing," Scythe added, the bitterness quickly fading from his voice. "You want to know why there is blood behind my eyes? You want to know where it comes from? It comes from you. And if you look behind my eyes, and you see something like hope… that, too, comes from you."

Feeling weak, Char found himself unable to stand. He sat himself down on the rough, grit-covered desert floor, his heart rumbling like an earthquake.

A voice echoed through his head.

"…he serves you as his master…"

"…by now, you must have noticed that every Pokémon you've gone and revealed your secret to has vowed to serve you unconditionally…"

"…Scythe is all about playing games. This time, you're part of the game…"

"We should return," Scythe said. "I am starting to feel hunger pains. And your friends are probably missing you."

Reluctantly obeying, Char lifted himself back to his feet and accompanied Scythe to the rest area.

She was right, Char realized. Eva… she was right about everything…

Of all the thoughts stacked in Char's mind, one thing was certain. It was time for him to stop questioning his leader and protector. It was time to let him carry out his plan… whatever it may be.

… … …

After a short walk, a cheery Dragonite admitted them into the rest area.

The "shelter", as much as it could be called that, was an exceptionally large depression in the desert's floor. It was like a miniature canyon, but with one of the cliffs sanded down into a ramp for easy access to the bottom. Though it was open-roofed, it seemed much like a real shelter; the depression was perpendicular to the sun and deep enough to cast the valley completely into shade. It was not lacking in room, either, as the canyon walls were at least ten yards apart. It reminded Char very much of the grandiose hall back at the base which led to the chamber of High Intelligence…

As Char inspected the place, noticing the colorful layers of sedimentary rock imbued into the walls, he spotted something truly weird: near the far end of the valley, there was a water source. A large puddle, surrounded by a shore of sloppy clay, was set against the edge of the stone wall. It ripped faintly, indicating that it was flowing, draining down somehow into the cracks of the earth while being replenished anew by some kind of tapped spring.

"Come in!" it said. "The sunlight won't last two more hours. We feared you wanted to witness the rise of the Watchers."

"Not tonight, of all nights," Scythe said. "Even if I were up for a challenge, they'll be out in full force tonight, judging by the weather. I'd be surprised if a single star appeared in the sky."

"Wait, if the Watchers come out, will we be safe?" Char asked. "This isn't a shelter they would stay away from, is it? We can see the sky from down here!"

"Oh, we have our ways of keeping them at bay," The Dragonite said with a warm smile. "You'll see, little dragon. You have nothing to worry yourself over…"

Char started to traverse the darkened valley, swinging his tail forward to light the way and taking care not to stub his toes on the scattered rubble that covered the ground. It wasn't the most homely place he had seen; chips and slabs of crumbled rock, mixed with even more lumpy accumulations of sand, were piled wall-to-wall in the space. As he dodged around the rubble, he felt a dusty layer of grit forming on the pads of his feet.

"How wondrous to have your own little candle, isn't it?" the Dragonite laughed. "Well then. I'm jealous enough. We won't have too much trouble getting the Sol-rock started tonight, will we?"

Solrock? Char wondered. Isn't that the Pokémon Alakazam mentioned? The one at Temporal Tower?

"Perhaps, but first, my companions and I would much like to eat in peace," Scythe said. "There is still plenty of time before you will need to borrow my Charmander."

"Oh, of course, by all means," The Dragonite said, bowing politely to the old warrior. "Your team has assembled itself right over there, and your supplies are all in your possession. If you need anything, don't hesitate to bother Arshall, or any of us. We'll be on the far side of the watering hole, in that direction. And you're always welcome to dine with us. We have plenty of meat to go around, if you're not ready to break into your own supplies yet."

"Thank you, but we will be fine for the moment," Scythe said, returning the bow, but obviously anxious to be rid of the company. "Char, let's go."

At that, the dragon left to rejoin his companions, whose chatter and laughter seemed to constantly echo between the valley halls.

"Finally," Scythe muttered with a little smile.

It didn't take very long for Char to find his friends. They were situated on the opposite end of a sizable slab of rock which stuck straight out of the ground, forming a wall of sorts between them and the rest of the valley. It was understandable, especially if Saura and Ray found it as difficult as Scythe to stay in the company of the dragons for too long. As friendly as the Dragonite clan was, Char couldn't wait to have some private time with his friends…

But as he approached them, ready to settle down and share his experiences of the day, he found that they were not themselves.

Saura was curled up very oddly, with his forehead pressed squarely against the ground, and a hard scowl set upon his face. Ray was propped against the rock, also not looking too happy himself. His fur sparked and glowed in the darkness, especially around the power reservoirs in his cheeks. Char feared he would need to discharge sometime soon, hopefully not upon him.

"Ugh… Oh, hi, Char," Saura managed to mutter, shifting his posture to greet him. "I heard your Dragonite say you liked flying?"

"Not really," Char said. "It was more like… I hated it, then at the end I realized I should have been liking it all along… what about you? Are you alright? What happened to you?"

"My belly feels awful…" Saura grumbled. "And my head hurts… I feel really sick… Daniel was nice and all, but... I don't think I like flying so much."

"It wasn't so fun," Ray groaned in agreement, not opening his eyes. "I thought it was going to be awesome… But I started getting dizzy. And then there was the lightning storm…"

"Uh oh," Char said. "What happened in the lightning storm?"

"You don't want to know," Ray muttered, his body visibly trembling at just the thought. "You really don't."

"You both have come down with some motion sickness," Scythe said. "That, and maybe a little altitude sickness as well. It just means you haven't learned to adjust yourselves to flying yet. Not life-threatening in the least."

"But I feel like my forehead is going to fall off!" Saura whined. "I can't think straight or anything."

"Your forehead will stay on, rest assured," Scythe said with a grin. "The worst it will do is cause you to expel your last meal… The three of you were lucky not to have eaten breakfast. Me, I wasn't so smart… I had a Chesto berry… lost it in mid-flight."

"Ugh, please, don't even mention the word food right now…" Saura said, burying his head in his paws. "This isn't fair! Mom always told me I would never have to worry about getting sick… Ugh… make it go away…"

"Well, enough wallowing in self-pity," Scythe ordered, raising his voice and clanging the tips of his blades against the ground. "It's time to get up. Let's go. Up with the both of you!"

"What? What's wrong?" Saura cried weakly. "I thought it was time to rest!"

"Yes… sir…" Ray replied, forcing himself upright, then falling onto all fours. "What do we have to do?"

"Eat," Scythe declared. "It's dinnertime. We ate nothing today. We must all get something in our stomachs."

"I can't!" Saura groaned in protest. "Are you joking? There's no way! I don't think my stomach will be able to handle food for another few hours… maybe not even until tomorrow."

"I'm not so hungry, either," Ray said. "Can I pass on dinner?"

"I'm sorry, but we must," Scythe said. "Stopping to rest is hardly effective if your body doesn't have the nourishment it needs to recreate itself. Find your resolve; it is time for us to fight our stomachs for supremacy. Char, bring the bag, if you would…"

While the rest of the team reluctantly assembled a lazy little circle, Char ambled over to the corner where the supplies were stashed. Though his intense shot of adrenaline had helped to weaken the effect, his stomach was in just as much of an uproar as his friends' were. Truthfully, he would have preferred to skip over to the oasis puddle and jump in tail-first than attempt to swallow any food… but there was no arguing with Scythe, especially after his recent conversation. He would have to choke something down.

Grasping his team bag, his mind started to recall its contents. There was some food in there for situations similar to this, but nothing terribly easy on the stomach. There was a mixture of seeds and nuts, a few hard-skinned pears, a large apple…

If only we had afforded some gummis, Char told himself. Those would have gone down smoothly… But Kecleon didn't let us have any of those for free…

"No," Scythe said, wearing an odd smirk. "Not that bag. The other one."

The other one? Char wondered. The one Alakazam gave us? I thought that was supposed to be reserved for dungeons…

Nevertheless, Char dropped his team's bag and took up the other, the one full of unimaginably expensive and valuable supplies. It was very heavy, taking both of his arms just to lift it off the ground so as to not drag it across the gravel-strewn ground and damage any of the treasures within.

"Uh oh…" Ray gasped. "What are we going to take out of there?"

"Char, if you would, release the strap and open the middle pocket," Scythe instructed. "You will find a rather large pouch."

"You don't mean the gold apples, do you?!" Saura asked in surprise. "Here? Now?"

"Ah, yes, you've caught on," Scythe hummed. "Char, one Golden Apple, if you would…"

Char did as commanded, searching through the masterfully organized travel bag for the sack of apples. When he found them, it was by smell… the bulging pouch produced an overpowering aroma, resembling something like the world's most appetizing fruit salad. He unfolded the cloth enough to untie the sack, then reached in and produced one of the apples—and for a moment, he could not bring himself to comprehend the thing he held in his hand. It was an apple, but it was nearly the size of his head! The skin felt smooth and blemishless, like glass, and glittered like a diamond in the orange light of his tail. His mouth decided to completely ignore the sourness of his stomach and started to water.

"Anyone ever try one of these?" Scythe asked.

Team Ember collectively shook their heads, their eyes glued to the sparkling fruit.

"Well, this is a Golden Apple," Scythe explained. "A siren song to any appetite, big, small, or already satiated. They are found only in dungeons, leading many to believe that they are blessed with the same anomaly as the Reviver Seed. While they are only half as rare, they're just as respected among explorers. You see, Alakazam was not exaggerating when said it was all the food we need. One Golden Apple is usually enough to nourish a Pokémon… for a month."

"Really?" Saura gasped. "This little thing?"

"Yes, but only if portioned responsibly," Scythe explained. "When you bite into one, it's all too easy to eat more than your allotment. Eat the whole thing, and your stomach will swell… you won't be hungry for weeks, but you may strain yourself. Unfortunately, I've seen many Pokémon unable to stop after just one bite… Even the mighty Snorlax is powerless to resist its allure. If it swallows just one of these, it will gladly forsake the other eight hundred ninety-nine pounds of its usual diet… Or so we like to say… Well? Everyone hungry yet?"

The team collectively nodded.

"Good!" Scythe said, eyeing the apple. "Now, Char. Set it down in the center…"

-Slice!-

Not a moment after Char's hands were clear, Scythe made a quick movement with both his blades which caused the apple to split into four similar-sized pieces.

Char didn't even have to be asked. He greedily gathered up his corner of the apple and bit down, closing his eyes to savor the flavor.

The taste which filled Char's mouth was indeed something like a fruit salad, the prominent flavor something like an apple both tart and sweet at the same time, wrapped in caramel, slathered in honey, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Even the dripping juices from the fruit flowed down his throat and made his inner fire pleasantly tingle. Before he knew it, he was long lost in the sweet dreams induced by the delightful fruit. Unlike the red gummi, the flavor wasn't extreme; it didn't erupt in his mouth. Rather, it was like a warm fuzziness that eased itself in and made itself at home. Also unlike the gummi, it was satisfying, rather than addictive; even as the flavor brought tears to his eyes, he knew that, when he was finished, he would not be left wanting for a very long time.

It's so sweet, Char thought to himself, indulging in the large apple slice. And sour. And bitter. It's like every flavor mixed into one… oh, why can't they make the division's lunches out of these? It's… so… good…

Char was so lost in the meal, he lost some conscious control over his hands—and the apple slice slipped out of his grasp, breaking him out of the bliss and dropping him back into the real world.

Blinking, he scanned the ground underfoot, knowing it couldn't have gone far. But it eluded him; he saw nothing but gravel rocks and a giant puddle of juice which had erupted from the fruit.

"Hmm, where'd it go?" Char wondered out loud. "Anybody see my apple? I think I dropped it—"

His sentence came to a halt as he glanced up to his team members. All three of them, Scythe included, stared back with looks of incredulousness plastered upon their faces. Not one of them had taken more than one bite of their apple slice—they were all fixated on Char with wide eyes. Char wondered if he had accidently evolved while eating the apple.

"What?" Char demanded. "What's wrong?!"

"Char," Scythe said, his voice serious and surprised, "you ate it."

"Can't be," Char insisted, still glancing around on the ground. "I didn't eat the whole thing. There was still a huge chunk left."

"No, you ate the whole thing," Scythe told him. "And with startling speed. I was watching the whole time."

"Are you kidding? He didn't eat it, he breathed it in!" Ray cried. "Char, that was amazing! I've never seen something disappear that fast! We should enter you in a big eater contest! You could beat a Munchlax!"

Char felt himself blush from his own silliness, but soon broke down and laughed along with his friends. He patted his belly, which was now very stuffed and thoroughly pleased. His stomachache had left him at the first sight of the fruit, and it had yet to come back. Char wondered if the apple had healing properties among all of its special qualities…

After the entire apple had been gobbled up, and spirits had been lifted, the four partook in a brief respite, resting themselves upon the ground and professing their dislike of flying, gossiping about the Dragonite clan, and sharing whatever thoughts came to mind. Char described his experience in free-fall, telling how it had helped to subdue his fear of heights and escalate his longing for the form of a Charizard. Saura praised the gorgeous view of the earth, but cursed the ancients for letting him get sick. Scythe told him to cry a river, because any Pokémon who isn't regularly punished for swallowing the wrong variety of berry or making a misstep onto a Dragon's Eye had no right to complain.

After some goading, Ray told his crazy story. He'd been thrown off his Dragonite's back no less than three times, and had been struck full-forced by six lightning bolts, each time with no way of grounding out the charge aside from offering it back to the thunderclouds and hoping they would accept it. The Dragonite, for fear of attracting a lightning bolt to himself, had insisted that Ray neutralize his charges under penalty that he would keep lifting and dropping him until he did so. Though Ray always loved the notion of filling his body with electricity, this particular incident had left him feeling quite burned out, and with a splitting headache.

"Let me get this straight," Char said. "You rode dragonback at hundreds of miles per hour, you got to see the earth from up in the clouds, you got to free-fall and overload yourself with lightning repeatedly, and it wasn't the most awesome thing you've ever done in your life?"

"Actually, no, yeah, when you put it that way, I admit it. It was the most awesome thing I've ever done," Ray said with a smile. "You're right. It just hurt so much, I didn't realize it…"

"Same problem I had," Char said. "I guess sometimes, you don't know something's awesome until after it happens."

Char cherished such a pleasant moment with his friends, knowing that it could very well be the last of its kind for quite a while.

… … …

With a pleasantly stuffed belly, Char let his body sprawl out upon the sandy ground and felt the last of his day's troubles unwind. The apple did have a medicinal effect, he determined: it was a painkiller and a stress reliever, letting him relax and fade away into a good night's sleep…

…Until he was interrupted by a member of the Dragonite clan.

The Dragon's voice gave him quite a start from his wooziness, causing him to wonder if he had been out for a minute or an hour. He stretched his contented muscles and sat up, awaiting whatever message it brought.

"Good evening to you," The dragon greeted. "Is all going well? Ah, Saura, you're looking a lot better. Recovered?"

"Oh, hi, Daniel," Saura yawned, rousing himself from his own slumber. "I ate, and now I'm feeling fine… for the most part…"

"Good to hear," the dragon said with a nod, then turned to face Scythe in a much more formal posture. "How about you, Scyther? Is there anything you have been left desiring?"

"I have been well, as well," Scythe replied. "I suppose you're preparing the Sol-rock already?"

"Indeed," The Dragonite replied. "The darkness dawns. The Watchers will ascend in minutes."

"Then we'd better come," Scythe said. "Up with all of you! We have a gathering to attend."

Char turned a wary eye upward to the canyon opening. Past the aura of light his tail produced, there was nothing but an abyss of blackness above his head. The atmosphere, still shrouded by the thick layer of stormclouds, did not so much as glow…

This will be the first night I'll spend out in the open, Char realized. Will I get to see the Watchers for the first time? And what's all this about Solrock?

"Wait, what are we doing now?" Saura implored. "I was just getting comfy…"

"Rest will come in a moment," the dragon assured, "but not here. Come with us. And don't forget your supplies…"

Following the Dragonite's lead, Char's group gathered the two bags and crossed the crevice, past the watering hole, to the very far corner. There, just before the walls of stone converged upon an inhospitable heap of rubble which marked the end of the valley, the clan had established their space upon a flat, clean stretch of land which had obviously been cleared off by hand. Even in the darkness, the dragons laughed and conversed jovially with one another, tossing around their food and supplies to share. Two of them lay nearby, already fast asleep for the night, while the rest seemed to gather around in a group…

As Char drew near, all of the Dragonite gave a pleased glance to his flame, causing their eyes to sparkle with its reflection. Looking a little closer, Char realized that not all of the objects they held and passed around were particularly significant. Some were just rocks, it seemed, collected from the surrounding terrain…

"Hey, they're sleeping!" Saura said quietly to Char. "Why can't we?"

"Beats me," Char replied with a shrug. "Maybe it's just a meeting?"

"A meeting of necessity," Scythe said. "The Watchers will not stay out of the gorge on their own. If there is no shelter, travelers can use a fire to provide protection..."

A fire? That thought managed to pique Char's interest.

"Very good, you're here," Arshall called, standing first among her clan. "I'm sorry we cannot offer you any further privacy, but it's getting late. We'll be casting the Sol-rock now, and not a moment too soon. Ready?"

"We are ready," Scythe answered for the group.

At Arshall's signal, the dragons ceremoniously tossed forth their held rocks, causing a medium-sized pile to form at the center of the circle of Pokémon. As the dragons turned to gather up more, Char took a close look at the rocks. They were partially black, partially orange, like some kind of creative desert that the Division's mess hall would serve. Char really had to wonder what was going on.

"That's the Solrock?" Char asked. "It's not… a broken Pokémon… is it?"

At the ridiculous question, the dragons simultaneously paused to give Char a funny look. Feeling his flame flare up a little bit from embarrassment, he turned to his friends for support. They all had nothing to tell him, but he found Scythe wearing a gleeful grin, not unlike the time he had witnessed their team named Peanuts.

"What do you mean by that?" Arshall asked very oddly. "Oh. Oh! You've never seen this before, have you?"

The dragons burst into a gentle laughter, causing Char even more shame. Scythe gave his own chuckle.

"Pardon my presumption, little dragon!" Arshall said. "I am a little slow sometimes. 'Sol-rock' is only a play on words, and truth be told, it's one we've used for so long, we sometimes forget about the joke that lies underneath. No, this sort of Sol-rock is not a Pokémon. It's a mineral abundant beneath this desert which behaves like coal, but not quite ordinary coal… would you like to see what happens when it combusts?"

"Sure!" Char answered interestedly.

"Among my team, I'm the only one who has learned to conjure fire," Arshall said. "But it stings sometimes, and I don't think I'm in the right of spirits at the moment to try. Would you do the honors?"

After a round of encouragement from the dragons, Char reared back, took a deep breath, and released his best stream of flames at the little pile of rocks. As soon his attack collided with the pile, the room flashed with an unexpected spectrum of colors, all in the span of an instant. A handful of sparks jumped out from the pyre, appearing to glow yellow and green as they faded away into invisible ashes…

When his lungs depleted, Char cut his flamethrower short and observed his work. All of the stones which bore the brunt of his fire were glowing white-hot, like no coal he had ever seen. Just as he was beginning to wonder if he needed to apply more fire, several flames jumped up from between the rocks, all of which shined such a bright white that they were practically colorless, miniature tears in the void of space. The dragons gave a friendly cheer.

"Well done!" Arshall congratulated. "I could not have done better myself."

"Wow, what kind of fire is that?" Saura wondered out loud. "Is that even real fire? It looks so powerful. It casts rainbows into my eyes!"

As the fire spread to every stone, the sight became like a bright white ball adorned with dancing flames. The light it cast was so pure, so full, that it felt slightly like the sun had dawned again in the depths of that valley. His eyes adjusted to the brightness before long, allowing him to understand the sight, but it never stopped leaving its glowing residual marks on the back of his vision…

"You see? When Sol-rock burns, it gives off light like the sun," Arshall explained. "It's very dangerous for any traveler to spend the night under the stars. But when it must be done, we can use the fire of the Sol-rock. The Watchers abhor it, so this little pyre will keep us safe until the dawn, so long as we don't stray too far from it."

"On the ground, you will see that we have cleared an area from debris," Daniel added. "That is the boundary line of the fire's influence. Or, if you happen to have wings, no further than three-and-a-fourth times your body height directly above the center."

"Five and a half for the Scyther, it appears," Arshall said. "But yes. Stay in the firelight, and sleep soundly."

"So… we're actually going to be sleeping with the Watchers out?" Saura realized. "You mean, they're just going to be right there, right next to us? I've never seen them that close before…"

"I have," Ray confessed. "I was on a three-day training mission once. We spent the night in a house at Kardon Crossing. I knew Team Remorse fights them all the time, so I wanted to prove I was strong enough to battle them. I… hid outside and waited… and I saw them. They were… horrible!"

"And you survived?" Scythe asked, plenty shocked by the revelation. "I hope you learned from the experience…"

"Oh, no! Of course I learned!" Ray pleaded. "I was just telling a story… Please, don't be disappointed with me…"

"I can't help that," Scythe replied. "I would commend you for bravery if you had a just cause. I would commend you for valor if you had spent ten hours a day training yourself against ghosts to prepare for such a challenge… But a foolish act like that can't be commended for anything. You put your life and the lives of your friends on the line, for nothing at all."

"I'm sorry," Ray said. "I was only a Pikachu back then…"

"I understand, but never knew you would have that sort of foolish streak running through you," Scythe said. "It is true that my team fights the Watchers on a regular basis, but our fear of them never, ever fades. I am sorry if my respect for you has dropped just now, but that's not something I have control over. You will just have to earn it back."

"Yes, sir," Ray said, very disheartened. "I never stop feeling ashamed of it! Every day I try to do better! You're always saying that your mistakes make you better—"

"Quiet!" Zahira hissed. "Here they are. Watch!"

The group held their breaths. In the quietness, Char could hear the sound of the white fire, which seemed to sizzle, rather than roar… he could hear the low whistle of the wind as it blew through the canyon… he could hear the faint rumble of the thunder far overhead…

…and he could hear his own heart racing, knowing that the Watchers were about to reveal themselves before his eyes...

Char felt Saura's body brush up against him, and he wrapped one arm around his bulb for an extra sense of security. Both hadn't a clue what they were about to witness, and Char knew that neither of them wanted to feel alone for the slightest moment. Ray stood nearby, with his fists clenched, as if harboring a disdain for the ghosts, and Scythe stood beside him, a look of worry in his eyes.

Everyone cast their glances into the surrounding darkness.

They came in silence, making not a sound with their voices, causing not a disturbance to the surrounding land. They came in numbers, dozens and dozens flocked together like a swarm, drifting eerily like dust particles in the wind.

As Char watched the darkness beyond the fire's reach, a mosaic of dark shapes faded into vision. Each, he realized, was a Ghost Pokémon. His body convulsed when he acknowledged their presence, much like the sensation of picking up a rock covered in black spots and realizing it's crawling with spiders. They were floating… drifting… shifting through the air, seeming to brush up against an invisible dome when getting too close to the firelight…

The ghosts formed amorphous silhouettes, their forms mostly nonsense against the darkness of the surrounding desert. They were discolored, not a deep purple like most ghosts he knew, but mostly shades of dark grey or black… most were translucent, revealing further layers of ghosts behind them… As more of them brushed up close to the light, Char recognized most of them as the Pokémon Misdreavus, but with awful, unnatural mutations, and blank, emotionless faces…

And their eyes… each Misdreavus watched with a pair of glowing, cat-like eyes, which brightened upon proximity to the fire, and reflected all manners of colors, lighting up the canyon like a starry night…

Char shivered in fright, hugging Saura as hard as he could.

"There are many," A Dragonite commented. "Wasn't expecting this much of a concentration…"

"They are the soundless type," Scythe said, a sliver of fear in his voice as well. "They are deaf. They can only watch. I only see a couple Shuppet, but they appear to be ignoring us… The rest are the complacent type. They will only swarm after sudden movements…"

"T-this fire is going to last all night, right?" Saura asked, his voice breaking. "And they won't get any closer than that? W-what if the fire goes out? Even for a second?"

"Oh, silly Bulbasaur. Lighten up!" Arshall suddenly laughed. "What have we done to cast us all into such a bad mood? Relax! Be merry! The Sol-rock will burn until it turns to dust, and by that time, we will have been gone from here tomorrow morning. It isn't easily put out. You could even dump a waterfall onto it, and the water would turn to steam."

"Even so, I don't know how I'm going to sleep like this," Saura said nervously. "Just look at them. Look! They're following us with their eyes!"

"They're worse than I remember," Ray muttered. "What kind of Pokémon are they? Why do they even come out at night? They don't belong here!"

"If we knew that, we would be rid of them by now, probably," Scythe said. "They've ruined many lives, Destroyed just as many opportunities… The sight of them makes my heart boil with rage…"

Char found he couldn't look away from the horrible sight of the ghastly swarm. He stared at them, as if waiting for the moment when he would realize they were not actually real, that nothing so terrifying or unnatural ever had a right to exist… but they remained, their eyes of evil burning through the shadows like shining crystals… Char saw how they swirled through the air at even the slightest movement, trying to file into the shadows cast by whoever happened to walk in front of the sunlight-fire…

"Don't let them bother you," Arshall said again. "They can't hurt you. If you want to sleep, now is the time to do so. They will all be gone in the morning."

"Look at them," Saura whispered again. "They're looking straight at me! They look like… nightmares…"

Snuggling together, to two of them did their best to ignore the looming monsters and find the same peace of mind they had only moments ago when the air was still clear. Somehow, unconsciousness could not come fast enough.

… … …

"I can't do it," Saura muttered, only five minutes later. "When I close my eyes, I still see them. I keep thinking they're going to invade my mind… I think I might need to use one of our sleep seeds…"

"Don't bother," Ray groaned, who was laying nearby, not daring to make contact with anyone for fear of accidentally releasing his charge. "I had one already. It's not working."

"Want to try moving closer to the fire?" Char suggested. "Maybe it'll feel more safe…"

"Typical Charmander," Saura half-laughed. "Fine… the farther away from them, the better…"

As they dragged themselves over to the white fire, careful not to cast a stray glance into the darkness beyond, it struck Char just how different the fire looked to him now that it stood as a true beacon of safety, warding off the terrors of the dark. The flame stood sharp and smooth, giving off a searing noise as it fed from the rocks underneath. A great warmth flowed from the blaze, striking his skin like dull daggers, drawing him closer. It was a more intense type of fire than any he ever knew, and it drew curiosity from him. In a way, it really was beautiful.

Though most of the dragons had turned in for the night, sleeping in an orderly row a few yards away from the fire, Arshall and two of her companions remained awake, discussing whatever important matters they had to talk about. She cut the conversation short as soon as she noticed Team Ember approaching.

"Can I help you?" Arshall asked, standing attentively at the other end of the fire. "Are you getting cold? The desert's temperature really drops in the evening, doesn't it?"

"Not really," Saura replied. "We're just having trouble sleeping. It's my first time seeing the Watchers like this."

"I see," Arshall said sympathetically, stepping over and sitting by Char's side. "Well, have you tried counting backwards from one thousand?"

"What?" Saura replied.

"That's always been my favorite way to trick my mind into sleeping," Arshall said. "The trick is just to take your mind off everything. If something's bothering you, you won't be able to sleep no matter how hard you try, until you can get it out of your mind."

"Really," Scythe said, also approaching the fireplace. "My favorite has always been to exhaust myself so far that the mind no longer functions."

"Oh, Scyther, I thought you'd begun your rest, too," Arshall said, quickly standing up again and giving Scythe her attention. "Is something bothering you?"

"Yes, but it's not your fault," Scythe said. "Lately, I haven't been sleeping as much as I would like… What about you, dragon? Are you going to sleep?"

Arshall shook her head. "As captain, it's my duty to keep watch until my team and everyone in my care retires themselves," she said. "Though, don't worry about me. Dragonite don't need as much sleep as other Pokémon…"

For a moment, the group stood around the fire, saying nothing. Char and Saura both looked nervous, Scythe looked angered at something, and Arshall wore an awkward expression, as if she considered it all her fault. They had all formed a circle around the fire they had started just minutes ago, and it was apparent that none of them would be sleeping for a while.

"Perhaps it would help if we all took our mind off things for a while," Arshall said. "I say we all sit down right here and share stories before the fire, just like Pokémon of old would do to lift spirits when they slept under the stars. How about it?"

"Fine," Scythe said, setting himself down. "I'll stay to hear some of your tales. But I'm not a storyteller myself…"

"Oh, undue humility, Scyther!" Arshall said with a grin. "I refuse to believe that you, of all Pokémon, don't have a story to tell. I know my brothers and I would be honored to hear a tale from you, regardless of what words you choose to tell it with."

Shortly enough, all seven of the present Pokémon had made themselves comfortable around the firelight, and Char prepared to immerse himself in whatever stories would be told.

"Well, if this is what we're going to do, first thing's first," Scythe declared. "Ray. Tell us all how you survived the Watchers that night. I'm very curious to hear it."

Char could tell how saddened Ray was at the subject. Ray had been so sure that Scythe, in his wisdom, would understand if he told a story of long ago… he never imagined it would hurt his own reputation in his hero's eyes. He watched as Ray answered out of obedience, rather than enthusiasm, his glowing fur still betraying his poor disposition…

"Well, I went outside and hid behind a rock so the rest of the team wouldn't find me," Ray explained. "When it got dark… a Gastly appeared out of nowhere, and it was three times my size! And it had huge fangs, and its eyes were like gold… That's when I tried to run… It was so horrible… I think it got me, because I felt like I was starting to float in the air, and everything was turning black…"

"You never told us this story," Saura gasped. "That's so horrible…"

"Seems to me like you were seconds away from death," Scythe said. "No way to tell what it may have done with you. How did you live?"

"Zeven found me," Ray continued. "A Sneasel from my old team. He did something to the Gastly, and the next thing I knew, he was holding me… And I was so scared, I shocked him… I made pretend that the whole thing was an accident and Zeven saved me, so that's the story everyone heard…"

"I see," Scythe said. "I've met Zeven. He's a good kid. Going to make a fine night-prowler someday. And yes, you are right. It is not a good memory. I can understand why you would hide it. Your remorse still haunts you."

"Worst part is, that wasn't the only stupid thing I did," Ray admitted. "I did a lot of stupid things trying to prove to myself how strong I was. I try not to talk about them very much. But ever since I became a Raichu, I've really tried to be someone I could be proud of. I changed a lot. I was more responsible, and I tried harder, and it worked, because I was different."

"That's right," Daniel the Dragonite said. "Evolution changes more than just what is on the outside. They say, when a Pokémon evolves, its spirit becomes what they always wished it would be. Like me. I have vague memories of my life as a Dratini. The only thing I can remember was that I was scared of Sharpedo. As a Dragonair, I changed. The fear went away. Heh, I laughed at them. I told them all how silly they looked."

"As a Dragonair, I was reclusive," Arshall said. "I was shy, I had no courage to speak with other Pokémon. When I changed, the gift of charisma struck me, and look where I ended up today! I went off to become the leader of a very dependable team of dragons. It seems to me that Arceus grants you a wish when you evolve."

"I don't agree," Scythe said, shaking his head. "That's not the way things are. Evolution only gives you more strength. From that strength, you change your perspective on life. The granted wish is only an illusion. For some, the strength will destroy life, not fulfill it..."

"Oh, oh! You would know, wouldn't you?" Arshall asked excitedly. "That's right! You and Adiel… now there's a story for the ages! Scyther, will you tell the story? It's an incredible part of the resistance legend. Every Pokémon should hear it!"

An electric silence shot through the air, as Scythe was unwilling to further comment on the subject. Scythe diverted his gaze from the Dragonite captain to the fire; it was easy to tell that he was displeased with the topics brought up so far. Char had to wonder if the storytelling, regarding the Watchers and now Adiel, was going to help anyone relax, or just make things worse. Besides, he had heard the story of Adiel a dozen times, or at least as much as Scythe was willing to tell; pressing the subject, he knew, wouldn't be such a good idea…

"I told you, I'm not a storyteller," Scythe said finally. "Besides, that story means nothing. If we are to talk about legends of the resistance that every Pokémon must know, tell Char and his friends the story of how the Emerald Division survived the great overtaking. Tell him the story of Prince and his team. Perhaps they will gain some respect for Lucario's domain."

"There's an idea," Arshall said approvingly. "The story of Team Flamewheel, and how they saved the Emerald Division. Daniel? You would do this better than I, you were there when it happened…"

"Well, nobody can tell the story better than Legend, the Ninetales," Daniel said, standing up and taking over Arshall's place of prominence before the fire. "But for the sake of the legacy, I'll try my best. Now… where to begin?

"Most stories begin with 'long ago and far away'… not this one. This is something that happened up north, and only a few decades ago, recent enough to still be fresh in many memories. The Scyther you sit beside had already established his team, which became known and respected among the resistance forces for the incredible deeds they did. The chaos which ensued from Team Red's betrayal from the Black Division was finally settling down. The scouts were busy searching for the next appearance of the Call, the Watchers had long since started their nightly reign, and the Master had not made a move for some time, giving the resistance a much-needed rest. In all, it was a peaceful time for Ambera and all her children, a time which we all wished would last forever.

"During this time, a team of seven formed at the Gold Division's headquarters, calling themselves Team Flamewheel. The founder of the team was a Pokémon by the name of Prince, an Infernape who hailed from the faraway city of Aronwood. He worked as a skilled martial arts instructor there. When he learned of the resistance, he gathered his faithful assistant and two of his most promising students, and gained admittance to the Gold Division base. Once inside, he appraised the training teams and added three more members, and so, the original seven pledged their allegiance to the Division and began their work.

"Now, it didn't take long for the new team to shine. Prince was a true leader, excelling in the art of battle, strategy, you name it, he could do it. His team worked like a machine. They passed every test, returned victorious from every assigned mission, and exceeded every expectation. Now, Alakazam saw how well the team worked, and he allowed them to rise in the ranks until they were just as privileged as your Scyther's team. And for a couple seasons, the Gold Division prospered.

"But one day, Prince packed up and moved his team north to the Emerald Division. He left on a very short notice, without even Alakazam's blessing. Nobody knows why."

"Huh," Saura commented. "That's weird. That explains how we got our room, I guess. I wonder why they left?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Scythe said. "We were decent partners. In fact, our last mission together was an unexpected success, and it was all thanks to him. I asked him to stay, but his mind was made up already. There was nothing I could do."

"Well, whatever was the case, Prince made the Emerald Division his new home," Daniel continued. "But when they arrived there, Lucario was not so convinced of their skills. He treated them as new recruits, making them prove their capabilities to him little by little. And righteously so; the standards of the Emerald Division are very high. If Lucario wanted to rely on Prince and his team for difficult tasks, he had to know they would not be a weak link which could cost hundreds of Pokémon their lives. So, Prince got stuck doing dungeon exploration missions and escort missions, and other such mundane things. His team name was not known among the Division's members like it was at the Gold Division; he found himself having to attain a reputation all over again.

"Now, one day, while Prince and his team were away on a routine sentry mission, a horrible truth was discovered. The Master had discovered the Emerald Division, and was silently planning to destroy it!"

"I heard the story a little differently," Scythe commented, ignoring the gasps which rose from Team Ember. "I heard Prince's team was on a piracy mission when it happened. And I heard that they observed the movement of some troops, but Lucario didn't learn the truth until later. Regardless, carry on."

"If you wanted to tell the story, you should have said so in the first place!" Daniel laughed. "But anyway. The horrible truth.

"A wave of tension swept over the Division when they learned the truth. The Master had his sights set on them, and all seemed doomed. Lucario held an emergency meeting of the entire Division to discuss the dire situation. The silence in that chamber was deafening. Spirits were challenged to the core. Lucario addressed the Pokémon of the Emerald Division, in very morbid way, discussing their options…

"That's when Prince took things into his own hands. He stood up to Lucario and faced him down. The argument between Prince and Lucario filled the chamber, rattling every heart inside, as Prince demanded that he acknowledge Team Flamewheel's skill, and to listen to them. Finally, he got Lucario to listen to them, and convinced him and the entire Emerald Division that he could lead a last stand against the Master's forces.

"And so, a great battle was staged northwest of the Division, near the border of Zerferia, where the Master had hoped to sneak into the Division from behind. There, Prince's team, backed with hundreds of the Division's best warriors, waited. And then, in a blistering snowstorm, they came. Prince stood atop the hill, watching as thousands upon thousands of the Master's best forces marched forward in ranks across the barren landscape… One by one, Prince could make out the identities of the troops. A hundred Snover. A hundred Weavile. Hundreds upon hundreds of Onix, Skarmory, Flareon, and many more… all bred and trained for killing and destroying the Master's enemies…

"Prince led his troops in a prayer to Arceus, watching them march closer… and closer…

"Then… the armies clashed… And Prince, with only a hundred under his command… won the battle."

"Wait, wait, What?! That's it?!" Saura cried angrily. "They just won? No legendary strategy? No act of Arceus? Didn't anybody die?"

"Oh, many died in that battle, of course," Daniel said. "Prince's side suffered heavy losses. But they managed to repel the enemies, and the Emerald Division still stands to this day. And that's the story!"

A moment of silence. Char didn't quite know what to say, and apparently nobody else did, either.

"Uh… so… is there a moral of the story?" Saura finally asked. "It's epic and all, I know, but why does every Pokémon have to hear that?"

"Of course, isn't it obvious?" Arshall spoke up. "The moral is that even a one-to-one hundred battle can be won! It's a metaphor for the entire resistance, and a story that gives the whole Emerald Division pride and hope! The Master sits in his castle, his enemies outnumber us in the thousands, but if we try, we can still win!"

"Oh," Scythe sighed, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "The way he told the story it, it sounded as though moral might have been something to the effect of 'Scream until other Pokémon listen to you'. No offense, Dragonite, but it seems you have a talent for taking a timeless tale, mincing it into unspectacular pieces, and discarding the best half. Even I could have done better than that."

Daniel and Arshall both frowned at him, and Scythe immediately wished he could recall his words. He unconsciously took a step backward. Char watched in amazement.

"You failed to mention the Abyss, the Evergreen Guild, or any of Prince's companions," Scythe said quickly in his defense. "And you told the story out of order. Prince learned the truth long before Lucario did."

Daniel and Arshall frowned harder.

"I'm sorry," Scythe said even more quickly. "I didn't mean to be harsh."

"Well, how about you tell a story now, Scyther?" Arshall challenged. "We would very much like to hear one of your great tales."

Scythe knew that it was a demand, not a suggestion. If he wanted to make up for insulting the dragons, he would have to think of something quick…especially before Arshall suggested telling the Adiel story again.

Clearing his throat, Scythe stepped closer to the fire, straightened himself out, and faced his audience.

"Well, since you insist, there was one particularly interesting day at Basin Canyon which I remember to some extent," Scythe said. "You see, we were venturing down into the caves, going to dig out a tunnel. We have to dig out the tunnels, you see, so that the place is easier to defend. And so that any intruders get confused. Well, we were digging this tunnel, you see, and we had to stop, because there was a giant sheet of unbreakable rock lodged into the earth. It was like a pillar. We thought about going up and around it. After an hour of pondering, we decided it would damage the structural integrity of the land too much. So we decided to go down. But when we started to go down, we found… to our shock… the rock extended downward as well! It was unbelievable. And the rock was so hard, it didn't even scratch. So, after much deliberation, we went left. And there we found that the big rock had a corner to it. I stopped to sharpen my blades on it, then we kept following it around, and it was shaped so oddly, we began to wonder what it was. I suggested it could be a human object. Shander thought it belonged to the Master. But no, we ended up digging it out, and it was just a big rock. Oh, but that's not the best part. Let me tell you how we got it out of the cave…"

Some ten minutes later, Scythe paused his painfully boring story and glanced at the ground. Char, Saura, and Ray were fast asleep.

"I wonder why I didn't think of that in the first place," Scythe said, shrugging to the un-amused Dragonite.

… … …

Late that night, when everyone was sleeping soundly the entire crew was startled awake by a deafening explosion. Char jumped a foot in the air, his heart mercilessly racing. The dragons were quickly sent into an uproar.

"BAAAH! What was THAT?!" Saura cried, his ears ringing from the assault. "What?! Are we being attacked?!"

"It's nothing," Scythe shouted from across the canyon. "Go back to sleep, there's nothing to see here."

Scythe stood near the very end of the fire's light. At his feet laid a very exhausted, yet very satisfied Ray.

"Thank you," Ray moaned, sprawling out on the floor with a beaming smile on his face. "I really needed that… it was keeping me awake…"

With some supervision, Ray had called down a lightning bolt from the storm far above, charged his body with it, and released a mighty jolt of power into the cloud of Watchers. Dozens of them had dissipated.

"Very nice execution," Scythe said. "You're skilled with your lightning. See, the main thing to remember when fighting the Watchers is to never let them make contact with you."

Ray soon fell asleep, content that he had finally discharged his electricity, and also that, at last, he had exacted revenge on the Watchers.


Author's note: The side story Emerald Chronicles: A Frozen Flame was first published when this chapter was posted. It is meant to tell the full version of Daniel's story using many reader-submitted characters I had asked readers to send in. (Before you ask, no, I'm not accepting them anymore.)

It is currently on hiatus and one-fourth complete; there are plans to finish it. Even so, I encourage you to check it out; in my opinion, Legend's chapters are some of my best writing.

*Chapter 39*: Chapter 35: Homesick

Chapter 35

"WE'RE HERE!"

At Zahira's announcement, Char's pleasant trancelike state was broken and he found himself back in reality, positioned on the Dragonite's back as she shot across the sky in formation with her clan. A shiver ran through him as the formation angled themselves into a shallow dive to prepare for landing, causing the opaque, fluffy clouds below to rise up slowly and threaten to swallow him alive. Char cringed as they grew closer. He really dreaded flying through clouds; they sent the strangest sensations through the tip of his tail.

The previous night's rest had not been a very long or satisfying one after all. Between the haunting, inescapable presence of the Watchers, the storytelling session, and Ray's unexpected summoning of a lightning bolt, Char figured he might have accomplished only about two solid hours of unconsciousness. The Dragonite didn't care, though; as soon as the sun poked its nose over the edge of the earth and vanquished the ghosts of the night, they insisted in their typical overly-polite-and-irritating way upon waking the party, throwing together their supplies, and taking flight without delay. After exchanging some nods with Saura, Ray, and Scythe, as there wasn't really much to say at the time, Char climbed onto Zahira's back and let himself go limp as she carried him along his journey.

Just as Char hoped and expected, the second day's flight was infinitely better than the first. For once, his stomach did not protest at the rapid changes in altitude; he still felt the Golden Apple dwelling deep inside, appeasing any groans and aches his belly would have otherwise made. Never once did it threaten to be heaved out; it was as if his body appreciated its presence and intended to keep it there at all costs. Char smiled contently as he realized, if an entire Golden Apple was enough to feed a Pokémon for a month, he would not fear the pang of hunger or the throb of a sour stomach for at least another week after eating the one-fourth.

The sky itself, as well, seemed much more welcoming the second time around. Char didn't know how to place it, but there was something about the temperature, or the air pressure, or the absence of any storm fronts, which made the sky seem like a beloved home he yearned to return to and relax within. With the air clear of such obtrusions as bad weather or opposing wind currents, Zahira and her clanmates seemed to double their speed and rise to a much greater altitude than before, so high that once he gazed in marvel down at an inexplicable landscape formation he simply could not believe, only to realize that he was looking at the puffs of the cloud tops.

For the first few hours, Char had enjoyed the simple exhilaration of the ride, watching as the clouds reeled past below and beside him like a majestic snow-drenched valley. After that, when the scenery did not change for a while, Char began to grow bored, but it was that happy, pleasant type of boredom where you know you have nothing to do, yet you don't want to have anything to do. He blinked in and out of consciousness as his mind fluttered between pleasant daydreams and making up for the sleep he had lost the previous evening. He wished and pretended that the flight would never end, that there was no Master to worry about, that he wouldn't have to trudge through a mountain of snow to answer the summons of a legendary dragon, that his trainer wasn't slowly driving himself to insanity from weariness, that Saura could be with his family, that Ray could earn the respect he wanted from his superiors, and that he had come to the world of Pokémon as some sort of reward from the gods, that his purpose there was nothing more than to enjoy his life and soar through the sky upon Charizard wings, that nothing of urgency sat upon his shoulders.

It was during one of these daydreams that Zahira had announced their arrival to their destination, the Emerald Division.

Char had the strange urge to hold his breath just before Zahira plunged him down through the layer of clouds. He closed his eyes just before it hit, and soon, his heart raced as he expected the tickling, stabbing feels of the partially-condensed vapor colliding against his flame. But this time, it surprisingly did not come; this cloud was not a storm cloud. It was only foggy, not wet with pockets of condensation ready to be dispersed as raindrops. Relieved, he blinked his eyes back open just in time to emerge from the cloud blanket and watch the landscape of northern Ambera open up before him.

It was dark.

That was the first thing he noticed about the land: the darkness. It genuinely shocked him; it was, after all, the dead center of the winter season in this part of the world, as it had been summer down south at the Plateau and the surrounding lands. He figured, this far north, snowdrifts would have accumulated across the ground as far as the eye could see… and that wasn't even to mention that it was only about three hours past midday, the sun still prominent in the sky…

Instead, the earth depicted a landscape of gray and brown, cast into shadow by the thick blanket of clouds which he had flown through. There were not even any forests or grassy plains to give the world the green tint he had seen in it for the portions of the trip the earth had been visible. It looked as though the land was leeched of its vitality, sucked dry by some monstrous predator or wilted by some unstoppable poison.

The second thing he noticed was that it was cold.

The whole trip had been rather chilly with the frigid winds of the upper atmosphere constantly whipping past his face, but Zahira's body had emanated a great warmth, and she flew in such a way that shielded her rider from the worst brunt of the wind. Whenever the temperature bothered him, he would only need to lay belly-down upon her back and all would be well…

But as they descended toward the surface, the tingle of vertigo nipping at the top of his head, Char suddenly found he could not escape the cold.

"It's… a bit chilly!" Char commented to the Dragonite, who had reduced her speed enough that the wind would not overpower his speech.

"It always is up here," Zahira answered. "Welcome to the high latitudes!"

To Char, the cold was certainly not something to welcome. In fact, it was quite new to him; the climate around the Plateau was always temperate and pleasant, even on the windiest or stormiest of days. The coldest feelings Char had ever experienced were on a mission to the core of a dungeon called Windswept Ditch, where he actually felt parts of his face starting to go numb as he led the team through the lower levels. It was not a warm memory—in fact, it was the cold that caused him to lose his focus, which ultimately cost Team Ember the success of the mission. Char hated the cold. He hated how it surrounded him, how it permeated his skin, how it stung and made him lose feeling, how it stifled his fire, and how it would just not go away. Dread filled his heart as he imagined, if this was the normal climate which northern Ambera expected, just how cold it would get during a winter storm…

…and how cold the notorious land of Zerferia would prove to be…

Far below, Char spotted a cluster of structures which the Dragonite clan seemed to be honing in on. From so high up in the air, it looked only like a little pile of blocks, no bigger than half a village. Surely, this tiny little settlement wasn't the renowned Emerald Division… was it?


Emerald Outskirts

The Dragonite clan shouted a merry cheer, a celebration of a task well-completed, as they touched down upon the stiff clay road which connected to the arrangement of uninteresting buildings Char had seen from above. Without much eagerness, Char clambered down from his comfortable position upon Zahira, feeling, as he had the previous night in the desert, the strange way his mind reacted to being anchored on solid ground after experiencing flight for hours on end. He remembered how it had taken him a whole six minutes before he was able to even command his legs to take him in a comprehensible direction, and even then, his stomach lurched at every step. Though he had been thankful for it, in the end; it had given him the opportunity to hang back and talk with Scythe, who had been experiencing similar troubles, while the rest of the party continued onward. Though Char now felt the blessed apple still inside of him squelching the unpleasant feelings of motion sickness, it still felt as though the entire mass of land sat upon a rushing stream which he could not see, carrying him in some direction at a high speed.

Having difficulty even aiming his feet at the ground, Char dropped to all fours and waited for his sense of balance to recover. It brought back faint memories of waking up as a Charmander and not understanding how to command his new legs. A sudden blast of cold wind rivaling the temperatures up in the stratosphere struck his face, causing him to close his eyes and bite down upon his lower lip as he endured it. Clouds of white erupted from his nostrils on every breath.

"Hey, are you alright?" Saura asked, already rushing to Char's side.

"I'm fine," Char assured him, gritting his teeth and trying, but failing, to stand himself up. "Just a little dizzy. And cold."

"Yeah, it's really freezing out here," Saura agreed, pressing his forehead against Char's stomach to help him up. "Let's hope the division is a nice warm place, huh?"

As Char righted himself, shuddering in relief as the wind died down, he caught ear of Scythe speaking at the other end of the Dragonite group.

"Better, yes," he heard Scythe say. He sounded groggy, as if he'd also taken the flight as an opportunity to recover lost sleep. "The apple didn't hurt much, either… I would have fed it to you on the first day, but I convinced myself that flying wasn't as bad as I had remembered. I regret having been so hopeful."

"Aw, don't worry about it," he heard Ray say. "It was nothing. I got through it, and that's all that matters."

Finally feeling some semblance of balance, Char stood and glanced about his new surroundings. Indeed, it was just as he had seen before from the air: the sky was blanketed with clouds, or perhaps one large cloud, hiding the dimmed sun and casting the land into a dusk-like darkness. The land was desolate, barren; only a few stray rocks and leafless trees jutted from the hardened dirt which surrounded the road. The only thing of note, he saw, was the place he was assuming was the Emerald Division: enclosed within a decorative stone wall stood five brick structures, the central one dwarfing the size of all the others by at least fourfold. He expected that, like the Gold Division, this resistance force lived underground, and these buildings were only a front for one of their many entrances. Still, he had a hard time believing it; there were no other Pokémon around except for the group; their only company was the howl of the cold wind through the tiny settlement.

"From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you," Scythe said to Arshall, offering a polite bow as he addressed her. "You have accomplished your task as well as anyone could have asked."

"It has been a pleasure, Scyther, to serve you by doing what we do best," Arshall responded. "And an honor, as well. My clan and I have ferried many important Pokémon around Ambera… but not so many as famous as you."

"The pleasure is all mine, of course," Scythe replied. "Saved us the trouble of walking. I hope Alakazam has paid you handsomely for your effort."

"Oh, ho, not yet, he hasn't," Arshall laughed. "We are not finished with you yet, after all!"

Scythe blinked, the statement catching him off-guard.

"Of course, what I mean is, we still have the return trip to take," Arshall quickly added when she spotted the unexpected look across Scythe's face. "Alakazam arranged the whole trip. Though, he didn't really make it clear how long you'd be staying."

A visible wince shot through the Scyther's form, as though he had just realized something terrible.

"Scyther, is something the matter?" Arshall asked concernedly. Behind her eyes, she looked terrified, as if she'd just offended her guest in a way she didn't understand. Some of the other dragons seemed to share her sentiment, not to mention Char, who had held his breath at Scythe's reaction, wondering what had gone wrong with his plans…

"Return trip," Scythe mouthed, just barely muttering the words under his breath. "Return trip. Return trip… Return trip…"

"You… may stay as long as you'd like, if that's what worries you…?" Arshall added, her face bewildered. "There will always be at least one of us here, it will not be difficult to rally us when you need…"

"No." Scythe suddenly said, straightening up. "No, forgive me. Nothing's the matter. I just had a thought stuck in place for a second. But yes, thank you for all your help. We will alert you when we are prepared to leave."

"In that case, then, since Alakazam made it clear how urgent this trip has been, Zahira here will guide you to Lucario's den at once," Arshall said, looking relieved. "Zahira, fine flying with you! Send our regards to Lucario!"

"I will," Zahira promised. "Well, Scyther, Charmander, let's not waste any time. Come with me. Lucario should be pleasantly surprised to see that we've arrived a little ahead of schedule."

It struck Char then, judging by the actions of the Dragonite clan, that this was not the Emerald Division after all. Rather, as he watched the dragons line up into some lazy formation and prepare to depart down the road and into the settlement, he determined it to be their team headquarters. After they had returned the luggage for Scythe and Zahira to carry, they waved their cheery goodbyes and set off for home. Char wondered why they hadn't flown the rest of the way to the division, but figured it was close enough that it would not have mattered.

A minute later, Zahira walked with them off the road to guide them into the barren brown landscape beyond. Ray walked at Scythe's side, while Saura and Char helped each other bring up the rear.

"Wow," Saura sighed loudly. "It feels so weird, being so far away from home! It's like, my mind is always drifting back to the Gold Division and the Tiny Plains, but I have to keep telling it that there's no way back right now…"

"Ah, hah, homesickness already?" Zahira chuckled. "Careful, homesickness has been known to eat Pokémon alive!"

"You're telling me," Saura said back. "That was the hardest part about joining the resistance. I kept thinking of my family back at home. But at least the Gold Division was in the same county as my home. This place feels like a whole new world! I feel like such a fish out of water."

"You feel like a fish out of water," Zahira said, holding back a long, hearty laugh. "You have no idea what it's like to be a fish out of water. Be thankful for that. Let me tell you, it shatters your whole sense of being when you find there's such a new dimension to life as the world above the surface…"

Char glanced to Scythe, expecting a reply from him. Scythe would always comment in these circumstances, offering his keen perspective on the issue or prescribing a remedy, but not this time. He kept his gaze averted, a frown covering his face, as if intent upon ignoring everything but his own thoughts.

"Aww, homesickness isn't too hard to beat," Ray said, glancing back at Char. "You just have to pretend that you have a new home for the time being. Like, hey! Team Ember's all here. Scythe is here. Anywhere you guys go is home to me!"

Another chilly breeze engulfed the group, sweeping across Char's face and taking his breath away. He felt as his flame flickered beneath the wind's weight, and he realized that his teeth were beginning to chatter involuntarily. Curiously, his heated breath continued to manifest itself as little clouds of steam as he exhaled it.

This is almost worse than being caught in the rain, Char told himself, clenching his fists and trying to hide his discomfort from the others. Saura's right… the Division better be warm…

"So… how far until we get there?" Char asked of the Dragonite. "Does the division live underground like we do?"

"The Emerald Division does things a little differently than you're used to, little dragon," Zahira explained. "We don't have the resources to build a big underground base like you have. You wouldn't have either, I think, but Xatu's ancestor who started the Gold Division found it like that, already built. Am I correct, Scyther?"

"Hmm, yes," Scythe barely managed to respond, still lost in his own thoughts.

"We don't live all in the same place," Zahira continued. "Our base of operations is in Fort Emerald, which is the place we're heading now. Our resistance teams live all over the place across these lands we call the Emerald Outskirts. For the sake of organization, Lucario considers them divided into a number of districts, but really, we just live wherever we managed to build or find a home at the time. To the outsider, we wouldn't look threatening. A hermit's dwelling here, a reclusive neighborhood there…"

"Hmm, Dragonite?" Scythe said thoughtfully, suddenly speaking up and cutting off Zahira's explanation. "If you don't mind, could you lead us from afar? I'd like to share some privacy with my team."

"…Oh. That's… fine," Zahira answered, looking a bit surprised and saddened at Scythe's request. "Whatever you want. Let me know if you need anything…"

Zahira gave Scythe a look of concern, acting much like Arshall had a few moments before when Scythe had reacted unexpectedly. Casting several last, questioning glances at him, almost as if she expected him to clarify or change his mind, her form rose a few inches into the air and she drifted off ahead of the group. Char also found himself wordlessly disappointed, as he was enjoying Zahira's company as well as her account of the Emerald Division, but he decided not to argue with Scythe.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Scythe spoke. "Alright, all three of you. Listen," he grunted. "We need to lay down some rules about your conduct here at the Emerald Division. The first rule, while we're here: do not speak. And on the occasions you find that you can speak, don't ask questions. Char, I'm talking to you. Given the chance, you're the one who can suffocate another Pokémon with nothing but your curiosity."

Char scowled. "But why?" he demanded. "Zahira had no problem with—"

"See? Already, you don't get it," Scythe interrupted him. "No questions. That includes 'why'. Especially 'why'. Of the six types of questions, that's the hardest one to answer. Do I make myself clear? I have spoiled you. I have let you treat me like a family member and ask whatever you wish. But you are not to treat any of Lucario's Pokémon in this manner. You are not to be rude. You are not to be nosy. Do not speak unless you are spoken to. Understand?"

"Fine," Char sighed.

Saura and Ray nodded their obedience as well.

"Due to certain circumstances, I forgot to reprimand you about your behavior toward Alakazam on the night he summoned you," Scythe said. "I'll tell you what, I almost died right then and there when you interrupted him to ask him about Arceus. And besides… and probably most importantly… the Emerald Division has a history that… they aren't completely proud of. Bringing it to the mind of any of the Pokémon you meet… you should consider an offense of the highest degree."

"I'm sorry," Char spoke sincerely, his voice breaking as his body continued to shiver. "I won't embarrass you again. And I won't ask any questions."

"Good," Scythe said. "Second rule: don't touch anything. Third: don't go anywhere unsupervised. Fourth: Lucario's word is law. You will do whatever he tells you. His lineage is responsible for the existence of the whole resistance, he demands your utmost respect. If he orders you to murder me, you are to obey him. Understand?"

"Wow," Saura responded, look of astonishment plastered across his face. "Whatever you say, Scythe!"

"Ah, but hopefully it won't come to that," Scythe said, wearing a tiny grin. "But yes, try not to step out of line, let me do all the talking, and I promise I'll make our stay here as painless as possible. After that, though… I don't know what else I can promise…"

Having said that, Scythe resumed his quiet brooding, leading Char to realize just why he had called off Zahira: he needed silence, and badly. There was something he had to think about, without the distraction of Zahira's dissertations to all the young and curious Pokémon eager to carry on a chat with her.

Squinting at Scythe's face, Char could just barely make out the motion of his mouth as he repeated two words silently to himself, over and over. "Return trip," Scythe whispered, glancing toward the eastern horizon. "Return… trip…"

The look in Scythe's eyes, the waver in his form, which bespoke of a horrible inner turmoil… even the flight had done nothing to expel it. Char thought he could almost see the threads of thought as they twisted and turned beneath Scythe's reddened eyes.

Just what was wrong with the return trip?

Char felt the question balancing on the tip of his tongue, but he managed to hold it back. After all, he had made a promise. No matter how pained he looked, he would leave Scythe to his own devices and not plead to know his secrets. This much respect he knew the Scyther deserved from him, and he intended to keep his promise.

Besides, Char thought. I've got to get in the habit of not asking questions.

"This is going to be so weird," Saura said to his friends, obviously relieved to be able to talk to them again. "Daniel told me all about Lucario. He sounds harsh! Heh, think he would really order us to kill Scythe?"

"I hope not," Ray laughed. "If he did, we'd be the ones going down!"

"Maybe," Saura added with an evil grin. "You could probably beat him with your lightning bolts if you tried hard enough. He wouldn't be safe in the air."

"You're joking, right?" Ray gasped. "Have you seen how fast he can move? Lightning or not, I'm no match for his agility. Isn't that right, Scythe? Hey, Scythe! If you and I battled, who would win?"

"I would," Scythe said absentmindedly, not even glancing back.

"See? Told 'ya," Ray said with a smirk. "Not a chance! I bet there aren't very many Pokémon who could fight Scythe and win, anyway…"

"Um, hey, guys?" Char spoke carefully, "I think we should stop bothering Scythe for a while. Give him some room…"

"… Oh," Ray said, interrupted in mid-thought. "Alright… Sorry, I didn't mean to be a bother… I'm just happy to be on the ground again, I guess!"

After glancing once at Scythe, Ray hung back and joined Char and Saura, allowing Scythe several yards' worth of solitude. He made a visible effort to act more polite and restrained. Char continued to watch Scythe; he did not appear to realize he was now alone, his searing gaze locked on some faraway point…

"Uh-oh," Saura said, radiating concern. "I know that look of yours. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Char answered, speaking under his voice. "Something is wrong."

Tearing his gaze from Scythe, Char glanced at his friends. Saura's expression had turned grave and serious, just as he always seemed ready to discuss important matters at a moment's notice, and Ray looked surprised.

"It's our return trip," Char explained, ever-so-quietly. "Something's wrong with our return trip. Didn't you see what happened to Scythe when Arshall said that? He looked scared. Honestly scared."

"Could be nothing," Saura shrugged. "The flight probably just stressed him out. I can tell he really hated it. If I were him, having the flight home mentioned so soon after the first one's over would give me some chills, too."

"It's hard to tell," Ray muttered. "Scythe is really stressed. But if he needs to tell us something, he'll tell us. Hopefully he still has everything under control."

"I'm… starting… to not be so sure," Char confessed, practically having to choke out the words as if he couldn't believe he was saying them. "I know we need to trust him… I know it… but… I'm starting to get really worried about him. Really worried. It's like… every time the light gleams in his eye… it looks like… he's… losing his sanity or something."

There was an unnerving silence as his friends failed to respond to his thoughts right away, still trying to swallow the possibility.

"He's keeping a secret," Char growled. "I just wish I knew what it was. It's a really bad one. It's something… that…"

Char froze dead in his tracks.

Realizing at almost the same time, Saura and Ray halted their paces and glanced back at him, wordless expressions across their faces, expecting him to explain whatever sudden horrific epiphany he had realized.

But Char did not see either of them.

Several steps ahead, Scythe had also stopped dead in his tracks. Glancing over his shoulder, he sent Char the most deathly gaze he had ever seen. It was a malicious, hateful gaze… For a split second, Char saw Scythe in a way he never had before, in a new, darker light; it seemed to him for just one point in time that he and Scythe were actually bitter enemies, something that Char wanted with all of his being to never be true. He could feel his face growing pale, locked in disbelief and shame and fear, as the gaze lasted for one second… and then two… and three… He could feel himself growing dizzy, as his lungs refused to breathe air, his fire growing intense in reaction…

And that's when he realized: there was only one thing in the world which would anger Scythe to his breaking point. Someone had broken a grave promise. Someone had broken his trust. And it was him.

"You must promise me something in return…"

"…that, for the duration of this trip…"

"… you will stop bringing up this subject."

As the words echoed in Char's mind, he knew now what they meant. Scythe had not just requested Char to stop bringing up the subject to him, but to anyone… As he had made so clear the previous evening, it broke his heart just as badly whenever Char went behind his back…

"Char… what is it?" Saura begged. "Do you… know something?"

"I… I can't… I can't talk about it," Char muttered solemnly. "Not even to you."

"W-why's that?" Saura asked, confused.

"I promised," Char simply said. "I promised I wouldn't."

Finally, Scythe averted his gaze and continued following Zahira forward as if nothing had happened.

It was a long, silent, cold walk into civilization.

Though Char had been stuck in a body that was not his own for a long time now, this was the first time he truly felt trapped. Trapped in a cold and barren land which could not, in any sense of the word, be called home.

For once, he had no say in the matter. There was no other option. The only way was forward. Forward to Dialga.

Again, Char started to wonder why they hadn't flown. But, again, that was a question. And there would be no more of those.


Fort Emerald

It was an understatement to say that the Emerald Division was nothing like Char had expected.

The group had re-united for their entrance into Fort Emerald, a stronghold city surrounded by a tall steel wall, the place which housed the Emerald Division. Though the road was paved differently, and the buildings had a clear air of strictness and uniformity to them, and it was a small settlement in comparison, the whole place reminded Char of Iron Town. Huge metallic structures, spacious avenues, paths leading into complex neighborhoods in every direction…

There was one major exception, though: the whole place was silent. Dead.

Char was honestly surprised to see a single Flareon pass by on their commute. It said nothing and seemed content to ignore them. Aside from that, it would have appeared to him, if he hadn't known better, that Fort Emerald was an uninhabited place. Though he took the chance to peer into any window, alley, and open door he spotted along the way, nothing helped to debunk his image of Fort Emerald as a ghost town. No teams huddling in buildings around a cozy fire. No bustling shops like Kecleon's emporium, filled with Pokémon eager to stuff their bags with valuable utilities for their missions. No friendly townsfolk stepping outside to enjoy their day.

...Well, it's not like this is enjoyable weather, anyway, Char said to himself, squinting to see well under the cloudy sky and cringing as he realized he had lost all feeling in his nose and the tips of his fingers. But there have got to be some Pokémon who would enjoy this weather, right? Snover? Glaceon? Sneasel? There have got to be a lot of those Ice Pokémon working here at the division, right? Where… are they?

"I bet everyone's out on missions," Saura commented, reading Char's observations. "That's usually how it is around this time of day back at the base. Or they could be in some sort of a meeting. Or, heh, a welcoming committee, maybe? That would sure be nice."

"It's because all the Pokémon live around in the districts," Ray noted. "That's what Zahira said. So if all the teams are home, just like Arshall's team, then none of them are here-"

Ray paused in mid-thought, and a charged silence suddenly overcame the group. Char glanced around, wondering what had provoked it, when he realized that Scythe had hesitated. He had stopped in mid-stride, as if something had just gone wrong.

Char followed the direction of Scythe's squinting glance.

Light. There was a bright fire among the shadows of the city, contrasting the surrounding gloom caused by the tall buildings and overcast sky. Char found it difficult to focus his sight, and had to wait until his eyes adjusted to the new light source…

And when they did, he realized that, like his own, this fire was coming from a Pokémon.

It stood near an alleyway, watching the group from afar: a tall, muscular figure, hunched over in concentration or perhaps weariness, the top of his head ablaze with a long fiery mane.

Char knew this Pokémon. An Infernape.

Scythe stared at the Infernape for a few moments, and the Infernape returned the gaze. No words were spoken, not even by Zahira, who only took notice of the onlooker for a few moments before returning her attention to the road ahead. Scythe's gaze lingered for a few moments longer, as if exchanging messages of telepathy with the Pokémon.

"Hey, who's that?" Ray whispered in awe.

Both Scythe and Zahira ignored his question.

The more Char stared at the Infernape, the more of an impression it had on him. The way the Pokémon held itself, the expression in its face… it was unusual, somehow. Imposing, but not in a way he understood. It did not betray pride, or humility, but something else… something he just couldn't place his finger on, but something he knew he just couldn't ignore. It was as if the Infernape stood for something.

"Prince," Char answered quietly, knowing in his heart the answer to Ray's question. "It's Prince. From Daniel's story. He leads Team Flamewheel. He's the one who saved the Emerald Division."

"Really think it could be?" Saura whispered to him.

"Come," Scythe suddenly ordered, disregarding the Infernape and gesturing to Char and his friends. "And you two. Remember what I told you not to do."

"Oh… right. No questions," Saura grumbled, scowling and biting his lip. "Sorry…"

Char could tell that Saura was already a bit annoyed, but nothing could be done.

"He was waiting for us," Scythe mumbled disconcertedly, turning to Zahira. Char had the impression he wasn't meant to hear the words.

"Figures he'd know," Zahira quietly answered. "He knew about the tower before most of anyone else."

"I knew he would show his face," Scythe said, "I was hoping it would be later rather than sooner. Just as long as he stays away from my Charmander…"

Though the group continued forward down the deserted city road, the Infernape didn't move. Char gave him one last look as they passed by, only to find that the Infernape's eyes were suddenly locked with his. Startled, he quickly averted his gaze.

Stay away from my Charmander? Char repeated quietly to himself. W-why? What's wrong with Prince? Is he a threat to me?

He turned to his friends, and found that both of them were just as weirded-out as him. They'd heard it, too. They nodded oddly to one another, saying nothing in fear of making known that they'd heard it, and silently agreeing that they would, for whatever reason it was necessary, keep a wary eye out for the Infernape.

After crossing nearly a mile of the practically uninhabited city streets, the city opened up into a relatively spacious area spotted with concrete platforms and small monuments. In the very center stood the ornate entrance of a very large rectangular building, its four front doors opened wide atop a respectable flight of stairs…

"Here we are, at last," Zahira announced. "Welcome to Rayquaza's Clutch!"


Rayquaza's Clutch

Keeping everything but his curious gaze to himself, Char followed his companions toward the compound. The exterior of the building was easily more ornate than any of the other structures in the whole fortress. Along the front wall at both sides of the entryway sat eight tall, riveted, gray pillars which didn't hold anything up. The walls of the building were made from huge bricks many times bigger than Char's body, some sparkling white like they were made of sandstone, others a blinding, reflective silver, as if they were made of metal. The two types of bricks formed "X" patterns all the way down the sides of the wall. The front doors were made of plain polished wood, but they were so huge that Char figured they must have been carved out from some thousand-year-old redwood trees.

But the most curious decoration Char noticed, and the most interesting, was a giant stone statue depicting the legendary dragon Rayquaza, the end of its tail coiled up like a resting serpent. The figure sat within the dead space off the path near the bottom of the staircase, the whole thing laying on its side as if the monument had been knocked off its pedestal but could not be discarded, the Pokémon of the division yet to get around to repairing it. It was clear that Rayquaza had taken serious damage: aside from the numerous chips and gouges everywhere, a couple of its head-fins were missing, both its arms were disconnected, and a giant crack ran straight down the dragon's forehead. Through it all, it still managed to imbue Char with a sense of respect for its figure, its wise yet ferocious gaze and its opened mouth reminding Char very much of the statues back within the Gold Division's meeting hall…

Rayquaza must be the division's guardian figure, Char determined, once again holding back a question. It has to be called the 'Emerald Division' for a reason…

Char and his companions followed the Dragonite and the Scyther up to the doorway, leaping up the stairs with the professional ease of someone who was used to climbing hundreds of them every day. With each step, he grew more and more eager to get inside and out of the cold.

At the top of the stairs, Zahira paused to introduce the setting.

"Rayquaza's Clutch is the core of the Emerald Division," Zahira explained. "Team Regret settles in here. This is where all of our resistance teams come to have meetings, receive assignments, and congregate. It's the backbone of all our operations. So, as we enter, you may see a lot of Pokémon in a hurry. Try not to get in their way."

"I can assure you, Dragonite, my companions will not cause any trouble," Scythe said abruptly, cutting her off. "Will they, Char?"

Char gulped and shook his head, eager to agree with anything just to thaw out his frostbitten parts somewhere where it was above twelve degrees and the wind didn't blow.

Zahira waited for a few moments, as if expecting questions or comments from her guests. When she realized none were coming, she gestured for everyone to follow her inside. Char happily obliged.

Once again, Char was faced with the last sight he was expecting.

Stone. Cold, dark stone. Cold, dark, dead stone. Hallways and corridors of it, as far as the eye could see. And that wasn't very far, because there were no lighting fixtures within Rayquaza's Clutch. No ghost-torches. No real torches, even. It was the most dull, monotonous building interior Char had ever witnessed.

Though, there was light. Char could see past the sunlit lobby and farther down the hall, so he realized there had to have been some light source… though it took him a moment to realize what it was. When he did, he emitted a gasp. A gasp of rage.

It was sunlight! A large rectangle had been cut out of the center of the ceiling, letting in the muffled sunlight. The whole room was open to the elements! The wind continued to blow in, aiming right for Char and sweeping past him and out the doors behind. A new shudder overtook him.

This is not how a resistance base should be! Char growled as he told himself, clenching his fists. This is… this is a dungeon! A giant dungeon! How can any team bear to live in this? Do they have a cafeteria? A meeting hall? Do they have sentries to keep out the intruders? Do they have a password, like the Creed? Do they have comfortable rooms to live in? Rooms that aren't just habitats for ice Pokémon?!

Char was on the verge of demanding answers. So far, he had felt very disillusioned and disappointed with the Emerald Division. We didn't have the resources, he remembered Zahira saying. We do things differently around here, she had also said.

Pah, Char thought. How are teams even expected to operate in here?

"Char… your tail," Ray whispered to him, noting the rapidly inflating light source at the end of his tail.

"It's the cold," Char said. "The cold is making me angry."

"Then let it," Saura said simply. "Remember what you learned in the Windswept Ditch…"

Char smiled as he realized that Saura was right. Though the cold had enraged him, his rage was fueling his fire, which was already giving him a measure of relief and comfort. He felt as his inner ember licked the boundaries of its confines, spreading some warmth through his form and bringing blessed feeling back to his numbed skin. It wasn't perfect, but it would let him survive for just a little while longer…

And then, when he followed Zahira around the corner and into one of the main halls of the building, Char found something else to smile about: Pokémon. Rayquaza's Clutch was not so deserted after all. Char counted at least three teams, or at least groups of division residents, traversing the hall. Though none raised a voice, it really gave Char a reassuring feeling that the place was a functioning and active resistance base.

A resistance team exited a dark corridor just ahead, filing quickly into the main hall just ahead of Char and his group. Char balked when he saw them: a Medicham, two Aggron, which were fully grown versions of the annoying steel rodents Char remembered from several dungeons, and a Camerupt bringing up the back and moving itself with surprising speed. The thing was, these Pokémon looked powerful. They were at least one-and-a-half times the size Char expected the respective species to be. They all reminded Char of Gebbit, a notorious Machamp from Team Impact back at his base, who dedicated himself to training and growing the biggest muscles any Pokémon would ever see. Likewise, this team had spent many years hardening themselves, honing their strength and endurance, and it really showed. Char's jaw dropped as he watched the Aggron. Their plating was inches thick. Their claws and horns were massive, looking as though they could smash diamonds if they wanted. The ground shook as they lumbered near.

"Hey, look, that must be Team Earthmovers," Ray joked nervously. "W-wow."

As the intimidating Pokémon crossed paths with Char's group, they gave a nod of acknowledgement to Zahira. Next, upon noticing Scythe, they gave him a much more surprised and respectful nod, practically bowing before him. Scythe politely gestured back to them, shrugging them off.

As they passed Char, they gave him a look of pathetic disgust. Char suddenly felt very small.

Hah, Char wished he could shout in their faces. I'll take you on. I'll take you all on. Just watch. I have The Call, don't you know? I can call upon Rayquaza and he'll swallow you whole! You don't scowl at me!

It helped to keep him warm.

Another group passed by, this one consisting of two Weavile and one Sneasel. They were in a real hurry, dashing hastily down the hall and taking no notice of Scythe or the rest of the group.

"Yeah, and there's Team Cutthroat," Saura commented.

Though it was just a joke, Char couldn't help but agree. Weasel Pokémon were not nice creatures. He remembered Team Dread back at the Gold Division, a team which employed three Sneasel and one Weavile, Vazidor, as their leader. Vazidor was level-headed and respectable enough, but the others, to put it lightly, did not make good teammates on the cooperative missions.

The halls continued on a bit, and aside from the occasional group of Pokémon he'd get to see, they didn't look all too different from one another. Occasionally, the ceiling would open and let the light in, or an entire wall would be missing, with only a row of thick pillars separating them from the streets of Fort Emerald, but the interior of Rayquaza's Clutch didn't look too interesting with or without the sunlight. It was as if someone had been given the biggest boulder in the history of the world and they carved out a living space inside of it. There were no swinging doors, burning torches, furniture, carpeting, or anything else to liven the mood. Everything was the same color. Gray.

Another team approached, this one noisily chatting amongst each other, pleasantly breaking the dreadful silence. Among them was a Houndoom which looked even bulkier and stronger than Daemon, a Glaceon, perfectly at home up here in the cold climate, a very serious-looking Lucario, an exceptionally long Arbok, a Typhlosion, a—

Wait… a Lucario?

Char blinked. Could it possibly be… the Lucario?

"Ahrgl-!"

Blinded by his sudden tension at being in the presence of the Emerald Division's leader, Char stubbed his toe into an unexpected crack in the floor and toppled over onto his face.

With a little help from Saura, who had tried to catch him, Char scrambled back to his feet before Lucario could catch him making a fool of himself.

"It's him!" Char gasped to Saura. "Lucario. I can't believe we just ran into him in the hall… I thought we were going to meet him in his room or something…"

"You sure that's him?" Saura wondered. "He doesn't look very… I dunno… leader-like."

Char took a closer look at the blue canine-like Pokémon, and saw what Saura had meant. The Lucario was rather short and diminutive compared to the Pokémon which surrounded him. He didn't appear bulky, muscular, battle-hardened like the other teams he'd seen; in fact, he looked a little scrawny. His facial expression betrayed discomfort and uncertainty, not the pride and sturdiness of a commander. Though his teammates rambled on to him, he made no comment, he only listened, as if he couldn't understand half of what they were saying. Char began to seriously wonder if this was actually another Lucario which worked at the division, and not the Lucario everyone else was talking about.

However, sure enough, when the Lucario glanced up and noticed Zahira, he spoke.

"Zahira," the Aura Pokémon grunted very gruffly, as if he was trying to shout but was unable to raise his voice. "You're early. And by about four and a third hours."

"Indeed, Your Excellency," Zahira spoke very respectfully. "And I have delivered Scythe, the renowned hero from the Gold Division, and… the Charmander, who is called Char. And his friends."

"Hey…" Saura quipped quietly into Char's ear, "isn't Zahira on Team Regret? And she's calling him 'Your Excellency'? Why's she treating him like that?"

"He's the leader of the division," Char guessed. "I guess you treat him with respect no matter where you stand."

"Yeah, but… I would think you would treat your team leader a little more personally than that, even if he is also your commander," Saura wondered. "These Pokémon sure must have a lot of respect for one another…"

"Hah, watch. I bet Scythe doesn't have to treat him special at all," Ray guessed. "Scythe's famous. He could probably say whatever he wants and get away with it."

"Since when does being famous mean you have less responsibility?" Scythe hissed back, surprising the three of them. "In my experience, it means you get more. Now… quiet! It is vital you remain silent now. Unless Lucario speaks directly to you, not a word. Understand?"

Char straightened and stiffened himself, anticipating the deep, cold stare the Emerald Division leader would give him, wondering how it would feel to have his aura probed by the Lucario's mind. But Lucario didn't yet seem interested in Char…

Lucario made a very strange gesture, shaking his head and batting his paws at the air, as if his head were covered in flies and he was trying to shoo them all away. "Well, this is an inconvenience. I'm scheduled to visit District Four this hour, but now I'm going to have to stay here," he grumbled in his low, gravelly voice. "I would not want to keep our guests waiting, even if they have inconvenienced me. Well, in this case… Excalibur, you travel to District Four in my stead. Zahira, you go with them. Team Cornerstone needs to discuss the situation with the trenches that block off the road to the civilian city, I don't know, they'll tell you all about it when you get there."

"It shall be done," the Houndoom answered in a deep and powerful voice, making Char wonder if it was really a legendary Pokémon in disguise.

Zahira frowned slightly. "Your Excellency, if you ever again require… supervision for the guests, do not hesitate to call on me. It has been my honor and pleasure to mingle with them."

"I understand, but I can take them from here, Zahira," Lucario answered, a tiny hint of displeasure in his voice. "Thank you for getting them here in one piece, but now I need you elsewhere. Do not forget the Terra Town campaign."

"Of course, Your Excellency," Zahira responded in almost a sigh. "Scythe, Char, Ray, Saura… it looks like this is where we part. It's been a fun ride. See you again sometime, hopefully."

Char nodded to her, but said nothing per Scythe's request. She smiled and waved as she followed rest of the group he presumed to be Team Regret as they marched down the hall, leaving Lucario standing alone with the newcomers.

The leader stood there in the center of the dark hall, his face cast toward the floor. His eyes were closed, or simply downturned, Char couldn't tell, his hands folded as his back. Char clasped his claws together and wrenched them tightly in nervous anticipation, his breath long since caught in the back of his throat.

It was Scythe who broke the silence.

"Hmm, those Houndoom make excellent partners, do they not?" Scythe spoke. His tone attempted a measure of casual friendliness, but Char could tell that he had spoken it very carefully.

"Hmmmmm," Lucario sighed, finally lending his gaze to Scythe, as if he had not yet realized he was standing in his company the entire time. "Scythe. Well met. You are well known around these parts. I have heard many great things about you. On behalf of all Rayquaza's Clutch, welcome to Fort Emerald. I shall try to make your stay here as comfortable as possible."

Char blinked. Lucario was speaking in a very unnatural manner, or at least one he was not expecting of such a powerful leader. He spoke as if he had spent the fortnight just trying to memorize those lines.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Scythe responded, offering a small bow. "This is not my first visit here, after all. I was on the Dark Excursion project, the Ocean's Levee, White Haven, and I was here for the Lapras gathering andTeam Flamewheel's barricade incident… I know my way around the place well enough."

And, at long last, Lucario's eyes rested upon Char. Char straightened his form one last time, making himself look as respectable and receptive as he possibly could. Though, moments later, Lucario's gaze shifted to Saura and Ray as well.

"And you have brought…"

"The one whom we believe to be responsible for the appearance of the tower," Scythe spoke, completing Lucario's sentence. "We intend to visit the tower as soon as we can. We were instructed to visit you for additional information before our journey into Zerferia."

"Hmmmm… so The Call has surfaced once more," Lucario spoke, staring at the floor again. "A Charmander this time, you say… I can show you the path we have plotted to the tower. Though, first… I think I would like to speak with the Charmander."

… … …

Char had felt terror before, and plenty of times. He had felt terror when he found himself trapped in the deepest, darkest dungeons and staring down the monstrous forms of wild, undefeatable Pokémon. He had felt terror whenever Adiel had appeared, especially on that dark day when the base was locked down. He was quite familiar with that feeling; it felt each time like someone had taken a knife and sliced his heart open, letting this lifeblood spill across the floor and weakening him, draining will to keep standing and fighting. In fact, he had experienced it enough times that he was starting to grow used to it and learning how to counter it, finding that he could always trust his Ember to rise to his cause and give him the strength and sense of focus he needed to pull through.

This, however, was not the same kind of terror. It was something else. It was like shame, embarrassment, uncertainty, awkwardness. And it was strong, strong enough to reduce him to a quivering fool, and as he felt his head swimming in the surreal-ness of it all, he hadn't the slightest idea how to counter it. Lucario had a different air about him than Alakazam ever did. He had an aura that demanded respect, but some sort of respect that was completely unfamiliar to him. He hadn't the slightest idea how he would be expected to act.

Or maybe it was his good old terror instinct kicking in, but with the Golden Apple shielding the pit of his stomach from the feeling of sickness. That seemed possible as well.

Char held his breath and let his fire grow, but it did nothing to stop his uneasiness. He was, after all, face-to-face with the most important Pokémon he'd met yet. He knew that saying the wrong word, insulting either Lucario or mis-portraying himself, would have disastrous effects.

The Aura Pokémon did not stand tall and proud like many others he had met. Visibly, he was quite short and weak, not even twice his height, looking like he couldn't even lift a rock the size of Char. Though, some little part of Char's mind told him that was wrong; something about him was respectable. As if his appearance wasn't something he had control over. As if, yes, he had won wars and witnessed firsthand the burdens of the resistance, but they were hidden from his form through no fault of his own. He could tell this by his focused gaze, or by the way he held himself. Though after a few moments, his expression started looking less like a knowledgeable warlord and more like the simple frustration of someone who had just spent ten hours trying unsuccessfully to find a dropped key.

After ordering Scythe to "wait here," Lucario had lead Char into his private den, which was not a very far walk from that hallway. Upon seeing the interior of his room, he found himself disappointed yet again. Surely, he thought, of all the places in the Emerald Division, Lucario's personal lair would be a sight to behold, much on the same level as Alakazam's hall… but no. It was a rectangular chamber, and a rather cramped one. An empty wooden table sat at one side of the room, and a haphazard pile of possessions rested in an opposite corner. A red, scratchy carpet spanned the floor, and a blue one covered the ceiling. There was no light source, yet the room was visible as if by magic. Char wondered if the blue carpet actually produced light.

"You're early," Lucario spoke, walking past him and positioning himself in front of his table.

Char fumbled with his tongue when he realized he was supposed to respond. "Yeah. I mean. It was smooth flying on the way here. The air—"

"Not what I meant, Charmander," Lucario barked, his arms supporting his weight upon the table and his eyes following the wooden grains within it. "You are early. The Call was not meant to appear for another few years."

Char held his mouth open, not sure of what to say. His ability wasn't exactly something he had control over.

"Tell me something, Charmander," Lucario spoke a little softer. "Do you understand your power?"

"I don't," Char answered honestly.

"Do you understand the implications of your power?" Lucario questioned.

"I—uh… uh… I can use it… to beat the Master…" Char struggled to say.

"As many say," Lucario said. "But I believe that the Call has as much of a chance to vanquish the Master as it would if I stood on the wall of Fort Emerald and hurled a javelin into the sky. Perhaps it would be a lucky shot. Perhaps, if the winds blew right, the Master would step out of his fortress one fine day only to have my javelin come down and impale him through the skull."

Char's body locked in place.

"What many don't understand is that I was there the last time we had the Call," Lucario spoke, force mounting behind his voice. "We tried to harness it, as we have always done in the past. Do you know what we accomplished in the end? We summoned a legion of the Master's soldiers which nearly trampled us out of existence."

Lucario turned and stared Char in the eye.

"Tell me. What makes you any different?" He muttered in a seething calmness.

Char could not say a word. He knew he had something to say in his defense. He knew it. It bit at his mind, but he just couldn't grasp it.

"Tell me," Lucario spoke again, his voice unchanging. "What makes you any different?"

"T—th—," Char tried. "I… Dialga. Dialga. He… gave me dreams… I called him! I called directly to him! My call is greater… than ever before!"

"Dialga," Lucario spat. "And what good will Dialga do for us, do you think? Do you, Charmander, have the power to wrangle a god into doing your will? You who refer to the god of time as male, do you think it would hold enough respect for you to obey your command? Or mine?"

Before Char could respond, Lucario crossed the room straight for him. Frozen in fear, he watched as Lucario actually picked him up by the arms and held him to eye level. He hung in the air, suspended by the Aura Pokémon's grasp, and stared into his scowl.

"You are perhaps the weakest Pokémon I have ever met," Lucario mumbled. "Do you think a god would respect you? I cannot even bring myself to respect you. So, you have caused the Temporal Tower to materialize. Would you travel to its summit? Would you hope that Dialga would descend upon the Master's domain and rend out his heart? Would you hope that Dialga would not see fit to disobey you and instead rend the whole of Ambera into five thousand time-shifted pieces?"

Suddenly, Lucario twisted his body, and before Char knew it, he had been hurled into the far corner of the room. Pain shot through his head as it rebounded off both stone walls and he fell, a pathetic tangled mess, onto his side. The wind was knocked out of him before he even had a chance to yelp in surprise.

"What a joke," Lucario spewed, "for the gods to imbue the Call into the weakest of Pokémon. What a joke that it gives us all such hope."

Alarmed and breathless, Char scrambled to his feet. As he righted himself, he felt a tickle upon his ankle… and looked down to find that his tail had set the carpet on fire in two places. He stomped them out as quickly as he could, leaving only a couple ash-colored smudges upon the red cloth.

"Rayquaza's Clutch has little to offer you," Lucario said, turning his attention back to his desk. "We have nothing. Everything we own, the Master has taken away from us. This is why we fight. But if you want a night's rest in our fortress, and some intel on the path to Zerferia, and perhaps a meal or two… that, I can offer you. But do not expect us to support you."

"No meal," Char choked out, hoping it would help the situation. "We have… Golden Apples... We won't be hungry…"

"Fine, then!" Lucario yelled. "Now go. Leave. Cast your javelin into the sky. Pray that it does not land in your own chest."

Char didn't have to be told twice. He ran out of the chamber on all fours.

… … …

His heart beating a thousand times a minute, and his fire beautifully lighting the hall with a bluish hue, Char scurried back in the direction he remembered being taken like a dog eager to return home. Only, he couldn't. Home was hundreds of miles away.

Char could now understand the emotion he had seen in the division's leader, yet couldn't place: bitterness. Lucario was a very bitter soul. It was something he hadn't seen in very many Pokémon, if at all. In comparison, the Gold Division was always so full of… hope. Pride. A willingness to go on. The Emerald Division was devoid of that. He knew now what kind of a character that Lucario was. He had been broken. The pain, the stress, the weight of his experiences as a commander… they had destroyed him. Taken everything he had held dear. And he resented it. He wanted the Master to pay for his deeds.

The Gold Division, he determined, was motivated by hope, and the Emerald Division by vengeance. And unlike hope, vengeance did not require luxury. Vengeance did not require comfort. Vengeance was hard and cold, like a piercing sword. Vengeance did not feel.

Char stopped to catch his breath, only to realize that he had taken a wrong turn. He was lost among the empty gray halls. If there was one thing he did not want, it was to be separated from his friends any longer than necessary.

Calming his racing mind, he began to consider his options. He could call for help. He could hail the next passing Pokémon in the hall and ask for directions. He could run around until he found one of those openings in the wall, where he could jump outside and circle the building back to the front door, where he could surely find his way from.

A red firelight appeared in the corridor before him, and Char realized he was not alone.

Prince.

The Infernape approached him quickly. Char shifted, wondering if he should run. The fiery Pokémon didn't appear malicious at all, but he knew that looks were often deceiving.

Still, he had to wonder about the way Scythe spoke the primate's name with distaste. As far as Char was concerned, Prince was a hero if the Emerald Division. Surely, he could not be evil, or bad enough to bolt away from at first sight.

Scythe and Prince are probably rivals, or something, Char wondered. Maybe they just dislike each other… I'll talk to him. If he walked all the way here, he probably knows where Scythe is. I'll ask him for directions.

Even then, Char braced himself for anything as Prince drew near. Prince looked amused, like he'd found a bird who had fallen out of the nest.

"So," Prince spoke. "What did you think of Lucario?"

"He's not so nice. He threw me at the wall!" Char answered, rubbing the side of his head for emphasis. "Is he always like that?"

"A lot of the time, unfortunately," Prince spoke, in a much gentler voice than Char was anticipating. "Lucario… is handicapped. He was born, or hatched, if you don't prefer the human expressions, without the power to use aura. Every day, the fact of the matter bothers him."

"Wow! Really?!" Char gasped. "I never even guessed!"

"Yes," Prince said, gesturing kindly to Char to walk by his side. "His mother before him, who headed Team Regret in the previous dynasty, she used all sorts of powers when raising him. Telekinesis. Telepathy. Even the ability to sense a subject's intentions. And devastating attack powers. Now, Lucario is here in his seat of power, and he is unable wield any of it. Only the strength of his muscle serves him. That, and the strength of every Pokémon under his command."

"That's horrible," Char gasped again. "I guess that explains a lot. I can't imagine what that would feel like. It would feel like… being born without your fire, wouldn't it? I can't imagine that. My fire is who I am. It's my soul."

"Ah, so you do prefer the human expressions," Prince said with a smile. "Do you know a lot about humans?"

"Yeah, a little," Char confessed. "They… well… I grew up with them."

"I did, as well," Prince said. "Humans raised me. I was happy with them. I never wanted to leave."

"So… then why did you come to Ambera?" Char questioned. "Why didn't you stay with them?"

"I was banished," Prince said simply.

"Wow… I'm sorry!" Char said.

"Trust me, little Char, if I hadn't gotten over it by now, I wouldn't be alive," Prince chuckled. "That's all in the past. The far past. But anyway… My name is Prince, of Team Flamewheel. Nice to meet you."

Char was delightfully floored to see Prince hold out his left hand to welcome a handshake. He happily obliged.

"I know," Char said with a smirk as he shook his hand, a measure of glee filling his heart to see another Pokémon understand human customs. "I'm Char, Team Ember."

"I know," Prince told him. "I've heard of you. I heard you made the tower appear. Out in Articuno's domain."

"That's what they say," Char nervously laughed. "Now I have to go out there. I'm not looking forward to it. It's going to be so cold."

"Yes, Articuno can be a harsh spirit at times," Prince said oddly, "But you are a fire-type. Fire-types don't get cold."

"Uh… yeah, they do!" Char insisted. "I get cold all the time! I hate it!"

"Then you haven't learned everything there is to know about your fire," Prince told him. "Did a fire-type train you at all?"

"Uh… no… yes…" Char answered. "It's… complicated."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a shrill cry echoed through the corridor! Char was startled out of his wits. He was on the verge of panic, when a sudden recognition clicked into place.

He'd know that voice anywhere.

"DON'T! MESS! WITH! CHAR!" The voice cried. "AAAAAAH!"

The room flashed with white light as a giant bolt of electricity caught Prince off-guard and engulfed him. His warm smile turned into a ferocious scowl, and he spun around, only to be bashed in the stomach by Ray's forehead.

"CHARR!" Ray yelled. "RUN AWAY!"

"Ray…" Char tried to respond. "Stop! He's not—"

But it was too late. Prince began to demonstrate his mastery of the martial arts. Not hesitating for a moment, the Infernape performed a flip, capturing Ray between his two legs as they sailed over his head, and flung him far away. Saura, who wasn't far behind, unleashed the powerful move the TM had taught him: a giant glob of poisonous substance sprouted from his back and shot at the ape's face. In one deft move, Prince lifted himself by one hand and spun around, the poison attack sailing harmlessly under his arm, and his foot coming in for a brutal impact with Saura's body. Saura tumbled away.

"Char! Get out of here!" Saura cried. "Go! Now!"

"No!" Char yelled back. "Stop it! He's not bad!"

His friends wouldn't listen. Char watched in speechlessness as they came back for another round.

Ray was up and running again, and attempted to tackle Prince from behind. After one glance backward, Prince launched himself at the wall, then propelled himself from it, knocking Ray right out of the air with the full force of his body. Ray cried out in pain.

Saura, having hoped that the opponent would have been distracted, had charged up a sun-beam and loosed it straight at Prince's form. In an impossible maneuver, Prince dropped to the ground and ducked under it, then swung his front foot around to knock Saura off-balance and put a stop to his attack.

Now Char was panicked. He screamed out to his friends, but they were dead set on the battle, convinced that Prince was a threat…

Until another voice, one much more powerful and authoritative than his own, spoke out.

"STOP!"

Everyone froze at the sound of the voice, though Prince was hesitant to drop his battle stance. Scythe stood at the corner of the hallway, looking extremely displeased.

"Prince," he said angrily. "Leave them alone."

"Scythe, I did nothing," Prince returned. "They attacked me all on their own."

"They attacked because you stole my Charmander," Scythe growled at him. "Return him."

"He has a name, you know," Prince grunted a little bitterly, straightening up into a normal posture. "I'd think you of all people would have known that."

"Char," Scythe commanded, ignoring the pointed remark. "Come with me."

Char did as he was told without question, casting a confused glance back at Prince as he rushed over to Scythe's side. Ray and Saura gathered themselves off the floor and followed suit.

"Hey, sorry about that," Saura whispered to Char. "Ray and I decided to attack first and ask questions later. Scythe has something against him, and we didn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I'm fine," Char insisted. "Are you alright? You just tried to take down someone they tell stories about. I'm sorry, but what were you thinking? He wasn't even attacking me! Are you hurt?"

"I'm a little dazed, but yeah, I'll survive," Ray said, rubbing his side where Prince's body slam had connected. "He hits hard…"

"Good day to you, Scythe," Prince said sincerely as he approached, though Scythe still did not look amused. "It has been a while."

"Indeed," Scythe growled. "Is your team well nowadays?"

"Yes, it is," Prince replied. "Sixteen members now, in fact. And yours?"

"We are what we are," Scythe said. "Not much has changed at our end."

"Oh! I heard stories that you would be getting back the canyon sometime last month," Prince said, trying to lighten the mood. "How did that work out?"

"Postponed," Scythe said, his face contorting in a strange way, as if to ask, "how would you know about that?"

"Aww, a shame," Prince sighed. "I thought it could be cause for celebration. Oh, but there is already cause for celebration, isn't there? The call! And the Tower!"

Prince cheered heartily, nodding at Char as he did so. "To think we could witness the great victory in just a week's time!" he said. "I don't think we could ever ask for anything more."

"Indeed," Scythe spoke. "Now, Prince, if you will excuse us, we must consult with Lucario. Time is of the essence."

"I'm coming with you."

Scythe bit his jaws down so hard, Char thought he had severed his own tongue.

"You can't," Scythe growled, true hostility arising in his tone. "Though I appreciate the concern."

"I can, and I will," Prince insisted. "I have already decided. You have no say in the matter."

"Prince, you do not understand," Scythe suddenly snapped, raising his voice and lifting his blades in frustration. "Under normal circumstances… yes. I would welcome it. But… I cannot let you. It's… not possible."

"I think you're the one who doesn't understand, Scythe," Prince said gravely, challenging him. "Though. There are not very many people I respect more than you. And I'm sure you are all great friends to little Char. I have to applaud you, Bulbasaur, Raichu, whatever your names are, for standing up for him. These are true friends you have."

"Prince!" Scythe shot, trying to silence him. But it would not work.

"Little Char is a fire-type!" Prince cried, now raising his own voice. "I'm sure you're great at looking out for him. But do you know what it is like to be a fire-type? Do you? Do you understand what he goes through at the core? Do you know what it will take for him to survive in Zerferia? Have you ever been there yourself? And if… if his fire were to go out, would you be able to re-ignite it?"

The silence for the next few seconds was deathly.

"Prince…" Scythe seethed, his tone now gentle yet downright malicious. "I'm not going to need to fight with you again, am I?"

"If that's what it comes to, yes," Prince growled in reply. "Besides, we both know who won the last time…"

Scythe watched in rage as Prince turned and bowed to Char. "I'm sorry you had to watch that," he said. "Scythe can be stubborn sometimes…"

And with that, he simply walked off.

"GIIIIIIIAAAAAAA!"

Scythe emitted a sound that Char had never heard him make before. He cried at the top of his lungs, like a crazed banshee sounding a battle call. He lunged forward and struck both his blades, in rapid succession, against the corner of the wall. Small dents appeared in them, and in his own blades as well.

He stood, panting, and gazing in disbelief at the damage he had done to himself. He then looked past his blades, at the three shocked Pokémon who had just watched everything take place.

A Vigoroth turned the hall corner. Paying no heed to the awkward congregation on the other side of the wall, it lumbered away on its arms and legs.

"Let's go," Scythe finally said, dropping both his blades to his sides. "We have things to do."

*Chapter 40*: Chapter 36: Steel Clash

Chapter 36

A stunned silence remained over Team Ember for what seemed like hours.

After the confrontation with Prince, Lucario returned to address the group as a whole. He guided them back to his chamber, speaking with Scythe along the way and presenting him with additional information. Through it all, Scythe kept a firm grip on his temper and his tone of voice, making it seem as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

But Char knew the outburst would not fade from his mind anytime soon.

Char didn't really listen to what they said. He kept quiet, hypnotized by the passing hallways, trying his best to harbor the prideful anger which helped sustain his fire, and to fend off the deeper pangs of worry and confusion which constantly sought to weaken his flame and leave him susceptible to the cold.

And even after Scythe requested a private audience with him, leaving Team Ember alone and unsupervised outside his closed door, the silence lingered.

Scythe had claimed he would only be a moment. Well, after a moment had passed, and countless more moments had passed, Char found himself still sitting there, occasionally glancing up at the nearest sky-window and trying to judge the time of day by the gradually-dimming light of the sun.

Ray sat at the opposite wall of the corridor and wrenched his tail between his paws, just as he would always do when nervous or discomforted. A faraway, disconcerted look hung over his face. Saura paced between them, staring at the floor as he trudged up and down the hall.

Though he saw how confused Saura was, and how hurt Ray looked, Char knew he was the most upset of the three. Again, it struck him that there was just nothing he could do about it. It infuriated him even more than the cold did. He was the team leader. He was the one who had gotten them into this. He decided that he needed their company at all costs. But as he sat there in the hall, unable to speak about the things which truly bothered him, he began to wonder what he really had done.

He began to see the wisdom in Scythe's reluctance to let them come.

"You were right," Saura finally muttered. "Something's really wrong with him."

"I know," Char said. "I knew it since the night we went to Alakazam. That's the night he started to change."

"What do we do?" Saura wondered, keeping his voice quiet. "How do you think we can help him?"

"We can help him by not talking about him behind his back," Char answered simply. "It's the only thing we can do."

Saura turned to Char with a confused, desperate expression across his face. When Char saw it, it felt like a hammer to the chest.

Tell me! said the expression. Tell me everything you know! Isn't that what we always do? Don't we always tell each other every little thing that comes to mind? Why not now? Why does this have to be any different? Aren't we friends?

Char met that gaze and held it as long as he could. He returned his own, one of strength and resolution and courage in the face of uncertainty, hoping Saura would be the first to avert his eyes.

There was a sudden noise from behind the closed door.

"What was that?" Ray gasped, his ears perked. "What's going on in there?"

The noise came again, but quieter. It was the sound of a voice, but whose, Char couldn't tell.

"I think… they're arguing," Saura said blankly, his eyes wide.

Saura pounced forward and pressed his ear against the door. There was silence for a while.

"Well?" Ray said, standing himself upright in nervousness. "Hear anything?"

"They are," Saura said sadly. "They sound like they're really having a serious discussion. They both sound angry."

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Ray asked.

A moment of more silence, broken when the voice cried out again. It was clearly Lucario's voice this time. Saura cringed.

"I can't really make anything out," Saura reported. "Ray, come here. You have better ears than I do."

Ray leapt forward and squeezed next to Saura onto the door's surface, turning his ear to the door and listening intently. He blinked.

"They're talking about Prince!" Ray said after a while. "It sounds like Scythe is asking Lucario to keep him from coming. Lucario is saying something about… Temporal Tower…"

Char stood up. He clenched his fists.

"Stop," he ordered.

Saura and Ray turned to him, looking a bit surprised. Char's flame was burning rather brightly.

"What is it?" Saura asked.

"Stop eavesdropping on Scythe," Char commanded. "We can't… we can't do that anymore."

Saura meekly stepped away from Lucario's door. He looked ashamed of himself, as if he'd been caught in a dishonorable act, but he was confused, as if he wasn't expecting Char to be the one to object. Ray reluctantly did the same.

"Last night, after we landed, Scythe had a talk with me," Char explained. "He made me promise not to talk about him until this trip is over. Even to you. He said that every time we do, it makes it harder for him. He told me… when we do things like that… like that time we spied on him talking to Shander… it hurts him. So… we can't go behind his back anymore. At least until we're back home. Okay?"

"…Oh," Saura said, peering sadly down to the closed door of Lucario's chamber. "Alright. Okay. I'll stop."

"You're the one who said it yourself," Char reminded him. "Even though you weren't with me that first night he lost it. If there's something we need to know, he'll tell us. But now we have to go along with him. That's what you said. Only now you saw a little glimpse of what he's going through underneath, now you finally understand something's wrong with him. And now you're worried just like I was all along."

Saura looked honestly hurt. "I'm sorry," he said. "I guess you're right. I guess I didn't really understand…"

"I'm saying that you were right," Char said. "We have to trust him now. We're trapped here, and he's the only one to lead us. We have to let him take us to Temporal Tower. It's… all we can do."

The door creaked.

In the blink of an eye, the team leapt into line and stood at attention. Lucario's furred hand appeared at the edge of the door, pushing it open. The door swung out into the hallway, revealing the aura-less Pokémon.

His eyes were narrow. He was frustrated. Char recognized his expression; it was the one he had seen just earlier when the Lucario scrutinized him and brutally discarded him into the corner.

Scythe slowly appeared from behind him.

Char felt his heart drop. The expression on the Scyther's face was one he had seen before. It was the same one he had seen in the hall that fateful night after speaking with Alakazam.

Scythe was on the verge of crying. He honestly looked like he had been defeated, as if he had failed at some task that was most dear to him. As he struggled with all his might to keep his composure, he assumed very solemn stance, full of shame, humility, and wordless rage.

It was then that Char noticed the smug look upon Lucario's face, and how the aura-less Pokémon held his chest high as he stood at the Scyther's side.

"Will you tell them, or shall I?" Lucario demanded of Scythe.

Scythe took a few steps forward, coming to stand before Team Ember. He heaved a sigh. Char, Saura, and Ray gave him their undivided attention.

"There will be a fifth member on our journey to Temporal Tower," he announced, though with a quiet voice. "His name is Prince. You know him as the Infernape you met with—and assaulted—earlier today. He will accompany us on our travel."

What?! Char cried in his mind.

"Prince is a skilled dungeon-crawler," Scythe continued. "He also has experience navigating Zerferia. As a fire-bearing Pokémon, he will be a good companion to Char. Indeed, there are no… reasonable… excuses as to why he should not come."

"So, wait, wait," Ray cried. "We can trust him? Is it okay? He won't hurt us or anything?"

"Trust him? Yes, go ahead, trust him all you'd like," Scythe said, almost flippantly. "I have no control over where you place your trust."

"I do not know if you have heard the legends, but Prince is renowned for his leadership," Lucario said, a smirk spread wide across his face. "There are few better Pokémon you could trust. Now… have we arrived at an understanding, Scythe?"

"We have, Your Excellency," Scythe muttered half-heartedly.

"Good," Lucario barked, folding his arms. "You know as well as I that I have no true control over what Prince decides to do. But as long as you reside within my fortress, you are under my command. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Your Excellency," Scythe answered.

"Very well, then," Lucario said. "Now that we have cleared that up, we can move onto matters that are of interest to you."

Slamming the door shut behind him, Lucario hastily pushed past the Pokémon which surrounded him and continued further down the hall, beckoning for everyone to follow.

"He planned this," Scythe muttered, hesitating for just a moment to speak to Char and his friends. "I should have seen this coming. He had it planned long before we came here, I bet…"

He shook his head. A smile started to form.

"… And to think I never suspected it," he sighed. "Heh, heh… it's what I would have done, if I were in his place. It's exactly how I would have handled things myself. Well, what do you know? All these years later, and Prince finally learns how to plan twenty steps ahead… hmm… I should be proud of him."

Before Char could find words with which to respond, Scythe turned and motioned for him to follow Lucario.

… … …

Downstairs, they went, into the dungeons.

These were not Mystery Dungeons, though… this was a true dungeon, clearly designed to detain prisoners within steel cages. Following Lucario's lead, Char and his team descended a steep flight of stairs which was cracked and sanded down from heavy abuse, to the point where it almost resembled an inclined tunnel rather than a staircase. The light dimmed as they descended deeper, and the air became dreadfully stuffy. Somehow, the air faded into a warmer, more humid temperature as they went, bringing Char some much-needed comfort… but a horrible smell, of wet mold and rot, wafted up from beneath to accompany it. Char scowled as the smell reached him. It reminded him vaguely of the Jaded Woods, the Mystery Dungeon in a perpetual state of decomposition. Again, he thanked Arceus for the comforting apple that remained lodged in his belly, preventing him from vomiting.

Smells like a burial ground down here, Char realized. I really, really hope that's not why it's getting warm…

With a grunt, Lucario parted two rot-riddled wooden doors, revealing a void of black nothingness beyond. Warm air blasted Char in the face, but it reeked so horribly that he had to hold his breath.

Lucario continued on as if nothing was the matter, as if he dealt with the smell every day of his life and saw no reason to repair it. Though tempted, Char decided not to cover his noise, fearing it could be considered rude or weak of him. Instead, he opted to hold his breath and take occasional gasps of air when his lungs would start to ache. He gathered his tail into his hands as he prepared to follow Lucario into the lightless halls of the Emerald Division's dungeons.

The dungeons were very wide and spacious, like the staircase itself, able to accommodate Pokémon of nearly any size—and it was clear, from the damage done to the stones in the floor, that it often did. Scrapes and scratches covered them, and many stones were removed completely to reveal the dusty foundation underneath. The air was remained very thick and humid. It would have felt comfortable otherwise; Char could handle heavy humidity, granted it was warm enough, but his senses told him this air was unclean. It felt contaminated, infested with sickness… He resisted the urge to convulse in fury as water droplets started to condense all over his heated skin.

Past another door-less archway, they stepped into a grid-like complex of halls. Embedded into every wall was a holding cell, with chains of weird, complex detaining devices still strewn across them. To Char's relief, he saw that the barred cage doors were no longer there, indicating that the dungeon wasn't actually still in use and filled with rotting corpses. The metal had probably been scrapped and melted down. But the smell of decay grew more repulsive as he went, and there was still no light source to speak of aside from his own. Char wondered if Lucario knew his way by feel.

Char spotted movement. A Rattata scurried away into the darkness.

Feeling something brush against his arm, Char turned to see that Saura was huddling very close to him, keeping near the light he held. They exchanged a silent glance of uncertainty.

Another corridor passed, and there were even more ruined cells. Char began to think that the dungeon spanned the entire length of Fort Emerald. But this time, something interesting started to catch his eye: not all of the cells were empty! Some contained creaky wooden shelving units. They appeared to be seconds away from collapse, but nevertheless were stocked with quite a number of things; small sacks, boxes, and stone tablets were arranged haphazardly across most of them.

"That's it. This is the division's storage area," Saura whispered. "It has to be."

"Good guess, but no," Lucario suddenly snapped. "This is my warehouse. I lend this space to no one other than my own team. It is the most secure place in the entirety of the fortress. It is equipped to be locked down if we were under attack. If the Master raided the fortress, he could not easily steal my most precious possessions."

Char blinked. These were his most precious possessions? He scanned the passing storage units, but nothing looked like it had much value; there were jagged pieces of rocks—rune stones, maybe?—an orb or two, some wooden logs with the bark carved off, some oddly-shaped metal scraps…

An eye gleamed from the far corner of the cell. Char squinted to see a group of a half-dozen Rattata, all huddled in a circle. They were surrounding something, walking over top of it, digging into it with their teeth… Feasting on it… Char focused on the sight and tried to determine what it was, but he quickly wished he hadn't.

It was the corpse of a Raticate.

Char averted his gaze. He released his held breath, and cringed as he inhaled another lungful of the dripping, putrid air.

Knock-knock, knock-knock…

The sound of Lucario's bone-spike rapping against a wooden surface startled Char. He realized the dungeon hall had ended, and closed door stood before them. The door was large and half-eroded just like the others he'd seen, but it still looked sturdy enough to stand for years to come.

"Yes?" answered a muffled voice from the other side.

"I have guests," Lucario announced gruffly.

The sound of scuffling could be heard behind the door for a moment. The latch was lifted, and the door opened just a crack. A stream of bright yellow light was cast across the murky dungeon hallway, but it was quickly blocked by the shadow of a Pokémon who peered through the opening.

"Oh… You're back," answered a very deep and gravelly voice, even deeper than Lucario's or Scythe's. "What about District Four?"

"There's been a change of plans," Lucario said. "Zahira returned early. I sent her in my stead."

"Oh," the Pokémon answered.

The door opened wide, casting the bright light back into the pitch-black halls. A very large, elderly-looking Electivire filled the doorway.

"Scythe," the Electivire grumbled in surprise. "You're still alive."

"Just barely," Scythe responded lightheartedly.

"Haven't seen you in a good long while," the Electivire said. "Hmm. Good to know that my generation has yet to pass… Well, don't just stand in the dungeon. Come in."

The giant electric beast stepped aside to let the group in, and Char was almost blinded by the brilliance. The entire base, and even the outlaying lands beyond, was always so hard on the eyes; he would need a minute for them to adjust to something as bright as a summer day atop the Great Plateau. He warily stepped inside, following Scythe's lead…

A new blast of hot air hit him head-on as he stepped through the door. But this time, it didn't smell murky, mixed with decay… this time, it smelled pure, fresh, like standing in a forest on a pleasant spring afternoon. He closed his eyes and deeply inhaled the precious new air. When he opened them again, the vision made sense to him.

It was a garden. Four whole columns of fresh soil sat on raised platforms, spanning the length of a long, high, arch-shaped hall. From them sprouted green bushes bearing all sorts of colorful, edible things. Oran berries, Rawst berries, tomatoes, and many crops he couldn't begin to recognize, like strange radish vegetables which grew at the end of long stalks, and tiny white berries that looked like Cloyster pearls. Far above them, several flaming-white orbs of sol-rock were suspended from the ceiling by chains.

"It's a greenhouse!" Saura cried. "No wonder it was so humid down here! Wow! They actually made a greenhouse underground! This is awesome!"

Char smiled. He could tell Saura was really happy, and he was, too. For the first time that day, the Emerald Division had shown something to really impress him. It was well-lit. It was well-organized, and beautiful in a way. And, best of all, it was actually warm! He sighed over and over again, trying to flush out the horrid taste of the dungeon and replace it with the comforting aroma of this underground haven.

"My favorite room in the fortress, I might add," Lucario told Saura. "But we don't grow crops down here just to hoard them. This dwelling is designed so that it may sustain the lives of fifty Pokémon for twenty-eight days, should the need arise for a lockdown… Me, I enjoy using it as a planning room with my team, and under normal circumstances, no one else is allowed down here. Anyway, that aside, I'd like to introduce you to Tesla, one of my confidants. She is my specialist in diplomatic relations. She is also skilled at reading and writing. She understands Unown, and is also a respectable architect who is constantly helping to maintain this very facility."

"Welcome back, Scythe," Tesla said warmly. "I'm not going to expect any formalities from you. And these companions of yours… … Wait. Hold on a moment… Rautzen?"

The Electivire squinted oddly at Ray. Ray seemed taken aback.

"Oh… oh! No!" Ray nervously laughed. "No! I'm his brother, actually. His younger brother."

"Ahhhh, No wonder," Tesla hummed. "I was going to say, you bear a striking resemblance to an old partner of Scythe's… but your stripes are different. You should be proud to have Rautzen as a brother. He was a very good Raichu. He had a way with company. Always made all us Pokémon around him feel we were legendary warriors."

"It was a tough hit for our team when he left us," Scythe mentioned, eying Ray as he spoke. "Though, I thought for sure I'd never see a warrior of his likes again. But nowadays, I see that it may change."

Ray's face began to gleam. For just a moment, he forgot all of his worry, an effect that began spreading to his friends.

"Oh, I am proud! Believe me," Ray said, smiling. "I didn't know him very well, but I've heard so much about him. I hope someday I can be as good as him."

"If you do, that day will be a very happy day for your generation," Tesla said. "The world needs more vibrant little sparks like him. I bet I could spend all day telling you about my experience with him… But, you are here for a reason. Lucario doesn't look too patient at the moment."

"Indeed, we are here for a reason," Lucario said, glancing down to the end of the room where there sat several tables covered with paper. "Show them the Temporal Tower data."

"Ahhhhh," Tesla sighed in realization. "So these are the ones going to the tower? … Ah. Right away."

The old Electivire shifted and began to lumber away. As she did, her hand snagged a bright red berry from a nearby bush.

"Hungry?" she said, presenting the fruit for claiming. "Help yourself. We've got a nice crop this year."

"Wow, not really," Char answered. "But I kinda wish I was."

Grunting with indifference, the Electivire tossed the berry into her own mouth.

… … …

Past the greenhouse area, there was something like a mildly-cluttered office. Char knew it was Team Regret's planning area.

Wasting no time, Lucario, Scythe, and Tesla gathered around the widest table in the room, which Char could just peer onto if he stood on tiptoes. Covering its surface were many parchments of different shapes, sizes, and languages; Char's eyes darted from a rough map of Zerferia, to a few notes scribbled in a strange type of handwriting, to lists which had been composed in Unown letters. It felt good to Char to see some Unown-script for once, though he couldn't easily read them; they appeared more like their counterpart icons than actual typescript.

"Lucario's really put us to work these past few days," Tesla said, shuffling some papers across the tabletop. "I've gone through many old records. Had to brush up on my Unown. But here, I think I've gathered as much as I can."

"And you make it sound as though I had no part in it," Lucario grunted. "My eyes have gone sore from reading about the tower. Now… first order of business. Here."

Lucario presented Scythe with a chart of some sort. It was covered with footprint runes, numbers, and little blotches of ink which looked like they might have had significant shape. Char studied it, though he couldn't understand a word of what it meant.

"A list of all Pokémon you will face at Temporal Tower," Lucario announced, shoving the paper before him. "All of the history books dating back to the Dawn of Ambera appear to agree with one another, so this is a definitive list. Unless, of course, the recent Mystery Dungeon anomaly which has swallowed it has affected this, it should not have changed."

Scythe's eyes glazed over the paper. "Hmmm," he muttered. "Solrock. Lunatone. Bronzor, Bronzong. Salamance. Hmm… Metagross."

"Metagross?!" Char repeated out loud. "Really?"

"Whoa… we'll have to fight Metagross?" Ray echoed at nearly the same time.

"What's the matter?" Lucario said, barely smirking. "Do you balk at the thought of fighting a clone of your division's commander?"

"Yes," Char admitted. "Our Metagross is powerful, too. I mean, I've never seen it fight, but I don't think I'd want to."

"The Metagross will be the least of your worries," Lucario warned. "A raging Salamance, on the other hand, is a force to be reckoned with. I have never defeated one, and in all my life, I have only witnessed one of them fall in battle."

"Thank you," Scythe said. "This will help greatly. We will prepare to counter these foes."

"Though, that is only speaking about the tower," Lucario said. "Through Zerferia itself… I cannot imagine you will meet another life-form of any sort, but if you do, it will most certainly be an Ice-dwelling type, and most certainly belong to the Swinub or Snover family. Glaceon enjoy the weather around here, but none have burrowed north past the border. And if fate dictates you would meet a sentient Pokémon who has chosen to banish themselves from society and dwell there, it would be a Sneasel, Weavile, or Lucario. I have never known any other species to attempt it."

Lucario spoke quickly, as if this meeting was an obligation he was quickly trying to rid himself of, and it was difficult for Char to mentally keep up. He hoped that Scythe was paying more attention than he was.

"Not one has dared to approach the tower closely, but we have studied the terrain and plotted a path you may take," Lucario continued, prompting Tesla to shuffle the pertinent papers to the top of the stack, including a roughly-drawn map of Zerferia. "You must cross the Mountains of Regret. Behind them lies the Temporal Tower. On the first day, you should trek across this flatland. On this path, you should encounter no enemy but the wind. On the second day, you will arrive to this canal early in the afternoon. The Sky Hawks report that the jet stream is not in the vicinity, but if the wind shifts and creates a sheer down the canal, you would not survive there, so tread upon the cliff. There is a cave here you may take cover within for the night; you will easily stay alive overnight if you are able to start a fire. On the third day, the path curves to the east…"

Char could tell Lucario was mostly speaking to Scythe now, and he hoped Scythe was committing all of it to heart, because there was no way he could. Though, he had to shudder at the way Lucario described the journey; the way he kept saying "You will stay alive if…" didn't help his confidence.

Lucario continued describing the trek in moderate detail, and when he concluded, he claimed the walk would take six days.

"Six days," Saura whispered with a little tremble. "That's an awfully long time for such a short walk. You realize the walk from the base to Etcher Ravine is longer than this?"

"Zerferia is tough to navigate, apparently," Char muttered.

"This is all very good," Scythe said graciously. "But… what of the other issues? Have you researched anything of The Call? And what of Dialga? How can we expect the temporal dragon to treat us?"

Lucario did not answer right away. Frowning, he stood upright and held his hands at his back. Tesla cast him a stray glance, as though she didn't know what to expect him to say.

"The legends are inconclusive," he finally replied. "Many have implored Dialga's help before at various times across history. Both Pokémon and humans alike have scaled it, wherever it has happened to appear, hoping for Dialga's wrath to shower upon their enemies. Some records indicate that the time dragon complied. Others… they trail off, speaking nothing of the matter again, leaving the course of history unchanged. And still others… they speak of a primal, enraged beast… stubborn, adamant, merciless, upon whose deaf ears the cries of mortals have fallen…"

Not me, Char told himself, not bearing to consider the alternative. No… not me… Dialga is on my side! He's going to listen to me!

"And the Call?" Scythe implored. "Have you learned anything about it?"

Again, Lucario hesitated in answering. Looking very displeased, he paced around to the other end of the table, his gaze locked onto its contents.

"Scythe, you know as much of the Call as I," Lucario sighed. "We have been through all of this before, don't you remember? Don't you remember when this last happened? We know as much of the Call as we did then."

"And Arceus knows we didn't know much," Tesla added.

The way he said it caused a shiver to ascend Char's spine.

"I… understand," Scythe said, nodding respectfully.

"That was your whole point and purpose, was it not?" Lucario demanded, his voice suddenly forceful. "Hope that Dialga will tell you what we all yearn to know. Hope that he sees fit to tell you, rather than to shrug you off as an annoyance and remove you from the timeline? You and I, we have both seen with our own eyes, the wrath of a Legendary… And yet, you still press this matter, adamant, stubborn Scyther that you are, as our saving grace, when it could instead cause ten, twenty, fifty times the damage the Master could ever hope to do?!"

This time, it was Scythe who didn't answer. Char got the impression he wasn't supposed to.

Lucario shut his eyes and sighed, as if he were taking a brief moment to meditate. His anger appeared to subside.

"This… admittedly… is the first time the Call has been powerful enough to summon one of the Trinity, at least in modern history," Lucario said, a measure of humility now in his voice. "We… tread upon new ground, in that respect, and as I'm sure you know, I cannot tell you what kind of a fate lies for you at the tower, or at the top of its spire. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps Dialga will heed us. But… without leaping at the opportunity, we will never know for sure. That is why… there is something I decided to give you."

Tesla set a small woolen sack on the table before Lucario that she had retrieved from a nearby hanger. A tink sounded from within.

"I have no choice but to bestow these upon you," Lucario said, indicating the bag with some respect. "I would not withhold these treasures from such a significant effort as the one you make. For, if at the end of this all, the effort would succeed… it is my life's one purpose, as it has been with my forefathers, to dethrone the Master at all costs. I would be disgraced to know that I did not contribute to it. Or… to know that it failed because I did not invest enough in it."

Char's eyes sparkled as he eyed the bag, wondering what kind of new, wonderful gift this would be. Was it something Alakazam had not given him already? He had been given so many gifts, it was difficult to wrap his mind around all them.

Lucario hastily untied the sack, dug both paws inside, and lifted out a peculiar object.

It was small, circular, and sparkled in the artificial sunlight. It was a piece of jewelry, made of a smooth, cream-colored metal. It had the distinct shape, and size as well, of an egg. Adorning the egg were two angelic wing-like decorations. An engraving was etched in the center, resembling some sort of tiny pawprint.

"Rescue emblems," Scythe blurted. "You're giving us rescue emblems. Your Excellency… I believe you have just outdone Alakazam's generosity."

"You expected otherwise?" Lucario chuckled, setting the badge down on the table and producing another just like it. "My lineage has existed since the dawn of the resistance. Compared to Rayquaza's Clutch, Alakazam's hold has nothing in the way of true treasures."

Char watched as Lucario produced two, three, and finally four of the emblems, lining them all in a row upon the table. He saw how Lucario handled them gently and reverently, and how Scythe could barely keep himself from gawking at the sight of them.

"Pardon me for asking, but what are rescue emblems?" Ray inquired meekly. "Do they do something?"

"They are relics of an age cone by," Tesla said affectionately. "Back in the heyday of the Mystery Dungeons, when Pokémon realized what kind of treasures and adventures the dungeons held for them… Mind you, nowadays the Mystery Dungeons are dotted all along the map like a minefield. This was back when they were special hidden places, only in the most secret crevices… So many Pokémon ventured into them, but they found it hard to leave. In fact, so many became stuck in them and had to be rescued, it was becoming an epidemic with the exploration teams. So… they designed these."

"In a word, they are lifelines," Lucario told Ray and the rest of his team. "From the moment you enter a dungeon, the badge will trace a path back to the entrance. In a moment's notice, it can take you there, and instantly free you from a lifetime of captivity within the dungeon. Like one of the Wonder Orbs, you only need to ask it for assistance. It will also work upon your loss of consciousness, so you don't become trapped forever in a dungeon you cannot escape."

"Wow, I like these already," Saura said in surprise, "Wait. So does this mean… do we not need Escape Orbs anymore? These will take their place?"

"You don't understand," Lucario said forcefully. "If you wear these, you will never need to worry about becoming trapped within a Mystery Dungeon. But… to use them, the effect would be the same as if you had been expelled normally. The dungeon might still swallow your precious supplies."

"Oh," Saura said, only slightly disappointed. "Well, that's still good, I guess. Not getting lost forever in Temporal Tower is a good thing…"

"That isn't all," Scythe chimed in. "If you activate an Escape Orb, it will react with the badges, and will take you to the dungeon entrance, supplies and all. I have never used them myself, never gotten my hands on one until now. But I've heard stories of how convenient they are. An instant escape opportunity. In the harshest dungeons, they offer a peace of mind beyond compare."

"Ah! That's really good!" Saura cheered. "These will make me feel a lot safer!"

"These are precious treasures," Scythe said. "More valuable than a Reviver Seed. Because, even if you ran out of Reviver Seeds, the emblem would still be able to save your life."

"It's too bad they're so rare now," Tesla sighed. "There was a day when every member of every exploration team had one. Then they found out about the design flaw."

"Design flaw?" Saura repeated. "Pray tell?"

"It's funny, if you think about it," Telsa said with a smile. "But the exploration teams found a problem with the way the badges worked. You see, if you're inside of a Mystery Dungeon, and you accidentally drop the badge on the ground… it will think you have fainted, but instead of escaping the dungeon on its own, it will disappear instantly, never to be seen again. Swallowed by the anomaly."

"Even more humorous is the cause behind it," Lucario chimed in. "I certainly laughed when I heard the theory. Apparently, when you drop the badge on the ground, it suddenly believes that the earth itself is its holder… this confuses it so much, that it will teleport itself far into outer space."

Scythe chuckled. "That's… absolutely ridiculous," he said. "No wonder, they all vanished from the face of the earth. In the literal sense! With so many clumsy Pokémon wandering around in dungeons, the poor things never stood a chance."

Scythe chuckled again, and the other elder Pokémon joined him. Char, however, did not. Instead, his claws suddenly felt very weak and started trembling. A vivid sight flashed before his eyes, of tripping over a pebble and having the badge slip from his clumsy fingers, having it disappear… and then to have Saura, or Ray, or Scythe offer him theirs and risk their own lives, risk the possibility of remaining trapped in Temporal Tower, just for his sake…

"Yes, one day, the sun rose, and there were only about twenty of them left in the known world…" Lucario said. "And there is not a Pokémon who exists who understands how they work well enough to craft a new batch. So… they are rarer than a Mew sighting. Please, cherish them. Hold them tightly. They are yours for the duration of the mission. I would appreciate if you were to return them when you are done, but if the tower swallows them, or if you intend to keep them for whatever reason, so be it."

"Thank you, Your Excellency, for this great gift," Scythe said sincerely. "We will not hoard them. We will return them to you if at all possible."

Next, Lucario produced something else from the bag. It was stacked pile of cloth, folded neatly into triangles—scarves. Each scarf was a deep green color. Across the surfaces, embroidered in sparkling gold threads, was the figure of Rayquaza, its long serpentine body winding around the edge until its mouth was poised to bite down upon its own tail. Lucario set them next to the badges on the table, four in all.

"This would adjourn our meeting for now," Lucario said. "I have spoken everything I know at the moment. I wish you the best of fortune on your journey, just as your own division probably has many times over."

"Hmm," Scythe said oddly, "These… emblems… did not originally belong to you, did they?"

"Why do you ask?" Lucario returned. "No, not at first. But that is of no consequence."

Scythe did not respond. He continued to stare at the badges, considering something about them.

Having finished with his official business, Lucario's demeanor changed just then. He disregarded the table, folded his arms, and glared up into Scythe's eyes. Scythe still seemed intent to study the emblems.

"What?" Lucario demanded. "Is something the matter?"

"It is of no consequence," Scythe replied, though it was hard to tell if it was an honest answer or just the rambling of another thought stuck in his head. "No consequence. It is… nothing."

"I know nothing when I see it, and that's not it…" Tesla told him, trailing off as she went to stuff some of the papers into a book.

Lucario scratched his chin and grumbled, pacing back around the table.

"There is another issue I'd like to bring up, while we are here," Lucario said. "The issue… of your insubordination."

Char had to wince. Was he serious?

Scythe tore his gaze from the emblems and glared at the blue-furred Pokémon, but said nothing.

"You come into my domain, take advantage of my hospitality, and then you make demands of me?" Lucario spoke in a very odd, condescending tone that sounded halfway ironic. "You threaten me… with your blades? You treat me like a worthless servant?"

"Your Excellency, in case you did not hear me the first time, I apologize," Scythe muttered.

"I heard you the first time," Lucario said. "But… what? I know there is an underlying issue here. I may not be a telepath, but I see that you are tensed."

Scythe shook his head. "I am about to confront Dialga in the northern lands, and you expect me to not be tensed? Also, I am still trying to wrap my mind around… having Prince in our company… Pardon me for not having taken the time to factor him into my plans!"

"If you ask me, you are in no condition to lead Pokémon on any sort of mission," Lucario said rudely. "You are not ready. Your mind is clouded."

Again, Scythe said nothing.

"Tension in one's heart is an obstruction to a clear mind," Lucario told him, speaking condescendingly to him despite being nearly a foot shorter in height. "And without a clear mind, one often finds oneself… unable to make good judgments. Am I right?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, you are right," Scythe said almost sarcastically, looking down upon the table.

"Then, it would be the best course of action to relieve this tension from your mind, would it not?" Lucario spoke. "Since you are staying here in my land, I have dominion to command you. Therefore, for your inability to restrain yourself, I sentence you to two hours at the scourging post. Your group may join you if you wish."

Char's breath caught. What was this? Scythe was going to be whipped for his insubordination?

"Thank you," Scythe said, surprising Char with his sudden calmness and humility. "You are right. I will need it. I think we all need it."

… … …

Minutes later, Char and his team had been dismissed by Lucario. They had departed from the garden in the dungeon and were back upstairs, following Scythe's lead. Char was still wide-eyed at the mention of the scourging, but Scythe seemed to be taking it very well. In fact, he was smiling.

"Long ago, this fortress was once a stronghold of war," Scythe explained as he lead the team through more halls, past a couple Pokémon roaming the complex. "And, being such a place, they needed… certain facilities, such as places to lock up prisoners, and also places to… torture them."

In a few moments, they had arrived to a lobby of sorts which resembled the inside of the main front entryway they had first come through, though there was only one set of doors. Scythe jammed his shoulder against the rivets of the door, and with a loud creaking noise, it gave and began to swing open.

Cold air and a bright light poured in. This door led outside.

"The Scourging Post," Scythe said, holding the door open.

Char was reluctant to peer outside, the force of the cold wind hitting him in the face and already making him miss the wonderful temperature of the hidden garden. From the door, a flight of stairs descended to ground level, and a sizable square-shaped courtyard opened up. The earth was the same hard, barren dirt which had spanned the Emerald Outskirts, but in the center of yard, a couple shapes jutted from the ground. One, in particular, was a very large, very wide pillar which held nothing up, almost resembling the useless, decorative pillars that sat near the front door. It stood atop a little pyramid of stairs. Char could tell immediately what it was for: Pokémon were to be helplessly tied to it to be tortured. Around its base, it seemed a small junkyard had collected. There were broken pillars, boulders, various pieces of architecture…

"No longer a place of interrogation, but still a place of pain," Scythe continued. "This is the training yard of Rayquaza's Clutch. They go here on a regular basis to train, exercise, meditate in the cold wind…"

"So… you're not in trouble?" Char breathed. "Lucario just wanted you to exercise… oh, wow. You scared me! I thought he was having you tied up and whipped!"

"Me too," Ray admitted. "I was so confused!"

"Well, to be honest, Lucario was right in every respect," Scythe said. "The four of us didn't set the right foot upon the ground when we landed here. Myself in particular… I have not been feeling well, and it has affected my words and actions. For that, I'm sorry. But here, let's wear ourselves out a little, and see if that won't clear our minds at all."

It felt weird descending that staircase to the torturing post. Char felt like he was a kid rushing into a playground, though all the toys were various ruined pieces of carved stone. The truth was, he did feel anxious. He wasn't hungry, wasn't tired, and he was certainly full of energy from sitting around all day, both on Zahira's back and in the halls of the division. If anything, he had been downright nervous in this place. Tense. Char smiled, his heartbeat quickening, as he anticipated relieving his tension. His fire flared, helping him to ignore the bitter cold which only got worse as the sky dimmed over the course of the day.

Scythe paused just before the scourging post. He shivered, loosening his muscles as his eyes followed the pillar up to its peak.

"Two hours," he said. "Let us begin."

Scythe took a sudden breath, buzzed his wings, and zipped forward to the post.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

He began slashing at the post in a frenzy, testing the form of his attack, emitting grunts of effort as he did so. Clanging, scratching, grinding noises emitted from his assault on the pillar like it was an entire battlefield full of sparring warriors. He continued for a full minute, giving the effort his full attention. His speed never stopped surprising Char; it was always impossible for the naked eye to catch anything of him but a blur as he assaulted his target.

Though he tore at the pillar, ambushing it from every direction, sometimes zipping up to slash it near the top, the pillar didn't take much visible damage. It was sturdy. Every scratch Scythe placed onto its surface looked like it belonged there in the first place.

It ended, however, as Scythe gave a wholehearted battle cry and lunged at the pillar's base, plunging his right blade into the riveted stone as hard as he could.

A different, high-pitched noise arose from that final strike.

Scythe withdrew his blade.

The dent in his blade had gotten larger. It now resembled a chip in the weapon's form. The Scyther's thin, razor-sharp blade was cracked! He inspected it with distaste, sliding his other blade down its edge until he felt it hook inside of the dent.

"I have not been eating enough iron," Scythe muttered.

"That doesn't hurt, does it?" Saura called to him in alarm.

"Hurts the eyes, yes," Scythe answered grimly. "Hurts my battle performance, yes, even more. Hurts my pride… beyond all. But it is some kind of solid alloy of metal and bone. No nerves. Just like your vines."

"Wait, w…will that heal?" Ray asked concernedly. "You can regrow the blade, right?"

"Of course," Scythe said. "If I couldn't, I would probably have empty shells for arms now. Eh, It'll take a good month for this one to return to normal, at this rate. But I can sharpen them now, and that will have to do. I didn't know I had let them get so flimsy. Anyway!"

Scythe dropped his damaged blade to his side, ignoring it. He turned to look Char in the eyes.

"Now!" Scythe called, putting energy behind his voice. "Lucario told us what kinds of Pokémon we will face. We must prepare for them. Show me if you know how counter them all. Char!"

Scythe indicated the Scourging Post.

"This pillar is a Salamance!" Scythe barked. "It is attacking us! You are the team leader, Char! What are your orders?"

Char took his battle stance. His mind raced.

"A dragon!" Char shouted. "What defeats a dragon?"

"Ice attacks, or other dragons," Saura recited. "But we don't have any of that!"

"And it resists all three of our elements," Ray said. "What do we do? Wait, I'll use the attack the TM taught me! Focus Blast! Yaaah!"

"Wait, no!" Char yelped, stopping him before the attack began. "That won't work! Salamance isn't just a dragon. It has the strengths and weaknesses of a bird, too. That means… Ray! Hit it with a lightning bolt! Surprise it from the side so it gets distracted. Saura! Stay back and launch that sludge attack at it! I'm going in!"

The trio attacked, launching their best attacks at the make-believe dragon. The air sizzled and flashed with power as Ray discharged a bolt of lightning, Saura showered it with a poisonous substance from afar, and Char rushed straight at it, his claw glowing brightly as he bounded up the stairs.

Char felt as his claws ever-so-slightly dug into the skin of the pillar. It satisfied him to feel such a dominance over the element of rock for once. He swung his arms back and forth, slashing at the pillar with fury, just like Scythe had done moments before.

*Thwack!* Char was smacked in the forehead. He fell backward down the stairs, skidding to a painful stop. Rubbing his head, Char looked up to see that he had gotten bludgeoned by the back of Scythe's blade.

"Oops!" Scythe yelled, standing over him. "Good try, but you got too close! Always be careful within range of your enemy's claws! Now… Now I am Metagross! Char is injured on the floor. Saura, what will you do?"

"Ahh! Um… What weaknesses does Metagross have, again?" Saura yelped. "Ray! What can we hit him with?"

"I don't know!" Ray responded. "I never did research on Metagross! I don't even know what kind of Pokémon he is!"

"I don't know either! What do we do?"

"Attack him with whatever you got! I'll protect Char!"

Ray rushed in and tried to defend Char, while Saura gave him cover with a stream of razor leaves. Scythe shrugged them off.

"Useless!" Scythe laughed, beginning to loom over Char's fallen form. "Your attacks have little effect! Better think of something else!"

Saura mustered himself and launched his ball of poison sludge at Scythe, who dodged it just before it stuck to his face.

"Nope, not that either!" Scythe called. "Hurry, Saura! Char's fate is in your hands!"

Char sat on the ground, watching the exercise ensue before him. He watched Scythe, his eyes flashing with the excitement of battle… and noticed, if for just one moment, that he seemed okay. For just a moment, he was the old Scythe he knew from his first days at the division, the one who walked them through their first dungeon explorations, and practiced with them at the Dojo. For just a moment, he was a strong, confident soul, not the stressful wreck he had become.

"Arrrrah!" Saura yelled, suddenly barreling himself at Scythe. His vines sprouted and whipped through the air wildly, and before Scythe thought to dodge, he was swatted to the side and had to stumble for a moment. Saura didn't let up. He closed in on Scythe and threw himself, forehead-first, into his chest.

Scythe had the wind knocked out of him, and a moment later, he hit the ground with Saura perched on top of him, panting heavily.

"Well done," Scythe groaned. "But I don't think that tactic would work against Metagross."

In the blink of an eye, Saura was sent flying and tumbling away, and Scythe was back on his feet. He closed in on the fallen Char once more, who was still sitting in place simply catching his breath from unleashing his wrath on the pillar.

"Ray, Saura has failed!" Scythe boomed, staring the Raichu which stood in his way. "Char's safety is up to you! What will you do?"

"Scythe, I don't want to hurt you," Ray replied.

"I am Metagross! Hurt me! Hurt me!" Scythe commanded.

Wearing an angry scowl, Ray lunged at Scythe, spinning around just inches from his target and whipping forward his glowing tail. Scythe buzzed out of the way before it struck him.

Ray shook his head, trying to focus himself. He leapt back into position, staying between Char and Scythe. He lunged forward once again, but this time his feet motored so fast that his speed became blinding. When Scythe lazily dodged out of the way, Ray's path expertly curved to intercept his escape. Charges sizzling across his fur, he loosed a powerful current of electricity into Scythe's body. Dazed, Scythe reeled back. His body began twitching. This time, when Ray twisted his body and slung his shining tail, it connected. Scythe toppled onto the ground, and Ray landed on all fours at his side.

"No! Wrong!" Scythe growled, climbing up again. "Ray, you aren't fighting me. You are fighting Metagross. Show me a counter to Metagross!"

With the blunt end of his blade, Scythe swatted at Ray. He skidded aside, landing next to Saura.

"See? There's your proof. I can't beat Scythe," Ray laughed. "I can't even beat a Metagross that looks like Scythe!"

Scythe loomed evilly over Char, taking step after slow step. Char had enjoyed watching the battles, but wasn't prepared for having the focus suddenly rest upon him! He tried to slide and kick himself away from Scythe's approach.

"All of your friends have failed you, Char," Scythe said. "They have all been massacred. Only you remain. Char… what will you do?"

Char finally stood up and faced Scythe, fists clenched. Scythe watched for his action.

"Well?" Scythe demanded.

"I'm thinking!" Char cried.

"STOP THINKING!" Scythe cried furiously. "This is not a puzzle! React! React! Do what Charmander do best!"

"Huh?"

Scythe was becoming frustrated now. "Don't your friends call you, I don't know, a Steelix Slayer?"

Steelix?

Steel?

"Oh!" Char gasped, the fact dawning on him. "Metagross is steel? I thought it was made of rock! Fire! I need fire!"

"Very good," Scythe said. "Too bad you spent too long thinking about it. Now, you're—"

FWOOOSH! Char countered with an enormous pillar of fire from his maw. Scythe backed away, just barely evading damage. Char turned and zeroed in on him, producing even more fire. Scythe looked surprised and buzzed his wings, zipping straight up into the air. He pivoted, preparing to bring his blades down backwards for a final strike, but he underestimated Char's aggressiveness. Char craned his neck and shot his stream of flames straight up, sweeping it from side to side as long as it could be sustained. It half-engulfed the Scyther, who was knocked out of the air and fell to the ground. His body was aflame!

"Agah!" Scythe gasped as he tumbled across the ground, putting out the flames before they seared him alive.

Char stood back and watched as Scythe recovered from the ground a third time. He was spotted with a few black burn marks. Combined with his dented blades, it really looked like he'd been in an intense battle. But his eyes burned with energy, and Char knew he enjoyed the thrill of battle.

"Well done," he said, shaking himself off. "Painful. But well done."

Saura and Ray applauded him.

"Now!" Scythe yelled suddenly. "Saura! Ray! Char has just been struck with a pulse from a Bronzor! He's confused! And he's going to attack you! What do you do?"

Char's eyes were filled with glee as he rushed straight for his friends, who were still dumbfounded by the new scenario.

… … …

Some time later, the four Pokémon were sitting around the base of the scourging post, gasping for breath.

"How… long… has it been?" Saura asked, laying belly-up against the stairs. "We… we can go in now… right?"

"We have only just begun," Scythe said. "It has been about twelve minutes."

"W—wowww," Saura sighed. "That's not very many minutes."

"What, you're not tired already, are you?" Scythe asked him in fake amazement. "After all the dungeons we've been on, you tire out this fast?"

"No! I'm not tired!" Saura said quickly in his defense. "Just… catching my breath…"

They sat there for another moment, simply relaxing. The chilly wind swept past them, but for the time being, it felt comforting. Best of all, Char saw how Scythe still looked at ease. The little bit of action had really helped to distract him from his troubles. Char hoped it would last a long time. Lucario, even in his brash nature, had shown some wisdom.

Ray rolled himself onto his back and stared at the cloudy sky above. Evening was hours away.

"I still can't believe we're doing this," Ray said. "You know this is going to be crazy, right?"

"It is," Scythe said. "But we can't say we aren't prepared. Still… yes… it's daunting. Just try not to dwell on that fact when it comes time to dive in. Rely on your instincts."

"We could go down in history for this!" Ray said, smiling widely. "I don't know about you, but just knowing I'm doing something legendary is enough to make me push forward."

"The joy of going down in history seems to fade away after first time," a voice said. "Isn't that right, Scythe?"

It was that voice again. That same voice. Char knew who it was before even glancing in his direction.

It was Prince. He'd snuck up on the group as they were lounging around.

"Augh, what's he doing here?" Saura cried.

Just like that, all of the comfort Scythe had gathered, all of the relief he felt, it was all gone. Anger and stress flooded back through his body as he stood himself to confront the newcomer. A hostile scowl appeared on his face.

"How did I know Lucario was going to throw you out here as soon as he set his eyes on you?" Prince laughed as he wandered nearer. "This afternoon, you didn't look… yourself."

"Really? I am not myself? What gave me away?" Scythe snapped sarcastically. "Now, if you are so observant, can you figure out who is mostly to blame for that? Who is the one who has gotten in my way without my permission?"

"I want to help you," Prince said. "I was hoping it would be a pleasant surprise. We haven't spoken in so long, old friend."

"You wish to speak," Scythe rasped, starting to pace in a semicircle around the Infernape. "Fine. Let us have a civilized discussion. And I will begin by saying that I have no need of you on the Temporal Tower mission, nor do I have a want of you. I would like nothing better than for you to go bury yourself in the snow until we leave."

"So that you can go bury yourself in the snow?" Prince responded calmly. "You want me to let Articuno make a fool of you in Zerferia? Please, listen. I will be an asset to you. I won't hamper your progress. I won't even get two feet from your Charmander without your permission."

"You have already done both!" Scythe growled. "You don't know what you are saying."

"Nor do you," Prince said, looking smug. "I'm coming regardless. You must learn to appreciate it?"

Scythe was seething now. He shifted into a very hostile stance, one that Char recognized as a battle stance.

"I don't understand you," Scythe said. "Why would you want to come? Why did you go so far out of your way to make this happen?"

"And I do not understand you," Prince answered. "Why are you so adamant on pushing me away? Perhaps if you could humor me with an answer, we could both speak openly."

"I have motives behind my actions," Scythe growled bitterly. "Unlike you. You wish to go to the tower just to fan your pride, I bet. I'll have you know I spent many sleepless nights planning this out."

"So have I," Prince said. "You think this has been easy on me? What makes you any different? Shall we exchange our plans?"

"I would rather die," Scythe growled.

"Oh… no!" Ray gasped, horrified. "I don't believe it… They're going to fight! They're actually going to fight! Guys, we have to move!"

Unbeknownst to the two warriors, Team Ember scrambled away from the scourging post and watched from afar. Char hugged Saura's bulb tightly, a relentless giddiness filling his chest.

"Tell me, Prince," Scythe said. "What do you have to sacrifice on this journey?"

"My life, I suppose," Prince answered. "Though, you have four lives to sacrifice, I suppose. But I would readily take the fall for any one of you if I had the opportunity."

"We have enchanted seeds to serve that purpose," Scythe said. "You would be redundant. Not to mention that five in a dungeon is one too many."

"The rule of four is only a guideline," Prince retorted. "How many times have you broken it? I couldn't count them on one hand. Have you forgotten the times we brought seven into the anomalies from both our teams? Why would the guidelines suddenly make a difference now? Besides, you still must get there. How do you expect to make it through Zerferia alive? I have done it many times myself. You have not."

"Lucario gave us guidelines," Scythe said. "We will be fine."

"Again with the guidelines, eh?" Prince answered. "I cannot believe I'm hearing you say this! Guidelines, guidelines. What guidelines have ever gotten you through the tricky situations you're famous for, Scythe? Did guidelines help you rebuild Basin Canyon? Did guidelines win Wraith Falls for you? Or was it life experience? Something which leaders such as you and I live and breathe?"

Scythe didn't answer. He cringed, holding back an outburst of fury.

His gaze turned left, then right. He glanced at the sky.

"I will make a proposition with you," Scythe finally said, in a surprisingly calm voice. "If I can knock the consciousness out of you, you flee to your little corner of the outskirts and never, ever show your face around me until Temporal Tower is resolved."

There was a gleam in Prince's eye. His fiery mane brightened.

"And what if I knock you out first?" He challenged.

"Then you can come," Scythe said simply, "And I will stop trying to prevent you."

Prince smirked. He fell silent for a moment, considering the offer. Considering the stakes, the odds.

"I accept," Prince said, slouching his body into a fighting stance. "Let us resolve this your way, old friend. Think the outcome might be different this time?"

They stood, staring one another down. Two experienced, battle-hardened warriors. Two brilliant leaders. Two teachers. They stood, frozen in their tracks, waiting for the first move, taking short, gasping breaths and tensing their muscles.

Char's heartbeat drowned out his hearing. He counted his own pulse… one, two, three, four…

Their bodies stood as statues, Prince's great mane billowing like a bonfire and waving around in the chilly wind… Scythe's gaze intense, searing, calculating…

… Nine, ten, eleven…

"Maybe they won't even fight," Saura whispered hopefully.

"They need to," Char said. "Otherwise the dispute won't be resolved… I just hope… I just hope Scythe wins."

"Me, too," Ray muttered.

Then, it began.

Sounding a shrill, feral cry, Scythe raised his blades, opened his wings, and shot himself at the Infernape. He swung a blade, with the blunt end forward, at Prince's figure.

His swing connected with air. Prince deftly ducked underneath the attack and countered, thrusting a foot into Scythe's belly. Scythe reeled back and stumbled to his knees.

Prince stood still, watching the Scyther with smug eyes as he slowly climbed to his feet.

In the blink of an eye, Scythe attacked again. Disappearing in a blur of agility, he darted around the Infernape in a circle, and then lunged with the back of his blade. His blow was lower, this time, but it still missed; the Infernape contorted his body to avoid it, cartwheeling backwards out of harm's way.

Scythe didn't relent this time. He pursued his opponent, attacking with the full force of his body and brutally slamming his shoulder into the Infernape's belly. He followed with two backward slashes of his blades, the first of which pummeled the foe in the neck. The second, though, was caught in mid-air by Prince's nimble hands. Swinging his weight around, Prince yanked Scythe's entire form and lobbed him onto the ground.

Char's fingers tightened around Saura's seed. Scythe was not doing very well. Prince was not even attacking, he was just defending…

For second time, Scythe lifted himself from the ground and studied his opponent for a moment. Grunting loudly, his wings buzzed and he launched himself into the air, camouflaging his burred motion against the sunlight above. Prince twitched in anticipation, waited a moment, then punched the empty air… and, impossibly, Scythe materialized at the end of his fist, twisting and toppling out of the air and landing on his back, his head banging against a granite brick.

"Are you fighting with me, or playing with me?" Prince asked. "So far, this is easier than last time…"

Then, it happened.

Char didn't exactly see what had been done. All he saw was a blur of motion, and a thin streak of bright, red blood streaming through the air and splattering against the scourging post. A second stream followed it, spilling upon the ground.

There was a cry of pain.

Prince balked. The white fur on his belly was clouded with red. He touched the wound.

Another blur. Prince's head was slammed against the scourging post. Twice. Three times. Splotches of blood started to stain its surface.

Scythe's body twisted, swinging his blade at full force, connecting the blunt end with Prince's head. Prince's body rebounded off the post and slumped down the stairs.

Prince slowly picked himself up, a twinkle of true fear now in his eyes. Scythe stood over him upon the stairs, breathing heavily.

Prince attacked. He galloped forward on all fours, dodging at the last minute to deliver a powerful punch to Scythe's side.

It missed.

Thwack! Thwack!

The blunt ends of Scythe's blades pummeled against Prince's head. Prince retaliated with a skillful maneuver, propping his body up on one hand and jabbing at the bottom of Scythe's jaw with both his feet at once. But Scythe ducked under it and body-slammed the ape as it was contorted in mid-air.

Slash!

Blood spattered through the air. Prince's body twisted and fell, face-down, in the dirt.

No… Char realized in horror. He isn't… Scythe isn't going to kill prince, is he?! No! He can't be! No! But what if… what if this is it? Has Scythe snapped? Has he lost his sanity? Is he… is he going to do something he's going to regret?

Char stood motionless, unable to command any of his muscles to move.

"You must want it badly," Prince muttered, picking himself up and dusting the pebbles from his fur.

"Yes," Scythe hissed. "And do you?"

Prince sprang into the air, arching his body in a strange dive. He hit the pillar and rebounded from it, nicking Scythe in the forehead with a stray limb before he was ready. Scythe retreated to the opposite side of the pillar. Prince prepared to counter a sudden attack, but guessed the wrong direction—Scythe doubled back and attacked the same way he came, slashing with his naked blades. They produced a very loud clang as they clashed against the Infernape's shoulder-plates.

Scythe retreated again, hiding behind the surrounding debris and buzzing in and out of the obstacles. Prince's eyes darted, following him. He dodged out of the way just barely as Scythe shot past.

Scythe disappeared again, running around the fallen stones and bricks, confusing his foe… Prince followed him again, trying to judge his plan… He tensed, and then spun his body with just the right timing, flailing his arms at his sides. His arm struck Scythe in the neck. Taking the opportunity, Prince tackled his opponent, head-on, catching his neck in an armlock.

Wham. Wham.

Scythe was pummeled in the face by powerful fists, once, twice… Scythe lashed with his blade to escape the hold, but Prince jabbed him in the belly and punched again in the side of the head. With a screech of frustration, Scythe jerked his body, throwing both of them off-balance. Prince's chest careened into the sharp edge of a broken pillar, and he released his hold.

Scythe saw the opening. He took the opportunity. He zipped around the pillar, attacking Prince from behind. Ramming him.

Prince fell to the ground.

Scythe rushed up to him, placing his large, stump-like foot upon Prince's belly. Prince tried to squirm, but there was no escape.

And then he slashed. And slashed.

Char averted his gaze, and noticed his teammates doing the same.

With a final, shrill cry, Scythe delivered one last blow, a backhanded swing to the side of the head. He then withdrew from the fallen figure.

Prince didn't move.

"You planned this," Scythe said. "This was your plan, wasn't it? Ever since the beginning."

Prince didn't answer.

"This is finally starting to make sense to me. You were the one to find the Temporal Tower in the first place."

Prince stirred. Char reluctantly glanced back to the scene, and to his utter relief, the Infernape's eyes were still open, though he looked like he was pained.

"Yes," Prince answered. "I did."

"Not only that, but you were the one to tell Xatu about the tower, when she was here," Scythe said. "You told her before you told Lucario."

"Yes," Prince responded. "I told her in secret."

"You traced the path through Zerferia for us," Scythe said. "You drew the maps Lucario showed us. You spent these past days climbing the Mountains of Regret just to give us our bearings."

"I did," Prince said.

"And you convinced him ahead of time to order us to allow you to come," Scythe said. "You made sure Lucario agreed with you."

"Relatively speaking, yes," Prince said.

"And you gave him your emblems, so he could give them to us," Scythe said. "Your precious emblems. Those treasures belonged to Team Flamewheel. They helped you in all your legendary dungeon explorations, even back when you were still under Alakazam's command."

"Yes," Prince said. "Yes, they did."

"And what was done with our luggage, do you know?" Scythe grunted. "Let me guess, you have both of our bags safe and sound in your team's lair… the place Lucario was planning to have us stay."

Prince struggled to sit himself up. Blood oozed from his fur, and red cuts criss-crossed his muzzle.

"Your powers of deduction are as brilliant as always," Prince said, wiping blood from his face. "You have not grown dim over these years."

"Actually, most of that was guessing," Scythe admitted. "But I understand you now. You were the mastermind behind this whole trip. You were the one who made it possible. And now, you want to go along with us."

Scythe emitted a crazy little laugh. He shook his head.

"I applaud you. Very good work. Now… get up, so we can finish this fight."

Prince didn't move. He sighed, looking exhausted. He twitched from his open wounds.

"I said get up," Scythe said forcefully. "Or are you finished? If this is all you can handle, I have no use for you on the trip."

Prince was still.

Scythe shook his head bitterly, then replaced his foot on the Infernape's chest.

"Well, then…" he sighed, raising his blade. "I wish you sweet dreams."

There was an explosion. A bright, fiery explosion.

It took a moment for Char to realize what happened. At a speed almost matching Scythe's, Prince had bounced his body from the ground and punched the Scyther in the dead center of his chest.

His fist was on fire.

Flames engulfed Scythe's midsection. He cried in surprise, dropping to the ground to put himself out.

Once the flames were all snuffed, he lifted himself onto his knees. He gasped for air, keeping his head downturned. Many, many burn marks now covered his form.

"You were faking," Scythe said, lifting his body back upright. He shivered oddly as the cold breeze brushed against his wounds.

"You're the one who taught me that," Prince said, standing upright and clearly unfazed by any of his damage. He looked fine. "The oldest trick in the book, right?"

"Yes, yes," Scythe said, bowing his head. "Well, then… I concede."

"You… concede," Prince repeated.

"Yes," Scythe said. "Welcome to the team. I believe now that you're willing to endure the trials we will face on this trip… I see that in you now. You're willing to face pain… in all its forms… I think you will be able to handle… whatever may happen. Perhaps… even moreso than I am."

Applause erupted.

Char turned to notice that a sizable crowd of the division's residents had gathered to watch the fight near one of the courtyard's doors. They were seated upon the stairs, clapping and hollering wildly, heartily cheering their appreciation for the two combatants.

Among them, a Ninetales, a Smeargle, and Heracross stood front and center.

"Well done!" crooned the Ninetales. "Well played, both of you! What a magnificent fight! Gorgeous display! A clash of the legends! "

Char dropped onto his back, emotionally exhausted.

*Chapter 41*: Chapter 37: Passing the Flame

Chapter 37

After the sudden and heated battle, it seemed as though Prince the Infernape was on agreeable terms with Scythe. Well, to a point. There was still resent in the old Scyther's eyes whenever their gazes met, though his anger wasn't quite there anymore. Char was thankful for the resolution, though he was still puzzled about what threat or problem the Infernape posed in coming to Temporal Tower with him. He knew it hadn't gone away, but after the fight he'd just witnessed, Scythe seemed far more willing to accept its presence than before.

And if Scythe was willing to accept it, Char decided, so was he.

Having not moved an inch from the place he watched the battle, Char sat on the sidelines of the courtyard. Scythe's punishment by Lucario was still far from over, so he invented some game to further pass the time. Char watched as Scythe engaged in some new exercise with his two best friends, and as Saura tried to stand his ground and dodge patterns of attacks Scythe would present.

"I'm surprised you won," Char said to Prince, who stood beside him. "Scythe is hard to beat."

The Infernape hummed a sigh, pressing his fingers lightly against the healing cuts and wounds he sustained under his fur. He crouched down to rest, watching Scythe's movements.

"He didn't want to win," Prince said solemnly. "It was a test of my character. He wanted me to win. But he knew he couldn't make it easy, or it wouldn't have meant anything. Being his partner for years, I came to understand some of the ways he thinks. But now… I just wish I knew what's wrong with him this time."

"Me, too," Char said.

"Knowing him, he'll probably get everything under control in some way or another," Prince said. "He is one who doesn't often fail to get what he wants. I wouldn't worry…"

A shout arose from the opposite end of the broken pillar as Saura missed a jump and got pummeled with Scythe's arm. Scythe took a moment to scold him for his mistake, before turning to attack Ray without warning.

"Your friends are strong," Prince said thoughtfully. "You've been training well, it seems."

"We've had good trainers to push us," Char said. "Team Remorse taught us everything we know. They didn't even let us join a training team. They just sent us out into dungeons and we started getting better at being a resistance team."

"That's good," Prince said. "You're lucky to have him watching out for you. I used to train Pokémon for a living, before I joined the Gold Division. As a child, I was trained to fight, and to lead, but I lacked the experience of fighting in a war. I see Scythe now… and I know that he is not a trainer, but he has much to teach. And I must wonder… if he is a better trainer than I ever was…"

Char watched amusedly as Ray played some sort of tug-of-war match with Saura's vine. Scythe was barking instructions in his ear, telling him how to position his feet and hold his body. He held it at a standstill for a few moments, until Scythe leveled his blade with the vine as if threatening to sever it. Saura winced violently, jerking Ray several feet forward in panic.

"So… tell me," Prince began, turning his attention to Char. "How much do you know about fire?"

"A bit," Char answered. "I know how to breathe fire… And I know about my Ember…."

"Hmm, you said a fire-type trained you?" Prince asked skeptically.

"Yes, and no," Char answered. "There's Daemon. He gave me a few tips, but nothing intensive. Scythe taught me some things from a Charizard he knew once. But a Ditto taught me most of my techniques."

"Ah, Domo," Prince sighed, nodding at the memory. "He's respectable. But there's no replacement for training with a Pokémon who spends every minute of the day as a fire-type. We have little time, but I will help you as much as I can in the time we have. For starters… have you learned about blazing?"

"Yes, I have," Char recalled. "When you reach the end of your energy, the Ember flares and gives you one last chance to survive. It's happened to me more than once. It's very powerful."

"Good, good," Prince said. "That's important to know about. If you're fighting a difficult battle and taking heavy damage, you must learn to see it coming and factor it into your strategy. In fact, if Scythe had been more observant during our battle, he would have known that I was only acting injured because my fire had not blazed. And also, not all fire-types are able to experience the blaze reaction. You and I are lucky in that regard. Now, then… I assume you've been taught by Domo how to call upon your Ember to prepare you for battle?"

"First thing he taught me," Char said with a nod. "It's instinct now every time I see a fight coming."

"And how, may I ask, did he tell you to do it?" Prince wondered. "There are several reliable means for a fire-type to rouse their fire. Which method did you learn?"

"He taught me to act selfish," Char explained, amused at how strange it sounded to say. "I focus on things hurting me and things I don't like. When I focus on those things, I start getting angry. And when I get angry, my fire grows."

"So… you feed your fire with rage," Prince said. "A reliable tactic. But there are better. And among them, one is superior to all the rest. Shall I teach you that one?"

Feeling a tingle of interest, and wondering what secrets his Pokémon nature still held, Char nodded in reply.

"Hmmm," Prince sighed, eyeing Scythe. "Then we have our first lesson."

Prince led Char out of the courtyard, giving a word of acknowledgement to the Ninetales and the Smeargle on the way out. Char took a final glance at Scythe as he disappeared back through the great doors into Rayquaza's Clutch, only to find that his back was turned as he spoke to his two remaining students. Char thought nothing of it, though; it was Scythe who finally gave Prince permission to approach Char and talk with him personally, to help with his training in whatever way he could.

Turning his back on his close companions, Char put his full trust in the Infernape and followed where he led.

… … …

"You must make your Ember as obedient as your arm, or your leg," Prince lectured to Char as they walked down a hall in Rayquaza's Clutch with large marble tiles. "Just as your arm or your leg must not fail you in a time of great need, so must your Ember be. It must move when you say, it must flare and it must dampen when you say. And if you say that it must flare completely, or one-third of the way, or two-thirds, it must also obey you. It is not enough to feebly plead to it for assistance when you need it. You must learn to stay in command of it."

Char stayed at the Infernape's side, listening intently to him and trying not to distract himself by staring at the new surroundings. The far branch of the fortified complex, at least what he'd seen of it, was different than the one at the main enterance. The halls were still wide, the walls still made of the same monotonous stone bricks, but the sky windows were gone here, replaced with a consistent ceiling lined with steel support beams. Some weakly-glowing blue stones hung from the walls and provided a dim light source, letting he, Prince, and several other Pokémon who traversed the hallway see where they were going. Char felt a little disappointed that the shelter didn't seem to insulate the building from the cold as much as he hoped, though he felt much better than when he first set foot in the northern land. He figured his nerves were adjusting to the temperature.

"It is important to learn to control your Ember, or it could betray you," Prince continued, leading Char around a corner. "If an enemy pays close attention to your fire, they might tell what you are planning, or what you are thinking. You must never let your Ember betray your secrets."

"But, it's hard," Char responded. "My fire is based on my feelings. And sometimes I can't change my feelings…"

"That is why we have thoughts, to trick our feelings with," Prince told him with a small, wry smile. "And that is why we have art, to guide both our feelings and our thoughts. Here… behold."

Gesturing toward a wide open doorway, Prince paused so that Char could go on ahead.

Stepping inside, Char found the room was a communal planning center of some sort. Part if it appeared to be a dedicated library with rows of tall bookshelves, while the other part had something like seats, or desks. It reminded Char of the library at the Cliffside Academy, where he had stopped to plan his adventures with his team once or twice. The floor was made of raised, polished wood, which Char found slippery to walk on at first. The walls were short, but the ceiling slanted upward on both sides until it reached a point many stories high in the very center. Glowing gems, much brighter and more numerous here, provided ample lighting for the room's inhabitants, currently just a Swellow and a Parasect chatting in the corner. All in all, it seemed cozy enough. There was nothing too notable about the room.

...Except for one thing.

It was so big, Char didn't see it at first. On the far wall, there was a giant, unframed painting. The light had touched it oddly, making it blend into the background. Char took a few steps forward, now hypnotized by the patterns and brushstrokes of the image, trying to decipher their meaning.

The painting depicted a scene atop a snow-covered cliff. The snow shimmered beautifully with flowing shades of white and blue underneath the light of the clear, starry sky. Upon the edge of a cliff, there stood a Glaceon, tensed, poised in a battle stance. It focused intently up into the sky. There, hovering in the air above it, was a majestic, stunningly beautiful bird. Compared to the tiny little Glaceon, it was a godlike being. A legendary. Its fierce stare and gorgeous blue feathers were exaggerated heavily by the artist; its wings spanned over half the length of the massive canvas as they were stretched open to slice through the air, riding the currents of wind as if it owned them. Its tail streamed wildly behind it, and the tips of its feathers sparkled like icicles wherever a star would twinkle at their edge. Char could not help but hold his breath at the striking detail of the piece.

"The Flight of Articuno, it is titled," Prince explained, entering the room behind him.

"It's beautiful," Char commented, still panning his eyes over the scene and trying to take it all in. "So vivid. It looked like it took a year to paint."

"Not nearly," Prince said with a little chuckle. "But I will tell you a few things about the painting. First, it was not drawn by reference. This was not a scene which the artist witnessed with her own eyes. The two Pokémon you see depicted on the painting, while they are real kinds of Pokémon, are fictional. The artist imagined them this way, and painted the scene she had created in her mind."

"Uh-huh," Char responded absently, still fixated on the image.

"The artist was a Smeargle, naturally," Prince told him. "Though I have never met her personally, she has made very clear the meaning behind the work, and her inspiration for it. Can you guess at the meaning?"

"The beauty of a legendary Pokémon," Char guessed. "And the hopelessness of trying to fight one…"

"As it would appear at first," Prince said, "but what if I were to tell you… that the two Pokémon depicted in this scene are the same person?"

Confused, Char looked closely at the great arctic Pokémon as it swooped down for its kill, and at the Glaceon as it prepared to stand its ground. He shook his head.

"I don't get it," Char admitted.

"They are the same Pokémon," Prince said again. "Think of one… as a product of the other."

Char looked again, taking great notice of the Glaceon's eyes. While they appeared differently at first, Char realized that there was not a shred of hate in them. Or even fear. Just intensity. Focus. Perhaps something also like hope, or longing. And the Articuno… its claws were not outstretched, not aiming for prey. It simply swooped down, perhaps to meet the other…

"I think I get it," Char said after a moment of thinking. "The Articuno is imagined. It's in the Glaceon's mind."

"Correct," Prince said. "One is the imagined, the other is the imaginer. The Articuno is the representation of the Glaceon's spirit, her hopes and desires, manifest before her eyes. Yet… to the Glaceon, the Articuno is as real as she is. Her intimate friend, giving her company and strength in times of need. In this picture, she calls upon it for help, and she finds comfort in its presence."

"An imaginary friend," Char said, still searching for all the minute details which hinted at this meaning. "I like it. But… what does this have to do with my Ember?"

"Just as the Glaceon in the painting, you must learn to see yourself as two spirits in the same body," Prince instructed, illustrating his point with some hand gestures. "For that is what you are. And that is what every Pokémon is, in the end. Two entities in command of one life, each just as real as the other, though one might be intangible and invisible. When you learn to understand this, you will learn to be in full control of yourself."

Char thought about it for a moment, wondering what in the world it could mean. Like the painting, it was certainly not obvious at first. He searched his soul for a second spirit, but didn't seem to find any, except for perhaps the spirit of the primal Charmander he sometimes fought for control. Could that be it?

"Think of it this way," Prince continued, sensing Char's confusion. "There are two facilities that are important to your everyday life. There is the facility that acts, and the facility that thinks and plans, which directs the other on how to act. The world can see your actions, but your thoughts are invisible… to put it another way, in the story of your life, you play two different roles: you are both the author of the story, as well as the primary character. The character acts out the will of the author, while the author is invisible. Does that make any sense?"

"Not really, but a little," Char confessed, staring at the floor awkwardly as he tried to piece together the point.

"On one hand, you are a Charmander. You eat, sleep, and live. You have friends and you fight in battles. Correct? That is you, Char, the Charmander. On the other hand… you are also a human."

Char froze in surprise. He cast a wondering, fearful glance back up at the Infernape.

"You know… like a Pokémon trainer who commands his Charmander into battle." Prince specified, confused at Char's sudden reaction. "He has hopes and dreams for himself and for the Charmander, and commands the Charmander with wisdom and foresight which the Charmander lacks. For a moment, try to think of yourself as that human."

Shouldn't be too hard, Char sarcastically told himself, calming his startled heart.

Char imagined a life that could have been his, for all he knew: the life of a Pokémon trainer. He didn't remember very many specifics, or even any images, but he know how they worked. A human cared for his Pokémon friends and trained them for the greater good of the whole team. Though the human did none of the fighting. The human was only the commander. The Pokémon acted as extensions of his will. This worked well, since most Pokémon could not understand the trainer's master plan. Each knew their strengths, their weaknesses, their mastery of their elements… and it was those things on which they had to consistently focus in order to succeed. It was up to the trainer to see the bigger picture and to utilize the Pokémon's strengths. And it was up to the Pokémon to place their trust in their trainer.

I'm a trainer, Char told himself. I'm a trainer. And I'm commanding… A Charmander? Me?

He imagined crawling through some dungeon, and meeting some enemy. He pictured himself as a disembodied spirit of a human floating above the Charmander which was him.

Char, you have to fight! he told the Charmander, who looked back to him for directions. These are rock Pokémon, so use your Metal Claw technique! You're the only chance we've got!

He pictured himself standing in the Glaceon's place atop that snowy cliff, again, as the disembodied spirit of a human. Above him, swooping through the air, a giant Charizard approached.

I need help, he told the Charizard, who listened intently to his cry. Take me away from this place! It's cold! Fly me to safety!

"And that is how it is done," Prince said, noticing the change in Char's flame. "To call upon your fire, place yourself in the mind of the Charmander. To quell your fire, become the human who commands the Charmander. As the situation demands, allow them to cooperate, and regulate how much of an influence one has on the other. It will take some practice before you can begin to rely on it, as everything does… but it's something for you to think about."

… … …

As Char followed his instructor to their next destination, he amused himself by stepping out of his own persona and pretending he was a Pokémon trainer. Though he didn't yet understand the correlation between this mindset and his Ember, it intrigued him to view himself in this light – especially since, ironically, he was a human and a Pokémon at the same time in the first place.

Stay with him, Char told himself. He will teach you more about your fire. Listen to him.

As Prince kindly took the Charmander by his side, something stirred deep within his heart. This was his long-awaited opportunity to instruct a youngster. He had planned for this moment, after all, since the first stages of his ploy to draw the Charmander to the Emerald Division. What an honor, it was, to be of assistance to the Pokémon who had the Call! Especially since the last time the Call had happened, circumstances were less than ideal…

Looking down upon the budding little child, faint memories floated before his vision. Days long past gone, such as one late summer afternoon spent teaching a young but world-weary Growlithe to spit her first tongues of flame…

This was something, he felt, he had to do.

After guiding the little one up a narrow case of metallic stairs, Prince flung open a trapdoor set in the ceiling, causing the chilly late-afternoon air to sweep inside. It was a passage to the roof of Rayquaza's Clutch.

The afternoon was no longer young, though evening was still hours away. Upon emerging onto the rooftop, Char cast his gaze onto the uninterrupted view of the sky, finding it hard to believe that, a handful of hours before, he was up there. The cloud blanket which filled the sky and dampened the light of the sun still remained there, motionless, casting the same dreary atmosphere over the land as before. The roof of the building, he saw, was mostly just an endless sea of reservoirs filled with bright white gravel with some raised walkways crisscrossing them. Careful not to trip and fall into the gravel, or worse, through a sky-window and into the floor below (he didn't see any, but wasn't going to take any chances), he tread lightly upon the walkway as Prince led him to the edge.

Peering over the raised guard-wall, Char found a vast yet surprisingly uninteresting view of the city open up to him. He saw how the mostly-empty streets of Fort Emerald formed the spokes of a wheel with Rayquaza's Clutch as its center. Interspersed with them, the same-looking buildings seemed like only a pile of bricks. The outer wall of Fort Emerald thoroughly blocked any view of the horizon line.

"You tremble," Prince noticed.

Char glanced down at his arms which held tight to the corner of the stone wall. Indeed, they were shaking slightly.

"I'm cold," Char said. "It's really cold here up north. It's taking me a while to get used to. Even inside, it's cold. Out here, there's a breeze, too."

"Would you like me to teach you how not to be cold?"

Char nodded, barely managing to contain his raving eagerness as the suggestion.

"There are two ways," Prince explained. "The first, which you probably already know because of what your instincts have told you, is to flare your fire to drown out the cold. Correct?"

"Of course," Char said. "Especially when I'm in battle. When I was back in the courtyard training with Scythe, I felt fine. And even when I was watching you and Scythe fight, I guess it was a little scary, so I still forgot about it being cold. But right now… I won't lie. It's not comfortable up here."

"In the wild, fire-types do not make their homes in cold places," Prince said. "And so, this is the reaction they developed, to shield themselves from the cold with a greater intensity of fire. Though it drains energy, it works to a degree. It can offer temporary relief when you need it, but in the end, it is simply that: you are hiding from the cold, rather than adapting to it. You are hiding from the problem, rather than fixing it. Do you know why fire-types are super-sensitive to cold?"

"Because heat and cold are opposite elements?" Char guessed. "They balance out one another?"

"Close," Prince told him. "Fire-types feel cold because their bodies are warm. It is not the true temperature of the air which you feel; rather, you feel the difference in temperature between your skin and the air which touches it. Hmm… this brings to my mind a funny old dilemma my human friends would always refer to. Many humans enjoy taking showers with hot water. It makes them feel comfortable. But when they try to leave, they get horrible chills all over, even if the air around them is normal in temperature. And so, many of them find it difficult to even leave a shower because of the awful cold. They joke that they become trapped in there."

Heh, heh, that is pretty funny, actually, Char thought to himself. I… I think I even remember something like that…

"So, while you could drown out the cold in your own fire, you might just be making things harder on yourself when your fire calms down again," Prince continued. "The second way of keeping yourself warm… is to try to lower your Ember's intensity. Calm yourself. Bring your heart down to a calm, complacent simmer. It will ease your discomfort."

"That's good to know," Char replied, smiling. "Thanks for telling me that. But I'm not sure that I can do it just yet. I still have to work on controlling my Ember like you said… making it go back down has always been subconscious to me. It's hard to do it willingly."

"Yes, you should practice," Prince said. "And again, that is only one of the two ways. You must choose between them. There are some times when the other way is the one you want to do, such as in the more intense cold. Now, in those cases, there is a way to raise your body temperature quickly…"

Prince then went on to teach Char another new technique: how to overheat his body.

He explained the nature of how the air he breathed affected his Ember, comparing it to the wind against a campfire: while a powerful gust of wind could blow the fire out, gentler, concentrated gusts feed the fire like billows, letting it thrive and grow. He instructed Char to breathe slowly but deeply, pushing his lungs as far in and as far out as they could go. After fourteen breaths, as his head was starting to tingle from hyperventilation, Prince instructed him to hold his breath hard.

The result was a strange, fiery tingling feeling sweeping across his whole body. A shiver of warmth. For the moments ensuing, he felt something intense under his skin, almost as though his own skeleton was trying to burst out from its fleshy prison. Pressure flooded all his nerves and muscles, searing with heat as it pulsed through him. He felt his tail flame leap marvelously in size. Most importantly, though, the cold of the breeze was completely lost upon him.

"Well done," Prince said to him, noticing the result. "You fed oxygen to your fire, as though you were in the heat of battle and preparing to expel a pulse of flame from your mouth. But instead, you absorbed it into your own body, trapping all that excess heat inside of you. Not only will that keep you warm for a few moments, but right now, your skin is far too hot for any other creature to touch! Just one brush against you would sear their flesh!"

"Hmm… so I could use it as a weapon?" Char wondered. "It could be a battle technique?"

"Certainly, if you find enemies surrounding you, grappling with you, then yes, by all means, use it to keep them away," Prince answered. "I know I've used it to that effect more than once. It's a helpful technique."

"I like it already," Char said. "I think I'll use it from now on!"

"Good," said Prince. "If you master the technique, it is even possible to send out dangerous waves of heat in all directions when you use it."

"Wow," Char sighed. "So… all this time I was afraid of the cold, I could have avoided it? I never have to feel cold again?"

"Well… not completely true," Prince said after a short hesitation. "There is such a thing as cold that is too intense for your body. Char… did Domo teach you about smoldering? Did he mention it at all?"

Char hesitated to respond. He searched his memory, trying to recall if Domo had ever mentioned "smoldering"… but his mind was blank.

"I don't think so," Char finally told the Infernape. "I don't know what that means."

Prince paused for another moment, staring down at the city with a blank gaze. He was facing a dilemma, Char sensed. Something pertaining to him. He looked displeased.

"Domo should be ashamed of himself, for thinking he can properly train you," he said finally, shaking his head. "Come. That will need to be our next lesson. You must learn to smolder."


Fort Emerald

"It can indeed be difficult to learn all the aspects of being a fire-type," Prince told Char as they walked down the street a block from Rayquaza's Clutch. "There are so many things to learn. Other Pokémon have simple natures. We, on the other hand, are not animated by the same life force or aura. Our fire animates us, a very physical and tangible force, and we must learn how to protect it and control it. As you said, your fire is closely linked to your emotions. When you feel angry, your fire grows bigger."

"And when it's strong, I feel less pain, and more strength," Char added. "It makes me keep pushing on. And when it gets small, so does my willpower."

"Your fire behaves the way it does for a reason," Prince said. "All of these things about your nature which I teach you, they're all driven by one central motive. To understand it, you must understand that when Pokémon came into being, the fire-types were given a special task which no other Pokémon shared. And to accomplish this task, we were each given a tongue of the sacred Ember to harbor inside of us. Our task… as dictated by the gods who placed us down upon the land to live with the other Pokémon… was to destroy the world."

A strange tremble of surprise ran down Char's back as he heard the words. His fire flared, as if he was being called to some grand purpose, but confusion set in just as quickly when he remembered that the world wasn't that bad of a place and that he really didn't want to see it go.

"I'm meant to destroy the world?" Char repeated, scanning his own feelings. "How… how am I supposed to do that?"

"You hold the Ember, so yes, it is your task, inherited from the ancients and handed down to every living fire-type," Prince said. "Of course, nobody is asking you to accomplish it. But that is why you exist. That is your purpose in nature. When Arceus formed the universe, he deemed that it should be held in balance. For every force, there must also exist a force to fight it. For every life, there must be a predator. And so as the world fills with life and beauty and majesty, there must also be a cleansing force to destroy that life and tear down that beauty, so that the world might be held in the balance. That is why he created the Ember and all the Pokémon who carry it, so that we may spread it far and wide and turn the world into ash. Of course, we will eternally fail, as we are also balanced by that same life we are driven to destroy… Even today, fire-types are growing scarce, since the nature of the world thrives to eliminate us…"

Char felt his fire flickering strangely as he listened to the words. It had a very different taste now, a significance to it that held him in awe. He felt strangely proud to accept his Ember and the reason it burned.

"Fire-types are proud by nature," Prince said, catching the gleam in Char's eye as he reflected on it. "As we are controlled by the Ember, we are narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and quick to anger. But things should not be any other way. For with our anger comes the Ember demanding to be expelled so that we may burn our enemies and survive in a world that is opposed to our existence by instinct. With the Ember at our cores, we should never underestimate what it can make us do."

"Heh. Hahah… wow," Char laughed nervously. "That's a lot to accept. I almost don't know what to think of myself now…"

"But doesn't it raise your spirit?" Prince chuckled. "Legend was the one who told me that for the first time. A long time ago, back when I was putting my team together, my pride had gotten me into a difficult situation with the division. He told me that story to raise my spirit, that whenever I made a mistake or made an enemy, it was my birthright to do so. The next morning… I let him join my team."

Char found himself paused in the street at the front of a windowless building. It stood only one floor in height, but it stretched in length, flat and square, back across a couple of blocks. Though it was made with the same kind of thick, sparkling, white-and-gray bricks as Rayquaza's Clutch, this building did not have an intrinsic sense of dignity to it. It was built with function in mind, not honor. Char guessed it was an underground warehouse or attack shelter, judging by how it looked so sturdy and reinforced. After a brief moment of pause, Prince ascended the ramp to the entrance and let himself in. Char followed.

"Wait… Legend? The Ninetales?" Char asked, the name suddenly clicking in his head, as he stepped through the doorway and felt the hollow echoes of far-away sounds resonating down the halls. "Was that the one we passed back in the courtyard? Was that him?"

"Yes, that was him," Prince answered, looking at a couple of doors before him as if trying to remember which way to go. "He's here because he has an event in town tonight. He still tells stories to the division every now and then. It's his passion in life, after all."

"Will I get to be there?" Char wondered. "I might want to meet him…"

"You'll probably have to talk Scythe into it, but otherwise, there's no reason you can't," Prince said. "But for now… come. This way."

A few paces away from the entrance, Char found himself staring down a long, huge hallway that converged down to a point in the distance as if it were endless. There were numerous doors and windows along the walls, some of which cast dim yellow light onto the silvery floor paved with some sort of metallic substance. He heard as more tiny echoes resounded down the long corridor, but more than that, Char suddenly felt distracted by something. There was something in the air that he couldn't place. It made his heart race to sense it, yet it was totally invisible. He tensed his muscles, wondering what the feeling could mean…

"Quickly," Prince tried again, his voice louder. "We do not have very long."

Char jumped and ran after him.

… … …

Prince passed the long hallway completely, moving quickly through a narrow side-hall and then down a flight of stairs. Char kept up to the best of his ability, afraid of getting lost in the unknown establishment.

After descending a couple floors, Prince held a small door open for Char. Stepping out from the stairwell, a feeling of tininess sank into Char's heart as he stared down a long, dark, silent corridor. It resembled the same one Char had seen in the upper floor, except it was much wider, and the ceiling was twice as high, and there were no lights. Char felt himself tense even more; it was like a dungeon, or a deserted mine shaft, or perhaps a giant the size of the earth had pounded a stake down into this building and then pulled it out quickly. The hall had a very distinct shape to it, the walls and ceiling sloped and formed something like an elongated pentagon.

And that scent… yes, a scent, it had to be… it was stronger here. It made his claws tingle, his throat tighten, his tail twitch. What was it? What was calling to him so?

Char wondered this as he stared down the horizontal shaft, watching how the shadows swallowed the tiny light from his flame like a bottomless pit. A measure of comfort came to him as Prince entered the room and came to stand at his side, the blazing mane atop his head dwarfing his own flames and reflecting strongly from the dull steel surfaces which surrounded him.

"I'm going to show you this the same way my father showed me," Prince told Char gravely, walking him down the huge cavern-like hallway. "It is something every fire-type must understand about their Ember. Before I do this, I must warn you that I am about to put your life in grave danger. You will nearly die. In truth, if you do not do exactly as I say, you may die. But this is something you must learn. You must experience this and never forget what I am about to show you. Understand?"

Char didn't know what the Infernape was about to commence, but standing in the digestive tract of such a large, steel beast, feeling the constant tingle of the cold that seemed to define every corner of the Emerald Division, he couldn't help but feel a sense of brotherhood with the fellow fire-type. He stood tall and held his form courageously, looking to his new mentor with respect and trust.

"I understand," Char answered as confidently as he could manage.

"Good," Prince said with a nod. "Now, you say you have experienced the blaze reaction before. You may have come to rely upon it when all hope seems lost. Indeed, it's a very moving force, and you should never underestimate what you can accomplish under its influence. But understand this: the blaze reaction is a response to physical trauma; it happens if you are injured or if you are losing in a battle. But there are times when it will not come to your aid. If your only enemy is the cold, the blaze reaction will not help you, as your fire itself is challenged."

Prince stepped to the wall of the hallway. Char made out the handle of a door near his form. Prince approached it, gripping a hand on the latch.

"This is cold storage," Prince explained. "In here, we keep our meat from decaying. Do you eat meat?"

Meat! Char realized excitedly. Meat! That's it! That's the smell!

"Uh… uhm…" Char mumbled, a little ashamed to answer the question. "I uh… I've tried it before… But I… I don't eat it very much."

"You are ashamed," Prince guessed, seeing Char's reaction. "You enjoy meat. But you are ashamed of eating another living Pokémon. So you instead feast on seeds and berries. Am I right?"

"Y… yes," Char said. "Actually… I had meat once or twice. I didn't tell anyone. But I really liked it."

"Well, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are a carnivorous Pokémon," Prince said distractedly, undoing the latch on the door. "Eventually you will have to learn to live with the guilt. You may enjoy your seeds and berries now, but as a Charizard, you will crave meat and meat alone. Learn to hunt and kill before you learn to consider it an offense to your morals. Now…"

Prince gripped the door handle tightly, preparing to open the chamber. Before he did, he sent Char one last glance.

"These freezers are colder than the harshest temperatures of Zerferia," Prince announced. "Do not use the techniques I taught you to stay warm; they will not work here. The cold is too much. Most Pokémon bodies were not meant to weather a temperature this extreme for more than a few moments. But to a fire-type, it is especially deadly. If your body temperature drops too far, your Ember cannot be sustained, and it will be put out. And your life will end."

A chill descended Char's back as he felt his knees turn to jelly. Fear flooded his body, and his fire rose to help him. Prince was going to freeze him alive?! He considered bolting for the door and never looking back.

Though Char was now uncontrollably cringing, imagining this fate worse than death, he stood his ground. Prince smiled upon him.

"Courage, little one," Prince told him warmly. "I will suffer with you. And I will not let your fire die. You will emerge from this a stronger Pokémon. It is a promise."

Prince extended his hand. Clenching his teeth, Char reached out and took two of the Infernape's fingers in his tiny grasp, holding them hard.

With a metallic creak, the heavy freezer door was opened.

It seemed like a horrible void had swept over Char as the first subzero draft engulfed him. It was as though he felt nothing, yet it hurt with such surprising intensity that he felt his breath taken away. He managed to produce a whining cry as he tried to pull away, but Prince held his hand firmly and dragged him forward.

As the cold enveloped his whole form, Char felt every muscle in his body weakening, the strength draining from him like a burst bubble. Again, his instincts retaliated and he struggled for freedom from the Infernape's grasp, but his struggle was weaker this time. He felt his legs give out. He closed his eyes tight, the sensitive nerves in his face pinching and burning. He felt the Infernape tug him forward, picking him up to carry him the rest of the way.

He heard the mighty door slam shut and click in place, sealing him in.

He felt himself being set down on the metal, frost-covered floor. He felt how the floor bonded to the skin of his feet upon contact.

He opened his eyes.

In the light of Prince's fire, he saw a dark, pitiless dungeon, running the entire length of the outer hallway. Glowing icicles hung from the ceiling, dusty frost was piled along the corners. A meat rack ran along the back, huge slabs of naked, dead Pokémon hanging from the ceiling as far as the eye could see, all stripped down to their muscles and completely unidentifiable. Char knew he should have been drooling at the sight of them. But he wasn't. Not now. They meant nothing to him.

Such agony he felt, unlike anything he ever thought he knew before. He knew his body had gone totally numb, yet he still felt an excruciating sting across every inch of his skin, as though the first few layers had been ripped off and he'd been left to bleed. Underneath that skin, a pounding headache formed, spreading to the rest of his body like a destructive venom. His arms shook uncontrollably. His jaw quivered. Tears bled from his eyes, but soon hardened into tiny droplets of ice. He felt no strength. No will to fight. In the face of this pain, there was only hopelessness.

"EAAAAHUGHHHHHHAAAAH!" Char sobbed loudly, his body convulsing forward in Prince's direction. "AUUUUUUUhhhh! ARUUGHHHHHH!"

With a burst of energy, Char launched his feeble body at the Infernape.

"P-p-p-p-p-plleeeeeeeeeease…" he managed to gasp, struggling just to make contact with his flailing arms. "P-p-p-p-pleeeeeeee…."

"No, Char…" Prince said sternly, giving Char's body a push and sending him flailing backwards. "You aren't done yet. Endure. Endure, Char. Fight the pain."

Char flailed weakly as he stumbled backwards. He tried to stay standing, but his sense of balance failed him as he could only give his legs meaningless commands. With a soft thump, his body plopped onto the floor, where he tried to curl up into a trembling little ball.

As the dying Charmander lay curled up, Prince saw one broken little eye was still staring at him. Asking why. Pleading for relief, for mercy. Crying at this betrayal that had brought him down to his knees, and lower, in mere moments. And he felt pity.

Though he, too, suffered, his fire gradually dimming in the ungodly cold, Prince could endure. Years of trudging through Zerferia had hardened him, made his fur coat thick, made him understand his enemy - the cold - and how to best face it. But what he did not tell Char was that his father had not stayed with him in the cold when he was young.

… … …

The little Chimchar watched in horror as his father set the latch that would lock the hatch from the inside. Watched as the light cast by his father's flames faded from the room, leaving him to die in the searing cold with no company but the shadows.

"You will escape from here on your own," his father decreed, standing in the doorway, speaking down to the helpless little chimp Pokémon huddling his knees against his chest for warmth.

"Wait… wait, no, dad! No!" the chimp cried in terror. "I can't… I can't lift the latch on my own! My fingers are already frozen! Dad…! I can't do it!"

"Then… you will die," his father said, turning his head and slamming the door closed.

"NO! DAD!" the Chimp cried, bounding forward on his weakening little legs and pounding on the closed door, feeling the cold drain his Ember away. "DAD! COME BACK! DAD!"

He looked at the complicated door latch in disbelief. It was impossible! His fingers had lost all feeling. They were nothing but numb stubs that wouldn't follow his orders. He placed them on the hard metal, desperately, so desperately trying to yank it in place, but his fingers just slid off.

Finally, he threw himself at the door, feeling the brunt of the concussion as it rippled through him, the pain halfway dulled by the numbness. He gave a final cry from the deepest recesses of his heart…

… … …

"S…. Saura…" Char muttered, his body growing still, his voice now barely a whisper. "S… Saura… help… me…"

"Peace," Prince muttered. "Take it easy. It's almost over. We're going to get there together."

Char did not hear him. Char was beyond pain now. The cold had won. It was claiming him. He could feel his Ember, the life-blood of his body, simply giving up. He could hear nothing else, feel nothing else. He could not remember who he was, where he was, or why he was suffering. The whole world had disappeared. All he knew was the feeling of the tiny little Ember in his heart, the only warmth he had left, struggling so hard for survival but slipping away…

Time seemed to slow down for Char as his final moments ticked by. Every breath, every heartbeat took an eternity in that dark void of loneliness he had created for himself. It felt like a nightmare, but try as he may, he could not wake up from it. He knew he was dying. In his delusion, he welcomed death. He forgot his mission, his friends, his promises. He only yearned for death, to escape from the cold. He was done.

At last… it came. He felt the last little tongue of his inner flame dissipate, sizzling away. With a long sigh of relief, Char breathed his last, resting his spent body against the floor of his metal tomb…

*Pop!*

It felt like a bubble had ruptured in Char's head. He recognized the feeling – he'd felt something like before, when his body had started to burn as he tried to sleep inside of the torch at his bedside—but this time, he knew something else had happened.

Char's eyes blinked open.

He was in the same place, the inside of the freezer. At the Emerald Division. With Prince. As Scythe, Ray, and Saura were elsewhere. He was on his way to meet Dialga.

Char blinked again. Everything had suddenly come back to him.

Not only that, but in an attempt to climb to his feet, Char realized that he felt no pain. None.

It was like one of those spring mornings in the Goldenrod Meadow, where the temperature found that perfect equilibrium where it was neither hot nor cold. It was just there. Char looked at his hands, turning them over, wondering how it could be that was no longer feeling the harsh cold he knew still surrounded him.

"Am I dead?" Char blurted out, turning to Prince for an answer.

Prince's smile was wide, even as his own fire struggled to keep its dominance over the cold. He shook his head.

"No, you're not dead," he responded. "But look at your tail."

Char did as instructed, gathering his tail in his hands with a reflexive movement that he had learned, holding it before his eyes.

There was no flame.

Char blinked in confusion. His flame was out. It seemed like it should have been surprising. Horrifying, even. But for some reason, it wasn't. It was just interesting. Char took a closer look at the very tip which used to constantly expel his flame, and saw it riddled with a barely visible pinecone-like formation of holes, a spout that let the fire escape. Except, the fire wasn't there. It didn't seem right.

"What does this mean?" Char asked oddly to the Infernape, turning his tail around in his hands.

"You're smoldering," Prince explained. "Your Ember is now burning without flame. It is still alive, though the cold has defeated it, and it has retreated to its innermost sanctuary, where it will glow for as long as it can manage. But it is still there for now, and so, you are still alive."

"…Oh," Char simply said, shrugging. "Does that mean I'm about to die?"

"Yes," Prince said. "Smoldering means you're on your very last thread of life. If you cannot save yourself now, your Ember will cease to burn, and you will fall dead."

"I see," Char said, dropping his tail and looking to Prince. "So… when I start smoldering, I stop feeling the cold. But… um… should I be concerned about this? I'm about to die. That seems a little serious. Why don't I feel concerned?"

"Because it is your Ember which regulates your feelings. Even your emotions," Prince explained. "Since the flame has disappeared, your feelings have run dry. You shouldn't be able to feel anything right now. It could be a good thing, or bad. Good because it gives you some clarity of mind in your final moments and some relief from the pain, if that's what you need to escape death. Bad because, like you mentioned, without your feelings, it can be hard to feel motivated to save yourself."

Char studied himself amidst this very odd condition his body was experiencing. Indeed, none of his emotions where there. His mind felt blank, like a robot. He could still see, feel, think… but he couldn't feel pain, or excitement, or fear. It all felt very distant, as if it was happening to someone else.

"That explains a lot," Char said, pacing in place. "Huh. Actually, I think I might have smoldered before. Or maybe I was about to. I think I felt something like this."

"Really, now?" Prince asked. "When was this?"

"Once, I fought a Steelix. But Ray used this orb that made it rain in the cave," Char recalled, his mind strangely clear. "The rain was really cold. And then I beat the Steelix because I was blazing. But then the blaze ended, and I started feeling kinda weird. Like this. Like I should have felt happy, but I didn't really. I don't know what happened after that because I passed out and the dungeon expelled me."

"Could be," Prince said. "Water can sometimes put out the Ember enough so that it smolders. It's been known to happen before. I'd imagine it's more likely with Charmander, since your tail is easy to get wet."

Char began to wander into the back area of the freezer to inspect the meat, but a thought occurred to him. He turned back to Prince.

"Uh… hey, Prince? I have a question."

"Yes?"

"You're not really going to let me die, are you?" Char asked awkwardly. "I've been smoldering for two minutes now. I was just curious. I mean… if you're trying to kill me, I probably couldn't fight you anyway…"

Prince chuckled. "Oh, heh heh, no, little one. This is just a lesson. It's not over yet. But you're going to survive. After all, I promised you that I wouldn't let you die, didn't I?"

"…Oh, right," Char answered. "…That's right. I forgot about that. You did promise. Hmm… Well, then, how much longer?"

"Almost all fire-types can smolder for four minutes before they die," Prince explained. "That's somewhere around four hundred eighty heartbeats for a Pokémon of your size, if you feel you have to count. Stronger Pokémon can smolder for longer, depending on how strong they are. Me, I could probably survive for twenty minutes at my age. But you should consider four minutes your maximum. After that… you can't tell when death will strike."

"So… I'm waiting for my limit to be up?" Char wondered. "Is that it?"

"Yes," said Prince. "I need you to see what happens when you reach your limit. You need to experience it, and never forget it. I could explain it to you, but it will remain in your heart more powerfully if you see it for yourself. If this ever happens to you, you cannot take time to think about words you once heard me say. You have to recognize it."

"Alright…" Char said with an emotionless nod. "I trust you."

Char waited patiently for his near-death experience to arrive. He glanced around at the architecture of the freezer, which he could only see by the dimming light of Prince's flame now. Pipe-like bars ran across the ceiling, and above them, he thought he could see some sort of vent. Around him, it appeared that the freezer held only meat, but he caught sight of a shelf with opaque white bags stacked upon it. On his other side, there were some boxes on the floor, but they were half-covered in a mound of snow. Char started twiddling his fingers and playing with his flameless tail, having run out of things to look at…

And then, after six and a half minutes, Char felt different.

"I think… it's coming," Char reported, standing before Prince with a dazed look in his eye. "I'm… I don't know. It's like I'm getting pulled somewhere. But I'm not moving."

"Alright," Prince said, standing over him. "Now… I want you to tell me exactly what you see, and what you feel. Describe it for as long as you can."

"I feel lightheaded," Char said. "Like I'm about to float away…"

Prince took a deep breath.

"Your fire… it's shining," Char rambled. "Brighter. It's getting brighter. And it's shining, like diamonds… My heart. I can feel my heartbeat through my whole body. Like an earthquake. But it's slowing down."

Char's eyes glazed over. Prince knew that he was no longer using them. He took another deep, steady breath.

"It's bright." Char said. "I'm looking right at the sun. It's bright. I… I can't see anything. I'm… blind… Prince…? Are you still there…? Prince…?"

The golden light swallowed Char, and he felt himself drifting off… perhaps into the spiritual realm.

… … …

The Chimchar could feel his fingers now.

He wasn't angry at his dad anymore. And he wasn't scared. He didn't know why.

But his fingers worked. They were clumsy and they flopped around, but he could understand them underneath the numbing pain. The numbing pain wasn't even there anymore.

It was dark. There was no fire to light his way. But he could feel the door. He knew it was the door. He knew what the latch felt like. He knew how to work it.

He grasped the latch with his tiny fingers. He lifted the latch. It flipped over onto itself with a little clank. Then he grabbed the deadbolt mechanism, pulled it down, over, and then up…

One, two… no, there was one more. What was it? He tried to remember.

The little metal thresh-hold. The one that kept the door closed completely. He grasped it and yanked, pulling it out of place.

He pushed the door open, free of the freezer.

He found himself staring face-to-face with his father, who'd been waiting for him just outside. The old Infernape smiled warmly, lovingly upon him.

The little Chimchar was at a loss for words. He tried to say something, but no words seemed to fit. Nothing meant anything. Still he stood, halfway in the freezer, halfway out, staring at his father.

His father, the great Infernape, said something. He was proud of him. Was he talking to him? Or was he talking to some other Pokémon? He couldn't tell, it seemed so far away…

And then… there came a light.

The sun seemed to descend down into the hallway. The little lamp-lights next to the stairwell flared in brightness and never stopped growing. His father's mane grew brilliant and beautiful, swirling in miraculous patterns, as if Moltres were playing within it.

As the light brightened, he saw his father crouch down to embrace him. He felt the embrace. His head was pressed against his father's chest, his father's strong arms squeezing his back. He felt his father's heartbeat against his ear. He felt his father's breath against his forehead.

The light became overpowering, until he couldn't see anything. It started to dissolve him, carry him away somewhere. But he still felt something. He still felt his father right next to him, holding him down, holding him tightly, not letting him escape.

And just when that started to fade away, too, disappearing into the great light…

There was a roar…

… … …

Fire.

Sweet, blessed, divine fire!

It erupted everywhere, covering him. Like food to a starving belly, like relief to relentless agony, it came, filling his withering body with a new wave of life. He writhed in joy as fire returned to his being, his reality, crying tears of happiness as he felt its intensity, its warmth, its dance against his skin. He had missed it so dearly.

He clung to the Infernape's chest with all his might as Prince allowed his whole body to combust, engulfing the little Charmander in his arms with a blanket of his own fire.

Char shivered as he felt his Ember thawing, melting like a little ice cube in the great blaze.

"You see," Prince told him, "when you find yourself smoldering, there is only one way to save yourself. If you want to live, you must find warmth at all costs. It is the only thing that can save you."

"Thank you…" Char whispered weakly, letting his body go limp in the Infernape's arms.

The two fire-brethren remained there in the freezer for three more minutes, their flames roaring in glory long after Char's Ember had caught again.

*Chapter 42*: Chapter 38: Conflict of Interest

Author's note: I'd like to especially thank Gorsecloud (formerly fallingautumnleaves) for her encouragement and support while writing this chapter.


Chapter 38

Char still felt a little loopy as he and Prince returned to the streets of Fort Emerald, but a grin remained frozen across his face. He tried to fight it, but he could never resist the urge to glance back at his tail and at the little yellow-and-red tongue which erupted at the end, right where it was supposed to be, making his smile return in full force. After almost freezing to death, Char was just happy to be alive and aflame.

"I just… I can't believe it… I almost died!" Char gasped for the third time, jumping on Prince's heels. "That cold was awful! It was a nightmare! It crushed me so fast, I couldn't even think! I bet the Master couldn't even find a better way to torture a fire Pokémon than throwing them in a freezer! And then there was that light… I came so close! I saw it! It was like everything was getting drowned in light, then I couldn't see anything… Oh, man, now everything feels so surreal, like this is all just a dream I'm going to wake up from someday. Will this feeling ever go away?"

"You'll get over it soon enough," Prince assured him warmly, amused at Char's hyperactivity. "But even as you do, never forget the lesson you've learned. Pokémon and humans alike fear death because they do not understand it. Now that you have witnessed it for yourself, you've nothing to fear. I've seen too many Pokémon fall in their final moments by blind panic. But you've watched your own fire go out and your life end. Do not let yourself be afraid or confused by the way your fire flickers. Instead, focus with all your might, and find the answer. Find a way to live."

"I… I just cheated death." Char gasped, his eyes widening as if the implications hadn't dawned on him until just now. "I just cheated death! What if I died? Saura! He would have been heartbroken! And Ray would have been devastated! They're all in this just for me! And Scythe… Oh, wow! Scythe! If I would have died… what would Scythe have done?! Oh, man! The Call! I would have just thrown it away just like that, killed everyone's hopes… I would have destroyed him!"

"Indeed," Prince uttered. "Of course, you know not to tell Scythe about this. He would slit my throat the moment he found out. But it was for your own good, Char. Your strength is defined by your mastery of your fire. For the regiment my grandfather commanded, learning to smolder was an inseparable step in training for the fire-types. Some Pokémon even sparred with their flames out, just to learn to battle without the aid of the powerful emotions which they came to count on. It made them better warriors because it would teach the mind to notice things which the heart would miss."

"…I know," Char said. "That it was for my own good, I mean. Prince, thank you for teaching me how to smolder. And everything else. Showing me that painting, and teaching me how to cool down. Thank you for everything. It is scary sometimes being a Charmander. I mean… not knowing about my own nature. Thank you for helping me. I really mean it."

"You're welcome," Prince said, "but do not credit me. I am only passing the flame to a new generation. In such a cold world, we fire-types must help one another out whenever we can, lest our command of the Ember go forgotten. Believe me, Char, given the chance, I would train you to the very best of my ability. I cannot list all the things you are still oblivious to. Endurance techniques. Battle strategies, especially versus certain enemies you are weak against. Knowledge of how fire works on a chemical level. Special diets you must follow during specific parts of the year to retain your internal health. If we had seven years, I would teach you everything I know. But today, we have only an hour together. And that hour is nearly up."

"Oh…" Char said, disappointed. "So… where are we going now?"

"Back to Rayquaza's Clutch," Prince answered. "Scythe's term in the courtyard will be ending shortly. He'll be wanting you back within his sight immediately, I think. But if I'm lucky, I might barter another hour or two with you before the sun sets too far. We will see."

Char took a deep breath, trying to calm the vibrant rush of energy which had filled him after having his life force restored. He looked at the cloudy sky and saw it darkening ever so slightly as the position of the sun shifted.

"Well… at least it got a little warmer out here," Char commented, stretching his arms contently. "I couldn't imagine how you could survive being so cold all the time. It actually feels pleasant now."

"Char… the temperature hasn't changed," Prince chuckled. "That is, if it hasn't gotten a little colder as the afternoon dies away."

"You're kidding!" Char yelped, stopping to look at himself. "It doesn't feel cold at all! It feels like a nice warm spring day! Even the breeze is comfortable!"

"Give your nerves time to return to normal," Prince told him. "After temperatures that cold, everything is going to feel warm for a while. Maybe even for several days depending on how sensitive you are. But the cold still affects you. Like when you were smoldering, only your senses are numbed."

Char couldn't care less. He felt great. And he was still excited, ready for Prince to teach him something else.

"Maybe we can spar!" Char suggested. "I'm full of energy, and I didn't get very much exercise in with Scythe before you came. Maybe you could teach me some more battle moves!"

"That's a possibility, yes," Prince said as they approached the base of the staircase leading up to the rear doorway of the capital building. "Though there are more important things we need to cover before we head into Zerferia. For one thing… we need to find something for you to wear."

"…Wear?" Char echoed, blinking blankly at the suggestion. "What… do you mean? Like clothes? Like… human clothes?"

"Like them, yes," Prince answered. "Although, in your case, on a much smaller and more efficient scale."

Char opened his mouth, but couldn't find anything to say. He could only stare down at himself in bewilderment.

"You look surprised," Prince observed humorously, climbing the final stairstep. "Yes, I know it is an odd concept for you, having lived down in such a temperate climate. But bear with me. It will help…"

When Prince's hand went for the door handle, the door moved for him.

He leapt back, just barely avoiding a knock on the head by the wooden doors as they swung outward.

When Char leapt atop the last step, he beheld the figure of Scythe standing in the doorway, his gaze burning upon Prince.

He was not amused.

"What a coincidence," Scythe uttered sarcastically, stepping forward and practically pressing his face into Prince's, "I was just about to come looking for you. After having asked every passerby in the building if they'd seen you."

Char cringed at the sight of him. He looked exhausted, though not the least bit relieved, from his exercise. Instead, he was clearly furious, perhaps just as furious as when his battle took place. Behind him, Char noticed Ray and Saura slowly emerging from the shadows, though they held their distance; they, too, looked worn out, though not for the same reason. From their frozen expressions, Char knew that Scythe had become enraged in front of him.

And just like that, Char's joy was gone. Put out. It suddenly seemed like a good idea to crawl back into the dark freezer and peacefully die.

"What are you trying to pull?" Scythe demanded in a calm but seething tone, thrusting against Prince's chest with his blades and pushing him back farther. "I granted you permission to come with us to Temporal Tower. I granted you permission to train with Char. Was that not enough? I did not grant you permission to sneak out while my back was turned, to run off somewhere to indoctrinate him!"

Scythe turned his gaze into Char's eyes, sending him a look of harsh disappointment. Char could not help but shirk backward when it struck him.

"I was training him, as you said," Prince replied, keeping his calm. "Not all training can be done at the scourging post. Char hungers for knowledge about his fire-type nature, which apparently the Gold Division did not provide."

"Do not smirk at me and tell me those lies. You are up to the same scheme as last time," Scythe hissed in the Infernape's face, the intensity of his voice escalating. "You kidnap him, take him away and tell him what he wants to hear until he trusts you… Was it not enough the first time? You have already destroyed one generation's future, old friend. Is that not enough? Now you are targeting Char? Well, I've got something for you, Prince. My Charmander trusts me far more than he will ever trust you."

Scythe turned to Char a second time, eyes narrowed in a demanding expression. Char bit his lip and held his breath.

"Char, tell me," Scythe asked, "what did he tell you?"

Char felt the moment freeze in time. He glanced at Prince, whose eyes betrayed worry. He saw how subtly they pleaded for that trust Scythe claimed he would not give him. They pleaded to him not to repay his kindness by backstabbing him. They both knew what would happen if he told the truth.

"Char," Scythe repeated, his command a challenge of Char's loyalty. "what did Prince tell you?"

Char turned to Scythe. His eyes, too, were pleading to him, as though he had made a claim he was not completely sure about, yet hoped it to be true. Like Prince, Scythe's eyes betrayed a deep weakness, a fear of treachery.

Gritting his teeth with regret, Char knew Scythe's words to be true.

"He taught me to smolder," Char replied, spitting the words out before he could hold them back, watching as Prince's eyes widened in defeat.

Scythe blinked. A puzzled expression came over him, lingering there for a moment… for two moments…

*THUMP*

In the blink of an eye, Scythe assaulted Prince with a powerful body slam and pinned him against the rough brick wall. His blade was leveled with the Infernape's throat.

"Give me one good reason I should not destroy you here and now!" Scythe roared. "You took him to the warehouse and you froze him within a hair of his life?! You don't think I know how many Pokémon have died from that 'lesson'?! Do you realize what you have put on the line?! You could have killed him!"

"Just as you would have, in a mere couple of days!" Prince shot back, trying to lift his mouth from the wall. "You would have frozen him to death all the same, by taking him to Zerferia unprepared."

"Char has enough real-life dangers to worry about for you to be adding needless and senseless risks!" Scythe hissed. "At this point, you are a danger to us. I could kill you right now in defense of the Call and the resistance would trust my judgment."

"How am I any different from you?" Prince challenged, struggling only to breathe in the Scyther's grasp. "I know how you have trained your students. They have told me themselves. You taught them everything they know by experience. I'm sure that 'experience' has put their lives at risk at times, has it not? Sending them out into dungeons, pitting them against foes? Yet you've gone through with their training anyway. In trying to help Char, I've done the same. How is that any different?"

"The difference," Scythe spat, thrusting Prince's body brutally against the wall, "is that these are my students. All of your students are either dead, gone, or have learned well enough not to trust your judgment!"

Char couldn't take the sight. His loyalty was to Scythe, but he knew Prince couldn't be as bad as Scythe was judging him to be. He knew that Prince was only trying to help him. He wanted this discrepancy to end.

"Scythe…" Char spoke meekly.

Scythe answered without turning his head. "Char, you should have known better than to follow him," he grunted. "I laid down the rules when we first arrived here, and you have broken the most important of them: not to ask questions. It is for your safety you must not pry into the lives of the Pokémon around here."

"But…"

"Char," Scythe interrupted, turning a reddened eye in his direction. "If you speak one more word, you and I will be going to Temporal Tower alone."

Char's mouth instantly clamped shut.

Tension burned in the air for many seconds as Scythe continued to hold Prince hostage, yet found nothing more to say. Char resigned himself to the unpleasant scene knowing that he couldn't do anything to stop it, yet it kept hurting with such a heart-piercing sting that he begged for it to be over as soon as possible… much like being locked in cold storage. Ray and Saura stood just outside the still-open doorway watching the scene take place. Their eyes were wide and saddened, yet not surprised; Char knew they had been expecting something like this to happen the moment Scythe realized he had left the courtyard.

Char's legs were locked in place. His jaw was sealed in speechlessness. His fire raged in response to the stress, yet he could not do anything with it. This wasn't like the challenge between rivals that had taken place at the scourging post. This fight was dead serious. It was far over his head. And he knew it should not have been taking place.

Then… Scythe's expression changed. A glimmer of shame appeared in his eyes.

Blinking, he stared at the ground for a moment and ignored his hostage. With a slight thrust of his arms, he stepped away and let the Infernape go.

"I'm sorry," he muttered quietly, looking at nobody. "I realize… I am only making this harder on the five of us."

Calmly, quietly, he stepped toward the stairs leading back into the city.

"I begin to lose control of myself," he announced grimly. "I need some time by myself to think. I'm going to take a walk to the western border. Char… Saura… Ray… Prince will be your guardian while I am away. Follow him. Trust him."

Before stepping past Char and descending the staircase, he turned to Prince.

"I know you mean them no harm." Scythe told him. "Do with them what you will. I have no good reason to deny them your company and your words of wisdom. So go, train them. Prepare them. Just… do not consider this as an opportunity to redeem yourself for your past transgressions."

"And why not?" Prince returned.

"Because," Scythe answered solemnly, "you already have."

Scythe turned and began his descent down the staircase.

"I will be back by nightfall," he called from afar. "Do not follow me."

Without saying another word, Scythe just walked away, leaving Char and his friends in the care of the Infernape.

Char heard as the others fell to his side at the edge of the top step, Ray and Saura on his left and Prince on his right, all with their eyes fixed on the Scyther who marched down the city streets, alone.

"Wow…" Ray whispered.

"His anger is righteous," Prince noted. "He… he has a reason to despise me. You see… He stands in the same position I once found myself. Many years ago, the Call came. I was the one to capture the Pokémon who possessed it. But… in my duty to protect the Call… to guide it, to control it… I failed. And now, he has you, Char, and he does not want to fail with you the way I did. He knows that one learns from their mistakes, yet he can't ignore the gravity of mine. And after all these years, neither can I."

Char said nothing, only watching as Scythe became a tiny speck to his vision, approaching the convergence point of the road on which he walked.

"He has every right to be protective of you," Prince continued, sounding dumbfounded. "Yet… that does not completely explain his anger. Why is his anger so intense? There is something else going on here. I don't understand what's wrong with him. He fears this journey. After our battle, he told me that he was not ready for the pain involved on the journey. What… pain? I do not see it… What is he planning that I do not understand?"

"I don't think we should talk about it," Char said. "He's already had enough. Let's not gossip."

"Hmm, agreed," Prince hummed. "In that case… We will do as he says and continue to prepare. Come, the daylight wanes…"

… … …

It was a short walk to the next destination, another gray building about a block west of the capital, but Char knew his enthusiasm was already snuffed out. He tried to tell himself not to worry about Scythe and to just pay attention to whatever Prince was going to tell him next, but the thought of Scythe going mad was more distracting now than ever. For a moment, he even pictured a startling scene with Prince protecting him from a crazed Scythe as insanity set in. He pushed it away with all his might.

But the worst sinking feeling came when he remembered Scythe saying the plan involved him. Whether he understood it or not, he was caught up in this mess. He was possibly even at its core. It chilled him to wonder how he would fit into Scythe's unforeseen problems.

Along the way, Char tried to ignore the somber mood by describing the sensation of smoldering to his astonished friends.

"It was intense," Char admitted, as Saura and Ray both gaped in horror. "It was worse than… everything. Earthquakes are pleasant in comparison. So is being submerged in water. I was… reduced to a broken shell of a Pokémon. I'd rather get smashed by a hundred Gravelers than feel that cold again."

"Char… I think I'm with Scythe on this one," Saura managed to say, his eyes already watering from having witnessed Scythe's outburst. "First you disappeared without a trace, then you almost died? Don't do that! Just… Wow…!"

"In his final moments, as his sanity blurred, he tried to cry out to you, Saura," Prince noted. "His greatest trust is in you."

Saura looked honestly touched at hearing the words. He blinked, causing tears to stream down his face. Char knew he wanted to break down, and admired how he struggled to stay in control.

"Indeed, Char could have died," Prince said. "Yet, do not dwell on what could have been, only on what could still be. Char has become stronger and wiser from his lesson. He now knows how to care for himself in the direst of circumstances, which we may encounter in the arctic. Speaking of which, Saura, do you understand how your body reacts to extreme cold?"

"I wilt," Saura replied. "Plant Pokémon turn brown and their leaves start falling off if they stay in the cold for too long…"

"And have you ever experienced this?" Prince asked.

"…No," Saura admitted with a sniffle. "Mom and dad have always taught me how to stay green… they always made sure that I would stay warm and sunbathe and drink plenty of water… I've always kept my seed fed and charged with energy… and it's always stayed healthy…"

"Then Char now has more experience than you," Prince said. "It was the best way I could help him with the time I had. Try to understand."

"Well… okay… yeah," Saura said, picking his head up. "Yeah… you just gave us a scare, there, I guess. That's all. But you knew what you were doing…"

Saura cast an uncertain glance at Char, the tiny streams of tears on his face no longer running. Char nodded in reply, as if to say "I'm alright." Ray watched the two of them, silent and deep in thought. Char knew how worried he was about Scythe, but he knew not to talk about it. Ray was following Scythe's orders to keep his words to himself unless spoken to.

"Now, Char, as I was saying before, we need to find something for you to wear, which is why we are here," Prince declared, arriving at the building's front door. "This facility belongs to Froslass, who manages our division's supply of clothing. Her personality is a bit fickle, but try not to let her bother you. We will probably be done and gone in a few minutes. She does her job very well."

Char felt a shiver of awkwardness fill him to imagine wearing clothes as a Charmander. It just felt… wrong, somehow. The power-imbued scarves and things he wore to missions were scratchy and uncomfortable as it was; he simply couldn't imagine having to lug around a whole outfit wherever he went. He imagined it to be worse than carrying the sack of supplies on a mission. Although, the thought did resurrect a tiny, albeit unreadable, sense of remembrance from his humanity…

With a scowl of uncertainty, Char stepped into the building as Prince held the door open. Inside, it was a very poorly-lit establishment. Dark brown bricks fixed with black concrete lined the floor, Fort Emerald's ubiquitous grey blocks made up the walls, and there were no windows to give light to the dingy color scheme. Only a dull blue light emanated from some unseen source. As Char glanced around to find the light, the building's smell hit him in the face. It was dusty. The air seemed thick with invisible soot, as though the building were abandoned and rarely entered. It was also warmer indoors, Char noticed, even though the outdoors still didn't feel as cold as they once did.

"So, wait… why do I need clothes?" Char wondered in an annoyed tone, this concept still uncomfortable to him. "I've never heard of a Pokémon wearing clothes before… I'm not sure I really want to try it..."

"Don't say it as though it's unnatural," Prince replied, letting the door close after everyone had come inside. "Wearing skins in the cold weather is an integral part of operations for this division. After all, every Pokémon needs protection from the elements. Many, like myself, as well as your friend Ray there, have a fur coat to insulate them. Some have thick fat. Some have bodies covered in steel armor which protects them from danger as well as the cold. Even Saura is in little danger of wilting since his seed is still surrounded by its protective shell. But you, on the other hand… you're small and vulnerable. There's just no other way to put it. You need protection from the weather if we are to go north."

"Hey… heh… I'm surprised you're not looking forward to this," Saura said, attempting some humor to recover from his bad mood. "Wouldn't it be, you know… natural to you?"

Char crossed his arms and sent Saura a "not funny" glare. He let himself slump into the corner to rest while he awaited further instructions.

The lobby room was empty and unspectacular, with only some hallways branching off deeper into the building and two large wooden hatches upon the opposite wall. The only furniture was a big block of wood against the wall which Char assumed to be the business desk, though it was difficult to see how someone could expect to get behind it. Prince glanced down the hallways, puzzled.

"Froslass?" he called down the hall. "Froslass, don't tell me you're busy…"

There was no reply. Char looked at his teammates and shrugged.

"Froslass!" Prince called again, this time down the other hall. "You have visitors!"

Again, no answer. Prince grumbled.

"We should wait for a moment, she could be in back," Prince instructed. "I hope, at least. She usually answers the door as fast as she can. She'd better not be out and about. These are still business hours…"

So, they waited in awkward silence. Not too thrilled of the place, Char occupied himself by tracing paths across the bricks in the floor with his eyes. Saura commented on the stuffy air shortly after breaking into a coughing fit. Ray played with some static charges between his fingertips. Prince leaned against the wall beside the door, tapping his fingers. Still, no Pokémon came to greet them.

"Looks like she might not be here at the moment, for whatever reason," Prince eventually said. "I will try to take her place. Follow me."

After hesitating just once more, Prince waved his arm and ventured down one of the hallways. Char followed.

A few dozen paces down the narrow hall, there was a previously-unnoticed door in the side of the wall. Prince clasped the handle and yanked gently, causing the door to creak open. A waft of sharp fragrance erupted from within.

"Wow… that's… really something," Ray noted, his eyes watering. "I've never smelled that before…"

"Cedar," Char said, having a moment of recollection. "That's Cedar wood. It repels bugs."

"Impressive. You do know some things about humans, it seems," Prince commented, slowly stepping through the door and spreading his light into the shadows. "Yes… this type of wood is good for lining closets. All those little non-Pokémon bugs like to make their home in clothing and eat it… Though, most humans I've met enjoy this fragrance. I find it repulsive… now, step carefully. Follow behind me…"

As the light from Prince's mane spread, Char saw a descending staircase open before him. Cautiously and deliberately, Char lowered himself onto the first stair.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

A ghastly, screeching cry rang from absolutely nowhere. Startled, Char slipped and flung himself off the stair. Without even enough time to gasp in shock, he felt the air whoosh past his head as he plummeted down into the dark abyss. Thankfully, Prince caught him by the arm and he was yanked back into motionlessness before he could tumble away.

Catching his breath, Char positioned himself down on the closest flat surface his feet could find and regained his balance.

"Badfire Pokémon! Bad! Bad! AIIEEE! You get out of there this instant! Out! OUT!"

Char turned his attention back to the summit of the staircase, and beheld the figure of a being floating in the doorway. It hung in the air, much like a ghost Pokémon. Its body sparkled like crystals.

"OUToutoutoutout OUT!" it insisted angrily, pointing a finger back the way Char had come.

Unquestioningly, Char followed the Pokémon's orders and started to climb back up the stairs. Prince hung his head in shame as he exited the stairwell, the flustered ghost Pokémon practically yanking him out.

"Guh, fire Pokémon, impatient as usual! Are you deaf? I said I was coming!" the ghost ranted after everyone had cleared out of the stairwell. "For the love of Lucario, stay out of there! Especially you and you with your live flames!"

"I'm sorry, Froslass, but we did not hear your answer," Prince replied honestly. "And we are in a bit of a hurry this evening, so I would have done my best to serve myself…"

"And you'd have gone and burned the whole closet to ash, you would have!" Froslass cried. "Not today, you won't serve yourself. Not today, not ever! I'll be handling things from here. So… what is it you need, Prince?"

"I need… something for the Charmander," Prince explained. "We're going north. Far north. We do not know how long we will be staying…"

"Hmm, so you'll be needing something warm, and fireproof," Froslass considered, turning her attention to Char and inspecting his form.

"Well… I do not believe fireproofing is necessary in this case," Prince replied. "The temperatures will be too cold for the fur to catch on fire, and if it does we can put it out right away…I was thinking… Linoone, perhaps? It has worked well in the past…"

"What, and put burn marks in it?" Froslass returned with disgust, floating around Char. "Rips, tears, I can repair. Well… not me. Spinarak does that. But burn marks… you can't get those out! It would be ruined. Utterly… completely ruined… Not a chance I'd let you have one of my Linoone coats, not over my living body… No, little Char here is going to need something totally fireproof… hmm…"

Char tried to hold still and stand up straight as the sparkling ghost Pokémon circled around him, eerily floating over his head and breathing on him as she performed her inspection. She reached down and touched a finger to the back of Char's head, causing a shiver to jolt his body; even though his nerves were still numb, her touch felt cold.

"Hmm… I was thinking Flareon, but… hmm… might be too big…"

"Wait… you actually kill Flareon for their skins?" Char spewed suddenly, his eyes widened.

"Oh, no no no, dear," Froslass laughed. "Flareon, we shave. They have so much puffy fur, they don't know what to do with it all! So then we can weave it into nice fireproof fabric… Only problem is they have a little bit of an overheating problem as they're growing it back, but it isn't a problem… at least, most of the time it isn't…"

Char released his breath and relaxed at hearing the explanation.

"Flareon are lucky in that regard," Froslass continued, a silky yet disturbing ring to her voice. "We don't have to harm them to take their coats. Unlike most other Pokémon… Spheal, Mamoswine, Linoone… nope, those Pokémon we've gotta skin if we want to make any use of their fur. That way we can take their meat, too, and feed all the carnivores. And maybe toss a bone or two to a Cubone. But, ah, yes, they make the best coats…"

"…We never slaughter Pokémon for their skins," Prince quickly added. "We only use the skins of wilds, and that's only after they've been defeated for other reasons, such as for food… or in battle…"

"Most of the time, yes," Froslass replied with a gleeful little grin. "Most of the time…"

Char decided to just shove out all the mental pictures he'd just received. He rolled his eyes. Froslass was being a typical ghost Pokémon.

"… Well, now, I think I might have something for you, Char," Froslass announced, making a final circle around her subject. "I'll be right back. Do not follow me!"

The ghost wasted no time, zipping past Prince and down into the dark staircase. Char sat back down on the floor, wondering unenthusiastically what sort of Pokémon skin the ghost would try to attach to him, and imagining how silly he would look in a poofy, striped fur coat…

But before he had too much time to picture it, Froslass returned brandishing something truly hideous: it looked like a scratchy brown burlap sack, modified to take the form of an ugly vest.

"Here!" she yelled. "This! This is just your size! This'll do perfectly!"

"Heh… w-what kind of Pokémon fur is that?" Char wondered, shuddering as he stared at the thing.

"Oh, this isn't fur!" Froslass cried. "This is a stringweed tunic, made from a very hearty species of vine that lives up north and likes to run across the ground and strangle other plants. Very tight-knit, very durable. Fireproof! And very cold-resistant! You'll overheat the moment you put it on, I swear! Here, try it!"

Without waiting for Char's approval, the ghost invaded and shoved the vest onto his back and over his arms.

At first, Char wasn't so displeased. It did fit him like a glove. But… within just a few seconds of trying to move his limbs and grow accustomed to the cloth hanging from him… the itch set in.

Char convulsed as a disgusting shiver washed over his skin. The vest was so prickly, so abrasive… it felt like a tingling, crawling swarm of insects covering his body. He emitted a moan as Froslass hooked a button into place, sealing him within this torturous prison.

"There," Froslass said satisfactorily. "Perfect fit. And fireproof, too! You could battle in that and it wouldn't sustain a scratch!"

"Very good," Prince said, nodding. "That'll work well. How's it feel, Char?"

Then, it got worse. Just as Froslass promised, the vest began to trap in his own body heat, covering his skin with a broiling sensation in mere seconds. The heat itself wasn't so bad, but this was itchy heat!

"I hate it!" Char said outright, holding his hands at arm's length to keep the horrible prickly fabric from rubbing against his skin. "It itches! I… I can't wear this! Please, take it off. Please…"

"What?! Come now, what's wrong with you?!" Froslass said, sounding offended. "That is a very respectable tunic! Masterfully crafted, and expensive! It was made for you!"

"Char… please, just give it a chance," Prince said quickly, stepping in. "I know, it feels a bit strange the first time, but… you will get used to it. Didn't you say that you would rather be crushed by Graveler than suffer in freezing cold again?"

"This… this is… worse!" Char insisted through gritted teeth. "At least in the freezer, I had death to look forward to! This… ugh, No! I can't… I can't wear this."

"You ungrateful little child," Froslass scolded. "If you're going to be leaving Ambera and going that far up north, you'll be thanking me for this! Especially in this time of year! Grow up a little, will you?"

Char snapped. He couldn't take it. Grunting from the constant friction of the vest against his skin, Char's hands scrambled for the button on his belly that Froslass had done. He yanked, pulled, and finally slipped the awkwardly-shaped hunk of metal through the slit in the flap and tore the horrible rag from his body, slamming it on the floor in front of him.

FWOOOSH!

By total reflex, a wave of flames poured out from Char's mouth and engulfed the crumpled vest. Char wasn't even sure how it happened, but he didn't disagree with it. He was, however, disappointed as the fire failed to so much as catch on the fabric, dissipating weakly as smoke into the already-stuffy room.

Surprised at his action, though not too embarrassed, Char quickly glanced around at his onlookers. Ray looked like he was about to laugh. Saura looked surprised. Prince did not look amused one bit. And Froslass… she looked smug.

"See?!" Froslass yelped, floating before Prince and getting in his face. "See? See? That is why we outfit fire Pokémon with fire-proof gear! Because you fire Pokémon like to burn everything you touch!"

SLAM!

Everyone in the room jumped as the front door was noisily thrown open.

In walked a procession of large, bulky Pokémon. A massive Blastoise stepped into the shop, shaking the ground with his steps, followed by a sleek-looking Blaziken, a smug Glaceon, A muscular Machamp, and finally, a large, winged, dark-skinned Pokémon that Char didn't recognize. The group was yammering among themselves despite their weariness, as if back from a successful journey and happy to be home again. Char and his friends quickly parted from the center of the room to give the newcomers space.

"Team Homeless," Froslass addressed, quickly ignoring Prince and floating before them. "Back from a triumphant raid, I see…"

"Heck yeh," boomed the Blastoise. "But I swear, I don't care what Lucario says, I'm not going that far south again. Over my dead body. Enough with these six-month ventures…"

The elite team managed to totally ignore Team Ember as they filed into the place. Froslass looked pleased to see them. Char watched as the Blastoise, whom he assumed to be the team leader, Dropped a large chunk of metal next to the wooden desk. It hit the brick floor with a resounding clang. Froslass rushed over to inspect it. It was a heavy steel helmet.

"Ah, no rust, hopefully? Hmm?" Froslass rambled, picking it up and turning it over. "Augh, you did. You let it rust. But not too bad I see… that can polish out."

"You can thank Caron for that, there," the Blastoise grunted. "Lady had me trapped at the bottom of Greenrift Lake for a day. I told her we shouldn't have moved in ahead of schedule. Almost got caught."

"How else were we supposed to get into the city, Turq? Fly over?!" the Blaziken returned. "And nobody asked you to take your armor with you into the lake. You can thank yourself for that."

Plunk! Another metallic object hit the floor, this one a great, riveted gauntlet which the Machamp added to the pile.

"Good glove," the Machamp told Froslass. "Sturdy."

"Oh, I don't stock bad equipment, dear," she said, setting the helmet onto the table and picking up the steel glove. "You should know that by now! Good, good… Not a dent, not one… "

Char watched silently as the resistance team conversed, thanking Froslass for their items and bragging about their experiences on the assignment. They were all very noisy and celebratory… all except for the dark-colored Pokémon, who looked content to simply stand and wait impatiently next to the door. Char eyed this creature, still not quite sure what it was, and found his gaze soon returned condescendingly by the Pokémon's large red eyes…

But then, just as soon, the Pokémon diverted its gaze to stare past him. Char looked back over his shoulder and saw that it was locked with Prince's eyes.

"Naxi…" Prince spoke, crossing to room to meet with the Pokémon. "A surprise to meet you here. I was unaware that you were… currently employed with Lucario."

Char noticed that there was tension in Prince's voice, as though he was trying his hardest to speak without disrespect, but couldn't quite do it. The Pokémon Naxi's expression suggested a similar disposition.

"Prince," Naxi addressed simply. "I don't blame you for not concerning yourself in the affairs of other Pokémon. Though, likewise, I'm surprised to see you here. I was not aware that you were… planning to return from retirement."

Retirement? Char wondered. …Huh? Prince is… retired?

Char felt uncomfortable. There was resent of some sort between Prince and Naxi, which he felt he did not want to get caught up in. They held a forced tone of politeness in their voices. Char caught a glint of displeasure in Prince's eye, suggesting that perhaps Naxi's comment about his retirement was not completely truthful.

"Will you be saying long, or moving on down south?" Prince asked. "I understand Team Shardrune might be interested in your business."

"After acting as a deadweight chaperone for these misguided Pokémon for half a year, I foresee that I might retreat from the resistance and work my own schedule for a time," Naxi responded, a hint of disgust in his manner. "I do not have the same luxuries as your team, Prince. I sometimes forget the appeal of working for no client, or no master…"

Blinking, the dark Pokémon's eyes returned to Char.

"Who are those children?" he wondered. "I assume those children are in your care, Prince? What are you doing looking after hatchlings?"

"What do you care?" Prince returned.

"I do not," Naxi answered. "Simply curious… May I remind you that you started this conversation, and you are free to end it at any point you desire. I was merely attempting politely to continue it."

Prince grumbled quietly to himself before responding. "They are… trainees, of sorts, from the Gold Division," he explained, nodding to them. "Scythe has brought them here on assignment."

"Hmm…" Naxi hummed. "Odd decision for Scythe to make… unless…"

Naxi winced. He shook his head.

"I have heard these rumors of Temporal tower," Naxi considered. "In fact, I have been bombarded with them ever since returning to the fortress the other day. And considering Scythe is one of the watchers of the call…"

Prince said nothing. Char froze in place, a little bit afraid, as the strange Pokémon's gaze shifted over his friends, and then finally to him. A hint of recognition appeared in the dark Pokémon's eyes as it locked gazes with Char, immediately reading his fear…

"So… it begins again," Naxi said, almost indifferently. "But you realize, Prince Distragnatia… if it goes wrong a second time, we will have to make steps to prevent it from happening a third… Lucario would place a bounty on your corpse. And I would gladly be the one to accept the assignment."

Prince diverted his gaze, already tiring of the conversation. Naxi's eyes remained locked with Char's.

"Charmander," the dark Pokémon said to him, "always remember, the power you have was given to you, and alone, to you. It belongs to no one else. Be wary of those who try to take it for themselves, to manipulate you. Such is the same corruption and greed of the Master in their hearts. It will only end in ruin. Serve nobody. Instead, make the world to serve you."

"Oddly profound words for someone who does not care," Prince replied sarcastically.

"Unlike the rest of this division, I choose to learn from the events of the past, and not endeavor to forget them," Naxi said. "What happened to the girl was a mistake this division cannot handle to be repeated. I would have told the same thing to her. Now, if you will excuse me… I must choke payment from my clients before nightfall comes…"

Buzzing his wings, Naxi fluttered back over to the opposite side of the resistance team. Prince eyed the dark Pokémon for a moment more before motioning for Char and his friends to follow him out the door. Ray collected the fabric scrap from the ground on the way out.

… … …

"Just curious… who was that?" Saura wondered as he followed Prince back down the street. "He seemed… I don't know…"

"Naxi, the dark Flygon, as he is called," Prince mumbled, as if reluctant to answer the question. "He answers to nobody except those he feels like listening to. He floats between divisions and helps the resistance teams on his own terms. He's not always the easiest character to get along with, either… but he is one of the most competent."

Char had some other questions to ask, but he could tell by Prince's voice that he would not be thrilled to answer them.

"Anyway, Char… now that we have your coat…"

"I'm not wearing it," Char said quickly. "I… I can't. It's too horrible."

"Perhaps you will think differently when you're being frozen alive," Prince said. "You are too quick to forget what I have shown you? Have you blotted it out of your memory?"

"It itches. It's almost as bad as being cold."

"When you're numbed enough from the cold, you won't feel the itch. It's easy to ignore."

"Says the one who has never worn a coat…"

Prince scowled and turned around to confront Char.

"Has Naxi's attitude already rubbed off on you?" Prince replied in frustration. "I'll make you a deal. You won't have to wear the coat until the final leg of the trip through Zerferia. But you must wear it when I tell you that you must. Until then, fine, be stubborn."

Char folded his arms in defiance, but nodded his reluctant agreement. In truth, he figured it would give him more time to contemplate ways to keep from wearing the coat.

"Then… as I was saying…" Prince grunted, "Char, since we've gotten that done… you wanted sparring tips. Now is probably the best time and place. Any later and we would miss the opportunity to attend Legend's story like you wanted."

"Um… alright…" Char said, checking his surroundings. It was a deserted street corner, certainly spacious enough for some movement.

Saura and Ray both asked to be counted out, having already practiced their hearts out with Scythe and quite beat. They retired to the sidewalk to watch. Char started to feel ashamed that he hadn't been able to share much attention with the rest of his team lately. He also found it weird that Prince's attitude had changed slightly, as though this sparring exercise would be a chore for him, which he was only doing because Char had requested it. Char wondered if his meeting with Naxi had bothered him more than he showed. He also wondered if the Infernape was still tired from his duel with Scythe.

Nevertheless, Char readied himself for the lesson.

"Now, when you know you must fight, you assume the battle stance, and you ready your Ember," Prince spoke. "Do so."

Char positioned his stance accordingly and crouched forward. In his mind, he imagined himself as a Charmander whose trainer was barking orders to him.

"Go! Char!" the trainer said. "This is it! Get ready to fight…"

"Char, that is not a battle stance," Prince sighed. "When you're preparing to fight, never remain on your hind legs. Always drop to all fours. You must be able to dodge in any direction at a moment's notice, and you can't do that on two legs. Understand?"

Nodding, Char threw himself forward and landed on his front claws. He didn't often battle in this stance, so it felt very awkward, but he was willing to learn if Prince claimed it was the best way. He noticed that Prince had done something similar, crouching down close to a crawling stance, ready to use all four of his limbs for motion. After bringing his fire up to a respectable level, Char stood ready for further instructions.

"Good, now… from what I've seen, you know of your basic fire attacks. Certainly the most important, sustaining a stream of flames. But have you learned anything more?"

"Of course," Char said. "I can't use fire against every enemy. Some aren't too hurt by it. I know Metal Claw, for one thing… and smoke screening… and if that doesn't work, I can always just try beating up the enemy…"

"As you may or may not know already, humans have titles for the different types of attacks which Pokémon perform. When you 'beat up' an enemy with your bare claws, they call it a 'normal' attack."

"I've heard that before, I think," Char said. "Domo used that term before… for when you just bite or scratch or hit the enemy, without using fire… or whatever other power a Pokémon has…"

"It is important to learn how to properly melee," Prince said. "Even if you master your fire, you can tilt the balance of a battle with good melee skills. See, some Pokémon have evolved to repel the elemental powers of their rivals and predators. If you were to breathe fire onto a Blastoise, it would have little effect, since a water elemental repels your fire. Likewise, if Saura were to hit you with a stray leaf, it would do little to you, since you naturally repel plant-based attacks."

"Yeah, I know the weakness web already," Char told him. "Domo taught us that in the first days of training."

"But this is where 'normal' attacks come in," Prince continued. "While a water Pokémon may be able to repel your fire, they cannot repel a good old knock to the head, or a deep scratch to the skin which draws blood. With enough skill, you could overpower them with brute strength. Fighting like a berserker is dangerous, but effective, if you can master it."

"What are you saying?" Char wondered. "That if my fire doesn't work…"

"It is good that you know your weakness web, and which Pokémon to be wary of in the wild," Prince said, nodding. "But if you try, for a moment, to picture 'normalcy' as its own element within the web, you could say that no Pokémon is especially vulnerable to it, and no Pokémon resists it. It is a reliable fallback if your enemy has a strong immunity to your element."

Char looked at the ground, contemplating this idea. It was an odd concept. "No element" is, itself, an element?

"Now… once you understand that concept, try to learn this useful battle technique," Prince instructed, motioning with his hands. "Have you ever set a foe on fire?"

"Burned them? Yeah, a whole lot," Char answered. "Happens all the time. Especially with wild plant Pokémon…"

"You would not know this, but sustaining a burn is very painful," Prince said. "It is different than other forms of pain. If an enemy's body is set on fire and it sears the flesh, it stings constantly for hours until it is healed, whether gradually or with medicine. The burned flesh becomes super-sensitive. Every touch feels like hundreds of knives cutting into the surface."

Char knew this all too well, but he wasn't going to mention that.

"And such, if you manage to burn your foe in a battle, you gain an advantage," Prince continued. "The pain is distracting. The foe will not be able to think clearly, and will become vulnerable to silly tricks and traps that it would have otherwise found obvious. Especially in regard to these 'normal' moves."

Prince approached Char, as if to test an attack against him. Char readied himself to dodge.

"In this case, you may find it effective to put on a façade," Prince said. "Mislead the enemy into expecting an attack, then change your mind at the last minute. Since the burn eats away at your enemy's attention, it will probably fall for your guise, and right into your trap. Use the opportunity to hit them hard. For instance, a common maneuver I tend to perform by instinct is to drop down to the floor to duck the enemy's assault, then counter with a rotating kick. Like so…"

Prince demonstrated this move, though in a slow and deliberate fashion. He ended with his foot practically in Char's face.

"But if I were to play a façade, I would second-guess myself," Prince said, withdrawing back to his battle stance. "Likely my enemy is already used to my favorite moves, so it would have already readied counters for them. I could do this same, distinct motion, but instead…"

Prince dropped to the ground, but instead of launching the kick at Char's face, he used his foot to catapult himself into a cartwheel past Char's left side. Char flinched in surprise and tried to leap forward, but the attack came and smacked him from behind, flipping him over and causing him to skid a few feet forward. He shook it off and flipped back up into his four-legged stance.

Char smiled. Maybe he could get into this a little bit, after all.

"Surprised?" Prince laughed. "Most of my enemies are, too. If you noticed, I got Scythe not once, but twice with that move during our battle. And he's one to usually predict an enemy's actions five moves in advance! But if you mix up your attacks well enough, the enemy will have to spend more time thinking about it than reacting… and if they are distracted from a burn, or perhaps something else, such as poison... they simply stand no chance. Now, it's your turn, Char. See if you can throw me off. Try to surprise me."

Char prowled forward on his four legs. He knew he couldn't surprise the old warrior, especially not with the first attack. That wasn't the point. He first had to make Prince expect something, and then quickly subvert that expectation. He considered his points of entry. He was small and agile compared to the primate. A pounce to the head was viable. Or perhaps a back-attack, if he was quick enough.

He lunged, motoring his feet as fast as they could go, closing the already small gap between him and his trainer. He watched for the inevitable counter-attack, a roundabout kick, which he deftly leapt over. Unfortunately, he did not keep an eye on Prince's other foot, which slammed him in the face as soon as the first one came back to rest. Char fell backward and scrambled to his feet, prepared to try something else.

I'd use a smoke screen if I could, Char told himself as he shook off the hit, but not now. This isn't about my fire techniques. This is about the 'normal' attacks. How… how do I get past his defenses? What wouldn't he be expecting?

Again, Char lunged, keeping a careful eye on Prince's counter. Unfortunately, Prince attacked from the opposite side this time, swatting him away with ease. As he recovered from the hit, he felt a bit ashamed for not suspecting it, but he wasn't going to give up. He looked again, carefully considering the patterns Prince had displayed. This was a mind game.

And finally, without thinking too hard about it, Char lunged for the third time… making a small misstep to the side as he ran, but righting it in no time, and attacking in the same direction as his first two attempts. Prince jerked in amusement as his first counter sailed harmlessly past Char's head.

THWAP. Char once again went sailing face-first into the ground. A few stars appeared before his eyes for a moment.

"Good, good!" Prince congratulated. "Very good maneuver, there! See? Sometimes if the enemy is reading into the battle too much, you can outsmart them simply by making them expect something different… while you repeat the same thing!"

"But… I didn't hit you," Char mumbled in frustration, climbing back to his stance.

"I never asked you to hit me," Prince laughed. "I only asked you to surprise me, which you did. Well done. But if you want to hit me, it's going to take a lot more effort than that!"

"I doubt that!" Char shouted back at him, playing cocky. "Just watch!"

He grinned. He was having fun now. Fired up and full of energy, he knew he wanted to try landing a hit on the legendary Prince, even if it meant getting pummeled. Poised like a primal Luxray, Char bared his teeth and prepared to put up an intense fight…

…Until he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

He looked back at his friends. Ray was squinting, staring somewhere far-off. And Saura…

…Saura was fast asleep.

He paused for a few moments, just looking at them. Wondering something, though he didn't know what.

… … …

Char sparred with Prince for about twenty minutes, though it turned out to be much less exciting and more forced than he wanted it to be. Somehow, Char just couldn't put his heart into it. Something was bothering him. Something. It was as if his mind had been absently piecing together a big puzzle, though none of the pieces had any sort of labels. He knew it had been happening not just that day, but all week. Ever since he first learned of the Tower. His mind was churning something, digesting something. But now, due to recent events, it seemed to be nearing completion, and it was unbearable to not know.

He knew it was true. Something… Something required his attention. His thoughts. His decision. But… what?

It was something he heard earlier that day. Or was it? Or was it a combination of things he had been told? By Naxi? Lucario? Prince? Scythe? Zahira? All of them at once?

It bugged him. It bugged him like a raw stringweed rag tied around his head.

Well… of course Scythe bugged me, Char wondered, looking through his memories for the answer. But… but that's not it… not like that. Or… or is it? I'm sure it has something to do with him…

"Vitamins," Prince announced, breaking his reflection. "I'm sure back at the Gold Division, they put you on a healthy diet of vitamin supplements…"

No, no… Char told himself, withdrawing back into his own thoughts. No, I can't lose focus now. I'm onto something. Something… about Saura? That's when it ruined my flare, when I saw him… but…

"This journey could last for months, you realize? Before we embark, we should get some vital vitamins into you…"

Something… something about the way Prince was talking to Naxi… But that has nothing to do with Saura… or does it? Gah, I don't know! What is my instinct trying to tell me?! What's so important that I just can't see?!

"I'm… really not all that hungry," Saura groggily confessed. "Scythe fed us a gold apple before we came…"

"This has nothing to do with hunger or thirst, but health," Prince told him. "Supplements invigorate and strengthen your internal systems."

Annoyed at the voices distracting him, Char decided to snap to attention. They were somewhere else now, in some other building…

It was a shop, with polished wooden seats and tables positioned atop a marble floor around the lobby. It almost reminded Char of a human café, but no… the architecture more resembled a doctor's office. It was deserted; there were no other guests, or any managers, at this time.

"Kecleon didn't sell too many vitamin supplements at the Gold Division," Ray admitted. "There were some, but they were really expensive… Kecleon sells gummis sometimes, though…"

"Gummis help you to open your mind, but vitamins boost your strength," Prince said, turning to inspect the front counter. "Hmm… Gardevoir decided to take the day off early, I see… Well, then, I will have to help myself and pay him back later…"

Char watched absently as Prince jumped the counter and began scrounging around in the cupboards behind. He wondered if the Pokémon in charge would jump out from somewhere just like Froslass had, scorning him from trespassing upon business property, but then again, he got the impression that Prince had some sort of a right to do so.

Before long, Char and his friends had stationed themselves around a table. Prince plunked down a few small, brown bottles in front of them.

"Here, Char," Prince said. "Protein elixir. Drink. It'll help strengthen your muscles, help with those melee moves you've just learned. You too, Saura, Ray. Drink."

Char looked oddly at the blank-surfaced bottle and the liquid that sat within it. He picked it up and wrung off the stubborn cap, smelling its contents. It smelled faintly of oil. He slid the elixir across the table, trading it with Saura who'd been staring blankly at the bottle and wondering how to open it. Sighing, he chugged it down as instructed. It was bearable, tasting only slightly vile, and mostly just annoying his internal fire as all liquid drinks would do.

Plunk! Plunk! More, similarly-colored bottles were placed before him.

"And Calcium, to help energize your elemental strengths," he insisted. "Drink this, too… And then we can give it overnight to digest and soak into your system."

"This will actually make us stronger?" Saura wondered, staring hopelessly at the second capped bottle.

"Not noticeably," Prince answered. "Ideally you should be drinking supplements on a weekly basis. And, yes, you would start to notice a significant increase in your body's capabilities after a while. Like any good habit, each little dose counts."

Ray opened the bottle for Saura this time, and the three of them slammed it down. This one tasted powdery, leaving residue all along the inside of Char's mouth.

Plunk. Finally, Prince emptied his arms by dropping a big green, flat bottle onto the table.

"Ginseng," Prince said. "I could only find one, so you'll have to share it. It stimulates the nervous system. Unlike Chesto berries, which just block your ability to tire, this will really energize your-"

The door creaked open, and in walked a striking green-and-white Pokémon who looked genuinely surprised to see visitors. Prince nodded to the Pokémon.

"Good evening, Gardevoir," he said quickly. "I hope you do not mind that we helped ourselves. We were in a hurry, and these Pokémon needed—"

"Not a problem," Gardevoir quickly dismissed with a wave of his hand. "But… why are you here, Prince? Haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?" he replied, scowling in confusion.

"The weather report?" Gardevoir replied, making his way to the back of the house and eying the stolen goods with some annoyance.

"I… thought I did, why?" Prince responded. "There was nothing significant…"

"Nothing significant but the blizzard of the century…" Gardevoir returned, with what looked like a smirk. "all of the division is flocking for cover now in case it blows in early. Wasn't it Legend's night at the assembly hall anyway? I do believe most of the Pokémon attending are already there…"

Prince twitched in uncertainty. Char's stomach turned when he saw the Infernape's surprised gaze. Had something gone wrong?

"I… I have to check something," he muttered. "I did not hear of a storm front all week. I… I will be right back… You… stay seated right there, and drink your Ginseng. I will be back shortly."

Prince darted out. Char's mouth hung open, unable to say anything before the Infernape had vanished altogether.

"A storm?!" Saura cried. "That can't be good! What if it hits tomorrow afternoon when we're supposed to leave?!"

"I should have known," Ray added. "The sky's so dark today! You can just tell something was brewing… Maybe we'll get a taste of Zerferia before we even get there…"

Gardevoir reached a long, green hand down and snagged the bottle of Ginseng from the table. Team Ember turned in his direction.

"You needn't worry about a storm, children," Gardevoir said smoothly, walking away with the bottle. "The storm is only in Prince's head."

"Wait…" Ray stammered, looking confused. "You… you were…"

"Lying, yes," Gardevoir responded, turning a pleased grin in the Raichu's direction. "It is a small price for the high-and-mighty Prince to pay for his reputation that lets him walk among the fortress as though he owns it and everything inside. I figure I must be entitled to at least a small measure of retaliation for robbing my bar…"

Char didn't know whether to laugh or to feel disrespect for the fair-formed Pokémon. He chose to simply smile a little, watching as the Gardevoir worked behind the counter to clean up the disorder Prince had caused. He heard the gentle click-clacking of glass touching glass, and then he heard the sound of pouring water.

Gardevoir returned with three medium-sized glasses of a dark orange liquid, each with a colorful, leafed berry floating at the top. He gently placed them on the table before Char and his companions.

"Here," he said, "you might find that this goes down much more smoothly."

… … …

Char sat quietly with his friends, nursing his Ginseng cocktail (or whatever it was) while he waited for Prince to return. The flavor was pleasant and fitting for the powerful, almost repugnant bitterness of the elixir that it tried to mask, but he slowed down near halfway and couldn't quite finish. After a time, he found that his glass and the glasses of his friends were down to about half full, and that Prince showed no signs of coming back despite having been at least twenty minutes. Gardevoir had left the room, working somewhere in the back of the house.

"So… some trip so far, huh?" Char spoke to Ray and Saura, his first words to them in hours. "Prince seems overly interested in me… how are you guys doing?"

"I'm having fun," Ray answered cheerily, though Char guessed that at least part of the cheeriness was forced. "This place is really mysterious-like. I have to respect this place and all the Pokémon who work here. They seem to have a hard life. I don't think I'd want to live here, though. It'd be scary. I don't think I could do it."

"Me neither," Saura mumbled. "It's really harsh here. And I don't just mean the cold. All the Pokémon here… wow."

"Yeah… the resistance is sure serious up here," Ray sighed. "I mean, I always thought Team Remorse was the real deal. But up here, it's like that's how good you're expected to be just to make due. I can tell these teams have given up all their comforts and everything they have to keep the resistance going strong."

Char winced. He heard something in Ray's voice, just a subtle little wobble, as he mentioned Team Remorse. And he knew exactly why. Ray was putting his heart into pretending there was nothing wrong with Scythe. He was forcing it out of his mind.

"You doing alright, Saura?" Char asked tenderly. "I can't believe you fell asleep on the sidewalk…"

"Uh… yeah… sorry about that, heheh," Saura chuckled ashamedly. "I was trying to keep my eyes open. Prince was saying some things about fighting that I really wanted to hear. But I guess Scythe really wore me out."

"Saura… is something bothering you?" Char wondered, noticing something in the Bulbasaur's expression that seemed to have slipped out by accident.

"Oh, no, no…" Saura reassured, shaking his head and trying to smile. "Nah… I'm fine. I just… sometimes I keep thinking about my family. It's distracting sometimes. But I know I shouldn't worry…"

"Thank you," Char said warmly. "I don't know how many times I've said this already, but thanks for being here with me… I know that you're only here because I wanted you to come. Maybe I even made you come. You could have stayed back. But…I just keep imagining being here all alone…"

"Eh, what are friends for?" Ray said brightly.

"Just… don't run off and get yourself frozen to death again," Saura grumbled. "And no, for the last time, you didn't make me come. This was my decision. I made it back in Gravelerock Cave. Remember?"

Char was about to respond, but the words halted on the edge of his tongue and refused to come out.

He froze, wide-eyed, in revelation.

The world stopped turning. His ears heard no sound but his own heartbeat.

"Whoa, Char…?" Ray cried, noticing his friend's impossibly-wide eyes. "Char, you alright?"

"Y-you're not having another… vision, are you?" Saura gasped. "Char?"

Char ignored them, his gaze pinned into space.

It hit him.

As clear as day, as clear as the Articuno painting, as clear as the Poké Ball in his dream…

He saw it.

Moments were flashing before his eyes. Moments from that night outside of Alakazam's lair, when Scythe cried. Moments of that night he spied on Scythe talking to Shander, and telling him something about the nature of being a servant.

Moments of talking to Eva, and learning that Scythe had something dark hidden from him… but refusing to learn it for himself…

Moments of watching the sunset as Scythe told of Ambera's beauty…

The moment of dread when he saw Scythe's glare, burning into his eyes, for betraying his simple promise, on the walk to the fortress.

The moment of horror when Scythe first lost his temper. His forthcoming mixed fear and respect for Prince.

The moment when Lucario tossed him across the room, scorning him for being so weak, even though he himself was a powerless, aura-less leader…

The moment of revelation when Scythe threatened Prince's life, then walked off… The words he said… the threats he made…

The words of the strange dark Pokémon, telling him that his power was his own… that nobody should be allowed to manipulate him…

That point on the street. Saura… he fell asleep. He wasn't supposed to fall asleep. Thoughts of his family kept bothering him…

And finally…

The words of Ray, just moments before, still echoing in his mind.

"What are friends for?"

The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place, and the picture was spread before his eyes. Terrible. Beautiful. Final.

Just like that, Char knew the answer. He knew what he had to do.

"I… uh…" Char struggled to say. "I… I have something to say."

"What?!" Saura pleaded. "You're scaring me, Char! It's like you're having a seizure or something. What is it?!"

"I… I think…" Char stuttered, fear in his voice. "We need to have a talk."

… … …

The outer walls of Fort Emerald rose high across the land, a mighty wall of metallic-plated blocks, barring access from every sort of ground-crawling animal or intruder.

A Scyther sat upon the wall, his eyes fixed upon the western sky. The sun was not ready to give up just yet, but it was falling, fading, subtly shifting in color, and lowering itself beneath the eternally-clouded sky to show its face across the land. Seeing it warmed his heart, like it always did, for it still meant something to him. Ambera, his land, was still alive. In the face of his troubles, the beauty of the land caused everything to make sense, letting all of his entwined thoughts even themselves out, spelling clear goals and answers. Nothing in the world was more comforting.

He watched, motionlessly, ignoring everything else but the light of the sky. He saw not the Pokémon overhead which patrolled the airways and kept watch for the division's enemies across a distance. He saw not the resistance teams which traversed the roads far below, or the silhouettes of District Three and District Four on the faraway land. All he saw was the sky. His sky. The sky above his garden.

He prayed to it, asking it what he should do. How he should settle his problems.

Asking himself how he could come to accomplish the impossible and get away with it.

"Scythe?" a voice called from beside him.

Scythe turned quickly. He had not expected anyone to come. He had blocked his surroundings from his mind, ignoring those coming and going in the vicinity. And so, he was surprised to see the figure of a Charmander approaching him across the bridge-like surface of the fortress wall.

"Char," Scythe uttered. "I told you not to follow me. Why have you come!?"

Char ignored his comment. He walked forward, coming to the Scyther's side and taking an appreciative glance at the sunset along the way.

"What do you want, Char?" Scythe asked, though in a humble voice.

"I have something to ask you," Char replied, sitting down at his side.

Scythe bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Char, not this again…" he sighed in exasperation. "I thought we had a promise…"

"No… not that," Char said. "Something else… I had this idea. I wanted to know what you thought of it."

"Yes?" Scythe said simply, opening his eyes again and turning to him.

"I… I realize… that you're trying your hardest," Char began, mustering his courage to say what he wanted. "And I feel guilty because… I've made a lot of mistakes. And one in particular that… that I was… hoping to fix."

Scythe's eyes narrowed upon Char, but he kept silent. Char looked up to him, his eyes gleaming with respect and appreciation. He opened his mouth and spoke with total honesty, and even then, barely believing his own words:

"Scythe… how would you like it if you and I went to Temporal Tower all alone? Just you and me?"

The Scyther blinked, his head reeling back for a moment like he'd taken a punch to the face.

"Is that so wise?" he answered. "Your friends…"

"I talked to my friends just now," Char assured him. "They understand perfectly. They think it's a good idea. Look, Scythe… I know we're all in this together. But… it was a big mistake for me to force Saura and Ray to come here. I was being selfish. And so I brought them, and… and… well… I just thought it would help you feel better. Focus, you know. If you had less Pokémon to watch after…"

Scythe was silent.

He stared at the sunset for the longest time, totally silent. His breathing turned heavy, his eyes watched nothing in particular, focused only on his internal thoughts.

"Char…" he finally said, his quiet voice practically a whisper. "Those… are the most beautiful words anyone has spoken to me all week."

A smile was born on Scythe's face. It started tiny and wry, but it grew into a full, uncontained grin. Before long, Char beheld true joy upon the Scyther's face.

"How are we going to ditch Prince?!" Scythe said quickly, excitedly.

"I was thinking we could just leave first thing in the morning," Char answered, reflecting Scythe's beaming smile. "Saura and Ray could help to confuse Prince into thinking we didn't leave yet. When he realizes what's wrong, we'd be long gone."

"We'd have to go west first," Scythe determined. "West or south-west. He wouldn't think to track us in that direction. Wow… we'd have to move quickly in the morning, right on the heels of the Watchers, while the sentries are still taking their stations… Char…! This means… if we can pull this off… you might be able to help me with my mission! Only time will tell, but if things go absolutely perfect… Maybe… just… just maybe I wouldn't have to play these games with you anymore..."

And that was it. It was decided. Char felt such a profound peace in his heart, knowing that he'd finally done something truly, unquestionably right. It was his first action, he felt, as a true, mature leader of Team Ember, rather than the coward he always was before. And as he saw Scythe's beaming smile as his mind spun with possibilities and plans, as he saw the setting sun reflect from his eyes, he knew that he had truly helped the old warrior in some way that really mattered.

For a few fleeting moments, they sat side-by-side atop that high wall, human and servant, neither one regretting a thing.

*Chapter 43*: Chapter 39: A Tale of Legend

Chapter 39

Dusk had arrived, but the evening was still young.

As Fort Emerald settled into its dark twilight, the orange glow of the late sunset dampened by the high city walls and the lingering blanket of clouds above, many of the division's Pokémon filed into the streets and toward the city's gates. The day was over, and it was time to depart back to their places of residence among the outskirts, into their secluded districts, safe from the shadows of the night until the dawn of the next day.

Yet, for many other Pokémon, there remained one last obligation to fulfill before nightfall. Droves of resistance teams streamed to the city's center, gathering near a facility that was used but once a week, except for emergencies or special occasions such as this one.

The Emerald Division's assembly hall was much smaller than Char was used to back home. He imagined it was only a third of the size of the Gold Division's meeting hall, which seemed appropriate given the Emerald Division clearly had a smaller population. The room was shaped like a bowl, deeper on one side and shallower on the other, with the stage of attention at the very center. The steep side was lined with dozens of ledges for small Pokémon to occupy, while the other side was flat and wide-open, allowing the much needed room for the gigantic Pokémon to make their places. The ceiling was shaped like a cone, though a very flat and elongated one. A tiny circle in the center opened to let in the sunlight, or what was left of it at this point. Char wondered if it was covered by glass, until he noticed a Skarmory descend through it and take its place among the crowd.

Other than this simple and elegant architecture, nothing stood out about the room; there were no giant statues, no decorative etchings, nothing but the flat, silent stone walls to inspire respect or awe – or, perhaps, nothing to distract attention away from the center of the room. In all, like the rest of Fort Emerald, it didn't seem like a comfortable or pleasant place to be for an extended length of time. Char imagined that space would get very cramped if the entire division were to attend a meeting.

Char sat only a few rows from the front, right where Prince had directed him to sit, holding his tail politely in his lap to keep it from swaying into the seats behind him. As the evening settled in and the presentation came closer to beginning, he found himself absentmindedly wringing his tail in his hands in anticipation. The turnout to this event was a little shallow, but it was to be expected; Char knew that every Pokémon in that room with him was choosing to forgo several hours of a good night's rest to attend. Only about sixty or seventy Pokémon had arrived so far, most huddled around the center in the front rows. He wondered just what he was in for, and why this handful of the division's workforce had chosen to give up their valuable time for this.

"Wonder what this is going to be like," said Saura, who sat beside Char with a grin of excitement. "If this place has any culture that isn't all dead serious and depressing all the time, I'd really like to see it."

"Yeah, but we have an early morning tomorrow," Char replied. "I hope this will be worth it."

The two of them locked gazes for a moment, a mutual understanding. Char caught a glimmer of somberness in Saura's eye, and responded with his own sad smile. Between them, there was no resentment. There was nothing to forgive. Yet, there was still uncertainty. Worry.

"You sure you'll be able to do this?" Saura uttered sadly under his breath.

"No," Char replied, turning his head to stare at the floor. "But I'm going to try. It's just… there's…"

"It's the best way to handle the situation, I know. I understand that," Saura replied, finishing his thought for him. "Hey, you don't think I know it feels? I ran away from my own family. I loved them. I still do. But it was the only way I could get out of being a slave for the rest of my life. I look back and I know it was the best thing for me to do. But… even though I found you, and we met Scythe, and I'm really proud of living with the resistance and all the jobs we've done… it still hurts just a little bit when I think of my family. Even after all this time. Especially after meeting Saurlee and knowing how worried they are about me."

Char continued to stare at the ground, holding down his tail under crossed arms.

"Well… at least now, I know I'll get to keep my promise to her," Saura said, forcing a pathetic laugh. "One promise I can keep at least…"

"You kept your promise to me," Char reminded him. "You were always there to help me. Every step of the way, every big mission, you were always there. You taught me how to be a Pokémon. And you got me this far. If I meet Dialga, he might turn me back into a human, and you'd be the first one I'd have to thank for it. If anything, I'm the one breaking my side of the promise."

"Nah, you can't say that," Saura said with a wry smile. "You protected me from the Master. You forced me to be courageous when I didn't know what would happen. And now I made it to somewhere safe where the Master can't get me. As far as I'm concerned, you kept your promise."

"Well, what?" Char asked, looking at him humorously. "What does that mean? Are we… even?"

Saura looked surprised at the question. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He looked at the stage before him, needing a minute to wonder about the question and think of an answer.

"Hey! There you guys are," Ray's voice cried as he leapt down the room's isle and into the row ahead of them, pivoting on the bench to face them. "Scythe is on his way, finally. He had to get some things ready before you-know-what tomorrow. And Prince is up there talking with Legend right now. In a minute, they're going to come in. Wow! We're going to see Legend tell a story in person, can you believe it? I've always wanted to come to one of Legend's stories! This is going to be amazing! Ha! I can't wait!"

"So… this is just a story, right?" Char implored to Ray, who appeared to know what he was talking about. "I thought this would be interesting to see. But what's so special about it?"

"Oh, Char! You have no idea, do you?" Ray gasped eagerly, leaping over the row of seats and coming to sit beside him. "When Legend talks, you listen. There's just no fighting it. Whenever he says something, it just captures you, and you can't escape! Pokémon say that your eyes can't even blink and your ears don't hear anything else when he's telling a story. Ohh, I've heard so much about him! He's famous down at the Gold Division, especially with the training teams since that's where he got his start in the first place."

"Well, what's the story?" Saura wondered. "What's he going to tell us?"

"Nobody knows!" Ray answered. "Might be some old legend from the history books. Or maybe something he made up himself. We'll just have to wait and see! Wow, we're so lucky he was doing this on the night we came. I hear he doesn't do this very often anymore."

Char's heart beat faster as he let himself get excited by Ray's description. A wide smile faded onto his face as he imagined himself being swept away just by a Pokémon's words.

"But uh… hey, Char," Ray said suddenly, lowering his voice into a serious tone. "Are you alright? Are you going to be up for tomorrow?"

Char sighed heavily, and his smile disappeared. "I'm not looking forward to the cold," he admitted, shuddering a little as he imagined it. "I… heh, if Zerferia is as bad as they say it is… I keep picturing myself freezing to death… again… except this time, Prince won't be there to pass me his flame. But… I can't back out. I have to try this, even if it means I won't make it."

"Hey," Ray said, looking into Char's eyes. "Hey… if it gets too cold, just remember: the fire will never die—"

"—Until the last ember fades," Char completed, starting to smile again.

"And you know that doesn't just mean to keep your tail burning," Ray said. "The 'ember' isn't really your fire power, you know. It's your will to live. No matter how bad it gets, you have to keep holding onto that. They say a Pokémon doesn't die until they want to die. Hold onto your will to live, and as you don't let it die, you'll keep going."

"Ray… thanks," Char said, nodding to him. "Thanks for everything. If I don't see you again… Thanks for always helping me rise to the challenge. Heh, ever since you joined the team, I knew I could never slack off with you around. You really taught me to discipline myself and push for the bigger reward."

"Hey, don't say stuff like that!" Ray warned, astonished. "You're going to come back. You'd better! I don't think Saura and I could run Team Ember without you. And hey, besides… don't you have a coat to wear that'll keep you warm?"

"No way I'm wearing that thing," Char scoffed. "I don't care how cold it gets. If I put that thing on, I won't be able to move a muscle without going insane. I'd rather have my tail chopped off than wear that thing."

"And I'd rather have my tail and my arms and legs chopped off than to have you die from the cold," Ray said sternly. "You thank me for helping you push yourself and you can't even wear a wimpy little coat? You know, if I would have gone with you, I'd have electrocuted you until you put it on."

"Then I guess I have a reason to be glad you're not coming!" Char said jokingly.

Ray was about to respond, but he hesitated. His ears perked, and he broke his concentration on Char. Flipping around in his seat, he took a look back at the facility's doors where another small crowd of Pokémon was entering.

"They're here!" Ray reported. "Scythe and Prince just came in. Here they come!"

Char tried to shake off his solemn mood, pushing out of his mind the fact that he was saying farewell to his best friends, and remembered the storytelling he was anticipating. At the very least, he couldn't draw suspicion from Prince. As far as he knew, Prince's powers of observation and deduction were near Scythe's level, and if that were the case, he'd be able to tell something was amiss if Char were to suddenly start acting lost and afraid. So, he put on his smile one more time, intending that he would at least enjoy this evening. It soon became genuine.

Scythe came marching down the aisle, looking mildly pleased to be there, with Prince a few steps behind. Soon, Scythe spotted his companions and gave them a nod of greeting as he approached. Prince gave them a passing glance as he ushered Scythe over to a seat which was two rows below Char's.

Char watched as the two heroes chatted amongst one another. He knew Scythe was probably trying to subtly reassure Prince that nothing had changed, but still, it made him happier to see the two of them side-by-side without so much as a flicker of bitterness or disgust in their eyes. Underneath all the conflict they'd gone through that day, they were still old friends.

"Aww, no fair, they get the front row!" Ray whined lightheartedly. "Hey, all those spots are empty! Can't we sit in the front row, too?"

"I don't think so," Saura noted. "Team Flamewheel probably gets to sit there. And Scythe is a guest of honor, I guess."

"Hmph," Ray said. "Char should be the guest of honor! Hmm, actually, how many Pokémon do you think know about all this? I mean, obviously not all of them. But there was that one… in the store, remember? What was it…"

"...The Flygon?" a nearby voice said.

Char started at the sound of the voice, the source of which seemed to fade into the shadows only a few feet at his side. The dark Flygon had taken a seat just next to Team Ember, its winding body draped lazily across the stone bench, staring at them with his unnaturally deep red eyes.

"That Flygon, if your memory serves you, was out on mission while rumors leaked of a Charmander with the Call under Alakazam's care," Naxi said. "Naturally, I didn't hear about it. But a handful of the Pokémon in this base do know of you. Not all of them know. Only those who have been chosen to know, know."

Char looked with uncertainty at the dark creature, not knowing what to make of it. He spoke in a hissing, almost hostile voice, as though Char's presence annoyed him deeply. He knew that wasn't the case, though, because it was Naxi who had chosen to sit there.

"Oh, wow, didn't even see you there," Ray said, being the one to separate Char from the Flygon. "Actually, you're probably the last Pokémon I'd expect to come here!"

"…Why is that?" Naxi questioned.

"W… I don't know… you just didn't seem the type," Ray considered. "You don't look like you have the patience to sit down and hear another Pokémon speak."

"I barely have that patience," Naxi admitted, shifting his posture. "I would be lying if I told you I would rather be here at the moment. But I come because I need to come, not because I desire to come."

"Oh, I get it…" Ray guessed. "You promised someone you'd be here. Or maybe they're paying you?"

"I have promised none but myself that I would be here," Naxi hissed in a low, serious voice. "I am old. And as I grow older, thoughts empty from my mind, never to return. One day, the memory of an obscure battle tactic I rarely use. Another day, the memory of my greatest victory in the war. Another day, the memory of my childhood. Every day, until my mind would be empty, and I become insane. And so I come, and let Legend fill my head with new thoughts. Some fictitious, some memories of the past I had lost, it does not matter, as long as they are substantial. So I come, and Legend provides this service to me. The dragon desires to live forever, yet the withered sandworm is long dead."

"Wow… you're losing your memory?!" Saura gasped. "That's horrible!"

"…Just as you will, one day," Naxi said. "If you live to such an old age, that is. Just as we all will. But not the Ninetales. The Ninetales lives for a millennia, his mind never dimming. The Ninetales preserves the consciousness of one era to pass to the next."

The Flygon flicked his tail and turned his attention to the center of the room, indicating he had nothing left to say. Char wondered about his words.

"I know what it's like to not have memories," Char told Saura under his breath. "It makes me feel so anxious sometimes. I feel all this space in my head, but nothing's there… Maybe Legend can help me the same way he helps Naxi."

Char turned to Saura to await a reply, but found Saura's gaze glued straight forward.

"Listen!"

A voice rang through the room, deep and clear. Before it had finished resounding from the walls, every Pokémon present was as silent as the dead; not a shuffle, a scrape, or even a breath could be heard through the sudden, ominous stillness.

Char's attention snapped forth, and he noticed that the center rows of spaces were now all occupied. Pokémon had lined up, shoulder-to-shoulder, huddled around the innermost circles of the room.

There was a gasp-like sound as the torches around the room's perimeter, by some force of wind or magic, were all snuffed. The light gone, Char could only make out the silhouettes of the crowd, which could have been only shadows for all he knew, as no one emitted a sound.

At the center stage, a roar, and a mighty flash of light. A fire Pokémon's flamethrower attack struck a great mound of kindling, something that Char could have sworn was not there just moments ago. The fire spread, transforming the center stage into a blazing beacon, its red, flickering glow soon reflecting from the face of each Pokémon in the room.

Before the fire, there stood a fox.

Its golden fur shone gloriously in the firelight, its eyes gleaming as though miniature tongues danced behind them. The figure stood tall, proud, and confident, as though it were a legendary. As it walked, its many tales waved in its wake like a silken flame. For a second time, it opened its mouth to speak.

"Before I begin, I would like to make mention a few things," the Ninetales announced, bowing its head slightly. "To begin with, I must pay tribute to our guest of honor. Here, in our midst, a legendary Pokémon sits among us! But he needs no introduction. I would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to an old acquaintance of mine, whom I have not forgotten since the days of our partnership at the golden division. Scythe, head and founder of Team Remorse, it is an honor and a privilege to have you here! "

A roar of applause filled the room. Scythe nodded in gratitude to the Ninetales.

"Second, a confession," Legend continued as the applause died down. "Though I must say it at least once a year, I must say it again this evening. There are few greater joys in my life than speaking before an audience. Of course, as life goes on, obligations pile upon me. I must help to lead a resistance team. I must run my share of our assignments. I must play the role of an ambassador whenever Lucario calls upon me. If life were mine to command, I would be standing right here, speaking before the whole of the division every night! But it is not a wish life will fulfill. Time is scarce, and the opportunity to arrange a gathering such as this one becomes limited to only thrice or so in a year. Yet… at every waking moment, every step I take across our outskirts, and every dream which pulses through my mind when I sleep at night… I am distracted. Distracted thinking of you all, planning for this once-in-a-season evening with every day of my life. I am constructing my stories, and rehearsing every word I should say, so that when I speak before you, I will leave nothing to be desired. In my eyes, every one of you here is a guest of honor! It is not I who serves you, but you serve me by listening. And by the gods, I shall reward that service with every breath I have, and give you what you came for. So thank you, citizens of the Emerald Division, for attending."

Another roar of applause sounded. Legend took a humble bow.

"…That is why, dear listeners, I must confess something," Legend said, changing his tone. "While I can no longer tell stories as often as I want, I must still make sure the stories I tell are relevant to the present times. I would do you a true disservice to speak meaningless words and preach impertinent morals. Therefore, while I have spent the last five-and-a-half months preparing for this evening, I recently learned of an unlikely chain of events which might eternally shape the future of Ambera—and so, in honor of this historical development, I have thrown away all those plans as of a couple weeks ago. My words tonight will be largely unplanned, and unpracticed. But I will speak from the heart. And I will speak to pass my flame to you, a flame burning with the legacy of the past, and of a new one, born this very day."

The Ninetales paused again. As few murmurs rose among the room , apparently surprised at Legend's decision to change his plans on such short notice, Legend turned his head. His glowing red eyes, shimmering like rubies in the firelight, locked intently into Char's. Char trembled and froze in fright as he realized the storyteller was staring at him. The gaze lingered until the audience reaction faded away, and before Legend broke it, he gave a small nod of respect to the Charmander.

"And finally, I must make an apology," the Ninetales said. "Lest I may go unpunished for my crime, I'd like to acknowledge my failure to arrive on time this evening. I am sorry. Unforeseen circumstances arose as I was preparing to come here, and I have kept you waiting for far too long. Even now, I fill the time with a long preface. As it stands, when I am through with you tonight, you may have just half an hour to take shelter from the ghosts. Those of you from the far districts should consider taking refuge in the fortress, unless you can run like the wind. Furthermore, I probably have no need to remind you that tomorrow is assignment day, an early morning for everyone. Indeed, by detaining you here on this night, I am not making things easy for you."

The Ninetales paced a few steps around the fire, glancing at the eyes in his audience. Then, suddenly, he tilted his head back and shouted his next words in a loud, growling roar.

"But it is not I who has made your lives difficult, is it?" Legend proclaimed. "No… it is you who has chosen to be here, in this fortress of war, sacrificing every freedom, living each day in service to Team Regret. It is you who has chosen this life of difficulty. You've brought it upon yourselves. It is you, standing proud and strong in the face of difficulty, yet cowering in the cold corners of your homes when nobody is watching. It is you, soaring through the sky and bearing witness to the raw beauty of Ambera, yet feeling your heart break when you remember her beauty is not yours to enjoy. It is you, fighting against those who would murder you, resigning yourselves to the ways of the warrior, the ways of the explorer, the ways of the double agent. Obedient. Selfless. Expendable. You have placed everything on the line, expecting nothing in return for your effort."

This time, when the Ninetales paused, there was no sound from the crowd. Everyone was dead silent, his words still ringing in their ears.

"But then… what is the reason you have chosen this?" Legend spoke, lowering his voice but still speaking with power. "What compels you, every day, to rise and to fight? What compels you to take the difficulties of the world upon your shoulders, as your own responsibility, when you do not deserve them? What is it that inspires you so deeply, to leave behind everything, and to call yourself a member of the Emerald Division? Whose fault is it that you need to be here?

"Ahh, yes… I see it in your eyes. You know the answer. You can't deny it. Every day of your lives, it bothers you. At every waking moment, you are distracted. With every step you take across our outskirts, and every dream which pulses through your minds at night… you are distracted. Distracted by him, our faceless enemy, and distracted a possibility, a visage, a faraway dream – a dream of Ambera, untainted by his disgusting presence!

"But can you imagine it? You were all born in and raised beneath the reign of his empire. You have known nothing else. For all your lives, you have uttered his name in respect, or fear, or hatred; you have borne witness as he culls our population at random to his insidious will; can you truly claim to see in your minds what Ambera would look like without him? For if what you see is a utopian continent, with no suffering, no despair, no imperfections… a place where each Pokémon may live in peace and unity… you cannot be farther from the truth! It is the nature of life. We are not, and never will be safe from danger, safe from challenge, safe from difficulty and suffering. I know this because, if you can believe it, there was once a time when the Master was not there to bring oppression and holocaust to our land. And in this time so long before this day, there were the golden ages, when Ambera was in her prime, the days we look back upon with fondness and jealousy. But there were also the dark days, far darker than even we have ever seen.

"So imagine, now, an era so long before this day… A simpler time, a time without countries, a time without laws. A time when no Pokémon or man claimed ownership of the world or its people; a time when creatures bowed only to the raw forces of nature, and to the legendary beasts which controlled them …"

It was around this point when Char could no longer hear the words which Legend spoke. Instead, he saw images in his mind, heard the calls of the wild Pokémon which roamed the land. He transported himself to that world, pretending these vivid images were his own memories, that he'd seen this primitive time with his eyes as a human.

"A time even before mankind bestowed upon us the title of 'Pokémon', which only came once their spellcasters learned to capture and compress our bodies into metaphysical energy. We were beasts. Creatures to share the land with. Creatures to respect… and to fear!

"How terrible and mighty we were, back in that age! How ferocious our command of the wind and flame, how grand our dominion of the sea and sky! The humans looked upon us with awe, watching as we moved mountains, stirred the sea, set fire to the countryside… And they saw us, and they knew they could not defeat us. Unlike us, they were not gifted with our elemental powers, or our resistance to pain and injury, or even our claws and fangs… They had nothing but their minds, those brilliant, ingenious little minds they were given, able to plan and shape their thoughts in ways Pokémon still cannot match… And with those minds, they feared us, and learned to dig holes in the earth to protect themselves from our watchful eyes, just as we cower from the ghosts of the night. They crafted weapons, pointed things, crude yet effective imitations of our claws and fangs, to drive us away if we wandered near…

I remember that, Char told himself, trying to pretend he had a history. That time long ago, the time when I was a human…

"But as the decades passed, and the humans grew in their wisdom, they came to realize they needed us to survive. And so, they gathered their courage, and set out to form an alliance.

"Thus was born the bond of the human and beast, and the first golden age of the Pokémon trainers. Some of us were docile and came willingly. Some of us were ravenous and had to be beaten down by the strength of many men, then locked away until we learned to obey or starve. Still others were hatched from an egg, taught to treat humans as their own family. In a myriad of ways, they took us, the feral, mindless beasts of the wild, and made us their servants. In return, we enjoyed the luxuries they offered us: the food, the shelter, the company. We were simple-minded creatures, offered these pleasures which surpassed those we had to fight for in the wild, and so, we were content to remain at man's side. We were complacent.

"But even the humans did not foresee what would become of our bond; in time, the humans offered us something of such immortal value, we will never become worthy enough to repay them: they gave us the gift of their intelligence. They taught us to think, to feel, to understand the world on their level, and to see them eye-to-eye. We started as mere servants, happy with our rations. In the end, we were friends. Equals. We lived in their homes and sat at their tables as family. They fought for our lives without concern for theirs, and we fought for them just the same."

"The world saw a new dawn as Pokémon learned the ways of humans. And like the sunrise, beaming with every new shade of hope and desire for the future, it was beautiful."

"But, as Arceus decreed when the universe came into being, there must be balance. Beauty must not last forever. It must be challenged. It must be polluted with tragedy and corruption! The corruption lurks within the hearts of man and beast alike, man in his desire to dominate and control the world, beast in his desire to evolve and strengthen himself, ascending to a higher level of being. These desires could not remain for long within the boundaries of trust and companionship set for them. Alas, in this era so very long ago, a golden time of peace reached its end, and a dark day overshadowed the land."

Waves crashed upon the rocky shoals.

Blood soaked in the sand.

The clothed, two-legged creature known as a human stood beside his kills, dripping knife still within his clutch. Ignoring the fresh corpses of the fox-like sea demons, he advanced across the sandbar and into the sacred place the beasts had given their lives to defend.

The human crouched, examining the haphazardly-buried nesting hole. His fingers sifted through the sand, excavating the ditch for the treasures within.

There was a glint of blue.

Without hesitation, the human gently lifted the egg from the sandy ditch. His fingers ran over the rough, white surface, around the blue splotches and across the brown streaks.

He felt movement inside.

"Years spent training and preparing for this day now behind him, he cradled his prize in his arms, his chosen egg. Relieved from the battle, and from the search, he held it compassionately, feeling its skin against his chest, feeling its vibrations, memorizing them, learning the ebb and flow of this little creature which now belonged to him, which would always belong to him from this day forth, the closest partner and friend.

"This desire burned like fire in him, since his earliest days, to be a beastkeeper. He watched these creatures of the earth, sea, and sky, watching with reverence as they wielded their terrible powers. He wanted to befriend that terrible power. Wanted to command it. But his tribe refused to train him, no matter how he begged. They left him no choice but to take the power into his own hands."

A cracking sound.

The egg shifted and wobbled upon the padding the human had piled underneath it.

On his hands and knees, in the privacy of his own shelter, the human watched eagerly as his first companion tried to force itself from its egg.

The egg bulged, the creature inside yearning to stretch its little muscles for the first time. An opening appeared, slowly shattering outward.

Behind that opening, a face.

Matted brown fur, still soggy from the yolk. Tiny eyes closed tight.

The infant collapsed in is position, exhausted with its effort.

Overcome with compassion, the human took the punctured egg and tore the shell from the hatchling with his own hands, until the infant elemental-fox rested in his arms.

"The kit grew by its master's side, loving him as a child would love their father, for he was the only father it knew. It obeyed him, trusted him, gave him company. It learned to fight in defense of the human and those which he loved. It learned to hunt and survive, to stay away from those creatures which would kill it. It learned, when the world would turn against it and hope would fail, to plead to the gods for assistance. It learned to communicate with the human and understand him, and to help him with his duties. In return, the human poured his heart out before the little one, speaking to him a wealth of knowledge and experience, and the kit learned other things, things which no Pokémon could learn alone. And it learned, as the human gave it the greatest gift a human may give a Pokémon, to think for itself.

"And so the little one's eyes were opened, and it saw the world as the human saw the world, and it understood the hidden things only wisdom could reveal. The human was no longer a master, but a friend and an equal. As the little one grew, it came to understand this friendship it shared. And it was happy."

The darkness of night.

The peace and comfort of home.

The fox slept beside his human friend, weary from the day's work,

Content… Happy…

But then…

A cry rang through the night, and the world heard.

Like a silent ripple through the fabric of space, it erupted.

Powerful, compelling, yet invisible…

From the prairies, the cliffsides, the shoreline… creatures stirred.

Tunneling beasts buried beneath the earth squirmed at the sound.

Sea monsters roiled in its tide.

The human's eyes opened.

They fixed on the little brown-furred creature which slept soundly next to him.

And he knew.

"It was the Pokémon who had captured the human that night, stirred his heart, roused his fire. For what creature, man or beast, would not tremble before power of that magnitude? The Call's power gripped him by the throat, and his love for his companion… was slain. Slain like the fox's parents. The darkness in his heart came through. For the last time, he had seen his companion as his own child. It was now his tool. He knew he would take the power in his own hands."

The fox was tied to a post with powerful braids of vine.

It did not understand.

It yearned to please its friend, asking him why he acted differently.

The human ignored its pleas, force-feeding it to keep it from starving.

A week passed, and the fox was not freed.

The fox watched as the human it loved worked with strange stones and metals.

The fox watched as it conjured the forces of ancient magic, practicing them.

The fox watched, helplessly, as the human drove himself near insanity, combining the magic in different ways, muttering obsessively.

The fox watched, helplessly, as the human approached it with a glowing stone he had created. It winced as the human shoved the stone upon its forehead.

And again, a soundless cry shook the world, brighter than the sun, louder than the lighting in the sky, deeper than the sea.

The fox watched, helplessly, as the world around him changed.

It watched as the human communed with other creatures of all kinds, from dark-furred hounds to colorful birds to fiery dragons. It watched as they were also detained, yet did not fight against the human's will. He watched as they were given away to other humans, in exchange for different things.

More weeks passed, and the fox still did not understand why his friend had forgotten about him.

He returned to the stake, pressing the stone upon the poor fox's forehead. And the world shook again.

More creatures came. Powerful creatures. Creatures that towered over the human, overshadowing him. Yet, they bowed to his will.

The fox watched as the creatures did everything the human commanded of them.

He watched, helplessly, as they built structures for him, brought his food, assembled before him. He watched as more humans came, as well, and bowed before him.

And the fox began to understand.

"Two seasons, it remained this way… the human's dark heart for power was insatiable. He did not want Pokémon, or riches, or followers, no. He wanted everything. And so, everything came bending to his will."

The fox watched as the world turned to chaos before its eyes.

The landside cracked and crumbled from the power of the underground beasts.

The prairies died. The forests wilted. The ground became covered in carcasses.

The fox watched, helplessly, as the world burned.

The fire, like a mighty hurricane, engulfed the land. Brilliant walls of flame, burned offerings of the dead and dying, rising to the stars above.

The fox watched as the fire crept closer, burning everything in its path.

The human stumbled forth, holding the glowing rock. His body aflame, his flesh melting, his face ghastly.

He reached for the fox's forehead.

His body collapsed to the ground, dead.

The fox was alone now.

At last, the fox understood.

It struggled against the dried vines which held it captive. Struggled with all its strength, every ounce…

Its body would not move.

The heat became unbearable. Relentless. Merciless.

The fox understood that it would not live.

The fox bellowed a cry to the stars. A prayer. A prayer to the gods, just as it had been taught. It prayed for deliverance.

"The voice carried nowhere, the roar of the apocalyptic blaze drowning every sound, but still the child wailed, knowing death was so near. It knew the flames intense and invincible; they would release the shackles, only to let a dead Pokémon fall to the ground. It wailed to the stars, to any spirits who might hear, until even its voice was spent…

"And hear him, they did. For as the flames licked its body and caught upon its fur, an answer came. The force of the man's dark magic stemmed from the ancient flow of energy which had borne the universe itself. Slowly, gradually, as the human had abused his friend with the spells of summoning the Call, the magic had filled its body, until now, in this moment of desperation, it was released.

"There came, manifest, a knowledge that was lost since ancient times. A knowledge we Pokémon of the present cannot comprehend, cannot remember, can never discover again. The Pokémon's body glowed as bright as the flames! It grew in size and strength, bursting the ropes which tied it in place. Undergoing evolution. But this evolution is an extinct one, something we in our age have forgotten how to trigger: paws turned to wicked talons. Scales formed beneath fur, sealing the fragile Pokémon's body behind a shining violet armor. Two magnificent wings graced its back. A ridged faceplate formed around the Pokémon's eyes, and four curved horns sprouted from its head. When the transformation finished, the Pokémon steadied itself upon its four legs, ancient magic pulsing within its heart. It had been reborn… as the Wyvreon!"

The world was invisible behind the flames, and so the Wyvreon leapt through them, trying to flee from the horrible destruction.

As it fled, it looked upon the devastated world.

There was nothing left. Nothing.

As it flew above the land, it watched, helplessly, the blackened, destroyed ash which reeled by.

Beyond the horizon, the earth had been savaged, shattered. Lifeless.

The sky filled with smoke and the smell of destruction.

It flew through forests, now filled only with ghastly, charred protrusions of barren trees.

The fire, had left nothing. The fire which the human had started. The fire which he had wanted.

The Wyvreon flew, tirelessly through this lifeless world, to the summit from which the answer to the prayer had come. It was etched in its heart now, a dragon's instinct.

Temporal Shrine. A monument to the gods of creation. Upon it, the Wyvreon descended from the sky…

The Wyvreon clutched the stone it'd recovered from the human's body, pressing it against its forehead.

Char felt himself shuddering as Legend spoke with such intensity that it seemed to set the air on fire.

"Beauty of beauties, the dragon of diamonds appeared before the little one, shining in all its glory, its power pulsing through the air, rippling upon the sea of time…

"As the breath of a cold wind swept from the sky, the burst of thunder through the clouds, the majestic one who'd crafted time with its own claws stood in submission before the caller. It bent its mighty knee and genuflected, and it cried in its eternal voice…

What would you have your servant do?"

It took more than a moment for Char to realize the story had even ended. How long had it been? Three hours? Only a few minutes? He did not know. All he knew was that the room now exploded in applause, the Ninetales bowing in gratitude to his warm reception. Even as Saura and Ray shouted their appreciation, Char simply sat back, stunned, his mind swimming with questions.

… … …

"How!? How does the story end like that?" Char shouted in grief as he filed out of the assembly hall with his friends. "I mean… wha… what happened? What did the Wyvreon tell Dialga to do?! What even happened to the Wyvreon? And what happens to the world now that everyone else is dead? I mean… he didn't even finish the story!"

Char felt like blasting something with fire. This bothered him, especially after how immersed he let himself become in the story. He stomped down the path to the exit, his heart still clamoring for some sort of conclusion.

The building cleared out pretty fast, the resistance teams bolting for the door and the roads back home. The darkness outside already deep. The Watchers would be out in less than a half hour. Soon, all that remained in the facility were the members of Team Flamewheel, Scythe, and some other various Pokémon who had stayed to chat.

"I thought it was brilliant!" Ray exclaimed. "Char, look at it this way: you have to think about what he meant, not what he said. The story was about the human raising the Eevee, right? Legend said that the best gift the human gave to it was the ability to think for itself and make decisions. And then at the end, Dialga asks the Wyvreon what it should do. So it's the Wyvreon that has to make a judgment. It only has the power because the human raised it that way. So the story comes full circle."

"Interesting, I didn't look at it like that," Saura said. "I thought the story was all about the Eevee being naïve. It learned to love the human because it didn't see the evil in the human's heart. It grew up not even knowing that it was stolen from its nest as an egg. So it loved the human so much it had to be tied to a post and shown that the person he loved was evil. It took him that long to understand."

"Hey, don't insult humans when there's one right next to you!" Ray said. "I think this story was about the good effects that humans have on Pokémon. I mean, look. Even at the end, what was the last thing the human gave to the Eevee? That Call-triggering stone, right? So the Eevee could use it to call Dialga at the end. I wonder if the human was trying to save itself at the end or if he gave the power back to the Eevee in remorse? By the way, what do you think the Wyvreon asked Dialga for, anyway?"

"Probably to fix the world, I guess," Saura said with a shrug. "Actually, I was thinking, maybe the whole story took place on Ambera and the Wyvreon wished that humans couldn't come here anymore? So maybe that's why Ambera has no humans?"

"That's brilliant, too!" Ray said. "Yeah! I bet that's it! See, Char? The story had so much depth to it! And it makes you really think! That's the mark of a good storyteller!"

"Eh… but… It didn't have an ending…" Char mumbled, defeated. "It was good and all, but… ugh, it would have been so much better if I'd known just a little bit more…"

"There's a reason I left out the ending," Legend's voice said. "It was my hope that you would supply one."

Char turned to see that the nine-tailed fox had approached him and his friends. He hesitated for a moment in respect for the storyteller, not really knowing what to say.

"Char… it is an honor to stand before you," Legend said, bowing. "I have heard much about you these past days. I see you've brought companions with you. Will they be accompanying you to the Temporal Tower?"

"Yes," the three of them said in unison.

"Good to hear!" Legend barked happily. "It is smart to bring witnesses with you, Char. My job will become much easier that way. Have you decided what you will ask Dialga for, Char?"

"…uh?" Char could only respond.

"Surely you didn't miss all the ways the story was parallel to you?" Legend asked. "You, a Pokémon with the Call of unmatched magnitude, see your world in shambles from the Master's oppression, and so you venture to Temporal Tower to implore help directly from Dialga? What if Dialga could not refuse any of your requests? What if you could have whatever your heart desired? I beg the question, what do you plan to ask of Dialga? What would you beseech of a god?"

Char stood for a moment, totally speechless. He hadn't really thought of it that way before! Then again, he always assumed his transformation to a Charmander meant something important, and that Dialga had the answer. But what if it was true? What if Dialga would grant a wish or two?"

"I uh… Uh… Dethrone the Master, of course…" Char stammered. "Uh… "

"And I say to you, if that's what you want, and Dialga grants that request, you would be remembered in Ambera legends until the end of time," Legend said. "But… is there anything you desire for yourself?"

"Never thought about it, actually," Char admitted. "I just assumed that Dialga wouldn't grant a selfish wish, I guess."

"Well, be sure to keep it in mind on your way," Legend suggested. "I've done my part in trying to inspire you. You wouldn't want to miss the opportunity, would you? Think about it. If you were that little dragon-eon, standing before the being that set time into motion… what would you have it do? … For now, it is late, and I do seem to remember Prince mentioning you would reside with us this evening. Would you like for me to escort you to our hall?"

… … …

The moment he stepped outside, Char looked to the stars, a rare sight to see in Ambera. But the stars were invisible that night, blocked from view by the same cover of clouds. No light shined from that northern sky, making it seem like an infinite abyss.

It was a very short walk to Team Flamewheel's base, as they lived within the city of Fort Emerald. Along the way, Char had to cringe as he walked through the chilly nighttime weather. He knew the numbness caused by his nervous shock earlier had faded away somewhat, but at the same time, he found that thinking of his experience in the freezer made the wind chill seem more bearable. He tried to lower his fire to a simmer to help curb its sting.

Ray, on the other hand, didn't seem at all bothered by the temperature. He was too distracted raving at Legend.

"That was brilliant!" Ray cried, walking beside the Ninetales. "That was just… wow! Everything I've heard about you is so true! How do you have such a way with words?"

"Practice," Legend replied. "Practice and research. And I am glad you enjoyed it."

"I admit, I wasn't really sure about coming here, but you really showed me," Saura said. "My mind is spinning now. I feel so sorry for that little Wyvreon…"

"I find it funny, how I am known today as 'Legend the Storyteller'," the golden fox mused. "Even today, when I think about it, it seems too unlikely to be true, that my tongue has defined me. Do you know what I trained for, back at the golden division? I was to be a messenger. I had excellent stamina. I could run tirelessly across the land and not stop to rest. I could outrun the birds! And I remember how I excelled in battle. I taught wild Pokémon to cower before my might! But today, am I known as Legend the strong, the tireless, the brave? No… I'm Legend the storyteller. It seems my fate is forever sealed. Ah, but I am not one to argue with fate. I take what I am given."

After only a two-block walk, they had arrived at Team Flamewheel's settlement, which looked as featureless on the outside as any other of the division's buildings. Legend opened the door and slipped inside to light some of the torches in the entryway with his fire. As Char looked interestedly at the prestigious house, he couldn't shake a strange feeling about it.

"Hmm… This place looks familiar," Saura noticed. "Not too much, but… just enough to recognize."

"You're right!" Ray said amusedly. "This is just like our own base! Hah! That's probably because our base belonged to Team Flamewheel before we moved in!"

It was true. The general shape of the hall was very similar to Team Ember's own, with a long red rug and some similar articles of furniture. The resemblance wasn't striking, but it helped make Char feel at home and forget that his own base was hundreds of miles away.

"You took over our hall, did you?" Legend laughed. "I'm surprised they kept it vacant for so long. Alakazam must have been expecting us back. As you have probably noticed, we missed our old den enough that we remodeled this building as best as we could in its image. Though it's always made me nostalgic, rather than comfortable…"

As Char wandered down the hall, feeling right at home, the door opened a second time. Jumping a little in surprise, he turned around and expected to see Prince or Scythe coming in to retire for the night.

Instead, he saw a Bayleef entering the house.

"Lily, good evening!" Legend called to the Bayleef. "What did you think of my performance tonight?"

"Good, as usual!" Lily responded with a grin. "Though, it wasn't as good as last time. But I don't think that's your fault! The Black Division rebellion is a hard story to beat!"

"Remember, I had only three weeks to prepare this one," Legend said. "Actually, as it turned out, it was more along the lines of three weeks to decide the concept and three days to assemble the script. I didn't expect it to be my best work, but I hoped it would be fitting for the occasion of Char's visit."

Lily looked as though she was about to respond, but then she snapped to attention, surprised at the presence of the Charmander standing just across the hall from her.

"… … Char!" Lily said simply. "… … … … Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Char replied oddly.

For a few more seconds, they stared at one another in silence. The Bayleef looked as though she was searching for something else to say, but decided against anything.

"Well, I should get some rest, assignments tomorrow and all," Lily said, turning to one of the nearby doors. "Goodnight, Legend!"

"Sleep soundly," Legend called back as she disappeared into her room. "Well, then, you three should do the same. Hmm… Here, this room is vacant. You three can stay here if you want…"

"Wait…" Char said suddenly, a thought clicking in his mind. "Did you say that you created that story in three days? As in, wrote it?"

"Naturally," Legend replied dismissively.

"So you mean… it wasn't real?" Char said. "You made it up?"

Legend blinked. He turned his head toward Char. "It is a permutation of an old legend I have told several times in the past," he explained. "It changes slightly every time I tell it. I try to keep my stories relevant to the present, you see. The basic story stays the same, I fabricate many of the details. But the details are vital to the story, understand that. The listener needs details if they are to take the story to heart."

"I see," Char said. "In that case… is it true what you said about fire Pokémon?"

"Fire Pokémon?" Legend repeated. "What about them?"

"That they were destined to destroy the world," Char said. "Prince told me you said that fire Pokémon were destined to destroy the world. And he said you told him that. Is that true? Or is that something you made up, too?"

A smile crossed Legend's face. "Hah hah. That is a story of my own invention, long ago in our days back at the golden division. It was to light the heart of Prince one day when he was discouraged. Indeed, if I am to retell legends, it is my right to invent some of the legends that will one day be passed down through the millennia, isn't it? After all, to use the word 'legend' implies that it may or may not be true…"

Char scowled. "Well, then, when are you going to tell Prince that it was a lie?" he challenged.

Again, the Ninetales laughed ironically. "Do not worry, Char, Prince knew those words were nonsense from the moment I uttered them."

Char said nothing in return, but he didn't look satisfied. In truth, he was confused. Prince told him that story as though it were an indisputable fact, and it had moved him slightly. Why would he tell a lie like that? Legend turned to address him, trying to read his feelings.

"Char, you must understand something about my role in this world," Legend said. "I have spent decades pondering this question, whether it is right or wrong to tell fictional stories as though they were true. In the end, I realized the answer: it is not what I say that matters, be it truth or falsehood. I am a storyteller. That does not mean I am a historian. It also does not mean I am a liar. Rather, I am a doctor. It is my duty to heal broken hearts and restore hope. I must say whatever is necessary, so that those who hear me will have the strength to carry on for one more day through the painful world we live in. I pass my flame to them, so they may live."

Legend paused to let Char consider his words.

"You should sleep," he suggested, turning to open their door for them. "Prince does not tolerate sleeping in."

Char hesitated one last time.

"Legend?"

"Yes?"

"There… is a story… a true story… I'd like to hear you tell me sometime," Char said.

"Hmm… I would be happy to oblige, another time, of course," Legend said politely. "What did you have in mind?"

"The story of how your team saved the Emerald Division," Char said.

Legend's expression changed. He looked angry, almost offended at the suggestion. He gained control of himself quickly and replied with only a small scowl.

"No, I'm afraid I will not," Legend said in a lower voice. "You must wait until the next time I am ready to tell it. That story, I plan to tell until the day I breathe my last, but only once a decade. Because it is something the world must know, yet… it is a heavy subject. It would be unbearable to have it on my mind every moment of every day. I must be allowed some time to forget it."

Char thanked him anyway, admitting that, through his complaints, he really did enjoy the tale of the Wyvreon. Saura and Ray also yawned their goodnights.

From across the hall, Lily watched through the small opening in her door as Team Ember disappeared into the vacant room.

… … …

At last, the dreadfully long day came to an end, and Team Ember was together again for another night. Though not exactly their home base, it was close enough to make them feel comfortable, even if there weren't even any bed-pads and the three of them had to sleep on the floor. They were used to that, after all; they'd spent most of their time sleeping in Scythe's lair without even a room of their own. It was the fire that Char still missed, though he decided not to think too hard about it. It wasn't the time to feel sorry for himself again. He needed his sleep much more than ever now; he would need it to escape from Prince the next morning.

At one point, Scythe stopped by to remind them of the plan, that he'd have their bag from Alakazam ready to grab on the way out, and Ray and Saura would need to stand by in case Prince would have to be distracted from the fact that they were gone, just long enough to let them get away. But he stayed only for as long as it was necessary, and quickly departed; he, too, needed his sleep.

The three members of Team Ember laid motionless, eyes closed. Ray was already fast asleep. Char was curled up in the corner, though at this point he was only pretending; anticipation and fear still tingled inside him.

"Hey," Char said quietly. "You never answered my question."

"Alright," Saura responded. "If I don't see you again… alright, we're even. But hey, Good luck out there, Char. I really mean it. I really want to see you again."

"You know what Daemon says about luck," Char muttered back. "But I'll do the best I can. Don't worry about me. In a few days you'll get to see your family again."

"Heh… thanks," Saura muttered as his mind grew cloudy. "I'm really sorry if I made it seem like I didn't want to be here. It's just… I had a strange dream the other day, when we were in the desert canyon. I dreamt I went on the vacation my sister was telling me about. I was with them when they went to the shore."

"That must have been a nice dream," Char said.

"But no…" Saura said, sounding like he wanted to doze off. "That was the weird thing. It was like… I kept asking Saurvor why we were going on vacation. We'd always take trips as a whole family. But I kept asking him… why he only took Saurlee… and me… and he wouldn't answer me… I wanted to see mom and dad and everyone else again… I guess that dream made me a little anxious about them, that's all."

"Oh…" Char said. "Is that why you were… feeling bad earlier today?"

"Yeah, I guess that's all," Saura said. "I didn't mean to make you feel sorry for me or anything… Sorry if I did… But I tried not to let it distract me…"

"It's alright," Char reassured him. "You helped me give Scythe what he wanted. I think that's the best thing I could have done. So, go. Be happy with your family…"

Too tired to say much else, Char tried his hardest to calm his mind and lay motionless, trying to convince his mind to relax and delve into his own dreams. But there was one more thing he had to ask.

"Hey… Team Ember had a good run, didn't it?" Char asked.

"Huh?" Saura responded. "Team Ember won't die…"

"You're not quitting?" Char asked.

"Never…" Saura said. "The resistance… is the most fun I've ever had… I'm never going to quit… not ever…"

Saura said nothing more, but his final words made Char feel very happy. It was enough to let him dull his nervousness and let his exhaustion take over.

… … …

No!

No! I need that! Don't take it away! I need it!

Char found himself in a hauntingly familiar place.

It was the memory again, the same as always. Char saw the legendary dragons of time and space standing before him. He saw the Poké Ball which Palkia held before him. And he saw… that claw which held him fast…

Let me go! LET ME GO!

But this time, a different layer of understanding had been triggered in the memory. For Char felt, more than any other sensation in his dream, a raging emotion which drowned out all of his other senses.

LET ME GO! LET ME GO! GIVE ME THAT BALL! PLEASE, OH, PLEASE! GIVE ME THAT BALL!

THAT BALL IS EVERYTHING!

Helplessly, detained within the body of his memory, Char struggled for freedom. That ball held the weight of the world. The weight of the universe, perhaps. That ball was his whole purpose. That ball was his destiny. He would challenge the gods for it! He would slay Palkia and rip it from the dragon's dead hands! He was driven by such a strong longing, greater than any he'd ever known, a powerful madness which consumed him. Yet, the claw held fast, and would not let him budge as he feebly squirmed…

No! No! Please, you don't understand! Please! Pleeeease!

HELP ME!

… … …

Char's eyes blinked. He realized he was awake.

He looked around, remembering where he was. He was in another team's room. His friends were there with him.

But something… something… wasn't right.

Char reflected on the compelling experience he'd felt in his dream. So, the Poké Ball was really important to him. That was good to know. His purpose was to find it, to use it for something. Or maybe to open it and release the Pokémon inside? He couldn't tell, his raging desire to simply obtain the ball had been just too great to understand its deeper motive.

Char felt better. One more layer of his memory had been revealed. He was closer to finding his purpose.

But…

There was something else about the dream. Something… wrong. Something… something familiar. What was this twinge of familiarity he felt? What was this sensation that he thought he knew? Was it… was it something near the end of the dream?

No…

And then it hit him; in a moment of realization, he knew exactly what it was.

No… it can't be!

Char drew a quivering breath as he rose from his sleeping spot and crept over to Saura.

"Saura!" Char hissed, shoving his friend's side to wake him up quickly. "Wake up! Wake up!"

"Errrrgh… what's wrong?" Saura muttered, his limbs stretching and his eyes fluttering open. "What is it, Char?"

"Saura… I think… No, I'm pretty sure… it happened again. The Call. I just now did it."

Saura emitted a gasp. It didn't take much longer for him to wake up.

"Wow, really?" Saura cried, his eyes wide. "You sure?"

"Yeah… I was having this dream, and then…"

Ray yawned loudly, stirring from his own dreams.

"What is it? What do you want?" Ray muttered. "What's… oh… uh… sorry. Must have been having a weird dream…"

"Ray!" Saura gasped, leaping over to him and pulling him up with vines. "Char had the Call again!"

"Oh…" Ray muttered. "Wait… what? Is that why I woke up just now? What does it mean?"

"It means we have to find somewhere to hide now," Char remembered. "Well, maybe. The fortress is a pretty big place. I don't think I reached far enough to wake up everybody. But Team Flamewheel's going to be here soon. We'll probably have to—"

Scythe burst through the door, nearly knocking it down. He was panting as though on the verge of death, and his expression was horrified. He looked as though he'd seen a ghost.

"Char!" Scythe gasped breathlessly. "I heed your call! But come, quickly! We must run!"

"Yeah, I know the drill," Char sighed. "Let's get this over with…"

"Come on, come on! There is no time!" Scythe shouted. "No time! Run!"

Wondering what Scythe was so worked up about, Char scampered to his side and followed him out into Team Flamewheel's hall.

And then…

There was a screeching sound, like a noise from a nightmare.

An apparition appeared at the end of the hall. A grotesque, mutated figure. It was transparent, Sifting through the air like a gaseous substance, screeching like a demon as it charged near.

It took a moment for Char to notice it had a face. It was a ghost Pokémon.

Matching the ghost's cry, Scythe buzzed his wings and raised his blades, gathering shining energy within them. He shot forward to attack the horrid Pokémon, his blade somehow putting a dent into its incorporeal form. He dodged warily away before returning to strike again, a couple more times, until the ghost seemed to evaporate into a cloud of smoke.

"Whoa, what WAS that?!" Ray cried.

"W—Watcher," Scythe gasped, recovering from the effort of the battle. "They're… they're coming…"

"That's… that's impossible!" Ray gasped. "Watchers don't come inside!"

"They do… when they've… been summoned by a cry they cannot ignore," Scythe growled. "The last time… the last time this happened, we were a mile inside the earth, they couldn't hear you well enough… but now… they are about to swarm… And nothing is going to stop them…"

Char froze in his place, terror overcoming him. He knew, even though he had no control over his power, he'd just done something horrible. He felt nothing. He didn't know what to feel, or what to say. His mind told him only one thing:

This can't be happening.

"Char…" Scythe sighed in exasperation, shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you? You'll be the death of me, yet…"

*Chapter 44*: Chapter 40: Nightmare

Chapter 40

This can't be happening.

Char wished the ghost he'd just witnessed phase through the wall had been a hallucination. A bad dream. Something unreal.

But he'd seen those demented glowing eyes, and that captivated gaze drawn to his silent beckoning. He saw the intruder defeated upon Scythe's blade.

Worst of all, he saw the terror upon Scythe's face. This was a danger he did not know how to deal with. All of his battles, his wisdom, his life experience… none of it could have prepared him for this. He was like a child, trapped and scared.

Char felt disconnected from the world he stood in. He couldn't think, couldn't feel anything. Couldn't acknowledge his companions who clamored for his response. This wasn't happening to him.

The Watchers were coming inside. Inside houses. Where the division's Pokémon slept. All of them unsuspecting. Helpless.

And he had caused it.

"Char! Snap out of it!" Scythe barked. "This is no time to stand awestruck. Pay attention, or you will die! Char!"

Char screamed as a painful jolt flooded his body, jump-starting his sluggish heart. He stumbled and fell on his back, half-paralyzed, his limbs still convulsing from the power of the discharge. Ray cringed in regret from having attacked so harshly, static sparkling upon his claws.

"Char, we have to listen to Scythe now," Ray said, grabbing his arms and helping him back to his feet. "Char? Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm… here now," Char replied through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine… W-what do we do? Scythe? Can we do anything?"

"I don't know yet," Scythe rasped, glancing around the room. "It depends on Team Flamewheel now. They will have to help us. We should escape from here and regroup in the warehouse basement. That's a close enough shelter. But I do not know how we would make it there. Running would be suicide, unless Team Flamewheel has enough supplies on hand."

Char knew that most of the team members wouldn't need to be asked to come. He heard them stirring behind closed doors, gradually drifting from their beds and emerging into the hall. A Camerupt showed itself, looking half-asleep. A Heracross came soon after, looking just as dazed and aimless. And then there was the Ninetales, who burst from his room with such vigor that Char wondered if he had even been sleeping.

"The Call! I have heard the Call!" Legend proclaimed as he bounded into the main hallway. "I am compelled! Such a force of raw power compels me, rapture as none I have known! Who has summoned me? Where is my master who has summoned me into this unconditional servitude? I come! I am here! Here I am! What would you have your servant do?"

Spotting Scythe and his group, Legend came forward.

"You are a persuasive one," Legend spoke affectionately to Char. "Like Scythe, I hold the power to comprehend the Call when I witness it. And never before, never before have I seen and heard what you have created this very night! Never have had I witnessed a force so captivating! Magnificent! Legendary! It is as a whirlwind of force, a mighty tornado which ravages the land and extends to the clouds! I stand in awe before the magnitude of your cry!"

"Legend!" Scythe hissed. "Behind you!"

A shriek pierced the air as another Watcher drifted through the walls, its eyes wide in captivation as it aimed for the one who had called it. The deformed Haunter reached a disembodied hand for Legend's tails.

"Baaah!" Legend spat as he turned to see it. "Wretched demons!"

"Char! Stay back! Stay back!" Scythe ordered as he engaged the monster.

The room flashed with red light as Legend discharged his fire onto the ghost, which seemed to stun it for a moment. Scythe attacked, faster than the eye could see, slashing the thing with his own pent-up energy from the edge of his blade. Char was amazed at how Scythe and Legend both kept their distance from the thing, even though the ghost did not launch a single counterattack in their direction. It was merely content to float slowly forward, emitting an unnatural cry, as though oblivious to its attackers. Char was also frightened by the amount of powerful hits it took to subdue this one.

The fight continued for moment after moment, the Scyther and the Ninetales throwing everything they had at it, until a fiery fist shattered the demonic figure. Prince stood in the evaporating remains of the ghost Pokémon.

"Prince! Do you have any Sol-rock torches here?" Scythe demanded before Prince could say a word.

"We do," Prince replied.

"Get them immediately," Scythe commanded. "In a few short minutes, this place is going to be overrun. We need to escape from the focal point and regroup elsewhere. Everyone who stays in this building will die! Legend, run and wake everyone. Quickly!"

Legend didn't hesitate in following the order, dashing upstairs as swiftly as his legs could carry him. Prince also dashed off, heading for the closet to retrieve the torches. Scythe looked warily at the walls, expecting more intruders to come, before returning his attention to Char and his friends who cowered wide-eyed in the corner.

"Have you faced the Watchers before?" he questioned. "Ray, I know you have. Char, Saura, what about you?"

"N… never," Saura answered. "I always just… stayed away from them, just like you taught."

"Then listen," he barked. "The most important thing is to not touch them. Whatever you do, don't let them make contact with you! If they touch you, they could do anything to you! Anything! There's no telling what they will do if they bond with your body. They could kill you in an instant, or worse… They could possess you. They could erase your memories. They could bury you in the ground. All of these things have happened to Pokémon before who have tried to face the Watchers. You understand?"

"Yes," Team Ember replied in unison with a somber nod.

"Use your elemental powers against them," Scythe reminded. "They are ghost Pokémon. So if you must repel them, use your fire, your electricity, your vines. Never strike at them unless the part you are striking with is already filled with the white energy. Don't try attacking them with blunt force, it'll be useless. Understand?"

"Yes," Char replied, forcing himself to sound confident. "We'll fight them if we have to."

"I was a coward and refused to train you against the Watchers," Scythe said seething in anger. "Now, you'll have to learn the rest by experience…"

More members of the team came wandering into the hall. A Shuckle and a Bayleef arrived from nearby doors.

"Oh, dear, was I sleepwalking?" the Shuckle yawned, drooping lazily from its shell. "Ugh… no, what was I going to do out here? I forget. Oh, Lily? What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I don't… I'm not sure," the Bayleef said, trying to blink her eyes open. "I thought Prince was calling me for something. But I must have just been dreaming… Ugh, what time is it? I'm going to be a zombie tomorrow at the meeting…"

And then the Bayleef opened her eyes and noticed the others in the main hall. She saw Scythe yelling harshly at Char like a father reprimanding a son for doing something wrong. The realization dawned upon her.

"No…" she gasped, shirking back. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no! Not this again! Please, no! Anything but this!"

"Wait, what?" the Shuckle asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I think Char did this," Lily answered blankly. "Oh, no… We're in some serious trouble if the Watchers heard! Oh, why does this always have to happen at night?"

Lily swallowed hard. She was not looking forward to seeing the watchers again, especially like this. Seeing that the team was already starting to panic, she looked among them for Prince. This was a time she needed to stick close to her leader and follow orders. She needed to work with the team if she wanted to survive.

Prince returned from the storage closet in a hurry, bearing a large wooden club with a chunk of rock mounted at the top. Scythe inspected them for a moment, not pleased.

"This is all you have?" he blasted at Prince. "Only one? In this whole building you have only one?!"

"They're expensive, and we only use them rarely," Prince replied. "Only for emergencies."

"Well, I'd say this is as bad an emergency as you will see!" Scythe roared, drawing the other members of the team to gather around the ruckus he caused. "No, this is no good! One won't repel a swarm this dense. We'd need five, at least!"

Scythe silenced himself for just a moment, racking his mind for an answer. He glanced at the walls of the building which would soon fail to provide safety, and at all the Pokémon within. Finally, his glance fell to Char.

"Prince, light the torch," Scythe ordered. "Run, and take Char to the basement of the warehouse. He must survive, even if the rest of us perish. Go, quickly!"

"Wait, Scythe!" Char cried in surprise. "What about you?!"

"I will meet you there, if I can think of a way," Scythe answered, the uncertainty clear in his voice. "We have five minutes at least. I will have some time to think about it. But it is you who must get out of harm's way first."

"No!" Char yelled. "No, you come with me! You can't stay here!"

"Prince, go!" Scythe barked. "Take him! And if I do not make it… care for him in my place."

The words hit Char like a blow to the face. Was he serious?

As the realization overtook him, Char jumped to escape, but Prince acted quickly and captured him in his powerful hands, pinning the squirming Charmander beneath his arm.

"No! Saura! Ray! Help me! Please!" Char pleaded desperately, trying to force the Infernape's arm from his belly. "You can't! You can't stay here! You have to come with me!"

"Char… listen to Scythe," Saura said sternly, not moving a muscle. "You're the one who has to live. Go with Prince. We'll survive if we can."

"But no! No! You're not going to make it if you stay!" Char yelled.

It was then that even Prince himself hesitated. To him, Char's screaming became silent. He noticed his team standing at attention in the darkened hall, at each face which glowed in the dancing red light from his crown. He saw their gazes of confusion and worry, and knew that each one of them was willing to serve him, to fight at his side to bear this difficulty. Yet… by his own choice, he had crossed paths with Char, lured him into the Emerald Division, and now, he was the only one who could provide for the young one…

Breaking from his trance, he averted his eyes from her.

"I will go," he said. "Scythe… may Cresselia be at your side this terrible night!"

Not letting the struggling Char escape, Prince clutched the torch in his other hand and held it over his crown's fire. Once it caught, he dashed for the door and didn't look back.


Dark Fort Emerald

With only the blazing torch to provide cover, Prince emerged into the deadly night, holding the Charmander to his chest. Char saw nothing, his eyes nearly buried into the Infernape's warm fur. He only felt as his body violently bounced in place, the Infernape sprinting with all his strength… He only heard the sounds of the Infernape's feet colliding with the stone underfoot, and the sounds from the sky. The sky was filled with horrible sounds, the sounds of the roused watchers swarming near, keening and moaning in their unnatural ways, seeking what they had seen in their waking dreams…

"Stay still," Prince ordered to him, clutching him tighter. "Stay still. Don't look up. Keep your eyes closed. Eyes closed…"

Char did as instructed, closing his eyes tight, forcing a few tears to stream down his face. He kept hearing the moaning, cooing sounds of the ghosts, some almost inches away. He felt as the Infernape performed difficult maneuvers as he ran, dodging and leaping in unexpected ways…

And he felt the chill of the midnight wind against his bare skin, biting and clawing at him just like the freezer had. He felt it draining his hope away.

"Stay still, stay still, stay still…" Prince kept saying. "We're almost there, almost there. We're going to make it… "

Char saw them.

Though his eyes were closed, he saw the ghosts in his own imagination. They were swarming. Swarming the building that resembled his own team hall. He saw them attacking, in countless numbers, flooding into that tiny building like a waterfall.

"Don't squirm," Prince growled, his voice vibrating through his chest. "Stay still… we're almost there, Char…!"

Char felt his body wracked by a sudden upward force. There was a hissing noise. Scuffling underfoot. Motion in every conceivable direction. Prince's grasp upon him squeezed so hard, it felt like his bones would break.

"Begone, you demons!" Prince bellowed. "Char, it's alright… I'm fine… Just another block… We'll be safe…"

"They're coming too fast!" he heard Saura cry in desperation, who backed away from an incoming cluster of determined Watchers. "We can't hold them off any more!… Scythe! Scythe, what do we do?! We have to go now! How do we get away from this?"

"I… I don't know…" Scythe gasped, stopping amidst the raging battle to catch his breath. "I… I don't know… There's no way out… the moment we step outside that door, they'll hone in… there… there is no escape…"

He saw the horrified realization upon Saura's face.

"Saura, no!" Char gasped. "Saura!"

"Easy," Prince said. "Easy. Stay still."

"Then, it is certain," Legend proclaimed to everyone in the room. "Here, tonight, each one of us will breathe our last! Let it be a breath not wasted! Let the legendary dragons behold our valor this final night, the valor of the Pokémon who fought to protect the Call! Though we shall be forgotten, let our legacy live on by the power of the Call, the Call which will cut through the Master's dominion! For this cause we have lived, and now, for this cause let us die! Now stand tall! Stand proud, like the legendary Pokémon you are! And fight! "

"This is it, huh?" Saura said blankly. "This is how we die?"

"Never…" Ray growled. "Do you remember the Iron Crevice mission? Never accept your fate! If there's some little chance we could win, we have to earn it! We fight like Team Ember fights! The fire will NEVER DIE!"

"until the LAST EMBER FADES!" Saura answered, gaining his final burst of courage. "We fight! For Char!"

"For the Resistance!" Ray said, his electricity coating his body.

"Ah…" Scythe sighed, hearing them. "Frivolous optimism… Heh heh… it can be fun sometimes. Alright, ghosts. You want to destroy me? It's going to cost you! En guarde!"

And he saw, one by one, as the Watchers surrounded the Pokémon within and ended every last life. He watched as Saura breathed his last, as Ray went down fighting, as Scythe's magnificent spirit broke and let him become overwhelmed, as Legend stood in the corner and scorned the ghosts from the bowls of his lungs as they overtook him, as Lily collapsed trying to shake the abominations off her… And as all the other members of Team Flamewheel he had never seen, or never met, perished…

"We're here."


Warehouse Facility B2F

Char jumped at the sound of Prince's voice. His face was dripping wet with tears from the intense visions his mind had conjured. He saw they had arrived to the warehouse basement, the spacious hallway Prince had taken him tearlier that day before leading him into the freezer. It was just as desolate and chilly as it used to be, except for the dazzling rays of sunlight emanating from the torch Prince still carried. Nearly winded, Prince gently set Char down onto the hard floor, where he collapsed against a freezer door. His throat felt tight, face felt pale, his eyes burned with pain.

"What have I done?" Char gasped, breathless.

"You have done nothing," Prince told him, lodging the torch behind a door handle. "You share no blame in this. This is the gravity of the power you were born with. For centuries, Pokémon have struggled to tame this power and understand it. None have succeeded. It remains beyond our control, beyond our understanding. It calls by its own will, when we least expect, when we least desire, like the wrath of a god. If anything, this is my fault."

"Prince, go back," Char begged the Infernape in a cracking voice. "You still—still have that candle. Go back and—and save the others."

"No," Prince said, pacing the floor before Char. "I cannot."

"Why?!"

"Because that is not what Scythe asked me to do."

Char tried to take a deep breath, but his heart was beating so rapidly and his chest quivered so uncontrollably that it suffocated his attempt. His lungs were running all on their own, constantly making short, painful gasps for air which he couldn't stop.

"But Scythe— won't—won't make it!" Char gasped.

"Scythe is not an unintelligent Pokémon!" Prince shouted angrily in reply. "There is still time left for him. He may figure out a way to escape before his time runs out. That is up to him, now. There's nothing we can do."

"So you're just—just going to let him die?"

"Char, do you think for one moment this is easy for me?" Prince growled. "How many Pokémon were dear to you in that building? Three? Is that how many you had to leave behind? I had to leave behind nine. I had to leave behind nine of my own in that place, nine of the most faithful and talented Pokémon the world has ever known, nine Pokémon whom I would gladly die for on a night like this, and decide that you were more important than all of them. How do you think that makes me feel, Char?"

Almost exploding into rage, Prince stopped himself from saying anything else. He ceased his incessant pacing and stared down at the floor, clenching his hands hard. Char said nothing in response, his continuous gasps of weeping barely letting him breathe.

"Besides, the swarm has grown too thick," he said after a pause. "It worsened, as I was running… We just barely made it here. This one torch will be powerless to repel them now. Otherwise… if I knew I had any chance, I would have gone back."

"How—how will he make it? There's just—there's just no way," Char rambled, his eyes glazed over.

"He will make it," Prince assured, coming to sit by his side against the freezer door. "He has a god's intuition. He wouldn't have sent us here if he didn't have something in mind. I would give him a few more minutes before writing him off as gone. He has gotten himself out of difficult situations before…"

Not this bad… Char wanted to say, instead letting a tense silence linger for a moment. I saw his face… he knew he wasn't going to make it… So he made sure I got out…

"But if you're right," Prince suddenly said, his voice darker, "If you're right, and he fails to escape, a possibility I can't deny, then you and I will be alone in this world. Only the six who were out on mission will be left on my team, but they will not return for months, and they will not know what happened until then… Just as your friends will not be there to help you anymore…

Char tried not to listen to him. It was a lie. It all had to be a lie.

"… In the coming days, we will need to find trust in one another," he said solemnly. "Will I have your trust?"

Char lost it. He exploded in rage.

"Trust?!" he echoed, jumping to his feet, his flame roaring. "Trust?! You wanted my trust? Is that all you wanted? You have exactly what you wanted from the beginning! This is what you wanted! This is why you took me away and made me go in the freezer! You just wanted to get me away from Scythe and my friends so you could earn my trust! Well, he's gone now! They're all gone now! And now you have me all to yourself! Now are you happy?!"

"Char, I never wished hurt upon them," Prince growled back at him, raising his own voice. "Do not accuse me of wanting this. It was never my intention to separate you from anyone. All I wanted was to help you. I forced myself into your company because I knew you would not survive if you went north without me. You would have never made it through the first leg of the journey. I don't know why, but Scythe refused to see it, so I had to make you see it instead. That's why I took you into the freezer and taught you what it is like to smolder, because that is how you would have died. In Zerferia, there is no warmth. You would need me to survive. So tell me, was I wrong in persistently defying Scythe's wishes, so that you might have been safe? Was I wrong in wishing for you to meet Dialga alive? Did I do the wrong thing?"

"You shouldn't have even brought me here!" Char blasted in his loudest voice, clutching his claw as if he was about to strangle Prince alive. "I don't even matter to you! All you care about is the Call! You just wanted to be the one to get the Call to work! You just wanted to use me! And now everything's destroyed because of you! Just like with Lily! Just like you destroyed everything with her! You want me to trust you just like she trusted you? Where is she now?!You left her to die up in that house just because I'm here now?! Are you going to leave me to die, too?!"

Prince scowled. "How… did you hear about Lily?" he demanded, deeply shocked. "Though I suppose it doesn't matter now. A number of Pokémon could have told you. I imagine it was probably Scythe himself, seeing how he's been trying to 'protect' you from me… But yes, you are right… Twice, I've tried to bear the power of the call as my own responsibility. Twice, it overwhelmed me. I have played with fire, as humans would put it. I've gotten burned. But before, with her, I was in a position to make a sacrifice, and make amends … This time, I am in no position to do anything, except to carry on and finish what Scythe started. I will take the blame for what happened tonight. I do not know where that will place me in this world. But I will care for you, as Scythe wished."

"I—I don't want you to care for me," Char sobbed, his voice waning as his tears began to overpower his anger. "I want them back…"

Feeling exhausted to the core, he fell back into Prince's arms, which accepted him and held him tenderly.

He tried to close his eyes, hoping that sleep would let him forget everything until his friends would arrive safe and sound, but the images still ravaged his mind, tearing at his soul…

"IT HURTS!" cried Saura as a giant ghost seeped into his forehead. "SOMEBODY, HELP ME! IT'S SO COLD! I CAN'T… I CAN'T MOVE! I… I CAN'T…"

But no one heard his cries… no one but Char…

Char rattled his head, shaking away the horrid ideas his imagination presented him with. He didn't need them, they'd just cause him more pain…

"The Master has done worse things than this," Prince whispered. "Anyone who lives in the resistance knows what kinds of tragedy and pain he brings. We must learn to bear the pain, and look to tomorrow. Tomorrow will come, all the same, and it will bring new Pokémon for us to be with. And when we remember those who died, we must not mourn for them, but ask ourselves what they would have wanted us to do in their place."

"You don't understand," Char said. "I needed them… Because they—they're the only ones who know me…"

"I won't claim to be able to replace Scythe," Prince said gravely, "but I give you my word that I will try. With every fiber, I will try…"

"No, Prince, no, that's not it," Char said weakly, "They're the only ones—that know—I'm human."

Prince blinked, taken off-guard by these words. "What do you mean?" he said simply.

"I'm a human," Char said again, with less hesitation. "I'm trapped in the body of a Charmander."

Prince looked down at him, confusion drifting in his eyes for a moment, trying to decide what to make of the Charmander's claim.

"I would call you delusional," Prince said. "What gave you this thought? How can I believe you are anything but a Charmander?"

"Why do you think I know about human culture?" Char challenged. "Because I was a human once. It was my own culture."

"I find that difficult to believe," Prince admitted. "How do you claim this is possible? What culture were you from? How did you become transformed?"

"I don't know," Char said honestly. "My memories were all taken away, and I woke up in a cave. Saura found me there. And he's always been there to help me. But that's it. It was just me, in this body I didn't know how to use, and I didn't know how I got there, or who I was, or where I came from. All I remember is that I used to be a human, and that I met Dialga before, and he said something to me, but I don't remember what it was. That's why I wanted to go to Temporal Tower. To ask Dialga what I'm doing here."

Prince looked speechless, only humming for a moment in consideration.

"I don't care if you don't believe me," Char said. "Saura and Ray believed me. Scythe even figured it out somehow. They all knew. And they were all helping me figure out who I am and where I came from. The Call brought us together, but that isn't why we came for Temporal Tower, or why they were my best friends. They didn't really care that I had the Call. They did it all for me, because I'm a human."

Prince stared down at the little Charmander in his arms, looking into his eyes as though to catch any hint of dishonesty. But there was none. He knew Char had no reason to lie at a time like this. He knew also that it was Char's gesture of trust to reveal this hidden truth he carried with him. He remembered how the Charmander had acted, all the odd mannerisms so similar to his own, the human figures of speech he had used, the way it had startled him when he had compared him to a Pokémon trainer…

When another moment had passed, Prince understood.

Char saw as a glimpse of respect or awe flashed across the Infernape's face. Looking closely into his eyes, he also realized the strength of Prince's heart, perhaps stronger than Scythe's even, as the elder warrior held back his tears, tears which were struggling to prevail.

"So," Prince muttered, averting his gaze, "it was true. I have done the wrong thing."

Sighing, he clutched Char's trembling body tighter, and cast a regretful eye toward the torch propped by the freezer door's handle.

"If I would have known, I would have done as you asked and gone back for them," he told Char. "I have always obeyed the commands of a human before the commands of a Pokémon, always… But it's too late now. I'm sorry. The ghosts would skin me the moment I step out the door. But I will go, if that's what you want. Perhaps that is what I deserve."

Char closed his eyes and let his body go limp, saying nothing in reply. Prince cradled him like an infant, gently stroking his back as he let his own mind digest a new wave of thoughts.

"I fear I have little to offer you," Prince said further. "I have nothing but the promise that my team and I can devote the remainder of our lives helping you search for your origin. I can begin by taking you to see Dialga. I can train you in all the ways I know how. It… it has been such a long time since I have served a human, I have forgotten that kind of humility… But if you let me, I will try."

"I hope they come," Char uttered in a broken whisper. "They have to come…"

"Give them a little more time," Prince assured him. "They would be arriving soon… be still, and wait…"

… … …

"You came back for me!" Ray shouted arrogantly at them. "You had to finish what you started, didn't you? Well, guess what? I'm not a Pikachu anymore! I'm stronger! You can take me, but I'm taking some of you with me!"

With a scream to the heavens, the Raichu's body lit up in a ball of electrical energy. Drawing static charges from everything around him, he became as bright as the sun, startling the ghosts which tried to close in on him. Then, with a final reckless lunge, he barreled into the wall of ghosts, breaking it open as a dozen of the Watchers reeled from the assault…

But they rippled and closed back in, swallowing him. A shock of pain and insanity broke through his determined, energetic spirit, and he uttered his last words as the hazy skins of a hundred ghosts covered him…

"So… c-cold…"

Char sniffed. He was so exhausted, too exhausted even to push these vivid images out of his mind. His body was far too tired to move, his mind too hurt to rest. All he could do was wait, and wait, as the moments kept passing by with no sign of his friends…

And he kept waiting, bearing the stillness and silence…

Bearing their absence…

But the waiting lasted too long.

The point came, an unspoken acceptance between the two of them, that nobody was coming. It had been minutes, too many minutes. Fifteen. Maybe thirty. He hadn't been counting, but Char knew that enough time had passed. Unless they had found a different way, Scythe had not come as promised…

It was done. He couldn't pretend they still had a chance.

They were gone.

It was like a cold, dull knife sliced straight through Char's heart that moment. It hurt him physically, a shot of pain down his spine and through every nerve. He tried to take his mind off the pain, to focus on his heartbeat, or Prince's breathing, or the searing of the fire in the room, but the powerful pain ate at him, and wouldn't stop…

"Through the ghastly shadows of the night," Prince hummed softly, "We cower in the corner, we hold the candle, safe and near. And we keep our eyes upon the eastern sky. For there… there will shine the piercing rays of dawn, to slay the remnants of the past… to light the way another day… and help us carry on…"

They were gone.

He still couldn't believe this wasn't some terrible nightmare. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.

"Prince?"

"Yes, Char?"

"C-could you… take me into the freezer?" Char asked meekly. "I want to smolder…"

"Hmm… If that is what you want, I will not deny you that," Prince said in a heartfelt whisper. "But know, that if you smolder to relieve your pain, it will come back much stronger than before…"

"I don't care," Char said. "I just… I just don't want to feel anything right now…"

"Very well," Prince said, setting Char down so he could stand. "Come…"

Prince gasped. His ears perked, and he stood perfectly still.

"I heard something," he reported. "A voice."

"Really?" Char yelped in surprise, his eyes lighting up. "Do you hear them? Are they coming?"

"Shhh! Quiet!" Prince hissed, glancing around in the darkness beyond the torchlight. "I don't understand it, but… they might be already here. I—I think I can hear their voices…"

Filled with a new hope, Char jumped to his feet and listened to the silence for himself. Prince wandered down the dark hallway, stopping just after a few paces. He closed his eyes, concentrating…

"It could just be other Pokémon," he said, "but... I do not understand. There are only two entrances to this chamber, one on either side of the hall, but… yet… I hear… Impossible! Char! This way!"

Prince got down on all fours and dashed into the darkness toward the opposite end of the hall, and Char followed close behind, finding new strength in his muscles where it seemed there was none before. Prince ran erratically, hesitating every so often to glance to his left and his right with a puzzled expression upon his face.

And then Char heard it. He didn't know whose voice it was, but it was unmistakable: ever-so-faintly, as if from behind a solid wall of metal, someone was crying for help. Someone he recognized. His breath caught, and wouldn't let go.

"Here!" Prince cried, dashing quickly to one of the freezer doors. "Listen!"

"… hey! … … Prince? … Is anyone out there…? Can you please let us out…? It's really cold in here!"

Prince's eyes went so wide, he looked ready to faint from disbelief.

"Impossible!" he gasped, clutching the top of his head. "I don't understand!"

Without waiting another moment, Prince unlatched the freezer door and tugged it open. A draft of freezing cold air pulsed into Char's face, causing him to wince. But when he opened his eyes again, he saw them standing in the open doorway:

Scythe. And Saura. And Lily. All shuddering uncontrollably from the cold, discolored and frostbitten, but happy to be alive.

Char thought he felt his heart stop dead.

Scythe calmly stepped out into the hall, looking ruffled but relieved. The two other Pokémon darted away from the cold like frightened rabbits, Lily leaping into Prince's arms, and Saura nearly tackling Char to the ground.

"Ahhh, you're warm…" Saura sighed, pressing his forehead against Char's belly, the very tip of his bulb turning brown and his body covered with powdery frost.

Relief drowned out his pain. Joy swept away his exhaustion. Char hugged Saura's bulb and didn't let go. It was true. It had all been just a bad dream! He knew from the beginning it couldn't have been real! But the nightmare was over now, and he held close his living, breathing friend.

"You made it," he whispered, having run out of tears to cry in happiness. "I'm so happy… I thought I was going to be all alone… How did it happen? How did you get out?"

"I—you know, I don't really know," Saura admitted. "One moment, I was really cold, and then the next thing I knew, you were there…"

Nothing could matter less to Char. He said nothing more, content in giving Saura all the warmth he needed to thaw.

Prince held Lily the same way, the frost that had gathered upon her leaf now turning to dew.

"I'm so sorry, Lily," he told her. "I never should have left. Never again… Never again…"

"It wasn't your choice," Lily returned. "It's okay. You did what you had to do. I'm alright now."

His mind leaping back into the reality of the moment, Prince lifted his head and eyed Scythe, who stood over both of the reunions, watching them with annoyance.

"The others," Prince demanded. "Where are the others, are they safe?"

"They should be here," Scythe answered flatly. "Perhaps you should check the other side."

Prince didn't quite catch what he meant, until a surprisingly vocal noise sounded from down the hall, muffled behind another freezer door.

"Let us out, relieve us!" it cried. "Or we shall soon meet with the white light! Mercy, Articuno! Mercy! Prince, you must hear me! Please, deliver us from here, while I clutch the last thread of my sanity!"

"Legend…!" Prince gasped. He parted from Lily and stampeded down the hall, opening the freezer opposite of the first. More frozen Pokémon poured out, including Legend, Ray, and a Tyranitar.

"Baaah! Horrid cold! As if the ghosts were not enough?!" Legend spouted, shaking the freezer's snow from his fur. "Does this night insist on trying to snuff my flame?!"

Ray spotted Char and Saura, and approached them quickly. He looked winded, panting short and heavily, and his electricity was still alive across his body. It took Char a moment to realize he'd arrived, and seeing him just compounded his gladness and comfort for his friends' safety. Words failing him, he found he could only smile.

Ray returned the smile, though weakly.

"How is this possible?!" Prince demanded of Scythe, totally baffled. "I waited, and I watched both doorways. I had given you up for dead! But here you enter through the freezer?! How—? How did you accomplish such a miraculous escape?"

Scythe began to answer, but he was interrupted when a shining ball of light appeared in the very center of the hallway, hanging in the air! A ringing noise accompanied it as it grew and elongated, like an ethereal oval, casting an eerie blue light upon the walls of the tunnel…

There was a blinding flash, and the oval was gone, but in its place stood three more Pokémon: a Camerupt, a Shuckle, and a Heracross.

"By Tangrind's horn, I have brushed with death!" the Heracross cried. "The cries still ring in my ears!"

Prince watched, floored, as the Heracross caught its breath, the Camerupt huffed and sighed, and the Shuckle wormed across the room to meet Lily. All after having appeared from thin air.

"Teleport…" Prince muttered in joy, realizing the truth. "You teleported!"

There appeared another glowing oval very close to the previous one, causing the Camerupt to move out of the way. Prince watched, his eyes dazzling in delight, as he saw every last one of his trapped teammates delivered safely to the haven of this basement, their nervous mutterings music to his ears.

The last three members of Team Flamewheel materialized: A Weavile, a Flareon, and finally… a Smeargle, looking quite proud of itself.

"Kabir, you learned to teleport?!" Prince laughed. "When was this?!"

"Something like a year ago, when we visited Alakazam," Kabir explained, waving his tail around. "Though, apparently I haven't practiced enough. I barely managed to aim at this place, and even then I deposited half of everyone in the freezers. But desperate times call for risks, do they not?"

"Indeed, they do," Prince said warmly.

Prince blinked, and his first tears were finally released from his eyes, streaming down the side of his face and soaking into his fur. Tears of happiness.

But he knew, as fortunate as it was to see them all safe, the night was still far from over.

… … …

"Now!" Scythe announced, silencing the chatter in the room and drawing all attention to him. "I do not claim to be your leader, but I will claim to have spent more nights fighting the Watchers than you have, so listen. We've made it this far, but this is not a safe place to stay. The Watchers are not finished swarming, they will find their way in here, and we'll be in a worse position than before. We must flee farther. Away from the fortress if possible. Any closer and we'll risk being overtaken. Prince… do you know of any shelters outside of the fortress?"

"None in the immediate area," Prince answered, approaching him. "Only the basement of Rayquaza's Clutch. But we have no chance of getting in there, especially if it's locked down already. We'd be better off trying to reach District One."

"That won't be easy," Scythe said. "Kabir. Could you try transporting us to District One?"

"If you wouldn't mind being dropped off a thousand feet in the sky, or perhaps inside of the ground, then yes, that's well within my power!" Kabir yelled sarcastically. "Scythe, I would hate to be a disservice to you at such a critical moment as this, but I am not a psychic Pokémon! I have only learned to imitate the power on a basic level over some short distances. I am far from mastering it."

"Fine. I figured it can never be that easy," Scythe grumbled. "Alright, then leave us. Take our torch, use your power however you can and help the other Pokémon in the fortress survive this night. Have you learned any techniques that use the dark power?"

"I know enough to repel a few ghosts, yes, Scythe," Kabir returned in annoyance. "And yes, I'll gladly risk my life teleporting into homes and freeing other Pokémon instead of fighting for the safety of my own team leader. Again! Since he apparently doesn't desire my help!"

"Kabir, it is fine," Prince said to him, nodding. "Go, do as he says."

The Smeargle sighed, sending Prince a deathly glare. Reluctantly, he plodded across the room and grasped the burning sun-stone torch. Scowling in concentration, his body became encased in light, which changed his shape until he appeared thin and deformed. With another flash, the light dispersed and he was gone. The room filled with shadows, with only Prince and Char providing light.

"Now, getting to District One will be the issue," Scythe continued, the firelight flickering red upon his face. "We must face the Watchers. There will be no avoiding it. We will require Sol-rock. And if this building does not have a greater supply of Sol-rock than you did, I resign my effort."

"Of course it does," the Weavile confirmed, speaking up. "This building serves as a storage unit for the teams of the fortress. We'll have access to all their supplies if we know where to look."

"Do you know where to look?" Scythe asked.

"Of course," he replied. "This wouldn't be the first time I've picked the locks on the other teams' spaces…"

"Hmph," Saura whispered to Char. "Weavile… are they all such petty thieves?"

"Pretty much," Lily answered curtly.

"Good," Scythe said. "Get on that. There might be ghosts in the halls upstairs, watch for them. We will need every torch we can find. If the way is clear, guide us. If not, take trips and bring them all down in turn."

"Ayah," the Weavile grunted before swiftly taking off for the door.

"Enough light will repel them, even in their crazed state. Otherwise they would still be out past dawn," Scythe continued. "Five combined should be enough to resemble the sight of the sun, or at least enough to keep them away from us. Every Pokémon with hands or claws will need to carry them. Prince, that will mean you and the Weavile and the Heracross."

"I can carry one, if you need," Lily offered, presenting her vines. "Only one, though."

"I can sustain flame," the Camerupt noted. "If the rocks are small enough, I can carry them within and combust them."

"I didn't think of that," Scythe said. "Camerupt. What's your name?"

"Iel," it answered.

"Good, Iel. If what you say is true, you could be a bright enough beacon for us all. Then we would split into two teams. The second team remains here in the city and we assist Kabir in his rescue attempts; if we are to steal these torches from the teams, it would be best if they were to help save the lives of their rightful owners. The first team escorts Char to District One."

"And Lily," Prince insisted. "Lily will come to District One with us. I will not part with her again."

"First we will see how many rocks are at our disposal, if we may even divide," Scythe returned. "Then we will talk about who is on each team. Know, that regardless of how bright we can make our beacons, there will still be Watchers who will face their fears and charge into our sphere of light. Those, we must battle."

"The first basement floor looks clear!" The Weavile called from the door through which he had left. "That's where most of supply storage is. Let's go! It might not be safe for long."


Warehouse Facility B1F

The group huddled close together as they marched up a flight of long ramps to the next floor, tense and ready to defend at any time. There, the Weavile managed to open several of the doors into the storage compartments, where he returned with at least a dozen of the precious rocks mounted upon staffs. They were soon lit, and given to all able-bodied Pokémon to hold. Rays as bright as the sun beamed from the blazing flames, and soon it was hard to tell it was still nighttime. The Weavile broke the rocks from a couple of the torches and managed to load them into Iel's body, where he held them and waited to produce the flame.

"Ugh," Lily muttered to Char, cringing as though she had bit her lip. "I'm not looking forward to this… I hate, hate the Watchers… so much…"

Char really couldn't agree more.

Soon, too soon it seemed, everyone prepared to press forth into the terrible night. Scythe stood at the front of the procession, with Prince at his side holding two of the torches, and he turned to the crowd.

"We are about to go up to the ground floor," Scythe announced, his form now as bright as day. "There will likely be ghosts in the halls. Our light might repel them, but do not let your guard down. Char, and Lily: I do not want you to fight. Remain close to Iel, so we can protect you. The rest of you: watch for ghosts who dare to approach, and destroy them quickly! We cannot afford for them to approach us too closely. Every moment is vital."

"Once we are outside, we will go leftward down the street," Prince added, pointing in the indicated direction. "Then we cut into the alleyway behind the Hawthorn mansion, connect to the northward path, and leave the fortress. District One is six miles to the north north-east. If we follow the path, keep a steady pace, we should reach it easily within the hour, and take shelter."

"Should we split into two groups, like you suggested?" the Heracross asked. "How should we divide? And from where should we part ways?

"Hmm… if conditions are favorable, we may part ways at the city gates. Prince and I will continue to District One. My followers will come with me, as well as Lily, you, Weavile, and you, Heracross, to hold the torches. The rest of you, stay back by Iel's light, and do what you can within the city walls. That way, Iel will not have to keep up with our pace on the north road."

"Ayah, understood," the Weavile said.

The team confirmed the plan, and Scythe turned to begin the exodus up from the basement floor.

"We're going to make it," Ray said to his friends. "This will be over before you know it. We're going to make it."


Warehouse Facility 1F

The team stepped upstairs, eyes peeled for any trouble, with Char and his friends close together in the center of the procession. The north-side door stood at the very end of the long hallway. They moved forward at a slow and steady pace, eyeing every wall for danger. Char felt dread as he realized the continual songs of the Watchers could be heard again through the facility walls. He kept very close to the light.

Iel began churning the rocks, adding his own fire to the body of light which surrounded the team. Char almost had to squint to keep from going blind; the light radiated everywhere from the reflective metal that lined the hall.

"Ehhh, oh, this… this burns hot," Iel commented, wincing a few times as the combustion started.

The party crept forward, keeping quiet and focused. Only the torches seared away, and the ghastly noises from the sky rang through the air…

"This is a good sign," Prince said. "There are no ghosts here. Perhaps they aren't as concentrated as we feared."

Before Prince could breathe after having spoken the words, five Watchers bled through the ceiling and drifted into the hall, causing everyone to gasp in surprise and ready for battle. These ghosts, though, were totally silent, and paid no attention to the sunlight or the Pokémon within it. The party froze as they drifted away, watching them warily…

"Behind!" Legend yelped urgently.

Char turned around to see a Gastly drifting very near to the light, becoming transparent as it drew close. He tried very hard not to panic, cowering behind all the powerful Pokémon which were there to protect him.

"Get it!" yelled the Weavile. "Everyone!"

Several members of Team Flamewheel did as instructed, pouncing on the ghost and overwhelming it. The Tyranitar snarled and nearly body-slammed it, swatting it powerfully with the back of her claw. The Weavile leapt and slashed at it. The Flareon took aim and blasted. The battle was over within seconds, as the ghost seemed to lose its anchor in reality and faded away into the artificial sunlight.

"Good," Scythe nodded, satisfied with the quick disposal of the ghost. "That was a weak one. But good. Now keep going."

Char felt a little more comfortable, seeing the power of the Pokémon who protected him. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to keep standing and moving.

After the encounter, the pace down the hallway picked up, and at last they stood behind the main doors which lead outside.

"Let's go," Scythe commanded. "Steel yourselves. Prince… open the door."

Prince did as instructed, setting one of his torches on the floor, and holding the other carefully in front of him as he drew near to the exit. With a grunt of effort, he set his hand upon it and pushed, flinging the door open.

And the outdoors…

…they were a horrible sight to behold.

They were countless. Absolutely countless. The sky was darker than black, filled with the translucent figures of thousands of ghost Pokémon flowing past like an endless school of fish. The streets of Fort Emerald resembled bloodstreams, the ground and buildings barely visible underneath the flood. Some of the demons glowed in a dim spiritual light, twinkling among the ghastly fog. Their cries of excitement never ceased, harmonizing into one screeching, deafening chord. Some caught immediate sight of the Pokémon and launched themselves as them, only to avert their courses from the intense radiance of the Sol-rock and bounce away into the crowd.

For a moment, all thirteen of the heroic Pokémon stood still, captivated by the impossible visage, feeling their stomachs turn in silent terror. Their breaths caught, and words failed them, as they witnessed just what they were up against. Their hopes were challenged. The power of the Call was unfathomable.

"Change of plans," Scythe uttered, breaking the speechlessness. "We stay together, all the way to the district."

There was a nod of silent understanding. Prince bent down to retrieve his torch, and then slowly, warily, and fearfully, he took the first steps of faith into the night. Huddling close to one another, and holding the torches high, the others followed him.


Dark Fort Emerald

The combined light of the Sol-rock was enough to part the sea of Watchers and to allow passage, but at the cost of having insanity almost indistinguishable from reality. Char knew now why Prince had told him to keep his eyes closed before: the sight of what surrounded him was almost enough to freeze him to death with chills ascending his spine. There was no other way to describe it: he was trapped inside of a nightmare. Trapped inside of a bubble of light, which lit the surrounding terrain as if it were high noon, inside of a circumstance Arceus never could have allowed to exist without some disastrous mistake.

When Saura offered him a vine to hold, he squeezed it hard, as though it was his very last chance to wake up from this surreal world.

"Which way?!" Iel asked. "I can't see nowhere."

"Here," Prince directed, waving his torches out in front of the group. "The road is here."

"Uhhhh… My stomach…" Saura moaned. "I think I might be sick…"

"Just… just look at the ground, alright?" Lily suggested. "Look at the ground and pretend it's sunny out, with no ghosts…"

"Up above!"

"I see it! The Misdreavus!"

"Get it!"

Wings buzzing, Scythe took to the air and slashed at a Misdreavus that was fearlessly descending into the group. The Weavile also moved swiftly, climbing up the Tyranitar's body and leaping, slashing the ghost with dark power to defeat it.

"There's more!" Legend cried. "Targan! Next to you!"

Char averted his gaze and clung to Saura, nearly leaning into the Camerupt's fur.

"Got it."

"Above you!"

"Focus! Hit it!"

Char chose to look again for a moment, and caught a very disturbing glimpse: the Tyranitar had somehow captured a ghost Pokémon in her clutches, and was trying to bite its head off. He quickly looked back down to the ground.

"Count your steps, too," Lily said. "The more steps, the farther we go…"

That's a good idea, Char realized. Alright… one, two, three, four, five, six—

"HAUNTER!"

"You're hit!"

"Arceus! Raiden, are you alright?"

"I'll live…"

Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen—

"There's too many! They're not going to stop!"

"We have to keep moving, or this is never going to end!"

"LILY!"

Lily panicked, screaming shrilly, as a Shuppet nearly descended upon her. She leaped back, quickly charging and releasing a large pillar of sunlight energy at the ghost, blasting it away. Char whimpered in surprise, losing count and not caring to begin again.

"Is anyone hurt?" Scythe demanded

"I think it burned me, but—I'll be fine," the Weavile responded.

And then… the ground shook. There was a sound of rumbling, like the collapse of a building somewhere nearby. The party stopped in their tracks and faced the source of the noise, though it was impossible to see what had caused it.

"Prince, what's that?" Scythe asked worriedly. "Do you have any idea?"

CRASH! Another collision, even closer, making the ground tremble. Like a boulder slamming into the pavement. The mighty sound managed to even drown out the wailing of the ghosts.

Crash! Another one, farther away, but on the opposite side of the first.

"What is that?!" Scythe demanded again, angered. His eyes darted around, frantically looking for the answer.

Crash! Bang! Rumble! The sound escalated on all sides, surrounding the group…

With a force that could have split the earth in two, and a sound that could have been a thunderbolt, a red-hot boulder slammed down from the sky directly in front of the party, knocking Char off his feet. It sat there, half-lodged in the ground, seething and smoking…

Scythe blinked. The rock had smashed a great number of Watchers as it had fell, creating a vacuum in the air above. He glanced upward.

The air above his head was cleansed of ghosts. Dozens of red-hot meteors fell like rain, smashing and annihilating any ghosts they hit. And in the middle of this newly-created bubble of empty air, there flew a draconic Pokémon, its rapidly-buzzing wings adding to the Watchers' song, its body glowing with energy.

"Beautiful weather we're having tonight, isn't it?" Naxi called down.

"It's Naxi…" Lily said. "I never thought I'd be so glad to see him."

Panting in exertion, Naxi dropped into the rays of light and stopped to rest.

"Naxi, very well met!" Prince laughed. "Your meteors are a breath of fresh air against these foes!"

"Destroyed a facility or two with them," Naxi admitted. "I was researching in the commons when this started. Didn't hesitate to defeat them."

"I'd hardly say that's an issue at the moment!" Legend said. "Do you have any word from the other teams? Are they surviving?"

"I've met others, and they appear to be holding their own," Naxi reported. "Of course, the dead report nothing, so I do not know. I was scouting for others when I spotted your light."

"We are fleeing the fortress," Scythe explained. "We going to District One. Would you accompany us?"

"If you must flee because of your precious payload, then flee," Naxi grunted, indicating Char. "But I will not flee, not as the fortress is destroyed."

"Then escort us to the city gate, at least," Scythe demanded. "It will be easier for us from there."

"Looked to me like you were doing fine on your own," Naxi returned. "I must rest for a moment, so I will follow you. When I can attack again, I will leave… … Interesting, you have Iel is burning sunstone in his back. That… is a sight. But you realize all this sunstone is enough to amount to my life savings? Whose account will replenish all this?"

"This is not the time to speak of money," Scythe hissed. "This is a time to survive. Let's move!"

They kept moving. It was easier for a time, as Naxi's previous attacks caused the ghosts to disperse from the surrounding air, but the relief was short-lived. Before even two dozen paces had gone by, the Watchers filled the empty void and the group of warriors faced another dense wall of them.

"Dusclops," Prince muttered.

Scythe jerked in fright. "Where?" he barked, his gaze darting around. "You see a Dusclops?"

"There," Prince said, pointing forward, indicating a particular ghost a few feet from the ground.

"An evolved Duskull," Scythe acknowledged gravely. "Those… are rare to see among the Watchers."

"Well, it comes as no surprise in a concentration this heavy, we should be seeing some unusual forms," Legend noted. "I have never seen one before. Are they dangerous?"

"The deadliest I know of," Scythe rasped under his breath. "I once lost a teammate in a battle against one. Prince, if it so much as twitches in our direction, we need to counter it with all we have. Projectile attacks. Don't get close. It fights back, and it knows no fear."

"Ranged attacks!" Prince barked back to his team. "Kindle! I need your flames. Legend, same. Ready a flamethrower attack. Raiden, can you conjure ice? Subo! Can you try to spit acid at it?"

"Hey, it sounds like they need help," Ray said to Char. "They need ranged attacks. Electric attacks are the best ranged attacks. I'm going to go help them."

"Alright, be careful," Char told him.

"Nah, that ghost is the one who'll need to be careful, when I drop a lightning bolt out of the sky," Ray said with a smirk. "Don't worry about me."

Ray dashed around to the other side of the Camerupt to join the party up front.

"Heh, he asked you for permission," Lily said. "That's kinda thoughtful of him."

"Yeah, I'm not the best team leader, actually," Char said. "Sometimes I forget I'm even the leader. It's like all three of us are the team leaders at once. It's just that we try to all agree."

"Hmm, I like that way of running the team," Lily said. "I wonder what it would be like to be on a team like that…"

"That's the way Scythe runs his team," Char explained, enjoying this distracting discussion. "When Scythe trained us, he showed us how his team worked. They all operate as a unit. So when there's a meeting, everyone gets a say—"

Talking about his team, Char reflexively turned back to Saura, wondering if he wanted to participate in the conversation. What he saw was that Saura looked half-asleep, weary from the night's events, and drifting toward the back of the party, as though he kept forgetting to keep stepping forward.

There, directly above Saura's head and descending fast, and glowing a strange shade of blue in the light of the Sol-rock flares, was a Haunter.

For Char, time seemed to stop.

"Saura!" he cried frantically. "Saura! Run!"

Saura looked confused. He blinked, not understanding.

"SAURAAA!" Char cried as loud as he could.

He rushed to his friend's aid, not caring that he didn't know what to do. It was all he could do. And he saw the demon racing with him for Saura, so much faster than his legs could carry.

He saw the demon overtake Saura. He saw Saura's body shudder as the ghost covered him, wrapping its body around him, soaking into his skin…

"NO!" Char wailed, making one final leap.

His claws grasped. He felt them hold onto Saura's paw as he collided with the ground.

And then everything went black.


Daytime.

A serene, springtime morning.

Birds singing contently from the trees. Animals scampering through the grass.

A long, winding dirt path.

Along the path, two Pokémon journeyed, happy in one another's company. They were taking a trip. A long, long trip. But it was a fun trip. They got to see a lot of new places along the way, a lot of new cities and forests and Pokémon they'd never get to see having spent most of their lives at home.

The smaller Pokémon was a Bulbasaur, and a very young one. She scampered across the land with glee, taking in all the fresh air and the gorgeous scenery, following the other Pokémon wherever he'd follow. They'd just gone to the seaside together, and it was the trip of her life! She loved frolicking in the rising tides, she loved the glow of the early sunrise against the endless ocean, and she gasped in delight as the Krabby perched on the docks and filled the air with colorful bubbles. But after a week on this pleasant vacation, she was glad to be on the road back home.

The other Pokémon was an Ivysaur, a much larger creature than his little sister. Dark blotches were scattered about his blue, scaly body, and his seed had bloomed into a leafy flower bud, a mature plant which granted him much more strength than the baby seed he'd kept before evolving. Far wiser and more intelligent than his sister, he was her guardian, guiding her down the road, caring for her, and keeping her safe.

"Saurvor!" the little Bulbasaur cried. "I'm hungry! Can we stop to eat? I wanna apple."

"Sorry, Saurlee," the Ivysaur answered, glancing back at her. "We have to make good time. We stopping in Nincadia tonight!"

"Nincadia?!" the Bulbasaur cried. "That's not the right way! I thought… I thought we were going home! Saurvor? Why are we going to Nincadia? I want to go home!"

"Listen… Nincadia is a cool place!" Saurvor said with a beaming grin. "You'll love it! They have honey! And apples that taste like cinnamon!"

"But I don't want to go to Nincadia," Saurlee whined. "You said we were going home after we came back from the beach! That's what you said after I got out of jail too! I don't want to go on any more trips! I want to see mommy and daddy again! I have to tell them that Saura's alright!"

"Saurlee…" the Ivysaur muttered, slowing his pace, and wearing an expression of hesitation.

"Come on, Saurvor! I promised!" Saurlee said to him, leaping around and up to his face. "I promised Saura I would!"

"Saurlee, I'm sorry, but…" he said, succumbing to a deep sigh and averting his gaze a little bit. "You… you really have to understand something."

"Oh… what?" Saurlee asked.

"We can't go home for a long time," Saurvor said. "We—we have to pretend home doesn't exist for a while."

Saurlee looked confused. "W—why?" she asked. "What about mommy and daddy? And what about everyone else?"

"They're all fine," Saurvor said. "They all took trips around the world, too! Just like us. Except they went to different places. Sometime, maybe in a few seasons, we can all go home again and talk about all the cool things we saw on the trip!"

"Oh…" Saurlee said, still confused. "But… why… why can't we all just go together?"

"Because Saura… did what he did," the Ivysaur sighed.

"Oh… because he ran away?" Saurlee asked. "Oh… but he said he was happy. He said he got a really good job!"

"But the Master isn't happy with him," Saurvor explained. "The Flareon came back, and… he said that we had a few weeks to find him. And we couldn't find him, so… well, we all left home because the Master's really angry at us, and we don't want him to catch us."

"…Oh?" Saurlee gasped, trying to comprehend it.

"And since the Master could find us at home, we… left home, so he couldn't find us."

"Oh… okay," Saurlee said, thinking about it. "So… this is all… because of Saura?"

"I'm… I'm afraid so," the Ivysaur answered gently. "Though, it isn't all that bad, right? We got to see a bunch of new places!"

"But when can we go back home? You said we could go home in a few seasons, right?"

"Maybe," Saurvor said with a new smile, beginning to walk with his sister once more. "Maybe we can make somewhere a new home! The Tiny Meadow was getting a little boring, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it was really small!" Saurlee said.

"So maybe if we find somewhere cool to live, we can tell everyone, and that can be a new home!" Saurvor said, smiling at her again. "So, let's go to Nincadia next, alright?"

"Alright," Saurlee said, as they walked away down the path. "When we find a new home, let's find somewhere that has caves! I love caves!"

"Hey! Char's waking up!"


Char stirred. Something told him that he had slept for a very long time, though he still felt an exhaustion headache filling his forehead.

"Char! Wow, you were out forever!" Ray said, nudging him and helping to wake him. "We're safe! We all made it to District One. We're in a bunker. The Watchers won't get us here."

"W…watchers," Char uttered. "Watchers…"

"The Watchers were a formidable enemy, but we prevailed, and preserved you," Naxi said, his head hovering into Char's view.

"You stayed," Char said, managing to open his eyes halfway.

"I did," Naxi said with a nod. "After all, it was you who 'called' for my help, wasn't it? After I broke free from the common room's ceiling, the first place I was compelled to visit was Prince's lair. It was then I understood what had happened. Besides… after that Haunter latched onto your friend and knocked you both unconscious, I had to help carry you to safety."

"Saura!" Char gasped, sitting up and looking around. "Is he alright?"

"Sleeping like a rock," Naxi said, pointing to Saura's form lying still, just next to him. "Or… perhaps he's chosen to wake up, too."

It was true. Saura was squirming, moving his legs, and beginning to mutter and nod. He was coming to his senses.

"Saurlee… Saurlee…" he muttered. "Saurlee, it's me. Saurlee… No. No. No! No!"

Saura's eyes snapped open. He looked panicked.

"Saura, it's alright, you're safe now!" Ray told him, patting him on the head. "We're in District One. We're in a bunker—"

"NO!" Saura screamed suddenly, wide-eyed. "NO!"

"Whoa, calm down!" Ray pleaded. "Saura, it's alright!"

"No, no it's not!" Saura yelped, still in utter panic. "I—I—I did this! I did this! No! I'm—I'm—I'm a fugitive! My family are fugitives! I destroyed them! I destroyed them!"

"Saura, hey! Listen!" Char said to him, coming to give him a consoling hug. "Saura! I saw that dream, too! Saura, it was only a nightmare! It was fake!"

Saura snapped a vine at Char's advance, whipping him in the face. It hurt.

"Owww!" Char cried in surprise, grasping the new scar on his nose. "Hey! Don't do that!"

"No, it's real! It's all real! It has to be!" Saura gasped, hyperventilating, with tears flowing from his eyes like waterfalls. "Saurvor… went on vacation… they were running! The Master came back! The Master was going to kill them! Kill them all! My family! The Master's after my family! I did this!"

"Saura, please!" Char tried again, raising his voice, though afraid to draw near. "Listen to me! It was a dream! Listen! The ghost did that! That was just something it made up to scare you! It couldn't have known that! It just took things from your own mind to scare you!"

"Noooo-oooo! It's all true! I did this to them!" Saura rambled in a waving cry, eyes closed tight, as he convulsed upon the floor. "I'm a fugitive! They're all fugitives! The Master's after them now, and it's all my fault! I did it!"

"Char…" Ray said in disbelief. "I think… I think the Watcher messed up Saura's mind…"

Char gazed at Saura's squirming form, appalled.

"That is what I'd say, by the looks of it," Naxi said. "He must see a psychic as soon as possible, or his sanity might be jeopardized for the rest of his life."

"No, Saura…" Char gasped. "Oh, no… we have to help him. Are there any psychics around?"

"Likely you will not find any until the morning dawn, given the weather this evening," Naxi said, turning to leave the room. "Until then, you must hold out."

"No, no, no, no, NO, no, no! Saur—Saurlee… Come back… I love you…"

Char gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe one night could be so cruel to him. Now, it had damaged his best friend's sanity?

Watching Saura writhe and struggle upon the floor, grappling with some nonexistent foe, Char wondered: could he overcome this tragedy, as well?

"Ray… can you paralyze him?" Char asked sadly. "So he doesn't hurt anyone…"

Ray did as instructed, and Saura stopped moving, but his eyes popped wide open. They were terrified eyes, still flowing with tears. Char looked into them, feeling almost as heartbroken as he.

Not caring if it was against Saura's will, Char hugged him dearly, and told him everything would be alright.

… … …

Scythe and Prince gazed out the window of a nearby building, looking to the southern horizon. The Watchers still dominated the sky, and in the flashes of powerful Pokémon attacks, they saw that a funnel cloud of ghosts which still resided over silhouette of Fort Emerald in the distance.

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Prince wondered. "What is tomorrow going to bring?"

"I don't know," Scythe answered. "Nothing is certain to me, except that the living will remain. And we remain, so… we will see."

*Chapter 45*: Special Episode: Watcher, Part 1

"Watcher"

The code of the Adrellos:

We obey no one. Power is the only god we serve.

Children of the Adrellos must never abandon the hunt for power. We must never be content. Creatures who live without purpose are weak and useless; our undying hunger for power is the source of our strength.

We are the watchers of the land, the cullers of the harvest. No other creatures may lay claim to our role.

Children of the Adrellos must never trust. Children of the Adrellos must never be trusted. Trust is complicated and fleeting; fear is absolute. Every other creature must learn to fear the sound of our name.

*Clang!* *Clang!*

We are the shadows which extend at dusk, we are the wind which sifts the trees: unconquerable, invisible.

When you hunt, do not be seen.

When you kill, do not be heard.

*Clash!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

… … …

By custom, the young Scyther hatched alone, so that it might imprint upon no one.

By custom, the young Scyther was left alone in its infancy, watched and protected from afar, so that it might learn to survive, learn to listen to its instinct. Learn the primal pangs of pain and hunger, and what they mean. Learn by nature how to walk, to eat, and to fly. Learn where to sleep safely. Learn which creatures were predators, and which were prey. Learn to respect the predators, and the dangers of the wild. Learn to fear them.

Learn to hate them.

Learn to hunger for power, so that it might overcome them.

… … …

*Clash!* *Clang!*

*Thump!*

An elderly Scyther hit the floor by the force of a body slam.

"Magnificent, hatchling," it growled, moving to kneel up. "Alrac has trained you well, it seems. I may have nothing to teach you."

"You're being easy," the hatching hissed back at it, standing over the old one and panting in exhilaration, its blades held in an offensive stance. "Don't be easy. Fight me."

"You want me to try to kill you?" the elder asked wryly.

"Yes," the little one answered without hesitation. "Otherwise I will not learn."

"Adron, I am your teacher, not your murderer," the elder reminded him. "Wipe away your pride. You would stand no chance against me if I didn't hold back."

"You've tried to kill me before, sending me into the wild alone," the little one replied. "Why hesitate now? Fight me!"

Returning to his feet, the elder Scyther stood over the short child, but the little one was not intimidated. It tensed its body, focus burning in the eyes, like a cat trapped in a corner preparing to fight.

Of course, the elder would not give the little one what it wished, but he doubled his efforts in hopes that the hatchling would be satisfied with a greater level of challenge. Opening his wings, he propelled himself far above the clay-ridden ground to attack his student from the air. The hatchling rose to the challenge, swarming at the elder and zipping past in attempt to strike from confusing angles. But every attack was blocked, as the elder expertly pivoted his blades to defend himself. The ringing cries of opposing steel filled the air once again.

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

The little one's heart raced to the pulse of the battle, as did his mind. His senses burned with information, every little impulse meaning something. The angle of attack. The likelihood of a counter. The propulsion of his own wings. The shadow his trainer cast upon his body whenever he blocked out the sun, providing such a tiny advantage to move unexpectedly. The continual rhythm of the metallic collisions. Clank! Clang! Clash! Over, under, around. Vulnerabilities, defenses always shifting. Patterns to see and to subvert. It all meant something, if only he paid attention to it.

… … …

Focus, Adron… Focus!

Remember! …Remember why…

Remember why we fight…

… … …

We are children of the blade.

Children of the Adrellos must never don the red armor; it is a false strength. We are the color of the grass and leaves, so we may hide from our prey. We are swift and winged, so we may strike fast and overtake our prey. Our blades are nature's perfect weapons. We are hatched with them, we train to understand them, and with them, we will die.

We are nature's favored.

Children of the Adrellos must not mate unless they have lived to become an elder; a long lifespan signifies good traits to pass to the offspring.

Once mated, children of the Adrellos must surrender all eggs to the clan; a father shall not know his son, and a son shall not know his father. There are no fathers or sons among the Adrellos, only brothers.

We are one.

Children of the Adrellos must never keep secrets from one another. We are one will with many blades. Silence and shame must not mar our communication.

We must never hesitate to pass judgment upon others.

Children of the Adrellos must never hesitate to leave a brother behind; we are one entity, our strength must not be compromised by sympathy for our weakened brothers. We fight as one, we stand above our fallen brothers to defend them, but with blades we cannot lift a fallen brother back to his feet.

… … …

By custom, he learned the code. Learned that it held the secrets to acquiring power, the power which he hungered for, the power he required to defeat the dangers and enemies he had once respected and feared. Power which would let him do anything he desired.

By that code, he had been tested. His faith, his willingness to follow the code was challenged each day of his life. He had undergone hunger and thirst, loneliness and abandonment… special tests, difficult decisions… and battles, so many battles, until sparring came as natural as walking or flying…

Passing every test, a place among the clan had been reserved for him…

…Reserved, but not assured…

…And in these final months, it was the hatchling's goal to claim that place, to prove once and for all he was worthy of being called a child of the Adrellos…

…And so he would be a hatchling no more…

…Hungering for this place of power, he fought on, mastering all he was taught…

…Until…

… … …

*Slash!*

The elder Scyther staggered in the air, a bloodless scar now visible across his face. The hatchling's attack had connected, clashed against the skeletal armor of the elder's forehead. The hatchling wore a smug expression, drifting away from his opponent and preparing for a counter-attack, but one did not come.

"Wonderful," the elder gasped, withdrawing from the battle. "Adron… you are a gifted hatchling, if I've ever seen one. Your concentration, your focus… I have never known anything like it."

"You still were holding back," Adron said condescendingly. "How am I to learn?"

"Adron… I think you have learned enough."

"I don't know that," Adron insisted, as the two of them settled back to the barren ground. "I can't assume I'm skilled enough to be accepted by the elders. And my time runs short."

"Adron… you are only a hatching," the elder Scyther told him. "We have taught you how to take control of your own self, but that is only the beginning of your life. Next, you must learn to take control of the world around you; and that you can only learn when you become involved in the affairs of the Adrellos and you gain experience. And believe me, they will accept you. You will be a pride of this clan."

The hatchling held his head high. He loved it when his elders said that. They constantly were praising him about how he was the superior of his generation, how he excelled at the tests and demonstrated outstanding judgment for one so young. He loved the praise, and so he kept on challenging himself, pushing his abilities forward, hoping to keep this favor and increase it as far as it would go.

After all, it was the first law of the code: never be content with your power. Never abandon the hunt for more.

"But your mind is still small and closed," the elder said. "Only by growing and living will you learn more, do you understand? Your pride can strengthen you, as I see that it has, but do not let it blind you to the reality of things."

"Yes," Adron replied. "I know."

"But by the gods, I have only met you weeks ago, and already you hold yourself as a war hero, and you fight like one as well," the elder complemented, stepping close to the little one. "The other hatchlings… they are all so easy to distract. One little diversion in battle brings their demise. They have much training to do in these final months. But you… your mind is already as bright as the sun, your focus as sharp as steel! What has Alrac done to you that she has neglected to do with your brothers, huh? Or, should I say… what has great Arceus given to you that the others do not have?"

"Arceus has given me nothing. I have earned everything I have."

Amused, the elder chuckled. "That very well might be, little one," he said affectionately. "Well, you have no more business here. Go and rest. We will train again, but you must let me focus on the others. They require much more of my attention than you do. If you would like to better yourself even beyond what you are now, I'm sure you will find other ways to do so. You can consider helping to train your brothers. Understand?"

"Yes, Sensei Adram," the hatchling replied respectfully, though with a hint of reluctance.

"Good. Now leave," the elder commanded. "Tomorrow I must work with Adarc. His mind is so slow, he hesitates before every move. And Adiel, he is too reckless. And Alros, she has a lingering fear of heights, doesn't trust her own wings… Perfection is rare among you hatchlings."

*Thwack!*

As was customary when two Scyther parted ways, Adram swung the back of his blade as though to blindside his student in the head, and it was promptly blocked by Adron's own blade. It was a reminder to always stay alert, even among trusted companions.

"Share some of yours with the others, if you might," the teacher uttered, looking the young one straight in the eye.

… … …

*Clang!* *Clang!*

*Thump!*

What is this… what is…

No… this… this isn't right…

I can't focus…

Why…? Why can't I focus…?

… … …

The young Scyther returned to his clan's nesting ground, a maze of rock piles and stone protrusions that towered like a forest above the brown, hardened badlands. The evening growing near, the sunlight dimmed, darkening the shadows around the stones and obscuring the passages within.

The Adrellos had no home to call their own. All of Ambera was their home, and occasionally the neighboring lands as well. As a Scyther bears blades, not claws, the clan could not easily stockpile food and resources in a permanent residence. Instead, they moved about the land, settling where food could be found for the season, and leaving when the setting was no longer acceptable to them.

In this fall season, the Adrellos had moved into a treacherous place known as the Shattered Plateau, a maze of sandstone cliffs and towers. It suited them, providing shelter while confusing any intruders who would trespass, while they memorized all the ways to and from their nests.

As the little Scyther stepped through the branching paths between the rocks, he did as he had been taught, taking note of every detail to assure himself everything was the same. He felt the cold breeze as it swept over him, moaning and howling as it flowed between the many rocks. He listened to its voice, and the voices of the wild Pokémon as they scavenged for their final meals of the day.

A pebble shifted in a direction he had not expected. He smirked.

"Adiel, is that you?" The Scyther called. "No… it wouldn't be. Adarc?"

There was a scratching noise. Adron's wings trembled in amusement.

"You don't want to fight me right now, Adarc," the Scyther teased. "You might find it painful. I just finished practicing."

*Thwap!*

Adron spun around just in time to block the blow to the back of his head. He twisted his body and swung his other blade around, swatting his opponent in the back and sending his fellow Scyther stumbling away.

"Too predictable, Adarc," Adron taunted, standing cockily over his fallen brother. "And you forgot the first of the mistakes when deceiving an enemy,"

"Be sure the enemy is not deceiving you instead?" the other Scyther recited regaining his balance and casting an annoyed glare in Adron's direction. He realized that Adron had turned his head in the wrong direction on purpose.

"No," Adron replied, setting off to walk farther into the craggy maze. "Do not attempt to deceive an enemy who cannot be deceived."

"Lies. That's not one of them at all," Adarc shouted, hurrying to catch up. "And there's no such thing as an enemy who cannot be deceived!"

"Then maybe you will prove it the day you manage to deceive me," Adron returned, now with an affectionate smile.

… … …

Adron knew his other brothers looked up to him. He was always the one who could never seem to be outsmarted. When they went hunting, he was always the one in command. When they trained with the elders, he was always the one who remembered everything he was taught. Knowing this, he cared for them in his own ways and helped them where they could be helped. They were, after all, his future allies in the clan, friends he would need to rely upon in whatever wars or battles it was that the Adrellos fought. He didn't yet know the role his own clan played in the world; he could only guess it was important, given the high standards he'd been brought to live up to.

While Adron and the other hatchlings lived under the wings of the clan, and often met the clan's warriors in person, they were forbidden to become involved in the clan's affairs. Instead, some of the elders took turns raising and watching them, until one thousand days from the hatching of the youngest child when they would be presented to the clan for acceptance. Sensei Adram was the fourth and final caretaker of this generation's hatchlings, and as such, he was not a lenient teacher.

Though, Adron wouldn't have known that if it hadn't been for the other Scyther children constantly complaining about his methods since three weeks ago when they had all been handed over to him.

… … …

"You beat him, didn't you?" Adarc laughed in surprise. "You wouldn't be smiling otherwise. Adron, how do you do it? Last week he kept talking about how he wasn't going to go easy on you anymore. How do you manage to read his mind so well?"

"He went easy on me, that's how I beat him," Adron huffed. "He could have challenged me, but he decided not to. He doesn't think I'm prepared for a true duel. And it worries me, because that's what the Adrellos are going to expect from us when we're presented. They're going to challenge us to a true duel. I don't understand how I'm supposed to learn if sensei Adram won't teach me."

"I can't even stand up to him like you can. Where do you think that places me?" Adarc returned. "If you're not worthy of the Adrellos, none of us are. Please, stop pretending to be so humble all the time, Adron. We all hate it."

"I'm not humble! I only see the truth," Adron insisted, appraising the rock walls and deciding which path to follow. "Why do you think I fight so well? It's because I can see the truth and not the lies the enemy wants me to see. The little tremble in their form when they're trying to deceive me. Like you. You had the perfect chance to strike at me, but you hesitated, and you kicked a pebble. You're too shy, that's your weakness."

"I am working on becoming more certain of myself, but not all of us are prodigies. We can't all see into the future like you can."

"I'm tired of telling you, it's not magic. It's focus," Adron insisted. "Focus is everything. Teach your mind to see what is happening, see what will not happen, and see what may happen, and don't see anything else. Don't see what you wish to happen, and don't dwell on the details. Just look, and see the truth. Focus!"

"Hmm… You speak of focus, but this is the wrong way," Adarc noted, stopping in his steps. "I know we've not walked these paths since hatching, but even I know the way to the den is in that direction."

"Go to the den if you want, I'm hungry," Adron said, walking in the other direction. "I haven't eaten in two days."

"The cache is empty by now, you know!" Adarc called. "It's too late. There will be nothing there by this time…"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm not going to the cache either," Adron said, disappearing around a bend in the path.

"You're going to hunt…? It's too late to hunt! Adron!"

Adron said nothing more, his path taking him deeper through the maze of stone pillars. Puzzled, Adarc decided to follow him, opening his wings and flying forward to catch up.

… … …

*Thump!* *Thump!*

This must stop!

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clash!*

This is too much!

Great spirit of Adrel… please, make this cease!

… … …

In a secluded stone alcove already drenched with the evening's shadows, six Scyther hatchlings were huddled around a ditch in the base of a cliff face, all visibly upset. They grumbled to one another in frustration, scratching the rocks with their blade tips. Adron approached. Adarc hung back in the shadows, afraid he was getting into a matter he did not want to face.

"Out of the way," Adron ordered. "I need to eat."

Despite their irritation, they knew better than to disobey the alpha of the group. Upon hearing his voice, they leapt out of the way and let him through… only to reveal that the ditch was empty.

Adron scowled. This was their secret food stash, rightfully claimed on their own hunting trips. The elders filled the food cache with fresh kills only once a week, and if the children wanted anything else to eat, they would have to hunt on their own. A few of the hatchings, however, kept a few secret stashes of their own hidden from the elders, so they never had to worry about pacing themselves—they could eat whenever they wanted. Except now, where there had been a plentiful, rotting corpse just a half-dozen hours earlier, there remained only a few discarded bones. The food was gone. Adron snarled in disgust, his grumble adding to those of his hungry brothers.

"Where's the swine?!" he blasted at his brethren who stood nervously around him. "You can't tell me you finished it! I told you to leave me some! Who? Who ate it?"

"No one has, I swear it," another Adeis pleaded. "It was too much for us to finish, and you know we're the only ones who knew about it. It's gone missing! Besides, look at us. We're all as starving as you."

"The elders must have found it!" Adlam guessed. "Or maybe the other hatchings!"

"The hatchlings couldn't have!" Adron growled, stomping around and glancing at the surrounding paths. "This is too good a hiding place. Nobody would have found it unless they were told."

He turned back to the small crowd of his brothers, his questioning gaze passing to each one of them.

"Who? Who betrayed?"

… … …

*Thump!* *Thump!*

I don't know…

Everything is so fast…

… … …

Nervously muttering, the others all denied having spoken of the hidden food stash to everyone.

"I'm certain there was no bribe. There could be no incentive great enough to convince us to tell the others," Adiel noted. "As you said, this is the perfect hiding place. No reward is good enough to lose it."

Adron glared at them for a moment longer, then sighed and glanced at the ground. "It's true. It couldn't have been found," Adron admitted. "It's likely the rats got to it. Or a wild blue lion wandered too close and spotted it through the rocks. Whatever the case… We're all left hungry."

"I swear upon Adrel, if I would have caught the thief, he would have filled our stomachs first!" Adlam roared, swatting his blades upon the ditch ridge in anger. "I must fight the sensei tomorrow and my belly is empty."

"I battled for the last of the fruit in the cache, but Alwry and her gang defeated me," Alros added. "I'll be starved tonight."

"Then let's not stand for it," Adron suggested, raising his voice. "We are enough to form a hunting team. Let's take back what nature stole from us."

"We can't," Adlam said. "Look at the sun, it's too late. Sensei forbids us from hunting so late in the evening."

"The sensei's rules are for our safety, not his," Adron reminded. "We're free to risk our own lives whenever we want. You aren't afraid of dying on a simple hunting trip, are you?"

There was silence among the Scyther group. They were all a bit speechless at Adron's sudden suggestion, and hesitant to reply: afraid both to defy his suggestion, and to agree with it. It was a dangerous place beyond the Shattered Plateau, especially in the evening when the nocturnal Pokémon crawled from their dens and began to prowl the land. Even the adults, the warriors of the Adrellos, never stayed out at night alone.

"He's right," Alros declared. "If we can't learn to break the rules when they need to be broken, we'll be hatchlings for the rest of our lives. I'm starved. I would hunt."

"Adron, you say you haven't eaten in two days," Adeis said. "I haven't eaten in four. If you would lead us on the hunt, I would follow."

"I will," Adron decided, addressing them all. "My belly is impatient, and so am I. I'll wait by the northern stream. Follow me if you will, we'll regroup there and plan our route."

Adron didn't have to wait long. One by one, his kin followed his suggestion, turning north and leaving the secluded hiding place. But the last member of the Scyther group hesitated, eyeing Adron suspiciously.

"It was you," Adiel said wryly. "You moved the swine."

Adron said nothing.

"You wouldn't have led Adarc here and allowed him to eavesdrop on us if you hadn't already known the hiding place would be empty," Adiel said, eyeing the shadows where the hidden Scyther lurked. "You did this on purpose. You wanted to hunt."

Adron didn't respond and refused to look Adiel in the eye, but the slightest hint of a smirk crossed his face.

"See, brother? I learn, too," Adiel told him. "Very well, then. Lead the way. I will follow."

… … …

The hunting party of eight began their excursion into the Savage Meadow to the north-east of the clan's ground. They moved across the land quietly and carefully so as to not bring attention to themselves, either from the wild Pokémon or from their own superiors…

Adron headed the party, crouching low in the tall grass as he crept just beneath the crests of the hillsides. The others kept a full watch in the other directions, as he had ordered them; they could not afford to frighten away whatever wild animals they would choose as their prey. A prowling band of Scyther was a feared force to any creature, and wild Pokémon species often aided each other with alarms or mobbing cries when a mutual threat had been sensed. He breathed a long sigh through his nostrils, testing the scent of the air.

"You must be mad," Adarc hissed in Adron's ear as he peered over the hillside, appraising their next route. "Do you know what the elders will do to us?"

"You didn't have to come," Adron reminded him. "You followed me out of curiosity, you've got nobody else to blame for being here. Besides, I'm not doing this for myself. Pay attention, and learn what you see."

They laid in wait for a moment more, the various creatures of the land moving about upon the plains ahead.

"A migrating flock of Doduo, to the east," Adiel reported. "Those are easy to kill. Though not so easy to sneak up on silently."

"No… I'm not interested in those," Adron decided, focusing on the surrounding terrain. "We need something else. Something… more difficult. Adiel, signal the rest. Let's move under the cover of those trees. I think I know where to find our prey."

… … …

It won't… stay still…

I am lost…

… … …

Minutes later, the group had advanced to a small patch of trees at the eastern edge of the meadow. From there, they watched as a heard of brown beasts crowded around a great lake to take a drink. Adron grew excited; it always thrilled him the way the sunlight changed colors and deepened as the sun would set. The land, and all the creatures upon it, turned into a giant blood-stained battlefield in his eyes—a battlefield he commanded.

"Tauros?!" Adarc cried. "You want to kill a Tauros? Adron, even the warriors have trouble facing a Tauros heard."

"I want something that tastes good," Adron said wryly. "Tauros are only difficult because they stay in a heard. If one member of the heard falls, the whole heard stampedes to defeat the enemy. That is why other creatures fear them. It's an evolved behavior for survival. Each one of them could trample a Scyther with ease. But we have one thing they do not have: focus. They have only their instincts. We have our minds."

"And wings," Adiel added. "They might find it difficult to hit us in the air."

"We can take them," Adeis assured him. "If Adron says we can take them, we can do it. What is the plan?"

"We have to trap them, to begin with," Adron explained. "We have to move immediately, since they don't linger around the watering hole for long, especially not this late in the evening. First, we surround them, so they become frightened…"

… … …

*Thump*

Blood everywhere…

Charging Tauros…

Why… why am I still alive?

They charge when they're attacked…

Even… even if… one is defeated…

Is that why… is that what has… happened?

Is that what has caused this…?

No, it wasn't… it was something else…

… … …

Commanding his followers, Adron cornered the herd against the watering hole, so they could not understand which direction the threat came from… They were spooked, huddling against the water's edge, as the Scyther clan loomed around them, hungry for blood…

At once, like the cornered beasts they were, they charged.

"Here they come!" Adron hissed. "Now! NOW!"

… … …

Why!? Why can't I focus…?

*Thump!* *Thump!*

Oh, Adrel, hear me…

I am lost…

… … …

Once the provoked heard began to retaliate, the Scyther children fled and caused the heard to scatter in many directions. In the confusion, Adiel and Adeis pounced from their hidden positions by the lakeside and slew three Tuaros who had yet to find an escape route. When the other bulls noticed their fallen companions, Adiel and Adeis retreated over the surface of the water, where the bulls could not charge.

Eventually, the bulls had all cleared the waterside and stampeded off elsewhere, leaving the fresh prey for the Scyther children.

One Tauros was too much for eight Scyther to eat in a single evening, but the children had won themselves three. Victoriously, they sliced open the dead animals and filled their bellies, and Adron watched in satisfaction.

… … …

Why is everything so fast…?

*Clang!* *Clang!*

I can't… see…

… … …

Adron noticed when two large, dark-furred hounds prowled upon the hilltops, watching the Scyther clan warily. The creatures of the dark were emerging and claiming dominance of the land, and it was his job as a leader to protect his brothers.

"We must return now," he announced. "The darkness looms. Adiel, guide them back to the den. The way is not far; you shouldn't meet any opposition."

"Me?" Adiel answered. "Why not you?"

"I'd like to stay out here for a little while longer," Adron replied. "Sensei Adram has told me that he has nothing to teach me, and I should find my own means to better myself. So I think I will say out here for a time. I have never fought a fire-breathing hound before. I think it would be a thrill."

"Do not get cocky, my brother," Adiel warned. "It would dishearten us all to know that you died in the field.

"Even if they overpower me, I know how to retreat from a lost battle," Adron assured him. "I will not die. I promise…"

… … …

In the dead of the night, Adron began his journey back to the clan's grounds.

Alone, he had wandered the land and explored the cold, dark meadows and forests as they were after the sun went down. They were filled with insects, and vigilant predators such as owls and wolves. He knew how to remain hidden, so he did not fear an attack, but as he watched the dark lands he made the judgment that he would not battle any of these savage creatures. He just didn't understand them well enough, and would not foolishly assault them from the shadows they probably knew more intimately than he did.

One day, he determined, he would rule the night. But his clanmates would need to be there at his side. That day would come much later. Right now, he knew he was only an oblivious hatchling…

The autumn moon peeked from behind the clouds, and the countryside lit up before him. He squinted and saw how close the Shattered Plateau was, content that he would soon be resting for the night.

But as he was about to fly across the quiet stream on the northern outskirts of the clan's domain, a frightening sound came from above.

"EEEEEEaaaah!"

Adron tensed. He crouched low to the ground, hid beneath the tall grass, and opened his blades wide.

"EEEEEE-Eaaaaaahh! EEEEheee!"

Frightened that he could not imagine what sort of creature made this noise, Adron held his breath silently as he peered through the grass to watch for the source of the noise. It was somewhere in the air, somewhere on the other side of the river…

…Something which glowed.

It was a tiny, black-skinned creature which drifted in the air without the aid of wings. It s form was small and circular, wrapped in a cloak of tattered flesh which waved like a flame in the breeze, its color such an invisible shade of bluish-black that the creature seemed like an unnatural shadow cast upon an invisible surface—except for the eyes. Two monstrous yellow eyes glared from its dark form, glowing as though the sun itself sat behind them. Between its eyes there sat a dulled horn, an awkward weapon, but not one Adron was willing to underestimate.

For a few moments, the young Scyther held his position, simply admiring this strange new wonder of the world as it sang a strange song, its brilliant eyes reflecting upon the surface of the stream below.

What could it be? Adron wondered. I've never seen anything like it. Is this one of those ghost-creatures Alrac spoke of from time to time? What is it doing here?

Nagged by his curiosity, Adron shifted in the grass and started crawling towards it. The creature didn't appear to notice his presence as it drifted over the stream, emitting its soft cry.

I should slay it, and bring it to the elders, Adron considered. They will be able to tell me more about it. And if it is too powerful for me, I'm close enough to the den. I can outrun it easily.

No!

Though he'd been growing weary on the return home, it was gone now. His heart was racing, his mind brimming with questions and possibilities. He focused on the creature, watching its tiniest movements, wondering if it would retaliate to his attack…

Silently, he positioned his feet to spring him forward with undetectable speed.

No! No!

His wings twitched, prepared to spring open and to motor him forward. His scythes were held in the striking stance.

NO!

The Scyther's muscles tensed one last time, building up a final surge of energy. This was it.

As fast as the speed of sound, Adron pounced, his eyes locked onto his target. In the split second it took to close the distance, it surprised Adron that the creature had not even flinched when his presence was made known as most creatures have a startle reflex when something unexpected happens. This one, though, still floated distantly, obliviously, above the water…

With a skillful maneuver that had been burned into his instincts, Adron thrust his scythe forward, moving to decapitate the apparition as he passed it. He expected to feel a quick bump of resistance as the creature's body would come apart; but what he experienced was a strong, unknown throbbing sensation from the nerves behind his blades.

A few feet past his target, Adron halted his attack and pivoted his head to survey the result.

The creature was still whole. And now, it had noticed him.

No, no, NO!

It was an awkward standoff for the following moments, Adron staring baffled at the creature which should have been dead, and the creature returning its bright, glowing gaze.

He knew he had to make a decision. His blade had not cut the creature, so the creature did not conform to normal, physical laws of being. He guessed that a spiritual-based attack could harm it, though he did not know how to wield spiritual attacks with any kind of consistency. He assumed that trying again would yield similar results.

Fine, then, Adron decided, continuing to eye the creature as he walked away. You live. I will not fight you—

Skreeeeeeeeeaaaaaah!

Wailing like a pained infant, the shadow-being launched its own attack. It spun through the air directly at its assailant.

Adron felt himself flooded with adrenaline once more. He opened his wings and fled as fast as his body could carry him.

But, still, it wasn't fast enough.

STOP! STOP! STOP! NO! STOP THIS!

Adron saw a flash of light, brighter than the sun, as the creature collided with him.

A screech rang out through the night. It was his own voice wailing in shock. But it felt so far away… it felt disconnected…

A cold sort of pain flooded every nerve, like he had been submerged in freezing water. He knew that he had probably stumbled into the stream. But that didn't matter now, it was so far away, so disconnected. He couldn't even see himself anymore, couldn't control his own numb body, didn't understand where he was…

Visions pulsed in front of his blinded eyes, distorted images from his own memories…

He struggled with all his will, but he couldn't escape…

For so long, he couldn't escape the confines of his own mind… The convulsions, the impulses, the flood of emotions and sensations would not let him go…

I cannot survive this any longer!

Vaguely, he heard his own voice, begging for relief and freedom from this whirlwind of visions.

*CLANG!* *CLANG!*

He heard the ringing of his own blades against rocks as he blindly struggled to overcome himself… He felt his head thumping against something, each forceful collision changing the flow of thoughts and memories through his confused consciousness…

At last, there was another blinding flash of light, light that existed only within his own head…

And it stopped.

The Scyther's eyes snapped open. His heart raced as fast as a Beedrill's wings. His breath panted uncontrollably, hyperventilating him and causing his nerves to tingle.

He groaned and tried to stir himself in an attempt to survey his surroundings, but he found it painful to even move. It was still the darkest hours of the night, with only the dim light of the autumn moon to bring any sense to the setting. He had been washed somewhere downstream, and was sopping wet, his body sprawled across the riverbank. There were numerous scratches in the rocks around him, rocks which he had attacked with his blades in blind rage, as well as several dents where he had rammed his horned faceplate repeatedly.

His own body was pained with bruises, all of them pulsing in and out of his perception as the pain-killing adrenaline still raced inside of him. He looked upon his left blade, beholding a crack in the very steel. His blind rage had been intense, his assault upon the rocks had been merciless.

"Muuugh," he groaned, reluctant to even twitch a muscle. "What… I was struck… I was struck with… a psychic attack…"

The realization dawning upon him, he by habit remembered the five questions of self-orientation. He was taught to always recite them upon gaining consciousness, whether it'd be from a night's sleep, a concussion, or a psychic attack. It had always been such a simple recital, but now it seemed the questions were not so simple; his thoughts were fuzzy, as if he needed to grasp for them…

The first question… he recalled. Who am I? I'm… I'm Adron… A Scyther… Adron the Prodigy, they call me…

His stomach roiled in disgust. His own thoughts did not sound right.

The second… Where am I? I'm… the outskirts of the plateau, my home… It has to be… I was… I was washed downstream…

He did not even care to rise to his feet to verify this. His energy was gone, replaced with a cold, painful exhaustion, and an icy throbbing in his head which seemed to disrupt his thoughts… he remained sprawled upon the rocks, allowing his eyes to flutter closed again.

Focus…! Focus… he commanded himself, struggling to regain control of his mind. Third… Third question… whom do I serve? Power, power is the only god we serve… No, that's not it… The Adrellos… I serve the Adrellos clan… I serve… Sensei Adram…

Fourth… What is my purpose? I must get home… I must get home… I need help… Healing… I must… return… home…

Fifth… Am I capable of accomplishing my purpose?

Can… I… get home?

He tried to imagine his position relative to the Plateau… but he couldn't.

He tried to remember the many paths and routes through the maze of the Plateau, his favorite routes back to the nesting grounds… they all became a tangled mess of memories to him.

His mind couldn't concentrate. He couldn't think.

I don't know… he realized, his blood running even colder than ever. I can't answer the question! I don't know! Why don't I know…?

That was when he felt it for the first time: there was a great chasm now in his mind, a chasm which swallowed many of his thoughts, and caused others to drift off-course…

And from this chasm, many new, foreign, nonsensical thoughts bled forth with impunity, like a broken dam washing away all semblance of reason…

I…

I have lost my sanity…

Powerless to continue sustaining his consciousness, he surrendered to the exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

*Chapter 46*: Special Episode: Watcher, Part 2

"Your mind is already as bright as the sun, your focus as sharp as steel!"

"Honestly, Adron, it would not surprise me if you were to become the next candidate to father our clan."

"It's not magic, it's focus. Focus is everything."

"Arceus has given me nothing. I have earned everything I have."

… … …

Adron woke the next morning with a clawed foot to the chest. He gasped silently as his mind stirred from his disturbing dreams.

The sun had risen again, though he couldn't tell how late he'd slept. Two Scyther stood above him, though he couldn't tell who they were.

"I'm surprised at you, Adron, sleeping past dawn!" a voice said from above him. "And I thought you were pretending to sleep so you could counter me. We were concerned for you since you never came back last night. Come on, Adron! Rise!"

"He does not look well," the other Scyther realized. "Adron! Were you harmed? What has happened to you? Tell me who has done this, so we may destroy them!"

"I was… struck with a psychic attack…" Adron mumbled, painfully trying to rise from the ground. "My mind is damaged…"

"Oh, is that it?" one of his companions replied. "It will wear off before this day is through, then. Wild animals are not skilled enough in the psychic arts to inflict any lasting damage."

Are these my friends? Adron wondered. They are. They're Scyther, like me. They're part of the clan. But… are they close to me? I don't recognize their voices… I need reorientation…

I am Adron, a Scyther… I don't know where I am… I serve… the clan… My purpose… home!

"Home," Adron muttered, remembering the question. "Take me home. Show me the way… I can't remember the way…"

Adron finally knelt up, his body still throbbing and difficult to move. He anchored a blade on the ground, tilting his head up and squinting into the powerful daylight.

Oh… that's Adiel, he realized, gazing upon the faces of the others. I know him. He respects me. The other… is someone else. Adarc. We are rivals.

"His eyes move so unnaturally," Adiel commented. "The psychic assault must have been strong. We should let him rest until he regains his sanity, but not here."

"I'll help, then," Adarc said. "He has done a few things for me yesterday which must be repaid, such as showing me where you've been hiding your food."

Adron felt as the two Scyther hooked their arms under his, helping him stand.

"You will tell no one about our hiding places," Adiel warned. "If I learn you've spoken to others about it, I will personally make sure you never speak again."

"It's like Adron said," Adarc replied. "I have no reason to tell anyone else. It's such a good place, why should I waste it?"

"What do you feel, Adron?" Adiel asked concernedly as they helped him walk. "Have you lost your memories?"

"See, brother? I learn, too."

"We do not capture prey. We kill prey."

"There is no beast father Adrav could not destroy without the proper planning."

"There are no fathers or sons among the Adrellos, only brothers."

Adron shook his head. "No… I remember things," he struggled to reply, the words hard for him to find and latch onto. "But my mind races… I can't focus… Too many things force themselves in front of my eyes…"

"You must rest," Adiel told him. "Your confusion will disperse soon…"

… … …

Adron cowered in the cold stone den for the rest of the day, watching as his rampant thoughts danced through the shadows. He waited for the rush to subside, like a stomachache usually would, but after many more hours the buzzing showed no signs of ceasing. It was always as though he no longer commanded his mind, only able to offer it the most feeble of suggestions which it never bothered to follow. He often found himself entranced in his nonsensical dreams, sometimes not telling whether they were real or not, before emitting a frustrated squeal and snapping himself back to reality.

"Alrac taught me something today," a voice said. "You can help me practice."

"If you can get your opponent enraged, they often forget how to defend themselves and charge in headlong to conquer you. You must use this to your advantage."

"Tell me who has done this, so we may destroy them!"

Adron shook his head, batting the ground with his blades again and clinging to the sound they made as an anchor to reality. So many useless, random thoughts pulsed through him, each with no relation to the others. They were like a dozen hatchlings clamoring for his attention, his favor, but each cry was fleeting and half-hearted, offering nothing in return for his effort. He wondered if the ghostly creature had actually lodged itself inside of him, and was occupied with browsing his memories against his will.

And it just never stopped. He could not break free from the madness.

It became more difficult as he tried to reflect on his own life. He managed to conjure images of Adron the Prodigy, evoked by the sight of the den's size and shape and the flavor of the shadows which filled it. He knew exactly who he was, and who he was supposed to be. He remembered how he had planned to play a trick on Adarc that day as a price to pay for learning his secret. He remembered how he was supposed to help the other hatchings with endurance training before they would confront the sensei. Time and time again, he tried to muster his courage and force himself out of the den, reclaiming his life and his identity—but his thoughts did not follow one another, as though great chunks of his mind were simply missing, and he always fell back into the all-encompassing daydreams.

"Are you recovering, brother?" a voice asked, causing Adron to snap wildly to attention. "Easy. It is only I, Adiel…"

Adron shook his head, afraid to babble anything.

"Alwry listened to the wind and heard you were ill, and she decided come and bully you," Adiel reported. "I chased her away."

"When Alwry was in the egg, Arceus chose to slice out her brain."

"I'm not going to fight you, Adron. I don't fight cowards."

"When you strike, keep your blades level with your direction of attack. Your limb could be ripped off if you strike at the wrong angle."

"There is a storm. I see it approaching. It will graze us before dusk."

"A Scyther can survive a fall from up to eleven body heights. Anything greater can be lethal. This is why Arceus made our wings to tire so quickly; they are not meant to let us fly, only to complement our movements."

"Thank you," Adron could only reply.

"She's bound to be back, and with her friends next time," Adiel said. "I don't know if I would hold them off. I hope you would recover. We could spring a trap on them."

"I… I fear… I am not recovering at all," Adron uttered. "How long has it been? I feel no different. I need someone to help me…"

"It has only been less than a day, and you know there are no psychics among the clan," he said. "There would be none to help you. And you still speak coherently. You understand me. You are not insane. Ride this out, my brother. Your mind will prevail."

Adron locked eyes with his brother, forcing hard to keep them still as they desired to follow the many objects which flowed across his vision. "Adiel," he returned, a slight whimper in his voice, "any semblance of… sanity… you see in me… it's an illusion. And I… I don't know how much longer I can keep it… Adiel, please. Help me."

Adiel blinked. He found it difficult to accept how desperate Adron was acting. It was unreal. Adron had never pleaded for anything, he had always been the one to take things for himself. But now, broken by this harsh blow to his mind, his face betrayed a disturbing vulnerability.

"When this is over, I will not have been the one to betray you when you needed me," Adiel decided. "I don't know what you expect me to do, but… I'll find something. You have my word. I will find some way to help you."

"Thank you," Adron said again.

"Adiel, I have always been able to trust you."

"I only trust those who are worthy of my trust."

"We could spring a trap on them."

"Try not to dodge attacks so much. Instead, block them."

"Do not open the battle with your most advanced techniques; use only those which might disable the opponent. Keep your true skills secret so that you might be underestimated."

*Thump*

Adron bumped his head forcefully against the wall, hoping that the physical trauma would help him gain some control.

… … …

On the second day, another hatchling arrived to the den bearing a message. Adron was sore and stiff, having not moved from his position in over a day, though his mind had run several laps around the Shattered Plateau and the surrounding outskirts against his will. He didn't immediately recognize the messenger and didn't care to try remembering him, but the message was quite clear to him.

"Sensei Adram wants to see you immediately," the messenger reported.

This confused him, though he didn't remember why. He stared blankly at the messenger for a moment, waiting for the right thoughts to fall into place to ask for elaboration. The messenger apparently took the hint before he remembered.

"You were not scheduled to train again for seventeen more days, but he insists," the Scyther continued. "He seemed excited about it."

"Lead me," Adron ordered.

… … …

As Adron stood before his gleeful trainer, dread mounted in his heart. He did his best to hold a dignified stance as his trainer paced around him.

"I have heard about your escapade last night," the sensei said sternly. "Heard it from downwind, I did. Quite conceited of you, not only to break my rules without a shred of regret, but to drag seven of your friends with you."

This did not feel right. At all.

It should have been so familiar. He should have known a comeback to the sensei's accusation. Yet, he felt lost, as though he was exploring a deadly forest in the dead of night. He felt fear.

"Nothing? You've nothing to say in your defense?" the elder teased. "Well, well… the prodigy is speechless. Surely you didn't expect to get away with this? What? You think I wouldn't find out? Do you really underestimate my powers of observation?"

"No, sensei."

"Didn't think you would," sensei Adram returned. "You're better than that. You knew. You knew exactly what the consequences would be. And you went forward with it anyway. Tell me, Adron, how did those Tauros steaks taste? Were they satisfying?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Were they worth it?"

Adron shuddered. This was a loaded question. His favorite type, even. It required a clever, political comeback. He had never failed to outwit one. Now, if only he could just focus

He couldn't. After sensing the wait was becoming awkward, he accepted defeat and replied with the only thing his mind had made of the question:

"I… I don't know," he finally said, hesitantly. "Were they?"

The sensei grinned. The answer had satisfied him, somehow, for now he responded with an evil, diabolical smile. Adron knew he should have been satisfied. He knew his heart should have been beaming with pride. Instead, it sank lower.

"I have been pondering about you," Adram explained, pacing some more. "And I think I understand just what kind of challenge you crave. You are not just a warrior. You are a leader. Your brothers respect you and do as you say. Your presence gives them confidence, at least enough confidence to risk their lives for a mere Tauros steak, apparently. And you have certainly demonstrated you understand them well enough to manipulate their strengths to further your own goals."

Tauros…

They charge when they're attacked…

"Adron, even the warriors have trouble facing a Tauros heard…"

Adron bit his tongue. He could not afford for his mind to wander. Not now. He drew a deep, quivering breath and tried his best to dwell on the physical things around him, the beating of his heart, the sounds of his trainer's feet colliding with the rocky ground.

"I am your final trainer, and I refuse to be outdone by one of my students," Adram decreed. "So, this is what I have decided as punishment for you: I am no longer going to train the hatchlings. You are. All of them. But you will answer to me. You will teach them what I say, on my schedule. But the methods will be your own to decide. You want a harsher duel from me? Fine, but you can have it not as an opponent in battle, but as a rival leader, as you take command of your brothers and strengthen them. And be sure you prepare them well, for I will test them harshly…"

"Sensei… no."

"I understand that some of the hatchlings would be unwilling to take orders from you, even if they are only my orders which you are delegating to them," Adram continued, disregarding Adron's feedback. "Therefore, I will give each hatchling a choice between answering to you, and answering to me. Only, those who choose me will find that my methods have become so harsh, they would not last for eight days under my command!"

"Sensei… no!"

"And furthermore, I refuse to believe that you honestly think your skills are still inadequate," Adram rambled. "Mark my words when I say that you would be a dignified member of the Adrellos by this evening if the confirmation had been scheduled for this very day."

"Sensei!"

Adron was panting now. This was impossible. This was wrong. So wrong!

"Well, I have made up my mind, and there's no changing it! I have not a shred of regret!" the sensei proclaimed. "Ooh… look at that! You should see your own eyes right now, Adron! Is that euphoria I see? Does this proposal please you? Or… perhaps, you are overwhelmed by it? Is that true fear in your eyes? Perhaps this isn't what you wanted at all… Hmm… You are being so quiet this afternoon, it's difficult to tell what you truly think."

The elder stepped closer to the little hatchling, intimidating him. "Well… if you dislike this proposal, then I offer you a way out. Defeat me in battle! And I warn you, I will show you a little of my true skill. I may even try to kill you once or twice. It won't be easy! Show me how badly you wish to defy me!"

*Clank!*

The first attack was blocked purely by luck. Adron had cringed at his teacher's sudden movement, and managed to block the path of his opening blow. The impact felt like a jolt of raw force to his unbalanced mind, and his vision shook.

The second blow, however, was not.

*Thwap!*

A forceful, back-handed blow. Adron saw stars, and his body spun out of his control and slumped to the ground. For a moment, he felt his body submerged in a rushing stream. He saw a flash of a ghastly figure, yellow eyes gleaming. Heard its haunting cry. He was only vaguely aware of his teacher's soft laughter.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh," Adram chuckled. "I was right all along. You do want it… I'm ashamed for having doubted myself."

Shaking his head violently, Adron kneeled up and returned to his feet.

"How do you… how do you know where to block?" he said, practically without wanting to.

Adram blinked. This was a strange question, and it took him a minute to formulate a reply. Perhaps Adron was asking for advice in elementary teaching techniques, since he would soon be a teacher himself.

"The tells," he finally answered. "You learned this since you were in infancy. You read your enemy's tells. Look at the way my blade swings, watch my muscles, and you will always tell where and when I will strike. So… you want to try again?"

"Yes," Adron said, facing his teacher once more.

Adram opened the battle a second time. He swung his blade, back-handed, to Adron's left. Adron jerked his own limbs and blocked it. Adram followed with a swing to the right. Adron followed the path with his eyes and blocked that one, too. Then Adram swung to the left, but used his other blade to strike Adron's right. Adron once again flew a foot and crashed into the rocky ground, which felt like the sustained force of a waterfall against his face as he skidded to a stop.

"But I blocked," Adron whined. "What happened?"

"I deceived you," Adram answered. "Since I knew what tells you were watching for, I fabricated them… Adron, this isn't a prank you're playing on me, is it? Your pranks have always been intelligent. Never… juvenile."

"Sensei… listen."

"I am listening."

Not bothering to get off the ground yet, Adron sat up, groping in the chaotic darkness of his mind for the proper words. Whenever he found one, it would seem to flee so quickly…

"On the hunting trip… the Tauros… I was harmed."

"Oh…?" Adram said, surprised. "You are injured?"

"My mind," the hatchling said. "I was hit with a psychic attack. I am confused… still…"

Adram blinked again. "So this is your matter? You're confused? Well… I'm sorry, I couldn't tell… Well, then… perhaps we will have this conversation again when you've recovered."

"Teach me," the hatchling pleaded, climbing to his feet and standing submissively before the elder. "Teach me to fight."

"Hmm… I am not the best elementary teacher," Adram admitted. "And I don't have the time to train you from your level of infancy again…"

"No, please, sensei!" Adron cried. "Please. Teach me. The very basics. I… it'll help me recover, if I can remember the basics… Please, just one lesson!"

"Very well…" Adram grumbled, a little disappointed in how this session had turned out. "Alright… the very basics… If I can only find the words for them… Alright. The key to defeating any enemy is to understand them. If your enemy is inexperienced and has a shallow strategy, you might crush them without wasting effort. But if your enemy knows how to fight, or if you suspect they are trying to make you underestimate them, then it becomes vital to understand them. When you begin, be defensive. Learn their tells, but do not always make it apparent what you know. The battle is a rapid dance, both of learning tells and fabricating tells, so that in essence it becomes an extravagant game of fire-water-leaf… Learn to play that game to the rhythm of the heartbeat, and the battle is yours to dominate…"

… … …

It was an awkward hour of training as Adron went through all the motions he already knew so well. It gave him a level of comfort to practice the art of battle, even if the battles were slow and deliberate. It was all he could manage. He knew all those fast-paced tells, all those means of learning what's in the enemy's mind, were all beyond him now. Wherever he chose to store them in his mind, they wouldn't stay put, and would be gone the next time he would return to find them. Whenever he tried quickly to move his body, swing his blades, his mind would always ask "where?" and he would forget the answer.

And he thanked the sensei when the session had ended, but he had not the heart to tell him the practice was not helping him to recover. When he returned to his den, it was shame that now colored his thoughts. He was afraid to confront the sensei another time. He was afraid to confront the other hatchlings. He felt capable of nothing but lying in the back of the den, watching his thoughts dart around the room like shooting stars.

Adron pressed his head against the wall, feeling a reaction he hadn't experienced since the youngest days he could remember. Tears dripped from the ridges of his faceplate.

… … …

On the fourth day, another messenger entered the den.

"Adron?" it called quietly. "It is I, Adiel…"

Adron felt relieved at hearing this. He turned to look his friend in the eye.

"Come with me," Adiel urged him. "There is something you must see, but try not to raise suspicion as we go."

… … …

"I have broken a lot of rules for this to happen," Adiel said quietly as he led Adron northward past the river and into the Savage Meadow. "I would think you would be proud of me if you were in your right mind. I have kept my word to you."

Not understanding what Adiel referred to, Adron followed him across the meadow and to a small hidden valley between two steep hills. Between them, there stood an unusual creature.

It was a four-legged creature, its fur a very light shade of violet. By looking into its eyes, Adron could tell it was probably intelligent; it clearly did not look forward to the meeting, but it waited patiently all the same. It rose to stand on its four legs as the two Scyther walked near.

"This is him?" the creature questioned from afar.

"Yes," Adiel answered. "Do whatever you can to help him."

"You are lucky I can read your mind and know you are not planning to blackmail me with this," said the creature. "If my tribe learned I was assisting Scyther, I would be a laughing stock."

"I would not betray you," Adiel assured him. "Now, I have paid you. Please perform your duty."

The creature approached Adron, keeping a wary eye on his twitching scythes.

"I am Espeon," the creature said politely. "I am an experienced psychic. Your friend tells me your mind has been tainted."

Adron nodded, his eyes growing hopeful.

"I'll waste no time, then. Here, I will enter your mind," the Espeon explained. "Do not be alarmed if you feel my presence. I will only be looking."

The Espeon then cast his eyes downward, letting his eyelids fall half-closed. The pink jewel upon his forehead gleamed in the sunlight.

Adron felt as the psychic wave penetrated his consciousness. He fell back and relinquished control to it, staying out of its way the best he could. It first probed the outer surface once before plunging deeper, triggering some visions and memories as it went.

"I am Adron, a Scyther, servant of the Adrellos. I lie in the care of my teacher, Alrac. My purpose is to strengthen myself to impress the elders with my skill. I am not yet capable of fulfilling this purpose, but with more practice I will come closer."

"So this is Adron the Prodigy. I've been looking forward to this meeting."

"Surely you were not expecting me to be… easy on you?"

"The code is your identity. Never forsake it. You will later learn why it is such a vital law."

"If we can't learn to break the rules when they need to be broken, we'll be hatchlings for the rest of our lives."

"EEEEEE-Eaaaaaahh! EEEEheee!"

Adron could no longer see in front of his eyes. All he could see were mental impulses as the psychic splashed around within them.

"Hmm," the Espeon commented, twitching his ears. "I can see how you are overwhelmed. This is chaotic."

"The darkness looms. Adiel, guide them back to the den. The way is not far; you shouldn't meet any opposition."

"I should slay it, and bring it to the elders. They will be able to tell me more about it."

"EEEEEEaaaah!"

"Wait, wait, hold on for a moment," the Espeon muttered, ceasing his exploration through Adron's mind for a moment. "You said that a wild Pokémon hit him with a psychic attack. You failed to mention that it was a ghost-type."

"Ghost-type?" Adiel echoed, not understanding. "I… wasn't there when it happened. I am only telling you what Adron told me. What is a ghost-type, and what power does it hold over the mind?"

"I believe I know what happened," the psychic reported in an unfortunate tone. "Your friend has encountered one of the Watchers."

"Watchers?" Adron repeated, remembering the yellow glow of the ghost's eyes.

"Yes, the Watchers," the Espeon explained. "I have been hearing reports of them over the past five years. They appear only at night resembling the forms of ghost-type Pokémon, though we are unsure if they possess any consciousness. Some think they are only catalysts for souls, without souls of their own. But they possess terrible power we don't yet understand. They have been given their name by how they seem content to just sit back and watch the world, their eyes blank as though they only see though to the spiritual realm. They are very rare, though they are more common now than they were five years ago. We fear they might be increasing in population."

"Then, what has this 'watcher' done to Adron?" Adiel implored. "Can he be healed?"

"I will determine that next, as it's a difficult question to answer," the Espeon said. "But I will tell you this, your friend is very lucky to be alive. He has only lost his mind figuratively. I have heard of an incident where a Watcher caused a Pokémon to lose his mind literally, that is, it plucked the brain right from his skull. You Scyther would have probably liked to see that," it added with a sneer.

Again, the Espeon's gemstone became lit, and Adron felt the awkward intrusion of the other mind inside of his own. This time it was much more forceful, wading through the cascade of thoughts and appraising the very structure of Adron's mind.

"We are the shadows which extend at dusk, we are the wind which sifts the trees: unconquerable, invisible."

"Do you know how to outwit an elder? Do you?"

"I know how to outwit a wild beast!"

"Always hold your stance. Your stance is what keeps the enemy from reading you."

"Always listen to the wind, sometimes it tells you everything you need to know."

"For every move in battle, you are only allowed one thought. Never hesitate. Never over-think. Look, and see the truth."

It lasted a long time. The Espeon gave him company in his bewildered mind for nearly a half hour, testing his rampant thoughts for reactions, and watching where they would lead. He was very persistent, exploring even the corners least likely to be damaged. But even Adron could feel his tension through the mental link. The Espeon was being overwhelmed. Things did not make sense to him. Many of his tests failed. He cringed at the idea of giving the Scyther bad news, which he tried to delay for as long as possible, always searching for new possibilities. But eventually, his psychic power became tired, and he had to give up.

"I know now what the Watcher has done to you," the Espeon reported, closing the link. "To put it… in a way you would understand, it has ruptured the barrier between your consciousness and your subconscious mind. The images you would see in your dreams at night, you now see constantly, and it's difficult for you to distinguish dream from reality.

"You fear the way your thoughts flow now, but understand that they have always flowed like this. It's the very way the mind works, traveling from one sensation to the next at the speed of light. It's how you think. You were a genius, your thoughts have always moved as rapidly as they do now. But it was your consciousness which could always make sense of these thoughts, correcting them when they go off-course, and taking meaning from them. Now, because of the attack, your consciousness is disarmed, and you cannot stop the thoughts from going whichever way they please."

"I… I see," Adron muttered in reply, partially comprehending the Espeon's words. "Can you heal me?"

The Espeon bowed, taking a deep breath before answering. "I cannot," it admitted. "I consider myself a masterful psychic, but this wound is such that if I were to even try repairing it, it is too likely you could end up with no more rational thought than a rock. I'm sorry, Scyther. The damage is permanent. You will have to learn to cope."

"You must help me!" Adron insisted. "Change something in me, please!"

"I told you, I will not," the Espeon said forcefully. "The chances of doing anything meaningful are roughly the same as getting a second Watcher to attack you and hoping it reverses the transgressions of the first. I refuse to be blamed for your death, and spend the rest of my life running from your clan with a bounty on my head. I know you Scyther do not forgive!"

"What… do I do?" Adron asked blankly.

"I told you, you cope," it replied simply. "You can't be a warrior anymore, but you can still live. And really, that's all any Pokémon can ask for."

"We must never be content. Creatures who live without purpose are weak and useless; our undying hunger for power is the source of our strength."

"Someday, you will learn why."

"Do not let them escape! Attack!"

"Help me! Or I will kill you!" Adron screeched. "You can't leave me like this!"

Adron lunged uncontrollably.

There was a loud roar as the Espeon braced himself, his gemstone shining again. Adron felt as his limbs became frozen and refused to move further. He struggled, but his body had been possessed, disarmed by the psychic's power.

"Dear Arceus, Scyther!" the Espeon growled. "Stifle your bloodlust! I have held my end of the bargain! You have no reason to kill me. Please, detain him…"

Adiel made a move to hold him back, but there was no need. As the Espeon gently released him, Adron slumped to the ground. Without further hesitation, the psychic Pokémon made a quick getaway and ran behind the curve of the hill before Adron could curse at him again.

After the Espeon had left, there was a full minute of silence between the two Scyther brothers. Adron gasped for breath, hearing the ring of the psychic's voice still in his ears.

"The damage is permanent."

"You will have to learn to cope."

"The damage is permanent."

"You can't be a warrior anymore…"

"I can't… I…" he gasped. "I don't know what to do now…"

Adiel stood over the body of his fallen brother, saddened for him.

"There is only one thing left you can do," Adiel said. "Talk to Sensei Adram about this. If he doesn't understand… I don't know, either. I have done what I could. You… are on your own."

… … …

"It's permanent?"

The old Scyther looked as though someone had just murdered his best friend. He was disturbed at the news, but managed to keep his temper calmed only because he did not yet believe it.

"Yes… sensei… "

"Surely, you must be exaggerating!" Adram pleaded. "You mean to tell me the confusion hasn't even subsided in the least bit?"

"No," Adron confessed. "A psychic examined me,"

"Psychics are conniving liars, Adron! You should have known better than to trust one!"

"Sensei… I'm sorry," Adron said. "I didn't… I didn't know what else I could do…"

"I'll tell you what you need to do!" Adram screeched. "You need to wake up!"

*CLACK!*

Adron cringed, and just barely managed to block the full-forced blow his teacher had launched at him. His mind rattled. He did not fall this time; he stepped backward and kept his balance. But his perception spun in circles as though he were falling.

He held the parry as his teacher forced him back, looking intently into his eyes.

But as Adram looked closely, he could not deny it wasn't the Adron he knew which gazed back at him. It was a different, weaker Scyther. A very young, confused child.

"It's true, isn't it?" Adram whispered. "Adron the Prodigy is dead?"

"Teach me," Adron begged. "Teach me everything. From the beginning again."

Blades rang as the elder parted with the child, standing back and looking at him in amazement.

"I can't."

"Please," Adron pleaded. "It's my only chance!"

"No!" Adram insisted. "No, it is not. That isn't my job, Adron… I'm… not that sort of teacher. Those were the sort of teachers who raised you first, not me… I… have warriors to train now. I can't be… spending time rehearsing things you should already know. I gave you your one lesson, as you wanted..."

"What will I do?!" Adron blasted. "Where… is my place… now?"

"If… if this is true, and you can't snap out of this stupor of yours, then… I regret to say this, with every bit of my being, but I cannot hesitate to pass judgment… your place is no longer here. Perhaps… it is not even among the Adrellos."

"You… are abandoning me?"

"I must," Adram said forcefully. "I can do nothing more for you. It… it's a shame. Just days ago you were such a sharp little blade… And when this condition struck you, I feared for you, I had nightmares about it, and the nightmares came true. We Adrellos cannot expect nature to be merciful. Indeed, that's why I train warriors, to conquer nature… but those who fall… we must also learn to accept the loss and to let them go. It is not the place of a Scyther to sympathize where it would become a detriment."

"Sensei, listen…"

"You babble like a Vulpix!" Adram yelled. "Go! Leave me. Stop bringing me this pain."

"Listen…"

"LEAVE, I said!"

*THWACK!*

Another harsh blow to Adron's head, and this one wasn't blocked. It was the traditional parting strike, but it had been launched too quickly for Adron to comprehend. He stumbled and eventually toppled over, watching in disbelief as his trusted teacher simply left him alone.

*Chapter 47*: Special Episode: Watcher, Part 3

"I refuse to submit to you."

Adron lurked in the lair for fourteen days after the incident, but the shame grew to be too much. He could no longer look his fellows in the eye. He no longer hunted, trained, or sparred with them. He became ashamed of even taking food from the rest of the clan, knowing that what he had become was no greater than a wild animal.

After those fourteen days, when Adron could not bear another pitiful visit from one of his brothers, he knew he had to leave. He had to find a place to be alone with the voices in his head, far away from the Adrellos or any of his brothers. He could not be a burden to them anymore.

Go. Leave. Stop bringing this pain.

So, one quiet evening, he dragged himself out from the dark, comfortable safety of the den, and wandered through the branching paths of the Shattered Plateau. He knew not where he would go. The wild was no place for him; living among the feral animals of the wilderness without even the ability to raise a blade and defend himself was a suicidal concept. But waiting until the Adrellos denied him shelter for his incapability would be more dishonor than he could bear to live with. So, he wandered the dark paths, trying to find a place somewhere between the two fates.

He found a secluded ditch on the very south-eastern corner of the plateau, a place swarming with enough of the little purple rats to sustain him, and he buried himself there, where no other Scyther could find him.

And each day when he opened his eyes and found himself still existing in the world beyond his meaningless dreams, his will burned more deeply in his core—that he would not accept the fate that had been dealt to him.

I am Adron, a Scyther. I serve myself; I am no longer worthy of serving the Adrellos.

I have hidden myself in a place where my presence will not burden them.

My purpose… is to overcome this!

I am not content with only living!

I will not be a helpless creature; I am a warrior!

He began a tradition of speaking to his unstoppable thoughts as though they were another separate entity inside of him. They would never respond, but he spoke to them anyway.

"I refuse to submit…" he growled weakly, sitting in the ditch amidst a pile of some rat carcasses he'd accumulated. "I… I… won't lie here… I will… I will fight you…"

He spoke it time and time again, but the words always seemed meaningless, no matter how much conviction he put behind them. He wanted to believe that if he said them enough times, they would hold enough power to disrupt the daydreams.

"I will find the power to overcome you…" Adron said to himself, with what was now a daily mantra. "I will take my place among the Adrellos… I will destroy you the way you've destroyed me."

After finishing his self-orientation, Adron convinced his body to move. He rose from the fissure in the ground and came to stand, alone, among the craggy towers that provided him shelter from the wilderness outside. To the east, a cloud of darkness steadily rolled in: nighttime. He could no longer control when he slept and when he rose, but it was inconsequential to him. He only cared about controlling the oblivious spirit which roosted in his mind; if he could not control it, nothing else mattered.

He began another of his daily routines: training.

He knew not how to fight. He knew not how enemies would react to his movements. All he knew now was that he was a violent creature by nature, that he commanded two metal blades embedded into his arms, both of which were sharp enough to slice through flesh and bone, and that fighting most certainly involved hitting things with them.

So that's what he practiced: hitting things with them. There was no rhythm, no strategy, no complicated maneuvers, nothing that would confuse him… just simple, desperate blows to the rocky walls and pillars surrounding his hiding place. It was all he could do. He didn't know if it helped him, but he needed to do it. He needed to exert this feeble little measure of authority over his insanity.

*Clang!* *Clang!*

After twenty days of this, it already began to look as though fifty battles had taken place in this tiny little section of the plateau. Patterns of scratch marks, as if from lion claws, painted the stone surfaces. Some of the pillars were becoming whittled down, just like a tree would look after the dam-building rodents sharpened their teeth on it. More and more, his new home came to resemble the inside of his own mind as he struggled for freedom from it.

*Clang!*

And this evening, as he slammed a boulder and whittled down the sharpness of his blades, he thought to converse with the chaos. Learning to speak coherently again had been such a frustrating process; once he had discovered how to string some thoughts into decent patterns, he had always enjoyed taunting the disruption in his head with his own words and pretending he was irritating it back.

"What do you want of me?" he grunted, expecting a response. "What do you expect me to do for you?"

*Clang!*

"What would you take from me that you haven't already taken?!"

*Clang!* *Clang!*

"Such a complex beast you are, but I can't understand your language!"

*Clang!*

"What language do you speak?"

*Clang!*

"Can't we be brothers? Can't we serve one another?!"

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

"We could gain power, if only you'd listen to me! Why don't you listen? Why can't we forge an alliance?"

*Clack!*

Already beginning to tire in frustration, Adron gave one last lunge to the boulder before leaning against it, succumbing to the mental disturbance and feeling his weakening will to keep trying. His words were useless, like they always had been. Yet he kept spouting them, over and over, as if to expect a different result from them whenever he'd try. Though he rose each day with a resolute heart, the days always ended in despair, shattered hopes, and the cold reality of his condition: it was permanent. Nothing he could do would change it.

Trust is complicated and fleeting; fear is absolute. Every other creature must learn to fear the sound of our name.

He blinked.

As his thoughts spun, they presented him with a line from the code he knew so well. It hung in his mind for a moment, pulsing with significance, as though the otherworldly creature in his head wanted him to see it.

He blinked again. It was a fleeting sensation, but for once, a thought had made clear sense.

Trust?

And he had an idea.

… … …

"Maybe I know the language you speak, beast!" Adron roared at himself. "Maybe I know it all too well, the most primal instinct in every creature… And now, we will see if you speak!"

Adron stood far above the Shattered Plateau, upon the very highest of the broken rock towers his eyes could catch. It had been a strenuous fight, with many stops to rest on the ledges and footholds, so he knelt down and again regained his breath as he surveyed the landscape below.

The vertigo hit him immediately. It was a very long way down.

He witnessed the Shattered Plateau in all its glory, noticing all the parts which had crumbled among those which still stood, like a giant death trap of spikes. He saw the gorgeous visage of the meadows, forests, and winding streams in the distance, all soaked in that deep, dark, shadowy red of twilight as the sun set far behind him. Tears almost formed in his eyes from the pure beauty of it. He knew now that this was the war field, and tonight, he would attack.

Finally, he gazed straight down to the base of the tall rocky tower. It was surrounded in avalanched rocks and pebbles of all sorts.

He knew he would not survive a fall. And he knew, even if he tried, that his feeble wings had no chance of saving him if he fell too far—he'd be unable to slow down his momentum in time. His body would simply shatter upon contact with the uneven landscape.

He imagined what it would feel like.

"See!" he gasped to no one but himself. "Look before yourself, and see!"

The cold breeze whipped at his face. He ignored it, staring down at the ground.

"You don't speak the language of trust. Do you speak the language of fear?"

His mind ignored every word, but he persisted.

"I am a warrior, beast! If I cannot live without you stirring my thoughts, mixing my concentration, driving me away from my brothers… I will not live!"

Adron raised his voice, screaming to the heavens. His gasping became hysterical.

"I will leap!" he cried, his voice echoing through the canyons down below. "It is not enough to live! If you do not speak to me, I will leap, and end both our lives!"

Again, nothing.

"SPEAK!" he demanded. "Do you not see those rocks down below?! Our lives will end there! And do you not see the resolve in my mind?! Do you not believe me, beast? I will leap! I will not hesitate! I will leap!"

After the echo of his voice reverberated from the distant surfaces and faded away, his mind still did not respond to his pleas. Still, it constantly flowed past like the wind which swept over him.

"You have TAKEN EVERYTHING!" he bellowed, a desperate plea. "You've taken my pride! My brothers! My power! You've left me with nothing! Nothing, but this choice! This last bit of control I have over myself, the power to end my own life! Is this what you want?! LISTEN! RESPOND! ANSWER!"

Dizziness clouded his vision from breathing so heavily, and his sense of balance faltered as the world wobbled and spun around him. His throat became sore from screaming. Tears covered his face. Through it all, there was still no response from his fleeting mind. It didn't hear. It didn't care. Its defenses were rock-solid, oblivious to the world around him.

Broken. Wounded.

Adron slumped down upon the tiny surface so high in the air, bowing his head in defeat. It was over. Everything was over. All his effort… it meant nothing. He could not fight. He could not think. He could no longer comprehend anything but the simplest ideas. He could no longer strive for power, as the code commanded, or use that power if by chance he obtained it by luck. He cursed the Watcher. So evil, so pitiless it had been, for poisoning his head.

There was nothing left. Nothing left… but to follow through with the threat he had made.

He shifted his legs, coiling them for power. He anchored the tips of his blades against the rock.

"Fine… then…" he gasped through his teeth, trembling in fear. "So… BE IT!"

He squeezed his eyes shut. He had no regrets.

With one final gasp for air, Adron thrust his body and pounced into the sky, leaving the tower behind him and letting the pummeling air drown out his thoughts.

But he stopped moving.

Adron's eyes snapped open. He hung in the air against his will, having only fallen one or two body heights. Mixing with the wind, there was now an incessant, yet familiar buzzing noise.

He looked back, though he already knew it to be true. His wings were buzzing, keeping him aloft.

They were running against his will.

Puzzled, he wondered what had happened. When he chose to jump, he had not intended to fly. He had intended to die. His wings had opened all by themselves.

And that's when he noticed it…

Order.

Though his wings grew so tired from treading air, he hovered in place, simply astounded at himself. The voice in his head had not quieted, but it had sorted itself into an order! Order to his thoughts was now such a foreign concept to him, he couldn't comprehend it. His subconscious thoughts, which had once bounced around from idea to idea with no regard to meaning, now screamed the same feeling over and over:

Survive. Survive. Survive. Survive. Survive. Survive.

"Ah hah hah hah," Adron laughed wickedly, insanely, thrashing at the empty air. "Ah hah hah hah hah hah! So… so you would also… heh heh… take this last choice away!"

It was such a simple, instinctual reaction. The will to live. The aversion to terminating one's own life. It had happened purely by reflex. Yet, it was a concept his chaotic mind understood. It was a language it spoke after all, a language it had responded to. And now, he had found such a simple way to put his rampant impulses into a predictable order… For just a moment, he could focus! He could dwell on thoughts! He laughed again, mocking the stupidity of it all, the simplicity of it all, until he grew close to passing out from hyperventilation and exhaustion.

And he found, to his delight, when his thoughts were in order, they were so clear! Since the barrier to his underlying mind was broken away, he could see all of his thoughts, and the way they connected to one another, as clearly as the clouds in the sky. They were all laid out before him, like a legion of servants, cowering in fear of the imminent death he would had caused himself.

"Now, then!" he laughed triumphantly to nobody but himself. "While I have your attention, listen to what I say! I know you're just a swarming flock of feelings that doesn't want to obey me. That's fine! Because I tried to control you for over thirty days and it's obvious I can't. So, I'm not going to try anymore. No, I'm going to fall back and let you do everything for me! Just like Sensei Adram wanted me to do for him! I'm going to train you, and then you're going to guide me, but you're going to let me make the decisions. I will learn to understand you. And you will learn to obey my command. We will learn to cooperate, even if… even if it kills us! Because if you continue to disobey me, I can assure you, heh heh heh… it will!"

As his wings were flitting awkwardly and starting to fail him, Adron thrust himself back up to the top of the platform and collapsed. Immediately, his thoughts changed to chant something else for a few moments:

Safe. Safe. Safe. Safe.

When his safety was established, the wild beast in his mind resumed its rounds, scattering into chaos and confusion again. But through it, Adron grinned. A crazy kind of joy now filled him. He knew he had leverage over the raw force. He knew he had a way of controlling it.

He knew there was hope.

But as he lounged atop the towering pillar, dreading the flight back down, he felt the now-familiar helplessness return in full force. And as he watched his memories flash back to battles and weather patterns and other Scyther and more battles, he had to wonder...

…would the hope be good enough?

… … …

A family of Piloswine wandered across a frostbitten, early-morning meadow. They were migrating south for the cold season, where food became easier to find. They were oblivious to the two Scyther who waited inside of a creek bed, eying them…

"Now watch," sensei Adram whispered to his student. "What do you see?"

Adiel squinted at the lazy gathering of swine, watching as they plodded south like leaves slowly floating downstream on the surface of a river. He knew any Scyther could kill one of these easily, but that was not the challenge—the challenge, now, was to follow the code. Strike without being seen, and kill without being heard. He had to figure out a way to perform the deed as invisibly as the wind, without even the acknowledgement of the rest of the heard. This was one of the most difficult lessons the Scyther children were taught in their final months of training, and one of the most important to carry into the battlefield: the secrets of true stealth.

"They turn, occasionally, to the northeast," he answered. "I need to time it—"

"No," Adram grumbled. "This isn't complicated."

"Their hair tends to cover their eyes," Adiel tried. "They would have difficulty looking up. I might fly."

"You might, but you are still over-thinking," Adram replied. "Sneaking up on every type of creature is a different puzzle, but with these creatures, it's hardly a challenge at all."

Adiel shook his head. "What do you mean? If you want me to kill them without them seeing me, I need to make sure they don't see me. Why isn't that important?"

"Think, Adiel," Adram told him. "Stealth is not always about not being seen. But more often than not, it is about not being seen as a threat."

"I'll approach gently, then," Adiel said with a grin, understanding the point. "These creatures come from the north caves, where Scyther don't live. They don't know what I am. They might not judge me as a predator. So if I don't act like a predator…"

"You may gain their trust," Adram said, "only to betray it when one wanders too close to you."

*Splash!*

A large object had been plunged into the stream behind the two Scyther, startling them both. Nearby birds scattered. The swine all moaned in surprise and started to wander off.

Adram had barely taken a breath before he had snapped around and pounced upon the intrusion, his survival instincts still as sharp as ever in his old age. He'd expected it to have been a high-flying bird of prey swooping to claw at a fish. He did not expect to be staring another Scyther in the eye. And he expected least of all that it would be this Scyther.

"Adron?!" he gasped, immediately releasing the intruder from his instinctual death-grip, dropping him back into the shallow stream. "Adron, what is your business? You've interrupted my training session and given away our position!"

"I'm here… to keep my appointment," Adron answered in an intense voice. "It's been thirty-six days since I last trained with you. The agreement was you and I, every eighteen days, would train. I'm sorry I missed the last appointment, I'm here now."

"It is you!" Adiel cried. "Rumors spread that you were lost in the wild! I know, because I started them! What happened to you?!"

"And what gives you the idea it's acceptable to interrupt your brothers' training?" Adram growled. "Has your mild healed? Obviously, it has not, since you had the gall to disrupt our hunting effort! I thought I told you clearly: if your mind will not heal, I no longer have business training you!"

"Don't… talk to me about things becoming… disrupted," Adron growled back. "No… my mind is the same. But, with some practice, I am learning to cope. And you, sensei… You must live up to our agreement. You say… you don't have the time to train me from infancy. But you still can train me according to our schedule."

"And what, then, do you expect me to accomplish?" Adram seethed, standing Adron down and glaring at him.

"Battle me," Adron replied. "And try to kill me."

Appalled, Adram thrust his blades against the little one's chest, sending him splashing back into the creek water. He did not fall. "Adron, how confused are you?" he laughed. "You are unarmed… and you want for me to kill you? Even though I would not even concede to it in the days you were thinking clearly?"

"Yes," the little one answered without hesitation. "Otherwise… I will not learn."

The elder tilted his head for a moment, his irritation bleeding through his eyes. Then, without warning, he stepped closer to Adron and launched an assault upon him.

Wham! A forceful blow to the head. Wham! Another one to the side. Clank! Clank! Two blows which Adron managed to parry. And finally, the most ridiculous of attacks, a blunt slamming of his foot to the chest. Adron gasped, collapsing onto his back against the creek bed's rocks.

"Adron, leave my sight," Adram ordered, shaking his head in shame. "Come with me, Adiel, we will find somewhere else to train."

Adiel stood for a moment, staring his old companion in the eye and feeling a small measure of sympathy. "It is good to know that your spirit, at least, isn't gone," he said simply before turning to follow.

Adron winced as he tried to climb off the pile of rocks without irritating the sensitive scrapes they had caused in his abdomen.

It's a start, he told himself. Yes… a start. This is going to be painful. Now… who else would listen to the demands of an insane Scyther?

… … …

"I don't fight cowards," the other Scyther called out sneeringly, turning to concentrate on finishing the green berry skewered at the end of her blade.

Adron peered into the food cache and at the one Scyther who currently occupied it: Alwry. She was always an aggressive, unfriendly girl. She seemed to make a living of defying the alpha hatchlings and standing up to them, and pushing around the weaker ones. She had never been liked by many, except those she had agreed not to abuse if they would be her companions. She'd gotten into disagreements with Adron too many times to count, and Adron hoped that he might spark another one today…

"You know, your stealth is awful," she teased again. "Come out where I can see you, coward."

Adron hissed silently at himself. She'd always been an observant one, too, just like he was. He stepped out from behind the rock, showing himself in a beam of sunlight.

Alwry gave a flippant glance to the intruder, but then had a spasm of surprise when she realized his identity. Composing herself just as quickly, she flung the remains of the berry away and came to confront him.

"Am I a coward," Adron responded, "because I came back?"

"You!" she gasped. "Where have you been?! Adiel told me you were eaten by a lion, but I knew better than to believe that. What's your excuse for disappearing? There's no spare food for any of us! Nobody will hunt because they thought you're dead!"

"None of your business, where I've been," Adron answered. "But I came here to fight you."

"Gladly," Alwry said wryly, a smirk cracking her face. "Let me tell you, Adarc is an awful rival. I don't know how you ever put up with him, but half the time I have to teach him how to fight me. It's been embarrassing. I miss having a good enemy. So… what will be the terms of this fight?"

"I win if I make you surrender," Adron announced to her. "You win if you kill me."

Alwry staggered. "Kill you? You want a true duel?!" she yelped. "I see. You're hungry for a challenge? I accept the terms of victory! What about the stakes?"

"No stakes," Adron answered with his own smile, "but the pride of being superior."

Adron braced himself as Alwry opened the battle, a reckless charge. He raised his blades at the last moment to parry the strike, causing the familiar sound of clashing steel to ring down through the rocky halls. For a few seconds, her blades forcefully stayed locked against his, trying to force him back and fall from his feet.

Adron saw the gleam in her eye, and knew she was honest about the challenge. He waited for her to make the next move.

She spun her body and ducked, a very skillful move, slamming his knee with the open blade. Adron groaned in pain, the blow glancing from the hard bony armor but feeling like it had severed his leg right off in the process. He buckled under the blow, jumping back to retreat. His leg stung, and he felt his stance unreliable. A moment later, his wings buzzed and he took to the air,

"What is this, Adron?" Alwry questioned. "You ask me to kill you, then you just retreat and don't fight back?"

"Fine… then…" he answered.

He tried to narrow his thoughts, searching for a striking opportunity. He zipped into a dive, blades drawn…

Where, his mind wondered. Where do I strike?

Before he knew it, he'd been countered. Alwry guessed his attack and disarmed his blades with her own, flinging her assailant around her body and sending him skidding across the floor.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha," she laughed cockily. "What was that?!"

Adron answered by picking himself up quickly and pouncing again.

Focus! he told himself. Please, just for once, focus!

He tried to lazily lob his blades onto her left shoulder, which looked open. But she was an observant one, easily sidestepping the attack and thrusting him to the side, sending him tumbling away again.

This time, Alwry followed by leaping onto Adron's fallen form, pinning him down with her huge foot and leveling her blade with his neck.

"I didn't expect I'd actually get the opportunity to kill you, Adron," Alwry uttered, holding him still under her weight. "You were so confident, I thought you would beat me. Did you just wake up? Or…"

Alwry hesitated.

"You're insane," she realized. "That's what this is? Challenging me to kill you? You're mad, aren't you?"

"Ughhh…" he groaned, struggling against her force but being unable to even lift his chest from the floor.

"You never recovered," she said, growing angry. "That problem you had last month. You never recovered from it! That's what this is. And you want me to train you now? Is that it?"

She released him from the hold, only to kick him harshly in the side in anger.

"I surrender," she spat. "Enjoy your pride of superiority. You're going to need it. You fight like an infant!"

She stormed out, leaving him laying there. He turned to lift himself, feeling

I disappoint everyone, Adron said to himself. But… this is the only way I will learn again… isn't it?

… … …

Adron tried to duel with more hatchlings, but the result was mostly the same: he could not battle. He could not think quickly. He'd gotten a few hits off Adreu, one of the youngest, but even Adreu could outmaneuver and outsmart him without much effort. He had hope, now… but that's all that had changed. His mind was still as much of a disaster as before.

After his unsuccessful battles, Adron returned in the evening to lie in his ditch and think about what he had learned—or even if he had learned anything at all. He knew he'd gotten reckless and desperate with the discovery of his new hope, but still didn't know what he could do with it. Kicking shattered rats away, he turned his body to stare at the dark wall, and at all the images which flashed upon it. He tried to appraise them, wondering if there was any sort of sign his battles had changed them, as a headache throbbed in his forehead.

His will, this time, was steadfast; he had seen how his thoughts reacted to the brink of death. He had seen it in the battle with Alwry, and again in the battle with Adezl. He knew this problem could be broken, and he was not going to give up. But he knew he had to rethink his method.

It is just as Alwry said, Adron reflected. I'm insane, telling any Scyther I meet to kill me… It hasn't been working, but it's the only thought I could follow. There must be… some other way…

"Adron!"

His body convulsed in surprise as a voice screamed his name from somewhere nearby. He was scared; he knew he couldn't defend himself on such a short notice. He stirred and turned to look up outside, wondering who could have been searching these grounds for him.

An amused Adarc peered back down at him.

"Adron, you look like a feral!" he commented. "So this is where you've been all this time… Hah, I knew Adiel was lying…"

"How did you find me?" Adron wondered weakly, trying to crawl out of the ditch.

"Just followed you here," he answered. "Today was the first time I saw you back at the den grounds in a long time, and I wanted to know where you've been hiding… It didn't look like you detected me… Are you recovering? How's your mind?"

"Why… do you care?" Adron growled, climbing up and standing on his feet. He tried to ignore his headache.

"Because I'm proud of rivaling you," he answered, lowering his voice. "It hasn't been fun with you missing. I miss always wondering if you're spying on me. I've tried rivaling Alwry, but her skills are just so poor… she's not up to your level. If I can help you heal…"

Adron looked away. "No… my mind isn't healing," he replied. "But… I've been learning to cope. I can speak now at least. I couldn't tell a story or anything, but… at least I can say what I mean. I still… can't battle. But I'm trying to learn. I think I… found a way. But it's hard... that's why I was back with the clan."

"You want to find opponents because you can't fight with the sensei anymore?" Adarc guessed. "You're trying to practice?"

Adron shook his head, and he grasped for a more complex idea that seemed to be hanging in front of him. "Imagine…" he tried. "When you need to train a beast, you feed it when it obeys you, and you harm it when it disobeys you. That's how it learns. My mind is like that. It's like a wild beast that won't listen, always distracting me. Only… instead of… doing that, it will only learn if I threaten to kill it. So, I think I can learn to fight again if… my opponent means to kill me."

"Seems like a contradiction… you can't fight anything stronger than a purple rat, but you need your opponent to kill you?"

"It's difficult," Adron admitted. "I still don't know… What I tried today was stupid of me. I'm embarrassed. I should go into the wild. I could train there, the same way the ferals are trained… but I'm afraid."

Adarc glanced around the rocks with a wary eye, as if to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Then, he stepped close to Adron and spoke in a quiet voice.

"I'll help you," he said a second time. "Sensei Adram doesn't want a word spoken of you. And everyone is saying you're insane."

"Why?" Adron hissed. "Why help me? The Adrellos wouldn't accept me now. If I learn to fight again, I might reach the skills of a one-year-old… I'm a fallen brother now. The code says not to help fallen brothers…"

"The code says we are one," Adarc replied, "And you're not a fallen brother! I know you aren't insane. You speak slowly, but every word you speak has reason behind it. If you were insane, you would be rambling. And the things you do have good reason behind them, even though they sound insane. I think the other hatchlings are stupid because they can't see that. They all fail at being rational, observant Scyther."

Adron sighed. His brother's words made him feel better, but he couldn't help disagreeing with them. He eyed his ditch, as if he wanted to withdraw and go back to sleep.

"But that's not why I want to help you," Adarc continued, quietly. "You're the most talented Scyther of this clutch, and I try to imagine growing up and fighting with the Adrellos and having you not at my side as an ally, but I can't. I was never confident in myself… with you gone, some of the hatchlings are starting to consider me the alpha, and I know I'm not, even though I try to humor them… Having you as a brother gave me a lot of the confidence I had."

"I'm not the same Adron anymore," he replied sadly. "I don't think that Adron will ever come back."

Adarc glared at him for a moment, then turned to pace away. "Well… before you run off into the wild," he said, raising his voice again, "Don't you think we should test your idea?"

"What do you mean?" Adron asked, looking at him oddly.

"Do you need an opponent who means to kill you?" Adarc asked, turning around. "Then I am that opponent."

"You just said you need me as your ally, and now you want to try killing me?" Adron said oddly. "How can I believe that?"

"Forget what I said," Adarc snapped. "Pretend I never said it. Now… should I help you, or not?"

Adarc took a battle stance. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, one slightly in front of the other, ready to launch himself forward in flight. He leveled his blades at his sides, readying them to strike. He lowered his head, adding range to his arms.

"Fine," Adron decided, looking at his battle stance and trying to copy it himself. "Fine…"

The standoff lasted for a few silent seconds.

"I attack on your command," Adarc said. "What do you want me to do?"

"One… fatal strike," Adron ordered. "Only one, for now."

"Very well."

"It must be a fatal strike!" Adron reminded him. "If not, it won't mean anything. Aim for the kill."

"I know."

Adron watched his opponent. Despite the confidence in his voice and the strong, burning gaze, Adarc trembled. His battle stance wavered as he planned the move that might end his brother's life. He saw this dark intention in Adarc's heart, and his heart began to race. Energy filled his limbs, readying his reflexes. His mind was ready to do whatever it took to survive.

And he let that survival instinct take control.

Adarc opened his wings and lunged, his blades opened wide. Adron held his breath. It was a scissor strike, aimed at his throat: a basic technique of decapitation, one of the first a Scyther learns in training, useful for quickly finishing many species of Pokémon without letting them utter a final cry. If performed with enough strength and precision, able to decapitate a Scyther.

Survive. Survive. Survive!

With startling reflex, Adron raised his blades high and wide to block the blow. His arms seemed to move on their own, without his will, controlled only by the desperate instinct…

*Clank!* *Clank!* Adarc's blades hit the backs of Adron's, a perfect block.

But Adron's instincts did not stop there.

*Schlunk!*

Adron copied the failed attack, closing his blades in a forceful scissor directly through Adarc's throat.

Clear blood smeared across the steel, as Adarc's wide-eyed head tumbled to the ground, the body following soon after.

"One fatal strike. Only one, for now."

"No…" Adron gasped, gaining control again, his heart pummeling the inside of his chest.

"It must be a fatal strike! Aim for the kill!"

"No… no!" Adron uttered profusely. "Adarc, no… No, no… this wasn't supposed to happen… No!"

Adron gasped in disbelief at his blood-stained blades, and at the fallen brother at his feet. He felt as tears began to trickle from his eyes, eyes that were now opened so wide…

"What have you done?" Adron uttered in a crazed, hysteric rage, dropping to his knees. "This is your fault! You controlled me! Father Adrel, forgive me... forgive... me..."

… … …

Adron saw rock.

Dark rock. And the stench of death.

He stirred, feeling the streaming tears dripping from the sides of his faceplate.

Night. It was night. Just like it had been that one time, long ago, when that Watcher had cursed him…

Snapping his head around and trying to make sense of his surroundings, he realized he was lying in his ditch.

He'd blacked out after the horrible deed he'd committed.

Filled with adrenaline and gasping for air, he nearly leapt straight out of the hole's mouth and onto his makeshift battle arena, his eyes locking to the place where he had killed Adarc.

He wasn't there. Either an animal had carried off the body, or…

It had been a dream.

No… not just a dream, he realized…

A daydream.

Awe covering his face, Adron realized he had never actually fallen asleep. He'd returned to his resting place to reflect upon the day's events…

And reflect, he did.

The hallucination had been so vivid it was indistinguishable from reality. It was a dream, a perfect dream, clearly visible to him through the broken barrier in his mind just like all his other rampant thoughts.

And then Adron held his breath, realizing the truth about the dream's nature: the dream had meaning.

It had come about as the result of combining the day's failed battles into one stream of thoughts. Everything Adarc had said to him came from his own expectation, following the patterns of the others.

The beast in his mind… it had learned.

And it was serving him, for it had answered the very questions he had asked. Was his method working at all? It was. Was there another way? Yes, the very one which it had showed him.

His mind had done as he had demanded of it: it was giving him guidance.

Now… all that was left was for him to act upon its guidance, to see if it could be trusted.

*Chapter 48*: Special Episode: Watcher, Part 4

That's it!

That's the pattern! I see it now!

… … …

"Adron… I wasn't even aware you were still alive," Adarc said nervously. "And now, you want me to…"

"Train me," Adron said again, "by trying to kill me."

Adron grinned. So far, his hallucination had come perfectly true. The dream hadn't been a fleeting memory; it lingered for a while, a powerful impression upon his mind, one that he could manage to trust and to think about. It was a measure of order to the chaos. Now, the only thing left was to carry through with it, to see if it meant what he wanted it to mean. Adarc had been easy to lure to his hidden home; once he had caught sight of Adron, he could not help but to silently track him on his way back to his hiding place, just as he had always tried to do in the past. And he knew, if he said the right words, he could trick Adarc into doing his will just as the hallucination had suggested.

Adarc looked frightened. He was not as willing or agreeable as he had been in the dream. He glanced around Adron's hiding place, seeing the scrapes and indentations on the surrounding walls—marks of a crazed Scyther waging war on the inanimate rocks. He listened, disbelievingly, to Adron's words. Adron knew his brother wanted to run away and never return, and that he would, if he couldn't gain his trust in time. But Adron wasn't willing to let that happen; this was the last solid hope which had crossed his mind, and he was not going to let it escape.

"You aren't well!" Adarc grasped, twitching as he tried to avoid looking Adron in the eye. "You are still confused from the psychic attack. Adiel was right, it was permanent… Adron, I… I can't help you!"

"You can, and you will," Adron said powerfully. "I am insane, yes, but listen to me. I speak words you can understand, I don't ramble on with confused ideas like a mad Scyther would. My ideas have reasons behind them. I am not lost!"

Adarc did not answer. His gaze was downcast.

"Look at me, Adarc!" Adron cried. "You know I'm still in here somewhere. You can see me! Deny it. Deny it, if you don't believe it."

"I… don't deny it," Adarc said.

"Then help break free from this!" Adron pleaded. "I can improve, but I need help!"

Adarc scowled, glancing back the way he came. He shook his head.

"I don't have time," Adarc said. "You know… the confirmation ceremony is only… something like forty days from now! You want me to train you from the ground up in forty days?!"

"If you don't… I won't be able to join the Adrellos," Adron said. "If they don't give me another chance and let me train with the new hatchlings, they'll banish me. Is that what you want? You know that… I'm the most talented Scyther of this clutch. Can you go on as an adult and not have me at your side as an ally? You were never confident in yourself. With me gone, the others will think of you as the new alpha… can you live up to that? You can't. Because I was the one who gave you confidence. That's why you're going to help me."

Adron paused, waiting for his pointed words to take effect. He didn't know whether or not they would work, he was just saying what the voice in his head had told him to say, the voice representing Adarc in his hallucination. He held his breath, watching Adarc's unnerved face as he stared at some nearby rock. He hoped the response would be favorable.

"You're trying to manipulate me," Adarc finally said. "Poorly, but… you're trying to trick me into helping you. I know you can't be completely lost. …Yeah, Adron, I do still see you in there."

"Then you'll help?"

"Yes, I'll help you, I guess," Adarc decided. "If I can find the time…"

… … …

It was so obvious! I've known it since the days of my infancy!

All along, it's been right in front of me!

… … …

"I can only learn if I am in extreme peril," Adron explained, beginning the first of his desperate training sessions with Adarc. "Only imminent death lets me focus. Without it, I can't control where my thoughts go. That's why you have to try to kill me and hope that I block you. Otherwise I won't learn."

"And if I kill you?" Adarc wondered, hesitantly taking his battle stance. "What then?"

"Then be proud of yourself that you have ended my misery," Adron returned. "If I'm a lost cause, I'd want nothing more."

… … …

There it is…

It's in the way Adarc fights…

… … …

"Let me try something else first, before I just start trying to lop off your head," Adarc suggested.

Adarc stepped close to Adron, waving his blades in circular motions.

"When Almru first started training us, we did this. Do you remember? This is a baby's exercise. Try to block my blows."

Adarc moved his blades slowly and hypnotically in front of Adron's face. Just as slowly, he motioned toward Adron's shoulder with the sharp end of his blade. When Adron realized what he had meant, he positioned his own blade to stop the advance.

"No… no," Adarc said. "Go slow. Don't go faster than me."

"This will teach me nothing," Adron grunted.

"It taught all of us the foundations for advanced blade-fighting techniques," Adarc insisted, "even you. Real battles are the same. You just learn to go faster."

Having gotten Adarc's cooperation, he decided not to argue further. Frowning, he followed Adarc's motions and engaged in the exercise.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Adron blocked the predictable, slow-moving blades from touching his body.

Thunk.

"Good," Adarc said. "Try to launch counter-attacks, too. So I can see how you are."

Thunk.

Thunk.

Tink!

Surprised, Adarc connected with his blade and gently struck Adron's faceplate.

"Are you blind?!" Adarc blasted. "How did you miss that attack? It was coming right at your face!"

Adron was confused. He had to think about it for a second. In truth, something had caught his attention. His reeling thoughts had told him something important. But it was only the faintest of whispers, vanishing in an instant…

"I… I saw something…" Adron said, suddenly dazed. "There was… some kind of…"

"Adron, please, don't be distracted," Adarc groaned. "Just… keep blocking my attacks…"

… … …

The days blurred together as one as Adron ceaselessly tested himself, trying to find that which he had lost. His memories became disjointed. Sleep was scarce, always interrupted by the powerful hallucinations that always lurked inside of his subconscious. Days were spent trying to focus, hoping that the raging beast of his mind would give him leeway little by little…

"Get up, brother Adron!" a voice called from outside his ditch one morning. "Thirty-six days remain, we cannot waste a moment!"

Confused, Adron roused himself from his pathetically short nap to behold none other than Adiel staring back down at him.

"You're… not Adarc," Adron managed to say. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Adarc is busy today," he explained. "But he told me all about you, so I'll train you in place of him. Get up. I won't be easy on you!"

… … …

Adiel as well…

It's in the way Adiel fights, too…

… … …

"Now," said Adiel, facing his opponent. "I am told… you have been re-learning the twenty-six basic reactions, but in the slower motion. Adarc tells me you do fine with most of them, as long as you have plenty of time to react. But he also told me… you learn best if you are in danger of death."

"Yes," Adron replied. "Adarc's lessons have not helped me. I had only followed them because he believes he has to assess my moves. And… because he's hesitating."

"I am not hesitant!" Adiel said proudly. "I will put you in danger of death!"

Adiel took his battle stance, grinning evilly. Adron tensed.

"Brace yourself!" he yelled. "Come, brother! Let's your skill back where it belongs!"

He rushed, his blades bared in a lethal formation…

*Clang!*

… … …

More nights passed. Most were sleepless nights, all spent listening to his thoughts as they barely began to speak a language he understood. Most of the time, they still told him nonsense, processing streams of ideas his consciousness no doubt needed in some mysterious way. But rarely, from time to time, they told him other things… things neither he, nor any other Scyther, would have thought of…

One night, far past midnight, Adron knew that sleep was hopeless. His mind rushed, his heart pulsed intensely.

He didn't care about death. Death would be a blessing, if Arceus would grant it. Death was his bartering chip with the beast in his head. He feared not the Watcher which had injured him. If he crossed it again, perhaps it would repair his madness the same way it had caused it. But he could not let the time pass idly. His days, his heartbeats, his moments were numbered. He needed all the intense training he could find.

So, he plunged himself out into the wild dark night, away from the safety of the plateau.

And as he prowled through the night, feeling the fear of seclusion and helplessness mounting within him, he watched the demons from afar as they hunted.

"Fire-breather," he hissed to himself, witnessing the horned, dark-furred beast sulking across the plains before him. "Train me, fire-breather…"

The hound picked up his scent quickly, and bounded in his direction.

There was a standoff, as the wild animal crouched low to the ground, growling viciously.

"rrrrrrrrrr-RAUFF! Rrrrr…"

"Show me your fire," the young Scyther hissed. "Show me… the bane of Scyther… your fire…"

A burst of light, casting away the shadows just as a streak of lightning would. A fireball erupted from the beast's maw. Adron felt that beloved, horrified feeling fill him, felt how it organized his thoughts…

Survive. Survive. Survive…

… … …

And me…

The way I fight… It's also in the way I fight…

… … …

*Clang!* *Clang!*

"Adron, you know that battling isn't going to be the only thing they'll test you on?" Adarc said during a training session. "You have to have all kinds of things memorized! Do you remember any?"

*Clang!*

"The rules of survival in the wild? How to pace a limited food supply?"

*Clang!*

"The rules of deceiving the enemy? The four common mistakes?"

*Clang!*

"The rules of stealth? The blind spots of common creatures?"

*Clang!* *Clang!*

"You have to remember all these things we all learned from the start! Just learning to battle isn't going to make everything come back! Adron?"

"Quiet!" Adron barked. "Please… just let me focus…"

"Adron, there are only fifteen days left, and you've barely learned anything since we started! There's no way you're going to be ready…"

"I said quiet!" Adron cried. "I can't think… if you don't stop talking… wait!"

Adarc halted his attack, looking annoyed. "What's wrong? What?!"

"I… think I saw something," Adron said, examining his own blades and trying to remember. "There was… something. There was a pattern. I saw a pattern. I saw part of it before, but..."

"You saw a pattern? Just one?" Adarc spat. "I would hope that you would have picked up many patterns by now. Patterns are the heart of battle."

"No…" Adron muttered, looking straight at the sky. "It wasn't the same. It was something else… I swear it! There was something important…"

… … …

The days and nights continued to reel by, and Adron kept fighting Adarc, as well as with his rocks, and any creatures he could find to assist in his endeavor. He remembered Adiel's words, and hung on to them: yes, his skill was locked away. It was still there, it just needed to be unlocked, right? He needed to find the pattern, the answer, to break free from this accursed handicap…

… yet, time was running out…

Another fireball dispelled the shadows of the night, bursting upon the ground where Adron had stood, billowing ashes and smoke as it dissipated and lit little embers upon the blades of grass.

Adron buzzed his wings, attacking the dark hound from above. His instincts had helped to take control. They guessed where the lethal fire would land, and where the enemy was most likely to attack next… and Adron let it act, as though a foreign creature – the beast in his head – had taken full control of his motions. He struck the hound from the side, splitting a wound through its fur and staining his blade. The hound roared in fury and leaped to bite his assailant, but Adron took to the air once more…

*Shwooom!*

There came a fireball from a direction Adron hadn't expected. His body jolted, but it was too late. In the light of this new flame, he caught sight of a smaller hound – a child, just like himself – defending his parent.

Your body is highly flammable. Avoid fire at all costs; a spreading burn could end your life.

There was a crazy pain, as though his body was being torn to tiny shreds. He was on fire. His wings disintegrated. His flesh peeled back, turning dark brown. His breath was lost, so his final anguished cry could ring through the air…

No… no… This isn't happening.

Adron closed his eyes tight, wrapping his body up into a tight ball as though to drown out the rest of the world. He knew… situations like this had become so common now… and he had to learn to tell the difference…

This isn't reality…!

This… this is a dream!

And, just as he thought, the hallucination went away. He found himself sprawled on the ground somewhere just outside of the plateau, too winded to move.

Keeping fantasy distinct from reality had become one of his greatest challenges. Memories and corruptions of memories flashed before his eyes so often, he had to learn to question everything he saw, everything he felt…

… … …

Soon, far too soon, the eve of the confirmation ceremony had come.

As the sun dimmed and the shadows of the Shattered Plateau covered his body, Adron stayed wide awake, assuming the stance for one final practice session. This was the end. Everything was riding on how skilled he had become at this point. Tomorrow would signify the beginning of his life as an honorable Scyther… or a dishonorable outcast, banished from the Adrellos as a fallen brother.

And what had he learned? Barely anything, it seemed. It felt to Adron that his thoughts had remained a chaotic mess, his battle skills still pathetically unreliable. If his "beast" friend had learned anything, it was outside of his perception, outside of his control.

Yet… he would not give up. If a revelation would happen that night, Adron determined, he would be awake to see it.

Before him, remaining at his side to the very end, was his brother Adarc. Though he was weary and worn from the day's intense exercises, he had refused to give up on his old rival, always hoping he would break free from the handicap. But tonight, he was beginning to face the hard fact that his hopes could have been in vain.

"Fight me!" Adron commanded.

So he obeyed, engaging in a sparring match with his brother one last time.

"Don't hold back!" Adron ordered. "Fight me as you would fight the Adrellos tomorrow. Use all of your skill! Fight to kill!"

Adarc quickly closed the distance, leaping into the air and using his wings to help propel his jump. He propelled himself directly over Adron's head, slashing at his face. With a clash of steel, Adron blocked it.

Landing upon the ground, Adarc pivoted himself quickly and launched another attack, slashing at Adron's back. Adron turned quickly and ducked.

"You… you're still not attacking me back, Adron," Adarc said. "I left myself wide open there. Why won't you attack?"

"Fight! Please!" Adron answered. "Just fight me!"

Adarc spun his body unpredictably and managed to connect a back-handed blow to Adron's abdomen. Adron stumbled back.

"You should have dodged that," Adarc growled. "Adron, you haven't improved much…"

"Please, just keep going," Adron insisted.

Adarc took to the air again, closing in on Adron's unprepared form. Adron parried the attack, thrusting Adarc farther away. Adron tried to take advantage of the strike, but he was met with the blunt of Adarc's foot to his chest, sending him to the ground. Adarc waited for Adron to get back up.

"You're not fighting me!" Adron growled. "Please… fight! Try your hardest!"

"Adron… I'm exhausted. Do you have any idea what the sensei put us through today? I need my rest…"

"No, not yet… I need… Just a little more time! Adarc… please, fight me!"

"Adron… I've fought you enough," Adarc said, stepping back and letting go of his battle stance. "And… you can't fight back. What's an hour more going to do for you? You can't… you can't improve."

"There's a pattern!" Adron pleaded, returning to his feet. "I almost see a pattern… It's right there in front of me… I can't explain it, but if I had more time to see it… I know I can find it!"

Adarc stood still. He felt pained. His expression turned grave. This was it; he had to draw the line at this point. The code said that he should not try to help a fallen brother back to their feet, and now he knew why: because it would bring him down as well.

The following day, he would join the Adrellos. He needed to learn how to follow the code. And so, he finally turned his back on his friend, parting ways with him.

"Yes, Adron," he said in a defeated sigh, not looking back. "Battles have patterns."

And, just like that, he was gone.

And Adron knew he had been deserted. He knew his life, everything he had trained for, was lost. The "beast" in his mind had not been trained. It remained his enemy, ruining his hope of becoming a strong warrior.

He knew it was over.

He stood still, for a very long time, staring at the path which Adarc had departed through, and contemplating where his place would be in the world.

… … …

At last, the confirmation ceremony had arrived.

Adron decided to attend the ceremony. There was no reason he couldn't; everyone assumed he would be participating in it. In truth, he just wanted to see all of his life-long companions off to their new positions in the Adrellos ranks, probably for the last time. Death would come soon enough for him; he knew he would somehow die out in the wild, helpless and alone, by the claws of the ferals. But, before that would happen, he wanted a little peace of mind from knowing his brothers would continue where he couldn't lead them, or even follow them…

The ceremony took place on a rocky ridge the Adrellos had named the "stone altar": it was a fragment of the plateau, a quarter-mile in diameter, which towered high above the craggy shelters of the Adrellos lair like a sliced-off mountain. It glowed in the mysterious orange colors of dawn as the Scyther clan gathered at its summit.

On one side, sensei Adram led the clutch of hatchlings. Twenty-three in all, they marched in ranks behind their leader. Some were filled with fear and anticipation. Others were filled with confidence. All were deathly silent, for one stray murmur out of line meant disrespect, and possibly disqualification.

Adron stood at the very back, where Adram had ordered him to go. He was complacent. He knew his fate. He would decline participation in the ceremony, and take whatever fate would deal him from there. Feeling that cold morning breeze, and seeing the glowing tint of the morning sunrise, he almost wanted to cry. It was the battlefield he loved, and it was the dawn of the future. But he was no longer a warrior. The battlefield was not his place anymore.

On the other side of the flat stone pillar, minus those few who could not attend, there stood the entirety of the Adrellos clan.

There were at least forty of them. They stood tall, towering over the little hatchlings like a wall of gods, pride burning in their eyes and immutable strength in their forms. Adron gazed in awe upon the visage of them all gathered in one place. They looked so different than he, or any of the other hatchlings. Their green skin and armor was tainted with scratches, scars, and calluses, making each one of them appear like a new species of creature entirely. Their blades were long and misshapen, having been worn down and sharpened. They, too, stood in total silence, as if not yet wanting to wake Mother Nature from her slumber…

And in the center, between the two groups, there stood one Scyther distinct from all the rest. His body was elderly and tattered, yet an iron will shined in his aura, showing the world that he was not yet done with his business among the living, and that anyone who took him to be too old and weary to fight back was horribly – perhaps even fatally – mistaken. His color was a deep and dark green, like the coarse and rugged plants which grow in the depths of a jungle. His gaze was wise and deep, his eyes having seen most of the things there is to see in the world. His stature demanded that he be feared and respected with all of one's heart, yet perhaps also loved and trusted. He was Foster-father Adrav, the ninth successor of Father Adrel, and leader of the Adrellos.

Father Adrav held his head high, assessing this new batch of younglings. Adram meekly approached him, commencing with the ceremony.

"Great Adrav, foster-father and brother of the Adrellos clan, I present to you the seventeenth generation of Scyther hatchlings. They have spent every moment of their childhood training to serve you, and now, I proudly hand them over to you. Test them as you see fit."

Adrav nodded. "I will," his voice boomed. "Good. Your work is finished, good Adram. You may take your place among my ranks."

The sensei bowed, then left the hatchlings on their own and crossed to the other side of the platform where he stared back at them, a beaming satisfaction in his eyes.

Adrav slowly approached the hatchlings, causing them all to shudder with intimidation as his mighty eyes scanned over them. The tip of the sun began to peek over the edge of the stone altar as Father Adrav began speaking.

"You wish to share in my brotherhood," he grunted, but in a powerful voice which seemed to be on fire. "So you have labored to learn the things Father Adrel wished for you to learn. Now, I must see if you will stand to our standards. The tests I have planned for you will last for fifteen days. They will thoroughly test your adherence to the code. There will be no breaks. You will not be allowed to sleep while you are tested. You will not be allowed to falter.

"Should you pass the test, you will become my equal. I will be your father only in title, because I will ask that you trust my judgment and allow me to direct your action as is good for this clan. But you will be my brother, and I yours. I will explain to you who the Adrellos are, and what we intend to accomplish with our power, and I would fight for you just as I would fight for any of these Scyther standing behind me. I would ask for you to do the same.

"Should you fail the test, however... Perhaps you were given unfortunate traits from your egg-bearers. Perhaps you are unwilling to serve me. I will talk with you and determine if a few more years in training would help you. As we will not be raising hatchlings for many more months, you would need to live secluded, apart from us, before the new generation hatches and is ready to learn. If that sounds unreasonable to you, or if I determine your spirit is not right for this clan… you will be handed over to the wild.

"Living in the wild is not dishonorable. I myself have lived in the wild for several years. There is no brotherhood out there, no one to serve but the forces of nature which animate you. If you are strong enough to survive, you might find purpose out there, and you might become a respectable wild animal. I would wish you the blessing of Father Adrel as you go. So do not harbor bitterness in your hearts as you are banished from us. There is a reason you are tested at such a young age; you are too young to know true bitterness. If you had learned the true treachery of the world, and your failure would come with range and anger… I could not let you live. I would need to destroy you, to protect my companions from the cunning wrath of a fallen brother.

"That decision is yours to make. You do not have to follow through with this. You may leave any time. For some of you, a life in the wild might be more appropriate, more fulfilling than the lives we children of the Adrellos lead. So, I ask now: do any of you hatchlings choose this option?"

There was silence, utter stillness. Only Adron stirred, bowing his head slightly.

"Good answer," Adrav said with a grin. "Now… We will begin with your testing. I have decided to start with the part which most of you are probably anticipating with high hearts, and get it out of the way first… agility trials. I will choose one of my brothers to duel with each of you. You are not expected to win, but to demonstrate your ability to your fullest extent."

He approached one of the tallest of the Scyther hatchlings in the front row.

"Step forward, hatchling," he ordered. "Your name?"

"Aduun, father," he replied confidently, his wings twitching in eagerness.

"Hatchling Aduun, please, demonstrate your battle prowess against my brother, Adrik…"

Adron watched from the back row as Aduun stepped to the center of the altar to confront one of the Adrellos warriors. Aduun was always an energetic and diligent one. His skills had been no match for Adron's, but he certainly had some fight in him. Adron knew he would do very well in this first trial…

Little Aduun used every technique he knew of, displaying them all perfectly before the crowd of onlookers, against the older Scyther. Blades clashed, wings buzzed, and streaks of green blurred through the air the little hatching tried to stand his ground against the older, more experienced warrior…

And in Adron's head… that's when the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

… … …

"Adron, I am your teacher, not your murderer," the elder reminded him. "Wipe away your pride. You would stand no chance against me if I didn't hold back."

The elder would not give the little one what it wished, but he doubled his efforts in hopes that the hatchling would be satisfied with a greater level of challenge. Opening his wings, he propelled himself far above the clay-ridden ground to attack his student from the air. The hatchling rose to the challenge, swarming at the elder and zipping past in attempt to strike from confusing angles. But every attack was blocked, as the elder expertly pivoted his blades to defend himself. The ringing cries of opposing steel filled the air once again.

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

… … …

It's in the way Sensei Adram fights…

… … …

Visions, memories spiraled before Adron's face. He saw flashes from the previous month, the month he spent trying unsuccessfully to cope with the mental injury…

… … …

Alwry staggered. "Kill you? You want a true duel?!" she yelped. "I see. You're hungry for a challenge? I accept the terms of victory! What about the stakes?"

Adron braced himself as Alwry opened the battle, a reckless charge. He raised his blades at the last moment to parry the strike, causing the familiar sound of clashing steel to ring down through the rocky halls. For a few seconds, her blades forcefully stayed locked against his, trying to force him back and fall from his feet.

Adron saw the gleam in her eye, and knew she was honest about the challenge. He waited for her to make the next move.

… … …

It's in the way Alwry fights…

… … …

The memories were relentless, flooding his vision. They streamed from his desperate attempts to train with Adarc, back to his sessions with sensei Adram, and sensei Alrac before him, back to before, back when he was just an infant, struggling for survival in the wild…

Focus, Adron… Focus!

I am Adron, a Scyther… I don't know where I am…

It's true, isn't it? Adron the Prodigy is dead?

It taught all of us the foundations for advanced blade-fighting techniques, even you. Real battles are the same. You just learn to go faster.

You have to remember all these things we all learned from the start! Just learning to battle isn't going to make everything come back!

We must never be content. Creatures who live without purpose are weak and useless; our undying hunger for power is the source of our strength…

It's everywhere… it's in all of us!

*FLASH!*

… … …

There was a blinding flash of light behind Adron's eyelids as he awoke from the most powerful dream he'd experienced yet. He looked around him, seeing the hatchlings still lined up, watching in awe as Aduun battled to prove his worth. But it didn't seem real, now. It seemed like another dream, but he knew it was real. He was there, attending the confirmation ceremony, standing among those who were about to be tested…

He struggled to catch his breath. He'd seen everything, everything which had happened to him, as though it had happened over the course of only a few minutes…

…and it had told him the pattern.

"I know it," he whispered, an awestruck gasp. "I know what the pattern is!"

Several of his brothers turned to glare at him, his disruption of the ceremony a severe sign of disrespect. He ignored them. He gasped in disbelief, as though he'd just witnessed Arceus himself flying in the morning sky. The beast had proven its worth to him. It had given him the answer. In fact, in its mysterious ways, it had been on his side the whole time.

"The pattern… is him!"

Adron shuddered uncontrollably. He couldn't contain himself. He saw the answer.

The early-morning sun still burned the brown rocks and the sky with its awesome fire. This was the battlefield. And now, he would strike.

He knew what he had to do.

His legs trembled so bad, he relieved them of their pressure and jumped into the air, flying straight over the crowd of hatchlings.

At first, nobody noticed him. Everyone's eyes were stuck on the battle. But the father of the clan, observant as he was, caught sight and watched as the hatchling stepped out of line.

Then, when he had flown near the center of the altar, he dropped back onto the hard stone surface, staring his clan leader in the eye.

And he yelled at the top of his lungs:

"I challenge you, Father Adrav!"

The battle stopped immediately, both contestants' attentions snapping at the distraction.

The Adrellos warriors stared at the bold little hatchling with amused disbelief. The other hatchlings wore looks of terror. Adron knew his challenge had not been a light one: to challenge the leader like this was to challenge him for his role… the role of foster-father of the clan. To win this challenge, he would be declared the new foster-father of the Adrellos. To lose… by tradition, he would be banished dishonorably from the clan. And not only that – the contest was a true duel. There would be no concessions made, no mercy. The battle would not end until one side would surrender. If none surrendered… it would be a battle to the death.

It was unheard of for a hatchling to utter this challenge against one who could so obviously crush him. But here, it was happening before everyone's eyes, and they stood in shock and awe, waiting to see how Adrav would react.

"Adron, you're insane!" Adarc gasped. "You can't win!"

"Stand down, Adron!" sensei Adram pleaded from the other side, rushing forward. "For the love of honor, please… stand down!"

But Father Adrav raised a blade behind him, commanding the sensei to halt. His eyes remained fixed on the brave little hatching.

"The challenge has been uttered, it cannot be taken back," he rumbled bitterly. "So… little one… you wish for me to banish you. I will fulfill that wish."

"I would be banished anyway!" Adron shot back.

Father Adrav laughed. "But what, in your tiny little mind, makes you think you can beat me?"

"Because I can!" Adron proclaimed. "I know your fighting style! Your spirit shines in every member of this clan! You're the one who passed your skill to the rest of us, and burned your wisdom into us so that we could be as great as you! All my life, I've been fighting you! Your ideas! Your techniques! The way you preach the code! With every blow, even I swing your blades! Now I challenge you, just as you have called me to!"

"You have seen visions, then," Adrav grumbled. "I have never met you before in my life. And I would have never called you to act so foolishly."

"Fight me!" Adron challenged. "And I will show you what you have made me!"

"Obliged," Father Adrav responded.

The other hatchlings gaped in amazement. The elders hung their heads in shame.

The great Scyther attacked.

Adron had not even time to blink. In a blinding blur, Adrav zipped up to him and bashed him across his entire body with just one blow of his blade. The blow seemed to strike every major nerve, making Adron feel as though he'd been lit on fire and drowned in pain.

Adron tumbled backward, but quickly struggled to recover. He rolled and climbed back to his feet, taking to the air as fast as he could. But after another glance at his surroundings, he could not spot his opponent.

*WHAM!* Adrav had maneuvered just above him, bringing down both his blades upon him with great force. Adron fell straight down, slamming against the hard stone floor. His consciousness shook.

Reeling from the hit, he rolled to the side and a clang resounded as the father's blades missed and struck the rock underneath.

Survive. Survive. Survive.

Adron took the chance and lunged at his target, striking at Adrav's legs as he spun his body and rose back to his feet. His attack hit, but Adrav appeared unaffected. In retaliation, Adrav dove over the hatchling's scrambling form and cut off his escape route, pinning him for a moment between the elbow and the knee before painfully snapping his arm back and flinging him away.

"What… is this you're showing me?" Adrav demanded. "That you have learned to flail like a carp out of water?"

"I… I haven't shown you… yet!" Adron struggled to say, leaping back up.

Focus, Adron! He told himself. Beast… help me! If there is one time you must focus for me… it's now! This battle is everything! Please, listen! This is for our survival!

And the beast heeded his call, for he felt his body being taken over by his subconscious mind.

Slash! Adron connected a quick strike as he zipped past his opponent. It hadn't much affected the elder, but it was a successful attack nonetheless. He noticed the father had anticipated the attack in the wrong direction and failed to block it.

Slash! Another successful strike, from another angle the father hadn't anticipated. Adron felt as his blade carved out a small dent in the elder's flesh.

"Enough," Adrav grunted, turning an eye to focus on Adron's zipping form.

Adron tried to strike a third time, but the strike failed; Adrav caught the hatchling's body between his arms, locking it in a painful grip. Then, with a masterful maneuver, he launched himself from the ground by the force of his wings, twisted his body, and catapulted Adron straight into the ground. Adron felt his vision blacken for a moment, his thoughts becoming more scattered as the pain wracked his sense of feeling.

Act, beast… Adron pleaded. I can't do anything else. Now you must… you must act!

Annoyed at the audacity of the little one, Adrav decided the battle needed to end. So, he zipped down at his fallen opponent one last time, ready to deliver the blow which would render him incapable of fighting further. Of the various efficient methods to disable an opponent without killing them, he chose the most appropriate—crippling—and descended to perform the act.

But as he set himself on a collision course with Adron… as he directed his mind, prepared the muscle-memory to strike the joints of the legs… he noticed Adron had managed to kneel up, and to face him.

The hatchling's body was glowing with white energy.

No…!

Adrav could not pull back, his own subconscious mind already set upon its course. So, he merely braced himself, ready to take the consequence of his miss-estimation…

*Slash! Slash!*

Adrav's attack was devastating. Two lethal, crippling blows had missed their mark just slightly, striking Adron's body. Adron felt as his bodily fluids splattered from him, felt the delayed sting of the blunt blades as they tried to slice him into multiple pieces…

…And he took the full brunt of the blow, his stature quivering, his mind ready to succumb to defeat… in those split seconds, as the force of the elder collided with him, the whole force of his body pushing the blades deeper and deeper into his sides, he perceived it as an eternity…

He felt the energy… and he let it go.

Like a loaded trap, Adron released his coiled body against the swooping elder, striking with impossibly powerful blows.

*SLASH!* *SLASH!*

The power seemed to have come from nowhere at all. Adron had let the beast take over, and it countered the elder's attack with such swift, brutal blows, that it had matched and easily doubled the might of Adrav's force.

His breath taken away, Adrav was propelled away, spinning through the air and landing onto his back. The onlookers could not hold back a gasp as the father of the clan fell on his face, tumbling several feet away from his opponent.

Incredible… Adrav thought, laying still for a moment. I don't believe what I've just seen…

"W-where did you learn that technique?!" Adrav demanded, righting his body.

"You taught me!" Adron claimed confidently, cringing to bear the pain. "Through the… ways… you've taught the clan… you've taught me…"

"I have taught that technique to no one!" Adrav blasted. "No one could have taught you!"

Angered, Adrav wasted no time in recovering from the impressive blow. Enraged now, he stomped back across the field of battle where Adron writhed in pain.

After two powerful backhanded swats, Adron was face-down on the ground. Adrav placed his foot upon his back and applied heavy pressure, causing Adron to moan.

"Surrender," Adrav demanded.

Survive… Survive… Survive…

Our undying hunger for power is the source of our strength…

Creatures who live without purpose are weak and useless…

We must… never… submit…

Adron couldn't struggle. His body was pinned. His blades were trapped and couldn't bend the right way. He felt his thorax about to collapse from the pressure, crushed like a common bug underfoot.

"Surrender, hatchling!" Adrav growled louder.

Adron groaned loudly, making one final attempt to crawl out from under the elder's strength, but he could not move an inch.

"Surrender, or I will end you!" Adrav roared down at him.

Finally, Adron lay still, acknowledging his struggles were in vain. Finally… after his years of training, and his days of chasing such a false hope, he accepted his fate.

"I… surrender."

Father Adrav released his flat, spiked foot from Adron's back, then kicked the hatchling's body away in disgust, flipping him onto his back and sending him skidding towards the crowd of gaping onlookers. Here, he lay still.

Shaking his head, Father Adrav left the fallen hatchling behind and returned to his group. He looked unnerved, distracted with his own thoughts, as some of his confidants clustered around him to speak with him.

"What a misguided little one!" one of the other Scyther said. "But what courage he had…"

"He is insane," Adram explained. "His mind was damaged, and he doesn't think straight… This was an act of madness, I assure you…"

Father Adrav sighed, shaking his head in confusion. He still felt the pain from the counterattack in his chest, felt how real it had been. He tried to imagine what the little hatching had possibly meant when it claimed he had taught it the technique indirectly. Could it have happened? Could the little one have possibly been so observant to piece together little tells from the whole span of his life, just to learn how to fight back against him?

Or… was it something else?

"I fear… he was not misguided at all," Adrav admitted. "There's something about him…"

"He learned the 'vital counter' technique somehow, without your intervention!" another Scyther said. "That is impressive, indeed… Imagine how bright his mind must be!"

"I am imagining…" he sighed. "It is unlikely—not impossible, but very unlikely—that he was able to build enough subconscious cues to learn about me. I find it hard to believe, but it could have happened. However… there is one… one other… possibility…"

Adrav hesitated, biting his tongue for a moment. His posture now betrayed a grave weakness. With a pained expression, he continued to speak.

"What I am about to say… tell none of the others. I am asking you to break the code, and keep a secret from them… understand?"

"Understood, my brother," one other Scyther whispered back.

"I can keep it," another responded, "if you must tell it."

"Well... it is possible… no, probable, that…" Adrav said slowly, his gaze cast downward to look no one in the eye, "…that the knowledge was imbued in him from the beginning. What I mean to say is… that he… might have learned it from the egg."

He said nothing more to the other Scyther, not daring to look at their reactions. He knew how stunned they were at the suggestion, he didn't need to see it in their faces. So, he lifted his blade and brushed his brothers out of the way, returning to the place where the battle had happened.

The little one still lay dazed and wounded. He had curled up, trying to cover his oozing wounds. He did not mutter to himself, did not wail in pain… he only gave many short, gasping breaths, his eyes closed tight…

The father realized the little one was crying.

"Hatchling," Adrav spoke. "What was your name, again?"

"He is Adron," one of the other hatchlings answered for him, fearing he would stay silent. "Adron the prodigy."

Adrav hummed. Yes, he'd heard this name mentioned many times before. Even the elders had sung his praises sometimes…

"Hatchling Adron," he spoke, "according to custom, because you have surrendered from the challenge, I must now banish you from any further contact with the Adrellos clan, and hand you over to the wild…"

Adron's eyes blinked open. He turned his head slightly to view the great elder warrior as he came to stand over him.

"But… one of the first things we learn, when we are trained at an age as young as yours… our customs, and our rules exist only to strengthen us, not to weaken us. Where we would be weakened by our traditions… we must learn when it is appropriate to break them. If we were never willing to break our own rules, we would all still be hatchlings."

Adron said nothing, only now wearing a look of surprise.

"Hatchling Adron, I believe that by banishing you, I would weaken the Adrellos, and so I will not. I am told you have gone mad. I do not believe that. If you are mad, I believe I might also suffer from the same madness… and I believe I might be able to help you, if you were to let me. And I will stand over you and fight for you, until you might rise back to your feet."

The father then knelt over the child, looking with pity upon his wounds, looking into his broken, confused eyes… and he bent down, whispering silent words into his ear:

"You couldn't defeat me this time, but… maybe next time. If you let me, I can teach you how."

At that, the little one let his eyes close, finally content in his effort. He drifted away into his dreams.

… … …

My name is Scythe.

I gave myself that name after learning my place in the world.

As a hatchling, a ghost invaded my mind and took from me everything I thought I had. My future was destroyed. My place in the world was lost. I began an endless struggle to find it again.

As a hatchling, I was the first among my clutch. As a fledgling, I was chosen by the clan leader to succeed him.

As an adult, I was chosen to serve the Master.

It had taken all of that, even years of slavery beneath the wretched reign of the Master, to learn where I now belonged in the world.

I am still a leader. But I never imagined I would have ended up as the leader of a tiny guerilla effort against the invincible power of the Master.

I still follow the code. I still never end my search for power. But now, after seeing for myself the nature of power, and all the destruction it causes, I finally know what the code means, and why we are taught to follow it.

To hold power… is to hold a responsibility to serve.

To be a leader… is to be a servant to those which you lead.

But what you serve… that is your decision to make. And I have made my decision.

I am Scythe, and Ambera is my garden, from which I will cull those who want to oppress it, to stifle it, to silence it. The Master's followers, with all their terrible power, still do not understand its nature, and so they use the power to destroy everything. I rise each day to cut them down, and take that power away.

And each day when I rise, I seek… I watch… I wait for the greatest power the world has ever known…

"Scythe?"

Through the tear in my mind, I can hear it. I can hear it as clearly as the spoken word… the silent call which drowns all others…

"Scythe, what's wrong? What did you see?"

The call which can bring order to the chaos of the world…

"We're out of supplies, remember. Don't be getting us into anything we'd regret."

For that power, I wait…

I wait, and I watch…

"I don't believe it, but I think… it came from Shamble Forest."

The Sandslash sighed as his Scyther partner wandered off course, as though aimlessly tracking a scent. The day had been long and exhausting, and every new step was a struggle, and the thought of laying down to rest in the comfort and safety of his den was becoming very pleasant. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and chased after his partner.

"Scythe, it's already evening. We're late enough as it is," the Sandslash pleaded. "We're wasting our time! They're expecting us back."

"No!" the Scyther hissed. "I swear, I felt it! It was unmistakable."

The light of the evening sun continued to dwindle as the Scyther and the Sandslash cut their way through Shamble Forest. The Scyther marched forward with determination, as if enraptured by a siren's song, while the shrew followed reluctantly behind.

"Scythe…"

"I swear! It came from this way. We have to go farther!"

The twosome foraged their way through shrubs and saplings as the sun slowly sank out of sight, filling the sky with a reddish hue. Night would be upon them very shortly. The Sandslash cast a worried glance upward, knowing they'd soon be out of precious sunlight if he didn't get his stubborn partner back on track.

"Scythe, do I even have to remind you of how… improbable it would be to have this sort of thing happening now?"

"But it's what we've been waiting for, isn't it?"

"Scythe… nothing lives in this forest except for some dumb Pidgey and Butterfree."

As the two emerged into a clearing, a startled flock of Pidgey scattered and took off toward the sky. The frustrated Sandslash grumbled in resentment.

"Scythe, it's almost night, and we're still miles from the base. It's too late for this! If we don't head back now, the Watchers will catch us. Are you sure you're in a mood to fight with the Watchers?"

"And what if I'm right?!" the Scyther snapped. "What if I'm right, and I did hear something coming from in there? If you're right, and there's nothing there, then I guess we'll get back a little late, and the team will be worried about us for one night. So what? But I'm sensitive to the Call. I'm obliged to look farther. If the Call is coming from inside this forest, it's my job to investigate. Because… if there is something there… we can't afford to not find it. We have to get to it before the Watchers do."

"I know, I know," said the Sandslash. "But the time is not right for the Call. That's all I'm saying. We still have another three years, at the very least…"

"I know the time is not right," The Scyther grumbled. "It doesn't matter. This could be an anomaly. Or it could have been one we missed. Shander… if you don't trust me, you're free to head back now. I'll go on alone."

The Scyther smiled wryly to himself, knowing full well that the Sandslash wouldn't dare venture back on his own. The team followed a strict buddy system for a reason: more than one of the members of Team Remorse had experienced firsthand the dangers of trying to face the ghosts alone.

"I'll go with you," the Sandslash sighed, "I trust you. Besides, I'm a bit rusty at fighting the Watchers. I could use some experience. But just one thing… It's been twenty-four years since the Call. Are you sure you remember what it sounds like?"

"It's not something one can easily forget," the Scyther said.

Taking a deep breath, the Scyther led his best, most trusted friend deeper into the woods.

It is my purpose to find you, the Scyther said to himself, keeping the ring of the subconscious cry clear in his mind. Whoever you areI heed your call!

*Chapter 49*: Chapter 41: Wounded

Chapter 41

"My head… hurts…"

It was the morning of the next day—or the afternoon, there was really no reason to go check—when Char's eyes slowly opened. Seeing the soft sunlight streaming down into the bunker, he knew he'd passed out from exhaustion for many hours, yet he still felt just as exhausted. Memories of the previous night came back to him in a heartbeat: the ghosts, the chaos, the race to escape…

…Saura getting attacked…

Char couldn't stand to wait anymore. He had to know if Saura was okay. He'd tried for so long to hold his eyes open and keep watch, but he had closed them in a moment of weakness…

He remembered how, after the paralysis had worn off, Saura occasionally snapped awake in the middle of the night. He'd always jump up and gasp, looking panicked, before fading back to sleep in a few more minutes. Char wanted so badly to talk to him, to reassure him everything was fine, but was afraid he'd only provoke another attack and make things even worse…

And though he had tried so hard to keep himself awake, the light from his flame kept dimming, and the growing darkness made him so woozy…

And so, now that the night was over and he found himself awake, he gently nudged Saura, whispering his name, until he stirred and woke up.

"My head…" Saura groaned again, his eyes shut tightly. "Ugh, it feels so bad…"

"Saura, are you going to be alright?" Char whispered, tenderly rubbing him on the forehead. "Please, say you're alright. Do you remember me?"

Saura winced at the contact, but made no move to shove it away. "I remember you…" he responded, trying not to make his voice sound so pained. "I… I didn't lose any memories, I think… It's just…"

"You had a bad nightmare," Char told him. "One of the Watchers touched you and put a vision in your head. I saw it too, because I was touching you when it happened, I think. But it made you pretty angry—"

"No…" Saura said simply, shaking his head and staring at the ground. "No, Char… it wasn't… it wasn't a nightmare. It was real… It was all real."

Char blinked.

Surprised at hearing these words, he backed away from Saura's form, his worry returning. Was he… still under the effects of the curse?

"I destroyed my family…" Saura muttered plainly. "I… I destroyed my family...!"

"Saura, calm down, please!" Char begged. "W…what are you talking about? The vision… it was just something the ghost showed you to scare you! How do you know the vision was real?"

"Because… because I knew it from the very beginning! I just… I didn't want to believe it was real."

"What do you mean?"

"When I ran away from home, I…" Saura began, his voice hesitating. "I knew I couldn't just… I knew there would be consequences. You can't just run away from the Master like that. He punishes you for it if you do! But I… I… I shoved all that in the back of my head and went on and pretended everything was going to be alright! But I always knew it in the back of my mind. That dream you saw, it was… I already had it once, it was the same dream! I told you about it yesterday!… But the Watcher just made it so horrible… I just… I didn't want to think it was real. I wasn't ready…"

Saura began to cry.

"You're lucky you don't have any memories, Char!" he suddenly yelled, turning to face him. "You don't know what you left behind!"

Char was deeply shocked at the bitterness in his voice. He wanted to go give Saura a hug, but he found himself frozen in uncertainty, not sure how to react at all.

"And then… I talked you into joining the resistance," Saura continued, his voice breaking. "That's why I was so eager to follow Scythe… I thought that if… if I went and fought the Master, it would make everything okay, and I could just keep pretending my family was safe… But when I met Saurlee, I knew in the back of my mind why they took that vacation… I still wanted to deny it… I wanted to pretend… I was doing so good at pretending, it was so far away in my mind… and then to just be shown the truth so clearly..."

"Saura, I'm sorry."

"Don't be! You didn't do anything wrong!" Saura cried, turning his head away. "I—I'm the one who should be apologizing to you… I'm the one who took advantage of you… You were lost and alone, and I decided to… I took advantage of you! All those nights we stayed awake together? All those missions I stuck right next to you? Yeah… it was… I wanted my new resistance life to be everything to me. So I tried to be the world's best friend to you, so I could use your friendship to block out everything else…"

"Saura… why didn't you tell me this?!" Char blurted. "I would have understood! All along… everything… you were role-playing? No… that's not true. I… can't believe that, Saura! That's a lie! And it's not even your lie, I think it's the Watcher's lie! I think your mind is still messed up!"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't know!" Saura yelled. "I thought I was being a good Pokémon! Everything I did, I seriously thought it was the right thing to do! I had myself so fooled! But I'm… I'm such a terrible Pokémon! All this time I just went along with it… but the Watcher showed me the truth! I can't… I'm a horrible, selfish Pokémon! I did the most horrible thing a Pokémon could do… I destroyed my family… I even… I wanted to go back and see them at home!… I seriously thought they'd be back there… "

"Saura, cut it out!" Char shouted at him, annoyed. "Look, even if the dream was real, you didn't destroy your family! They're still all alive, right? They made it out alive! They survived! They went and ran away so they could be free, like you!"

"Char…"

"And besides, don't tell me you're a horrible Pokémon! I mean, come on! How many missions have you helped win? How many Pokémon have we saved? Hey! Look at Scythe! He killed hundreds of innocent Pokémon before he became a good guy! I know because he told me himself! What you did is nothing compared to that!"

"Char... please," Saura sobbed. "I'm sorry… I just can't talk to you right now… Can you… leave me alone?"

Char thought he felt a metal spike being driven through his chest.

He wanted to say something else. He wanted to tell Saura that he was on his side. He wanted to say something to make him feel better… but something told him not to.

So he turned away, sulking into the corner from which he came, giving his best friend in the world the privacy which he had requested.

His eyes hurt. He could feel them trying to cry, the pressure behind them just starting to build… but he'd spent all his tears the previous night, and hadn't made any more just yet. So his eyes, and everything around them, started to burn. It wasn't the kind of burning he liked, either. It felt pretty close to jabbing his tail flame into a running waterfall.

And as he went to lie silently in the corner, dropping to the floor and curling up as if to pretend to sleep…

He noticed the rest of the small, metal-plated room. There were some little windows to the outside high in the ceiling, and a door that lead somewhere else. But he noticed that Ray was gone. So were Lily, Scythe, and everybody else. He and Saura were the only two in the room.

For the first time in a very long time, Char felt very, very alone.

… … …

After some time had passed, Char heard voices coming from the outside. Soon after, some Pokémon entered the room. There was Scythe, and another which he couldn't place at first, only vaguely remembering it from the previous day. He watched from across the room as they approached Saura.

"Here," Scythe directed to the tall, thin, green Pokémon. "The Bulbasaur."

Saura stirred at the sound of the voice. He'd apparently fallen back to sleep in the meantime.

"Uh… who are you?" he said dizzily to the green Pokémon, shaking the sleepiness from his head.

"I am Gardevoir." the Pokémon answered. "We met yesterday in my bar."

"Oh…" Saura said weakly. "I thought I recognized you…"

"Hmm… I hear the Watchers have had their way with you," Gardevoir hummed. "It shows. You look disgraceful. You're very lucky I live in District One and I can help you this morning. I would have come sooner, but last night I was under a very small measure of distraction, fighting for my life and all."

The Gardevoir kneeled down at Saura's side, looking him over carefully with his deep red eyes and tracing over his form gently with his small hands. Saura cringed a little bit, looking uncertain and distrustful of the psychic Pokémon. Char remained curled up in the corner, silently peering over the length of his tail at the scene taking place.

"You needn't worry, Saura, I'm very good at this," Gardevoir assured him in such gentle, genuine voice. "Just stay still, and let me look and see what the ghost did to you."

"But..." Saura started, squirming slightly. "No, you'll…"

"I will see some of your secrets, yes. It's a consequence of helping you," Gardevoir said, just as suavely. "But understand that I know many, many secrets of many Pokémon, and I have kept every one of them. A psychic's honor."

Saura hesitated for a moment, but then nodded his weak consent. Placing his hand on Saura's forehead, Gardevoir began to concentrate.

A minute passed in silence. Char noticed Gardevoir's eyes rolling up into his head, deeply focused on his work. Saura looked complacent.

Oddly, for some reason which Char could not seem to determine, Scythe looked gravely worried and impatient for the process to finish.

"Saura is in pain," Gardevoir reported after a while. "The ghost has left him with a nightmare. A very… persistent nightmare. It appears the ghost deposited the nightmare onto one of the most prominent thoughts in Saura's mind. I see it; it is very solid and very strong, like a black marble, and it rests nestled between his memories. To me, it appears to be immutable; it is unlikely that it would ever fade away on its own. As long as it remains, it will cause him physical and emotional pain."

"Can you cure him?" Scythe asked, some desperation in his voice. "Or is it permanent?"

"I can cure him, yes," Gardevoir replied, withdrawing from Saura and standing back up. "But… should I? That… will be up to Saura himself."

"What do you mean by that?" Scythe demanded in a slightly harsh tone.

"Psychic's honor. I will never tell," Gardevoir answered, gesturing his hand in front of Scythe's face while keeping his cool. "But Saura will explain it to you, if he wants. I should leave and return in a few moments, when he has made his decision. Saura, I would advise that you talk this over with your friends. They may help you arrive to the right decision. Or, you may remain silent. Either way, this is a difficult decision, and it should be yours. Do not let them make it for you."

Scythe was now visibly upset. He turned his attention to Saura, letting Gardevoir calmly exit the room.

"Saura…" Scythe said, kneeling next to him. "What is Gardevoir talking about?"

"Why do you care?" Char snapped from the other side of the room, drawing Scythe's attention. "It's Saura's decision if he wants to tell you. Don't pressure him. He's in enough pain as it is."

"He should not have to live with a nightmare imbued in his head for the rest of his life," Scythe said forcibly. "Unless there's a very good reason not to, he should let Gardevoir remove it immediately."

Char got up. He was getting angry as well. "Didn't you just hear what he said?! This isn't your decision. It's his."

"Char, do not talk to me as if I am some ignorant bystander," Scythe seethed. "Saura cannot afford to let the Watcher's curse affect him for the rest of his life."

"Guys!" Saura shouted. "Shut up! Please? I'm… I'm trying to think here! Really!"

Scythe and Char both fell silent immediately, but Scythe's face still burned with frustration. Saura groaned in pain.

"Gardevoir… wants to erase some of my memories," Saura decided to say. "He told me… the nightmare feeds off some of my memories. He can't destroy the nightmare itself, but he can destroy the memories it's attached to. Then it'll be harmless."

"Hmm… I see," Scythe said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I'm guessing then that they're sensitive memories, and you're reluctant to part with them? Would you die if they were removed?!"

Char felt his tail flaring. He knew the night had been long, but he didn't want to face having his whole fellowship falling apart. Scythe was actually trying to force Saura into making the decision. He realized that maybe Gardevoir had even predicted this would happen, hence his final warning before stepping out.

"They're memories of my family!" Saura growled back. "I don't want to forget I have a family! I don't want to forget about them! If I did… I don't know what I would do! I love them so much…"

He leapt up to his feet and snapped a vine onto the ground, causing a cracking sound to resonate inside of the bunker for a moment. Then, he barreled headlong past his companions and into the nearest wall, which he tried to headbutt with all his might.

"Why?! Why is this happening to me?!" he cried in anguish at nobody in particular. "By Arceus, Why?!"

Feeling dizzy from the impact, he dropped himself onto the floor, his face messy with all the tears he had shed.

"This nightmare is causing you to act violent," Scythe said gravely, apparently ignoring the fact that Saura was breaking down. "And it is taking away your rationality of thought."

Char simply stood in his place, his anger quietly simmering inside of him.

Scythe also stood still, waiting for Saura to respond.

After a while, Saura managed to turn himself around. He stared his two friends in the eyes, glancing back and forth to them, as if they both represented an answer to the question and he couldn't decide between them. He said nothing.

"Saura, this is your decision," Char reminded him. "Don't let—"

"Char," Scythe interrupted suddenly, lowering his voice just a little, "Would you like to know how I knew you were a human?"

"…What?" Char spat, taken completely off-guard. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

"Because I know you're curious," Scythe continued. "It still baffles you whenever you think about it. It seems like I read your mind, didn't it? Well? Would you like to know how I really found out?"

Char didn't answer. He just growled, letting Scythe continue if he so desired.

"I heard you speaking about it with Saura on the first night you stayed in my room," Scythe explained. "Because I wasn't asleep. Because I never sleep. Well, that is a lie. Perhaps I sleep once a week or so when I exhaust my energy so far that I can no longer control my limbs and I just collapse and pass out. And even that can hardly be called sleep. But mostly I spend every night wide awake and alone with my thoughts. And would you like to know why I can never sleep, Char? Are you curious at all?"

Again, Char said nothing, simply glaring back into the Scyther's intense eyes.

"Because when I was a child, a Watcher distorted my mind," Scythe said powerfully. "A Watcher damaged me. It cut through my subconscious mind, and it dug a hole which I have had to live painfully with for the rest of my waking existence. I had to spend a good deal of my life learning to convince other Pokémon that I'm not insane. But… I am insane. I see visions and hear voices at night when I'm supposed to be sleeping, and my thoughts distract me during the day. And I will always be insane, because of what that Watcher did to me. You try to protect Saura from me, Char, and you think you are noble, but between the two of us I'm the one who has lived my whole life feigning sanity. You have no right to tell me I'm taking this too seriously."

Scythe began to walk away, leaving Char with nothing to say.

"Saura, allow Gardevoir to remove it, or I—I'm afraid I will no longer be able to trust you," Scythe said matter-of-factly. "I'm sorry, Saura, but we cannot afford to ignore the reality of this situation. Not after we've gotten this far."

And he stormed off, leaving Char gaping in his wake.

… … …

"What do you think, Char…?" Saura said unexpectedly, minutes after Scythe had left. "Should I… do it?"

Feeling distant from Saura, Char stood at the other end of the room, staring at the wall. His mind was still processing what Scythe had told him. He couldn't be mad at Saura. He couldn't even be that mad at Scythe. He felt devoid of emotion, not really knowing what he was supposed to be feeling. Everything seemed so matter-of-fact now.

"Maybe you should," Char admitted. "Maybe Scythe is right. Maybe it would make you happier."

"But… I can't… I just can't…" Saura stammered. "Destroy my own memories? Wouldn't that… wouldn't that change who I am? And what if I met my family and didn't know who they even were?"

"I can't tell you if getting your memories erased changes who you are," Char told him. "But I can tell you one thing about it: if you don't try so hard to remember what you forgot, it doesn't bother you so much. It's like you always said how you didn't care who I was before my transformation, I am who I am now. I'm someone new, and my old self doesn't matter. Besides… I still don't believe a word of what you said. You forget I've been your friend all this time? I know you well enough to know you weren't role-playing all this time. Last night before you fell asleep, you told me being on the resistance made you happy. There's no way that could have been a lie. I think the ghost just lied to you, and you believed it because there's something wrong with your mind now. I think that nightmare is making you bitter."

"Believe what you want," Saura said flatly. "I know the truth."

Char sighed. It was hard for him to think of what else to say.

"You should do it," he decided. "I think it's what you want."

"How can you say that?"

"If you have your memories removed, it can be like the ghost never attacked you. And it can be like you were never chosen by the Master. You wanted everything to go away? You could make it all go away. You'd be a member of the resistance, and my best friend, and nothing else. You wouldn't have to block anything out anymore, because there'd be nothing to block out."

"But it's… it's so wrong!" Saura whined. "I'd be worse than what I already did! I can't… I can't just erase Saurvor and Saurlee and Sarnick and Mom and Dad and everyone from my life! I can't just… throw away all my childhood… It's… It's too much to ask! That's just… that's not right!"

"But it's what you want," Char insisted.

"But don't you think… wouldn't you feel a little bit guilty if you were in my place? Like you took the easy way out? Like you just, I don't know, gave up?"

"You're right, I probably would," Char answered honestly. "And I don't think I'd be able to treat you the same anymore, knowing you're not all of who you used to be. But… I just think you should be happy, Saura."

"I don't think I deserve to be happy…" Saura moaned. "Not now. Imagine how many Pokémon died last night because of the Watchers. Here, I'm probably one of the luckiest survivors! And you're telling me I should be happy?"

"The other option is that Scythe kicks you off the team and you have nowhere else in the world to go," Char reminded him. "And you'll be lost and alone and miserable for the rest of your life. Or you could go serve the Master if you wanted. I'm sure he'd find a way to give your life meaning. But I don't think that's what you want. I think you belong with the resistance."

Char heard the sounds of Saura's paws scratching the ground, and the heaving of his breath, as he waited for a reply. In truth, he felt regret for saying what he did. He didn't like the thought any more than Saura did. He didn't want to imagine Saura as some empty shell of what he used to be…

But as sad as it seemed, he knew it was for the best. He just couldn't seem to look Saura in the eye after having said it.

"When you put it like that..." Saura muttered. "I don't… I don't know what to say…"

To Char's surprise, Saura's face appeared in front of the wall at which he'd been glaring. He stared sadly at his Charmander friend, fighting the urge to look away.

"If I'm going to do this… I'm sorry," Saura said. "I'm just… I'm really sorry… Please… forgive me."

Char nodded. He didn't want to say anything else.

… … …

When Gardevoir had come back, several others had returned with him. Scythe, Ray, Prince, and some other members of Team Flamewheel which had helped the previous night had entered the room, just in time to hear Saura's final decision. They all huddled around him, sharing a contemplative silence as they watched Gardevoir work on his mind.

Char stood close to Ray, hoping that his presence would give him the courage he needed to accept the outcome of Saura's operation. Ray, though, looked as though he was wasn't feeling so good himself, so Char simply chose to console him, giving him the little hug which he'd been waiting to give Saura all night…

"I'm done," Gardevoir announced, lifting his hand from Saura's forehead and backing away.

Saura blinked, looking very confused of himself, but the bitterness in his eyes wasn't there anymore. He looked like he'd just woken up from a very refreshing nap, and appeared quite cheerful.

"Who, and what, are you?" Gardevoir asked.

"I'm Saura," he answered hesitantly. "I'm a Bulbasaur. A Pokémon."

"Where are you?"

"I'm… uh… um… District One," he remembered. "The Emerald Division. Why are you asking me these questions…?"

"I need to know what you remember, and what you don't," he answered. "Now… What team are you on?"

"Team Ember," he said without hesitating. "With Char and Ray. And… Scythe's guiding us. He brought us here."

"And what is your mission?"

"We're going to Temporal Tower!" he answered.

"Good. Now… where did you grow up?"

"The Tiny Plains, way down south from here."

"Who raised you?"

Saura winced. This was the first question that gave him trouble. His eyes darted upon all the Pokémon which surrounded him, and became a little embarrassed when he couldn't seem to grasp the answer.

"I don't… know… I'm an orphan, aren't I?" Saura finally responded, not too sure of his answer. "Or, wait… no… I think I might have been a wild Pokémon!"

"But you don't know for sure?"

"Not really… it's all really fuzzy…" Saura said.

Then, he seemed to have a realization, and he suddenly gasped. "Wait… what? Did something happen to my memory, or something?" he wondered. "It was that Watcher, wasn't it? Did it erase my memories?"

"A few of them, yes," Gardevoir responded. "But I've just finished repairing your mind. You will be absolutely fine."

"Wow…" Saura muttered to himself. "I don't… remember! I remember you, Char, Scythe, Prince… I remember the Gold Division… But before that… it's like… Wow. Huh."

"It is finished," Gardevoir announced, turning to the small crowd which had gathered. "Again, I since I could not remove the nightmare itself, his mind will sometimes brush up against it, and he might appear afraid, but it will be of no consequence. After all, everyone has their own share of irrational fear…"

Gardevoir turned to leave, ignoring Char and Ray as they came rushing to Saura's side. He ignored the Infernape and the Flareon who appeared frozen in somberness from the night's events. He left everything behind, and headed for the door.

"Gardevoir… thank you," Scythe said softly, just before he had left the room. "Thank you for your service. It means more than you might know."

Saying nothing, Gardevoir simply turned to glance into his eyes for a moment, then left the room.

… … …

"You remember us, right?" Ray asked carefully. "You know who we are?"

"You feel okay, Saura?" Char chimed in. "How's your head?"

Saura blinked at all the attention he was getting. "I'm fine! Honestly, I'm just happy to be alive!" he answered. "Last night was insane! All of us could have been done in, but we made it! That makes me feel pretty happy!"

"Do you… have a headache?" Char asked him.

"Nnn… …no," Saura replied, looking at the ground. "I feel fine… and I'm glad. We start the big trip to Temporal Tower today, don't we? I didn't want to be sick for it. You might have left me behind!"

"Yeah, uh… maybe," Char managed to say. "We'll have to talk to Scythe… Of course, you don't have to go with me if you want. You could stay here. Or go back to the Gold Division…"

Saura looked seriously appalled. "Y-you're joking, right?!" he said, incredulously. "There's no way I'm going to miss this! We're a team! Besides, why would I go back to the Gold Division without you? What would I have to go back for? It's boring back there without you two!"

"Y-you wanted to go back, before… before your memories were erased," Char told him hesitantly. "So I … I convinced Scythe you didn't have to come with us, if you didn't want…"

"I did? Really?" Saura said, confused. "Hmm… I wonder what I was thinking! It must not have been very smart! …Nah. You can count on me! I'll be right there with you until the end, just like always! …Char? …Uh… Char? What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Char suddenly found himself speechless. He didn't know what else to tell Saura. He thought he would feel happy, or at least relieved, that Saura's pain had gone away. Instead… he started to feel awful, as though he'd betrayed him. Saura had been right: the guilt was already mounting. It began to dawn on Char that his best friend was going to be someone completely different from now on.

But it had to be done, he told himself. It's alright… It's better this way… isn't it?

"He's just happy you're alive, too," Ray answered for him. "It was a bad night."

… … …

On the other side of the room, Scythe conversed with Prince.

"We must leave," Scythe said desperately. "Before things have a chance to get any worse. We must leave immediately. Prince… do you have the supplies?"

"They're back in the fortress. I'd have to return for them," Prince responded. "I know that's risky enough as it is. Perhaps you should go, and I will wait here."

"I… don't have hands," Scythe returned. "I can only carry one bag, not two…"

Scythe winced.

"No… that's a perfect plan, actually," he said, correcting himself. "I will bring Char with me. He can carry the other bag. You wait here for us to return."

"Prince!"

Gardevoir returned hastily, bursting back into the room. He looked quite surprised.

"Prince, there has been a development I think you should hear about!"

"Not another 'snowstorm', I hope…?" Prince grumbled.

"Oh, no, Prince, this isn't the time for another mind game," he said. "But listen. I have just caught word, stemming from Rayquaza's Clutch, apparently, that… Temporal Tower's position… has moved!"

Scythe reeled back. "What?" he barked. "How is that possible?!"

"The recent episode of the Call might be to blame," Gardevoir speculated. "But it's useless to ask me about the affairs of gods. I would know nothing about why they act. But maybe the Call has stirred the will of the gods and shifted the tower."

"Are… are you sure?" Scythe demanded. "Where did you hear this information, exactly? How do we know it is true?"

"The sentries were spouting it," Gardevoir answered. "Apparently one flew far enough north to see Temporal Tower miles away from its recorded position, and another confirmed it couldn't be seen at the old site anymore… The winds were harsh, however, and they couldn't remain long."

"And where is it now?" Scythe asked. "Where was it discovered now?!"

"I don't know," Gardevoir answered. "But they're planning to announce it at the meeting this afternoon… it got postponed because many of our residents couldn't make it in the morning…"

"Well… well, then… in that case… I guess that answers one of our questions," Scythe said, pacing away from Gardevoir. "Prince… we have to attend the meeting."

Prince looked away.

"No," he said simply.

"We don't have a choice," Scythe insisted. "We're not going to compromise the mission. We must know Temporal Tower's new position."

"It's beside the point. I shouldn't go."

"Prince, for the love of Arceus, this is not up for debate," Scythe growled. "Put aside your petty regret… we have to attend that meeting."

"Lucario would never allow me in."

"We must force our way in, then!" Scythe growled louder. "Lucario is not going to Zerferia, we are! We need that information!"

"Send another."

"Who, me?" Scythe laughed. "I'm not welcome in there."

"Neither am I, Scythe."

"You serve Lucario. I do not."

"I serve nobody."

"You serve Char."

This took Prince off-guard, and made him return his gaze to Scythe. Scythe took the opportunity to quickly keep speaking and to grill him.

"You were after Char so much, it was enough to anger me," Scythe reeled off. "You challenged me to a duel for the right to come. You tried to gain Char's trust. You taught him to smolder. You risked your life to save him. And now, you can't follow through with your conviction enough to look Lucario in the eye and get this information from him? Have you really become this weak? Are you going to give up and compromise our entire task just because you're afraid?"

"It's not what you think!" Prince said, raising his voice. "It's… don't imply that Lucario frightens me. He does not frighten me. But… what you are asking… might not have the effects you want."

"Then what? What is it?!" Scythe snapped back. "You seem to forget, I don't care what happens to you. I'm here to make sure Char meets with the god of time, and I am willing to go through any length to see to it. Char and I will set off on our own if it comes to that. But I know we won't have to do that, because you're going to get us both into that meeting, and you're going to find out where Temporal Tower moved to."

"Is that really what you want?" Prince asked in a low, menacing tone. "Are you so sure?"

Prince began to laugh. It was a very unexpected, ironic laugh. Scythe looked upon him with confusion, and a little bit of fear.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, Fine. That's what we'll do." Prince chuckled, turning to the Flareon beside him. "If that's what this is going to come to… Iniga, gather the others. Scythe insists we go and interrupt Lucario's meeting. So, that's what we'll do."


Fort Emerald

To Char, the return trip to the city was silent, eerie, and almost as frightening as the previous night.

A terrible stillness lingered in the air, the sort of stillness which happens after a disaster such as a tornado or a great flood. But there hadn't been a great deal of damage dealt to the fortress's facilities; most buildings were still standing tall, unharmed, where a stray Pokémon's attack had not busted and toppled some of their bricks. But even though the damage could not be seen, it could be felt. The streets were still, silent, as though the Pokémon inhabitants were all still cowering inside, sleeping from a long night's struggle, or had deserted the accursed place in fear. The air was still cold, as the sun never shone directly onto the forsaken city through the mask of clouds.

And through these streets marched Scythe and Team Ember, alongside all of Team Flamewheel's members who rode the storm out together. Char couldn't bear the somber silence between them all. It was as though they were marching off to their doom. He knew Lucario would be furious—for more than one reason—and that every Pokémon surrounding him would need to band together to bear his wrath and accept the consequences of what had happened.

Char didn't feel guilty for what his power had done, even if other Pokémon had died that night. It was as Prince had told him: he had no control over the Call, and so any damage it caused could not be his fault. It was a tragic accident, and nothing else. No one was to blame. No one was at fault.

But, as nature dictates, when something terrible happens, accountability must still be placed upon someone, even if nobody is to blame. And he knew Lucario would place that accountability upon him and upon Prince. From there, he didn't know what would happen. He sensed that neither Scythe nor Prince knew that, either.

Char looked back upon the crowd. Lily was there, hanging her head low and following the rocks underfoot with her eyes. Legend's gaze was blank, as though he was occupying himself with his thoughts. Iel the Camerupt looked absolutely exhausted as he trudged along with the team, making Char wonder if he was actually fast asleep with his eyes open and his feet moving. A funny thought popped into his mind: Team Flamewheel wouldn't look out of place next to Team Remorse, after how Scythe's team had looked for the past several weeks, constantly pushing themselves to their limits—not to mention Scythe himself, as Char finally began to understand why he'd always looked like such a tired old Pokémon…

Among the solemn group, Saura looked the most out-of-place. A tiny smile was always crossing his face, which changed into a genuine beaming grin whenever Char's eyes crossed over him. Once, however, when Saura wasn't paying attention, Char noticed him flinch violently as though being stung by a wasp. But he soon noticed Char's gaze and smiled at him, and Char couldn't return the smile.

Saura wouldn't have been so happy, Char's mind told him as his heart sunk lower. Saura would have been sad, like the rest of us. But Saura can't remember… Saura isn't Saura anymore…

At least, without meeting a single other soul, the group arrived to the meeting hall across the street from Rayquaza's Clutch.

… … …

The meeting was already far into its session when Team Flamewheel entered the hall.

It was the same place which Legend had told his story the previous night, but today, it was a much different place.

The room was filled wall-to-wall with Pokémon, many more than had attended the storytelling. Last night, the Pokémon were filled with glee, excitement, and suspense, as they hung onto every word which Legend spoke. Today, their emotions were different. Their gazes were blank. Stunned. Disheartened. Confused.

And it wasn't Legend who paced back and forth in the very middle of the room, the center of attention. Today, it was Lucario, standing before the present members of Team Regret. Char caught sight of Zahira the Dragonite standing among them.

Lucario did not look angry or upset in any way. He looked thoughtful, in fact. He cast a glance in Prince's direction as he entered, but did not otherwise acknowledge his arrival to the public. He continued to pace across the floor.

"The trial last night has been a testament of our strength as a resistance division," Lucario continued, speaking very plainly and respectfully his voice ringing out unchallenged. "For today, unlike that day so long ago, we still stand, though many of our companions have fallen. Thirty-six of our best did not make it through the night, and twelve more have suffered injuries… We must not forget that they have taken the hits which were intended for the rest of us. We must respect their intentions, carry on in their legacies. And so… in just a few moments, I will commence with the assignments, as usual. We will not ignore our duties for the sake of self-pity. In addition, we will need help rebuilding the facilities which have been damaged."

Char snapped to attention; though it appeared at first Lucario was merely pacing across the room, he was actually ascending the stairs, approaching them! He tensed up. The crowds of resistance teams also gasped, noticing who now stood in the room.

"You," Lucario said calmly, after he had approached close enough to stare Prince in the eye. "You were not invited to this meeting. What makes you think you are welcome here?"

"Ask this of Scythe, if you would," Prince returned. "He has brought me."

"Scythe… as much as your reputation precedes you, you are also not welcome here," Lucario said. "You know I hold this assembly hall as a sacred place to convene with my own resistance division. I do not allow others to attend. Please, leave."

Lucario smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was a knowing, bitter smile. He approached the younger Pokémon of the group, leering down at them.

"I bet you poor little children would like to know what I'm talking about, wouldn't you?" Lucario said with mock pity. "Seeing that you've just been dragged around by the collars by these… babysitters of yours, I feel sorry for you. So, I will fill you in on what they've been neglecting to tell you. To start with, Prince, or any of his team members for that matter, are not members of the Emerald Division. They have not been for a very, very long time."

Char held his breath. He dared not to say a word.

"No… you see, Prince leads his own division apart from mine. I believe he chose to call it the Silver Division, am I correct?" Lucario quipped, glancing over to Prince for a moment. "You see, Prince disagreed with one of my decisions a long time ago, so he broke off from me, forming his own division, and taking many of my followers as his own. But today, his division has only one team registered to it: his own. That's because the Silver Division did not last for very long. It lasted for but a day before it was burned to the ground, and the resistance teams were all slain, the only remnants being those who call themselves members of Team Flamewheel. Since then, I have granted him quarter in my fortress and allowed him to use my facilities for his benefit. But Prince leads an independent resistance team. My fortress is not his home."

"Spare us this history lesson, Lucario, I have only come for one reason," Scythe said quickly. "We had planned to leave on our expedition today. We must know the new location of Temporal Tower. Then we will be off, out of your sight, out of your mind."

"Still chasing after Dialga, are you? Even after what you have done last night?" Lucario mocked. "You still… honor this Call as something sacred, do you? Well… since you are here, I figure I might as well tell you what has been on my mind since last night. And since you were so kind as to interrupt my meeting, I can say it in the presence of the entire division."

Lucario's words were so sour, so dripping with contained malice, that Char wanted to go hide somewhere. He could tell some of the group members were feeling the same way. Prince stood tall before Lucario's diminutive form, eyeing him down.

"Prince… I give you a choice," Lucario said directly to him, his voice filled with false gentleness. "A very simple, straightforward choice. Now, I cannot deny how helpful you have been to me over these past decades. Your team has been an asset to this division which I cannot overlook. Do not get me wrong, Prince. I have the highest level of respect for you. But… you have put my division in danger for the last time. Your actions have caused so much havoc upon the walls I have built, the streets I have paved, and the Pokémon which I call my own sons and daughters… So, Team Flamewheel, from this day onward, I have decided the Emerald Division will no longer be a safehouse for the Call. I will not harbor this… this destructive force any longer, under the empty hopes and promises that it will help dethrone the Master, when it has done nothing but cause me misery. Your choice, Prince: take your team, and leave the fortress, and never again convene or associate yourself with the Emerald Division."

"Is that a choice, or an edict?" Prince returned. "What is the other option you're going to give me?"

"The other option…" Lucario said, "If you wish to stay… you must evict only one member from your team. … … her."

Lucario pointed his finger, almost in disgust, at the Bayleef which stood fearfully somewhere behind Prince's form.

Lily was stunned. Her eyes opened wide in dread, her breath became caught in her throat. In no time, her body was shivering as though a weight had been dropped upon her back.

"But Lily had nothing to do with it!" Char shouted, before he knew what he was saying. "I called the ghosts down! I was the one! Banish me if you have to!"

"Oh, I do plan to banish you as well, Char," Lucario spoke back to him, condescendingly. "I expect your babysitters will take you out of my jurisdiction by the end of the day. As for Lily, I understand her power is not nearly as strong as yours, but as long as either of you are around, a tragedy such as last night could occur at any moment. I am giving her two months, and I expect her to be gone from my territory. Whether you go with her, Prince, is completely your decision. Now begone."

"I still need that intel," Scythe said again. "Where has Temporal Tower moved?"

"I said, begone!" Lucario grunted, walking back to the center of the room as the audience murmured among themselves.

Scythe leapt forward.

"I will stand up to you, Lucario!" he warned, raising his voice. "I will not let you stand in the way of my mission!"

"And every Pokémon in this room will stand up for me!" Lucario replied, matching his voice and turning to face him again. "Take one more step, Scyther, and I will have you escorted from this building and dropped in the outskirts, possibly unconscious. Besides… I really don't think I should have to tell you…"

Scythe stood down, bowing his head. Lucario resumed his pacing toward the center of the room.

"Let's… do as he says," Scythe grumbled. "Come. We'll leave."

Lily didn't have to be asked. She was already bolting for the door, a pained scowl across her face, before Scythe even gave the word.

"Lily!" Prince gasped, motioning after her. "Lily, wait!"

But she was gone.

… … …

Having accomplished absolutely nothing at the meeting, the group trudged back across the street to Team Flamewheel's base.

It was so strange seeing the place still in one piece. The ghosts had phased through the walls, touching none of the furniture or the architecture. What Char had last remembered as a chamber of horrors was once more a place of safety.

Or perhaps it wouldn't be for very long… it depended now on the decision Prince would have to make.

When Prince motioned to open the door, he barely had to touch it before it opened on its own– Kabir stood in the doorway, looking very sad and saying not a word.

"Kabir! Blessings of Arceus, you're still alive!" Prince clamored, his mood brightening instantly. "This is the best news I've had—"

But Prince had to stop in mid-breath, and so did everyone else who stood around the doorway: as it swung open fully, it revealed a very disturbing sight: Kabir was missing his right arm.

"At a cost, Prince," he said somberly. "I was stupid… I warped myself into a wall… Arm got stuck, ghosts were closing in… I had to warp away, and when I came to, it was missing. At least it wasn't my writing hand…"

Ray shivered at the sight, closing his eyes for a moment. Char felt uneasy looking at the injured Smeargle as well.

"Whoa…" Saura whispered. "I bet that hurts…"

"It barely matters to me, at this point," Prince told him, embracing him suddenly. "I'm just glad to see you safe."

"Heh… ugh, now… Now if only I could learn to transform like a Ditto, I could get it back…" Kabir grunted, hugging him back with his remaining arm. "They say it's impossible to learn, but… I—I'm going to see for myself if that's true or not."

Char followed Prince into the base, casting a look of sympathy to Kabir on the way in.

"Kabir… By chance, did Lily come here just a moment ago?" Prince asked him.

"Yes, she went to her room," Kabir replied. "Didn't seem very happy. Didn't want to talk to me."

Prince stepped close to the closed door, not daring to push it open. It looked for a moment like he was about to call inside, but hung his head and decided not to.

"Let her rest," he ordered. "Do not disturb her. I will speak to her about this when we return from the expedition. It should be done well before the end of the month. Now… since we are all present, and I will be gone shortly, let us hold our meeting…"

Char, Saura, Ray, and Scythe waited politely, yet very impatiently, in the corner as Prince held a meeting with his team members. It seemed to last forever, as each present member reported the current status of their assignments, and were given new ones as seen fit. Char felt a little bit of pity for the team; he knew they acted independently, and this was their replacement for Lucario's meeting which they were banned from entering. In a way, they were still their own little resistance division.

The Silver Division.

The meeting went on and on and on, as Prince discussed the intricate details of each of their ventures. Finally, he called the meeting complete, sending everyone off toward their rooms to prepare for the day's ventures, or out to get started on their new missions. As they were leaving, he looked at the door to Lily's room—still closed. He sighed.

"Now, all your business is done," Scythe said, approaching him from the place he'd been sitting still for the past hour. "Gather the supplies. We leave immediately. There's no telling how long it will take for us to find where Temporal Tower jumped to. We must research this. Possibly bribe the sentries for information if we can. But we need to start making headway while there's daylight."

"Fine, let's go," Prince said to him. "I have our supplies all ready…

Prince opened his team closet, and un-slung the two biggest bags from their hangers. Char recognized one of them as Alakazam's bag. He set it down before Scythe, who hoisted it over his shoulder as he always had, trying to fit it upon his back in a comfortable manner. He also produced Team Ember's bag, still stuffed with their own favorite items. As long as it could be carried along, there was no such thing as too many supplies; the road would be long, there would be no towns to restock at along the way, and Temporal Tower was still very much an unknown. He slipped it onto his own back, sparing the children its burdensome weight. They would need every ounce of strength they had.

Then, Prince produced something very odd from the closet.

It was a tiny brown pouch, almost like the kind the Reviver Seeds were stashed in, tied with a very small length of twine. The knot looked so tight and secure, Char wondered if it was even possible to open apart from just burning the whole sack to ashes. Something sagged within, appearing larger and heavier than a standard Wonder Orb. With a belt-like rope, Prince tied the pouch snugly around his waist, quickly casting an affectionate gaze at it.

"Last thing…" he muttered, digging deeper into the closet. "We can't forget the emblems. I have them here somewhere…"

He produced another sack, one that looked quite large, and began shuffling through it.

"…That's odd…" he muttered.

"What…?" Scythe demanded, stepping closer. "Don't tell me… the rescue emblems are missing?!"

"No, they're right here," Prince said, still stirring his hand around in the bag's contents. "But… something else isn't here… Our map."

"The map to Temporal Tower?" Scythe guessed. "I'd imagine that's useless now, seeing that we now have no idea where the tower stands…"

"No, no…" Prince said, beginning to chuckle again. It was the same sinister chuckle he'd given before leading Scythe into Lucario's meeting. "I don't know who did it, but one of you took the map out of this bag. Char, it couldn't have been you, you were in your room all night… Scythe, you have no hands… hmm… Interesting. Very interesting."

Char, Saura, and Ray all stood gaping, but trying to hide it. They all knew exactly why the map was missing. Char felt butterflies in his stomach as Prince cast a knowing gaze straight at him.

"You were planning to leave without me," Prince said simply. "I knew it."

"That is of no consequence now," Scythe said. "Now that the location of the tower is unknown, we will need to band together, all five of us…"

"Oh, it's of quite great consequence, I'm afraid," Prince returned. "I suppose it's time for me to make a confession to you, Scythe… I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but… Temporal Tower has not moved at all."

"What?" Scythe rasped. "What do you mean?"

"It has always been in the very place I found it."

Scythe's eyes widened, a shocked anger quickly filling them.

"I bribed some of the sentries to report its location in the wrong place," Prince explained, shrugging. "Thus, Lucario also thought it was in the wrong place, and he didn't know better, so the maps were drawn incorrectly… Now it seems the sentries have betrayed me due to what happened last night, and the secret is out… The tower stands a mile and a half south-southwest of the entrance to Destiny Abyss, at least a twenty-two day walk from where we now stand. Not that you'd know where that is. I know the way by heart."

"W—when were you planning to tell me this?!" Scythe blasted. "We would have—"

"You would have ended up lost and alone, and cold, without me," Prince continued. "But that wasn't my intention. I figured you'd try to leave me behind at any of the rest stops. So I would have told you on the first night that only I knew the true directions. That way you would need to trust me. But I have to give you credit, Scythe. I wasn't expecting you to go and leave me in Fort Emerald before we'd even started! You're lucky the Call happened when it did… you and Char both would have died of frostbite in the middle of nowhere before I would have been able to rescue you. So… heh heh… heh heh heh… In a way, I suppose the events of last night were… fortunate?"

Scythe's body slumped to the floor, giving Char a start. Char watched as Scythe knelt before Prince, confusion and absolute humiliation covering his downcast face. He cringed as he spoke.

"You have bested me in a physical match… and now you have bested me at a mind game, as well," Scythe muttered, closing his eyes painfully. "You… you win, old friend. I concede. I have nothing more… There is nothing more I can do to prevent you from coming. There is nothing more I can do. Go, then. Lead us north. We will follow, and do as you say."


Emerald Outskirts

As Prince led the group through the northwestern gate of Fort Emerald, ready to leave the division base behind and begin their long, long walk through the wild arctic, Char was surprised to see a large assembly of Pokémon waiting for them just beyond the wall.

It was a send-off ceremony, and half of the entire Emerald Division must have been there. Char even thought he saw a few members of Team Regret standing in line.

Char shook his head and blinked a few times. Looking back up, they were still there.

"Uh, guys?" he asked quietly. "Are… are there a lot of Pokémon staring at us? Or am I imagining things?"

"They've come to sympathize with us," Prince whispered back. "Lucario did threaten to banish me in front of everyone. I didn't think it would go over so lightly… And besides, after that incident with Lucario, they all know your secret now, Char…"

Char's eyes widened. Yes… in talking back to Lucario, he had revealed his secret to everybody, hadn't he?

Prince stood still for a moment and halted his party's movement, and the Pokémon of the Emerald Division gave a thunderous cheer so loud it made the ground shake.

It took Char's breath away to hear so many voices, so many different types of Pokémon cries sounding at once. It sounded like the response Legend had gotten the night before, but so many more Pokémon were present now, all screaming and clamoring together… and he knew it was for him, and for all the Pokémon who stood by his side, who had guided him this far and believed in him, some anticipating his arrival for decades before his appearance, ready now to deliver him to the god which he had beckoned down from the halls of eternity…

And his spirit soared.

Char had never gotten applause before. His condition had always remained under wraps, hidden from the general public save for the select chosen. But now, showered with this booming applause which never seemed to end, it was impossible not to feel alive. Char felt so much cold and pain and despair just drowned out, replaced with the most profound, steadfast kind of courage and confidence one could feel. Turning to his companions, he saw Ray clenching his fists and holding his head high, grinning from ear to ear and casting a small circle of light upon the ground as his body glowed. He saw Saura's eyes as wide as they could be, sparkling with wonder. He saw that even Scythe looked refreshed from all the attention, and he couldn't hold back a grin of his own.

It was simply unbelievable. Even after such a horrible night, even after suffering the deaths of their companions, the Pokémon of the resistance were celebrating. Celebrating him. Celebrating the Call.

Prince started walking again, and the group began to head through the endless-looking gauntlet of Pokémon. Char marched proudly alongside him, focusing his ears on the individual voices which shouted his way.

"You could end it!" cheered a strikingly lovely Milotic from the roadside. "End the Master's reign!"

"So many lives lost," said the Abomasnow standing beside it, "they will all have meaning now, thanks to you…"

"The Silver Division, it lives again!" cried a Delcatty standing beside a large purple cobra. "Prince marches again!"

"Hey, Prince! Watch yourself out there, alright?" shouted a Weavile, flanked by Marshtomp and another Weavile. "Wouldn't want to have to rescue you…"

"Yeah, and we still owe you a rescue, too!" the Marshtomp added.

"Stand tall, little dragon!" Zahira shouted. "Keep that little fire going!"

Naxi the Flygon stood practically in the middle of the road, eyeing Char as he walked past.

"Char…" he grunted. "Once you win the heart of the gods… Remember. Don't let anyone try to control the power. It can only be yours. When you set out to destroy the Master… don't let him deceive you. Smash him into the ground, and never have mercy. He deserves nothing else after everything he has done."

At the very end when no more Pokémon remained, Legend stood before them and the open road, bowing his head. As they approached him, the crowd finally died down.

"Well, my Prince," Legend spoke, "I shall see you again… whether in a couple dozen days, or in the hall of eternity… and if the latter should come to pass, know that it has been an honor to stand beside you all these years, and to see everything you stood for, everything the Silver Division stood for, come to fruition at last… And even if I would prove myself a poor replacement for you, and the team which you have led crumbles and disperses over time, your flame will live on in the hearts of every Pokémon who hears me speak, for as long as I live. And Char, the same is for you."

Legend stepped close to Char, bowing his head enough to speak directly to him.

"Char… have you decided what you will be asking of the god of time?" Legend beseeched. "Already, I have begun to formulate a poem of you and your friends. Perhaps I can change Lucario's heart again with it. But… I would like for you to have a motive. A motive that has not been forced upon you, but something of your very own. What should the legend say about you? Have you chosen something?"

"Yeah, I know what I'll ask him," Char replied after a moment of thought. "I realized something… even if the Master isn't there anymore… I don't think I would be happy. Because… because I have a bunch of really good friends, the best friends anyone could ever want…"

Char looked upon the faces of his companions, upon Scythe, who had lost his mind, upon Saura, who had lost and now forgotten his family, upon Ray, who had lost his brother and spent the rest of his life struggling just to live in his shadow, and upon Prince, who had lost everything he had fighting so that the Call might live…

"…But they're all broken," Char said. "I'd ask Dialga… to have my friends not be broken anymore."

Char's friends looked surprised, and touched, at these words. Legend nodded, casting Char a deep, understanding smile.

"Then I will stand in your way no more," he said, rising to his full height and backing himself to the side of the road. "All together now, go! Off with you! The legends await you!"

"For heavens' sake, take care of Lily," Prince said to him. "If I should not return… Ask her where she would like to go… and then give her what she asks."

"We will, my Prince! Do not fret about those things you leave behind here, they will be managed well in your absence!" Legend said again, raising his voice. "Go, go! Off with you all!"

And finally, Char and his friends began their excursion across the cold tundra of northern Ambera, and eventually into the frozen land known as Zerferia.

As Fort Emerald shrunk behind them, becoming nothing but a speck upon the horizon, Char could still hear the howl of Legend's voice, combining with the collected voices of the resistance teams, chanting to the heavens:

And 'till the stars come crashing through the sky,
'Till the mountains fall and oceans dry,
'Till the sun descends before the eye,
Hold the flame… never let it die!

End of Season II

*Chapter 50*: Chapter 42: All Together Now

Season III: Temporal


Chapter 42

Part 1

My name is Char.

That isn't my real name, though. I don't know what my real name is.

Maybe Dialga will tell me that.

Here I am on the first evening after we left the Emerald Division. Prince says the Temporal Tower is really far to the west from our current position, so we're going to have to walk west for a week or two before we have to go north into Zerferia. He says we made it far enough north that the Watchers shouldn't bother us, and I really hope he knows for sure. I really don't want to see another Watcher for a long time.

Already it's getting really cold. Just when I think I'm getting adjusted to the cold around here, it always gets colder. It's hard to take. I hope it doesn't come anywhere close to being like that freezer. I still haven't gotten over that.

Right now we're in some sort of a dried creek bed. Scythe says we should start a fire, but there's nothing really to burn. The land up here is barren. There's nothing even to look at along our hike, just hills of dirt and rocks. I wonder if we packed any of that sol-rock stuff, it would make me a lot more comfortable to have some of that burning next to me right about now.

It's pretty quiet tonight. We don't have very much to say. We talked with each other a lot on the road today, and now there's nothing really left to say. So here I am, sitting and staring at the sky, shivering from the cold a little, wondering if I'll get to sleep under the starry sky for once. And also, I'm thinking. I do that a lot. I have a lot to think about. Like… how I got all the way here. How all these Pokémon came to be with me. And I wonder how I got to be a Charmander in the first place. I worry that if I don't wonder about it sometimes, I'll forget I'm not really a Pokémon. It already started happening a few times.

Everyone's going to sleep, now. Everyone except Scythe. Scythe doesn't sleep very much, apparently. I guess he's going to keep watch for us. That makes me feel safe, at least. Even though I slept in until noon today, I feel tired, so I try to relax. The cold is still irritating, so I breathe slower and try to simmer down my flame, just like Prince taught me to. Lowering my body temperature makes the cold feel less cold.

I really have to admit something: I love being a Charmander. Especially after I've gotten to know this body for a while. It's human-like enough that I could adjust, except maybe for the tail. The tail's really strange, but I got used to it. It's great how it helps me balance and it always lights up the dark, and isn't just useless like the tails of most other animals. But I'm lucky I didn't become something like a Bulbasaur, to have a heavy plant constantly rooted to my back and to have to use vines to grab things. Or something that doesn't even have any hands, like a Torchic. That would have been so much harder to adjust to…

But yeah, being a Charmander is amazing. I feel so alive, like my energy won't ever go away completely. I can do incredible things if I push myself, like win battles that I never thought I could win. And I can also take such a beating, it's amazing! This body just doesn't know when to die. If a human got smashed into the ground with a giant boulder, they'd be dead, no questions asked. But me, I might get a few broken bones, my fire would flicker a lot, but my body would blaze for a bit and help me overcome the difficulty, and then I could stand right back up, spend a few days healing, and I'd be back to normal in no time. This power, it's like a life force completely different than what humans have. Compared to Pokémon, humans are just slugs who lie around and do nothing all day, and I'd be a little spark of energy running circles around their feet all night and day.

And best of all, I can burn things! That's the most amazing thing ever! I mean, you have no idea how gratifying it is to just be able to blow fireballs at things you don't like.

…Well, that could just be the Charmander in me talking. I can't always tell nowadays.

This Pokémon nature… it's strong. Really strong. It's not like a human nature, where you can just ignore it and act rationally if you have to. This is like I've got an animal inside of me that I know I can't train completely, and it's really stubborn and insists that it influence all the actions I make , so I've just got to do what it says half the time. Which isn't all that bad; sometimes it really knows what it's talking about. But sometimes it can also be really stupid. But that's alright. It's all a part of growing up and training myself.

But yeah, I'm sitting here, and I'm wondering what it's going to be like to face Dialga in person. I already know what he looks like. I have vivid memories of him, but I know standing in front of him is going to be so much different… just picturing the creator of time himself standing in front of me in all his shining glory, maybe even asking me for orders, if my Call worked the way we think it did… the closer I get to him, the worse it makes my ember churn.

There's something else I realized just now: I would be perfectly content if Dialga tells me there's no going back to my old life. Even if I'm some human who did something awful and got sentenced to live out the rest of my life as a Pokémon. I really wouldn't mind forgetting all about my humanity. This Charmander body? It's a reward, not a punishment. Ambera? It's paradise. I love being a Charmander, and if someone wants me to go back to my human life, they'd better have a good reason for it! Just get rid of this Master, let me turn into a Charizard, give me some volcano crater to laze around in when I'm tired, and I could ask for nothing more.

Great, heart's racing again. I roused my ember just thinking about it. C'mon, Charmander. Settle down. Your trainer says so. Easy, easy… That's it… calm down, you need your rest…

Bah, I'll figure this body out eventually. After all, I hope I'll be spending a long, long time in this body… Heh. I'm a living flame. Who would have thought? It's so incredible.

Though… I don't know if I should tell Saura or anyone else I'm not keen on returning to my human form. It doesn't feel right. My instincts tell me that.

Actually, I'm not sure what I could tell Saura right now. I always could talk to him, but lately, he's… he's not acting right.

He was supposed to get some memories of his childhood erased, but I think his mind changed a lot more than that. Before that, I could always talk to him whenever I wanted. When I would tell him something, he would always know exactly what I meant. He could sympathize with me. He'd know when something would be hard for me to say, or when I'm not so sure of something, or just about anything I'd want to communicate but wouldn't know how to put to words. He was the kind of friend anyone would want to have, Pokémon or not.

But now… a lot of his emotions just aren't there. Like today, he started bugging Prince, asking him about the Silver Division. Then when he wouldn't answer, he started bugging Scythe, asking him random things about Team Remorse's past, just out of plain curiosity. But Saura has no idea what kind of pressure Scythe is under right now. Even before his memories were erased, I don't even think he understood everything I know about Scythe. I feel so awful for both of them.

Today, he also started to ramble about his adventures with us back in the gold division base, as though they were fond childhood memories. Thing is… we've only known each other for about a month.

Yeah, a month. Maybe a month and a half.

Time seems to pass much more slowly for this Charmander body than I remember it passing as a human, so I imagine it's the same for other Pokémon. But… still. It was a month ago, add maybe a week or two, that I woke up in that dark cave and saw his face. Saura is seven years old. Now, he's only one month old. And I… I don't know what to say to that.

I'm starting to wonder if Saura was telling the truth.

Maybe that's really what drove him. Maybe his subconscious was so haunted by the thought of the Master targeting his family, that's what made him cling to me… that's what made him such a hero…

It hurts to imagine it. We were so close. We could read one another like signposts. We had… we had no secrets.

The Charmander in me still refuses to believe it. It feels wrong. I think he made it up. I think the ghost made it up. It's the only explanation. Saura had a heart of gold. He showed that every day back in the base. You can't just cover up a heart of gold like that.

The human in me…

I remember how Saura apologized to me before he let his memories be erased. I don't think I understood just why he had chosen to apologize to me then. I think I'm starting to understand now.

You think you know someone, and then… they change. You don't have to be a Pokémon to know how discouraged that can make you.

Without that subconscious fear, he's a really different. He acts like this is some vacation, and he's just happy to be going along for the ride with all his closest friends. He acts like he doesn't know how serious this is.

The real Saura would have known.

No! Flame's flaring again… cold is… cold coming back…

For the love of us both, Charmander, if you don't settle down, I'm going to smack your head against the ground until you pass out.

... ... ...

Saura woke me up tonight, twice.

The first time, he screamed. I jumped awake, thinking we were being attacked or something. I'm kinda used to it by now, that kind of thing happens to me a lot. But when I came to my senses, I realized it was just Saura. He was standing there with his paws digging into the ground, gasping for breath like he almost got suffocated. He looked so panicked, like he thought he was going to die.

I knew what had happened. This is the same thing he did all last night, because of that nightmare, jumping awake constantly. I remember Gardevoir said this would still happen sometimes, when his mind brushes up against the nightmare. It was still hard to see him in so much pain and worry, though.

It was like he had the Call. In just a few seconds, we were all wide awake and gathering around him. Prince and Scythe both rolled their eyes and went away. Ray stayed standing there. He looked worried. He didn't know whether to come help, or just go back to sleep. I nodded and let him know it was okay to go back to sleep.

I came up to Saura and asked him if he was okay. He said he just had a nightmare, but couldn't remember what it was about, and he said he was trying really hard to remember because it felt like the dream was important.

So… I told him the truth. I told him that's why he had his memory erased. I told him that it's something he doesn't want to remember, so he shouldn't try. It would make him feel better if he didn't remember it at all.

He looked at me. It was… unreadable. I don't know what kind of emotion that was. It was something that I've never seen on his face before. He was confused, and… desperate, I guess. Like he really needed me to help him somehow. Like he needed me to go into his mind and pull out his memories for him.

That's when I realized it. We had lied to him earlier. We told him it was the Watcher that took his memories away, not Gardevoir. I cursed myself. I hate lies. They're so hard to keep. You always slip up sometimes when you're not concentrating. You can't just keep concentrating on a lie forever.

So I kept telling him the truth. I told him he decided to have his own memories erased because they were hurting him. I told him I couldn't give him his memories back even if I wanted to. I told him they were memories that I never shared with him. They happened before we met.

Then he turned away from me, and I think he fell asleep instantly. I knew he was really tired.

The second time…

The second time, it was really early in the morning. The crack of dawn. It was the time Team Ember used to get up and go out to do our missions.

He nudged me until I woke up. I stretched out and yawned, letting the warmth of my ember spread to my limbs, getting ready for an early day's work. Habit. Ray would have jolted me if I didn't get moving quickly.

I opened my eyes, and I was confused for a moment. It wasn't Ray, it was Saura. And I was sleeping in the middle of nowhere.

Oh, right. I'm not home. I'm not doing missions anymore. Always a disappointment to remember that.

"What is it?" I asked him. "What's wrong?"

He looked at me. He wasn't sad, he wasn't angry. He looked… emotionless. Like he was trying to hold back tears or something, but doing very well. He looked really serious.

"I'm sorry," he said.

I didn't know what to say. I honestly didn't. The way he said it, it sounded just like he did before he had his memory erased. When he apologized to me. I realized that maybe he might have remembered saying that. To make sure, I decided to ask him.

"For what?"

"I… I don't know," he answered as he shook his head. "I just… I don't know."

I got on my feet, I looked into his eyes, and then I gave him the biggest hug I could.

That's something else I do a lot, too.

We Charmander are emotional creatures. I learned that on the first day. This fire is strong. It makes me care a lot about what others think of me. It makes me proud and confident, and angry when things go wrong. But as strong as a flame could be, it's also delicate. It's vulnerable. It needs someone to help keep it burning when the wind starts to blow. Someone to hold it close and protect it. Because no matter how strong I've gotten, how easy it becomes to use my fire, or how good I get at holding back tears, nothing has given me more strength than having Saura there for me.

I guess Saura is the same way, too. He could never make it on his own. He loved his family so much, and now I've got to be the one to replace them.

I've always wondered if all Pokémon are just born like this. I see it in almost every Pokémon I've met. We're so quick to form bonds with others. Powerful bonds that we'd never let break if we could help it. It's like we're born as puzzle pieces and it's important that we click into place somewhere. It wouldn't surprise me if our hearts just have some kind of code written on them like that, that we are just impressed upon so easily. I don't think I was ever a Pokémon trainer as a human, but even I knew that the bond between a Pokémon and a trainer is something you just can't touch. That absolute, unbreakable bond. It's something you couldn't really understand unless you felt it yourself.

And now, I know what that's like, because I love Saura like a brother. And I don't care what kind of memories he does or doesn't have, I need him there. And he needs me.

"I forgive you," I whispered to him. "Always."

*Chapter 51*: Chapter 42, Part 2

Chapter 42

Part 2

My name is Scythe. I have another name, but it's irrelevant right now.

Someone is following us.

It has been six days since the start of our expedition. Yesterday, we entered this zone which Prince called the Cedar Stone Crossing. Why it is called that I don't know; the stones here look nothing like cedar. But that is also irrelevant. It's a rock Pokémon habitat which makes a decent shelter from the elements; it would even protect us from the Watchers except that they don't come this far north. It reminds me vaguely of a place I once knew called the Shattered Plateau. Once we pass through this place, the path to Zerferia will lay just ahead.

There has been a distinct change in the wind since we entered this place. It smells different. I know there is someone tracking us, less than half a day behind us, though I cannot tell who or what it is. I cannot even tell how fast it is approaching.

I ask myself what else Arceus could throw at me that he hasn't already burdened me with.

For two reasons, I cannot reveal I know of their presence. For one reason, I would lose the element of surprise. I can feign ignorance well enough to draw them closer, then try to learn of their means and motives. Unless Enigma is onto me in some way I cannot comprehend, The five of us should be enough to beat them in a battle if that's what it will come to.

Second, I would destroy my own cover. And I need my cover because it's all I have left.

Both Prince and Arceus have thoroughly destroyed all of my plans. My first plan died when the tower appeared and Alakazam ordered me to accompany Char to this godforsaken place. My second plan died when Prince refused to leave me alone. My third came crashing down when the Watchers attacked and left me no opportunity to leave with only Char. And my latest working idea was destroyed by Prince's ploy to hide the true location of the tower from me the entire time.

I discuss the matter with my daydreams, and they tell me I only have one more option. It is a danger and a risk to myself and to all of these Pokémon in my care, but it is all which remains on this disastrous journey.

Prince… I am an idiot for underestimating him. He was one of my closest partners for nearly a decade. I should have expected he would have known how to trick me if he put his mind to it. Instead, I had hoped we would not have encountered him at all. My hopes were too high.

He will be a difficult opponent to take down.

And I… I am so exhausted... My focus dwindles to dust… Rarely have I ever been put to the test as I have been so recently, carrying the burden of Char... I do not know how much longer I can continue this ruse of sanity, this… this mask I wear. Already it has slipped in moments of anger.

I wonder, why was I chosen to play guardian to this human? What spiritual entity deemed me suitable for this job? Was it Char who chose me? Is it because of my humility, which comes only from my shame? Or because of my experience, which comes only from having been a tool of the Master? Is it because of my ability to sense the Call, which comes only from my insanity?

Or could it be that I am the only one who would have been willing to believe in his power, and to bring him this far? Perhaps he should have chosen Prince instead. Then again, Prince is still a weakling. He has learned nothing from having ruined Lily's life, it seems. He would not have been able to make the call I made on the night the Watchers attacked, and it may have cost Char his life.

He would not have been able to sense that we are now being tracked by some Pokémon.

Nevertheless, I am now Char's guardian. I brought him into my division, I raised him, and I will not reject my duty to him. He is the answer to the prayers of many Pokémon. He is also a human. I will not turn my back on him.

I serve him to the best of my ability, but it seems that every waking day my best is no longer good enough.

Blast it all! Blast this wretched, godforsaken quest! Blast the timing of the Call. Blast Arceus who thinks this is all just a joke he can play on me.

Char doesn't even know that his Call didn't summon the Temporal Tower. I don't think I have the heart to tell him. I had made some simple observations while I have been here, observations of when Prince supposedly discovered its location and I began to piece together his ploy to drag us here. It's obvious the tower existed long before I found Char. Prince couldn't have possibly crafted his plan in less than a month, deceiving both Lucario, the sentries, and everyone else who may have stumbled upon it on a chance trip up north. It couldn't have happened. It was all a happy coincidence to Prince. He knew of the tower before he knew of Char. When he heard of Char's existence, he knew it was his one and only chance to defeat the ghosts of his past and fulfill what his ill-fated Silver Division had failed to accomplish.

Thus… it is unlikely we will accomplish anything of significance on this blasted trip. By some fortunate twist of fate, Char might win the heart of Dialga as I and all of the living resistance have hoped… that is a hope that burns doubly so in my own heart…

But fate has never been that kind to me, and I know well enough that it is not going to start any moment soon. I know Dialga will not be spellbound by the Call, unless by some happenstance Char activates it again at the tower's spire. Dialga likely does not even know that we will be coming. He may just turn his divine rage upon us for trespassing and banish us from his home. And so, I must expect—expect and assume—that life will carry on as normal the day after we descend the Temporal Tower. And so… my plan carries on.

What plan? What plan?? I… I'm running out of time to answer that question. Even my daydreams lately have little to offer me.

These Pokémon I must usher to the time dragon… none of them know what is expected of me. Char has tried to sympathize with me, but I have hidden the true gravity of this situation even from him.

It's Adiel's doing.

He wants me. He wants me dead, to be exact. But he wants me to die with my throat between his own claws, after he has tortured me and drained the last of my energy. He's anticipated that satisfaction from the moment I tried to rescue him from the Master's fortress, but failed.

I've also anticipated this duel between the two of us. I knew it was coming for years, and I've tried to prepare for it. The only reason we've yet to confront one another is simple:

He doesn't think he can beat me. And I, I'm not so sure of the outcome myself.

But now… he's clearly resolved his heart. Now he thinks he knows how the battle will turn. He's ready to take me on, at a time when I am anything but ready. Perhaps my stealing of his own personal Bulbasaur servant was the last straw. Perhaps he is only trying to insult me by killing me before I can fulfill my promise to Shander and take back Basin Canyon. He doesn't even care about Basin Canyon anymore. He's going to harass us on the day we get the sons of Jahzara back where they deserve to be, perhaps try to slay some of my teammates as a welcoming gift, but then he will clear away and leave them alone. He's already made that quite clear to me.

I don't know why, of all times, he chose now. But he's going to try to lure me out into the open so he can battle me to the death.

This ploy of his… he made a couple mistakes, a couple silly assumptions of the type he's known to make, when he moved into Iron Town. That's when I solved this riddle of his. He's moving into my territory, threatening me with his leverage over the garden I claim to tend… He's parked his troops beside several cities which he knows I protect.

And he's going to threaten to siege and raze them, one by one, until I show my face and meet his challenge.

It's a trap. I'm not stupid. The duel would not be without strings attached. He's engineering some advantage over me. Perhaps he has decided he doesn't even want to duel me, but capture me and hand me off to Enigma to tease me until I beg to die.

But I don't think he knows that I've caught on yet. I don't think he knows I've deciphered his ploy even before he issued his ultimatum. And as long as he doesn't know, there still remains hope that I can trump his plan with one of my own. But between my promises to Char, and my promises to Shander, all of my plans have been torn down. And I am left without any option at all…

I've got to be in four places at once. It's the only way I will have a chance.

I don't know how this is going to work. I will have to improvise my way through these up and coming weeks. But it all starts here and now.

My plan… I must let no Pokémon know of it. Adiel will be watching in some form. He is always watching. And even when he is not watching, he knows how to extract information from sources who were. So… I must let no Pokémon… not a soul on this earth, not Prince, not Char... know of what I am about to do.

…Even if it means I must knock them out and leave them behind here in Zerferia.

Prince is too clever. If I leave him awake, or perhaps even alive, he would interfere. He would find some way to meddle with my affairs, and it would be hopeless to try to explain the situation to him. It is one of the only things I am assured of: somehow, some way, Prince must be removed from the picture.

…Without Prince, does my precious payload stand the slightest chance of surviving in Zerferia—lost, alone, guided by no one?

Or… will his flame go out?

Only time will tell.

There is a fallback. There is one tiny fallback I have managed to implement while no one was looking. It is foolish, dangerous, and possibly disastrous. But it is a hope I cling to. It is unexpected, even by my standards, so no one could possibly predict it. And I cannot afford to have it discovered yet.

That is my cover. That is why I cannot spring a surprise trap on our faceless follower. So I follow Prince through this hallway of stones, keeping a watchful eye over my shoulder, ceaselessly asking my daydreams about my next course of action until they respond.

Around noon, we met with some resistance. Wild Geodude. I hung back to let Prince handle them; his martial arts give him an advantage over these creatures. Char tried to help him, taking it in as a training session. Saura helped with his plant-like attacks which the rock creatures also abhor.

I dared not join the battle, not when such a perfect distraction had claimed our team. Instead, I hid myself in the shadows, poised to attack our unseen follower.

I did not see them, but I still felt them. I knew they were there. I realized I didn't even know if they were stalking us, so much as trying to catch up with us. Was this a messenger? Had we forgotten something of importance back at the Emerald Division?

They would surely catch up with us if we nested in these crags this very night, which seems to be Prince's intention. Either I must convince him to forgo sleep and keep going, buying me some more time…

…or I must face them.

I decide upon something.

A simple bait-and-switch ploy would work, as long as the bait was left in the dark. It should disorient the target enough to corner them. Provided they do not command an elemental affinity that can obliterate me, it would be the simplest, safest solution.

We take a rest beneath an overhanging rock formation. It provides good shade, at least until the sun goes down. Then, it becomes dark. Not a star shines in the sky; Rayquaza's clouds block them all out. Only the howl of the wind through the crags and the screeching of Zubat is proof that an outside world exists in the shadows beyond the light cast by our two fire Pokémon.

…That is, for our mysterious follower. I, a Scyther, can see in the dark. And the dark is the perfect opportunity to strike.

I make small talk with the children as I consider my plan. I wonder if our follower also rests for the night, or if they push through the shadows to find us. I consider who I will call upon to help me. Char would be ideal, as his flame is the most attention-grabbing. However, I do not think it would be wise to put him on the front line when even I do not know what lies in the shadows. He is my payload. Risking his life is out of the question, at least until our mission is proven futile.

Instead, I choose Ray, the most experienced and powerful member of Char's team. I know he is willing to trust me even on a level greater than Char does. He generally worships me. In fact, he muscled his way onto Char's team to further his hopes of joining mine. His desire to claim a position on Team Remorse has always impressed me, and it's clear he has the skill and the strength to serve under my command. Most of my team already knows that I am planning to accept his application a few years down the line.

But I know that it is not I whom Ray worships. It is the memory of his brother, Rautzen, who was my teammate and partner for over a decade. It is Rautzen who raised him as a father would, telling him stories about my team and I and all the challenges we faced. And so I became a legend in his mind, and his heart became dead set on living up to his brother's legacy and taking his place among my ranks.

Rautzen was a spectacular Pokémon and friend. He treated us the same way he would describe us in his stories to little Ray. He treated us as though we were the mythological heroes which Legend always sung about when his tongue still graced the halls of the Gold Division. His very presence was electric; whenever he spoke, our morale would rise, and we would remember the standards we had set for ourselves and chase them with newfound vigor. And his energy was limitless; I remember how could assign him to patrol the perimeter of our outposts for a week on end, and by the time he was relieved, he would still have that same smile spread across his face, and the same spring in his step, as though it had taken nothing away from him whatsoever.

He affected me in ways I cannot change.

And now Ray… Ray wants to take his place. And while I know how much he deserves what he desires, I fear the day I welcome him to my table.

I keep no secrets from my team. Well, that is a lie. There is one secret I keep from everyone. It is something I learned while I was in the highest ranks of the Master's service. It is… something which I do not focus on very often. It is something the world is not ready to know.

But besides that, I tell my team everything I know, and I ask them to do the same. That is my policy, and that is what makes Team Remorse solid and effective. We operate as one.

And I… I dread the day when I will no longer be allowed to keep the secret from Ray about what really happened to his brother.

We have some policies regarding recruitment, you see. One of them states that a Pokémon who has a personal reason to fight against the Master is a good recruit. It is the reason I allowed Saura into the base in the first place; the Master had targeted him personally, and then his family, and we were his refuge.

I am also an example of that rule.

There is another rule… the reverse side of the first, I should say… which we do not mention very often. It states that a Pokémon who does not have a personal reason to fight against the master is likely to defect to the Master's side if they are presented with temptation. And a Pokémon who defects from our side to the Master's side will not return to ours again. In all of the history of the Resistance, this has never been disproven.

And the traitors have been our most dangerous enemies in the war. They know of our plans, or strengths and weaknesses, and our internal workings. They… are the enemies… we cannot afford to have.

Rautzen fell for the temptation.

He tried to return to us, but as a traitor. As a double agent. He was planning to leak our plans to Tallarak, a powerful general of the enemy's—A general whom I once commanded, in fact—while maintaining the guise that he was on our side.

I could not hesitate in my decision…

I ordered Daemon to kill him.

"I need you to do me a favor," I hissed to Ray, trying not to attract the attention of the others. "Can you come with me?"

He sensed I was trying to be secretive, so he nodded attentively and followed. Once in the shadows, I issued my order.

"I need you to walk in that direction," I told him. "Maintain a normal walking pace. Will you do that for me?"

"Uh, sure," he replied. "Am I looking for something?"

"No, nothing," I told him. "Just walk, until I tell you to stop. Ignore the wild Pokémon if you find any; if you are attacked, I will assist you. But go."

"Alright, whatever you say," he said with a shrug, then began to scamper down the rocky hallway to retrace the steps we had spent the day making. The soft glow from his fur helped him to see his way.

I admired his unquestioning obedience. The stripes of a true soldier. The same stripes which Rautzen had.

I took to the air, landing atop the surface of the gorge. I could not fly the whole way; my wings produce a sound that would strike terror into the hearts of many Pokémon and give away my position. So, I prowl atop the cliff's edge, remaining just far enough back to be invisible to any Pokémon who would be looking in my direction. And I followed Ray, keeping my eyes peeled for the intruder who had to be somewhere… somewhere close…

Of course, I barely had any evidence of the intruder's presence in the first place. Only my instincts, hinted at it, and I trusted them. There was something about the air. Perhaps a scent. Perhaps a disturbance in the atmosphere. Perhaps an aura that my subconscious would pick up. Perhaps echoes of a cry in the wind. But it roused the hunter in me, and I could not ignore it.

Now, I would see if my instincts were telling the truth.

Ray stopped. He froze in his tracks, as though he'd stopped at the edge of a bottomless pit and was hesitating to plunge himself into it. I winced. He was looking at something. Something obscured by rocks.

"Scythe!" he suddenly called, his voice breaking the silence and ringing down the rocky canyon. "Scythe… you're never going to believe this!"

I was irritated by Ray's audacity to break our stealth, but I would not judge him until I saw for myself the judgment call he had made. So, I progressed a little farther down the rim until I could get a good view of what Ray was watching.

And Ray was right. I did not believe it. Arceus had played another trick on me, it seemed, because I would have never predicted this particular Pokémon to have followed us all the way here…

Surrounded by a makeshift shelter of rocks, and sleeping soundly, was a Bayleef.

Lily.

*Chapter 52*: Chapter 42, Part 3

Chapter 42

Part 3

My name is Lily.

It's… a really long story of how I got here. Really long. To be honest, I really don't like telling it. Ask Legend if you really want to know. And if you're lucky, he might tell you. He doesn't like the story any more than I do. But let's just say that I've been through a lot, and I'm lucky to even be alive today.

When I came to Ambera twenty-five years ago… wow, has it really been that long?… I had no idea what I was getting into. I just felt like the wind was calling me. Like life was too short, so I wanted to be bold and make an adventure out of it, just like my aunt. So I sailed across the sea and came to this place I heard of once from a traveler. A place where there's no humans, only Pokémon, and a whole new world to explore. I felt like I wanted the danger and excitement of being a free spirit.

I guess I got what I came for. And some. There were the Watchers. And then there was the Master. And then... there was the Call. The crazy ability that made me second-guess so much of my life, that makes me wonder sometimes if I wasn't destined to come here, to Ambera. When I found out I had it, I didn't really comprehend what it meant. And then Prince's team found me, and I realized my hopes of living a free life apart from the resistance were gone.

Yeah, my life has been anything but normal. And it hasn't all been fun. It's been hard. But here I am, twenty-five years later, still alive and kicking. And I'm a Bayleef now, too. It was hard choosing whether or not to evolve. Prince kinda pressured me into it at the time, but I guess it's not all that bad. It grew on me. And he was right, it was for the best. I'm a lot stronger now, and I don't have trouble looking other Pokémon in the eye like I used to.

Still… I'm not really okay right now.

I just sprinted for about four days straight to catch up with Char's team. Char's friend Ray found me while I was sleeping, and before I knew it, Scythe was in my face demanding to know why I came this far just catch up with them.

It was hard for me to really answer that. I came for a lot of reasons… it's complicated. But I was tired, and I didn't want to have to explain myself to Scythe, especially since a lot of my reasons were between me and one Pokémon only. So I just said something I knew he couldn't disagree with: I told him that I have the Call, too, just like Char, so I deserve to come with him and meet Dialga. He looked at me weird, but he didn't have a comeback.

Scythe's... hard. I've noticed that. At times, even though I respect Scythe a lot, I really feel sorry for Char and his friends for having to be with him all the time. When you learn how to lead an army in a war, I think it really does something to your head. It starts to take away your ability to have close friends. Other Pokémon start to become just tools to you. I've seen that in Lucario, and a little bit of it in Prince, but I know Prince is trying really hard to resist that, maybe because of what happened to me. Probably because of what happened to me. But Scythe is one of the best leaders the resistance has, or so I hear. I can only imagine how hard he's been treating Char and his team.

That's… one of the reasons I came. It's like Lucario said, Char's being dragged around by the collar so we can use the Call to help the resistance. And I know what that's like. I figured he could use somebody who knows what he's going through. I know I could have.

To make matters worse, it doesn't look like Scythe is in a good mood right now. Normally I wouldn't have held it against him—almost getting killed by the Watchers can do that to you—but it seems like he wasn't happy to begin with.

In my nervousness, an odd thought occurred to me: maybe he doesn't want to be here either. Maybe he's being dragged around on a leash, too.

He gave me a glare that made me swallow hard. I could tell he was really not happy that I came. Though I should have expected that, really, considering how unhappy he was about Prince coming.

But he's not the one I came to see, so I looked away and tried not to let him bother me too much.

When I followed Scythe and Ray back further through the crossing and saw the light, I nearly froze, terrified. I thought Prince was still awake. I didn't know how I was going to explain myself to him. This was going to be so hard... for him and for me. Because the one big reason I came, before all others... what I came to tell him... would probably hurt him a lot, even if that's what I was trying not to do.

I had thought I had a few more days left before I would catch up to think of what I was going to say, and maybe then I could even hang back for a while if that still wasn't long enough. But either I must've been faster than I thought, or Scythe has some crazy ability or something, to have caught me early like this. I held my breath when I came around the corner, expecting to come face-to-face with Prince.

But it was just Char's tail. I felt a little relieved when I remembered that Charmander tails don't go out when they sleep. Charmander tails don't go out until they die.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw them, though. Char and Saura were curled up together, fast asleep. Char was shivering really bad and snuggling against Saura to stay warm. And Saura looked as content as could be to have him there. That's… courage. I mean, it makes me a little nervous being too close to Prince's flame. I mean, I trust him to not lose control or anything and burn me, but some part of me just instinctively doesn't trust fire. I don't think it would be easy for me to fall asleep in his arms, unless I was really scared or tired. But there was Saura right next to the fire, without a care in the world… And, wow. It's hard not to admire trust like that.

And you know, I had a weird feeling of déjà-vu when I saw them there. Here I was, barging in on their rest. Again. Just like I did on that night they stayed in our base. The night the Watchers attacked.

I'm the one who moved the map. Yeah, it was me. That was after Char told me that he and Scythe were planning to leave Prince behind. See, I… I went behind Prince's back that night. I was watching as Char retired to his room. Then… when I knew Prince wasn't watching, I went to go visit Char's team.

Why did I do it? Well, that's really complicated, too. It was a weird compulsion. I trust Prince with my life. I trust the judgments he makes. He was my guardian ever since the Call got me in big trouble for the first time and the Master started coming to get me. He's basically dedicated his life to protecting me. He promised me that he'd never abandon me. And he's kept that promise. Whenever I've needed him, he's been there; if it wasn't for Prince, I would not be alive today.

But that night… I was compelled to go… well, betray him, I guess. There isn't a nice way to put it, not even to myself. Especially now, now that I find out I was wrong. I moved the map for Char so he could leave without Prince knowing. I tried to make it so that Prince's plan wouldn't work. And I didn't even consider that doing so might condemn Char to death, so even the few noble reasons I had for doing it were worthless.

But, as for why I did it, I think I did it because… I look at Char, and I see me. And I imagine myself in his place. And I… I decided there were some things he deserved that Prince wasn't going to let him have. So I went to tell him all the things I thought he deserved to know, even though Prince told me to keep quiet. They were the things that I thought I would have deserved to know if I was in his position. Because I was there once. I didn't want the same thing to happen to him that happened to me. For Prince to risk me, that's one thing... My time is... pretty much past now. But for Char, to go on not knowing these things, for some reason, it just wasn't the same. Maybe I'm right, or maybe I'm just crazy... but that's how it felt.

When I came to them that night, he and his friends were surprised to see me. Why wouldn't they be? So far as they knew, I was just another member of Team Flamewheel. But then I stated to tell them my story. First, I told him about myself. I told him who I was, and what power I had. I told him that, from what I had heard, my Call wasn't even half as powerful as his, but it was still enough for me to be treated like some kind of legendary Pokémon by everyone, with everyone always trying to chase me around and capture me.

Long story short, he had a lot of questions to ask me, so I answered them. That was why I'd come, wasn't it?

I told him that everything that was happening to him had happened once in the past already. I told him about Prince, and how he let me be on his team and promised to protect me.

I told him about the Silver Resistance force: the three hundred Pokémon who had defied Lucario and chose to trust in the power of the Call—my Call—and what ended up happening to them. I told him how they all died, and how Prince and I and Team Flamewheel are some of the only survivors. And I told him how their deaths ended up saving the whole Emerald Division.

I told him that I was the whole reason the Silver Resistance existed in the first place. And I told him that since he had a Call that's more powerful than mine, he's the new reason.

I know not all of it was pleasant. The realities of the situation we were facing. Pokémon wanting to use us and manipulate us to serve their own ends. Never being able to live our own lives so long as the Master still existed. Knowing that Pokémon have been, are, and will be dying for us, and nothing we say can stop them. Maybe he got all that from what I told him... maybe not...

Like I said, it's a story I hate telling, but I wanted Char to know.

Oh, and then Scythe barged in and caught me talking to Char. I nearly sprouted a new leaf when that happened. I was so relieved to see that it wasn't Prince. It was just Scythe coming to go over the plans with Char's team one last time. That's when Char decided to trust me and told me what he was trying to do, leave without Prince. And Ray and Saura were going to distract Prince while they got away. Scythe asked me if I could go into Prince's closet and get the map for him, and that's how it happened.

…So, yeah. Everything that Lucario said to Char when we tried to barge in on his meeting, Char already knew. And so did Saura and Ray. Because I told them.

That's another reason I came. I felt just a little bit stupid for betraying everybody. I betrayed Prince because I did everything he told me not to do. I betrayed Char because the map I gave him wasn't right. So here I am, coming on the trip with them, because I just want to make it up to them and help them get to the right destination after all.

So now I'm standing in the middle of their rest stop, staring at Char and Saura and thinking about all this. At least neither of them have woken up and found me staring at them... That would be awkward, as if this whole thing isn't awkward enough already. It's just... They look so young and innocent, kinda how I wish I still was. Reminds me, just a little, of my friends back in the Evergreen Guild...

Ray comes up behind me. He asks me if I'm alright. I tell him I'm fine, and that I'm just going to go to sleep.

And so then I turn to see the Pokémon I really came to see in the first place.

He's curled up in the middle of the path, so he'd be the first one attacked if some Pokémon stumbled across us. That's so typical of him… he's always had such a protective nature. I remember how he always used to stay awake to keep me safe, especially back when he first rescued me and I was scared out of my mind after having been kidnapped and tied up to be taken who-knows-where, not to mention the Watchers. He asked me to trust him, and I did. Even though it looked like he was just trying to kidnap me too, I could tell Prince was different than them, so I decided to trust him. He hasn't changed much. Even in his sleep, and even while Scythe is standing guard for the night, he can't stop looking out for Char. It makes me feel even more foolish, to have not believed him.

My stomach turns in knots as I'm watching him sleep. There's so much I have to tell him, but… I don't know. None of the words are coming to me yet. And I'm afraid of what he's going to say when he sees me here, let alone when he finds out why I've come.

I decide to just get some rest. We can talk tomorrow morning. It's too late to be thinking about this. I just need one more night to sleep on it…

Except that as I'm thinking this, I hear a little crackle noise… His fire lights. He's stirring. His eyes blink open.

Prince is awake now. Yeah. Out of nowhere, he just woke up. And I'm just standing here, my mouth hanging open. I'm feeling my throat tighten.

He looks at me.

"…Lily?" he gasps. "What in the blazes are you doing here?"

"Y-you're awake," I stammer. I can't think of anything to say.

"Of course," he answers. "I can always tell when you're around."

I just blink.

"Your Call," he says. "It does something to the air, you know, even when you're not having an episode. We've been together for over twenty years. I learned to tell what it feels like when you're around."

Huh. Well, that explains a lot.

"Why'd you come?" he asks me.

He doesn't look too angry, just surprised. That's good. I don't like it when Prince gets angry. But it isn't helping the tingling in my stomach. It's time. I have to explain myself to him now.

So, I grit my teeth, and I… I decide to just… tell the truth. I don't know what else I could do at that point.

"I just wanted to talk to you," I say.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asks gently, sitting up and giving me his attention. He looks a little frustrated at me, at the apparent frivolity of my reasons for coming, but I think he knew there was no use arguing the point. He couldn't just send me back the way I came. Besides... if he really knew me, which he does, he would know I wouldn't come for a trivial pointless reason...

"What Lucario said," I respond, the name slightly bitter in my mouth. "Lucario wants to banish me. What are we going to do?"

Prince hums. I think he knew this question was coming. And if I knew him the way he knew me, then I knew he probably already had an answer in mind. I probably would already know it by now, too, if I hadn't ignored him when he tried to talk to me after the meeting.

"Legend is going to try to get Lucario to change his mind again," Prince told me. "You know how good he is at pulling Lucario's heart strings."

"Does Lucario even have heart strings anymore?" I grumbled at the ground.

I couldn't stand it. Just thinking of Lucario was making my blood boil. I mean, I can understand why he made the decision. This is the second time the Call nearly razed his whole division. The first time it did raze the whole place. So… I can imagine that his patience just ran out when he saw the Watchers attack like that.

But, for him to just… shove me out after all this time… after everything we've been through… after everything I've gone through... after I've lost so much already... for him to try to take away what I still have...?

It's… it's just… it's just not fair!

I didn't ASK to have the Call. I didn't ASK to have it activate when it did, and bring the entire Master's army down on our heads. I didn't ASK for any - or at least most - of my life after the Master started bothering the Evergreen Guild. But I got it anyway, and now I'm being punished for it?

Maybe it's not even Lucario I'm mad at. Maybe I'm just angry at the world for everything it's done to me. You know, things that you can't blame anyone for, really, except Arceus maybe. But since it feels kind of silly to hate something like the whole world, and sacrilegious to hate a god, I'm stuck with hating Lucario. Not that I mind that... Even if he didn't hate my guts, I still don't think I'd like him.

But I mean, when I became a Bayleef, it made my mind stronger. I learned that there were some ways I could help control the Call when it happened. Somehow I learned how to stifle it, make it quieter, so that it wouldn't cause another tragedy just by accident. It's not something I can really explain how to do. I'm not even sure HOW I do it, so I don't think I can teach Char or anything.... But it works for me at least, so I didn't have to worry about being a liability anymore.

And what does Lucario know about that? Even now, he doesn't care about me as an individual. I'm not Lily to him. I'm just "her" or "The Call," a backfiring weapon then, a scapegoat now. And then he just snaps like that after Char comes and his Call goes off for some reason… and he extends the blame to me, and tells me I should leave?

"What if Lucario's mind won't change again?" I asked Prince, bringing myself out of my long, dismal train of thought.

Prince hesitated to answer. His flame was staying small. I could tell that he was trying to keep himself calm.

"If Lucario will not listen to Legend, then it will leave us with only one option," Prince said simply. "We will leave."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" I asked. "I mean—"

"Lily." he said sternly to me, cutting off my words. "I made a promise to you. I'm not going to break that promise anymore. So if Lucario wants to expel you from his domain, I'm coming with you. And so the rest of my team will come with me. It's that simple."

See… I was starting to think it wasn't all that simple.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," I said. "Prince… what would you say if… if I… well… If I just left instead?"

I winced. I almost wished I could un-say the words. I had known beforehand that the suggestion would probably come as a blow, as much as I wished they wouldn't, but it was one thing to know, and another to see the reaction my words elicited. Prince looked confused, and hurt, like he just got stabbed in the stomach. He looked at me with wide eyes, and I kinda cowered in front of him.

"I—I haven't made up my mind yet! Honest!" I said quickly. "But I…I just wanted to talk about it."

Prince didn't say anything. I started to get worried. I think his stomach was getting tied up in worse knots than mine was. He started looking honestly worried. He said nothing, but his face told me what he was thinking: why?

"It's not because I don't trust you," I told him. "Because that's not true. That's not true at all. If I were to go home right now I don't think I'd even trust my family as much as I trust you..." It was hard to keep my voice from cracking. "But… I just thought… we've spent the last twenty years hiding the Call from the Master. So I thought… maybe… I could stop thinking about the Call - thinking about myself for once, and think of you."

"What do you mean?" Prince asked.

I sighed hard. "Sometimes, when I look at myself… especially after something like what just happened with the Watchers… sometimes I wonder if I'm a living curse, or something," I told him. "In a way, for these last twenty years… I've done nothing but ruin your life."

"Lily, no…" he said quietly.

"I mean… you've always been there for me," I rambled. "I've always been your responsibility. You've sacrificed so much for me. I can't stop thinking… Even what I did to the old Emerald Division... you took responsibility for that. Everything I do, even when I don't have total control over it… it always ends up on your shoulders. So I wonder… after everything you've done for me, maybe… maybe it would make you happy if you... if you could focus on what you need to, rather than just me?"

He went quiet again, for a bit. He was thinking. I went over the words I had said in my own head. Some things sound better in your head and sound stupid when you actually say them out loud. This, though… some of it had come out well, other bits of it not. Sometimes it was so hard to actually figure out what I really meant, even to myself. But at least this sounded mostly right to say.

"I never had any idea you felt this way," Prince said. "Lily, if anything, you've given my life more meaning than it could have ever had."

"I know, but… I just… I just think you belong here at the Emerald Division," I said. "You have a great resistance team, and you already do so much good up here. You shouldn't have to get dragged away from that just because of me. I think you've already done enough for me."

Prince was silent for a long time. "But where would you go?"

It kind of unnerved me, to realize how much I'd thought about this already, but I continued regardless, "I don't know. I could try visiting the Black Division. Gold Division probably already has enough on their hands with one Pokémon with the Call, let alone two." I laughed weakly. "Besides... I think... I might have friends down there... I've told you about Team Echo, right?"

"I believe so," Prince said thoughtfully, "Perhaps once or twice, a long time ago."

I nodded, "After they helped me at Great Crystal City... I don't know if they all survived, or if they'll welcome me or not... but... I guess I figured it would be worth a shot... If it gets to that point..."

I sighed, looking down miserably, trying to fight back tears. "I..." I whispered quietly, "I really don't want to go... but I really am beginning to wonder if it's best for everybody if I do..."

Prince sighed. "Lily… if that is what you decide to do, I'm not going to stop you," he said softly. "If you decide that that is really what you want to do, then… I will do all that I can to see to it that you reach the Black Division safely. But… we have a month to figure this out. If you haven't made up your mind yet, we can discuss this later when we get back from Temporal Tower, and see what the others have to say. But… whatever you decide, Lily, I've always been here to help you. I've never been here to stand in your way. Don't forget that."

"I know," I sighed. "I know…"

Then we were quiet for a long time. We just sat there, staring at one another.

"Well, now that you're here, I suppose you're coming with us, aren't you?" Prince said finally. "Temporal Tower is going to be hard. We'll need all the help we can get."

"Of course," I tell him. "This is finally my chance to get some answers about this crazy ability I've had all my life. I wouldn't miss this chance for anything!"

"Well, in that case, you'd better get some sleep," Prince told me. "We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"And that makes it different from any of the other days, how?" I muttered ironically,

I could have sworn I saw him smile.

When I finally curled up to sleep, I picked a spot right next to Prince, much closer than I would have normally. The proximity to his flame made some part of me uncomfortable, but at the same time, a much bigger part of me knew how much I would miss even that discomfort, if and when I lost it.

I know I'm probably going to leave. And I know this mission to Temporal Tower is going to be my very last mission with Prince. I might never see him again. Heck, in case we forget, if Temporal Tower is as bad as they say, we might even die on this mission.

But after all we've been through, I can't just walk away from him. I need to go on this last mission with him. Because I want to show him one last time that I trust him. Because I want to help him one more time. Because I know how much I'm going to miss him.

And that is the real reason I came.


Late that night, something really weird happened.

I was having a dream. I don't remember what the dream was about. I just remembered that, suddenly, it changed. It started being filled with a noise.

I heard something.

I popped out of unconsciousness, but I didn't open my eyes. I was cringing and holding my breath. I knew what this feeling was.

It was like some kind of an invisible god was singing a single note. "The Hum", I called it. I didn't always hear it, but when I did, I knew it by heart. And my heart started racing. Soon, it would wash away my consciousness like a giant waterfall.

The Call was happening. Again. And it wasn't me.

This one was loud. They weren't kidding. Char's Call was seriously potent. It was going to blow me away! I actually started to feel scared.

I usually couldn't hear the Call happening. But sometimes I could. Sometimes I could hear The Hum and prepare for it. It's weird. I don't know how it works. But I was hearing it now.

It began mounting, like it was taking a deep breath, about to scream really loud. It was about to explode. I braced myself.

But then… my heart changed, somehow. It was telling me to do something. It was a weird compulsion. I couldn't help it, so I did what I was compelled to do.

SOMEONE HELP ME!! The Call cried. SOMEONE! PLE—

Hey!

The Call stopped. I had interrupted it, somehow.

Hey! Can't you keep it down? I pleaded. You're going to wake everyone up!

Wait, what? Who…? Who is this?

It's me, Lily.

Lily?

Yeah. I'm actually right here with you! I'm coming to Temporal Tower with you.

What's going on?!

I… think we're using our Calls to talk to each other!

What? How… how is that possible?

I don't know, this is the first time I've ever done it! I have no idea how I'm doing this either. I'm just doing it by instinct.

Oh…

Char, listen. You don't want the world to come swarming to us while you're trying to sleep again, do you?

I hate when that happens!

Well, then you're going to have to learn how to stifle your Call.

Uh… how do I do that?

I don't know. Just… I don't know. Try it. Pretend we're speaking out loud and… like, bite your tongue or something. Or hold your breath. I don't know how to do it, but it's possible. I can do it whenever my Call starts to happen.

I can't figure it out!

Calm down. Just calm down. You're already whispering. It's alright. Just keep talking to me, and it'll be over soon.

Lily…

Yeah?

Lily, I'm… cold…

I know…

And then it ended.

My eyes blinked open. Wondering if it had all been just a dream.

Wondering what in the flying name of Shaymin had just happened.

I thought I kinda had the Call figured out, at least, as much as I could seeing as though I had it. But…

The Call can communicate?

So I look up, and yeah, everyone's awake. Everyone. Prince, Scythe, Char, Saura, and Ray… they're all standing around me, all with the absolute weirdest looks on their faces. Especially Scythe. He looked like he was ready to burst out laughing. Which is something I would have never expected him to look like.

"Uh… hi?" I said meekly.


Author's Note:

Special thanks to Gorsecloud for helping me write this chapter. More like writing half of it for me, actually. And also for bloating it up to twice its original size! I don't know about the readers, but I didn't mind…

In case you're wondering, this chapter 42 was originally supposed to be lumped together into the same document. Yeah, seriously. I was going to have it be the biggest chapter, ever. But then... I thought, hey, how about if I just post them separately? They kinda stand on their own.

So, yeah, hope you're enjoying the fast updates!


2 ½ Chapters Remain…

*Chapter 53*: Chapter 42, Part 4

Chapter 42

Part 4

My name is Raikouun. You know, after the legendary beast of lightning.

A long time ago, my bro just started calling me "Ray" and I guess it caught on and it turned into my new name. I've got no problem with it; if it makes it easier for other Pokémon to call me by name, great! But it's just funny how other Pokémon can change your name like that. I don't even think I've ever told Char and Saura my real name.

I've always sorta been the odd one out on Team Ember. Char's the transformed human, Saura's the one he bonded with first, Scythe is… well, he's Scythe, and he's got some kind of relationship with Char that I don't really understand…

…And then there's me. The tagalong.

It's all my fault, though. I'm only here because I want to be here. I begged Char to be on his team in the first place. Let me tell you, when I heard that there was this new team that was adopted by Scythe himself… wow. Ask anyone on Team Stripes, I went absolutely crazy and I just would not stop ranting about it. I just had to get onto that team, somehow… And I usually get what I want if I put my mind to it.

It's been my lifelong dream to be on Team Remorse, just like my brother Rautzen was. Ever since I was a baby, Bro told me bedtime stories about this mythical gathering of Pokémon called Team Remorse, and how they were led by this genius named Scythe and how he got to meet legendary Pokémon and fight epic battles and travel all around Ambera. Since childhood, it's been dead-set in my mind that I just have to live up to this ideal and see this Team Remorse for myself and join their ranks.

Bro was never home very much, so I got left on my own a lot. We were both orphans. Eggs were separated from our parents, and he hatched first. So he cared for me. Every chance he could manage to take a leave from his resistance work, he'd come home and tend to me, teach me how to defend myself, and tell me stories… (In fact, seeing today how tight a schedule Team Remorse holds themselves to, I understand now how hard that must have been for him…)

I didn't stay a child for long. Life did what it does best, and it got more complicated.

For one thing, Bro just disappeared one day.

I know he probably died. I'm okay with that. I mean, what else could have happened? Maybe he got deported off Ambera somehow? Maybe he even… I don't know… got captured by the Master or something? Whatever happened, I tried not to cry for him; he wouldn't have wanted it. He had a great life. I think the best I can do is follow the example he led, and try to be a better Raichu than he was. That's what he would have wanted.

But anyway, imagine this: one day when I'm still just a Pikachu, and I'm waiting for Bro to come home like he said he would like three weeks ago, this huge black hound comes barging into my home. I panic. Bro has always told me that he had real enemies that could put me in danger if they found me. So he told me to always stay on my guard. So when this hound breaks in, I do my best and try to electrocute him. But he breathes fire! Now I know I'm doomed, so I just cower in the corner…

…Then the hound (Daemon, of course) says that he's from Team Remorse. He tells me Bro's gone missing and probably will never come back. And he says that he's going to take me to stay with the Gold Division.

Oh yeah. Then I learned what the resistance was all about. And who the Master was. And how many Pokémon die because of him. That wasn't very easy to take in, learning about the brutality of life and all. But you know what? I tried so hard just to keep a smile on my face, because that's what Rautzen always did. I didn't want to see life as some kind of ongoing tragedy. I wanted it to be an epic tale of a power struggle, where we were the good guys. I told myself that this was the best bedtime story ever told, and I was living it for myself!

That was a long time ago. Wow, it's crazy whenever I look back on it. I stayed on Team Stripes for so long, just wanting to perfect myself and graduate into Team Remorse… Getting on Team Ember was a real accomplishment for me. You have no idea. That night Char accepted my humble plea to join his team, I was so excited I couldn't sleep. For days. And I still had enough energy to finish my last few missions with Team Stripes. I was that happy.

…Of course, Team Ember turned out to be something totally different than what I was expecting. Turns out Char was adopted by Scythe just because he was a human. An actual human in the body of a Charmander. Yeah. Those humans. The ones who train Pokémon. The ones who they say passed knowledge itself to Pokémon-kind. The ones who they say taught Uxie and Arceus everything they know. The creatures that every Pokémon alive are secretly dying to befriend.

Oh, and he had the Call, too. Yeah, that Call. The one that can make you do its bidding like you were some kind of puppet. The thing that the resistance has been expecting for like thirty years now.

And now he's my boss. Char, the human in Charmander form, is my team leader. And Scythe is my boss, too. I'm a servant to both my childhood idol and my wildest dream.

I am the luckiest Raichu on the face of the earth.

It's an absolute honor both to witness Char's story and to be trained by Scythe. And it's an even bigger honor to be here on the Temporal Tower mission with everyone, even though it hasn't gone so smoothly. Even though Scythe and Prince are having some sort of feud. Even though Scythe is losing control of his anger, and Prince is a little creepy obsessive over Char, so I don't really know who to trust the most. Even though I almost died when Char called the Watchers down on me, and a lot of Pokémon did die, and Lucario actually banished Char from the Emerald Division forever because of that. Even though Saura seems to have turned into someone I've never met before. And even though now we're walking in a place where it's so cold I think my tail is going to freeze and drop off.

And yet, there's still a smile on my face. Because, you know, there comes a point when you just say "By the hooves of Arceus, this is an epic, and I don't even care if all this ends in the most horrible failure... as long as I'm there to see it all!"

I'm way past that point. Way, way, waaaaay past.

So, yeah. Here I am, along for the ride and regretting nothing. And while I'm here, I'm going to be the best assistant I can possibly be to the real heroes of this story in any way I can. Even if it means going back home, which I almost did. But I'm willing to do anything for them, really… They're the ones going to be the legends. If I'm lucky, I'll be a legend by association. But that's fine by me!

Oh… uh… did I mention it's cold up here?

We're headed into Zerferia. Also known as "Articuno's domain". Whoever gave it that nickname was not exaggerating. I can't feel my paws! And I'm even wearing this Aspear Scarf we got from Kecleon before we left. Supposedly it's preventing frostbite from kicking in, but that's almost not good enough. Char's flame is a lot smaller than I'm used to, and it's bothering me. And Saura… Saura's bulb is starting to turn brown. I'm not joking. The very tip is starting to wilt.

But I'm not too worried about Saura. Turns out that Lily decided to come on the trip with us, and she's been giving Saura all kinds of advice on how to focus his energy and keep his seed healthy in the extreme cold. And I don't think I have to worry much about Char either; Prince is helping him keep his fire burning.

Yeah, Lily the Bayleef is here. That was some kind of surprise. Lily was the one who had the Call before Char appeared. Scythe and I found her just… sleeping back down the path, like she was trying to catch up with us but she fell asleep on the way. And now she's coming along the trip with us, and I don't think there's anything we can really do to stop her. Scythe isn't very happy about it, either. In fact, has Scythe even said anything since Lily came? I… don't remember. At first, he didn't want anyone but Char coming with him. Now he has four others… Just looking at him now, I can tell he's really angry. I really hope something really bad isn't going to happen.

The next morning, I wake up with this awful feeling that the rest of the team is freezing to death. So I go and dig into our team's bag and pull out the Aspear Scarves and offer them to everyone. We have three, so I offer them to Char and Saura. Then I remember Lily's here now, so I grit my teeth and offer her the last one, but she lets me keep it. Whew…

Then Lily starts giggling at me. She says that last night, Char had used the Call to say "I'm cold", so that's why I'm compelled to help everyone get warmer. Then I remembered that we had all woken up in the middle of the night, because apparently Char and Lily had activated their calls and were calling back and forth to one another and having a conversation.

…That's weird! But I guess having two Pokémon with the Call together like that is really rare, so we don't understand what it's like when the Call connects with another one like that. It even made Scythe burst out laughing from the ridiculousness of it all, because he can hear the Call and he heard everything they said.

I wish so bad I could hear this Call for myself. Then I could have laughed along with him. Scythe said once that anyone can learn to hear the Call, you just need to learn to listen to your subconscious mind, and that takes a lot of practice. Also, you don't get very many chances to tell if it's actually working. Since I still didn't hear anything, I'm guessing I'm not there yet.

So we keep going. Days are spent covering grounds, and our rest stops are short, so a lot of our travel time is in the dark. Since the Watchers are nowhere to be seen, we can afford to travel at night. Soon, we're only a few days away from Zerferia. I tell Prince that I don't even think I'll even be able to tell the difference when we get there; I say that I can't imagine anything colder than this weather. Prince says not to worry, that I'll be able to easily imagine something colder than this when I'm being whipped in the face by hurricane-speed winds. I say not if I can't feel my face either way. He just laughs as though I have no idea what I'm talking about.

But yeah, I'm spending a lot of time around Prince and Char now, and not just to talk.

Actually… that's not totally true. That's another weird thing about this trip: at nights when we stop to rest, Char is actually talking with me. A lot.

Char and Saura used to be the masters of gossip. Every chance they got to be alone, they'd spill their hearts out talk about everything. Secrets, other Pokémon, everything. It's staggering. I know they even talked about me a lot. And hey, I'm okay with that. I mean, it's kinda their right. Char must feel really weird being a Pokémon now, so he'd need someone to talk to all the time.

At first, it bothered me because it felt like they weren't letting me be on the team with them. But that's back when I didn't know about Char being a human. Once Char told me, everything started to make sense. And then Char and Saura started letting me gossip with them a lot, and it felt really good knowing that they trusted me.

But now, on this trip, I don't think Char wants to gossip with Saura anymore. So now he's gossiping with me instead.

I don't know what's going on with Saura… Char said he got the memories of his family erased, because the ghost made them start to hurt. I don't know, I wasn't there to see the whole thing when it happened. But if you ask me, it's more like he got all his memories erased. Now he babbles a lot, and he's acting all bubbly and happy all the time.

(It's actually putting me to shame. That's sad.)

So Saura's really not himself. I mean, he talks to Char, but I don't think they understand each other on such a deep level anymore. So now Char's trying to use me as his outlet. And I'm… really bad at being a replacement for Saura. I mean… when Char's talking with me, things get really intense. First, it's kinda hard to get past the awkwardness when he just starts talking about all his human stuff. His human feelings. The way likes to pretend his nature is separated into a human trainer and a Pokémon. …And then he talks about other Pokémon in a way that would make them strangle you if they heard anything you're saying about them. (Not to mention that I know Scythe's somewhere nearby, totally wide awake and probably hearing every word).

As he's talking to me, I start to gain a respect for Saura's role in his life. Saura was really good at this. And I'm… I'm not.

This is going to be hard.

But you know what? I'm going to try. I'll learn how to gossip like Saura if that's what Char needs me to do. It might take a while, but… Hey, I said I would do anything for Char, right? Well, I will. I can't let a friend down, not to mention a human friend.

"I'm getting even more worried," Char tells me one night, keeping his voice low. "Scythe looks like he's about ready to snap… he's looked like this ever since Lily came…"

"I know," I admit. "I noticed it, too. He's not even talking."

"What are we going to do?" Char wondered. "How can we help him, Ray? What do we do?"

At first I thought it was a rhetorical question. But then I realized he was looking at me, and his eyes were desperate. He was begging for an answer.

"Besides going to Temporal Tower?" I tell him. "That's what we're all here for…"

"That can't be the whole picture!" he insists. "It's more than just… the tower. There's something Scythe can't tell us. And the rest of you are ruining it just by being here. Just look, at first he didn't want to bring anyone besides me. You don't think that means something?"

"But if Scythe's plan had gone according to plan, wouldn't you be dead?" I reminded him. "You'd be out here with just him… freezing to death. Without Prince being here. And nowhere even near the tower."

"What are you saying?" he asks, sounding surprised. "That I shouldn't trust him? Seriously?"

"Maybe not," I say. "Pokémon make mistakes. Nobody's perfect."

"Funny, I never thought I'd hear you say something like that," Char grumbles, looking displeased at the idea I presented. "Thought you were his biggest fan and all…"

"Well, you have to remember something," I say, admittedly being a self-proclaimed expert about my life-long idol, "Scythe does make stupid mistakes sometimes. Usually he has Daemon around to yell at him whenever he has a stupid idea. Now, Daemon's not here to help him, so… yeah, he could make a mistake. Just like he made one wanting to take you to the tower alone."

"Eh… wasn't even his mistake," Char muttered. "It was mine. I suggested it, remember?"

"It's alright," I tell him. "I think… everyone who's here right now, we need here. Well, except for maybe me. But look, Saura might have started to really wilt if Lily hadn't come to help him. And… Prince is helping you control your fire. Plus, I think Prince is helping a little bit to take Daemon's place. Scythe needs someone to challenge his ideas. So… I don't think it really matters what Scythe thinks. Really, he might just be upset that he was wrong."

"I do need you here," Char said reassured me, looking totally serious. "Believe me…"

We're both quiet for a bit, and I, as usual, start to feel horrible because I don't think my responses helped Char to feel any better.

"I think you need Saura more than you need me," I say honestly.

That was probably the worst thing I could have said, because Char gives me the biggest frown I think I've ever seen. Suddenly I feel like I want to run around the corner and call a lightning bolt down onto my head.

Yeah… I told you I'm bad at this. I cringe back a little.

Char looks away. "Saura was talking to Lily all day today," he reminds me. "I think… he's actually avoiding me."

"I don't think he is," I offer. "He's just learning how to keep from wilting…"

"Saura is a newborn again," Char says. "He's… as far as his mental health is concerned, he's only been alive for a month. He's trying to impress upon other Pokémon now. And I think… I think some little corner of his mind remembers me. But on the outside… well, yesterday we had so much time to talk, but every time we had a chance, he'd always go and talk with Lily instead… He only gave me a 'hey Char! Wonder what Temporal Tower will look like! This is going to be fun, right?' and then… he went back to ignore me again…"

Char slumped to lay on the ground, looking miserable. My tongue was tied; I didn't know how to respond to that. I did remember Saura saying that, as well as a few other little quips here and there that either had nothing to do with anything, or were really impersonal. Saura talked about the weather a lot. He also liked to laugh at how odd it was that one of his friends was a fire Pokémon, even though he hates fire. Then he just falls asleep at night with a huge smile on his face, not even thinking twice about Char.

I remember back when Saura would always stay awake as long as Char was awake. I would try, too, but I'm more of the deep sleeper, so I didn't always know when the others were awake. But to me, that was one of the things that made Team Ember what it was: if one of us suffered from insomnia, then we would all share the pain. And there was something really special about that, even though it was… well, inefficient when it came to actual resistance work.

"Figures another plant-type would make a better friend than me…" he said. "Heh, you know, before this is all over, I wouldn't be surprised if he starts being interested in her…"

"Whoa, I don't think that's going to happen…" I respond, a little wide-eyed at the suggestion. "I mean, I hope not. Hey, that reminds me: did you know… there are no less than two plant-type girls in the training teams back at the Gold Division who have a crush on Saura?"

This got Char's attention pretty quick.

"Huh?" Char responds, turning back to me and looking really amused at the news.

"Yeah, but they made me promise not to tell anyone, under penalty of death," I say with a wink.

"Wow, didn't know that…" Char admits, looking very thoughtful. "Huh… wonder what Saura would think of that. Do you think he would like any of them?"

"Maybe…" I trail off. "I can tell you who they are, if you'd really want… but I'm just saying, you know, they might be better choices for him than Lily…"

"Nah, you're my strongest teammate. I don't need to have a bunch of girls trying to carry out that death sentence," Char replies with a wry little smile. "But maybe… maybe a little later. I don't think they would want to kill you if I were to… you know… actually help their cause. … …But hey… Ray… just curious, you know, because I… I'm still kinda getting used to being a Pokémon, but… there aren't any trainees who… have a crush on me, are there?"

There were.

Five.

"Aww, come on, Char, do you really want me to answer that?" I tease him. "No matter what I would say, I'd only make your life harder…"

"Heh… I guess not," he says, looking like he's about to laugh. "Hey, Ray?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for talking with me," he says. "I really appreciate it."

"Hey, no problem," I reply. "Whatever you need, it's what I'm here for."

So… yeah, I might not have been so good at getting to the roots of his issues like Saura could. Saura had some kind of magical ability to do that.

But at least I cheered him up, right? That's got to count for something.

It's like Bro would always say. There are a lot of Pokémon in this world, and a lot of them are unhappy. But it only takes one Pokémon to change that. To make someone happy. One Pokémon, and all that unhappiness can go away. And for a lot of them, that Pokémon can be you.

And I know that when you're mad, or depressed, or unhappy, the mind just doesn't work right. Sometimes, what you really need most is a jester to make you laugh. Or a close friend to make you feel comfortable. Once you cheer up, all your thoughts will just be so much clearer. And you might be able to figure out the answers to problems that seemed so impossible before.

The real power of joy. That's one of the things Bro taught me that I will never forget.

Alright, so maybe I'm not so useless after all. Maybe.

... ... ...

A few more days have passed, and we're about to go into Zerferia.

Prince warns us all. Cedar Stone Crossing is about to open up into a tundra, and then we'll be officially in Zerferia. Of course, I hold my opinion that it doesn't really matter what you call it, cold is cold. And this… is cold.

Now I'm actually missing our last rest stop. There were a lot of little nooks in the crossing we could hole into at night. And the heat from Char and Prince was well insulated most of the time, so nights were relatively comfy and cozy. … but then, then we'd have to continue our journey in the mornings, and it was always murder.

I used to think I was lucky for having a fur coat. But that means nothing here. Just stepping out into the open air makes your whole body numb! And since you can't feel your body at all, you act real clumsy and your muscles convulse a lot… I actually tripped and fell on my face a few times. Do you know how hard it is to trip while walking on four legs? Yeah, that's pretty sad.

One morning I put on my Aspear scarf as fast as I could, but I didn't notice a bit of difference. Maybe it was never meant to work in Zerferia. Maybe it broke.

So then, I open up my battery sacs and let my Spark start to coarse all through me. That does help a little, the tingle helps at least make me feel like I'm still alive. Though I have to try not to touch anyone else or I'd zap them real bad.

So we're heading for this entryway into Zerferia. I've got static running all over me like some kind of armor to keep the cold at bay. In my mind, I'm getting psyched for this new challenge. I can't wimp out now.

It's dark in this last part of the crossing, and I see this blueish-grey glow from the opening in Zerferia. And I hear the howl of the wind. It's blowing sideways across the lip of the crossing; Prince says that if it had been blowing through the crossing, we wouldn't have been able to survive actually walking through here. But it's gonna sweep over us all as soon as we step out, and there's not really anything we can do to stop it. And it's probably not going to stop. Ever.

"Alright, Articuno, do your worst!" I shout for all to hear, my body sizzling with my pent-up energy and my heart racing. "Bring it on!"

Everyone else looks steadfast, like we know we're all walking into our dooms, but we're going to do it anyway. Prince looks the most confident, since this isn't the first time he's been this far north, but I can tell even he doesn't like coming here…

Char's flame is burning pretty brightly. Maybe he got himself psyched, too.

Saura is shivering, and his body isn't such a vibrant shade of green anymore, but at least it's green. Lily keeps assuring him that it's shady here in the crossing, and that the sun is the most important part for a plant-type, so he shouldn't be afraid.

Scythe looks indifferent. Maybe he can't feel the cold at all. I don't know how bug Pokémon feel temperature, but it doesn't look like he's suffering as much as the rest of us… or maybe he just looked so tired and annoyed beforehand that it's hard to tell the difference.

But we're ready. We know we are, and there's no going back! This is it! Into Zerferia!

But then, just as I'm starting to feel the wind… just as we're about to actually leave the crossing…

Something moves in the air.

I look up into the sky, and I see…

… something.

It's something big and blue. That's what it looked like at first. Like a big, blue blur of… movement.

And then it starts to take shape as it comes closer.

And it's like… A bird Pokémon of some sort, with huge wings that sparkle like ice crystals and seem like they're filling up the entire sky each time they flap… and a long tail that's twisting in the wind and trailing behind it…

And then it clicks. And I hold my breath. Honestly, I became totally unable to breathe for a moment. Because I knew exactly what I was looking at.

Articuno.

I…

I…

I'm standing in the presence of a legendary Pokémon!

It's… it's so magnificent! Articuno is… you see drawings of it all the time, but to see it in real life… it's like an ice sculpture, come to life! It's so blue, so many different shades of sparkling blue, and it must have a wingspan of miles. You'd think I'm exaggerating, but… you'd have to see it for yourself to understand.

And it just has this aura about it, like it has the eyes of a god, and this crown made of sharp icicles on its head, and… Oh, what am I trying to do, describing what Articuno looks like? I couldn't do it justice!

At this point, I'm frozen. And not because I'm cold. Cold? What's that? It doesn't mean anything to me. There's this winter snow spirit that just swooped out of the sky, and it's standing right in front of me! In fact, I think I can even feel its breath on my face! My heart is beating so fast, and I can't even get a meager little squeak out of my vocal chords…

I…

I'm experiencing a type of awe that I never thought possible.

"Ah, Nameless, what a pleasant sight on such a cold day" Prince said to it with a measure of reverence. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to a close friend and invaluable ally of the Emerald Division. This is Nameless, the Articuno, our shepherd in the lands of Zerferia."

Of course, I can't reply at all. And neither can Char or Saura. They're just rooted to the ground, gaping at this beautiful sight, just like I am. Prince smiles at us.

"What, you thought 'Articuno's Domain' was only a figure of speech, didn't you?" he chuckled. "Nameless, I thought you were still in hibernation for another four years. Had we gotten your schedule wrong?"

The Articuno spoke. And it had a weird voice, like I didn't expect it to have at all. It had a much lower pitch than any bird I've ever heard, but it still spoke with a squawk in its voice. And it spoke very slowly, as though our language was foreign to it, and it was still learning.

"I slept," Nameless squawked, "but I woke. There was a voice. The voice complained of cold."

"Well, this is wonderful news!" Prince proclaimed, also speaking slowly and carefully to it. "Since you are awake, would you mind assisting us in our journey? We are going to the tower."

"As you wish," Nameless said.

Then it looked at me.

Right at me. Into my eyes. Its eyes were even going cross-eyed. Those little, red, god-like eyes, between that huge, supreme beak and that divinely-sculpted crown, were focused right onto me.

"I am a friend," it said. "Don't fear."

I don't remember what happened after that. The memory is a bit fuzzy.

I think I might have just fainted.

…I did, didn't I?

I actually fainted. I fainted from the pure awe of seeing my first real legendary Pokémon.

Me, Raikouun, the one who can take million-volt surges of lightning from thunderheads into my own body… fainted from seeing Articuno in person.

You know, I'm on the way to see Dialga. The dragon that created the time stream. Who probably looks like a living skyscraper made of blue diamonds. And I couldn't even handle the sight of a little bitty bird?

I'm such a wimp!

Well, if the gravity of this whole series of events hadn't really dawned on me yet, it has now! This story I'm living is an epic story. And epic stories have legendary Pokémon. It's no good witnessing something if you just stand there telling yourself "this isn't really happening!"

I make a resolution: when I come face-to-face with Dialga, when he squints at me like that, I'll be ready! And I'll tell him "hi"!

In the meantime, I wonder if Nameless really wants to be my friend…

*Chapter 54*: Chapter 42, Part 5

Chapter 42

Part 5

It brings me a melancholy sort of joy to see the children getting along so well with Nameless.

She is a very shy soul, having lived in solitude for more centuries than anyone knows, knowing only the beat of her own heart and the patterns of the winds in the sky. Though she is wild, she knows not the cruelty of evil men or Pokémon, nor the violent instincts which come from the need to fight for survival; she only knows Zerferia, her home, the skies which she has flown upon wings supreme and unchallenged. She has grown to be docile, respectful of other forms of life, willing to help those in need as a mother would help her hatchlings.

She knows her place in life; she has never needed to question it.

But the children ask her questions, endless questions, all which she is pleased to answer the best she can despite her limited grasp of the spoken word.

"I have been alive for a long time," she coos, in answer to Saura. "So long, I don't know how long. Memories drift as clouds in the wind drift, they go too far. Too far away to see. Too far away to chase. Memories and dreams become the same, and I don't tell which are flights imagined, and which are flights passed. But I know, there is very little worth remembering, in my life."

"Aren't you lonely up here?" asks Rautzen's brother. "Haven't you ever left Zerferia before?"

"I have gone south," she answers. "I have met with your followers of Rayquaza, in the past. But when I fly south, my heart urges me back, to return here, so I know I belong here, and not where else. When I am alone here, with the empty sky, I am happy."

I must smile to myself, remembering the time when I asked her all these same questions, and first felt the impossible thrill of befriending a legendary Pokémon.

When I was young, I was taught the legends were, in many ways, no different from every other creature of this earth, and that humanity hailed them as gods only because they did not know better. Mankind saw how Articuno's wings would grace the morning sky only once in a lifetime, bringing with her the winds of a winter blizzard. They saw how Kyogre would rise from the blue depths to bring rainfall to their famished lands. And so they would pray to these entities, worshipping their strength and rarity, their mastery over the elements and the weather, not understanding these 'gods' were merely species endangered by their difficulty in finding suitable mates and reproducing, hiding in the deepest corners of the earth just to prolong the process of extinction.

After having met one for myself, I still cannot say whether the humans were correct, or whether the beauty and power of the legendary Pokémon is the artistic expression of the gods themselves, their rarity intended and engineered, their purpose to teach the common creatures of the land the humility to bow to a higher power. But what I do know for certain is this: they are similar to us in many ways we often overlook.

"How did you make the wind go away?" Saura asks, relieved, like the rest of them, that the cold of Zerferia had shown mercy since Nameless came. "Do you have power over the weather?"

"I am the wind, and I am the snow," she replies, opening her wings once as though to illustrate. "Do you understand why you control your paws? Do you understand why your eyes close when you will it? So is it, with I, the forces of the sky obey commands when I will it, like my talons and my wings obey my command, and I do not understand how, but I don't need to."

"Why are you called Nameless?" Char wonders. "Did you pick the name for yourself?"

"When Pokémon began to speak with me, I didn't understand names," she explained, betraying shame in her voice. "They called me Articuno, and it made me… furious, to become sounds from the tongue, as though I was equal as nothing more than sounds. I believed it was disrespect. I did not understand it is necessary for speaking Pokémon to name things. They saw I was furious, and they asked me what I could be called. I told them, I didn't want a name. So they would called me Nameless. At the beginning, it confused me because it was a contradiction. But I thought about it, and then, it made me learn of the purpose a name. So I accepted the contradiction as my own name. "

Nameless has made great improvements in her speaking. But that is to be expected, for her teacher is none other than Legend. I can even hear some of his voice in her own. In a way, Legend's voice suits her; from the moment she learned to communicate verbally, it became clear she is as wise as she is majestic. She understands far more about life and the world than any simple Pokémon could hope to comprehend. She only needed to learn the words to communicate her thoughts. She has taught me much.

I sit back in this ditch of ours, watching as Nameless enjoys her chat with the tiny Pokémon crowding around her feet.

I see her, the incarnate breath of the gods, submitting herself as the companion to a lowly group of mortals.

I see Lily, a Pokémon who trusts me beyond any other Pokémon in the world. One who has no one else in the world to turn to, but me.

I see Scythe, an old partner of mine, perhaps the most cunning mind in Ambera, standing at my side as an equal.

And I wonder if maybe things are finally coming together. I wonder if, for once, I am doing something right.

I am Calamar Morfeaux Distragnatia, or "Prince" as my Amberan brethren know me. Some hail me as a natural-born leader. Some say that my team is one of the best there is, listed on the same breath as Team Defect, Team Regret, Team Absolution, Team Priority, and Team Remorse. Some call me a hero.

They can call me what they want, but it is not that simple.

Seventy-nine years ago, upon a foreign land, I hatched to a human master called King Davious, and to his loyal Infernape servant, King Morfeaux Bladden Distragnatia, my father. Together, they ruled a small coastal country upon a far-away continent, a people known among man for their martial strength, their unbreakable Pokémon army. Davious sat in command of the humans, and Morfeaux in command of the Pokémon. It was my birthright to one day take the place of my father as king.

Before the yolk had even been washed from my fur, my training had begun. My father taught me the arts of politics, self-mastery, and leadership. Before my first evolution, I had learned about my fire, and what happens when it goes out, and what happens when it blazes. I learned how to manage Pokémon under my command, how to inspire them, how to punish them, and how to lie to them.

I thought my purpose in life was pre-determined, but I was wrong.

There was a disagreement between my father and his master. As punishment for his insubordination, Davious ordered that I be banished. Before my father's eyes, I was knocked out and carried away. They trapped me in a Poké Ball, escorted me across two continents, and dropped me in the wild. I never saw my home, or my father, again.

When I found my way to Ambera, I had all the makings of a leader. First and foremost I was an expert at doing what Pokémon do best: battling. I knew the martial arts. I knew pyrotechnics. And I knew how to use them in conjunction to defend myself. Secondly, I had political and leadership skills. I knew how to manage a team. I knew how to make other Pokémon trust me.

I was proud back then. I did not fully understand myself. When I formed a resistance team, I convinced myself I knew what I was doing, and the other members at the Gold Division seemed to think I did as well. Alakazam, Scythe, Aether, Indigo… they all accepted me as a capable ally, a valuable asset to their cause. And I believed so, too; it was difficult to believe otherwise as we stood eye-to-eye with the best of our allies and we pulled through every task we were given.

But one day, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together in my mind… I began to realize the truth. Perhaps… I was not to be trusted after all.

I never told the team why I moved to the Emerald Division. That is because, back then, I didn't know the answer myself. I just knew I had to leave. Decades later, I realized why the urge had been so strong: my success and my comfort began to remind me of my service to the humans, and so I began to distrust. I began to expect some hidden treachery, some reason they would find to banish me or ruin my happiness there.

That is the last lesson my father taught me: when things are going too well, it means something is wrong. And so, I had to get out of the Gold Division as fast as I could, so the cold of Fort Emerald would clear my mind. I had to see for myself what was wrong.

It was not until I stood with my team, surrounded by the undefeatable foes who had captured us… as I watched helplessly as Rayquaza's Clutch burned to the ground… that I had found it.

I realized I had chosen to become a leader because that's all I knew how to do. That's all I had been taught since hatching, to stand in command of other Pokémon. But… to what end? I was no leader. I was merely playing the role of a leader. At heart, I had no guiding principles. I had no courage. I had no real reason to oppose the Master, he had never harmed me personally until now.

I… was a fraud.

I realized I had modeled my team after Scythe's, thinking it was a good team structure to copy. Vallon was designated as my foil, to challenge my ideas, like Daemon. Legend was my heart and soul, to keep my spirit lifted, like Rautzen. Azel the Salamence was my egotistical dragon, much like Scythe's Charizard. Tangrind the Heracross was my master strategist, the closest thing I had to Scythe's own mind.

For the longest time, I also needed another member, someone whom I was bound to by a solemn promise. Someone to play the role Shander played on Team Remorse. Someone to constantly remind me that I was not only a leader, but a servant.

That eventually became Lily.

And when I "saved" the Emerald Division… my ultimate sacrificial act, my ultimate heroic deed, as it will forever be known…

I was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of the division's Pokémon. The attack was imminent. Lucario said we should surrender. I said we should stand up and fight. I insisted that we should try to use the Call to our advantage. I called many of the Division's warriors to stand at my side, and so my Silver Division was born. The Emerald Division got away, to live another day… and the Silver Division stayed in their place, to die for them.

I realized it was not some master plan of mine. It was not my wisdom or my tactical knowledge speaking. It was not a calculated risk. What was it, then? Pride. It was blind pride, the fury of a roaring fire, which caused me to stand up to Lucario that fateful day and insult him for cowardice. It was me, a little child, standing in the name of my father, defying the king…

The army of Sicarius forced me to watch Rayquaza's clutch burn to the ground. They made me watch as they slew the army which I led. They made me watch as my own teammates, Vallon and Azel, bled to death at my feet. And thinking the Emerald Division was no more, they let me live, so that I could spread the word to future generations that the Master is not to be defied.

And I saw the fire consuming my home, and the ashes which drifted down and mixed with the snowflakes… and I realized that it had come from inside of me. It was my fire. And it meant… nothing.

Today, I have Legend to paint the event in a positive light for me. Thanks to him, generations will know the story of a brave struggle, a sacrifice, and the hero who saved Lucario and all of his followers—me—and not the story of a meaningless tragedy which tore out the heart of the Emerald Division and smashed it into the snow.

We salvaged the Rayquaza statue and laid it in pieces in the new fortress, never to be erected again. To some, it remains as a reminder of the power of our great enemy, and what he will to with us if he is not checked. To others… It remains as a reminder of what really happened back then, even while it seems life goes on as normal each day.

And now… here I am… guiding this little human-turned-Charmander to meet Dialga.

Scythe is absolutely correct in accusing me of using Char to redeem myself. But… why is it bad that I want to help him? That I want to bring him to Dialga so that he might regain the memories of his humanity, and so his powerful ability might be brought under his control? Scythe seems so intent to keep me away from Char, as if I would somehow harm him… I just don't understand. I don't understand why such a rational and perceptive mind as Scythe's would fail to realize that I mean no harm. I am only here to make sure this expedition works, because I know it would not work without my intervention. There are too many unknown variables Scythe does not seem to have planned for…

I do not believe the attitude he has. We were partners! Why can't we work together now? Why must he keep secrets from me and try to force me away? Is he… trying to get back at me for leaving him back at the Gold Division?

Is it because he doesn't trust me to Char, because of how I treated Lily?

Part of me isn't surprised in the slightest that Lily came with us. After all, when I abandoned her to the Watchers to save Char, and when she miraculously survived, and when I promised her that I'll never abandon her again… what did I do next? I promptly abandoned her again.

Perhaps Scythe is right; compared to him, I'm a pathetic guardian to those I claim to protect, whereas he so viciously guards Char from me…

Lily has expressed a desire to leave me and go be on another team. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at that, either. She wants to relieve me of the promise I made to her that I would stay at her side, and never let her fall into the hands of someone who would abuse her for her power. Now she came running to me, and she says she feels sorry for being a burden to me, says I deserve to live my own life for once, rather than having the Call dictate everything I do. She says that if Lucario will banish us, that I should stay here, and continue to be the great leader hero that I am, and that she will be able to take care of herself.

I… don't know what to tell her.

Should I admit that she is the reason I have made it this far? Should I tell her that, if it was not for the promise I made to her, I would have disbanded the Silver Division and simply joined the Master, simply from my own shame and loss of purpose? Should I tell her that I doubt my life has any meaning apart from her?

No… I can't. I shouldn't frighten her by saying these things. It would only confuse her more.

But… The ultimate truth of the matter is that this expedition is all I have left. This, the final stretch, the final desperate attempt to understand the power known as the Call… If this falls through, and if Lily leaves to find another place in life, then I don't have the slightest idea where life will lead. It is as though I am blind, and I just can't see any of the days past that point, in hopes they don't actually exist.

If it comes to pass, I suppose I will simply hear Legend tell me why we carry on each day, and I will go from there.

They can call me what they want, but I am no true leader. I am no true hero. But once this expedition is complete, I can say that I have finally done all I can. I can say that I have fulfilled the purpose on which the Silver Division was founded. I can say I tried.

Evening comes, and the children are still going on and on with questions for Nameless. I would feel bad for her, but she does really enjoy this kind of attention; she admits it helps her practice language.

"What do you eat?" Saura asks her, as we were discussing the likelihood of having a meal this evening. "You… eat other Pokémon, right?"

"Brown furry ones," she replies nonchalantly. "It's hard to find else. But I have hunger doesn't come often. Only some years, I am overcome with hunger."

"Are you hungry today?" Saura asks, betraying some nervousness.

"No," she replies. "I feel fine."

Her mind changes quickly, though, when she sees me pull two monstrous, sparkling apples from the bag which Scythe carries. She watches with intense interest as he slices them in fourths and as we all eat our fill from these wonderful fruits. I know full well how enrapturing the scent is, and I see how she stares at them with pleading eyes as it wafts up to her. It tugs on my heart strings.

Finally, I ask her if she would like some, and I give her to two remaining fourths. She pecks at them, and they disappear with frightening speed.

"I have never eaten a plant before," she says soon after. "I have a good impression now. I could learn to enjoy eating a plant."

Of course, this sends a shiver of fright into both Lily and Saura. I cannot help but chuckle. Realizing the implications of her words, Nameless laughs along, and reassures the two children that as long as she is around, no Pokémon will be eating them.

Then, she surprises me… because, after several straight hours of answering questions, she decides to ask one herself.

"I wonder sometimes, what I am," she says to the children. "Why are you so happy to see me? Why do other Pokémon regard me so high? Am I so special?"

"Hey, you're a legendary Pokémon!" Rautzen's brother laughs. "You are awesome! Everyone wants to meet legendary Pokémon!"

"But, what does that mean, to call me, a legendary Pokémon?" Nameless asks. "I am called that a lot. What is legendary? I know, the word means that they told stories of me. But they told stories of Prince too. So why is not Prince legendary too? How it is different? I wonder sometimes…"

"Well… legendary Pokémon are really rare, for one thing," Saura says. "Everyone thinks that there's only one of you in the whole world! And some don't even think you exist at all! They think you're a myth!"

"There are others of my kind," Nameless claims. "I have seen them, very very long ago, flying the sky… but I never approach… I was shy."

"Also… you're really powerful, you know!" the Raichu beams again. "You can control the snowstorms! And you could probably beat any other Pokémon in a battle that you wanted! So… everyone is happy to have you on their side!"

"But I am… as weak as you," she says, again with a sheepish tilt of her head. "With weakness, there is fear. I have no fear when I am here, with my sky. But… I have gone south before, where it is warm… and I have felt deep fear. Prince wanted a battle to me, once, because he said Pokémon enjoy to battle for fun. So I try, and I defeat him. But then, we battle again, this time three of his friends help, and they all battle to me at once. And I fail that battle. If four Pokémon can defeat me… how strong am I, if there are countless of Pokémon in the south?"

"But… but… that doesn't mean anything!" Ray insists. "There are rules to battles, you know! Pokémon are weak to some things and strong to other things. Prince was probably using fire on you, that's how he beat you! You know, the weakness web? Fire-water-leaf? You… just need to be trained. Learn to counter your weaknesses. Then you could be unstoppable in any battle!"

"But, why…" Nameless says. "Why would I learn to battle? I don't enjoy battle… … I feel deep fear, whenever I think of battle…"

Ray looks as though he was about to have another comeback, but it catches in his throat. He simply fall silent for a moment… disillusioned, no doubt.

"You're beautiful," Char submits, standing up before her. "There aren't very many Pokémon who are as beautiful as the legendaries. And of all the legendaries, you are one of the most beautiful."

"Thank you!" she squawks. "You are beautiful too!"

"Uh…"

"Fire… is beautiful," she says fondly, staring at him. "The way it glows, and changes, like the wind and the stars, so there is light when the sun is gone… It is mighty, dangerous… I sometimes want to be a fire Pokémon."

Char looks floored at this complement. He simply sits back down, speechless …Just as I was, when Nameless said the same thing to me.

... ... ...

That night, I am happy as I nod off to sleep.

Lily is beside me. Nameless is flying somewhere; she doesn't need sleep, since she just woke from hibernation. It's much colder without her to stifle the weather, but we'll be fine. And Scythe is off somewhere in quiet reflection, like he usually is at night.

Me… I'm laughing.

After dinner, I had decided that tomorrow would be the day I would insist that Char wear his fireproof tunic, just as he promised he would. So, when I went to replace the bag which contained the last remaining Golden Apple, I shifted through the supplies I had placed in there personally…

…and I realized I had forgotten to pack it.

I wrack my brain, wondering why and how I could have missed such an important article of clothing… it was right there, in my team's bag, right on top. There was no earthly way I could have avoided it while I was transferring the supplies over…

So, I give Char a very rude awakening, knocking him upside the head and demanding to know if he'd taken the tunic. He tells me very plainly that the thief who had taken the map also removed the tunic upon his order, and stashed it somewhere back at the base, so that I wouldn't find it when I was packing. And he says this all with a clever little smirk on his face which I will swear was copied from Scythe.

And so, the realization hits me… I could outwit Scythe in a mind game, yet I couldn't outwit the little Charmander.

Clever little human.

I congratulate him on his silly and possibly fatal victory, and I remind him that he has no further right to complain about the cold. He tells me he wouldn't have had a right to complain about the itch, either, so now he's even.

Bah.

I can't be angry at him. I'm proud, actually. Scythe is already teaching him well how to get what he wants from Pokémon who disagree with him.

So… I'm lying with my back against the rock, laughing to myself at the absurdity of Char's stunt, ready to let my mind drift away and recharge for the night… when Nameless swoops down from the sky and beckons me. She whispers, something she does not normally do.

"Prince, may we talk?" she asks me. "I… must say something to you… in secret."

So, I climb out of the ditch and follow her several yards to the east, where she stops and spreads her wings, as though to shield our conversation from eavesdropping.

"What is it?" I ask of her. "What's wrong?"

"The… green one… What is he called…" she says nervously. "With blades."

"Scythe," I tell her. "What, what's wrong with Scythe?"

"He asked to… to speak with me, just now…" she admits hesitantly. "And in secret… he asked me… to help him."

I scratch my forehead. This sounds odd. I wait for her to continue…

"He asked if I would help him, understand?" she says again. "Understand, Prince?"

"Yes, but, what did he need help with?" I respond. "And… what did you say to him?"

"He told me… he needs me to battle you," she whispers. "After returning from the tower, he asked if I… would help to knock you unconscious."

What…?

"He… might be an enemy, Prince!" the Articuno says with urgency. "He is… against you!"

"No, no…" I assure her. "He is not an enemy. The only enemy is his silence."

She blinks in confusion, so I reword my metaphor.

"He is planning something, but he refuses to tell me what it is," I explain. "If only he would tell me, I would be able to assist him with whatever he needs. But… he refuses to tell me. So… I suppose it is up to me to figure it out for myself."

"I will watch him!" Nameless hisses, ruffling her feathers. "I will not let him hurt you or the little ones! I will stop him if he tries to!"

"Easy, easy, Nameless," I say in a soothing voice, knowing that a lethal blizzard will form if she grows angry. "He will not harm them… If he is not planning to attack until after the tower mission is complete, you need not worry now. He is a good ally."

"What about after you return from the tower?" Nameless asks skeptically. "Will he still be a good ally after?"

And I don't know how to respond to her.

You see… up until this point, I assumed that Scythe just didn't want me to be involved with the Temporal Tower mission. I assumed he needed to, for some reason which I did not know, bring Char to the time dragon all on his own. Due to his failure to communicate anything to me, I had assumed he just wanted me out of the picture altogether.

But… After?

I scratched my forehead again. This was confusing. Because, if he wasn't planning to put his plan into action until after the mission ended… If he was, the entire time, entirely willing to let me scale the tower with him…

…Perhaps this plan of his has nothing to do with the tower at all.

…And perhaps… I am in huge trouble.

*Chapter 55*: Chapter 42, Part 6

Chapter 42

Part 6

As the sun slowly set upon a peaceful summer evening, a young Bulbasaur and her Ivysaur brother comfortably snuggled together beneath a protruding root formation of a giant sycamore tree.

The Ivysaur smiled warmly at his little sister. "Now, wasn't that fun?" he asked her as he watched the countryside turn many beautiful shades of red and purple. "I told you Nincadia would be cool. The hot springs were pretty amazing, weren't they?"

"Yeah…" the little Bulbasaur sighed, her eyes already closed.

"Hmm… where should we go next?" the Ivysaur wondered. "The world is such a big place. We have so much to see… Maybe we could go to Great Crystal City? It's a long way, but I hear it's a beautiful place… I hear there's a huge crystal in the center of the city that's so big, not even the humans could build something bigger!"

"Wow," the little Bulbasaur muttered quietly. "That sounds amazing."

"Maybe, if we're adventurous enough, we could even try crossing the ocean…" the Ivysaur considered. "Ever wanted to meet the humans? We could do that, if you wanted…"

"That would be awesome," the little one admitted. "Hey, Saurvor…?"

"Yeah?"

"I really miss Saura… I wish he could be here with us…"

I miss you, too, Saurlee…

"Yeah, yeah, me too," Saurvor admitted, his gaze drifting out to the horizon. "But… I think Saura's really happy where he is right now. We shouldn't worry about him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really…" Saurvor said, comforting her. "I think he's somewhere really far away right now, seeing things that Pokémon never thought possible… like meeting legendaries! And fighting all sorts of exciting battles with all his new friends. As long as the Master doesn't find him, I bet he'll be really happy, wherever he is."

The little Bulbasaur sighed again, setting her head down upon one of her brother's legs.

"I miss mommy, too…" she whined. "Mommy will be worried about us!"

Saura, listen to me.

"Hey… you know, there comes time in every Pokémon's life where they have to grow up and go live on their own, you know?" Saurvor said gently. "That's why we have families to raise us, so they can help us learn how to take care of ourselves, so one day we can go and do what we want."

Saura… listen to my voice.

"But I didn't want to go," the little Bulbasaur cried. "I didn't even get to say goodbye…"

"Well… life's not always fair to each and every Pokémon," Saurvor said. "And hey… just think of how mommy and daddy will think of us, acting all grown-up and taking care of ourselves."

Saura, focus. Concentrate on my voice.

Gardevoir?

Yes. It's me.

"And hey, Saurlee… whatever happens… you've still got me. I'm not going to go anywhere."

"I love you, Saurvor."

"I love you too, Saurlee."

The two Pokémon relaxed, reflecting on the day's journeys and enjoying the peacefulness of the late evening atmosphere. Before letting his own eyes flutter shut, Saurvor cast one last lazy gaze out at the countryside…

…And he saw something.

It was a red, four-legged Pokémon. A hunter. And it was on the trail of a scent it had been following for weeks now.

No!

Saura, you have to listen to me.

No! Saurvor, no!

Saurvor held his breath.

"No… it's Flareon!" he gasped. "Saurlee… wake up! Saurlee! Wake up! We have to leave, now!"

The Flareon sniffed around, its beady eyes burning with an evil glow in the orange sunset… it knew what it was after, and it knew it was close. They weren't getting away this time.

NO! Saurvor! Saurlee! No!

Saura, this isn't real. It's your imagination. Listen to my voice. Hold onto my voice.

Quickly panicking, the Ivysaur rustled his little sister from her rest. He held his breath; the Flareon was so close. There was very little chance of escape.

Then… the Flareon lifted its head… and his eyes locked with Saurvor's…

NOOOOO! NOOOO! You can't! You can't get caught! NOOO!

Alright… that's it. I'm ending this myself.

No… no… black… it went black… it's gone…

Yes. I stopped your little dream.

Thank you… It's… It hurts so bad, Gardevoir. I can't sleep anymore… I'm so tired…

That's why I'm here to help you. Have you made a decision yet?

Yeah… please, just… I don't care. Erase my memories. Do what you need to. Just… I don't want it to hurt anymore.

Have you thought about it? Do you understand all the repercussions this will have?

Yeah…

You won't recognize them anymore. They will just be like any other Pokémon. If someone tells you that you are related, you will not believe them at first.

I know…

And your personality will be affected as well, you know. You will be a completely different Bulbasaur. You might have trouble getting along with your friends… It is because your memories of your family affect many of your motivations.

I… I know…

I'm just saying, Saura. This is not an easy decision. This is a very significant decision. Even though you are feeling pain, do not take it lightly.

I thought about it, Gardevoir… I can't… I can't keep going like this. Scythe ordered me to do this or he might kick me off the team. And I don't… I don't want to be angry at Char anymore! Char thinks we're not even friends anymore. I yelled at him, Gardevoir! I even attacked him when he tried to help me! and I just… I don't want to do this at all… but I think I need to…

Very well, then. I respect your decision. You are in a very difficult place, and your decision is understandable. I will carry through.

I'm… so sorry…

Alright, Saura… just relax. Relax your body. Pretend I'm not even here. You might feel a bit confused as I'm working, but everything is going to be fine. Are you ready?

Yes…

Good. Now, I will begin to search the branches of your memory, and look for the best place to start…

No!

What?

Wait! Stop! Just… stop. I changed my mind! Don't do this! Please! I can't! I just can't!

Are you sure?

I'll suffer! I'll live with this! I'll find a way! I don't care if I never sleep again, just, please, don't erase my memories! Pleeeease! They're… they're all I have...

Saura… it's alright. It's perfectly alright. I wasn't actually going to touch anything.

...Really?

Of course. Your final decision was obvious from the beginning. After all, it's not like I can read your mind or anything.

Oh, no… but… but if I don't do this… what am I going to do now, Gardevoir? It hurts so bad, whenever I think of them, there's pain… and Scythe, he'll be angry at me… and Char, too… What am I going to do?

Well, here's what I'm going to do. I can't take the nightmare from your mind. It's part of you, now. But I can release a lot of endorphins into your system. They'll help for a while.

Endorphins?

It means I'm going to make you feel really happy. It should help to relieve the pain for a few days. We should also be able to trick Scythe into thinking I did what he wanted me to do. I'll ask you some questions, just answer them as though you have no memories of your family. He'll fall for it, I'm certain.

But the happy feeling is going to fade away, right?

Of course. The pain is going to come back later. But I can do nothing to stop it. Only you can stop it.

I can stop it? Really? How do I do that?

It is unlikely the nightmare will ever move from your mind. Unlikely, but not impossible. If you want to make the pain go away, you will either have to forget about them all on your own, or come to terms with what you have done to them. Learn to accept your past, and your present, and do not let it haunt you. And do you want to know a secret?

What?

That's the way everyone's minds work. Everyone has painful memories, which they must learn to block out, or come to terms with. Even humans. It's the way the mind was built to run. But that's not to say it will be easy. It will be difficult, just as it is difficult for everyone.

Yeah, but… Scythe did it, didn't he? And he made it this far. Maybe I can do it, too.

That's the spirit, Saura. Though the nature of his insanity is very different than yours, you are correct. You just may. Now… are you ready? We will put our plans into motion now.

Yeah. Alright, let's do it.

You're going to feel drunk with happiness. It may impair your judgment a bit, but I will help you answer my questions, if you need it. Now, just open your eyes, and…

Hold on for a moment. That can't be.

Huh?

Hmm… that is very strange.

What's wrong?

I just noticed something… unexpected. Saura, I may actually be able to help you after all. Will you let me delve a little further into your mind?

Uh, sure. Do whatever you want.

Very well. Make yourself comfortable… we might be here for quite a while.

… … …

My name is Saura, and yes, I am a big fat liar. And a coward.

I just couldn't do it. I knew I had to, but I couldn't just throw away my life's memories like that. So, when Gardevoir came to erase my memories, I… wimped out.

And here I am now, somewhere deep in Zerferia, and I'm pretty sure I made the wrong decision. My brain hurts so bad. I can't even sleep at night. Whenever I finally get to pass out, I always wake with a start as soon as I see my dreams, and I scare Char and Ray, too. The dreams are always the same: Saurvor and Saurlee are getting chased by that Flareon. The Flareon that wanted me captured. The Flareon that wants them to die now, as punishment for what I did.

I know that's probably not true. They could be fine. They probably are. But this nightmare that the Watcher put into my memories won't let me think otherwise. Gardevoir says I either have to block it out, or learn to accept it. I have no idea how either of those things are even possible.

Before we left, Gardevoir did something to my brain that made me feel really comfortable. It made the pain go away. It also helped make it easier to convince Scythe that I'm perfectly fine now, because I have been admittedly acting a bit weird, like my brain's messed up. But whatever Gardevoir did, it's gone now. And I've been trying to keep acting the way it made me feel for as long as I can, hoping that I could keep the pain away like that. And it works… sometimes. It's hard to act happy all the time… especially when, deep down, I'm really not.

Char and I aren't friends anymore.

He's been avoiding me. I can't say I blame him. I did snap at him when he tried to help me. And I started pushing him away. And now whenever he wants to talk to me, I cut the conversation short as fast as I can and I start ignoring him again. Why? Because I think I'm actually blaming him for what happened to me, and what happened to my family. Yes, I know that makes no sense. I tried telling my feelings that. They didn't listen.

And also because I'm… well, I'm afraid to tell him that I didn't really get my memories erased. He really wanted me to do it. He knew it was best for me. But I just had to go and wimp out, and I… I'm afraid that if I tell him for real… he'll hate me. I don't know. I just don't want to find out how he'll react. I know him too well; if he finds out I've been lying to his face this whole time, he may never trust me again… and I'm so afraid of that, I'm even afraid of just being around him right now.

I can't blame him for not wanting to talk with me anymore. I can't blame him for spending more time with Ray now. It's probably best for him.

Looking at myself, I still can't believe it's possible to feel so bitter. I'm not really like this! Or, at least, I wasn't like this before. The Watcher really brought out the worst in me. Now, it's like… I hate Char. And I hate Scythe. And I hate life. Except that I don't! It's… so confusing!

I'm not even going to Temporal Tower because of him anymore. I'm going only because I want to go. I feel like I deserve it. Just like Lily. Lily has the Call, too. That's why she came along. Prince was going to leave her behind, but she wanted the same answers we all wanted, so she decided to come with us.

I've been able to pass a lot of the time talking with her. She's a very nice Pokémon; hearing her talk helps me take my mind off the pain, and the cold. In fact, she's told me a lot about plant Pokémon, and the way we handle weather conditions, that I never knew before! Living in a temperate climate all my life, I never knew how my system would react to different environments.

"Your bulb is a symbiote. That means it's there for your mutual benefit," Lily tells me. "Just like the leaf on my head and the ones around my neck. There's actually a whole plant inside of me, but it's woven in with my body in a really complicated way. Not like your seed that's just rooted to your back. Anyway… it's a symbiote. When you're healthy, it's healthy. If you drink water and spend time in the sun, it'll soak up energy and grow. But if you're in trouble, it'll turn around and start giving you its energy to help you stay alive."

"Interesting," I respond. "So does this mean… if I'm in big trouble, it will take the fall for me?"

"Yep!" she says cheerfully. "If you start running out of sunlight or food or water, it will give you the last drops of its energy, until it dies first! After all, if it didn't give back to you when you're in trouble, then it would be a parasite, not a symbiote, and Bulbasaur would have started evolving without them over the line!"

"Heh, then we wouldn't be Bulbasaur anymore," I joke. "Just 'Saur' I wonder… if my seed died, could I get a new one?"

"I think so," she says with uncertainty. "But it wouldn't help you out as much. The one you have now is really rooted into your body, since it's been there all your life. You've even got nerves running into it. That's how you can control your vines and stuff. If you had a transplant… well, it wouldn't be connected to your system as much. It'd be more of a decoration than anything else!"

I have to cringe at the thought of losing my bulb. It's not a pleasant thought. Without it, I'd be a pathetic, helpless little Pokémon. Not only would I be completely unable to defend myself with any special attacks, I'd probably starve to death in just a few days.

"But don't worry," she says, sensing my discomfort. "It's really hard to kill your plant. See how it's a little brown now? It's under a lot of stress, but Pokémon are built for stress. It's not even close to dying! Your photosynthesis is still working fine, and you're also eating really well. That golden apple we had? I bet your plant really enjoyed that!"

"Heh, yeah… I wouldn't blame it," I say, remembering how good that apple tasted.

"And remember, if the cold is getting too bad for you, start transferring your energy back into the bulb," she reminds me. "It'll make you feel tired, but it'll numb down your nerves so you don't feel as bad. Works especially well at night when you need to calm down anyway!"

Yeah. As though that's going to help me get sleep. Right.

But Lily's nice. She's teaching me a lot of things I never knew before, and helping me cope with this horrible cold. And she's great company. She reminds me a lot of a Chikorita I knew a long time ago.

…Funny how I don't get a headache thinking about her…

Then there's Nameless. Nameless might just be the most gorgeous Pokémon in the world. I figured I'd meet a real legendary someday, but I wasn't ready for when it actually happened. Seriously, when she's nearby, I just cannot tear my eyes off her. Once, she even asked if something was wrong with me, and I had to tell her no, I just liked staring at her. She just laughed and thought nothing of it. She's probably used to the fame by now.

She's also great fun to talk to. She's so friendly! You'd never think a legendary could be so humble and outgoing, but Nameless is like that. I can ask her questions whenever I feel like, and she always gives me answers I never expect. Just recently I asked her if she ever flew so high she could see space… she said yes! She said it's really cold up there, and she likes it. But once, she saw a big green dragon and she was so scared that she ran away and never went that high again. Ray joked that she could probably battle Rayquaza and beat him in ten seconds. She said she had no interest in trying. I think she just isn't interested in battles.

And best of all, whenever Nameless is around, there's no snowstorm! She can even clear the clouds away, so that the sunlight can shine right onto us. And Lily's right; to a Pokémon like me, some sunlight can make all the difference in staying warm. It's nice when I can take a rest under the sun, especially since days and nights are a lot longer up here, so we stop to rest sometimes when the sun's still out.

Yeah… if things didn't happen the way they did… if that stupid Watcher didn't invade my mind, and if Char and I were still friends… I'd probably be having a lot of fun right now. I'd probably be having the time of my life.

I wanted to end this. I really did.

I tried to tell him. I actually tried once. It was the middle of the night, just like how we always used to talk when we wanted to be personal with one another. A nightmare woke me up, and I went to him… I wanted to tell him everything… Tell him I was sorry that I didn't do what I should have done… but that's all that came out of my mouth. "I'm sorry". I wimped out again. I… couldn't do it. I couldn't break the truth to him, I just had to keep lying.

Tonight… I can't sleep again. Big surprise.

It's nighttime. Actually dark out. The sun is nowhere to be seen. Prince says we're getting really close to Temporal Tower, and my stomach is tingling so bad just from the thought. I know Char's feeling the same way. His past has something to do with the time dragon Dialga, and now he might finally learn what it is.

This is it. This is what we've been searching for. Ever since I first met him, we've been trying to get to the bottom of his transformation. And now, we're getting so close, we can taste it.

And I'll be there at his side, just like I promised.

…Except not really, because we won't be friends.

This is wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong!

What am I doing? I'm Char's best friend. And he needs me most of all right now. What am I doing, laying around feeling sorry for myself?

Not only that, but he's my human, too! Would a Pokémon let their trainer down? What kind of a Pokémon would just… give up like this?

Wow, what kind of a Pokémon am I?

No! We are friends! We're just… having a failure in communication right now! I could end this whenever I want. I could go over and tell him what I really did. I'm the only one standing in the way!

In fact, yeah! I'm going to stop this! I'm going to end this stupid lie right now. There he is. I'm going to just walk across the field, and talk to him…

...right now.

…Stand up.

…Saura, stand up! You have to go talk to Char!

Grr… I… I can't… I just can't… Stupid me…

My legs are too weak… And I still feel so ashamed of myself…

What will he say? What if he doesn't trust me anymore? I've never outright lied to Char before! Not like this! I… I don't know. I just really don't know.

Eh… I'll tell him tomorrow. I just need some more time to get myself ready. I just…

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

OWWWWW!

My body explodes with pain, and I jump a whole foot into the air!

When I come back down, my eyelids are stuck all the way open, and I'm panting for dear life. And who is standing right behind me, but Ray, his paws covered in his own static electricity…

"Go!" he says. "Do it!"

"Do what," I say flatly back to him.

"Talk to Char!" he demands. "I saw that look on your face just now! You were going to go talk to Char! So, go do it!"

"But… what if I don't want to?"

"You do want to," he insists, actually sounding a little bit angry. "Do you realize how much he misses you? Go.Talk to him. Or I'll electrocute you again."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

"AHHHH! STOP!" I plead desperately as I fall to the ground a second time, my heart racing at an impossible speed and multicolored dots dancing across my vision.

"See? I wasn't lying. And I'll do it again!" he threatens. "Go talk to him."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

"OWWWW! Fine, fine!" I cry, tears now freely streaming down my face, as I take off across the field like a spooked Tauros.

… … …

"What's up?"

Well, this is it. I just woke up Char, and I've got his full attention now. It doesn't help that I've got an extreme case of the jitters from getting suddenly hooked up to a living battery three times in a row. Char probably thinks I'm deathly afraid to speak to him. Which I am, anyway. Funny how my body language is inadvertently telling the truth. Now if only my words can match it.

"I… uh… I… wanted to talk to you," I tell him. Probably a little bit redundant at this point, but the conversation's gotta start somehow.

"Sure," he says, sitting up and looking straight into my eyes, as though I was the same old Saura he knew. "What is it?"

"I'm… sorry," I say for the second time, again with the redundancy. "I'm… really sorry."

I watch how he reacts to my words. To my surprise, he looks touched. And very interested in what I will say next. Even though I'm just repeating a conversation we already had like two weeks ago when we first started on this trip. Oh boy, this conversation's not going to turn out like he's expecting…

"Didn't I already tell you?" he says gently to me. "I forgive you."

"No, no… it's… not what you think," I start. "I'm sorry because… I made a mistake. A big, huge mistake. And I'm afraid that… you won't actually forgive me for it."

He looks concerned now. But sympathetic. Like he doubts I can say anything that will change his mind. He stays silent to let me continue.

"When Gardevoir came to erase my memories, I… I… I wimped out, and I told him not to!" I finally spit out. "I was a coward. I thought I could run away from it. All this time, I've been pretending my memories are all gone. I tried to do my best to trick you and Scythe into thinking I actually did it. Mostly Scythe. But… now I know… I really made the wrong decision… because I can't sleep, and… and we're not friends anymore."

Char looks totally stunned now, like I stepped on his tail and he's trying to keep from screaming. I… I'm downright horrified. So I do what I do best, and I keep talking, hoping it will fix things.

"When I heard Scythe say he spent his whole life living with a curse, I thought, hey, if he can do it, why can't I?" I ramble. "I was so scared of just letting my whole life slip away… I tried to justify it to myself, I thought I could make it, but… I can't do it. Ohh, I was so stupid... And I promise, Char, as soon as we get back to civilization, I promise, that's the first thing I'll do! I'll find a psychic, and my memories will be gone! Forever! Just like I said I would! I just… I can't take this anymore! I just wanted to get to Temporal Tower, but I just… I had to tell you."

And then I pause… and wait for him to reply, my stomach turning in all sorts of knots. I can't even look directly into his eyes.

I watch as his tail fire grows three times its size. That's what happens when he's really angry and he feels like attacking something. I have to close my eyes for a moment.

"I'm not asking for forgiveness…" I say meekly. "But… I'm so sorry… Please… say something?"

I open my eyes again, and I watch as his face changes.

At first I have to wonder if Nameless is standing behind me, because he's making the same face of amazement he makes when she's around.

And then he makes a face I know all too well: it's the evil smile he makes when he's about to tackle me.

And just like that, I'm not worried about his reaction anymore. Now my survival instinct just kicked in, and I'm worried about avoiding his tail. Because if that fire touches me even a little bit, oh my gosh, it stings

Thump.

Suddenly I'm laying on my side, covered in a really heavy lizard.

"I KNEW IT!" he cries. "I knew it, I knew it, I KNEW it couldn't have been true! Oh man, Saura! Please, don't be sorry! Don't be! Because I was the sorry one! As soon as I thought you had your memories erased, I regretted it. So bad. I knew it wasn't what you should have done. I felt so bad for pushing you into it, I couldn't talk to you anymore! And I started to wonder if you were still really in there somewhere! Oh, Saura, that is really good to know… you have no idea."

"But I… should have done it," I try to say. "I was a coward."

"Saura, you are the most courageous Pokémon I've ever met," he tells me. "Wasn't it you who said that getting your memories erased was the easy way out? That you'd just feel like you gave up and didn't try?"

"Yeah…" I say hesitantly. "I… did say that, didn't I…"

"You chose to keep your memories. That's not cowardice. That's courage. And you know what, Saura? I don't care what you say, but when you ran away from the Master and left your family alone, and you joined the resistance? That was courage, too. Your family was wrong for wanting you to join the Master. You did what was right. You took the tough path. I didn't believe for a moment that all this time you were faking everything you did from the beginning. So tell me, Saura. That was the ghost talking, right?"

"Y-yes, it's true," I sighed, hanging my head. "The ghost was really messing with my feelings, so I started blaming myself…"

"Oh, I knew it!" Char says again, squeezing me really tight before finally letting me go. "You couldn't trick me, not for a moment! Wow… Saura, it's really good to have you back."

And for a moment, one little tiny moment, I feel really happy.

It crosses my mind that this could be the first step in coming to terms with the memories, because… the pain just vanishes, and I felt a little bit like my old self again.

I look at Char, and I see how happy he is with me, how relieved he is that I didn't alter my personality… and I just felt like a burden is lifted. And it feels really good.

But my happiness doesn't last very long.

"Char is right. What you did was very courageous. But it was also foolish."

Both Char and I hold our breaths as we hear Scythe's voice start to speak. And my stomach fills with terror again. I scramble back to my feet and I cower behind Char a little bit, all while I freeze stiff, as Scythe steps out of the darkness and stands over us.

Yeah… I should have known he'd be listening to everything I say. He never sleeps. And he's a very good listener.

"If you wanted to deceive me, you did very well," Scythe admits, sounding defeated. "I was… far too distracted lately to pay close attention. Though I should have guessed by the look which Gardevoir gave me that I was being deceived. But, whatever the case, I failed. I accept the loss. There's nothing that can be done now. If we were not so close to our destination, I would send you back home."

"You're not kicking Saura off the team," Char says adamantly, standing up to Scythe for me. "Not now, not when we get back!"

"You're right, I'm not," Scythe mutters. "It's not my team."

Char frowns. "What are you saying?" he demands.

"I'm saying, it's your choice, whether to let your team be compromised with a delusional and anguish-ridden partner," he growls at Char. "Saura is going to be in agony for the rest of his life. A Watcher's curse must be countered immediately after it is placed, or it permeates the mind and it becomes permanent. At this point, it is very unlikely anyone can help him, not even Gardevoir. He must live with this choice. And he must learn to pull his weight on your team, despite his handicap. I am speaking only as a fellow team leader now, Char. If your team becomes unreliable… you are the one to blame."

"Well… okay. I accept that." Char tells him. "You know, that speech you gave us about how you spent your life insane… it only gave him courage to fight the curse. Seeing how great you became, I think Saura has a chance."

"No," Scythe says bitterly, shaking his head. "My curse was beneficial. Seeing into my subconscious mind gives me answers no other Pokémon would see. That is how I became who I am. Saura will earn nothing from worrying about his home constantly. It will only hold him back."

"I think it will give him courage," Char shoots back. "Even though I don't think he needs any more than he already has. He's my hero."

You know, I should feel more touched at all this.

I do feel a little bit happy, but not nearly as much as I should be. I should be ecstatic. I should be breaking down from happiness right about now. Seeing Char standing up to Scythe for me. Seeing that he forgives me for lying to him. Seeing that he didn't want me to have my memories erased after all. Yeah… tears should be streaming down my face at this moment. But instead, I feel more emotionless than anything. I feel... blank.

And there's a reason for it.

You see… I still haven't told Char the whole truth. I'm still holding back from him. And I'm not going to feel right until the truth finally comes out.

In fact…

"Scythe…" I say meekly, stepping out from behind Char and speaking up to him. "Is it alright if I talk to Char alone? Without you listening, I mean? I really have something to say to him."

Scythe turns to me, looking annoyed. As if to say "If it's that important, say it to everyone."

Not a chance.

"Well, Scythe?" Char speaks for me. "You heard him. We appreciate you eavesdropping on us all the time. We really do. But can you let us talk privately for a moment, please?"

A moment of tension shifts by. I can tell Scythe really doesn't want to do this, but Char matches his scowl.

"Fine, human," Scythe finally spits, turning to leave. "I won't listen. You have my word."

And I wait impatiently for him to leave.

Finally, when his silhouette turns invisible against the dark sky, I turn to Char and lower my voice.

"Alright… what I'm about to tell you… it has to stay really secret," I say. "Scythe can't know about it. Gardevoir says if Scythe finds out, it may make him snap. And I think I believe him… So listen…"

"I'm listening," Char whispers back to me, dropping to all fours so his head comes very close to mine.

"Alright," I say even more quietly. "When Gardevoir came to erase my memories, there was… something else he did… Ooh… I just… I can't believe I'm saying this…"

"It's alright," Char assures me. "I'm ready."

"Char, do you… do you remember… back when… we first came to the Gold Division?" I ask, taking it one word at a time. "Do you remember when Scythe took us to Eva to get tested for the Call?"

"Yeah…"

"You said Eva didn't test you, right?" I ask. "You said she lied? And she even blackmailed you?"

"Yeah…" Char answers. "She made me really afraid to tell the truth… But no, she didn't test me…"

"Well, I… I… I think I might know… why she didn't…" I say slowly. "I think she didn't test you because… uh… well… after she found it once, she thought it would be pointless to look for it again."

Char only blinks. He can't quite digest what I said. So, in the tiniest, most inaudible whisper I can manage, I tell him the truth.

"Char… I have the Call, too," I say. "Gardevoir found it. It's just as powerful as yours. I think some of the times when the Call happened, it was me, not you. Like… I think I'm actually the one who was calling to Lily the other day."

Char's eyes glaze over. His mouth hangs wide open. He is about as speechless as a Pokémon can get.

"I can't believe it either, Char…" I whisper. "All this time… we both had it."

*Chapter 56*: Chapter 43: Getting Somewhere

Chapter 43

Scarred Crags

On the morning of the twentieth day of the journey, the sky was black.

But the time was of little consequence anymore. Since the start of the party's aggressive northward excursion, "day" and "night" had begun to lose their meaning: the sun would linger in the sky for much longer than a day, and disappear for much longer than a night. Only Prince seemed sure of the true timeframe of the days as he would rouse his companions from their sleep and hurry them towards their destination, whether through a glaring white landscape or a chilling sea of shadows.

And as they ventured further into Zerferia's depths, it became clear why no Pokémon lived there: it had nothing. It was all a vast, featureless tundra with no discerning landmarks but the all-encompassing barrier between the ground and the sky, a ground so frozen it might as well have been coated in metal. There were rarely any land formations to be seen, much less any that a Pokémon in their right mind would want to make their habitat. Memories of a day's travels blurred together as one, defined by nothing but the feelings of numbed nerves and burning muscles, a burning which sadly did nothing to help keep the cold at bay. And even when the occasional mountains or crag-land passages would appear, the terrain would be so random and treacherous that it seemed specifically crafted by nature to be a death trap.

Later, the barren fields became coated in a layer of snow which grew thicker and deeper with every passing mile. Char quickly took a particular dislike to snow in his new Charmander body. He hated how it would stick to him and melt into water whenever he would touch it. But to the amusement of his friends, especially Nameless, it gave him great satisfaction to blast the snow with fire, seeing it curl away and evaporate instantaneously. It amused him for hours.

Indeed, It seemed that Zerferia was only suited as one Pokémon's paradise, the kind goddess which continually graced their company and offered them guidance from above as she danced through her playground of feathered clouds and wind currents – for her home was not upon the earth, but in the sky.

In all, the team kept an excellent pace, miles reeled past, spirits were very high, and the destination drew near. So far, it was a very successful and fortunate mission.

Even Scythe, in his mental anguish, found a measure of peace on that twentieth day. He yearned for the day, every once in a while, where his body would simply run dry of all possible stamina, leaving him no choice but to pass out. That night, to his relief, sleep overtook him, and he woke many hours later with a refreshed mind and newfound strength.

At the beginning of that sunless day, Scythe's eyes drifted open. It took him a moment to understand he was sprawled face-down upon the ground, and to realize his body had finally given into the exhaustion.

At once, he stifled his thoughts and laid motionless for a few moments, reveling in the comfort which the sleep had given him, rejoicing at how the long night's rest had washed away so much of his stress and disconcertion. Then, he performed his self-orientation and renewed his resolve.

He remembered where he was. The rest stop this time had been in one of Zerferia's brutal mountain ranges, which Prince had called the Scarred Crags. Like many of Zerferia's shelters, it was characterized by poised avalanches, sudden pitfalls, and sharpened rocks which rivaled his own blades. A misstep could prove fatal, and without even the Mystery Dungeon curse to activate the Reviver Seeds should a freak accident happen. Though it was an unnerving place to stay, Scythe felt comfortable; Prince was, admittedly, an excellent guide who knew these grounds like a home, and Nameless was always poised in the sky to lend her assistance at a moment's notice. Plus, although it served no purpose other than to block out the sun (since not even a stray snowflake fell from the sky so long as Nameless was around), sleeping beneath the cover of a shelter brought Scythe a certain peace-of-mind, perhaps from calming those reliable instincts of his which demanded he hide from the Watchers each night.

Feeling much like a newborn hatchling (or as much as he could be expected to feel at his age), Scythe began to stir, ready to rise and take on the challenges of a new day.

There was just one thing he immediately found odd: Prince hadn't gotten him up according to schedule. Was this day a late start? Maybe Char had intervened and told Prince to let him sleep as long as he needed. Whatever the case, he was thankful it happened.

…Or so he thought.

As he climbed to his knees and checked his surroundings, he found that something was missing from them. Something important. A particular little flame he could always count on being close by.

Char. Char, and all of his friends, were nowhere to be found.

Prince was there, though, eyeing him indifferently as he rose to self-awareness, his flame like a campfire among the darkness. But he was the only one. The two were alone together in the cramped little dent they used as the night's rest shelter. It was an empty dead-end, the rock walls coming to a sharp corner, the floor covered in snow and gravel, and the ceiling opening up vaguely to the black sky. Char, his sworn payload, was absent, his little flame missing from its rightful place at the corner of his eye.

"Sleep well?" Prince greeted him.

"Prince," he gasped. "The children. Where are the children?"

"Couldn't tell you," he said with a shrug.

Scythe was on his feet in an instant. He practically jumped at Prince's face, all the while Prince sat calm and unresponsive.

"I close my eyes for one moment and you lose them?" he growled, using his newfound strength to keep himself from overreacting. "In this place? At night?"

"Char has a light," Prince said, shrugging again. "He should be fine."

"Well, if you aren't going to go find them, I leave you alone," Scythe grumbled, wasting no time in marching off farther into the crags. "I don't know how you expect to keep them alive if you let them wander out of sight…"

As Scythe was about to disappear around the corner, Prince called to him.

"I don't think you want to do that, Scythe," he said, a knowing ring clear in his warning.

Scythe heeded the warning and stopped to think it over, but he couldn't read Prince's trick. Prince stayed still, obviously not planning to make any move to keep him from leaving. After a few seconds of hesitation, he shook his head and disregarded Prince's words, ready to scour the nearby crags for any sign of his precious Charmander.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

A wild Pokémon cry rang out from far above, so authoritative it shook him to the very core. Scythe stopped in his tracks instantly, casting a fearful glance upward.

Nameless was perched at the top of a rock, like a night-owl watching from a tree. She flared her wings threateningly.

"Do not pass me, green blade," Nameless squawked down to him. "Return to Prince."

"I beg your pardon, great bird," Scythe said, showing as much humility in his voice as he could manage. "Have you seen the children?"

"Yes," Nameless replied angrily. "They are far away from here. You will not be. You will stay here, and they will return here."

"You're… guarding them from me?" Scythe laughed, realizing the truth of the matter. "Why would you do this?"

"The fire child asked, to speak to the others in secret," Nameless answered proudly. "To watch you, so you stay here, not to hear what they say."

"You're doing what Char asks?" Scythe replied, releasing a nervous laugh. "What compels you to do Char a favor?"

"He asked nicely," Nameless sneered.

"What about what I asked of you‽" Scythe hissed. "Did I not ask nicely enough?"

"I serve, who I want to serve," Nameless cawed, lowering her head to give Scythe an intimidating stare. "Now, take no more step, green blade, return to Prince."

Sending a disgruntled hiss up to the Articuno, Scythe turned to comply with her orders. He plodded back into the cramped corner and sat in the warmth of Prince's fire, muttering curses to himself.

"She stopped me, as well," Prince admitted. "Children…"

Scythe said nothing. Instead, his eyes began to scan the rim of the ceiling and the darkened sky which lay beyond.

"Do not fly either, green blade!" the discerning legendary shouted from afar. "If you fly, a storm will come, to fill the rocks with hail. And you will be buried."

"She's not exaggerating, either," Prince noted.

Sighing, Scythe let his body go limp and rested his back against the rock wall.

"I like Char," Prince chuckled. "He's starting to think like you."

… … …

A ways away in another secluded little dent in the rocks, four Pokémon eagerly huddled together as though to start a secret ceremony. Char held out his tail, and the faces of the other Pokémon flickered in its light.

"Are you sure we can talk here?" Saura asked. "If Scythe's listening in…"

"Scythe won't bother us," Char assured him. "Trust me. I took care of it. Now, listen… I don't know how long we should stay here, but we have some pretty important things to talk about."

Char took a deep breath, anticipating the difficult issues he would have to discuss. Seeing that Ray and Lily were at full attention, he nodded to Saura to begin.

"Alright, first…" Saura sighed, "I guess I should start with the easy stuff. First… Ray, Lily… this entire trip, I didn't actually have my memories erased. I was faking it."

While Lily only looked mildly happy to hear the news, Ray was beaming.

"Wow, really?" Ray gasped. "Hah! You had me convinced! Wha—! That's awesome! I was really starting to miss you! But how come you were faking?"

"Well, I was mostly trying to trick Scythe, because he ordered me to do it, and I didn't want to do it," Saura explained. "Well, Scythe knows now, so there's really no point in keeping the secret from you two… so yeah. I'm the same old Saura. Kinda."

"What about the nightmare?" Lily wondered concernedly. "Does it still hurt?"

"Yeah, it's still there," Saura said dejectedly. "But I'm working with it. I'm taking things one day at a time. Gardevoir said there's a small chance it may go away over time. But uh… sorry if I'm not the most friendly Pokémon anymore… I really don't mean to be mean, honest! But I have this headache now, and sometimes when it gets bad, it's really easy to slip and say something… or snap a vine at you… So if I get angry at anyone from now on… I really, really don't mean it. I'm sorry."

Saura sighed again, relieved that at least one of the issues had been lifted from his back. Ray and Lily looked happy for him. He cracked a little smile himself.

"You know, Ray, I really have you to thank for this," Saura told him. "You caught me when I was afraid to talk to Char. You're the one who motivated me to tell him."

"Heh, heh! Glad I could help!" Ray laughed evilly. "Don't you know? I can motivate anyone to do anything, heh heh heh! Wow, Saura. I'm really glad to have you back! I guess Team Ember won't be getting very much sleep from now on, huh?"

Char winced. He hadn't thought of that, and to be honest, he didn't really want to. Saura seemed shocked at the idea, too.

"Oh, no! No!" Saura said, shaking his head from the realization of what he meant. "Ray, you don't—you don't have to! You really don't! I mean, this nightmare is going to keep me up at night so much… You really don't have to stay awake with me every night! Honest!"

"Oh, we can! And we will!" Ray cheered heartily. "No excuses! We wouldn't be Team Ember if we didn't hold our traditions! Not after all the times you held onto it yourself, Saura! Now we've got to repay you! I'll even have our name changed to Team Sleepless if I have to! Oh, and don't you even think about not suffering with me, Char! I see that look in your eyes. If you fall asleep just once, I'm going to zap you so hard that you'll evolve into an electric-type!"

"Gee, I think Ray's happy for you, don't you think?" Char said blankly.

Saura wanted to laugh. He couldn't tell if Ray was joking or not, but either way, he felt touched. A sincere smile shined on his face.

"Thanks," he said warmly. "It means a lot."

But he couldn't feel too comfortable; he knew that wasn't the only thing he needed to say. As Ray was still laughing, Saura let his smile fade away…

"There's something else," he said, sounding dead serious. "Something… worse. Get ready for this, this is… really heavy."

Ray settled down, Lily gave an attentive nod, and once more they were silent, ready to hear whatever further news had to be spoken. Saura, though, didn't know if he was ready to say it.

"This is serious." Saura stressed, looking at the ground. "I mean… you have no idea. If I were to say that… Scythe just died, or I'm actually a spy for the Master, it would almost be as serious as this. Just to give you an idea."

When Saura raised his eyes back up to meet with his friends, he saw their gazes were glued fast to him, Ray had his front paws locked together in nervousness, and Lily looked puzzled.

"And this has to be a big secret!" Saura said further. "You can't tell anyone. I'm going to tell Scythe myself after this whole mission is done, I mean, if we get back safely. Maybe I'll even tell him at the top of Temporal Tower if… if things happen just right. But… you've got to promise. You can't tell anyone. Not even you, Lily. You can't tell Prince this. Do you promise?"

"Promise," the Raichu and the Bayleef said in unison, their breaths already taken away at the thought.

Saura whipped his head back and forth to clear his mind, then began to muster his courage. The words hung on the edge of his tongue, and every time his eyes locked with his friends' wide gazes, he hesitated again…

"Saura, it's alright," Char reminded him. "You told me. You can tell them. Just spit it out, and it'll all be okay."

"You're right," Saura grumbled, drawing a deep breath. "Alright, here it goes…"

He leapt in place and dug his paws into the gravel.

"Ray!" he suddenly shouted. "Do you have the Call?"

"Uh… n—no?" Ray guessed. "I mean, uh… I don't think so. I've never been tested for it, but I mean… what? Do you… do you really think I might have it?"

"Well, if you don't," Saura said, pawing at the ground and letting his voice descend into a quiet mumble. "It means… that… you're… the only one standing here… who… doesn't."

With a blink, Saura's eyes returned to his friends, fearfully anticipating their reactions. He had to be patient, though; both Ray and Lily seemed to turn into silent, motionless corpses before his eyes, their rational thought simply snapping in half as he watched.

"Of course!" Ray exclaimed, bursting from his stupor into sudden excitement. "I should have known! It all makes so much sense now! Char! Saura! You… you… you have a psychic connection with each other!"

"Uh… what?" Char said blankly.

"No, really!" Ray laughed. "You know how you understand each other so well? Why you're just such good friends? That's why! It's the Call! I bet you're Calling to one another all the time! You have this psychic bond that you just barely don't know is there, but really I bet it's bending dimensions just so your minds can merge together and understand one another! I knew it! I knew it all along! There was something else going on between you two that I couldn't figure out. Now I know! Oh, and congratulations, Saura! You're a legend now, too!"

Char and Saura glanced blankly at one another for a moment, wondering if it could be true. Were they… were they really in one another's minds? Char told himself he honestly wouldn't be surprised it if were true; it'd explain a lot about their friendship. Either way, he was glad to see Ray taking it so well.

"You have the Call," Lily said, finally snapping out of her own daze. "That's impossible. That's… that's against the rules. There's only one Call every thirty years or whatever Lucario changed his rule to now. But you… both have it at the same time? I'm sorry, I just… have a hard time accepting that! How did you find this out?"

"Gardevoir," Saura said. "When you all thought he was erasing my memory, he was looking for the Call. And he found it. And I think… I think I've felt myself use it before. In my dreams. It's… really deep down in my mind."

"Oh, isn't it?" Lily gasped. "Did you ever hear that humming? That's how you can tell it's going to happen. So you can get ready."

"Ready to quiet it down!" Saura said suddenly, completing her thought. "Just like you're biting your tongue! That's right! You… told me that! I… I can't believe I knew that… but you said that in one of my dreams! You can quiet the Call so it doesn't disturb everyone as much… Didn't… didn't you call me Char, too?"

"How was I supposed to know it wasn't Char?" Lily snapped back. "I wasn't even… I mean… I almost had no control over what I was… Oh Shaymin, this is real, isn't it? This is so real. There are really, right now, three of us… just standing here, talking…"

There was a moment of quiet as the reality sank in to all four of them, with blank, disbelieving looks plastered on their faces. Ray was the first to say what the rest of them had been thinking:

"What do you think would happen if all of you called at the same time?"

Char's stomach turned over several times just trying to imagine it. A call that could summon the entire Gold Division… times two… plus Lily as well…?

"You could beckon all of the legendary dragons at once!" Ray guessed, beginning to panic at the very idea. "You could… you could beckon Arceus! You could get Arceus to do whatever you want! You could take the Master down! You could rule the world! You could create your own Pokémon species! You could live forever! You—"

"Ray, jeeze! Settle down!" Saura laughed. "I doubt it!"

"Maybe… we should try it?"

Ray's suggestion took everyone off guard. They looked at him oddly, but he was dead serious.

"I mean… we have three Pokémon with the Call all in the same place," he considered. "That hasn't happened before, ever! In the history of the whole world, I bet! Do you think we should try experimenting with it while we have the chance?"

The three Call-laden Pokémon were at a loss for words to respond to this idea.

"Ray…" Lily tried to say, "I, we don't even… know how… there's no… It doesn't happen on purpose. I mean, we don't think it does. There's no way to tell."

"Of course," Ray said. "But… It's a subconscious call, right? So maybe, if you dug into your subconscious… maybe you could find it, and bring it out?"

"You know, all the times the Call has happened, you and I were sleeping," Char noted. "Maybe… Ray's right. Dreams are the way the subconscious mind speaks. Maybe our dreams can tap into the Call?"

"You know, that's true!" Lily said thoughtfully. "It's happened to me before when I was wide awake. But most of the time? In my sleep! Maybe sleep helps it to happen!"

"So… maybe you should try falling asleep!" Ray said excitedly. "Fall asleep, and just keep saying to yourself, 'I'm going to use the Call, I'm going to use the Call!' Or even better, pray! Fall asleep praying to Arceus and see if it really happens! Wow, imagine if this actually works!"

"Um, but I don't think we should just take a nap here…" Char said. "We have to get back to Scythe eventually."

"Well then… close your eyes and mediate, or something," Ray insisted. "There's got to be something about the Call we can figure out! We have a whole three of you here in one place! Whatever the Call does to the mind, it must be really strong right now! So maybe you could look and find it! Ooh, Just imagine, if we could get this to work, all our problems would be solved… No more Master… No more having to go through mystery dungeons… Scythe would be all back to normal… it would all end right here. C'mon, guys. At least try it. Don't make me have to motivate you…"

Begrudgingly, Ray's friends gave into his request. They all set themselves down on the floor and closed their eyes, trying to focus and delve into their subconscious minds.

Char began flipping through his own memories and feelings, wondering if the Call could be found among them. He realized that, even if the Call was staring him in the face, he just wouldn't know it, because his own thoughts and feelings were just too normal to him. And he didn't feel the least bit drowsy because he had just gotten up. But he let himself go limp and began inspecting his thoughts closely, even though he thought he knew his thoughts like the back of his hand, seeing that they were his thoughts and he was rarely ever separated from them. But he decided to humor Ray, searching his mental impulses for anything suspicious at all, echoes of psychic communication or whatever form the Call might take…

"Remember that night you two were using the Call to talk," Ray reminded. "Remember talking. If you felt anything weird, try to copy that feeling."

And so they stayed perfectly still.

And they waited.

Char was used to reflecting upon his ideas often, so he just went through the motions this time, though a little unenthusiastically.

He thought about how this little exercise was wholly unnecessary, but he figured he'd go ahead and do what Ray said, even though Dialga waited at the top of the tower and would give them all the answers they sought anyway. Or so he hoped. There was always the possibility Dialga would just kick him back out again… such as, in the case that he actually was a horrible human being cursed with having his humanity taken away, and Dialga wouldn't stand the sight of him. He remembered how that wouldn't actually be a bad thing. He'd just get to forget about all his troubles, then! The mystery of his transformation would no longer bother him. The mystery of that Poké Ball, that recurring dream, could be safely ignored. The Call would still puzzle him, but with a whole two companions who shared his condition, he knew he was far from alone. He would just have to figure out the Call along with them, and take advantage of this impossible, groundbreaking coincidence.

Don't see the Call anywhere…

He thought about Saura, and what kind of an incredible friend he was. How he chose to keep that tragic nightmare, that nightmare that he for saw himself, too… how he chose to bear the pain, so that he could continue being the same Saura… and how they both had more in common now than he ever thought possible…

Wonder if the Call transferred that dream? I just thought it was because we were touching at the time, but seems like anything's possible now…

He thought about how Zerferia wasn't as painful as everyone warned him it would be. And he thought about how awesome Nameless was, and how he almost wished she would join him on the road back after the mission was done, and not stay in Zerferia as he knew she would. Really, he wanted Nameless on his team. He seriously thought about asking her. It was worth a try.

We're so lucky Saura used the Call to wake Nameless up… I don't even know how we would have made it one day without her controlling the weather… It makes my mind explode trying to imagine standing in these flatlands, no shelter, nothing to hold onto to keep the wind from blowing me away… Ughghgh! My spine, it tingles…

He thought about Scythe, and his well-kept secret plan. He wondered how it was coming along. He wondered how he would help. Had Scythe learned to adjust his plan since all these Pokémon were here now? Saura and Ray would do whatever he asked, but Prince was another matter… Char knew, deep in his heart, that Prince was Scythe's biggest problem. Even bigger than Nameless, at this point. Even though Nameless could probably gobble Scythe up in one peck if he tried to do something dangerous. But no… it wasn't Nameless he was worried about. It was Prince! But… what could he do about that? Nameless protected Prince, and Prince… well, not even Scythe could beat him in a battle. Was Prince going to ruin everything?

I've always trusted him, but now I'm afraid of what Scythe is going to do…

Char snapped to attention, almost throwing himself to his feet. He would have, too, if it hadn't been for a protruding rock directly above his head.

*Thump*

"Oww… stupid stupid… oww ughh…" Char hissed, stumbling and gripping his bruise.

Saura and Lily both opened their eyes and looked at him. Ray looked surprised.

"What was that?" Char demanded suddenly, ignoring his injury as soon as he could.

"Nobody said anything," Saura answered him. "Maybe you're hearing things? Are you sure you didn't… I don't know, bump your head?"

"No, I'm serious," Char insisted, disregarding the silly joke. "I heard something. I thought… it might have been the humming. But I don't know, maybe not. It was suspicious, though."

"I heard something, too, actually," Lily said, blinking. "Just for a moment. I thought it was nothing, but… maybe… Heh, hopefully we're not just imagining things."

"No, we're doing it! We're getting somewhere!" Ray cried in amazement. "See? We're doing it! We're going to call Arceus right here, right now! Now, go back and think of exactly what you were thinking a moment ago! And think it as hard as you can! Uh… what were you thinking, anyway?"

"I was thinking about Scythe, actually," Char admitted. "I was worried about him…"

"Hmm…" Lily said hesitantly, picking her head back up off the ground. "You know… while we're here, telling secrets and everything… maybe there's something I have to say, too."

"Oh?" Saura said interestedly, blinking his eyes back to attention. "What is it? We're all ears."

"It's… about Scythe, actually," Lily sighed, bowing her head slightly. "Something happened a few days ago. Prince told me about it. He said not to tell anyone else, heh, but here I am, telling you… I'm usually not this bad with secrets, and I won't tell yours, but I really trust you guys…"

"We understand," Saura said.

"But yeah, Prince gave me a warning," Lily admitted hesitantly. "He said to watch out for Scythe, because… Apparently, Scythe tried to trick Nameless into doing something bad."

"You're kidding," Char replied, feeling his heart sink a little. "Do you know what he tried to do?"

"After the temporal tower mission, he wanted Nameless to knock out Prince."

Char gritted his teeth. It was just as he feared. Scythe was resorting to desperate measures to get Prince out of the way. All he could think, now, was "really?" Had he really reached his wit's end, and tried to manipulate the Articuno to do his bidding? Had he really tried to get her to betray the one Pokémon closest to her? Really?

But deep down, Char wasn't that surprised. His heart sank lower than ever, feeling so sorry for Scythe and his fateful intentions, whatever they were… He wanted now, more than ever, to just call down Dialga or Arceus or whomever would listen, and just make Scythe's plans work for him, and take all his pain away. He was tired of seeing the old warrior suffering all the time, driven to the point where sanity was so hard to hold onto…

"So yeah, take from that what you will," Lily continued. "I know he's a smart Pokémon and all, and you guys must have a lot of respect for him. But I'm actually starting to be afraid a little bit. He won't tell Prince anything about his bad attitude and… well… I'm afraid of what Scythe is going to do when we get back from the tower… he obviously has something he's— what? Char? What's wrong with your face?"

Char had to shake himself out of a sudden trance.

"Say that again," he requested.

"Say what again?"

"Everything that you just said."

"Uh…" Lily hesitated, blinking and trying to recollect her thoughts. "I was just saying… I think I'm actually starting to be afraid of Scythe, even though I know he's always been trustworthy and all… but if something's going to happen after the tower, and he's not telling us what it is…"

"You're afraid of what he's going to do!" Char completed for her, as though it was some sort of epiphany.

"Yeah," Lily sighed. "I know it's probably just silly of me… I'm just getting paranoid again, but…"

"No, Lily! You don't understand!" Char cried, almost breathless. "Lily, that's—"

*Rrrrumble….*

The group froze as the thunderous sound of a rockslide reverberated from deeper in the crags. A few pebbles crumbled down the cliff walls and around their feet. They waited, still as stones, with perked ears and widened eyes pointed in every direction, until the disturbance settled.

"Uh… that wasn't a good noise…" Lily muttered nervously. "I hope that was just an avalanche or something…"

It was then that the reality of the situation really began to dawn on them. They were four relatively weak Pokémon gathered together in the middle of the night, and they had wandered at least twenty minutes away from the three Pokémon who could actually defend them from danger…

"Yeah, let's start heading back," Char suggested. "We shouldn't keep them waiting much longer. Prince wants to be out of this mountain range in time for—"

*Rrrrrumble…* *Rrrumble…*

Again, the noise came from somewhere beyond the cracks in the walls, louder and more persistent than last time. Genuine fear was quickly pooling in Char's heart, and he watched as the shadows around him retreated and his light source became much bigger. Admittedly, it didn't bring him very much courage this time—the disturbance sounded unmistakably big.

"Seconded," Lily offered, a quiver in her voice. "And how about we run?"

But they never had the chance.

*CRASH!*

There was a ground-shaking explosion as a rock became dislodged from the wall and crashed into several pieces upon the ground. There, through a previously small crack in the cliff, a creature stirred.

Char felt his heart stop. That crack had been their escape route. It was the way they came. They squeezed through it into this little chamber, thinking it was a place of safety…

Now… they were cornered.

"No," Saura whispered. "No, no, no…"

"It's… only a rock Pokémon," Lily said, trying to sound confident. "We can beat it. Saura and I can take it."

"What do you think it is?" Char asked, eyeing the moving shadows. "It looks big…"

"Probably just an Onix," Lily reassured everyone. "That's the only thing I can think of that could even survive up here. We can take an Onix. They're big and stupid."

The four small Pokémon backed up as far as they could against the corner, as the rocks stirred in the shadows.

"What if it's not?" Char wondered, his voice wavering with worry.

Then, from the shadows… something protruded from the crack in the stone wall. Something made of rock. A gravelly roar filled the air as it scraped against the surrounding walls.

It was a thick, blunt, fingerless arm, winding and coiling around like a miniature Onix. But it was no mere Onix. It moved with strength and purpose, as though attached to an even bigger entity, as it forced itself into the chamber where the small Pokémon had gathered. Char thought to take another step back, but he was already flat against the wall. His battle instinct mounted.

A second arm, much like the first, was jammed into the crack, worming its way in Char's direction like a floating, living rock, faceless and featureless, its polished gray surfaces shining in Char's light…

With both arms in place, the creature heaved.

*RRRRRRRRRIP!*

Rock and gravel spewed everywhere as the creature threw both arms apart and simply shoved the stone walls out of its way as if they were mere curtains, causing the chamber's structure to collapse. Char yelped and covered his head as a boulder smashed down next to him, his breaths turning into short whimpers.

The being emerged from the shadows and stood for a moment in Char's flaring light, revealed for what it was. Char beheld it, and felt his body flooded in dread.

It was a Pokémon which Char had never seen or heard of before. It stood like a living mountain of rocks upon two legs, towering over him by at least three times his height. Its body was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding terrain, as if a pile of boulders had been possessed by black magic and assembled themselves into a human-like form. It stood still, emitting a freakish murmur as it watched its victims with a weird assortment of tiny orange eyes embedded into its blank face.

Like the rest of Zerferia, the face betrayed nothing. No heart or soul, no emotion, no reason… nothing but danger and malice. It held itself almost like a robot, a guardian of this deserted fortress of crags, come to smash these strange moving intruders until they would lay shattered and silent among the rest of the gravel…

"New idea," Lily choked out, barely able to stay standing in fear. "We scream for Nameless at the top of our lungs."

And so they did.

The combined screech of their voices seemed to stun the rock monster for a moment. The thing backed away a few inches, watching in confusion and surprise as Char and his companions combined their cries and sent them into the heavens, an extended wail that lasted for half a minute until their chests collapsed.

In the ensuing silence, the little group of Pokémon could only cower beneath the beast with held breaths, watching what it would decide to do next, hoping to Arceus it wouldn't barrel forward and embed them into the surrounding rocks…

But, within just a few seconds, their call was answered. The sky returned a call of its own. It was a caw from the distance, clear and beautiful, the voice of a legendary Pokémon heeding their plea. The rock beast visibly shuddered at the sound of the cry, as if remembering it from a fateful encounter. It was like a beacon; upon hearing it, the hearts of the trapped Pokémon were filled with hope that they might survive the dark day.

But would Nameless arrive in time?

"I'll make a smoke screen," Char decided. "I can make it big. It won't be able to track us."

"Char, no!" Lily gasped. "Then Nameless won't be able to see us!"

"Nameless has good hearing!" Ray said. "She said so! I asked!"

The beast took a curious step nearer. The gravel upon the ground jumped an inch, and more rattled down from the cliff-sides.

"Just do something!" Saura gasped. "It's coming!"

"Alright… it's a Rock Pokémon, right?" Char guessed. "It has to be. Alright. Lily, Saura, I know it's dark out, but use the strongest plant attacks you can. Ray… Lightning. Might as well. We have to lure it away from the exit. If it comes to get us, we can slip past, and maybe—"

Thump. The beast took another step closer, almost as if it were toying with them.

"Alright, go!" Char urged. "Go, go! Attack!"

Char's inner fire needed no persuasion; it was already there for him. He drew a long breath and prepared to release a curtain of smoke to shroud their tiny forms and make it more difficult for the beast to connect a hit. Saura and Lily focused energy into themselves, gathering powerful projectile attacks. Ray held his breath and began an intense cringe, trying to call a bolt of lightning from the night sky which was just barely visible far above their heads and past the cliff tops…

Char jumped forward and released his fire, cutting it short at the last second to convert it to a thick, concentrated cloud of soot. It was a very good smoke screen, his best yet, even, and it made the light of his fire all but meaningless as it expanded to fill the dark ditch. Saura yelped as his energy ball snapped away from his bulb and was hurled into the dark cloud.

"I can't do it!" Ray cried. "There aren't any charges answering me! No clouds!"

"I can't see anything!" Lily added.

From Lily's neck, there sprouted half a dozen thin, sharp blades of grass. They grew in many directions, twisting and coiling around themselves like a giant knotted net, until it resembled a makeshift spider's web. When it was large and confusing enough, she slung the whole thing through the smoke cloud and into the foe.

"RRRR-rrrrrRRRAAAA!"

The beast's hallow, twisted voice sounded from the other end of the chamber. Its message was clear: it was angry now.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

"It's coming!" Lily shrieked. "Dodge! DODGE!"

Char tensed, focusing on the smoke cloud, watching closely for the monstrous silhouette which would soon emerge… Waiting to know just which directions would be safe…

"Never remain on your hind legs. Always drop to all fours. You must be able to dodge in any direction at a moment's notice…"

Char fell to the ground, joining his friends upon all fours, poised to pounce.

It came so quickly, he barely was able to see it. That monstrous shadow appeared, running at them, its massive body whipping the smoke around as it moved…

And just as quickly, it swung around one of its stump arms, attempting to bludgeon Char square in the head.

"EVADE!"

In a slow, slow heartbeat, the trapped Pokémon leapt past the monster through any opening they could find—around its feet, under its arms, against the wall… And Char, seeing that arm about to club him in the face, dove straight between the thing's legs, ducking his head and picking up his legs as he sailed through the gap like a missile. It was such a small passage, such a desperate attempt… but the creature had poised its left leg in front of the other to balance itself in its reckless attack, letting just enough room for Char to scrape by…

And the creature's arm, it came so close to hitting him… he felt the whoosh of wind blow past his face, and thought for sure he would be out cold before he could touch the ground again…

But, thanks to the smoke screen, the monster had barely miscalculated the path of its arm. It sailed clumsily past, missing by a few hairs and failing to cut off Char's escape route. Char touched the ground on the other side of the monster, to his utter relief, and joined his friends in their rush toward the opening in the wall.

*SMASH!*

Just as quickly as it had appeared, the massive gap in the chamber wall was gone.

It took Char a moment to realize that, where there had been a safe and clear passage just a moment before, there now rested a giant boulder. No—a monolith. A tall, gargantuan stone sealed off their escape route. With the icy, gravelly floor offering not the slightest bit of traction, Char couldn't stop himself in time—and his head smacked into the barrier.

"Ahhhh!" Saura shouted in panic, pivoting his body to hit the great stone sideways. "What the—?"

Char shook off the injury and re-oriented himself. By instinct, he turned to glance back at the monstrous being, gazing at its shadow through the quickly-clearing smoke cloud.

When he saw what had happened, he could not believe his eyes.

The monster had thrown the monolith to block their escape. It had done so by plucking it straight out of the wall and hurling it effortlessly over their heads.

He shook his head. That was… impossible. It simply couldn't have happened. But, yes, there was now a gaping dent in the cliff face, the place where the being had torn the huge granite slab from the wall as if it were made of sandstone.

That's when it dawned on him: this monster, this Pokémon which he did not recognize, could only be a legendary.

They were fighting some ancient, million-year-old being. Some spirit which embodied the strength of rocks. Some being which mountains fell upon, which tectonic plates shifted across, which earthquakes crushed… yet it survived through the millennia, only to have some foolish little children searching for privacy happen to wake it from its slumber.

Their attacks would not defeat it. Their attacks would not phase it.

"CHAR!"

Hearing Saura's sudden plead, Char snapped out of his stupor. But it was too late—the creature had jammed its hand-less arms into the solid rock face a second time, tearing another pointed slab from the wall…

"Impossible…" Char could only whisper, watching the beast's god-like strength as it worked.

"CHAR! WATCH OUT! CHAR!"

"RRRR-rrrrrAAAARRRRRaaaa!"

The beast heaved, tossing its behemoth weapon at the spot where Char stood. This time, he didn't miss.

A sort of awe washed over Char as he beheld the two-ton rock flying at his face. It was just too large… and it came too fast… Char knew there was no point in running. He only anticipated the inevitable collision… wondering if it would indeed cost him his life.

At the last moment, he held his breath and closed his eyes.

Then he felt it.

*SMASH!*

The first thing he made out, after the sound of the projectile exploding into many boulder-sized chunks, was the sound of Saura's voice. It mixed with those of Lily and Ray, screaming his name in sorrow for his loss…

The second thing he realized was that he could hear anything at all.

He was alive.

He opened his eyes. He found that his body had not moved an inch from where he had cowered. In fact, nothing had really changed, except there now sat about a dozen new chunks of rock obscuring his vision, all spinning with kinetic energy.

He blinked. He had felt it. He had felt its weight, its pressure, colliding with his tiny body…

Yet, he had felt no pain.

In fact… he was utterly unharmed.

He stood up and appraised his body. No scrapes. No injuries. Nothing.

"What?" Char had to spit, this realization dawning on him.

"Char! What just happened?" Saura called to him. "How… are you still alive?"

"I don't… know," Char admitted.

"Maybe it was an illusion," Lily guessed. "Maybe that rock didn't even exist. Come on! We have to find a way out of here! Saura, have you ever made a vine rope before?"

"No…"

"Alright, here… let's wind our vines together, like this. They'll be stronger that way. Then maybe we can climb to safety without having them snap…"

Char saw that the golem was just as baffled as he was. He could see the gears turning in its alien head—Enemy is still moving. Doesn't make sense.

Intent on correcting its mistake, it wasted no time in yanking yet another hunk of rock and taking aim at Char. This time, though, Char was curious.

He continued standing on two legs, staring proudly and defiantly at the legendary rock monster as it wielded its next projectile. Grunting in its incomprehensible voice, it swung its arms and released its burden onto the standing Charmander.

This time, Char made sure not to blink.

*CRASH!*

He watched, in utter bewilderment, as the two-ton slab of solid rock shattered against his frail little body, as if it had been tossed upon a diamond cutter.

Again, he felt nothing. No pain. No shock. It hadn't even knocked him off his feet. He had only felt its touch against his skin, as though the deadly gravel were mere raindrops upon him. His stance remained unchanged as the remnants of the explosion rolled off harmlessly behind him.

Char held his breath as he glanced down at his body once more, wondering… how?

Is… Arceus blessing me…? Char wondered, his mind buzzing for some kind of answer. Am… am I a legendary Pokémon now?

"aaaRRRRRRRRR-raaa?"

Warily, Char took a few steps toward the confused beast. He wanted to test this newfound invulnerability.

"Char, what are you doing?" Saura shrieked. "Char, no! Get back here!"

"Char, what if it's a trap?" Ray cried.

Char had a feeling this was no trap. Those rocks were very real. They were no illusions. And the golem was real, too. But… was he real?

Enraged, the monster thrashed its arms and stomped across the chamber to meet Char. It hesitated for a brief moment before winding back its left arm and swinging it around, bludgeoning Char in the side of his head.

It slid off him as if he were made of ice. Unbreakable ice.

"RAAaaaa-aaAAA!" the legendary Pokémon moaned, its head and arms convulsing in some sort of agony.

"Join the club," Char muttered. "I haven't the slightest what's going on, either…"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

*SMACK.*

From the sky, a blue blur shot down. It struck the rock beast square in the face, causing it to topple onto its back. There was a minor earthquake as it hit the ground, where it thrashed and moaned in pain.

Char soon felt himself being lifted very quickly and sickeningly into the air, his body halfway encaged in a muscular talon.

Before he knew it, the claw opened and shook him free, dropping him a few feet onto a hard platform far above most of the surrounding crags. He landed on his back, where the grand, starry sky of Zerferia opened up to him. But he had little time to appreciate it; he realized soon enough that Scythe was standing over him, scowling.

Expecting Scythe to immediately begin scolding him, Char cringed… but when he didn't, he realized that Scythe didn't look angry. In fact, he looked very frightened.

"I'm sorry," Char muttered.

"Char, this is why I eavesdrop on you!" Scythe cried. "Otherwise, you run off and get killed. Do you understand now?"

"Yes," Char sighed. "It won't happen again."

"By the gods, if you want to speak privately, all you need to do is ask!" Scythe hissed. "You don't have to commission a feral Articuno to keep me in my place! Next time, at least let me know where you are."

*Thump.*

Nameless made another pass, dropping Lily at his side. She scrambled to her feet and shook her head.

"What was that thing?" she growled. "What just happened?"

"And how did I survive?" Char added, picking himself off the ground as well. "Those rocks should have killed me… but when they hit me, they just broke apart like glass!"

"Actually… I think… I may know the answer to that one," Lily said thoughtfully. "It's Prince."

*Thump.* *Thump.* Saura and Ray joined them, still panting intensely from the assault.

Nameless glided overhead, gracefully dropping and landing to rest on the stone platform. Prince dismounted her back.

"I am surprised," Nameless said. "I never seen that thing before. Unless my memory is bad."

"Char, what is it with you and waking up legendary Pokémon from their sleep?" Prince laughed, coming to Char's side. "The Call is getting out of hand, wouldn't you say? I'm not mad at any of you. Scythe can be the one to be mad, if he wants. Me, I'm just glad you all made it out unharmed! Thank Arceus."

"What was that thing?" Char asked, peering over the cliff and down into the pit of darkness where the rock monster still stirred. "I knew it had to be a legendary… "

"That is a Regirock," Prince explained. "Indeed, a legendary. I know little about it. I did not even know a Regirock lived in the Scarred Crags. All I know about them is that they are literally piles of living rocks; if you break them open, you will find no internal organs. We are unsure of what sort of force animates them; it might be pure aura. And, yes, for a fire-type such as yourself to combat one is particularly suicidal."

"But… Prince?" Char asked. "When I was down there, it attacked me… but… it was like I was invulnerable. Nothing it did could hurt me!"

"Ah, yes," Prince hummed. "They were all rock-based attacks, correct?"

"Yes," Char answered.

"Well, then… you should be thankful I arrived when I did," Prince said, a clever smirk upon his face.

But Prince said no more. Char frowned; he really wanted to press the issue, as it baffled him to no end, but he felt he was not quite in a position to do so. Instead, he took one last look downward, squinting to see the Regirock in the starlight as it patrolled the little chamber it had trapped itself in. It grunted as it turned in circles, looking for any sign if its disappeared victims. It didn't seem smart enough to think of looking up.

"Just… do us all a favor," Scythe implored, staring at the golem. "Please, please, do not speak of this back in the Gold Division… I do not want Domo catching wind of yet another legendary Pokémon he will have to chase…"

At that, Nameless helped the team descend from the cliff and back to ground level, and they began with their daily trek northward.


Zerferia Plains

The night sky was clear and beautiful, painted with many blue and white sparkles.

Today, as he trudged through the snow, Char kept his neck craned and this gaze fixed at the enormous display of lights far above.

Even in Zerferia, an unobscured view of the sky was rare; many towering clouds hung there, poised to drop intense blizzards the moment Nameless would stop containing them. But tonight, all of the clouds had shifted away, and for possibly the first time, Char beheld the raw beauty of space from the eyes of a Charmander.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Seeing the starry sky had always stirred something deep within Char, but he had never seen them like this. Never without clouds, never without the horrible swarm of Watchers hanging in the sky, and never without the impending sunrise poised just behind the earth, slowly but surely snuffing out the soul of every last star, one by one… No, today, he saw the rivers of stars for what they truly were: omnipresent, uncountable, humbling… Only the shadowy form of a magnificent bird would sometimes glaze across his vision…

His heart raced at their visage; it was as though he knew their beauty intrinsically, by instinct… It was as though his spirit belonged up there somewhere, among the stars… That maybe, just maybe, they held one of the answers to his past…

"Ambera is very beautiful. Even as the darkness of the storm threatens to choke the sun, it shines ever brighter."

It reminded him of the gorgeous sunset he and Scythe had watched together, that night they stayed in the desert with the Dragonite team. Like evening sun, the darkness of night, too, contained legendary treasures for the eye. The stars were enough to add an ethereal glow to the landscape and the snow which coated it.

"It always captures me, the kinds of pictures the storms can paint in the sky. Sometimes, in the summer, if the air currents are just right, marvelous things happen in the sky above Basin Canyon. I can't count the times my team and I have simply stopped to watch the ebb and flow of the thunderclouds…"

"By itself, the sunset has no beauty. It is just a sunset. A natural phenomenon. It is… a rare combination of colors in an unlikely place. It only has beauty because you have eyes to gaze upon it, and it means something to you. It has a story to tell your heart … If the day comes when the sunset is just a sunset… Ambera's voice will have been silenced. And I will have failed."

It dawned on Char that, here, outside of the boundary lines of Ambera, the glory of the night sky was a beauty that had not been silenced yet. Within the reign of the Master, though, it was gone… drowned out by the dominion of the night Watchers, never to be witnessed or enjoyed by another Pokémon. It was a beauty that only the strongest and most confident of Pokémon could glimpse at, but a beauty that children would never know…

Indeed, neither the Master, nor the Watchers, were able to stop the stars from coming out at night. But together, they were able to hide, to censor its beauty from the eyes and hearts of the Pokémon who lived across the land…

That, he told himself, was what Scythe fought for. So that Pokémon everywhere could see for themselves the beauty of the world they lived upon. And it was a good thing to fight for.

Char turned his attention back to the ground for a moment. Still nothing; just a blanket of snow stretched out before him. But he squinted, trying to just barely make out something as far away as the eye could see. Prince reported that they were mere days away from Temporal Tower. Days. He promised they would see their destination on the horizon before the sun fully rose again, possibly in the early hours of dawn.

Though he knew how soon he would have all the answers to his mysteries, there was one feeling Char couldn't immediately shake.

The Call. Before the Regirock attacked, had he really heard what the thought he had heard?

"Scythe," he said, turning to his guardian who kept a constant watch on him from behind. "Can I talk privately with Lily? You said I could ask if I wanted to."

Scythe did not respond at first. He looked irritated.

"You must promise me something in return. That, for the duration of this trip, you will stop bringing up this subject. Haven't I made it clear that I despise the act of keeping a secret? Every time you confront me, it hurts, like a blade to the chest … Even if I were to try, I cannot make you trust me."

"We aren't talking about you, we promise," Char insisted. "I just want to talk to her about the Call."

"Very well," Scythe grunted. "Run ahead, but not out of sight. Whisper, and I won't listen."

"It's alright. Nameless will keep an eye on you," Prince said. "Go."

Char nodded to his friends, then ran far ahead of the party as instructed. Lily followed.

… … …

"So… you were saying?" Lily whispered, once they were a good distance away. "Before that thing attacked… what were you trying to say?"

"I think we found one of the properties of the Call," Char speculated. "Empathy."

"Empathy? You mean, we share feelings?"

"Maybe. I don't know," Char said. "But I mean… when you said, 'I'm afraid of what Scythe is going to do', that was exactly what I was thinking…"

"I'm an old Pokémon. Every day, much is expected from me. Some days, when I open my eyes in the morning, I can't tell if my body is filled with energy, or just the determination to bear exhaustion. You will find, as you grow old, that you experience many different kinds of emotions. And you will learn to cope with them. You will learn to relish the pleasant emotions and harden yourself against the unpleasant emotions… And the more you harden yourself, the more you will know stress. "

"I think it was... well, an understandable thing to be thinking, if you were thinking about him when Ray asked us to meditate," Lily said. "Scythe is starting to scare me a little bit. More than I'd like to say, actually. I don't know what he's even doing here."

"No, I mean, that was exactly what I was thinking," Char insisted. "Those were the same words that I said to myself in my own head. I think maybe… I read your mind. Or you read mine. I think something suspicious happened there."

"Hmm… it could just be a coincidence though," Lily said.

"But I thought I heard the humming for a moment when it happened," Char said. "Didn't you say you heard it, too?"

"Well, I thought I did. Power of suggestion and all," Lily admitted. "Maybe we were just hearing that Regirock start to wake up. ... wait, no, maybe you're right. Maybe we're getting somewhere? Could be. Iono."

Char looked up to the Bayleef, trying to figure out how to phrase his thoughts properly. Lily returned a warm smile.

"I just can't shake the feeling that something happened back there," Char said. "Or maybe that something's been happening this entire time and nobody realized it. Maybe Ray's right. Maybe Saura and I communicate mentally without knowing it. It would explain a lot. Maybe we just, every now and then, we take one of our own thoughts, and there's a pulse of some kind, and we send it over to the other person… Hey, Lily, you've been with Prince a long time. Hasn't this ever happened to you? Haven't you just… suddenly started understanding one another? Thinking the same thoughts? Just… out of nowhere?"

"Well, yeah, sometimes," Lily said. "But I think all friends do that, if they've been friends for long enough. You don't need the Call to do that…"

"Hasn't he changed a lot?" Char questioned. "Do you think… over the years you've been with him… do you think he's started to turn into someone different?"

Lily hesitated before answering. The question certainly tugged at a heart string.

"Yeah," she said. "He has. When I first met him, he was… well, I guess I should just say that… it was hard to trust him at first. Not all of it was his fault, mind you. My Call kept going off at the worst times, and so many Pokémon were trying to catch me… then Prince came along, and at first I thought he was just going to kidnap me and use me, just like everyone else was trying to. But when he first found me, he was pretty violent. He was… heh… he wasn't the friendliest Pokémon. He really scared me at first. But he looked at me, and he asked me to trust him. And I thought… you know, Lily, you have nothing else going for you at this point… You have to put your trust somewhere… so I went with him. And he protected me."

"And now?" Char questioned. "How is he now?"

"Now, he's more like a father to me," Lily said. "When I first met him, I never would have imagined this was really the way he was. But he's… he's made so many sacrifices for me, I can't… I can't remember them all. But he kept his promise to me, that he would protect me from any Pokémon who would try to use my power just for its own sake, and he's always treated me like I'm a Pokémon, not just some time bomb. But yeah, he's changed. Now, he's so forgiving and generous. He has… a big heart."

"A big heart… like you?"

Lily twisted her head and gave Char and odd look.

"Do you think he has ever started… well… acquiring your own personality traits?" Char asked. "If you say he's been getting more sympathetic to you over the years… would you say that a piece of your personality has become part of him?"

"That's a really weird question," Lily laughed. "But uh… maybe? When he's happy, he acts a little bit like me. We have the same sense of humor now. But I mean, that doesn't have to be the Call, either. Normal friendship can do that, too."

"Did he help you get over being away from your family?"

Lily stopped in her tracks, surprised by the question.

"Are we going to go through this again? I told you already, there's nothing I can say that will make you trust me."

"That night… after Legend's story, and before the Watchers attacked… when you came to talk to me, you told me that you came from overseas, and you were really starting to miss your family," Char pressed, stopping with her. "Especially after the old Emerald Division fell. You said you had nowhere to go. You were lonely, and you didn't know where to go because of the Call. And Prince was an outcast, too. He was banished from his family. I'm saying… Did you help one another get over that?"

"Yeah," Lily uttered. "A lot…"

"Would you say that… maybe… part of that could have come from empathy?"

"Yeah…" Lily said, wide-eyed. "You know… when you put it that way, maybe… it did."

The answer was so close now. Char could feel it dangling in front of him, but he just couldn't grasp it. But it was the last missing piece of the puzzle. The last connection, before everything would make total sense.

He didn't even know what it was, he just felt it. It burned with significance, an answer that just needed to be found, hiding just out of his sight.

All he needed, now, was to ask the right questions so that it might be revealed.

"It wouldn't surprise me, if that were true," Lily said, beginning to walk again. "If the Call really is active all the time… Prince says it is, in some form. He can feel me when I'm around because he got used to the pulses my Call sends, or something… but yeah. Maybe you're right. I don't think it outright changes you… unless you're having one of those episodes. Then yeah, all the Pokémon in sight will start to think like you. But yeah… maybe it just changes things, just a little bit at a time… so that… so that you learn to understand one another."

"Do you think…" Char breathed, trying to find just the right expression for his complicated thought, "that maybe the Call… has a mind of its own?"

"Hah, tell me about it…" Lily scoffed. "I have never been able to figure out what causes it to start. And it's gone off at least a dozen times since I evolved. And… other than being asleep for most of the times, as you pointed out before… there isn't a single thing in common any of the times it happened. Not one. It… really baffles me, to be honest."

"Fine, then! No, I am not afraid that my plan will fail. My plan involves… doing something I will not enjoy. And yes… it involves you."

"No, no… that's… not quite what I meant," Char said. "Do you think, maybe, the Call… has a will? Like… like it's a spirit of its own? And it has a purpose… like, it has its own plan. It wants something to happen. So it manipulates your life, and goes off at just the right times, to change the world and get what it wants? So maybe… you can't control it? Maybe… it controls you?"

"That's… a thought," Lily considered. "Wow… that's… wow. That's intense. But… but wait. I don't think that's true."

"Why not?"

"Because… if the Call is trying to like… push me in a certain direction, it's not doing a very good job of it," Lily said. "I mean… you know. On one vine, it goes off just in time to make a bunch of evil Pokémon soldiers tear down the Emerald Division. On the other… You know, if it really wanted to kill Pokémon, there were so many better Pokémon it could have chosen, and so many better times it could have gone off… but it didn't. Or even just all these years I've been on Team Flamewheel, where it's just left me alone on the whole, or let me figure out how to muffle it... plus, if it does like you say and makes an empathic link between me and Prince, so we become better friends… In that case, I don't really get what it's trying to prove. Alright… maybe. I don't know what the threads of fate look like. But… if there's really a spirit in control of the Call, I think it's a really stupid spirit. Or it has no idea what it's even trying to even accomplish."

"Would you say the Call made your life better, or worse?"

"Pfft. Worse. Much worse," Lily coughed. "No surprise there. But… if what you say is true, and it really did start to affect the way Prince was acting all this time… Heh, if… little pieces of me started to grow into him…"

"Another thing... You want to know why there is blood behind my eyes?"

"In that case, it really helped me to get over the problems it caused, too," Lily said. "Because… like I keep saying, if it hadn't been for Prince… I would not have made it this far. Somewhere along the line, I would have just… lost hope, and ran off, and probably gotten myself killed along the way."

"You want to know where it comes from?"

"Because he was always there for me. He always kept his promise, to protect me from the Master, or anyone else who would try to come after the Call… and after everything got torn down, he's the one who helped me find purpose in my life again, in being on Team Flamewheel, and working for the resistance…

"But yeah… I really have a lot to think about now. It's so weird to think that maybe… all the kindness he's been showing, all this time…"

"It comes from you."

"…has been coming from me…"

And there it was, spread out before him as clear as the stars in the sky.

He had his answer.

This time, it was Char's turn to stop walking. Everything, all at once, made so much sense.

"It comes from me," Char whispered. "I did this… And Saura, too, I guess…"

"Are you alright?" Lily asked concernedly.

"We did this to him," Char said, gaping. "Me, Saura, now you… We're the ones hurting him."

"Char… what do you mean?"

"Back… back in the Gold Division, when Alakazam issued us to come on this trip…" Char explained, "I saw Scythe break down and cry in the hallway. That was when it started. That's when I started to think that maybe he wasn't as trustworthy as I hoped. It was such a small doubt. Subconscious, maybe. But I still trusted him. I saw him as a friend, I wanted everything to be okay for him. But there was that nagging little doubt inside me…

"And that doubt grew, and grew, and it kept growing, because I saw Scythe starting to get really stressed out, losing his temper, and his eyes started to turn red… And I started to really pity him… And it got so much worse when we got into Rayquaza's Clutch. That's when he really started to lose it. And every time he lost his temper or he did something that made me worry, It… really challenged my trust, and I had to keep saying to myself, 'trust him, trust him, no matter what, trust him…', and it got harder each time, because it was like, now I was lying to myself, and I didn't really trust him, but I still had to act like I did…

"But now I know… if the call makes an empathic bond like we think it does… then… all his stress… all his anger and his loss of control… is coming from me. And you. And Saura. I think he's feeling all our doubts, and they're becoming part of him… it's like a vicious cycle."

Lily blinked in confusion. "Wait… you mean… you think Scythe is absorbing all your feelings?" she said. "Even so, it doesn't happen that fast! With Prince and I, it happened over a few decades…"

"Scythe is super-sensitive to the Call," Char explained. "He can hear it. He can listen to that voice that talks. That's because a Watcher cursed him, and messed his mind up so that his subconscious isn't hidden from him anymore. But sometimes, maybe the Call doesn't talk with a voice. Maybe it talks with a hum. With feelings. Like the way Prince hears you. And maybe Scythe doesn't know that yet. After all, him and I only go back about a month and a half.

"And no, I don't think he's absorbing all my feelings. I'm not mind-controlling him or anything. Like you said, that doesn't happen unless there's a full-blown episode. I know for sure he has his own feelings. But the Call… it just changes things, little by little. Like the sun rising at the very brink of dawn, how it turns off some of the stars but leaving all the rest on. So… the more distrustful we grow of him, the more pain he feels, the harder this all becomes on him… Just picture it, Lily. Just... imagine that you've got these little doubts humming in the back of your head all the time. You don't know why they're there. They don't make any sense... but they're there... That's… what we've been doing to Scythe all this time.

"I can't speak for Saura. As much as we share thoughts, I don't know what's going on in his mind all the time. He could really distrust Scythe. Either way, I've always trusted Scythe in the back of my mind, no matter what he's done, even if just a little bit. I've always held onto that trust. And when I look into his eyes now, no matter how red and tired they are, I still see something like hope… and now I know, that comes from me, too."

"What are you saying?" Lily questioned.

"I'm saying," Char said with conviction, "Now we know… we need to trust him. Unconditionally."

Lily made an uncertain face at the statement.

"Scythe's planning something," Char said. "Now… I don't know what that is. All I know are two things: it involves me, and it's very, very, very important that his plan works the way he needs it to. Otherwise, things could come crashing down. Big things. So when the time comes for him to do whatever he's going to do, he needs to be in full control. He can't doubt himself. So… we can't doubt him either. Lily… you and I have got to trust him. With everything we've got."

"Char…" Lily choked out. "I'm sorry, I understand your reasoning and everything, it's just… If he wants to knock out Prince, I'm not totally sure… I could trust him either way."

"We need to trust him unconditionally… Even if he wants to knock out Prince," Char whispered, fire behind his eyes now. "If that's what he wants, then we'll help him do it. We've got to. Because, all I know is that we can't afford for Scythe to fail. It will be bad if he fails. For all of us."

Lily did not respond. She couldn't find the words. But now, very slightly, she felt her opinion of Char starting to change.

"Lily, do you understand?" Char hissed, casting a side glance to the rest of the team who were slowly approaching. "I know this is hard for you. I know you trust Prince a lot. But you've got to see this."

"Char, I can't just blindly trust Scythe," Lily hissed back. "I'm sorry… I can't."

"But you blindly trust Prince, right?" Char begged. "You know what that's like! You said so yourself, you weren't so sure about Prince when you first met him, but you just had to choose to trust him. That's what you said! Now I know you're not so sure about Scythe right now… but it's kinda like that! Come on, Lily… do you understand?"

"I understand," she said. "But… I just want to make one thing clear to you, Char."

"What?"

"I'm not going to betray Prince,"

"Lily…"

"I don't care what happens," Lily growled. "If Scythe is doing something harmless, I'll support him, sure. But if Scythe… turns against Prince… I am not fighting on his side. In fact… I'm not even going to stand around while Prince gets beaten. I'm going to defend him."

There was a mighty crack of air overhead, causing Char and Lily to jump in place. Nameless swooped down, landing beside them, a pleasant coo sounding from her throat.

"Have you seen, little ones?" she called to them. "The fire in the sky."

"Huh?" Char responded, his interest piqued.

"Yes… green fire. And white!" Nameless announced. "Not is it true fire, I know. But it is beautiful! Look!"

She waved her right wing, pointing to the far distance, and Char followed with his eyes.

There, inches above the horizon, a god-like glow hung in the night sky. The "aurora borealis", as humans called it. "Articuno's breath", as the Pokémon did. It was a stunning sight, like a silken curtain, changing exotic shades of sapphire and emerald. Char felt touched at witnessing the light on such a clear, beautiful evening, as he was sure he'd never seen it before, even in his human days. Immediately, he felt drawn to it, wanting to rush ahead and get a closer look before it would inevitably fade away.

"You call me beautiful, and you name the fire after me," the Articuno commented, "but it has much more beautiful than I, forever. Would you say?"

"Yes…" Lily said, her face beaming at the sight. "It is… really pretty…"

And then, something caught Char's eye.

Upon the backdrop of the aurora, he spotted the tiny silhouette of a strange shape protruding from the horizon.


Special thanks to Gorsecloud for practically being a cornerstone for this chapter.

*Chapter 57*: Chapter 44: Anomaly

Chapter 44

Part 1

It stood like a pillar which held up the sky—like a tower of ancient coliseums stacked to the heavens, until it reached a vanishing point to the eyes of the humbled Pokémon who stood near its base.

Its shape, its structure was unreal; no man or mortal Pokémon could have constructed such a monument upon the foundation of the arctic plain. The outer wall of the tower even appeared in the image of the lord of time—it was as deep blue as the dawn sky, its pillars a steely silver.

Alakazam had said that the tower was but a symbol of Dialga's strength, and perhaps did not even exist in the way it appeared to the eyes of the mortals... And now Char knew it was true, for he saw how the tower was like a hallucination—as though it occupied a void of nothingness, or a parallel dimension which protruded into his own reality. He thought he could feel the supernatural reverberations it created in the air, or the way the ground subtly trembled underfoot in protest of its existence.

And though it was not as large as could be expected from a god's temple– Rayquaza's Clutch easily took up at least four times the land mass—it was as tall as a mountain, tall enough that it looked as though it could take a week to scale, and it cast such a far-reaching shadow across the snowy plains that it appeared as though some deity had drawn a boundary line across the land just as an artist would draw one upon a map. But Char knew the climb would be worth it; that at its pinnacle, there stood a glorious dragon god who awaited his arrival—the one who he had seen so clearly in his memories. The one who held the power to put all his questions to rest.

At last, as the snowy plains of Zerferia glowed a fiery orange in the light of the early dawn, Char, Saura, Ray, Prince, Scythe, Lily, and Nameless beheld their final destination: the mythical Temporal Tower, the tangible throne of Dialga.

"Nameless," Scythe uttered, hopelessly squinting toward the pinnacle, "Can you fly Char to the top of the tower?"

"The sky... is not... safe," Nameless growled, her fearful glance following his. "When I fly close to it... the air... it is like a storm, though there is no storm... it feels like... my wings will tear. I am... afraid."

"Figures," Scythe said, shaking his head. "A god who designs his temple to test the tenacity of its visitors wouldn't allow such a silly shortcut. So be it..."

"Nameless... are you certain you would not want to help us inside the tower?" Prince asked her, one last time. "You would be our greatest strength."

"No, I would not... I have fear of... inside," Nameless said, averting her ashamed gaze. "I have never been inside... to see not the sky... I... if I cannot fly, bring the wind to me... I am useless. Useless to fly and useless to battle! I am sorry, Prince. I want not to go."

"I understand," Prince sighed. "You have already given us so much. Thank you for leading us this far. Will you wait for us to return?"

"I will wait," Nameless said, nodding. "I am very good at patience. But I may fall to sleep if you do not return by two years. So you must wake me again. But I will be here. I promise."

The team bid their thanks and goodbyes to the gentle Articuno who had given them company on the cold journey, and they took the first of their cautious steps to the tower's front door. Scythe donned the pouched bag of valuables which had been given to them by Alakazam, Ray accepted the sack which Team Ember had stuffed full of the items they were experienced with using, and Prince took the lead of the procession, carrying nothing on his person but some sort of scarf around his neck and the small, sagging pouch still tied to his waist.

As the shadow of the tower covered them and the ominous doorway of the structure loomed closer, Scythe turned to address the group one final time.

"This may be the most difficult dungeon mission of your lives," he said solemnly. "We must work as a team. Prince and I will be here to guide you, but do not be foolish and rely on us if your own strength is required... if you must attack a wild, attack. If you must use one of your items, use it. We have ten Reviver Seeds, but do not ignore your fear of death because of them. Never purposefully let one be used unless it is to save two or more of your teammates from using them as well. Otherwise, focus, and keep yourselves alive at all costs. As Daemon always used to tell me, if you use one Reviver Seed, you use them all; using just one means there is some fatal flaw in the team that could prevent the success of the mission."

"Scythe and I will take turns carrying the bag," Prince said further. "Though we will drop the bag and fight if we must. Ray, you should do the same."

"That's the plan," Ray said, hefting the sack higher onto his shoulder.

"Before we enter," Prince said, beginning to dig into the bag hanging from Scythe's shoulder, "it would be a good idea to wear the rescue emblems now. We must decide who will get them. There are six of us, but only four of them. So, four of us will be guaranteed to escape this tower with our lives. The two of us who do not... should our Reviver Seeds run out, we risk being felled by a harsh attack, or trapped forever in the mystery dungeon until we starve to death."

"Hmm, above all of us, Char should get one," Scythe said. "I hope it will not be an issue, but if this mission goes up in flames, Char should survive to carry on."

"Agreed," Prince said. "Here, Char. You will have the first one."

Prince produced one of the glimmering egg-shaped badges, as well as one of the large green scarves from Lucario. Kneeling down, Prince slipped the scarf around Char's neck and tied it firmly in place, pinning the little button-like badge onto it. Char instinctively reached up to touch the object, feeling its warm, pearly surface.

No dungeon, it spoke telepathically to him, very much like a Wonder Orb would.

"By the same principle, I believe Lily is entitled to the next one," Prince said. "Any objections?"

Scythe looked thoughtful. "Hmm... no objection," he decided. "Go ahead. Give her one."

It dawned on Char just what was going on: while he and Lily were the obvious choices to receive the life-saving emblems, the next two candidates would not be.

If Scythe is trying to get Prince out of the way before it's too late, Char figured, then that means... we have to make sure Prince doesn't get one of the emblems!

He glanced up to Scythe's face. It was focused intensely on a faraway point; he was thinking hard and quickly of what to say next.

Lily straightened up as Prince tied the scarf and fastened the emblem to her, as Char was sure he had done for many past dungeon missions with her. As he watched the gentle and deliberate movements of Prince's arms, he tried to think. How could he help Scythe? What could he say?

"Give Saura one," Char blurted. "I want Saura to have an emblem."

Scythe looked mildly surprised at the statement, but not quite disappointed. Prince, on the other hand, looked pained.

"Char... I'm sorry, but I do not know if that would be wise," Prince said hesitantly. "I know he is important to you, but... ideally, as your guardians, Scythe and I should wear the other two, I know it's not pleasant to imagine Saura getting trapped in the tower, but the reality is that two of us must take that risk."

But Lily caught on. For a moment, she looked sternly into Char's eyes. If she said something now, Char knew that it would not be due to their discrepancy, their resolution not to defy their guardians. It would because Prince and Scythe didn't know about Saura's great secret. If he and Lily deserved emblems because of the Call, then Saura deserved one as well.

"No, he's right," Lily said carefully. "Char's right. Prince, give him one. I know... Char would never be the same if he lost Saura. Maybe he wouldn't be able to keep fighting. At least give him the peace of mind knowing that Saura is going to be alright."

"I vote for Saura, too," Ray added, figuring it out as well. "Arceus knows I don't need one one of those badges. I'll take the risk. I wouldn't want to separate Char and Saura."

"Hmm, Scythe?" Prince grunted, scratching his chin. "Your thoughts?"

"I'm afraid they might have a point," Scythe said cleverly. "Char isn't strong enough yet to lose his best friend. I don't think he would find life worth living if he and Saura get separated here. What if you had lost Lily? Do you think you could have kept going?"

Prince looked Lily in the eye for just a moment. A sense of defeat crossed his face.

"Fine," he sighed, fishing in the bag for another scarf. "I am outnumbered. Congratulations, Saura. You win the third emblem."

"Thank you," Saura whispered into Char's ear. "I really mean it."

As Prince bent down to bestow the third badge to his best friend, Char grew worried about the fourth. How could he convince Prince to give it to Scythe? It seemed like an impossible task. Perhaps he and Scythe could improvise some kind of trick. Maybe they could just start talking and some plan would come together. He just wished he had more time to think! He suspected that Scythe had forgotten about this issue just as much as he had.

Maybe if I think hard enough, the Call will tell him what to say? Char wondered. But... what good would that do? I don't even know what to say myself! I don't have a plan! How will we-

"I believe it is obvious who needs to have the fourth," Prince said. "Scythe... take it. It's yours."

Scythe blinked. So did Char.

"Are you sure?" Scythe said asked hesitantly. "Do you not want it?"

"Oh, I want it," Prince assured him, unfolding the final green scarf and pinning the badge to it. "Trust me, I've grown to depend on the emblems. But if there can be only one between us, it must be yours... Even in your old age, my old friend, you still have much more to offer this world. You can even hear the Call like the spoken word, so if it happened once more within your lifetime, you would be there to catch it out from under the Master's grasp. And I... I wish this would not be an issue, I hope to Arceus we will not even have to resort to using these emblems... but if this mission fails, I fear... I will not have anything left to offer Ambera. I will have done all I can. And I will be satisfied knowing that you continued on if I did not."

As he felt the scarf being slipped onto his neck, Scythe's gaze met the Infernape's. A look of pity flashed across his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly.

"Do you object, Scythe?" Prince grunted, making sure the emblem was pinned firmly in place.

"No," Scythe sighed. "It's fine."

"Wait... Prince," Lily said, looking a little panicked. "I don't know about this. That last one should be yours. How are we going to make it through Zerferia without you? You're the only one who knows the way, not to mention that you're the only one who can keep us warm—"

"Lily! ... I know, I know," he said, gently cutting her off. "But it is either I, or Saura. And you have chosen Saura. So... I will go without. It is the way things must be. Unless you take back your choice of Saura?"

Lily was silent, her glance flicking between Prince, Saura, and the ground before her feet. "I—" she stammered. "I... no, I don't."

"Good," Prince hummed, stepping away and gazing back upon the great blue monolith before them. "In that case... I think... we're ready to enter."

The entrance was like the ominous mouth of a cave, with only blackness visible inside, framed by an archway decorated with spikes and spear-heads. It was like a portal to another world.

Char had an undeniable feeling of dread just gazing at the structure, as though it was not really there. As though it couldn't be there.

It should have given him hope and confidence, seeing this great monument to Dialga's strength right in front of him, adorned with every likeness to the time god himself. But instead... it just didn't feel right. It was as though the tower... hallow. A lie.

And perhaps... if he stepped inside of it, he, too, would become a lie...

Char shook his head. No. These were silly thoughts. Of course the tower would feel weird. It was supernatural.

Still, though, he could not restrain his curiosity. He stepped past Prince and approached the side of Temporal Tower. Lifting his eyes, he scanned the strange texture of the wall, at the rune-like markings and impressions etched across its surface. It was impossibly perfect, without the slightest dent or evidence of damage. Reaching the back of his hand to the surface, he found it to be strikingly hot to the touch. He realized that was the odd force he felt emanating from the building: waves of quite extreme heat, something he must have forgotten how to feel after spending weeks in the arctic. But it wasn't normal heat, apparently, for it did not so much as melt the snow around the tower's base. Perhaps it was some other kind of energy altogether, some kind of transcendental radiation.

"It is a mirror," Prince said. "What you see is a mirror's reflection; you will not see the tower's true nature until you step inside. Temporal Tower extends beyond the timeline itself, gradually, until you reach the top; the place where Dialga sits at the summit is entirely outside of time. I have been within the tower before, but I have never dared to venture too far through it; I have always been armed with an Escape Orb and my emblem... this is how I was able to gather data about the foes we will meet inside. But whenever I would exit the tower, I was rarely able to judge just how much time has passed... I even hold my suspicions that one of my trips sent me several hours into the past."

"Whoa, really?" Saura cried. "You time traveled into the past?"

"It is only a suspicion," Prince returned. "By the time I realized what might have happened, It was too late to prove anything. I had no frame of reference. Besides, my memory might have blanked and it might have just been the next day. But, depending on how long we spend in there... there is no telling how our perception of time might be changed by our journey."

"One last thing I must remind you before we enter this place," Scythe barked, his gaze becoming serious as he turned to Team Ember. "Through whatever may come, do not forget your mission. We are here to bring Char to the summit. Not me, Prince, not Lily... Char, and Char alone, is our priority. No matter what danger we might find ourselves in, do not make any rash decisions that would defy our highest priority. Do not sacrifice Char for the well-being of a teammate. And above all, do not place your instinct for self-preservation above the preservation of Char. I shouldn't have to say this, but I feel that I should. Do you understand?"

The order sent Char into a sudden daze. He couldn't breathe for a moment, nor could he think of how to respond. He just barely perceived the other team members nodding in response.

"Char, I'm talking especially to you," Scythe hissed, glaring down at him. "I know how you always want to protect your friends. But this time, you've got to get it into your head. I don't care what kind of trouble Saura is in. You will not put yourself in danger for him, do you understand?"

Again, he tried to choke out an answer, but his answer wouldn't make sense. Scythe just didn't know what value Saura had...

"Char? Answer me, Char. Before we take another step, I must know that you understand. We have given him a badge, so he will live. But he is just as expendable as the rest of us on this mission. You are not expendable. Now promise!"

Char was in a daze; he barely even heard anything Scythe was telling him, but at last, he gave a weak nod, whispering, "I promise."

All at once, with held breaths and pounding hearts, the six Pokémon stepped into the archway and became swallowed by the darkness within.


It's you.

You've come. After this time, you've come.

Time... how humbling it is, now

to be bound to time.

To feel every second drift by

To be banned

for so long

from my true home...

How I know, now, what it is like

to wait...

to feel the heart... tremble...

How close you feel, now.

I hear your footsteps in my foyer.

I hear your heartbeat in my mind.

You have come. You are so close...

But still, so very distant.

Now, little Charmander...

Just how far will you go?

To what heights will you climb?

Now, we will see.

Time... will tell.

Time...


Temporal Tower 1F

It was dark and cool.

A calm breeze washed over Char's body. It seemed almost tropical, causing a shudder of comfort as his body enjoyed the warmer enviornment. A surreal tingle rushed through his head, disorienting his senses; it was as though the pressure had changed, or the humidity had increased.

Char's feet shuffled through a soft tuft of grass.

Grass?

Now this was strange. He looked down to see, by the light of his fire, how his feet were submerged up to the ankles in a short layer of turf... as though he stood in a prairie after nightfall.

His eyes followed the grass, watching as it spread broadly across the dungeon floor, sprouting higher shoots of wheat-like varieties of plants here and there...

...until he saw the horizon.

The black shadow of the ground gave way to a clear, deep blue sky. A midnight sky. He craned his neck and glanced to the heavens, seeing how stars twinkled brightly all above the mysterious meadow, forming their streams and constellations around the scarce overcast clouds.

This was no dungeon. There remained no slightest hint of Temporal Tower.

Char's heart was racing, trying to remember where he head been and how he had gotten here. This was Dialga's tower, wasn't it? Yet... it looked as though he had been transported somewhere else. Perhaps even somewhere beyond Ambera, as the Watchers were nowhere to be seen, leaving the sky's majesty untainted. And the stars... they still meant something. Perhaps now more than ever. It was unmistakable! These stars were trying to tell him something, something about Temporal Tower, something about his journey. Char's heart raced, as his eyes took in the full majesty of the vision, untouched by even the slightest ray of dawn.

"This... is not a good sign."

Char jerked at the sound of Prince's voice, almost forgetting about the group he had come with. Thankfully, his friends were still there at his side. Saura, Ray, and Lily held their breaths, silently gazing at the wilderness. Even Scythe showed a bit of humility as he eyed the starry sky, appreciating its rare beauty. Prince, on the other hand, looked very uncomfortable.

"Where are we?" Scythe breathed. "Prince, what is happening to us?"

"This dungeon has gotten worse since I was last here," Prince muttered. "This could be an indication that the tower is growing unstable; perhaps it is about to move or disappear. It is a good thing we came when we did. Gods, the last time I was here the interior at least resembled Temporal Tower. Now it appears it has become... what is called a deep anomaly. By the gods, I was not prepared for this...! I should have suspected this when I began to suspect a time distortion, but I... I did not make the connection."

"This is the Mystery Dungeon doing this?" Char asked, growing worried. "It looks like it transported us..."

"I have only heard of the dungeons that are called deep," Scythe muttered. "And I believe it was from you. Prince... just what are we up against?"

"The Mystery Dungeons are a corruption of the structures of reality, such as time and space," Prince said. "Over the years, they sit and they grow like cancer, consuming the land and causing time and space to fall apart, until... until they become this bad. The worst of the dungeons, namely those which are normally untouched by intruders, seem to connect into one another beyond the veil of our perceptions, in some way we cannot grasp... and so, even the terrain we stand in will become variable, unpredictable. But this tower... I thought it was not like this! By some trick of time, the anomaly must have accelerated... Until now, I had only known of two dungeons with these properties, one of them being the Destiny Abyss..."

Prince shuddered, bowing his head for a moment at the memory. Char felt the tension he harbored, saw it in the way his fire trembled when he fell silent. He didn't even have to say anything else; Char just knew that this dungeon he spoke of, which he called Destiny Abyss, had caused him great trauma. He knew it was a painful memory...

Prince's breath caught. His eyes darted to Scythe, as he hit his forehead with his hand.

"The bags!" Prince gasped, horrified. "Check them! Check the bags! Quickly!"

Blinking, Ray threw off the sack from his shoulder and dropped it on the ground. The lip of the bag sank down, and a wonder orb rolled out and stopped against Char's feet. "What is it?" Ray asked, looking into the bag confusedly.

"Oh, bless the gods," Prince sighed, clenching his fists and bowing his head in relief. "Our bags could have been emptied from the very beginning. Just as Destiny Abyss did to me. All of my supplies... my treasures... gone, the moment I entered, scattered into Mystery Dungeons all over the world, before... before I even knew..."

Prince's fire wavered as he spoke about his past mission. His fist clenched tightly, and he averted his gaze from the others.

"Prince, please don't think about it now," Lily offered. "It didn't happen again now. We have everything we need. We're still okay."

"That may not be the case," Prince admitted. "If this tower ends up being anything like... Destiny Abyss... We can expect... nothing to go as planned. Anywhere on the face of this earth where there is a Mystery Dungeon... our journey might bleed into it."

"And our foes?" Scythe asked. "Will they be unexpected, as well?"

"They might be pulled from the respective dungeons we visit," Prince answered. "...or so we can hope."

"Prince..." Scythe whispered, "exactly... how long... has it been since you visited this place?"

Prince ignored the question, instead turning his attention to the landscape they stood within. It was the middle of nowhere, late at night; the moon was not out, only the stars gave a vague glow to the eerie landscape. It was impossible to tell where the entrance door had been, or which was the proper way to go.

"Perhaps this particular Mystery Dungeon is somewhere off Ambera," Prince speculated, slowly starting to lead the team across the meadow. "Though I had never heard of a dungeon in other regions of the world, there are no Watchers here..."

"Perhaps there are no Watchers because we are still inside of a building," Scythe guessed, idly slicing down some shoots of grass as he walked. "Although, if we are indeed visiting another dungeon from inside Temporal Tower... I don't know. These anomalies have always confused me to a degree."

A sound rose from the distance. It was an animal's chatter; the contented song of a Kricketot or a Pidgey relaxing for the evening. It was almost chilling to hear; it would have otherwise sounded so normal...

"But there are wild Pokémon here," Scythe hissed. "Keep an eye out for our foes."

"As always," Saura said. "Scythe tells us that every time we step into a dungeon. So much that I can hear his voice saying it in my head whenever we go into one."

"Then I have done my job," Scythe hummed. "Now... let us explore this place. Lead the way, Prince."

The grasslands lit up in the bright glow of Prince's fire as he lead the expedition. This particular dungeon did not appear to have any walls or boundaries, it was a straight field as far as the eye could see with only some silhouettes of trees in the distance. Char stayed near the back of the procession, doing his best to keep the entire surrounding area lit, lest something jump out at them.

More Pokémon cries drifted into the air. This time, an owl's hoot. Char and Saura both tensed, their attentions snapping at one of the far-off trees.

"I bet this field is an owl's paradise," Saura commented, a little waver in his voice. "Probably lots of rodents living under the ground... fresh pickings when they all come up for the night..."

"And they see this field as though it were daytime," Prince added. "Their eyes are powerful; all they need is our fire, and they can see a mile all around. They are probably watching us at this very moment."

Saura ducked his head slightly, as though to hide from sight. He bit his lip.

"Well, if they want plant Pokémon for breakfast, they're not getting close," Ray said, his voice ringing powerfully. "They know not to approach us."

"But they will; this is a Mystery Dungeon, after all," Scythe noted. "Wilds attack without exception. They are probably waiting for a strategic—"

"Giaaaa!"

A different kind of sound rose from the distance. It was another wild Pokémon's cry, this one something like a screech. Something like an ape's cry, or perhaps a raptor's, but... not quite. It sounded powerful, reminding Char of the force behind Nameless' cry,. Dread filled his heart, and he felt just the slightest twinge of recognition. He knew that kind of screech from somewhere, but he couldn't place it. All he knew was that he hoped not to come into confrontation with it.

He was not alone in his fear. The whole group paused to listen to the territorial cry as it faded back into silence.

"What do you think that was?" Ray wondered.

"Hard to say," Prince muttered. "It has been a very long time since I have been in this type of climate. I have forgotten many of the cries of the field-habitat Pokémon. I would guess... Staravia. Scythe, any idea?"

Scythe didn't respond right away.

He stood still for a moment. His eyes sparkled with recognition, almost not believing his own ears.

"When you hear that voice," he said finally, "go in the other direction."

"Scythe, do you know something we don't?" Prince asked. "What was that?"

"It could be many things," Scythe muttered. "Many things... but let's not find out if we don't need to. Let's move."

Not pressing it any further, Prince averted his course, and the team trudged farther through the grass, ready more than ever for an ambush. Char fell to all fours, ready to take the battle stance if necessary. As he walked along, he squinted at the grass underfoot.

It looked so real. Was it really an illusion? Was it really just a mirror's image of some far-away Mystery Dungeon? He could feel its tickle against his claws, his belly... He could even feel the soft, moist earth underneath. It made him very unnerved to imagine the scenery was such an effective deception.

"I wonder," Prince muttered, looking to the distance, "if this place... is part of Ambera after all. If space and time are corrupted to this degree... time being key... perhaps this is a dungeon from Ambera's far past, before the Watcher infestation had grown."

"I was wondering the same, myself," Scythe said oddly. "This place... it reminds me of a time before the Watchers became a part of life I couldn't ignore. I lived many places in my youth..."

"GIIIIIIIAAAAAAA!"

The cry came again. Though Prince had clearly altered the party's course away from it, it now appeared to be coming from somewhere in front of them—behind some shallow dip in the ground, or perhaps from some tree. It was hard to see far into the distance to tell for sure what sort of hiding places were there, or what sort of wild Pokémon waited for them. Char dug into the dirt with his claws, psyching himself for a battle.

"Why do I feel like that's something to be really afraid of?" Lily wondered, her voice wavering a little. "My instincts are going crazy."

Char glanced in the direction of the cry, and he saw a few trees in the distance. It seemed like the only thing he could see in the darkness of night.

But then... it clicked.

The trees. The grass. The sounds of birds. All at once, it rang a powerful bell to Char. He remembered the Pidgey. He remembered his arm aching from the heavy weight of a bag. He glanced around in disbelief, wondering if his thought could be true.

"Guys!" Char gasped. "I think I know what this place is! I think I've been here before! I think... this could be the Wanderer's Meadow! The place we found Otto!"

"Char! I think you might be right..." Ray gasped. "We just went in a big circle! That's how those trees ended up in front of us again!"

"Huh," Scythe chuckled. "So... you remember this dungeon?"

"Vaguely," Saura answered, helping Char think. "It wasn't very big. It's just a plot of land that repeated itself over a few times until you find the right way. It usually takes travelers about an hour to find the exit."

"And do you, by chance, remember what kinds of wild Pokémon live here?"

"Pidgey," Char rattled off. "And Spearow. Standard field animals. You know, Rattata, Hoothoot, and..."

"And?"

"...There was another," Char remembered, biting his lip. "We prayed we didn't run into any... wild Scyther!"

Dread swept over the team.

It was unmistakable: the powerful cry had resembled Scythe's own.

They were being hunted.

Scythe wasted no time. "Huddle around Prince," he ordered quickly. "Wild Scyther are poor warriors, but they have the advantage in the dark. Watch the firelight and protect yourselves! I will try to duel it when it comes."

"I will burn it," Prince growled. "If I can defeat you in a duel, it will not last long between the two of us."

"No! Stay near the group, protect Char and the rest," Scythe ordered, beginning to breathe faster. "Scyther are communal. They could be hunting in a clan. Cries are used to confuse the prey. They draw the dangerous foes away from the young and the weak. If they have us surrounded, especially in the dark, we cannot attack. We can only wait for them. Get ready!"

Char practically backed up into Prince's legs, and his friends followed his lead. His eyes scanned the surrounding darkness for any signs of movement, but he couldn't tell what was just his mind's eye, what was the flicker of the fire, and what was a foe prowling just out of sight.

He arched his back, assuming his battle stance, ready to snap like a coiled spring or blow a fireball at the enemy.

"Wild Scyther..." Saura gasped, "If it fights anything like Scythe fights... This is going to be scary."

"Nah. This is going to be over in no time," Ray said evilly. "Scyther or not, it's just a wild. We're at full strength and we've got so many supplies, it's not funny. These battles are going to get harder, but this is the very first one! It'll be easy!"

"You're sure," Saura muttered back. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Ray answered. "Scythe knows what we're up against. He can beat his own kind."

Char would have added something, he felt the desire to be as still as the air.

"I wish I could believe you," Saura whispered.

For about half a minute, the team waited, ready to defend. It was still.

"It comes!" Scythe shouted in warning.

Char's heart skipped a beat as something moved. It was fast.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of parried blows. Metal against metal. Stunned gasps, one of which was his own.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Char witnessed the faintest blur as an incredibly agile creature appeared in the firelight. For a moment, could barely see either of the two combatants as they buzzed around like the wind, faster than the eye could follow. He could only cower back and hope that Scythe was the superior warrior.

Thump!

A Scyther hit the ground, twitching. Another one stood proudly over it. For once, Char was able to catch a glimpse of the wild one, and he knew that Scythe had bested it in battle and remained standing. The wild seemed smaller than Scythe, much younger. It roiled around in the grass, grasping for a sense of balance and orientation, the blank fury of a wild Pokémon in its shining eyes.

Char saw how the wild Scyther moved like a demon, its scythes stretching out, yearning for flesh to slice, its mouth gnashing and screeching in hatred of its foe. He was afraid. Even though it was such a different Scyther, it still looked so much like Scythe...

Its wings opened again, and it vanished. A split second later, Scythe's blade swung through the empty air where it had been.

"It escaped..." Scythe breathed. "It is faster than I..."

Char couldn't quite tell what happened next.

There was commotion. The sound of intense buzzing, and the sound of his teammates shrieking and yelling. But he just couldn't react in time; he couldn't tell from which direction the attack was coming from.

"There's two of them!" Lily yelled.

"No! ... Four!" Ray squeaked.

"Prepare yourself!"

Prince reacted instantly. There was a thumping sound as the Infernape leaped into the air, sailed over Lily's head, and smacked the wild Scyther in the face with his foot. Char caught a glimpse of the blade which Prince had successfully dodged as it flashed in the moving firelight.

Slash! Clang! Slash!

The Scyther seemed to rebound from the shadows, flitting around Prince's face and cutting gashes into his skin. One attack had connected with his metallic shoulder plate. Panicking, Char jumped back away from the commotion, fleeing from the crazed mantis, as shrieks from his friends pierced the air.

And then there was a flash of red.

And pain. Horrible pain.

Char was face-up now, somehow. He couldn't tell what had happened, but a stinging sensation from his right arm seemed to drown out all of his other senses. He opened his mouth to scream, and a torrent of fire came out. He thought he saw the face of a crazed mantis somewhere inside of the fireball he had produced...

Acting on instinct, he rolled to the side...

But he still felt a blade sink into his skin.

Shlink!

"Char's down!"

"Ray! Get him!"

KRACK-OW! For the sliver of a second, daylight filled the sky as an electric attack was unleashed. A Scyther's cry screeched loudly beside Char's ear. Ray's face soon entered his field of vision.

"Char! Char, you're bleeding everywhere!" Ray cried.

"W-what did it do?" Char wondered, gritting his teeth as he clutched Ray's paw and pulled himself up.

"Looks like it almost sliced your stomach open!" Ray said. "Good thing you dodged when you did, it looks like he was trying to cut you in half!"

"Yeah, but this stings," Char grunted, returning to his feet and grasping the long diagonal wound which was left across his belly and his chest.

"Guys! This isn't over yet!" Lily screamed. "Keep up your guard!"

Heeding the warning, Char tried to ignore the pain and let his battle instincts drown it out. It could heal. He could eat a Sitrus berry later and it would be as good as new. For now, though, he had to make sure he, and none of his friends, would get sliced in half. He carefully knelt down and returned to all fours, where he felt the sickening sensation of his blood dripping out of him.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Scythe intercepted another attack, dueling with the feral Scyther and testing its agility. But he was distracted; he knew now that there was more than one of the monsters, so he had to remain vigilant lest a second one try to gang up on him. Scyther knew well the strength in numbers.

But the moment he thought he had a chance for a killing blow, the foe unexpectedly retreated from the light. The horrifying sound of his buzzing wings faded back into the distance, and it was quiet for a moment.

Another Scyther burst from the shadows, arms outstretched in the killing stance. This time, Char caught sight of it.

FWOOOSH! Fire lit the air as Char leapt to the side, countering the wild's attack.

"Saura! Now!"

Lily and Saura seized the moment, sprouting their vines quickly and snapping them around the attacker, entangling it in a giant knot. It convulsed and struggled, jerking the grass-type Pokémon forward as it tried to free its scythes from their grasp, but they held on.

Slash!

Just as Char was about to release another flamethrower onto the feral, another Scyther came out of nowhere and blindsided Lily, hitting her with a body slam. Helpless to retaliate, Lily failed to hold her vines and retracted them. Fearing they would be sliced, Saura also let the enemy go, and the captive Scyther wormed free.

Prince jumped into the fray with flaming fists, and just barely missed pounding one in the face as both Scyther retreated from the battlefield.

Again, there was stillness for a moment.

"Ugh! We had it!" Lily complained, shaking her head and recovering from the blunt attack. "I didn't see that other one!"

"This is difficult!" Scythe gasped. "Scyther utilize stealth when attacking in a group. They keep themselves hidden until the right time to strike, and they know when to pull back. We are at a sore disadvantage in this darkness! While I can see somewhat into the dark, my eyes can't adjust with this firelight..."

"Ray!" Saura cried suddenly. "Ray! We can fix that! Can't we?"

"Huh?"

"Did we pack a Luminous Orb?"

"Oh! Yeah! We did!" Ray laughed. "Alright! Now they're going down!"

Ray nearly jumped straight into the bag, submerging his head into it as his paws dug around in the pile of supplies within. He touched each an every orb, listening to them all telepathically identify themselves, until he found the one he wanted.

Thump. Something hit Char in the head. It was an Oran berry. He bit down on it without hesitation.

"Hmm, Luminous Orb. Good thinking," Prince said. "It has been a while since I have used one of those. I do not usually pack those."

Ray withdrew the large blue pearl from the sack, Holding it over his head as he commanded it to activate. Char watched interestedly as it began glowing ever-so-faintly...

There was an incredible flash, brighter than the noonday sun. Char had to look away.

When Char opened his eyes again... it was daytime.

While there was no sign of a sun in the sky, the entire landscape looked as though it was drenched in an early-evening orange. The far reaches of the meadow were now visible.

...and so was the small Scyther clan which congregated a few dozen feet from their position, looking absolutely shocked at the sudden absence of their cover. There were four of them. Only four.

"Now! While they are still perplexed!" Scythe ordered. "They cannot hide from us! Attack!"

As the team barreled across the ground and closed the distance to the enemies, Char could see the utter panic in the Scythers' eyes. They couldn't figure out whether to fight or to run...

...And by the time they did, it was far too late. Lily began launching a barrage of tiny leaves into them, Saura slung forward a shower of poison onto them, and Char had his eyes fixed on the one that had slashed him. Somehow, he could tell the difference.

Blades clashed as Scythe engaged one of the enemies. Prince gave an ape-like roar which terrified the Scyther even further, then spun into a cartwheel to dodge the blade and smashed one of the bug in the back with two forceful feet, knocking the wind out of it. Before it could recover, a flaming fist collided with its face.

Char raced across the ground, quick like a startled rat, straight for the Scyther he would exact revenge upon. The Scyther saw him coming and crouched low to fend him off...

But Char skipped a step, thrusting his hind legs against the dirt and propelling himself into the air. The deadly sickles were swung harmlessly underneath him.

Smack! Char latched onto the Scyther's face, covering its vision. Smiling evilly, Char opened his mouth wide and bit down onto the Scyther's faceplate. It began turning black almost immediately as it absorbed the fire from Char's maw.

He could feel the Scyther thrashing, trying unsuccessfully to brush him off with its blades while not accidentally decapitating itself, but it was no use. Char clenched even tighter, until he felt the Scyther's exoskeleton begin to fail.

It was quite a gruesome sight when Char finally dislodged his fangs from the bug Pokémon, who now laid motionless in the bloodstained grass.

"And that is how you kill a Steelix," Char said proudly, returning to his friends' side.

Saura and Ray had helped one another defeat the third Scyther, but now they just stood speechless, gawking at the mutilated mantis Pokémon which Char left behind.

Saura began choking on his words, averting his gaze from the corpse. "I... I... You know, ever since you killed that Steelix, I told myself I'd give anything to have been there. Now... I'm starting to be glad I wasn't there."

Ray just kept staring blankly; he couldn't say a word.

Clang! Clang! Scythe parried the blows from the last standing Scyther, the most skilled of the four. Char watched the duel, wondering if this final Scyther was the leader.

"What skill, brother!" Scythe shouted at it, twisting his body and buzzing his wings, avoiding the counterattacks and zipping in circles around the foe. "What impressive training the wild has given you! You are talented! But... I know one technique more than you!"

Smack. The enemy Scyther landed a backhanded blow at Scythe's chest, taking the old warrior's breath away and causing him to reel backward.

Clank! The foe followed up with another blow, which glanced off Scythe's horn as he barely dodged it.

"Scythe!" Saura yelled. "Watch out!"

"Hold still!" Prince grunted, poising himself to strike. "I will end it!"

"No!" Scythe barked back. "Stand down! You will just confuse me!"

SLAM!

The feral Scyther saw an opening and slammed, head-first, into Scythe's body. Scythe took the full force of the powerful blow, spinning back and slumping to the ground.

The team gave a collective gasp of worry, but none moved. Not until Scythe called for help.

Scythe rolled over and righted himself, gasping for breath as he knelt to face the enemy. The demonic Scyther was cautious, though; it did not expect such a strong enemy to fall so quickly, and suspected treachery. But after hesitating once, twice, and seeing that Scythe only returned a glare and showed no signs of returning to his feet, the wild Scyther determined his opponent to be helpless. It opened its wings and launched a counterattack, its arms spread in the scissor formation...

SLASH!

At the last moment, Scythe jerked himself to his feet. He did not avoid the attack; rather he prevented the attack from being fatal; The wild Scyther's attack connected fully, blades digging into Scythe's thorax at least an inch before Scythe resisted them with his arms. His eyes closed tightly, bearing the pain...

"Whoa!" Ray gasped. "Scythe's turning white!"

Char blinked. As Scythe wrestled painfully with the foe and tried to pry its blades away from connecting to one another and slicing him in half, Char saw his body was indeed becoming brighter. He knew this was the special, unexplained power that Pokémon harbored... the same power which built in his claws when he would command them to slice through rock.

"GIAAAAAIIIII!"

SCHLINK.

Releasing a victorious screech from his lungs, Scythe's body seemed to erupt in power, thrusting his full weight onto the foe so unexpectedly that it did not even have time to panic. It amazed Char; it seemed like Scythe had bounced the power of the wild's attack right back at it. The wild flew backward and slumped to the ground... in two pieces.

Scythe smiled as he stood over his kill.

"What was that?" Lily gasped. "What did you do? What kind of a move was that? That was incredible!"

"That is my favorite technique," Scythe said, marching back to the team. "It is known as the vital counter. With it, I can double the power of an enemy's attack and send it back at them. It is rare for a Scyther to know the technique; it requires a very strict manipulation of the white energy, something which cannot be taught, only known by instinct."

"So how did you learn it?" asked Ray eagerly. "Did you know it all your life?"

"I am led to believe that, yes," Scythe responded. "I believe I know it only because my father did; he must have passed it genetically into my egg. There was a time when I was—"

"Hey, guys?" Saura said warily, interrupting Scythe's proud banter. "Uh... I think this one's still alive!"

One of the Scyther, the only one that remained whole, in fact, stirred upon the ground. It emitted a dazed groan as its blades witched. Saura backed away quickly.

As the team watched the recovering creature. Char wondered if he should finish it off. But it lifted its head, and its eyes had a different sort of expression in them.

It wasn't like the untamed demon's gaze he'd seen in them earlier. This one was remorseful, pitiful... as though the Scyther was acknowledging its defeat and asking for forgiveness.

Char's heart nearly stopped. He'd seen that face before. The way that the wild suddenly looked up to its foes. The way its gaze suddenly turned respectful.

The way it pleaded for acceptance.

"Finish it," Scythe ordered. "Don't just stare at it. Finish it before it returns to its feet."

"Wait... no," Char said suddenly. "Wait just a moment. Um... who knocked this one out? Do you remember?"

"I did," Prince said. "I defeated it."

"Prince, look at it!" Char cried. "I think it's impressing on you!"

Prince blinked, staring at the fallen wild. And the wild stared back.

"No...!" Saura said in disbelief. "This is happening again? Just like Otto? That's impossible!"

"There must be something about this meadow!" Ray guessed. "Prince! Do you think we could use a second Scyther on our team? To help us fight?"

"Perhaps..." Prince said absently, his gaze locked with the creature's. "Items might run scarce, but..."

"Then show it you're its friend," Ray told him. "Show it that you accept it."

Prince took a careful step toward the helpless creature, looking upon it with wonder and pity. The wild looked surprised, and indeed, grateful for this show of mercy, as its eyes followed Prince's movements.

"This... has never happened to me before," Prince admitted. "I... have never impressed a wild in my life... I... I wonder if I have finished off some wilds who would have been impressed... But gladly... I would gladly like to have a Scyther on my team."

Prince knelt down, touching the Scyther carefully upon the forehead where he had delivered the brutal fire-punch that had knocked it out. There was a stain upon its green faceplate, a brown streak where the fire had touched. He stroked the wound, watching the Scyther wince at the contact.

"Char," Prince called, "Bring me a Sitrus berry..."

Char did as instructed. He turned to Ray, but saw that he did not have the bag. It was still back a few yards from where they had rushed.

The Scyther's face turned to a scowl.

Prince tensed.

BUZZZZ.

"GIAAAAAAIIIIIIAAAHHH!"

The Scyther attacked. Prince yelled in fury as the Scyther swung its blades at his knees, drawing blood.

"KILL IT!"

Hearing the commotion, Char's head snapped in Prince's direction.

The Scyther was coming right for him.

He tried to fling himself out of the way, but he couldn't stop the attack from connecting.

SCHLAP!

Pain sliced through Char's arm. So sudden and forceful, the pain was, that Char's mind almost shut itself off. Instinctively, he reached up to touch the wound.

He felt nothing.

Looking down, Char saw his arm laying at his feet. It had been sliced off.

"Ahhh... AHHH! AHHH! AHH! AHH!" Char wheezed, cupping his remaining hand over the stump as blood poured out. "My- my- my- my ARM! My arm! MY ARM!"

Char could feel his ember blazing now. He could have burned that Scyther to a pile of ash with a simple flamethrower. But he couldn't move. His mind was frozen. Frozen with impossibility. His arm was gone.

SMACK. Prince punched the Scyther a second time as it tried to double back and finish off Char. The Infernape screeched in rage as he jumped at the reeling Scyther, pinned it onto the ground with his full weight, held its head in his hands, and snapped its neck.

"It... it was faking?" Lily managed to say.

"No; likely it was still dazed from returning to consciousness," Scythe grunted.

"Dear gods, Char..." Prince grunted, quickly unwrapping the scarf from his neck and tying it tightly around Char's wound. It quickly soaked with red.

"My... my... my ARM! MY ARM! MY ARM!"

"CHAR! Settle down, for the love of Entei, Settle down! You'll bleed to death if you don't calm your heart!" Prince tied a double knot into the bloodsoaked scarf.

"Aaaaaaahhhh!" Char wailed, looking down at the lifeless limb which still sat at his feet. "I... ahhhh! Ahhh!"

"Char, calm yourself!" Scythe barked. "You'll attract every wild in the room! Ray... go grab your bag before some Rattata steals all your berries."

"But my arm is gone! My arm is gone!" Char cried, continuing his tantrum as he fell limply into Prince's arms. "I... I thought... How... how is that... I thought Pokémon were... stronger... than this..."

"Against any other Pokémon, yes," Scythe said. "There is not another Pokémon who can dismember you as efficiently as a Scyther. It... is what we are built for. That is what we do. We cut our foes to pieces."

"Char... it's alright. You will have your arm back," Prince hummed.

Char took a deep breath. "H-how?" he managed to answer.

"We're in a dungeon, remember?" Scythe replied. "Reviver Seeds heal any wound you receive while in the dungeon. If you later fall, you will be reborn whole. But try to carry on as long as possible. I get the feeling we will be using some Reviver Seeds. But let us not abuse them, if we can help it. Char... you are blazing, it seems. Your flame is as big as the sun. Let us use that to our advantage while we can. You will be whole again soon."

A wave of resistance and a tearing sensation pulsed through Char as he tried, instinctively, to move the severed muscles in his shoulder. With a little self-control, he managed to stop screaming to the heavens. He tried to calm his heart. It was alright. The wound was temporary. It was okay. It hurt. So much. And already it felt so wrong not to have a second claw. But it was okay. Okay.

Though Char managed to quiet himself, he couldn't help emitting a long, constant whimper. Tiling his head to the side, and saw Ray, Saura, and Lily standing beside him. Ray had not gone to get the bag as instructed. They all stood there, offering shocked gazes of sympathy. It was all they could do.

"By the gods, this is only the first floor," Scythe growled, trying to scrape the gooey, clear blood from his blades. "Prince... how many floors is Temporal Tower?"

"Twenty-four."

Scythe gave a pained moan. "Ohhh... Prince, do me a favor, and for the duration of this dungeon, do not follow Char's advice again."

"Understood," Prince grunted, cradling Char in his arms and waiting for the wound to clot.

*Chapter 58*: Quiet Now

Author's note: This document, previously titled "The Inevitable Author's Note," contained nothing but an apology and an explanation for a very long absence I took from updating the story. In May of 2013, I wrote an extra chapter to fit into the story here to replace it.


"Quiet Now"

Many, many years ago, before the Call had been found...

A young Scyther dashed through fields of tall, green grass – silent and unseen, but swift and deadly.

He felt the exhilaration of the hunt, the thrill of flight. His wings vibrated in a steady pattern, extending each of his steps into a long, gliding pounce.

The smell of the grass, the partially-overcast sky that teetered on the edge of twilight, sure to erupt with the glorious colors of sunset at any moment. The delicious scent of prey somewhere ahead.

It was all perfect.

He held himself back just short of where the tall grass ended. He dug his toes into the moist dirt, anchoring himself upon the ground, and crouching down low.

He was perfect. The perfect predator. This is what he lived for.

His clan-mates caught up with him, stopping to flank him perfectly on both sides. He knew there were more allies lined up behind him, keeping the perfect formation.

They all awaited his order.

The Scyther looked ahead, peering through the grass, and saw them. The Tauros. The mouthwatering, sweet-meated Tauros.

"We are undetected," his partner reported, his voice as silent as the wind.

"What are you thinking about, Adron?" the other implored. "Who's our target?"

The Scyther smirked.

"They all are," he replied cockily. "The entire herd will be our dinner."

Ahhhhhh…

Ahhh…

"The entire herd!" the Scyther on his right echoed, seeming overjoyed at the very thought. "Can we take them all down?"

"Well, if anyone can do it, Adron can," the one on his right said. "Adron, we await your words."

Ahh, this…

This feels so nice…

"How many are with us?" Adron asked his wing-mates.

"All of them," his left wing-mate reported. "All fifty-five. We're all here. This is the full power of our swarm."

"Fifty-five?" Adron echoed, incredulous.

"And we're all in your command," the right wing-mate said. "The Adrellos are at your command."

The Scyther hesitated, thinking. He was the leader. He needed to make the right call. But this was what he lived for! This was his calling in life. He was blessed with the talents of a leader. He knew by instinct what others couldn't see. He knew when and where to strike.

They were all counting on him. As the newly-ordained father of the Adrellos, he could not let them down.

Ahh… such…

Such a good, good dream this is…

By the gods, I missed this. I missed this so much…

Ahh…

I… I haven't rested this well for a very, very long time.

I haven't felt this since… since…

The warm, divine wind was blowing past his face. The sun was falling, casting shadows in his direction.

He was a Scyther. He was one with the wind, one with the shadows. This was his night.

He gazed at the Tauros, the perfect prey. He saw how the leaders of the herd lingered in front, free for the picking.

I haven't felt this since I came to be on the resistance.

...

Wait.

Resistance? What is that?

Do not mind. That isn't important now; just relax.

The Scyther masterfully commanded his subordinates, surrounding the herd of unwary beasts. His orders were perfect; he knew intimately the skills and abilities of all his clan-mates, and delegated them to the proper tasks.

When he gave the word to attack, the blades cut cleanly through the brown hides, spilling that sweet, salty blood upon the –

No… no, I think it is important.

What is the resistance?

It…

Wait. This isn't me. This is just a dream.

This isn't my life anymore.

My life is somewhere else. I'm somewhere else.

Not for tonight, my dear Adron. Tonight, you may be back here, where you love to be.

Tonight, you may be happy.

No. No… no, this isn't right. This isn't right at all.

Stop this dream. Make it end. Make this dream end.

Alright… If you so insist, I will.

… … …

The Scyther awoke in a dark room, head planted uncomfortably against the floor.

His body was sore. His mind was sore.

The sleeplessness returned. The buzzing returned. The thoughts that ran on their own, never stopping for him… they all returned, full-forced.

The Scyther grit his teeth, feeling the exquisite dream become nothing more than a forgotten sensation. The memory faded too fast from his mind, mixing up with the insane jumble of ideas and intentions… the untamed beast which he lived with, fighting against for every day of his life. The beast which he had struck a pact with, demanding answers from it in return for his continued survival.

He tried to forget the dream faster. The faster he could forget what it felt like, the less bitter he would feel.

He sat himself up against the wall in this dark room, staring into the shadows. He could see into the shadows well enough, but they stretched too far into the distance to make anything out.

He knew, somewhere in those shadows, a pair of eyes watched him.

A gentle, cooing voice entered his mind. A telepathic voice. One that he knew too well. He cringed as it spoke.

Adron, it said gently. My dear Adron… you are hurting. Why do you choose to hurt? You know that it pains me to see you hurt…

I have gone as deep as I can go, Adron. You know that I can make you feel much better, but today you have brought with you a powerful Absol to keep me out of the core of your mind.

Why do you keep me out, Adron?

Why can't you let me in like you always used to?

Why can't we be together?

That voice. That voice was part of his dreams, never leaving. He hated that voice.

Yet, how could he come to hate it? It was so comforting, so soothing; whenever it spoke, it made the confusion go away. It made the pain go away. It made his thoughts form orderly patterns.

And it allowed him to rest. To sleep. To dream.

Yet, he seethed as the voice echoed between his ears, trying to pierce through to his innermost subconscious.

Oh, Adron…

Don't you see how broken you are becoming? Why don't you let me make it better? I can heal you…

Will you let me heal you? You know I can.

"No," the Scyther seethed, trying to block out the voice. "No… Enigma. Stop. I will not let you any further."

The voice wavered at the sound of the spoken name.

Why don't you call me Mother anymore…? the voice replied. You would always call me Mother. It made me so glad to hear.

"Because you're not my mother," the Scyther growled. "I do not know my mother. My clan made sure of it."

How cruel of them, the voice sighed. No one should need to live a pained life without someone to call their Mother. Everyone should have someone to flee to, someone to protect them, when they are lost, or worried, or in pain…

That is why I am here for you, my dearest Adron… That is why you need me.

And that is why we need Master, as well… he is our pillar of strength to flee to…

The Scyther leaped to his feet and shouted into the darkness, his voice exploding with rage.

"If only the Master knew what you have become!" the Scyther challenged in a fierce growl. "How can you claim to care about me, take away my pains, when you are the cause of those pains?! Do you – do you think I am blind? I will not fall for your temptations, Enigma! Not anymore…"

Adron… your words cut me. My words are not temptations. I love you, Adron… you know I love you.

But you know I also love Master, and I am doing precisely what Master wishes.

I only ask that you help take away my pains, and I will take away yours. It is all I ask.

Every night, I will let you rest peacefully and dream. Every night…

Just the way it used to be.

"KIAAAAHHH! I WILL NOT SLAUGHTER!" the Scyther cried into the darkness. "I will kill NO MORE! I will… not… let you kill any more…"

You know that Master dislikes weakness. The weak creatures fall without us meaning to. We try to save them, yet we cannot save them all… Some must perish.

They let themselves die because they do not understand what Master wants. They cannot bring themselves to see.

It pains us, but it is not something we can help, my dear Adron. You must come to understand.

"When their blood stains my blades, it stains my soul as well," the Scyther growled. "I am their murderer. And I will not let you use me for the culling anymore."

But you are a born hunter, the voice said, sounding desperate. That is what you were born to be, my good, dear Adron! Don't you see? You are happy when you are out there, in the field, hunting the prey! I see it in your dreams, and you see it there as well. That is who you are! I merely wanted you to be who you truly are. No one should ever be forced into something they are not.

But… if the hunt no longer makes you happy… I can understand.

I miss you so much, Adron… if you come back, then I promise nothing will ever stain your blades again, for as long as you live. No more hunting, no more slaying.

You may have your chamber back. You may have everything back which you once owned. You may have your dreams, your rest, and your command… everything.

If running errands for me is paining you, then I would not wish it upon you any longer. I do not want that anymore. I just want your company again, Adron. I miss you so much…

Please… just be here for me. And let me be there for you.

A shudder went through the Scyther's mind.

This… this was a heavy temptation.

It was a temptation to betray his newfound allies, his newfound life, his newfound goals…

Everything he had worked for would be left behind.

Yet… it would be perfect.

So perfect.

The Scyther's breath caught. He swiped a blade through the air before his face, as though cutting through the thought of ever having considered the voice's offer.

"No."

My Adron! It cried, saddened. What will it take to please you, my dear Adron? I would do anything to see you happy again at my side.

I would give you anything you ask for! And those things I cannot give, I will give to you in your dreams.

Adron... Why do you reject me so? Why do you wish to remain away?

"Because… because it is not enough to lay idly in the darkness," he said with conviction.

"Because I need to repent for what I have done. All those souls still cry out to me. I still remember their faces."

"I must avenge them. I cannot stop until I have undone everything you have made me do."

"Until then, I will never be happy. If you wish to help me become happy, Enigma, let me leave. Let us go our separate ways once more, and watch fate play out in whatever way it will."

There was a quiet pause. A tense silence. The Scyther's eye caught something moving in the darkness.

Very well, Adron, the voice replied so gently, yet so regretfully. If that is what you truly wish… though it pains me to see you go, I will let you go… if that is what will make you happy.

The Scyther felt her mental presence retract, leaving him separated from her. He felt the madness of his own mind rush back into its former place.

No one knows you the way I know you, my Adron, it said to him. Not even you.

You may go… But I just, I hope you one day come to realize how much I love you, and return to me…

We could be together again… just like we used to be…

The Scyther shook his head, looking pained.

A flash of sadness sparkled in his eyes. A moment of vulnerability swept over him.

For just that moment, he felt like a hatchling again. A tiny hatchling, loved and cared for by powers greater than himself… A hatchling loved by all, adored by all, and with a great future ahead of himself…

But he realized he was a grown Scyther now, not a hatchling anymore, and the moment ended quickly.

With a snort, he turned and walked away, forcing through a door in the wall and exiting the shadowy room.

Please, the voice called to him one last time. My Adron…

The voice whispered to itself, sobbing and crying alone in the darkness.

"Please… Please come back…"

*Chapter 59*: Chapter 44, Part 2

Chapter 44

Part 2

...

And still, I am powerless.

Powerless to help you.

Powerless to touch you.

There is still nothing... nothing I can do.

You have brought this upon yourself.

By your own actions.

Your own decision.

It is you, you who wanted to take this path

to disrupt the plan that was already set in motion...

To destroy what has been made.

And here you are,

here to destroy everything...

to sacrifice... everything...

And I...

I can only wish

that the stream you forage

the path you drift upon

will bring you

to whatever you were looking for.

I will see you soon.

So very soon.

You are so close.

So very close.

But, at the same time,

So very far...


Temporal Tower 2F

The pain went away almost immediately, but pain was hardly the worst of Char's problems.

Engulfed in the blaze of Moltres, and with the numbing surge of adrenaline still yet to fade away, Char felt oddly detached from himself as the others dragged him along through the remainder of the meadow. He knew the others were talking to him, asking him if he was okay, but he didn't care much to listen. And when he did, he didn't feel like answering. All he could do was walk, step after step in whatever direction he was led, feeling the fire consuming his soul, feeling his shoulder throbbing, and throbbing, and throbbing...

He kept trying to look at his right arm, as though to see if it had returned. But each time he tried to move it, to bring it before his eyes, his nerves returned such a shock of protest that he felt he would pass out, his mind flashing before him the nauseating image of his severed limb still laying there in the grass...

Soon after the Scyther ambush, Prince found a way out of the meadow: a staircase. A pearl-white, inexplicably out-of-place staircase sat in the middle of the Wanderer's Meadow, seeming to fade into transparency as it extended upward. Upon setting foot onto the stairs, the surrounding environment flickered like the image on a pond's surface. The staircase wound in a spiral as they climbed while everything else faded to white, re-materializing as something very different when they reached the top.

They had progressed to the second floor.

It was dark here in this new environment, but not because it was nighttime. Unlike in the Wanderer's Meadow, the sun was surely in the sky here, perhaps far to the east in the early morning hours. Unfortunately, it was blocked from view.

This floor was a labyrinth of brown sandstone canyons, an endless series of interconnected hallways branching out into the distance. The canyon walls stood so high, they blocked most of the sunlight and drowned the paths in dim shadows. The scuffles and grunts of wild Pokémon scavenging for food echoed from deep within them.

Lily shuddered, trying to eye the sky, or what little of it could be seen from their position "Eugh, I already don't like this," she said. "Can we go back down the stairs and see if we can get a different place?"

Prince eyed her. "What stairs?"

She turned around, finding the staircase they'd just ascended nowhere to be seen, much like Temporal Tower's front door.

"We will need to find another staircase, just like the one we took," Prince assured everyone, beginning to lead them down one of the paths. "That is one of the rules of the dungeons, even those as deeply scrambled as this one: all the floors must be connected somehow, just as the dungeon must be connected in some manner to the outside world. Otherwise the dungeon would literally be disconnected from reality, and would rot out. In some dungeons, these connections manifest as staircases. No one knows why. Some think they are the stairs Palkia walks in his domain between the threads of existence."

The group stayed close together, following along behind Prince, as they tiptoed through the rocky passages and waited for the first wild Pokémon to show itself. Lily and Ray hung near the back of the procession, taking turns looking over their shoulders for an ambush. Saura cowered behind Prince, looking between his legs at the path beyond.

Scythe's eyes scanned the surroundings, flitting around like flies.

"Not good," it was Scythe's turn to say. "I believe... I know this place. If so... it is not a safe place to stay."

A small pebble fell from a nearby pile. At once, the group froze, holding their breaths.

Hiccccchhhsssssssss!

Suddenly, there appeared a creature made of mussed, brown fur, scampering from a cubby hole in the rocks. It attacked, spewing spittle into the air as it hissed in fury at the intruders, its long, pink tail twitching like an earthworm. A pair of sharpened fangs gleamed in the firelight as the thing rushed upon the explorers.

Seeing the Raticate coming right for him, Saura growled, quickly sprouted his vines to defend himself. Scythe stood poised, blades ready to decapitate the creature at just the right time, if he could find the opportunity. Prince coiled his muscles, preparing to engage the creature and pummel it with a barrage of fiery fists.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

"AHHH-! Watch it!"

"Yow!"

A giant fireball, larger than even Prince or Scythe, burst into existence. It blasted the disfigured rat away, setting every strand of its fur aflame with yellow and blue fire. The creature squealed in agony as it tumbled onto its side, twitching helplessly as its body turned pitch black and began crumbling apart.

Char stood on his three remaining legs, panting so hard that his chest seemed like it would fall off. His mouth hung open, smoke billowing from it.

Scythe blinked. "Char... that was a bit excessive."

Char bowed his head and closed his eyes, trying to ignore Scythe's voice. He continued panting heavily, feeling the intensity of his fire refuse to subside.

"Char's pride has been harmed," Prince said, a gleam of amusement in his voice as he looked upon the wounded Charmander. "And when the pride of a fire-type is compromised, they fight with terrible power until it can be restored."

I've lost more than my pride, Char thought bitterly.

"As long as he keeps this inferno of his away from those who easily burn," Scythe said. "He shouldn't be mindlessly blasting it whenever he perceives an enemy. He hasn't even spoken a word since the injury, how are we to know he will exercise caution?"

Nodding his head, Prince knelt at Char's side and spoke in a gentle voice. "You know, Char, you can focus if you try. I know you're upset. I know it's easy to retreat back into your Ember and forget about the rest of us. Believe me, I have blazed before. I know what this feels like. But please try and focus. I know you can."

Prince placed a hand onto Char's back, but Char winced away quickly from the contact.

"Char... if you cannot control your blaze, you might harm us, to a fatal degree," Prince sighed. "You could attack Scythe by accident. Or Lily. Or... Saura. You don't want to harm Saura, do you?"

No... I don't want to hurt Saura.

"Yeah, Char... I was standing really close to that, you know" Saura spoke carefully, standing at Char's side. "You almost lit me on fire. I was really scared."

Char's eyes drifted open. He eyed Saura, a powerful mixture of anger and shame burning behind his gaze.

"I... I just..." Char gagged. "I just... I feel so wrong. I feel... like throwing up. I just... want... my arm back."

"You're doing just fine without one, you know!" Ray submitted, trying to cheer him up. "You should see your fire right now! It's awesome! Seriously, turn around and look at your tail."

He did.

He was immediately reminded of his bedside brazier, all the way back at the Gold Division. His team's hall. His real home.

His flame roared with might, its base licking over half the length of his tail. At its very tip, a tiny cone of white sprouted, surrounded by an aura of blue. It flared tall, a majestic presence, fueled by his wounded spirit and showing no signs of dimming.

Is that... me?

Watching the dance of his blaze, like another separate spirit connected to the end of his tail, did make him feel different.

Almost like a Charizard.

"How long is this going to stay?" Char wondered, trying to keep his balance on one hand as he gazed at the beauty of his fire at a level he had never seen before.

"It depends on how strong you are," Prince speculated. "That is a very grave injury, graver than most Pokémon face in the everyday battle, so your Ember isn't going to let you down for a while… but it will have its limits."

"Just look at that!" Ray added. "Right now, you're probably stronger than the rest of us put together! Now c'mon! Get up, and use that fire and burn all the wild Pokémon you want! Just... try not to burn us while you're doing it. We'll try to stay out of your way."

"Alright... alright," Char moaned, painfully forcing himself up on his two feet. "I'll... try."

Feeling his blood rushing through his head and his fire relentlessly churning, Char returned to his two feet and waited for his vision to focus. It seemed so bright. The dusty rock walls were coming alive, dancing with the shadows of all who surrounded him.

Everything started to spin. Instinctively, Char tried to shift his balance with his right arm... and again, a shock of nervous energy exploded in his head, causing him to heave forward and land back on his claw. He closed his eyes tightly, grumbling in protest of all the unnatural sensations surging in his body.

"I'll... be fine," Char assured everyone, taking deep breaths. "Let's go."

… … …

"Scythe, you said you knew this place?" Prince mentioned as they journeyed on, Char managing to hold himself up for a while.

"Well... it was a very long time ago, very long, that I was here," Scythe tried to recall. "I... spent some of my time growing up here. There was a ceremony... of sorts... Eh, the memories are so distant. But yes, I do remember the name of this place: it is the Shattered Plateau."

"You grew up in a dungeon?" Lily questioned. "How does that work?"

"Well... it wasn't a dungeon, back then," Scythe explained. "At least, nobody had noticed it. But many years in the future, when the clan returned here for a season, they found it... different than it had been in the past. Different, in fact, every time we entered. But not all of it. Just a few parts. Some of our clan members insisted we were crazy when we claimed the terrain among us was changing. And so we lived there, in what must have been the mystery dungeon, for weeks. But then, some of our clan mates began to disappear without a trace. That is when we decided to abandon the place as haunted."

"So... you must feel like one of the wild Pokémon that live in the dungeons all the time!" Saura guessed. "You really didn't even know you were inside of the dungeon?"

"Yes, it was hard to prove, for some reason, that the land we stood upon was shifting like the sand," Scythe muttered. "It seemed that some of us noticed the changes, while others were completely oblivious. I would not doubt it is the same reaction as the wild Pokémon; they might not even realize what is wrong."

"So, uh... do you remember any of the Pokémon that live here?" Saura asked.

"Yes," Scythe hissed. "Rattata family, of course. And Shinx family. And... … Scyther. Dozens of Scyther, as our missing clan members were lost in the dungeon and became wilds over the decades."

A collective groan of dread rose from the party. Char smacked his head forcefully against the ground, cringing.

"For the love of all that is sacred, Scythe, let's get out of here, lest someone else lose a limb," Prince growled. "Do you have any 'pure seeds' in that bag of yours?"

"I do not believe so, no," Scythe replied, glancing down at the pack strapped to his shoulder. "Unless by some chance Char's bag has them, though I doubt they could have afforded any. We do, however, have petrification orbs. Let's get one at the ready; if we are ambushed by Scyther, don't hesitate to use one."

"Kiaah, what good is Alakazam not packing pure seeds with you?" Prince almost screamed, swinging his fist in a rare show of anger. "I have never gone into a dungeon without at least four!"

"Quiet, or you will attract more attention than Char's miniature sun," Scythe rebuked. "Now get out a petrification orb. Also, we should have X-Ray lenses in there. We should make use of those. Lily, you can wear them. Keep watch for us."

Muttering to himself, Prince shifted through the bag on Scythe's shoulder, periodically glancing around as though ready to parry a surprise attack. With some effort, he yanked out a smaller pouch with several bulges, and also something that looked like a disgusting, poorly-made band with two large, flat crystals loosely attached to it.

Lily made a face as Prince brought the odd necklace over to her.

"Those are X-Ray lenses?" she said. "I don't think they'll fit me..."

"Then wrap it around twice, then; just be lucky we have them. I've been meaning to get my hands on a pair of those for decades, since the Destiny Abyss swallowed my old pair," Prince said. "I can forgive Alakazam's failure to give us pure seeds... I might plead to him to let me keep it."

Prince strapped the gemstones to Lily's face as best as he could manage. When he was done, they looked horrendously tight and uncomfortable.

"Whoa... okay, whoa." Lily said, looking around with the glasses on and wincing constantly. "I can't see anything. I can see through things. But it's hard to tell what's actually there... This might take me some time to get used to."

Lily tried to take a step forward, but cringed back as though she were afraid of running into an invisible wall.

"Heh... Lily, you look like a Sableye with those on," Saura chuckled.

"Of course she does," Scythe said. "What do you think the lenses were made from in the first place?"

Saura bit his lip and averted his gaze for a moment.

"Keep an eye out through the walls," Prince instructed her, putting everything away except for one orb. "Tell us of any wild Pokémon you see. If you have trouble telling your surroundings, lift the lens from one eye to help you see."

"Nah... I'll get this. I think." Lily said, tiptoeing forward. "I just have to pay closer attention."

Lily stepped carefully, focusing intently on the ground beneath her. She gave a yelp as she stepped on a small chunk of gravel and almost tripped and fell on her face.

"Okay, okay…" she breathed, kicking the pebble away. "I… wait."

She paused, seeming to hold her breath. Her head lowered ever-so-slightly toward one of the rocky walls surrounding the team. She was squinting.

"Do you see something?" Prince asked her, a little concerned. "By the gods, I hope it is not a Scyther…"

"What… is that thing?" Lily hissed, taking a few careful steps forward toward the wall. "It's… a Pokémon…"

Saura and Ray cast wary glances at one another, falling as silent as possible. Char scowled, his heavy gasps and roaring inferno making the only noise…

"It's… not a Scyther, I don't think…" Lily reported. "Or maybe it is… It could be, actually…"

Ray emitted a stifled gasp of dread. Char began to growl like an agitated hound.

Lily gasped.

She jerked her head upward. The team followed her gaze up, up to the top of the plateau wall.

Something stood there, staring down at them.

A humanoid Pokémon.

Terror shot into Scythe's eyes when he realized what confronted them.

"We must run…" Scythe whispered…

Saura began to back away hesitantly, loathe to provoke the creature with even the slightest of movements…

Scythe's gaze shot back to the team, Char's fire reflecting in his eyes.

"Run," he hissed again. "Run!"

"W—what is it?" Ray hissed back, unable to make out the vague figure far above them.

Scythe's gaze met the Raichu's.

"Wild Scizor."

There was a moment of apprehension as it sunk in.

"C-couldn't we take it?" Ray said quickly. "We could gang up on it… We have… two fire Pokémon…"

Scythe remembered that had taken his eyes from the foe, and his gaze snapped back to the plateau surface. The Scizor was gone.

"Didn't you hear me the first time, I said run!" Scythe gasped, desperation in his voice, his wings beginning to flit with nervousness. "Go. Go!"

So they ran.

Prince leapt into action, scooping up Char into his arm. "Follow!" he hissed to the others. "Keep up with me! Ignore any enemies unless we are trapped! We will find the staircase!"

Prince took off running fast, just as he had the night the Watchers had attacked the Emerald Division. Char felt his breath taken away as his head dangled out behind Prince, watching the gravelly floor zip past beneath. Looking up, he saw his friends galloping along as fast as they could, dodging boulders and bounding over piles of gravel as the plateau walls blurred past. They periodically fixed their gazes upon him for a few fleeting moments, then past him, watching for any signs of danger. Char realized Prince was using his massive fire to help guide the way through the dark maze.

"Kyaaaah!"

A wild shriek rang out as a figure leapt from the shadows, streaking through the air straight for Saura.

"Whoa!" Saura gasped, trying to jump out of the way… but he skidded on some gravel and fell onto his side.

"Saura!" Char cried, tensing and trying to escape Prince's arm. But Prince held on even tighter, not looking back for a moment.

*Clang!*

Scythe appeared from seemingly nowhere, protecting the fallen Bulbasaur from the rogue Scyther. The bladed warriors clashed their claws once, twice, before the feral collapsed away, its face nearly sliced off.

With widened eyes, Saura scrambled to his feet and once more joined the retreating procession, though they had fallen far behind. Char had to strain his neck to see them…

"Prince…!" Char yelled. "Slow down! Y-you're gonna leave them in the dark!"

"They're catching up," Prince assured him, glancing back for a split second. "By the gods, this is all Alakazam's fault… If we get separated, they can use a Luminescence Orb, if you even have those… Mmmnnhh…"

Prince let out a frustrated grunt, and suddenly Char felt the oddest sensation of being tossed into the air briefly as the Infernape switched him from one arm to the other

Char struggled to crane his neck and keep an eye on the party behind, but even with so much stamina pulsing through him, it was physically impossible, especially as his view jerked around wildly as Prince dashed over the uneven floor. He soon gave up, relaxing his head and staring at the ground, only for something odd to come into his view.

It was the little brown pouch, still dangling from Prince's belt, swinging around as its bearer hurried forward. Char thought it looked oddly heavy for something so small.

What is in this thing? Char wondered. He thought to reach out and touch it, but hesitated, remembering he had no limb with which to reach, and dreaded the painful impulse that kept wracking his remaining joint when he tried to move it.

Prince pivoted his body strangely, stopping in his tracks. Char gasped as his stomach lurched and body swung around, his vision changing so that he could somewhat see what was in front of Prince from the side of one eye…

The sound of crumbling rocks. A small avalanche…

A wild Graveler faced off with the two fire Pokémon, freshly risen from its peaceful sleep in the cliff-side wall. Char could even see the large gap in the rocks from where it had fallen just moments ago.

"Grrrraaahhhhggg…" The beast grumbled in protest at being awakened.

"Prince—" Char gasped. "Prince… put me down! I—I can help fight!"

Prince ignored his request.

"Prince!" he tried again, speaking louder so as to break the ape's concentration. "Let me down! You can't fight it like this!"

"Quiet, Char!" Prince snapped. "I need to focus…"

Prince did not move. Instead, he posed himself, taking a very steadfast stance. He held his free arm at the ready. The Graveler tilted its body oddly, eyeing the Infernape with certain malice…

Char cringed. "Prince… it's gonna roll—"

"Quiet!" the Infernape hissed again.

Char bit his lip, watching as the Graveler began to tuck in its many limbs. There was nothing more he could do… he held on tight to Prince's arm, and braced himself for the collision…

"Garrrrrrr!" the beast roared, thrusting itself into a slow but steady roll directly at its enemy…

Char felt as Prince jerked his body, right before the impact, but did not move… Char held his breath and shut his eyes, as the large boulder Pokémon rolled right into the side of his head.

*CRUNCH!*

Char felt nothing but the gentle shower of gravel upon him. Blinking his eyes open, he saw the Graveler laying defeated at the side of the canyon, with a large, leaking crater upon its body.

Char could only blink for a moment.

Whoa… he remembered. I'm… still invincible? But… but if I were invincible… I wouldn't be missing an arm…

"You can defeat a Graveler in one blow, if you know where to strike," Prince explained.

"But… it hit us! Didn't it?" Char demanded. "There's no way it could have missed us! But… I didn't feel anything! Did you feel anything?"

Prince fell quiet, scanning the hall for the next escape route.

"Prince!" Char cried. "What is going on? Please tell me!"

"I am reluctant to tell you," Prince replied. "I fear you might… abuse the knowledge. Later… I will tell you later. But for now… we need to get out of this Scyther hive!"

"GO!" Saura's voice shrieked from not too far behind. "There's four of them! KEEP RUNNING!"

Prince inhaled sharply, clutched his Charmander even more tightly, and hit the dirt running again. Char glanced in the direction of Saura's voice, trying to catch another glimpse of his best friend…

And that was the last thing he remembered.

… … …

Char felt himself falling.

The sensation had come from nowhere. Utterly nowhere. One moment, he felt secure, if not a little bounced around, beneath Prince's arm. The next…

He wasn't even sure if Prince's arm was still there.

He thought he heard a cry of anguish pierce his senses, as though from Prince, but it sounded a long, long ways away…

When he tried to look around, he became even more confused. His surroundings didn't make sense. They were white. Or too dark. Or too blurry.

He blinked. He tried to rub his eyes, only to be brutally reminded of his disability.

Ground. He was on the ground. The floor was rocky, covered in sharp sand. He laid on his back. The beacon of light at the end of his tail billowed tall before his eyes, colors of red and blue and white dancing within it. Up above, a crack in reality… no, it was just the sky. The sunlit sky peeking through between the cliff-tops.

What?

Char took a deep breath. Kicking his feet and thrusting his claw against the ground, he rolled himself upright.

Yes… I'm sure I'm still in the dungeon. But… what happened?

And then, the dreadful truth hit him…

He was alone.

Alone, lost in what was probably the most dangerous dungeon known to Pokémon. No items. No partner. No arm.

The panic began to mount.

"Priiiince?" Char called, hearing his voice return to him several times through the splitting halls. "Scyyyyyythe? Sauraaaaaa!"

The only reply was a feral hisssss somewhere beyond the darkness.

Char held his breath, quickly deciding to withdraw his voice. He gulped.

Was I… knocked out, or something? Char wondered, backing a few steps into the corner. Did I… Did I get lost in the anomaly? Am I… do I need to be rescued?

Remembering something, Char looked down. The emerald scarf was still tightly bound to his neck, and the tiny emblem still pinned to it.

I have this… Char remembered. I… I could probably use it to escape. Could I? I could bail, and Nameless would save me! Is that even how it works? Could I teleport myself out of Temporal Tower? Don't I need an escape orb? Well… I guess I could try…

He reached a shaking, hesitant claw to touch it.

But... no!

My ARM! He remembered in horror. If I leave the dungeon now… my arm will be gone! I have to find Scythe! I have to use a reviving seed and get my arm back!

More sounds came from the dark. Footsteps. Something searching, hunting.

Char's eyes darted from one shadow to the next. He gritted his teeth.

Well…

I have all this energy and power right now…

I am not helpless!

Here… goes nothing.

"RAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRR!"

The cornered Charmander returned a roar of his own, the most intimidating he could muster, and darted headlong into the nearest dark hallway.

"Hichhhissssshhhhh!"

An Ekans was coiled around a small boulder, snapping at the Charmander as he ran past. Char pivoted, changed his course, thrust his body into the air, and blasted the little snake with a mouthful of flame. He caught a glimpse of the snake twitching and curling in agony, slipping off the rock as its scales were seared straight from its flesh, before he continued onward.

A Graveler stood in Char's path, turning its evil gaze toward him. Focusing, he charged the white power into his claws, then flew like a torpedo onto the rock beast's face and attached, digging his steel-hardened spikes into the thing's eyes. He tore through the monster's stony surface as he pulled himself up and over, launching himself past the foe and returning safely to the path. He kept going, needing to cover as much distance as possible…

ZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZ.

Char paused in his tracks, kicking up gravel as he skidded to a stop.

The unmistakable sound of Scyther wings. A sound that would probably haunt Char's nightmares for the rest of his waking existence. A sound that would have probably made him reel back and cower in terror.

But not now. This time, Char was ready. They were not going to take away his other arm. They were not going to take away anything. It was his turn for revenge.

I don't fear you! Char told himself. You will fear my fire!

ZzzzzzTT!

Ka-chang!

Char dodged, and a steel blade ricocheted from the ground where Char had been waiting. Char rushed to the cliff wall, leapt, and rebounded from it, whipping his tail through the air like a giant fiery mace to scare the giant insect.

Clang!

The Scyther's blades, aimed to slice the Charmander in half, clashed directly below as he sailed through the air. Feeling proud of himself, he pivoted once more to land… but he landed on the gravel and skidded, and without the aid of his arm to balance, he tumbled over, hitting his head on a boulder.

No…

SLASH!

He didn't feel it… but after he dodged, he tasted it. Blood.

The Scyther's blade had gotten him. A streak of fresh blood dripped across his forehead and chest. It had not gone too deep, but it brought him that much closer to death…

NO!

Char blasted fire in a random direction, hoping the inferno would be large enough to catch the Scyther.

"KYAAAH!" The Scyther screeched in surprise, zipping to the cave wall to dodge it.

CLANG!

A blade rebounded from the boulder as the Scyther made another advance.

This has to end! Char realized.

With his white, glowing claws, Char bounded straight up the cliff wall as far as he could, until his weight became too much… Then, with a gleam in his eye, he thrust powerfully with his legs and hurled himself straight from the wall. The Scyther, who had risen to his elevation, was in his direct collision course.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Millimeters above him, two furious blade-swipes just nearly missed their mark, sinking into a limb that did not, for the moment, exist. Char slammed into the insect's body, full-forced.

"Karrraaiii!" The Scyther yelled in protest as the searing flames licked its flammable body. Its wings buckled under the combined weight of the two Pokémon.

Char bared his teeth and sank his fiery maw into the Scyther's neck.

THUMP. The Scyther hit the ground, defeated, with the panting Charmander on top. In disgust, Char coughed one last blue plume of fire onto the enemy, burning its wings away.

As he leapt down from atop his kill, the salty taste of blood entered his mouth again, and he began to feel weak.

"See?" he said to no one, every word a heavy breath. "See? I can take you! Come on! Challenge me! Any other Scyther out there? Come on, try to kill me! I bet you can't do it!"

A powerful wave of nausea came, and Char slumped to the ground, tripping over the defeated Scyther and falling on his face. He barely even knew it had happened; one moment, he had been filled with pride and euphoria from his victory, the next, he awoke, not knowing how much time had passed…

Shrugging it off for the moment, Char got back onto his feet and began to dash through the corridors once more in search of his lost companions. The path bent and turned in many unnerving ways; Char noted all the side-paths he neglected to follow, hoping dearly that he could rely on the sound of someone's voice to find his way. Surely, they would be searching for him, wouldn't they? Or were they, too, staying silent, hoping they would avoid the attention of the rogue Scyther clan? Either way, he knew he had to find them, or his chances of getting to Dialga alive were next to none…

… … …

He ran for a whole minute, two minutes, encountering no Pokémon but a small group of Rattata who scurried away at first glance. He gave up trying to remember the way he came; he only ran forward, picking a random path whenever there would be a fork, and prayed to Dialga that he would run into someone he recognized…

Every moment, things were getting more blurry. Char felt his control over his body weaken, become stranger, with every step…

And every so often, he would trip on seemingly nothing, and feel the cold, hard rock skidding against his forehead…

Slump.

Char awoke on the ground again, cursing to himself. He had lost count of how many times it had happened now. He rolled onto his back, clutching his stomach until the nausea would fade. His spirit was faltering.

Something caught his eye.

The glimmer of glass from an adjacent cave, his firelight glinting from something small.

Holding his breath, Char lifted himself from the ground and prowled toward it.

This… had better not be a monster nest again, Char hoped, wearily eyeing the cave ceiling for any signs of movement, as he moved in to inspect the object. I don't know if I could take a monster nest in this state…

It was a Wonder Orb. A tiny smile crossed his face; it was always nice to find these in the dungeons and to see what kind of random ways they would assist. Though he knew he would have difficulty carrying it along without a bag, he scurried over to it and pressed the tip of his nose against its surface.

Itemizer Orb, it replied. Activate now?

No, Char replied. Um… How do you work?

A nearby wild Pokémon resident of the Mystery Dungeon will become an item.

Uhh… thanks, Char replied, raising an eyebrow at the concept. Um… how is that supposed to work, anyway? A Pokémon becomes an item?

The orb, of course, did not respond.

What kind of an item? Char asked it.

No answer.

Well… let's try it, Char decided. Next Pokémon I see… becomes an item.

Standing carefully on two legs, Char cradled the glassy sphere against his body and tried to lug it along with him.

In no time at all, it began to annoy him. Lugging a huge supply bag was one thing, but carrying an orb with his only hand through a Scyther hive… it was downright unnerving. Char eyed the sky and all of its surrounding shadows, wondering about every little buzz and hiss that seemed to enter earshot, ready to use the orb or lob it at an opponent and run as fast as he could…

While his fire continued to burn so powerfully, Char felt as though it was burning him, consuming the very last of his energy, his life force, the coal of his inner ember. It crossed his mind that he did not know if his second wind, the Blaze reaction, truly had any limits. Would it fail him? It certainly felt like it was reaching its last threads… Lugging the orb along, Char tried hard not to think about his own mortality, only taking step after painful step, feeling the sharp gravel make tiny indentations on the bottom of his feet…

He dropped the orb twice. It had rolled out from his grasp, his claw seeming to release the orb without him commanding. It was a difficult, exerting process to crouch down and try to pick it up again, balancing the orb and his body on his two wavering legs. He hoped for a Pokémon to use it on; he hoped even more that the nearest dark corner wouldn't call to him, beckoning him to just crawl over and relax, closing his eyes forever…

Finally, he met another wild Pokémon: yet another Scyther. This one, oddly enough, seemed to be sleeping.

Activate now, Char ordered the orb.

The orb shattered instantly upon command, waking the sleeping Scyther. However, just as Char was about to cringe back, many small, detached glimmers of yellow light rose from the broken glass, swarming in the air like flies toward the waking feral. The mantis Pokémon gave a growl of protest, and then in anger, as the spots stuck to him, seeming to freeze him and lock his body in place…

It was almost a grotesque sight as the orbs gravitated toward the center of the Pokémon, bending the fabric of its flesh and skeletal structure… through it all, the Scyther wailed and hissed so furiously, Char thought he would surely break free from the spell…

Char couldn't bear to watch as the last of the spell took place; his head was turned as a pop sounded from where the Scyther once sat. There, in its place, was a small seed, still glowing with power.

A seed? Char groaned to himself. That's all I get? A seed?

Shrugging, he picked it up and looked it over. It wasn't a Reviver Seed, that was for sure. It also wasn't a Stun Seed or a Sleep Seed…

I don't even know what this will do, Char realized, stroking the rough surface of the oversized seed. It could have horrible effects if it was the wrong kind… augh, it's useless unless I can get it appraised! I can't take the risk!

Char angrily stuffed the seed underneath his scarf, hoping it would stay in place as he dashed about.

Another sudden dizzy spell. Char fell back to all threes and cringed, waiting for the tingling sensation in his head to subside. Even though the cut across his front had already scabbed up, he knew he wasn't doing so well. He could not afford even one more hit from a Scyther's blade.

I need… my strength back soon… Char told himself. I… don't know what will happen to me if...

*Clang!*

*Clang! Clang!*

Char perked his head at the sound. There was scuffling from down the hall. A battle?

It fell silent.

Char's head started spinning. I know that sound, he realized. That's a Scyther blade against rock. Someone's fighting a Scyther. Or maybe it's Scythe! Is my team there?

Taking a sharp breath, Char scurried in its direction, tuning his ears for the sound of another clash. His breathing grew more intense and strained the farther he went, worried that one of his friends had not survived a clash with a Scyther…

The sound never rose again. And Char hit a clean dead end in the path.

"NO!" Char wailed, thrusting his forehead against the wall. "No…"

He wished he could just push through the wall. He wished he could smash a tunnel straight through the rock, and find a way to the other side. But the rock would not give, no matter how hard he forced against it…

Remembering an alternate passage, Char reluctantly turned around, fighting a sudden dizzy spell…

There was something on the floor. Another item.

It was a band of some kind. Something feebly attached to a string. Char sniffed at it. It smelled… familiar.

Char sat down beside the object, pulling it from the gravel…

Attached to the long, dirty brown string came two flattened jewels, the sandy gravel flowing from them…

Lily's X-Ray lenses.

Char's eyes widened.

Lily… was here?

What happened to her?

Was she… knocked out? She had a rescue emblem…

Or worse… was she… taken?

Grasping the item tight, Char did his best to shake off the dirt. He held one of the lenses awkwardly to one eye.

The walls containing him seemed to vanish, revealing the dungeon labyrinths beyond. But they were all so dark, as light from the sun failed to touch almost anywhere… Char thought he could barely, just barely make out the forms of moving Pokémon far in the distance… but he couldn't tell who, or even where, they were… If they were closer, perhaps he could see them through the shadows…

Char tried to put the valuable lens on properly, but the tiny brown band was far, far too long to stay on…

Wrap it around twice, then, he remembered Prince saying.

So he tried. He tried so hard, contorting his tiny body into knots, almost strangling himself on a few occasions, just to get the large, floppy band to fit snugly around his head.

But he couldn't do it. Not with only one arm.

"AUUUUUUGHHH!" Char bellowed in frustration, slamming the priceless item to the ground and spitting fire at it.

Thump. Char fell atop the tangled band, passed out.

… … …

Char figured his blackouts didn't last for very long; if they did, he would have surely been expelled from the dungeon. He remembered the first time he was knocked out in a dungeon, back when he had accidentally stumbled into a patch of the viciously poisonous Dragon's Eye buds. He had blacked out for nearly a full minute until his friends had cured the poison, but he had not been expelled, so he knew there was a window of time before expulsion would take place. He feared his blackouts would grow longer, and eventually prove fatal to his mission.

Worst of all… he wondered if getting expelled would mean the loss of his arm for the rest of his life. He tried so hard not to imagine that kind of a life. It only made the nausea return.

When he woke again, he sadly picked up the nearly-useless X-ray lenses and slung them around his neck. They sagged all the way to his feet, so he put a few twists into the band and raised them to a more reasonable level. He tried from time to time to twist them further, making the band small enough to wear and utilize, but the loops would always come undone before his tiny claw could catch them. Sighing, he secured them to his form the best he could and carried on.

On and on he went. The Shattered Plateau never seemed to end, and his friends were still nowhere in sight. The X-ray lenses proved useful, as they helped him avoid notice from no less than two feral Scyther, but still could not aid him in his search for his party…

A new kind of nausea overtook his belly, one that didn't subside in moments. He was hungry.

Char just couldn't believe his luck. He felt absolutely miserable. Perhaps worse than in the freezer; at least he wasn't alone when he smoldered, and had Prince there to revive him when his fire was almost out. But now… every part of him ached in some way or another. He didn't want to battle. He didn't even want to stand. He figured that his Blaze was feeding from the Golden Apple that had dutifully kept his belly filled for so long, but now, it seemed gone. And there was no way he wanted to pass out from hunger again.

He pictured it. A Golden Apple. He knew there were more in the team's bag, just waiting for him to sink his teeth into, to partake of that wonderful, godly flavor. His arm aside, he wanted nothing more than just a small slice of one.

He remembered the seed still tucked beneath his scarf. He reached up to feel it bulge. It wasn't much, but… it would fill his belly a little, give him just that much more time to reunite with his team. But he didn't know what it would do to him. He had heard of the Hunger Seeds, seeds that could practically starve a Pokémon to death… It could be a Blinker Seed, turning him blind… Or, it could be one of the fabled Doom Seeds, which could sap his power until he was no stronger a Charmander than when Saura first found him…

No. Char decided. No… I just… But I can't starve to death! But… no. No. I can't… I have to see them again.

You idiot, another part of his brain said. You will never see them again.

Why not? he challenged.

Becauseyou turned Scythe into a seed.

Char paused for a moment.

"No!" Char muttered. "No… it can't be true."

You know it's true! his mind told him. Scythe passed out looking for you! He was sleeping… and you used that orb on him! Now you're holding Scythe in the palm of your hand! How do you feel about that?

"No!" Char cried more desperately. "No, it… it can't be true! That wasn't Scythe! It couldn't have been! I know Scythe! I know what he looks like! I can't… I couldn't! No, no, no! It made wild noises! And it didn't even talk to me! Scythe would have said something if he would have noticed me!"

You idiot, his mind told him. You've lost everything. Your friends, your health… and now… your sanity!

"NO!" Char cried, nearly tearing at his forehead with his claw. "NO! No, no no! NO! NO!"

Kiaaaaaaaaah!

*Clang! Clang!*

CRASH.

Noises. Battle noises. Pokémon cries. The sound of buzzing Scyther wings. They were all very close by. Panicking, Char lifted a lens onto his eye and glanced around. Nothing but shadows caught his attention.

THUMP.

Char saw stars. A powerful blow to the back of the head. His only claw occupied with the lens, he couldn't defend or save himself from falling… He reeled forward, hitting the ground hard.

Rolling onto his back in panic, he met with his foe…

A large, powerful Scyther stood over him. It did not look happy. It was hunched over in a battle pose, ready to slice him to ribbons.

Terrified, Char backed away, scrambling to the wall on his three limbs, slipping on the loose gravel. He took the deepest breath he could, mustering a great fireball…

But then the Scyther spoke to him.

"Char," it said. "Why did you have to come now?"

Char noticed the bag draped over the Scyther's shoulder.

Scythe.

Scythe!

Char tried to open his mouth and plead to him for help, but Scythe interrupted.

"Char… it is dangerous here!" he hissed in intense desperation. "Hide. Hide! Go!"

Swinging his body, Scythe slung the bag behind a nearby rock.

"By the gods, Char, you look on the edge of death. Heal yourself." Scythe ordered. "Also…"

He looked quickly over his shoulder, his eyes brimming with fear.

"Dig out a petrification orb as fast as you can, and use it."

CLANG!

A resounding metal clash. Scythe pivoted his body, blocking a blow to his head. A large, red pincer.

Char dove behind the rock in terror, hoping to Arceus not to have another dizzy spell again.

The bag. He tried to dig through it. But in such a panic, he could barely untie the cover flap with one hand; it kept slipping out of his grasp. And he didn't know which pouches held what.

"Scythe! I can't… I can't do this!" Char breathed in despair.

"You have one more hand than I do!" Scythe roared, parrying a blow from his opponent.

Nearly hyperventilating, Char fished his hand deep into the supply bag. There were many small pouches, neatly organized so every kind of item could be attained with ease… except for now, of all times. His claw brushed against a small pouch, which he thought contained orbs. Fiddling with it, he managed to widen the loop enough to get inside and fish out the contents… He gave deep breaths, trying to align his thoughts, and focus…

He pulled the item out. It wasn't an orb at all. It was a seed. A Reviver Seed, to be exact. It was unmistakable, with the shiny golden surface, and the supernatural aura about it…

CLANG! CLANG!

THUNK.

The sounds rising from the duel between the Scyther and the rogue Scizor drew Char's attention. He witnessed Scythe suffer a brutal blow, a jab right to the face.

"HURRY!" Scythe pleaded.

Char yanked the unknown seed out from under his scarf and tossed it randomly into the supply bag. He replaced it with the Reviver Seed, which was much larger and harder to hide.

Thrusting his hand back into the bag, he fished around harder, feeling for the distinct shape of the small Wonder Orbs. There were a few sitting in the bottom of the bag…

This is a Trawl Orb. Activate?

This is a Decoy Orb.

Spellcaster of Invisibility.

"Aurghhh…" Char grumbled, his mind bombarded with several streams of telepathy at once.

SLASH! CLANG!

"CHAR!" Scythe cried. "DODGE!"

But Char couldn't react fast enough…

The next thing he knew, the image of the bag spun around wildly below his feet. Something was holding him off the ground, holding him very tightly, so that he could barely move.

Crushing him.

No.

He couldn't struggle.

His voice didn't even work.

He felt himself going limp.

No.

The Scizor pincer squeezed. Tighter. He felt a rib crunch somewhere inside.

No…

Char did the only thing he could do... and held his breath.

There was a sizzling noise.

"Screeeeeeeeeee!"

The Scizor dropped him. Char turned to face his opponent… only to see that the claw which had held him just moments before was now… deformed. The exoskeleton had melted! Char had overheated his body to defend himself, sending a small shockwave of scorching temperature directly into the steel-plated bug.

The Scizor held its ruined claw before its eyes, as though in disbelief.

See how you like it without a hand, Char thought bitterly.

That one moment of hesitation was all Char needed. He leapt back out of the foe's range, took a deep breath… and loosed his fire without reserve.

The blue fire mercilessly engulfed the foe as though it were a tiny Weedle. It turned and lashed out with its flaming form in many directions, enraged in its final moments, emitting a constant, disturbing squeal…

SLASH!

Scythe intervened to deliver the finishing blow, and the Scizor fell to the ground in a pile of molten steel.

"There… there might be more…" Scythe gasped, turning to the miserable little Charmander. "We… we must get off this floor. Char. You look like you dug your way from a Wailmer's belly… Thank the gods I found you."

"Scythe!" Char cried, wanting to hug him, only afraid of lighting him on fire. "What happened? How did I get separated? I didn't remember… anything…"

"You and Prince fell into a 'warp trap', as they are called." Scythe rasped. "A random vortex that sometimes appears in dungeons, sending you to somewhere else on the floor. It was… highly inconvenient. I did not realize it until I followed the sound of his cry, and fell into it myself as well… The others most likely are scattered all over the floor as well, fighting for their lives… I don't think any of the Reviver Seeds were used, so they are most likely surviving…"

He indicated the bag.

"Char. Dig in there, and find a 'Rollcall Orb', and use it. I… I tried to do it myself, but it was a mistake… While I was distracted, the Scizor found me… And for the love of everything, Char, eat a Sitrus Berry and heal yourself. We are only on the second floor of twenty-four; we cannot afford a Reviver Seed to be used yet. This tower… this is worse than I have imagined…"

And so, Char dug into the bag, touching each orb until one of them identified itself as a Rollcall Orb. He ordered it to activate.

Without warning, four other Pokémon appeared in the same room, each looking very frightened and spent.

Prince looked absolutely berserk.

"Oh… Oh," he muttered, looking around and realizing where he was. "I was about to say… By the blazes, not again! I had just succeeded in finding Saura… another warp trap might have driven me to insanity. You used a Rollcall Orb, then. Good… very good."

"Char!" Saura gasped. "You look horrible!"

"I don't feel so good," Char gasped, falling onto the floor again. "I…"

Saura rushed to him, though feeling the intense waves of heat radiating from his body still, he dared not touch. He peered down upon his best friend with relief and sympathy.

"You—don't look so good yourself," Char replied, twisting his head to meet Saura's gaze, noting the scabs upon his body and the tatters on his seed.

"I… got sliced up a little, yeah," Saura said. "Once I found Prince, he protected me… he's good at fighting those Scyther… really good…"

"Char! Here…"

An orange paw entered Char's view. It held an Oran Berry.

"It's one of the last from Team Ember's bag," Ray admitted sheepishly. "I, uh… I had to use a few to survive when we were separated. It was just me and Lily… actually, here. Just… take all of them. You look like you could use it."

Three of the dark blue berries tumbled to the floor before Char. Driven crazy at just the sight of them, he grasped one of them and took a ravenous bite from it.

"Oh… interesting! Char, you found Lily's lenses," Ray noted. "Yeah… we were fighting some Luxio and later we just realized it was gone. We figured she dropped it somewhere. Oh, man. It's good to be back."

"Don't relax quite yet," Prince warned, digging through the bag for his own supplies. "We need to find the staircase still. Wait… what's this?"

Looking surprised, he pulled out the seed which Char had tossed in.

"Hmm. Where did this come from, I wonder? This wasn't in here before. I'm sure of it."

Char sat up, quickly filling his belly with the healing berries and feeling his strength return. "I found that," he told Prince with a full mouth. "I didn't know what it was."

"Pure Seed," Prince told him, turning the item around in his fingers. "Definitely a Pure Seed… Hmm. Very lucky of you, Char. Good work. This… is an item of unparalleled value to have in our position. We could use it now, or we could search for the staircase and save it for another floor. Scythe, what do you think?"

"Eat the Pure Seed, for the love of Arceus," Scythe ordered him. "Whatever lies on the next twenty floors cannot be as bad as what we have faced on this one."

"Scythe, wait a minute!" Ray said suddenly. "Lily and I actually found the staircase. It's in a really big cave. It's not hard to find! If we can just take a small walk so we can figure out where we are, we can save the seed!"

Lily nodded. "It's true. We knew we couldn't go on until we found the rest of you. But we kept good track of where we are, so…"

Scythe looked at the ground for a moment. He didn't like the idea.

"No," he shortly said. "Let us not risk it. Not here. Prince, if you would…"

"Fine, then," Prince said with some reluctance, tossing the seed in one hand and weighing it. "Everyone, form a chain. Normally a Pure Seed will only work for the Pokémon holding it, but if we all hold onto one another…"

And so, Prince picked up the handicapped Charmander in his arm once more, Saura and Lily used their vines to bind the rest of the team together, and Prince bit down on the seed. After a rush of momentum, a similar sensation to falling into the warp trap, the team gazed at the staircase.

The wretched floor was finally behind them.


Temporal Tower 3F

I can't… do this.

Even after stopping the bleeding and eating his fill, Char still found himself in a world of misery.

After having stuffed himself with the Oran Berries Ray had offered him, he realized he actually felt worse. Since he had healed, his Blaze reaction had begun to subside… and where all the pain was previously drowned out by an all-encompassing flame, it now flooded back in full force.

"Are you going to be alright, Char?" Saura asked him carefully, afraid of getting too close and accidentally hurting him.

No, he wanted to say. No. My arm is throbbing. My arm, that I don't even have, is throbbing. I can't focus. I can't take it. I don't even know where we are. I don't care.

Instead, he reached his claw up and under his scarf, feeling the smooth, glassy surface of the Reviver Seed.

It called to him.

"Char," Scythe suddenly said, kneeling down to meet his eye. "I have to thank you… for helping me defeat that Scizor. I have… never been adept at fighting those… I have forgotten how helpless they can be against the element of fire."

"Scythe, I was just trying to survive," Char told him through gritted teeth, trying unsuccessfully to ignore his newfound discomfort. "I just reacted."

"Then thank you, Char, for reacting," Scythe said with deep earnest, rising to his feet again. "Thank you for surviving. It is… a miracle that we did not use a single Reviver Seed so far. A warp trap accident has been known to consume many of those at once. We need every one of them; they are as precious as our lives. "

The third floor of the scrambled tower was one of the strangest-looking Mystery Dungeon floors Char had ever witnessed. It appeared as a long, empty room with a low ceiling and a floor made of marble. Every fifty steps or so, a ridged pillar stood to hold up the ceiling, forming a perfect, endless grid of passages as far as the eye could see. It almost resembled a forest. Unlike the previous floor, this one was very well-lit, though there were no noticeable light sources anywhere.

Good thing, too, because Char no longer had his massive flame to light the way; his tail fire was back down to normal size.

With the Blaze, this was manageable, Char thought to himself, feeling for the Reviver Seed again as soon as Scythe's back was turned. But now… this is all downright useless! And disgusting! I want my health back. And I want my arm back.

And I want them back now.

Char slipped the golden, glistening seed from under his cloth and eyed it greedily.

"Whoa!" Saura gasped, noticing Char's held item. "Is that a Reviver Seed? W-where did you get that?"

"Found it on the last floor," Char lied. "I… I think I want to use it."

Sympathy crossed Saura's face.

"I just… I want my arm back, Saura…" he whined. "I don't care what Scythe thinks. I don't want to save it. I want to use it now."

"I… can't blame you," Saura said to him in a lower voice, making sure the conversation would not be overheard. "But what if we get up to, like, floor twenty, and we run out of them? And what if you get your legs copped off by a Gliscor or something? Wouldn't you wish you had it?"

"I'm… I'm not going to get my legs chopped off," Char insisted. "The only reason that Scyther got me was because it tricked us. It tricked us because it couldn't beat us in a battle. The only way it will happen again is if I'm stuck without my right claw for the rest of this place. I can't battle well without it. I can't focus without it. And now, I was an idiot and devoured all those berries and I'm not even Blazing anymore. I… need it back."

Saura sighed, peering around at the others to make sure they weren't paying attention.

"Alright… I won't stop you, Char," he said. "Just make it quick. Scythe will stop you if he catches you. And he probably won't be too happy once he finds out anyway. But… it's your seed. Your decision. Go ahead. I'll… cover you as best as I can."

Char clutched the precious Reviver Seed tightly, wondering exactly what it would feel like to have his health instantaneously return to him…

"Hey!" Saura shouted, bounding to the front of the line. "Hey… I thought I saw movement over there!"

"Movement?" Prince repeated. "Hmm… I didn't see anything. Was it large?"

"No, it was small. A quadruped Pokémon, I think. I don't know, I didn't see it very well. It blended in."

"Lily?" Prince called. "Can you see anything behind the pillars?"

Alright… Char told himself with one last, heavy breath. This is my chance. Here…

Here goes nothing.

*CHOMP*

Like a rabid squirrel, Char stuffed the seed into his mouth and bit down. He felt as a shatter rippled across the unblemished shell of the seed, and as all the tiny pieces began to disintegrate and burn in the fiery recesses of his mouth.

He quickly found that the seed didn't taste so good. It tasted like a root. A gritty, dirty root pulled up from a clay-strewn quicksand pit in the middle of a swamp. When he gnashed it with his teeth, it seemed to fight back, flooding his throat with the desire to hurl it all out. He knelt down, preparing himself in case his stomach would decide to do just that.

"Char! Is something wrong?"

Someone called to him. He didn't know who. But he knew he had to choke the thing down before anyone would find out. Wearing a scowl as though dipping his tail into a sea of ice-water, Char swallowed the seed chunks, gagging as they got caught in his throat.

"Something's wrong," Prince's gasped, rushing over to him. "He's gagging. He could be injured internally. Char. Char? Can you breathe?"

Saura bit his lip, glancing over to his friend in worry.

"Char! Did you swallow something bad?" Lily asked him. "Were you poisoned? Ray, do you have a Pecha fruit? He might be poisoned…"

"I know we do, it's in here somewhere… Hang on, Char! I'll find it!"

"No… no," Char managed to say, finally getting the lumpy seed to go all the way down. "I… I… I'm not poisoned."

"Then what happened?" Prince demanded. "Did you step on a trap? What? What?"

"How…" Char hesitated to say, his eyes growing blurry with the sheer energy it took to force the seed into his belly. "How long… does it take… for… for a Reviver Seed to… work?"

"Reviver Seeds work instantaneously upon death," Prince told him, confused. "Or within a minute or two if fallen unconscious… essentially, any time you would have been expelled…"

"No."

Scythe looked incredulously upon the sick little Charmander. Dread washed over Char as he realized… Scythe knew.

"Char. You… you could not have been so…"

Char bit his lip and turned away. He could ignore his mentor's disapproval. He just waited for the seed's effects to kick in.

"No. Char. No. I can't believe you," Scythe gasped, pushing past the other two Pokémon and standing intimidatingly over Char. "You did. You ate a Reviver Seed!"

"W—what else was I supposed to do?" Char pleaded back. "I couldn't… I couldn't take it anymore!"

"Char… Reviver Seeds don't work if you eat them!" Lily informed him. "Best they'll do is fill your belly a little bit, but… Oh, Char!"

Char fell speechless for a moment as the truth sank in.

"W—w—How was I supposed to know that?" he cried in anguish. "I mean, it's a seed, right? You eat seeds, and…"

"Char…" Scythe growled at him, absolutely seething in rage. "I am this close. This. Close. To severing your other arm for such a stupid, thoughtless act. That seed could have saved one of our lives closer to the summit of this tower. And now it is gone. Wasted. If someone dies on this expedition, it will now be on your shoulders. I hope you understand this fact, Char…"

"Chk?"

Char felt a lurch in this throat. He realized a bit too late that not all of the seed had gone down just yet. One of the seed's shards had gotten turned sideways, lodging itself halfway down.

His eyes widened in shocked pain. A piercing sensation filled his chest, draining every ounce of his energy. He keeled onto the ground, hand squeezing his own neck… His hearing was muted, and he felt the blood drain from his own face…

His throat convulsed so wildly, so painfully, trying to spew the glass-like object form his throat, but it would not move; it was embedded, stabbing at him on the inside…

And, for the first time, after nearly a whole minute of torture, Char felt his body fail him.

He saw the bright light, the same one he had seen in the freezer. It came for him, as though the sun had descended upon him to disintegrate his soul… It looked so fiery and welcoming, yet it was cold, numbing…

For just a moment, nothing else existed but the light.

A memory rose from the very back of the dying Charmander's mind… the oddest memory for such a time. He remembered using the Call and calling to Dialga… asking him, pleading to him for direction, protection…

Oh… Char thought to himself. Dialga, it's you…

But then…

For an even smaller moment…

He saw… something else.

It was… something malicious. Something… painful.

Something… that hated him. Wanted him dead. Manipulated him. Waited patiently for his arrival. For the perfect moment.

He saw… the eyes. The dark, red eyes…

Pop!

"…and they're supposed to heal you! And… wait. What?"

Char blinked. Out of nowhere, He was standing on his feet.

He looked at his arms. His left arm. His right arm. Both worked perfectly. He touched his head. It was completely whole. No scabs, no scars.

He felt no pain. He felt no hunger. He felt perfect. Reborn. He smiled with certain glee.

…That is, until he noticed the five Pokémon staring oddly at him. All with their mouths hanging open.

"Whoa," Ray gasped.

He noticed Scythe hanging his head in something like shame.

"Well…" Prince muttered. "I suppose… that is that. Char got what he wanted."

"Char… has a funny way of getting what he wants, even when he doesn't deserve it," Scythe sighed. "Arceus, I hope we find more Reviver Seeds… we are down to eight, only…"

"I don't think we should worry about it," Prince said. "Let us stay vigilant, attentive to our surroundings, and we will stay strong enough to reach the top of the tower. I will make sure of it."

Char sighed happily. He felt so full of life now, so ready to take on the rest of the tower, that all of his pain from before his reincarnation had vanished.

Yet… what he had seen after the flash of light… it still deeply bothered him.

Because it felt like it hadn't gone away.

*Chapter 60*: Chapter 44, Part 3

Chapter 44

Part 3

Oh, little child…
Have you any concept of where you are?
Of which direction you travel?
To what fate you rush headlong into?

Tell me, little one…
Can you see?
Can you see things as I do?
Can you look into the infinite hall
and see what will become of you?
What will become of us all?

Or are you blind, as all mortals are?
Do you see time
with a beginning, with an end?
A bounded road,
conveying its passengers seamlessly
each to a singular destination?

For who else but I can see time as it really is
in all of its flowing glory,
with all of its spreading branches?
Who else can know what fate you carve
with your blind actions?

Who else but I,
the one created to oversee it?
I, who harbored time's first ripple
within the fabric of my being?

Alas, though time is omnipresent
I am not.
Though I stand here, far away,
So very far away…
Soon… we shall meet…


Temporal Tower, 4F

"I saw something," Char mumbled to himself for the fifth time.

It seemed to have taken the little Charmander all of ten seconds to grow accustomed to having his arm again, forgetting the pain of being crippled and the rush of having his own ember consuming him from within. Something else had now taken hold of his mind; something which disturbed him far more deeply than a simple injury.

Char had caught a glimpse something in the void between his death and rebirth. Something which, he imagined, also caught a glimpse of him.

"We are on a mountaintop, it seems," Prince reported from several yards ahead, wincing as he gazed over a drop-off. "I recommend not approaching the cliff, unless you have a pair of wings readily available."

Had he really seen what he thought he had seen?

He couldn't tell. His mind went over and over it again, remembering the indescribably odd sensation of dying and then being resurrected... and he just couldn't tell. He couldn't tell if he had actually seen those glowing red eyes staring into his soul, or if it was merely something he felt...

"Char!" Scythe snapped, clanging a blade on the ground in front of the Charmander's face. "You have your arm back, now pay attention. You no longer have an excuse to be lost in your own world of pain."

"Scythe, I-" Char tried to spit out. "When the Reviver Seed worked, I thought I saw something-"

"Pokemon see many strange things when they are revived," Prince hummed, his attention drawn by the new environment as he searched for a path across the mountainside. "It is said that, for a sliver of a moment, your soul leaps from your corporal being and witnesses the void outside of the timeline. The eternity. Some call it... the Hall of Origin. Some Pokémon claim they can even see their own souls for a moment-"

"Ray, for the love of the gods, please stand away from the edge," Scythe snapped, his patience long gone. "I will not have another of our seeds used in such rapid succession."

"Actually, Scythe, it is possible a seed will not save him if he were to fall," Prince added. "It is possible that stepping off the cliff would result in him plummeting to his death from one of Temporal Tower's windows. Something similar happened to a good partner of mine the last time we explored a dungeon manifest as a tower... it is difficult to tell where exactly the anomaly ends and where reality begins again."

Char cracked a tiny smile as he watched Ray tense in fear and slowly back away from the end of the ledge. He had to admit, the sky beyond the false mountain looked colorful and inviting; clouds tinted orange and purple floated in a clear blue sky as the sun peeked between them.

But…

Those eyes. There they were, burned into his vision, even upon the beauty of the sky.

"Hey," Lily said to Char, a look of concern briefly flashing in her eyes. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I think so," Char replied. "It's just... I guess being revived for the first time threw me a bit. Not to mention losing my arm… I'm trying to forget about it as fast as I can."

"Ugh. I hate being revived, myself," Lily blurted with a laugh. "Makes me want to throw up. Though I guess that's a good thing that I want to avoid it as much as possible... But yeah. You can see some really strange stuff before you blip back."

"It's... it's not really that I saw something..." Char tried to explain. "It's... it's that... I still see it, I think."

"When you close your eyes?"

"No... it still feels like... whatever I saw, it's still there. I just... can't see it. Like there's a curtain in the way, but it's still there, waiting for me on the other side. And I... really don't like it. I... hope I'm not going crazy."

"At this point, Char, I think we've all gone crazy to some degree," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

As Lily walked ahead to Prince's side, Char's eyes wandered around. The team traveled upon a mountain trail. On one side, a steep drop-off; on the other side, the mountain's peak loomed surprisingly close. The air was crisp and clear, but a bit thin; Char briefly recalled his episodes of altitude sickness before pushing the thoughts away, hoping the problem would not return.

But as Char struggled to stifle the unpleasant memory of flying, there came another flash of familiarity.

This feeling he had, bothersome as an unreachable itch… he remembered it from somewhere. Somewhere… recent?

"We're being watched," he whispered to himself, trying to jog his own memory…

"Perhaps... this is the peak of Red Haven," Scythe wondered. "But we would need to be several hundred years in the past for it to look anything like this. Since then, the peaks have been sanded down and replaced with shelters. Then again... that is only if the Temporal Tower is playing tricks upon the six of us personally, sending us to places we have seen before. If not... this mountain could be anywhere."

"As for myself, I do not recognize this place at all," Prince admitted. "This is no dungeon or mountain I've ever explored. At any rate, we should put those X-Ray lenses away for now; visibility is quite clear at the moment, and I do not want those things lost. Who has them?"

"I do," Lily replied, untying them from her neck. "Char gave them back after the staircase."

Char snapped his claws. In an instant, it had come to him.

"Ray," Char said. "Remember those goggles we found in Blackriver City?"

"Y-yeah," Ray responded, caught off-guard. "I think I brought them with us. You want them?"

"Please," Char answered, fretting with his claws in anticipation of what he might see with them. "Hurry, before they're done putting away the X-Ray glasses... I think we're being watched again. I think there are ghosts here!"

"Ghosts?" Saura repeated, almost hiding the quiver in his voice.

Ray stood on his hind legs and slung Team Ember's bag around to his front, undoing the opening to allow Char to dive in. Once the goggles were in hand, Char lifted them to his face and peered through the red-tinted eyeholes. Ray and Saura waited in suspense for his report.

"Char," Scythe suddenly snapped, almost making the little Charmander fumble the bulky eyewear. "… do you see anything?"

"Nothing," he said at first, glancing to the mountainside and then to the sky. "Nothing so far. Hmm… these aren't nearly as useful as the X-rays. They can't see through anything…"

"Hmm… Char, I agree with you that something is out of place here," the Scyther uttered, looking away. "I can feel it. Whatever you saw in the moment that you were dead… might be the truth. It was smart to look for ghosts. If ghosts were here, so be it… I just… wish I knew what was wrong."

Lowering the goggles, Char wished he could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that his mentor agreed with him, but he knew now that his own thoughts and feelings were bleeding over into the Scyther's mind to some degree. Nevertheless, he hefted the goggles over his shoulder; he was going to keep them close for a good while.

… … …

Yards passed as the team plodded down the path, enjoying the pleasant scenery of lush plant life and colorful pebbles strewn across the ground. The blue-stoned mountain was an impressive sight, sending Char a fun tingle of vertigo (much better than the horror he'd feel in his stomach by turning his head and glancing down the cliff). All in all, it wasn't the hostile Mystery Dungeon landscape Char had grown accustomed to recently. It almost made him feel relaxed.

"Hey, I can put those back in the bag if you want," Ray said, tapping him on the shoulder and indicating the goggles. "They look a little heavy…"

"Not yet," he replied, clutching them more closely.

He kept his eyes sharp for some nasty trick of the Mystery Dungeon that would bring doom upon everyone. He imagined his Call radiated into Scythe more than ever, for the old Scyther's mind seemed locked upon the same topic.

"The mountaintop," Scythe muttered to Prince, but loud enough so that all could hear. "Perhaps it will erupt and rain lava upon us all. Unless this is truly Red Haven. Red Haven contained lava internally, but was not a true volcano. It had no crater, no shaft. Its pressure was relieved by a series of hot-spring craters in a seven-mile radius, tunnels dug by the ancient Pokémon of Ambera to equalize the pressure and craft a suitable habitat for fire-types. Even without them, the lava would not have erupted from the mountaintop, but from the ground, not nearly enough to build up such a mountain…"

"Then again, this is a Mystery Dungeon," Prince reminded him. "They have no need to follow the true laws of physics. If it wants to dump lava upon us, it will."

"Easy for you to say, fire-type," Scythe scoffed in reply. "You can trudge through lava ankle-high with no lasting damage. You and Char. The rest of us prefer to consider our options." He kicked a pebble across the path. "Prince, you have more knowledge of fire than I. Tell me, do these stones look to you like they are dried lava?"

"All rocks are dried lava," Prince returned with a smirk, "just as all ice is frozen water. It only depends on how long ago the rock solidified."

"You're not helping," Scythe grumbled. "Do you see any indication that what we tread upon is an active or otherwise dangerous volcano?"

"Um..." Saura offered meekly, "I don't know very much about lava, but... if this were a volcano, do you think all these plants could have grown like this? Some of those trees look... hmm, at least a decade old."

"That is a good point. Thank you, Saura," Scythe sneered at Prince. "Therefore, if there is little cause to worry about drowning in lava, or invisible ghosts, what dangers lurk here? We should at least learn what Pokemon species live in this territory..."

"Honestly?" Prince considered. "A mountain peak like this, from the looks of it... we should beware of Dragonite."

"And I would trust that you know best how to counter them," Scythe shot back, matching the Infernape's smirk. "What with Team Regret, you've worked with more dragons than I."

"Haven't you still got that Gabite on your team? You mean to tell me you've never trained with him?"

"Dragonite and Gabite are very different types of dragons. Gabite are far superior in terms of resistances and strengths..."

"If they are so much stronger, then you should have no trouble countering the inferior type of dragon."

"Gabite do not fly."

"Yet you do."

"You are still not helping. ...Remind me again what use I have for you, now that we are here in the tower?"

"I have explored five mystery dungeons for every one you have stepped into, old friend," Prince said with a swagger, his subtle sarcasm replaced with cockiness. "You might be the tactician here, but I am much more familiar with the phenomenons present in these dungeons. For instance-"

*Slump*

With no warning, a pitfall trip opened beneath Prince's feet, and he disappeared below the surface of the ground. A yelp arose from the party.

"Well, someone's going to have to help him up," Scythe said, not even cracking a smile as he indicated his lack of hands.

Wasting no time, Lily and Saura jumped forward and extended all their vines into the crater. Char pounced and skidded to a stop at the lip's edge, peering curiously inside.

The pit was not too large, and did not have any discernible traps lining the bottom like the other pitfall traps Char had witnessed. It simply looked murky and uncomfortable. Prince looked unharmed as he sat at the bottom for a minute, rubbing his forehead and cursing to himself for not paying attention to his surroundings.

"It's alright," he called back as the vines were offered to him. "I'm alright. I can get up myself..."

Char watched as Prince groaned and crawled to the lip of the ditch, perplexed as to why the dungeon contained a trap with no discernible hazard at the bottom. Poison spikes, death spikes, sticky goop... he'd seen them all. But this one was smaller, shallow, and completely empty.

Maybe this floor is giving us a break after all, Char imagined. Though... it stinks a little bit down there. Maybe it's a poison gas trap? It doesn't seem to be doing anything...

"Uh-ugh," Prince grumbled, climbing out from the ditch. "I am alright... When it comes to traps, I have seen many worse. This one was relatively harmless"

"Perhaps because it wasn't a trap," Scythe noted unexpectedly.

Char turned to the Scyther, whose gaze was cast away from the group and to the opposite side of the pit. Buzzing his wings, he leapt the pit's length, his eyes focusing intensely on the ground.

"It's a grave."

"A grave?" Ray repeated. "But there's nothing buried down there. How do you know it's a grave?"

"Otherwise," Scythe explained, nearly mumbling to himself, "it wouldn't have a footstone."

The five Pokémon were quick to rush to Scythe's side. Indeed, at his feet, there sat a reddish, rectangular plaque. A couple words were etched in its surface.

"The writing is Unown," Scythe noticed. "I cannot read it. Char?"

Intrigued, Char dropped to all fours and squinted at the small writing on the plaque. Saura and Lily crowded around him.

"It says," Char reported, "Here rests… the hero."

"There's more," Prince noticed, crouching next to him and tracing his finger across its surface.

"Here rests the hero with… the silver soul. Unknown and forgotten, he fought until the end… … …Char."

"Yes?" Char answered reflexively.

"No, Char…" Prince repeated. "That's what it says. Your name… is written here."

What?

Char shook his head. He pounced onto the plaque's surface, scrutinizing its words. Indeed… there they were, the four Unown letters which made up his name, the name he was known by in the Pokémon world.

"This… is my gravestone?"

"B-but you're not dead yet!" Ray cried, panic overtaking the Raichu as he jumped down into the ditch and seemed to search for a dead body. "This… hasn't happened yet!"

"Precisely," Prince noted. "This place… it must indicate an event… in the future."

A foreboding silence fell over the group as implication sank in.

"Wait!" Saura cried, containing his panic. "Maybe it's not you, Char. There are lots of Pokémon named Char! Some aren't even Charmander! Char… Char, are you okay?"

Char hadn't moved. His gaze was fixated on the stone and the words imbued upon it. His limbs trembled, threatening to buckle and no longer support his weight.

"No…" Char said blankly. "No, it's me. I… I have the silver soul."

"What does that mean?" Saura asked.

"I… I don't know…" Char admitted, tracing his claw over those words. "I… I have a silver soul… someone… someone told me that, once… And I… I wanted to be buried on a mountainside…"

"What did you say?" Scythe demanded.

"I don't know…" Char uttered, freezing up. "I… just…"

Where did that come from? Char asked himself. I wanted to be buried on a mountainside… I never said that! I never even thought that! What are these, memories? Are my memories coming back?

Did I… die? Did I die before I was turned into a Charmander, and buried here?

No, no! Otherwise the gravestone wouldn't say "Char", would it? It would say… my real name…

Char's eyes darted from word to word, carefully rereading the contents…

He fought until the end…

He looked again for his name, but…

It wasn't there.

The word Char, which had been there just moments ago, was now missing.

His trance was broken just in time to see a reluctant Ray about to zap him back to his senses.

"N-no! Don't!" Char pleaded, rolling away from the Raichu. "It's okay. I'm back now. It was weird! The word on the stone changed! I saw it. This place is trying to play tricks on us! This floor is playing mind games!"

"Mystery Dungeons do not play mind games," Prince noted. "Mystery Dungeons contain random happenstance. Only the Pokémon within them are capable of confusing you…"

That's it, Char realized. The Pokémon within!

Char stood up, throwing his goggles back onto his face…

…only to find a small Shuppet lounging at the bottom of the pit.

In a convulsion of surprise, Char lowered his goggles from his eyes as if to prove his vision wasn't failing him. When he put them back on, the Shuppet reappeared before him, now sitting on the grave's footstone and mere inches from his face.

As Char took a frightened step away, the invisible ghost nodded its head at him, then at the surface of the gravestone, where more words were being etched into it before his very eyes, while other words were being removed. It took Char a moment to realize what he was actually seeing: the etchings were somehow being re-arranged to form a new message!

DO YOU LIKE IT?, The gravestone now read.

Char's claws clenched the goggles hard, but he tried not to lose his cool. "Like what?" he feebly demanded of the ghost.

The Shuppet nodded again, causing more letters and lines to switch positions.

YOUR MEMORIAL.

"How did you know I wanted to be buried on a mountain?" Char tried further, picking his words carefully. "How did you know I had a silver soul?"

The Shuppet smiled.

I HAVE BEEN WATCHING.
I KNOW YOU.

"You're trying to trick me," Char accused it, testing to see how it would respond. "You're just… reading my mind and playing games."

The Shuppet glared at him this time, as if thinking of how to reply. After hesitating, it bowed its horn down upon the stone's surface one more time…

I KNOW YOUR REAL NAME.

Char felt as though a block of ice had been shoved down his throat. He glared back at the ghost, scrutinizing its appearance. Wondering… just where it had come from.

"NOW!"

*SLASH!* *BANG!* *THUMP!*

Char shirked back as Ray, Scythe, and Lily suddenly appeared in his vision with flailing vines and glowing claws, overwhelming the small ghost with a surprise attack. The thing shrieked for a moment as its phasing form was flung back into the burial pit, then it simply disappeared.

"Ahh-! Thank you," Char managed to say, pretending the encounter had not affected him. "How did you see the ghost?"

"When I realized there was a ghost there, I dug into the bag for some Eyedrop Seeds and passed them around," Ray explained. "All I knew was, if the wild Pokémon are smart enough to talk to you in a Mystery Dungeon, there's no way that can be good."

"There's another issue," Scythe said, a ring of solemnity in his voice.

Char turned to the Scyther. His face looked pale-white.

"That ghost was a Watcher."

Char blinked.

A Watcher? He'd been so preoccupied by the fact that a wild ghost Pokémon had been talking to him about his own gravestone, he supposed the recognition hadn't clicked in… He clutched his goggles hard, staring at them as though they had somehow tricked him, and it occurred to him that the strong red color-filter of the lenses had probably made the ghost look normal to his eyes.

"That makes no sense," Prince cut in. "Char was speaking to that ghost. I've seen and battled thousands of Watchers… not one of them spoke."

"Yeah, and the sun is out," Lily added. "Watchers are only out in the night, right? It looked like a normal ghost Pokémon to me…"

"I wasn't… speaking to it, actually," Char corrected. "It wasn't talking to me at all. It was changing the words on the gravestone. Didn't you see?"

Char looked at the gravestone once more. It was completely blank.

"That's beside the point," Prince replied. "The ghost was literate. No recorded Watcher has ever displayed such a skill."

Scythe's gaze landed somewhere very far away, as if he were trying to stare into the past to remember something he had once seen.

"Lily? What did you say?…" Scythe mouthed, staring down upon his own shadow. "That the sun is out? It does not seem like it will be out for very long…"

Char looked at the sky.

The sun…

…is setting?

"…We have to find shelter!" Char realized. "The Watchers are here! They're coming out! We have to find shelter!"

"I see…" Prince said, nodding and clenching his fists. "The dungeon intends to trap us out in the open and have us swarmed with ghosts, does it? We could jump inside of this hole and cover it, but since a ghost already popped out of the covered hole, I wouldn't trust it. Our best bet would be to take shelter in the mountain. Come, let's find a cave."

The shadows seemed to extend from the trees just as fast as the team hurried past them; Char was horrified, and somewhat disgusted, at the antics of the dungeons' ghosts. It wasn't the first time ghost Pokémon had played a cruel trick on him, only to swoop in and attack once the trick was revealed.

His head still spun with the ghost's words. It knew something… something about him… his name? What was his name? Did it know more? Char didn't know how it was even possible. He almost wished the ghost were still around, so he could interrogate it. And if the ghost was indeed a Watcher… would the other Watchers be of use to him?

"There's no time to look for a naturally-formed shelter," Prince decided as they approached a solid rock wall. "The sun sets too quickly. We must make a cave."

"Got it!" Ray said, setting his bag on the ground so he could dig into it. "Let's see… don't we still have a bunch of those iron thorns in here somewhere? Maybe we could attach them to some sticks, and make pickaxes out of them…"

*CRUNCH*

With a surprising explosion, a dozen small rocks cracked from the wall and crumbled away, leaving a sizable dent. Prince retracted his fist.

"It's been a while since I've had to use this technique," Prince admitted, examining his hand as though for serious injuries. "I suppose it's good I haven't forgotten it just yet. YAARH!"

Once more, Prince's fist shined with internal power as he executed another karate-like punch upon the mountainside, expanding the hole even further. The dent was now deep enough to shelter one Pokémon. Char was very impressed at the Infernape's show of power; he and Saura couldn't seem to pick their jaws from the ground for a few moments.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Char blabbed, wondering if he could do the same.

"I don't feel a thing," Prince answered. "And that is very fortunate. Without the factor of pain, terraforming becomes less about the technique and more about the brute force, but you still need to know how to do it… *crunch*… efficiently. It's about knowing where the weak points are, to bring down a large wall in as few moves as possible. HUFF!-."

As Prince continued to smash in the wall, a sizable stone clunked Char in the head. Char waited for the inevitable rush of pain, but it never came; the concussion had felt like a bag of feathers.

"Ow!" Saura cried, shaking his head as pebbles rained down onto him. "Watch where you're shooting those things!"

"Watch where you're standing," Prince told him, winding up for another punch. "Char, want to come help me? I can teach you the technique…"

Char looked at his claws, then curiously up to the busy Infernape. Something clicked in his mind.

"Prince... you can't get hurt by rocks, can you?"

Prince halted his work, turning his surprised but sincere attention to the Charmander.

"Correct," Prince replied. "Rocks cannot hurt me."

"And they can't hurt me, either?" Char wondered.

"Correct," Prince said again. "You're very observant, Char. You must want to know why. I will explain it to you… *crunch* … after you've helped me dig this cave."

Tossing the goggles back into Ray's bag, Char stepped up to the large nook in the wall which Prince had created with his bare hands. He clenched his claws, wondering if the strength to tear down slabs of solid rock lied somewhere in him, too.

"Focus the white energy into your fist," Prince instructed. "When you strike, pretend the rock is as intangible as the surface of water, and do not hold back."

Char didn't know exactly how to focus the energy into his whole fist, though he managed to make his fingers glow white by invoking the instincts for Metal Claw. Resisting the fear of a bad bruise, Char clenched his fist, aimed, and smashed the rocks as hard as he could.

A couple tiny pebbles exploded at his face.

"Do not strike straight, but from an angle," Prince further directed, continuing his work. "This will direct the fissures you create, allowing large parts of the rock to separate when the fissures connect. If you strike the wall straight-on – YAHH! - the fissures will travel straight back, and none will connect."

Char tried again. He eyed a good place and swung his charged fist in an arc, making sure to punch toward the nearest crack that Prince had created. A rock about the size of his fist broke away.

"It's no use," Char said, flexing his claws. "I'm no good at this…"

"Prince, do not rely on Char," Scythe warned. "The sun has almost set. Hurry and make enough room for all of us."

"Fine," Prince grumbled, rearing back his fist and making it glow as bright as a Sol-rock torch. "I'll double my efforts… YARRHHH!"

The cliff rock seemed to fold like paper as Prince's mighty fist arced into it. The rocks thunderously shattered as dust and debris fell away, revealing a very impressive new dent. Prince stood straight up, examining the hole and looking very proud of himself.

*Crumble…*

*Crumble…*

"Almost got it," he reported, plotting his next course of action as the rocks still noisily settled.

*Crumble…*

*KA-CHAAAACK!*

A split-second before it happened, an expression of recognition crossed the Infernape's face, followed by a look of shame.

*CRRR—UMMMMBLE!*

*THUMP.*

At the alarm of all of the members but Prince, a massive slab from the cliff-face, directly above the dent Prince had worked so hard to create, simply disconnected from the wall and smashed Prince's body into the ground.

Saura cried out in panic. He tried to rush forward to Prince's aid, but was forced back by the giant cloud of dust and rock-shards rolling off the avalanche.

When the dust cleared, Prince lay pinned to the ground beneath the incredible obelisk he had created, with only his head and a few inches of one arm free.

"Prince… you're still alive!" Saura cried, cringing at the painful sight.

"Ahh… Yiiiyiii… I'm fine, I'm fine," Prince gasped, his bright head-flames licking the obstacle which pinned him. "Immune to rock damage, remember? It's a little hard to breathe, though… Nnnnhhh, now I remember why I stopped using that technique. Never was good at directing the cracks, couldn't keep them from going straight up… Ahhh…"

"You… idiot," Scythe growled, though it was obvious to Char he was almost about to burst into laughter this time.

"Ohh, you don't have to tell him," Lily sighed, rolling her eyes. "He's done this to himself before. Three times. I purposely never let him teach me how to rock-smash."

"Enough," Prince grumbled, his voice a weakening wheeze underneath the giant weight. "I suggest you try to find another hiding place while you still can. Use a Luminous Orb to hold off the ghosts. It doesn't work for very long, but it does help. Find some kind of shelter before they come…"

"Very well," Scythe said. "Come, let us heed the advice of our attending dungeon-crawling expert. I feel so very privileged to have someone like him accompanying our team."

While the others began walking away, Char stood and studied the rock which trapped Prince in place. He had a thought.

"Char, what are you doing?" Saura called back.

"I suggest you go with the others," Prince told the Charmander. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine for now."

"Hold on," he answered, inspecting the rock's weak points, "I might be able to break this."

*Crumble…*

Char's claws were only just starting to glow when he heard the thunderous rumble. He shot a panicked glance around for the source of the noise.

But… I haven't even hit the rock yet!

*CRRR-RRR*

*CRRR-UMMMBLE!*

"No!"

Char felt a massive force collide with his head, and everything went black.

… … …

It took Char a minute to realize that he had not, in fact, been knocked unconscious.

His vision had gone dark. He noticed no difference between opening and closing his eyes; even the familiar glow of his own tail-flame did not reach his perception. Nothing hurt too much, although his body was sprawled in an incredibly uncomfortable position, his neck quickly cramping from being twisted too far to the side. When he tried to move, he found his limbs resisting his commands; his body was filled with such an intense heaviness that he couldn't even budge.

That's when he realized: he was buried beneath a pile of large rocks.

"Char…" a muffled voice called. It was Prince.

"Y-y-yes?" Char answered, not sure at first if he could even speak.

"Oh… so you are in here…" Prince's voice sighed. "I thought for a moment I saw you escape. Unff… Well, at least I suppose we got the shelter we needed from the ghosts…"

I guess there is that, Char thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

"What do we do now?" Char asked him. "Just wait here?"

"Just wait here," Prince repeated, "and hope the others find a suitable hiding place in time… and think to use a Rollcall Orb to bring us there. Are… you alright, Char? You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm… getting pretty cramped…" Char admitted, "but it's really nothing compared to losing my arm. I think I'll be alright. I just hope the others will be okay. I'm tired of getting separated…"

"I hope so, as well," Prince sighed.

Char was quiet for a moment. He felt how the rocks pressed down upon him, blocked his motions and pushed his limbs in odd directions, but remained powerless to crush any part of his body. He was merely imprisoned. Groaning, he tried to wriggle his way forward and nudge some of the rocks away from his face, but it wasn't possible. He was thankful that air was still getting in.

"So… is now a good time to tell me why we can't be hurt by rocks?" Char inquired.

"Perhaps. But it is something I wanted to show you," Prince replied, "and I'm not in the position to show you right at this moment… but… I have an item, one that I try to keep on my person at all times when adventuring. It renders myself and all fire-types within a certain distance from me immune to damage from rock-type attacks. In fact, it was the primary reason I insisted on coming with you. I knew you and I would both be made stronger without having to worry about one of our greatest weaknesses harming us."

"I'm glad you brought it, then," Char replied. "It's saved my life a few times already, at least…"

Can I get out of this? Char wondered. If I could move… maybe…

Trying not to panic, Char systematically tried to force each muscle in his body to extend; surely one of them could find a weakness in the rock pile and help to unbury him.

"I'm… sorry, Char," Prince said unexpectedly. "I didn't… mean to be this useless. Scythe was right, in a way… Just look at what kind of asset I've been to the team. I've done very little to help but falling into traps and burying you in avalanches. I suppose I must confess… I haven't set foot in a dungeon in over eight years myself, and even then, none of my experiences in dungeons could have prepared me for this one. Still, I… I thought I could be more dependable than this… And I am sorry."

"It's not your fault," Char replied, trying very hard to force his neck straight. "The dungeon wants to hold us back and it's doing a good job of it. And I guess I'm sorry… for acting like such a brat just now. When my arm was missing, I mean. The world… really seems different when a piece of you is missing."

As Char tried to stretch and gasp for a good breath of air, he felt a rock – one that sharply poked him in the muzzle – very slightly give way. He tried to nod his head and depress it farther, hoping it would cause a rockslide and relieve some of the pressure that kept him from moving.

"No matter," Prince responded, as Char continued to curiously poke at the rock in front of his face. "Fire-types have their pride… though you might find that it gets us out of just as many situations as it gets us into. Me, I'm getting you to the top of this tower if it kills me… and I'm not dead yet."

Clink. Char heard a rock shift above his head somewhere as he toyed with the pile.

"What was that?" Prince asked. "Are you trying to get out? There's no need to; we're safe from the ghosts in here."

"I don't care," Char declared. "I'm getting out of here."

"Why?"

"Well, for one thing… ugh…" Char tried with all his might to nudge that one stone, protruding like a lever in front of him. "I might just be going crazy… there might not be Watchers here at all. I guess I just jumped to that conclusion."

"I… suppose, there is that, yes…" Prince replied.

"For another thing… if there are ghosts…" Char said, momentarily giving up on his struggle. "I'm going to let one of them touch me."

"What did you say?"

"I'm going to go talk with the Watchers. Because… I think they know something about me. I think… that ghost was telling me the truth. And I want to know what my name is."

CHOMP. Char bit down on the closest rock to his face, trying to thrash it back and forth.

"Char… do not let yourself be blinded by the ghosts…" Prince warned. "They only want to destroy your sanity, and they will tell you whatever you want to hear. They should not be trusted. I say this as an advisor to you… don't be foolish. Not at this point in time."

Prince waited for some acknowledgement of his words, but none came.

"Please… don't listen to them. You will learn your past when we reach the top of the tower," Prince pleaded further. "They are tempting you. Trying to take you away from us… Char, this isn't an intelligent decision…"

"…Char…?"

"…Are you still there…?"

"Char? Please tell me you haven't suffocated…"

Ssssss….

Ssssssss…

It took nearly a whole minute underneath the pressure of his fiery fangs until Char felt the rock becoming malleable. He spewed a mouthful of glowing, putty-like magma.

"I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind," Char told him, watching the puddle of magma as it oozed around the other rocks. "This is a Mystery Dungeon… if anything happens to me, we have Reviver Seeds. I'm going to find out what the Watchers know. I'm going to do this while I have nothing to lose."

"That's beside the point, Char," Prince yelled in frustration. "You're not understanding me. What if those ghosts tell you lies? Can I trust you to not believe them? Can you even trust yourself? Char, listen to me. They might not even be the Watchers. They might be some clever indigenous species of ghost Pokémon trying to play tricks on passersby. If they feed you lies that you believe… the Reviver Seed is not going to heal that."

"No…" Char responded, watching the quickly-cooling magma he'd created. "No, it's… more than that. They're watching me. I saw them when the Reviver Seed was used."

"Saw what, Char?"

"I… don't know… there were… these eyes, I saw them just before I was revived… and I can't get them out of my head."

"What are you saying? The Watchers appeared to you when you were revived?"

"No, no… I… grrrrr…."

Char pushed the rock pile with his forehead as hard as he could, hoping the molten rock had caused some slight instability in its structure. Sure enough, he heard a small cascade taking place somewhere up above. The surface of the rock pile was closer than he had imagined.

Knowing there was no risk of a concussion, Char bashed his head against the rocks, once, twice, forcing his claws deep into the crusty dirt underneath for strength. Bellowing and roaring like a frustrated beast, Char gave his all and dragged his body forward, inch by tiny inch, feeling the pile shifting upon his back as he made slow progress…

"I… don't… know what I saw…" Char growled. "But… they do… EHHHAAAH!"

Giving one more mighty push, Char felt the rocks give way and part, revealing a clear view of the late evening sky.

"Prince… Please trust me with this," Char said, taking a rest and laying his head down for a moment. "If I come back believing something that's not true… Saura will talk me out of it."

"How do you presume that?" Prince returned.

"Because…" Char said, infusing his words with a bit of irony. "I believe most of the things that Saura says. You could say… we have a way of communicating that's… a little bit deeper than most could understand. I… can't really ignore him."

Char waited for Prince to respond. He eyed a cloudy, moonlit sky, noting the lack of any visible Watchers so far. He realized he did not have to worry much about the others, just as long as they weren't attacked by ferocious Pokémon; if the Watchers were not out yet, he trusted their ability to find suitable shelter.

"Alright… then go," Prince responded. "After all, I am little more than a servant to you, human… so, go, do what you will. I wish you good luck in finding the answer you're looking for. I would stop you, but the rock that sits on me is there by my own doing, so I suppose I have no right."

At that, Char clawed his way to freedom, stretched out his severely cramped muscles, and wandered off into the night.

… … …

Where are you going?

Char held his tail as far in front of him as it would stretch. Its flame was weakening.

Why are you alone, Char? Pokémon are supposed to have companions. Where are you going, all alone?

Ignoring his doubt, the Charmander marched across the shadowy mountain trail in search of Watchers. He kept his eyes to the dark clouds, wondering when the swarm might descend upon him… or if he had been mistaken in expecting them to appear.

Large, billowing clouds covered the stars today; he could not stand still and appreciate the sky this time. He kept a sharp watch out for danger, while staying as far from the drop-off as he could manage.

There was nothing to accompany him as he hurried along; no crickets, no owls, nothing but a barely-perceptible breeze to remind him he was out in the wild…

Do your companions mean nothing to you, Char? Why have you left them behind? Aren't you tired of being separated from them?

"My name is not Char," he told himself. "I want to know what it is."

I thought you were happy being a Charmander. I thought you never wanted to go back to your human life. Where has this sudden resolution come from?

Some leaves rustled. Char dropped to all fours and froze in place, waiting for some unseen foe to make the first move. He just as quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure nothing was stalking him.

"I have to know who's watching me," Char whispered to the voice in his head. "Someone's watching me. They've been watching me this whole time! Ever since I came to Ambera! I need to know what's going on… I can't get it out of my head now."

And what about your companions, Char? Why can't they help you?

"Because… nobody was watching them," Char mouthed, carefully creeping past the tree that had startled him. "It was me. Always me. I appeared in Ambera alone… I will find my own answers… alone!"

He ran for it, leaving the mysterious tree in his dust.

Were you?

Or did you come to Ambera because you were alone?

Did you come to Ambera…

To hide?

Because you needed to run from something?

"YAHH!"

Lost in his thoughts, a steep, powder-covered incline in the terrain took Char by surprise, nearly sending him flying down into a dark gap in the rocks. Panicking, he anchored all his claws into the dirt and climbed back up.

What if you don't want to find the truth?

What if the truth… will doom you?

What if… nothing lies at the top of this tower…

But your doom?

Char blinked.

"This mountain… it must be sending out psychic signals," he told himself. "It's making me go crazy. No, no, it's… mountaintop… lack of oxygen. Fire-types… need more oxygen than other creatures… to burn their fire. I'm… There's no reason for me to… be overthinking this. I can't… I have nothing to lose. Come now, no panicking. Just get this done. Nothing to lose…"

The night grew darker, the clouds shifting over the moon and stars in turn. The mountainside was nothing but a dark curtain to Char's eyes. He scanned for some platform, some lookout point he might perch upon to watch for the ghosts, but the shadows were shapeless except for the silhouette of the mountain's peak against the sky.

But then…

There appeared a small speck of light in Char's field of vision, like a star that had fallen onto the land. He could not tell how far away it was, only that it floated somewhere over the dark lands in front of the mountain…

Is that…?

It drifted, a greyish-yellow orb of light, flickering like a firefly, a barely-noticeable candle flame. Char watched in fascination, taking tiptoed steps in its direction… until another, similar light appeared many feet in the air above the first.

Char felt a chill in his chest.

Here they are… the Watchers…

I've never seen them appear… like this…

Char turned his head, gazing upon the dark landscape and bearing witness to the all-too-familiar lights which began to speckle it…

"Aaahh!"

A yelp escaped his throat as he found that a disembodied aura of light had formed mere inches from his nose. He jumped back in fright, where he waited, stunned and horrified, for the Watcher to assume its worldly appearance.

The light glowed for a moment – such a small, insignificant light, like a Luminous Orb which had come out as a dud. Within the center of the light, a dark, ominous sphere took shape… a sphere which appeared to be aflame, but producing no light itself…

And just like that, the light vanished from sight, except from two tiny pinholes upon the sphere, where it remained, glowing… eerily glowing…

Recognition clicked in. It was a Gastly. A Gastly-type Watcher, to be exact.

The Watcher's blank stare fell upon the Charmander, as though targeting him.

Char tried not to panic. He rooted his feet to the ground and held his breath, staring down the Watcher.

"Here I am," Char whispered. "Touch me."

The Watcher didn't reply. It only stared at him, emotionless…

"You want victims?" Char asked it. "You want to take over me? Corrupt my mind? Well, here I am! I give myself freely! Consume me! Destroy me! Do whatever you want!"

Char thought the Watcher started to look confused at his demands… until he noticed that two more Watchers had drifted up behind him; a Duskull, and some sort of Pokémon he swore that he had never seen in all his life.

Gasping, he quickly turned, and saw two more that had been staring at the back of his head. The Watchers were forming a loose circle around him, and… merely watching.

That's when Char thought to look over the cliff—and felt his throat tighten as over one hundred of the ghastly lights filled the cloudy sky, like driftwood coming in from the ocean…

"Well?" Char demanded, getting ahold of himself and talking directly to a nearby Misdreavus. "Which one of you is going to touch me? Which one of you gets the privilege? Power sustains your greed, for only the one you need. Right? And I'm the one you need! ? I'm the human-turned-Pokémon you've been looking for! Or… you already knew that, didn't you? You know who I am already, don't you? Heh… so… go ahead! Take me! Take me and be done with it!"

It was the strangest thing… as Char looked into the eyes of the Watchers, the Watchers which were now beginning to completely encircle him… he could have sworn they were acknowledging his words. They all appeared… confused, as though their unchanging blank stare represented surprise. Char thought their movement patters were subtly affected by his demands.

He began to notice their sounds. They did not shriek like the night Saura had activated the Call, but they made quiet little hums and sighs that could only be heard from up close. Char had been mistaking their sounds for the nocturnal insects… only to remember that there had been none.

"Hisss…"

The sound, like a cloud of steam escaping from a kettle, came from behind. Char turned, and found himself staring at a Dusclops – a very large, frightening type of Watcher he had wished never to encounter.

"Is it you?" Char asked it, trying to give himself confidence. "Are you the one they chose? Go ahead, take me. C'mon. I'm not going to move… I have nowhere to go! You have me surrounded! So just take me, already!"

To Char's horror, the Dusclops loomed closer and closer to him, showing no signs of stopping.

This is it, Char realized. I'm… I'm about to be corrupted. Get ready.

Arceus, what have I gotten myself into…?

Just as the horrible, discolored mockery of a Ghost-type Pokémon was close enough to breathe upon, Char whispered:

"I only have one final request… you have to tell me who I am."

For a moment, the Dusclops locked gazes with the Charmander, staring at him with its glimmering, demonic eye… before it cupped both of its large hands around his head.

… … …

Pain…

Pain… in… tail…

Tail… hurts…

Nnnnnhhh… what happened?

Char awoke from a nap. A long, uncomfortable nap. Something was crushing his tail, and it felt bad. Tails were sensitive things. But it was his first time having a tail, so he didn't know that.

Where am I?

Why is it so dark?

Something brushed up against him. Something large, something alive.

"Aahhh! Ahhh!"

Char snapped his eyes open and sprung awake, terrified, only to smack his head against something. A rock of some sort. It hurt a lot. He had no idea it was there in the first place. He let himself fall back to the floor and clutched the bump on his head, waiting for the ache to subside.

That's when he noticed what stood in front of him.

It looked exactly like Saura. Uncannily like Saura. Same size, same complexion, same lack of markings that most other Bulbasaur had. Only… something was wrong with its eyes. Its eyes resembled those of a Watcher's. They were blank, and glowing. Unnaturally glowing.

The Bulbasaur-like creature did not respond. It simply took a few steps back… and stared.

"You're not Saura…" Char said to it. "W—who are you? What are you?"

"I am the one you have chosen to trust. Why should it matter who I am?"

Something about the Bulbasaur-creature's voice shook Char to the core. Rattled his stomach, his mind. Spoke into his body, rather than just his ears.

"You're a hallucination," Char determined, sitting upright. "I'm dreaming. I don't remember how I got here… No, this is… this is the Gravelerock Tunnel. The place I first woke up as a Charmander. This has to be a dream."

"Whether I am real, or a figment of your imagination, is a truth I will not tell. You will choose for yourself."

Char could not tear his eyes from the horrific clone of Saura. That face – that friendly, inviting face he knew so well – it was… murdered by the presence of some darker, destructive force that now resided behind it. Yet, it was still unmistakably Saura, his best friend. Char felt so confused at the mixture, it made him feel nauseous.

"Ask questions. I will answer. Know that my answers might not match your questions if I so choose. But they may be trusted."

"Answers?" Char repeated. "Answers…"

Yes. He did want answers. He could remember that much. But… where was he? If this was a dream, where had he fallen asleep? He just couldn't remember. He dug his claws into his head, trying to jog his memory…

Watcher.

Saura's eyes. They belonged to a Watcher.

The Watchers had captured him.

Where? When?

Why?

Why had the Watchers captured him? What mistake had he made? How had he been so foolish to have been captured by a Watcher?

For answers.

What answers?

He stared into the darkened Saura's eyes… the unmoving, unblinking eyes...

Sluggishly moving his tongue, Char managed to formulate some words…

"You… you're a Watcher. Why… do the Watchers exist? Do they have a purpose?"

The demonic Bulbasaur bowed its head.

"You do not know how time works."

Char tilted his head. He did not understand.

"Time does not work the way you think it works. Mortals have not the capacity to understand time. Past and present are lies. They are different than what you were taught. They do not exist the way you believe them to. All which exists… is fate."

Fate? Something about that word rung clear in Char's subconscious.

"Can fate be changed?" Char inquired.

"Fate is changed with actions. Every action changes the future. Only certain actions may change fate. Only certain souls may change fate."

The Bulbasaur looked back into his eyes.

"Fate may be destroyed… with one action. One anomaly."

The Bulbasaur's body glowed with dark power. From its twisted seed, there sprouted several vines. No, not vines… tentacles. They waved around in the air before Char's eyes.

"What is your purpose, Watcher?" he asked again, shaking with fear.

"To remove the anomaly."

Char panicked, standing up straight and slamming his head back onto the protruding slab. He slumped back down again with tears in his eyes.

"Get away from me, demon!" He screeched, trying to shove the Bulbasaur back. He scrambled onto all fours and tried to get away, knowing the thing only wanted to destroy him.

The Bulbasaur protruded his tentacles and wrapped his trashing limbs, gently placing him back where he had started. Char got the picture that he wasn't quite done yet.

"So… is that it?" Char demanded. "Is that it? Am I the anomaly? And you Watchers are all here to destroy me? I… I expected something… something more, I guess."

"You are not the anomaly. The anomaly is an action. The anomaly exists only in the future. For the anomaly to be removed, fate must be changed."

"How far in the future?" Char asked it.

"What meaning does it have to you? Whether soon, or far… in the flow of time, it means nothing. The anomaly requires but one moment to manifest, or one moment to overturn."

"What good does that tell me?" Char cried at it. "I'm a Charmander. I am a creature who lives in the bounds of time. Lengths of time are important to me! You can't just say that everything's over in the blink of an eye because you're some kind of immortal drifting spirit who –"

Char stopped short. A more important question had returned to his memory.

"What…is my role in all of this, then?" he asked carefully. "Who…am I? What… what is my name?"

The dark Bulbasaur frowned.

"You know my name… don't you?" Char accused it. "You've known my real name all along."

"I know your real name."

"I know!" Char clamored, his voice squeaking in exasperation. "One of the other Watchers told me that. On a gravestone. So… what is it? What is my real name?"

"It is meaningless to tell you. It is merely a word. It affects nothing."

"Too bad!" Char shouted, standing up on both feet and staring down the abomination. "I want to know it! If you don't tell me what my name is… I'm never going to believe you're anything more than a dream!"

"It is your choice, to believe… what you will…"

Char was about to say something else, but a jolt of power shook his body. He found himself powerless to move, powerless to cry out… He could only watch the demon Bulbasaur as it became engulfed in light, its piercing gaze burned into his vision…

The light came for him. It was warm, welcoming, strengthening…

… … …

When the light faded, Char found himself facedown upon a dampened stone. He lifted his head to find that he had been reunited with his team members in a dimly lit cave. Saura, Ray, and Lily all seemed to be intently staring at the cave walls. Only Scythe seemed to acknowledge him, standing over the Charmander with a dark, resentful gaze.

*Chapter 61*: Chapter 44, Part 4

Chapter 44

Part 4

How clearly I remember…
The conception of time, space, and the universe…

From the light of the Original One's golden hooves,
I was conceived…
Given forme, shape…
Made to resemble him…

I came into being, given a purpose,
It was decided, by Alpha:
our creations were to perceive existence
differently than we, the architects, do…

Unlike the Hall of Origin in which we stood,
Stagnant, existing, eternal…
Creatures would experience changing, passing…
Growing, living, and dying…

They would live, always swept within a force…
A force called "time"…
A force which flowed from my very soul.

Imbued with this force, I came to be…

Realizing this, I turned to Alpha…
I asked,

"Great Originator and Father…
My soul holds this grave power
Which you have bestowed upon me…
How shall I use it to serve you?
What would you have your servant do?"

The Originator replied…
"I have no orders which to give.
Time is to run by your own design;
Govern it as you will.
Create, destroy, meddle, intercede…
All upon your own whim.
For you are creature, not machine,
Your commands come not from me,
But from the core of your being.
May your life and your purpose
never be separate."

The Original One turned his back to me,
Leaving me to stare into the empty void of creation.


Char scraped a claw across the dampened rock and raised it to his eyes. It glowed in the dim, yet familiar, light of his own fire.

When he saw the bloodstains upon his skin, he understood.

"What… happened to me?" he wheezed, humbled by the sight of his own blood blotched across his claws.

Scythe did not answer. He only glared at the Charmander for a moment while scraping together his blades in an attempt to clean them.

With a sharp breath, Char shifted his weight and tumbled from the flattened rock, landing on all fours upon the cave floor. The cave was unpleasantly salty, wet, and cramped, yet the entrance could be seen only several dozen paces back. Char's gaze fell upon that hole, that window to the bizarre outside world, wondering if he could spot any more of the accursed Watchers floating in the night sky.

For the anomaly to be removed… fate must be changed.

The corrupted visage of Saura still lingered in his mind… The disturbing sound of the demon's words, replaying continuously beneath the ringing of his ears, remained just as clear as it had within the dream.

Mortals have not the capacity to understand time.

Past and present are lies.

Char gnashed his teeth, trying to understand… had he found that which had been watching him? Had he found those eyes which had disturbed his soul so deeply, those eyes which he felt watching him even from underneath the fabric of reality, even so long after the Reviver Seed was used?

Or… was it just a dream?

All which exists… is fate.

"What have you seen?"

The sound of Scythe's words snapped the confused Charmander back to attention.

"When we activated the orb to bring you back into the group, there were impalement wounds on the sides of your head, yet you remained alive," Scythe said matter-of-factly. "Your eyes were opened, but you would not respond to anyone. That is when Prince informed me that you intended to ask the ghosts for answers."

Instinctively, Char reached a finger to feel the side of his head above his ear, the place where the Dusclops had seized him. He cringed at his own touch.

"Though I am not happy with the risk that you have made, I will not hold it against you. As long as you tell me what you have seen."

Char noticed how his friends, who had since been staring at the walls, now turned to silently witness the discussion he found himself having with the angered Scyther. Char locked eyes with Saura for a moment as if to draw strength from him, but the way the cave's shadows fell upon the Bulbasaur's face made him appear too similar to the demon from his nightmare, and he was forced to quickly look away.

"The W-watcher told me, he…" Char tried, the conversation still so very clear in his mind. "He- or it- needs to change fate. I said, 'What is your purpose?' and it said, 'To remove the anomaly.' So I asked it if I was the anomaly it needed to remove. It said 'You are not the anomaly. The anomaly is an action. The anomaly… exists in the future. For the anomaly to be removed… fate must be changed'."

Scythe looked away, mulling over the words.

"It said more…" Char continued. "It said something about—"

"Tell me everything," Scythe insisted. "Start from the beginning, and tell me everything you remember."

And Char did.

The group remained somber as Char's story sank in. Saura rubbed his head on the ground, his headache flaring up.

"It does not make sense to me," Scythe replied, gazing out to the night beyond the cave. "A Watcher has never communicated with a victim… And we still cannot be certain it was a true Watcher, or one of the dungeon's tricks. It contradicts everything I've ever known about them."

"It… could have been a dream," Saura offered sadly. "Ever since the Watcher hit me, I've had dreams about other Pokémon… and sometimes they talk to me."

"Hmm… as have I," Scythe said. "In my case, my hallucinations have often pieced together things that I already knew, but have yet to realize. This particular hallucination might be telling you something…"

"…That you can't trust me anymore?" Saura cut in. "That I'm… some kind of a demon now that my head is infected?"

Char's mouth hung open. Saura returned a forlorn stare.

"N-no! That's not it," Char insisted, approaching him. "I don't think that at all! The ghost just… it was messing with me! I think it picked a form that I would trust, so that I would trust it…"

"But maybe it wasn't the ghost putting that in your mind," Saura replied. "Whether you like it or not, it might have been your own mind making that up. Just like how it was for me, when I saw my family…"

"Saura, do really think my mind would have tried to give itself a lecture about how fate and time works?"

Saura shrugged. "Maybe because Temporal Tower is shifting the past and future around, I dunno?"

A vine flicked Saura's nose. Saura jumped back, nearly falling on his side. Lily stood over him, frowning hard.

"Look," Lily said flatly. "First. You're going to stop trusting Char just because he had a nightmare? Really? What kind of a friend do you call yourself, again? Second, can't you save this for later? Like, when we're back home? We just saved Char twice, you know. The last thing we need is to start bickering in the middle of a dungeon exploration. The Watchers that attacked you two just wanted to mess up your life. You're both making them really proud right now, I bet. I know… I was attacked by one, too."

"Whoa? You, too?" Saura cried, looking up at her. "When did it happen?"

"It happened… back before I joined the resistance," she said, closing her eyes. "Back when I had first come to Ambera. My Call got triggered one night, and I… Well, the effect was… it stunned me. Literally, stunned me. I couldn't move for hours. I was just… in complete panic. So yeah, I know how they can mess with you. But you can't let them affect you. Otherwise you're just giving them what they want."

"So, wait a minute…" Ray said. "Lily, if you were hit by a Watcher… that means… everyone in this room got attacked by one?"

There was a pause.

"Yes… that would be correct," Scythe said. "Everyone here… except…"

A dimly-glowing blanket of orange swept over the five as a new light source approached from the back of the cave. The sound of footsteps followed.

Prince.

"Just as I thought," the Infernape called. "The staircase is back in here. It will take us to the next level of the tower. It isn't very far. We should go if we're ready."


Temporal Tower 5F

The next floor seemed like an extension of the same mountain cave: dank, rocky, and utterly lightless. To make things even worse, the path through the dungeon floor was nowhere to be seen. Using the resident fire-type Pokémon to light the way, the team determined they were surrounded by impenetrable rocks on all sides.

As they discussed whether to use a One-Room Orb, a Mobile Scarf, or something else… Lily happened to notice the way forward in the most unexpected direction: up. Using a careful combination of vines, wings, and strong limbs, the group began their slow, cautious grapple up the seemingly never-ending vertical shaft, utilizing every little bump and ledge they could find in the uneven rock face.

"Ugh!" Saura grunted as his vines stretched to their limits, holding Ray's weight and letting him climb to the next ledge. "Couldn't we have just—used one of those warping orbs? You know? The ones that warp us to random places? Anything would have been better than… than this!"

"You mean, such as the top of the abyss, rather than the bottom of it?" Prince joked, tied up in Lily's vines. "Do you think you could have survived the fall?"

Scythe found a foothold and clung to the wall for a moment, resting his wings. "It is true… this is a terribly high shaft. If anyone comes up with a failsafe plan to bypass this, please speak."

Char clung to Scythe's chest, making sure the team's pack of precious valuables did not spill or slip off the Scyther's limbs. "Could we at least use one of those light orbs to see how much farther we have to climb?" he offered.

"Perhaps," Scythe replied. "But then you could look down."

"AHH! WATCHOUT!"

Lily cried out as her second vine failed to attach to the wall, instead dislodging the balance of a very large bolder. It teetered in place for half a second before falling, tumbling straight down toward Prince's head…

Prince swung on the vine, took two ninja-like steps up the wall, and leaped to meet the falling rock head-on. It shattered into many pebbles upon his fiery crown.

Lily gulped hard as Prince descended again, grasping her vine and anchoring himself back into place upon the vertical wall. The broken rock shards made tiny crackling noises as they hit the sides of the abyss on the way down.

"S-sorry," Lily sighed, searching for a different place to anchor her next vine. "I put too much faith in that one. It won't happen again."

"Actually… what is that?" Prince asked, peering into the shadows above. "The shadows didn't fall quite right. There's something up there."

"A Pokémon?" Ray wondered.

"No… a structure," Prince replied. "Scythe… could you confirm this? Fly up by about twelve body-heights, you should run into something. I cannot tell what it was from what I've seen."

"Fine," Scythe replied. "Char, hold on. You'll need to light my way."

Char's limbs were already growing tired from clinging to the insect Pokémon's torso for so long, but he breathed deeply to renew his strength and held on tighter. As he felt the vibration of the Scyther's wings, Char focused on his inner Ember and flared his tail to provide more light.

As he was not used to flying for such extended periods, especially not in the vertical direction, Scythe took frequent breaks in his ascent up the shaft. It felt to Char like he was jumping, using his power of flight to leap from wall to wall, foothold to foothold. With each of the forceful motions, Char felt the tug of gravity upon his body, threatening to disconnect him from the Scyther and plunge him back to the bottom of the abyss… and while he knew he could hold on for a bit longer, he felt his strength weakening.

"Hm…" Scythe grunted, clinging to the subtle cracks and ledges upon the side of the wall. "There is, indeed, something unusual here… Some type of obstruction."

Char craned his head, trying to see. "If it blocks our way, we might have to smash the rock ourselves," he commented.

"It might not even be a rock," Scythe muttered. "Hold on, Char. Give me just a minute more."

With a few more of Scythe's leaps, Char began to make out the shape for himself. It was a wad of grooved, lightly-colored material which, at first, from his angle, appeared to hang in midair with no support from the abyss walls. After a minute of consideration, Char realized it was indeed attached to both of the walls… as though it were an extension of them, perhaps a sideways stalactite of some kind.

"It's a pillar," Scythe concluded. "A fallen one. It seems to have collapsed to its side, and became petrified into the walls over the centuries."

Wasting no time, Scythe flew above the pillar and landed atop it. Char let out a relieved sigh, letting go of his carrier and giving his arms a rest, setting his feet down upon the surface of the irregular rock formation.

It was a large piece of work, larger than the size of Scythe in diameter, but it didn't stop Char from feeling self-conscious about slipping off the rounded surface of the object. He rooted his claws into the grooves and focused on balance.

"Let's get the others up here," Scythe decided, rubbing a blade against the pillar. "We may take a rest."

Char studied the cracked and worn relic, tracing his claws over it. "Are you sure?" he asked. "This thing could break if we put too much weight on it."

"Seems sturdy enough," Scythe decided. "Doesn't seem to cut easily; seems reinforced with some strong minerals. We should be fine. However…"

Scythe turned his attention upward, squinting farther into the vertical tunnel.

"What?" Char wondered.

"Different… sound dynamics…" Scythe uttered. "And a subtle air current. This tunnel may open into something greater. Hnn… I'm going to get the others. Stay here, don't fall."

After a minute or two of holding in place, wisely choosing not to try peering over the edge, a vine whipped just in front of Char's face and around the pillar. Char stepped on it, using his weight to hold it securely in place. Saura soon appeared upon the end of the vinde, scrabbling his way up the side of the pillar. Char caught his paw and helped him up.

"Thanks," Saura breathed. "This… place is a real workout…"

A few more seconds passed, and Lily's vines came up from the abyss. Ray and Prince climbed them and made their way onto the solid surface.

Once everyone was on top, the group took a well-deserved breather.

"Tough…" Lily gasped, dizzied from the weight of so many Pokémon tugging on her vines. "I could go for an Elixir right now… Phew…"

"Indeed, yes," Prince replied, clinging to the round surface with all of his limbs. "I don't know what being or force of nature could design a passageway so cruel…"

"Hmm, maybe a bird?" Ray offered. "This place looks like part of Team Silverwing's rooms. Especially this perch we're standing on."

"Perhaps…" Scythe replied. "However… I'm not convinced we've seen the extent of this place. I think, if we were to continue this same pace for… roughly half the time we've been climbing, we'd emerge into a larger chamber."

"Why do you say that?" Prince asked.

"KAAAIIIIIIAAAAAHHH!"

Startling everyone half to death, and almost causing Char to leap right off of the pillar, Scythe let a menacing screech into the air.

As the team was collectively left speechless, the sound returned to them.

"aaiii – aiii – aiii – aii…"

Prince sent the Scyther a sneering glare, but then nodded thoughtfully. "Good acoustics," he said. "Yes, it sounds like an expansive space. Unfortunately, that doesn't bode well for us in this darkness. In a cramped cave, we can light the way and see any immediate dangers. In an open space… danger could come from any direction, and we'd never see it."

"Yes…" Scythe replied. "I suppose, then… it's time to use a luminous orb. Char, come and dig one out of this bag."

"No need!" Ray replied. "We have two of them in ours! Here…"

Very carefully setting his bag upon the sloped surface of the sideways pillar, Ray began rustling through Team Ember's supplies and soon produced an orb.

"Like Scythe says, try not to look down, okay?" he warned before commanding the orb to activate.

A blinding blast of yellow light, bright as the morning sun, exploded from the glassy sphere. Magically, the sphere lifted itself from Ray's claws, hovering in air for a few moments while the light continued to increase in intensity. Char wanted to watch in fascination, but he found that his eyes would not let him look straight into it.

The brilliant orb shot into the air like a firework and seemed to explode, dispelling the shadows of the cave and flooding every little darkened corner with visibility. In no time, the dungeon looked much like the Gold Division base shining in the glory of all its ghost torches, except without any visible light source. Strangely, no rock or Pokémon seemed to cast a shadow anymore; everything was evenly lit with the gently pulsing yellow light.

After the orb activated, the team had no trouble keeping themselves from looking down…their awed eyes were drawn to what lay above.

A huge chamber, just about as large as the meeting hall in the Gold Division, opened from the tiny hallway. Though it was not completely visible from the angle he stood, the grandeur of the great cave was perfectly clear to Char. He could see some of the room's features – more pillars, some stone fixtures – but something about the great expanse of space did not sit well with him. Something was off. He tilted his head, careful not to lose his footing, and considered the image his eyes perceived.

"It's… sideways," he realized.

"Sideways?" Saura replied, craning his head similarly.

"Yeah… look. The pillars. They're running from wall to wall, just like this one we're standing on. It's a whole temple, or something… tilted on its side. The place we just climbed up must be an access hall… but it's also sideways. That's why we had to go up."

"Hmm… an impressive spatial anomaly," Prince remarked. "Now you're starting to see what happens when the fabric of space becomes sufficiently corrupted. The deeper-level Mystery Dungeons can become deeply disturbing places. Let us… investigate, shall we?"

After a few more minutes, the team managed to ascend to the lip of the great chamber, and its full beauty opened up to them. Twelve ornately-sculpted pillars ran from wall to wall in two rows, like monkey bars for a giant. Between the rows of pillars, there was some kind of middle procession lane, complete with the remnants of a long, bright-red carpet which appeared like a crumbling painting against the vertical floor. Char could only begin to guess at the building's origin and purpose as he walked with his team across the horizontal wall. Though the chamber was showing some wear, it looked like it was built recently; Char had certainly seen ruins and dungeons that showed many more signs of age.

"Anyone recognize this place yet?" Lily called. "I've never been in a place like this, sideways or not."

"Nor have I…" Prince replied, scrutinizing his surroundings. "At first, it reminded me of some architecture from the destroyed Emerald Division, but no… this is something else."

"This rock looks similar to that from the previous floor," Scythe noted. "This floor could be a continuation of the previous. We could be inside the mountain."

"Guys, look!" Saura cried. "Look up there! On the wall!"

At first, it was something hard to notice – it had been obscured from sight by all of the sideways pillars. But after the team had marched a good length of the room and the pillars were beginning to disperse from sight… the focal point of the room became obvious.

A dusty bronze statue of Groudon, the earthen Pokémon, hung from the wall above. With normal gravity, it would have sat upon the ground at the end of the chamber, but here it precariously hung sideways, secured by nothing but a massive metal dais which looked like a picture frame. It lingered above the team, as though it might suddenly detach from the wall and come crashing down upon the Pokémon.

"The Temple of Groudon," Scythe uttered. "It exists far to the east. I've never been there, but some members of my team have been… At least, I am only assuming this is the same temple."

Char wandered a few steps forward, trying to get a better view of the sculpture through the gaps between the pillars.

"With our luck, the statue is going to come alive and we'll have to battle it," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Good thinking," Scythe replied, halfway sarcastically. "Groudon is a ground-type Pokémon. Leaf attacks would work best against it, so you and Saura would be our key fighters."

"Or… we could use another item," Ray said. "No reason orbs can't work on legendary Pokémon. We'll petrify him or confuse him or something. Even if we have to use a few Reviver Seeds, we should be able to take him…"

"Not entirely true," Prince noted. "I've fought a few legendary Pokémon in my time. Some of them are able to disrupt the power of a wonder orb. I believe it is because a legendary's psychic presence trumps mine. If I ask the orb to activate, the legend will ask it to belay my order, and my command will be drowned out."

"Yeah, but you can still throw seeds at it," Lily added. "We found that out back when… wow, how long was that ago? We had to fight a Heatran in that one mineshaft dungeon. Rolla was there, and Iel too, I think…"

"…W-wait, hold on a minute," Ray stuttered. "If we're fighting a legendary Pokémon, our orbs might not work?"

"That's what we said, yes," Prince answered.

"Well, what about the Escape Orbs?"

"Those, too," Prince said. "Unfortunate, but true. If you want to get out with your life at the cost of your belongings, activate your rescue emblem. Otherwise… you can't back down from the fight."

The truth seemed to strike Ray as surprising, judging from his blank stare at the Groudon statue. "Wow, I did not know that," he replied. "Fighting a legendary is already really tough, but you can't run away from them? That's… that's scary."

*Thump.*

The ground briefly shook, rattling some pebbles from the floor. The team silenced their banter, shooting glances everywhere.

"It came from above," Scythe reported, a worried gleam in his eye. "From the statue, I believe."

*Crackle.*

More vibrations came. The sound of rock against rock reverberated through the expansive chamber.

Ray's body began shaking. "Um… I'm going to get our seeds ready!" he decided, static sparkling on his fur. "Hmm, can't we use that Speed Brace? Can I use it? If Groudon is a grounded Pokémon, I won't be able to help very much… Wait, don't we have seeds that can turn us invisible?"

"Quiet," Scythe barked to him, his gaze intense and focused. "Let's first see what we're dealing with…"

*Awwwwwwwr!*

The deep, grumbling sigh of a beast came forth, its source unmistakably the looming statue. It sounded like a monster waking up, its quiet sleep disturbed by banter and bright light.

"…But a Speed Brace would help," Scythe decided, slipping the backpack from his limbs without lowering his gaze. "Take it out. Quickly."

*Rumble-rattle…*

*SMACK!*

In the blink of an eye, a large boulder plummeted from somewhere up above and struck the ground with a thunderous clamor, eliciting a collective gasp from the six Pokémon. Several rocks had fallen, actually, as though a chain-reaction avalanche had occurred near the base of the statue...

…As Char stared at those rocks, he noticed that they were, in fact, connected.

And they moved.

A pair of eyes opened upon them.

"Onix," Lily breathed. "It's just an Onix."

"So it is," Prince replied. "And to think we were all worried for a moment…"

The rock Pokémon twitched, uncoiling itself from the knot it had fallen into. Shaking its head and reorienting itself from the fall, it immediately noticed the intruders and reared up into a battle stance.

Though it looked rather intimidating, Char had taken down larger Onix by himself, not to mention a Steelix. He stood confidently, knowing it posed no real threat to the team.

"Saura," Scythe ordered. "Prepare to fire seeds. Lily, charge a sunbeam attack. We will—"

*CRACKKKK-*

A sudden, intense earthquake took the Scyther's breath away. Char looked downward, noticing a series of deep fissures forming in the chamber wall underneath, until…

*Crick!*

A large chunk of the stone, about double the size of a Graveler, rose straight from the floor and levitated in midair. Char balked at the sight, and backed away a few steps…

*Crick!*

*Crick!*

*Crick!*

More large slabs rose from the crumbling surface underfoot, leaving behind oddly-shaped gouges beneath them. Char watched as they rose far past his eye level, shifting apart…

…Until about six of the giant rocks encircled the team. The Onix emitted a grumbling, cocky laugh. The horn on its forehead shimmered with white power.

"This." Prince growled in disgust. "This dirty trick…"

"W—Whats going on?" Saura cried, cowering away from all of the rocks. "What's it doing?"

"Do not approach the rocks," Prince warned. "If you try to approach them, they will fly at you and cause heavy damage. But if you stand still, they won't hurt you. Oh, by the gods… I hate this technique. Hate it. Brings back dreadful memories of dungeons where every Pokémon used it…"

"Thankfully, he's immune to rock damage now," Lily mentioned to Char and Saura, rolling her eyes. "Doesn't have to worry about it anymore."

"Yes… but the sight of it still makes my heart run cold with revulsion," Prince growled. "Char… come with me, let us teach the Onix not to attack with stealth-rocks. The rest of you… stay as still as you can."

Char dropped to all fours. "Alright," he replied. "Just say when."

Char felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to see Ray standing beside him, holding something which looked like a thick, awkward belt reinforced with a copper-colored metal band.

"Quick, put this on!" he offered. "It's a 'Speed Brace'. It'll help you battle."

Char stood up again, accepting the object. "Thanks…" he muttered, slipping the object over his head and wiggling it past his arms. He pulled a strap, fastening it snugly to his torso. Immediately, a sickening feeling came over him, as though all the blood in his body had become twice as saturated and thick.

Char shook his head, warding off a dizzy spell. It felt as though he'd been momentarily suffocated.

"R….. eeee… aaaaaaady…." Prince called. "Chaaaaaarr?"

It took Char a minute to understand what was happening. He'd used Evasion Orbs before, which helped him to dodge enemy attacks… but he'd never used an item that boosted his speed. It made the rest of the world seem to slow down! Glancing around, it appeared as though his friends were limply adrift underwater. Sounds became difficult to tell apart; the world around him emitted what resembled the dull roar of a furnace. It was as surreal as a dream.

I don't like the way this makes my stomach feel, Char told himself, but this could be a very useful item. Let's see what I can do to that Onix!

Nodding in Prince's direction, making an effort to do so slowly so Prince would perceive the message correctly, Char dropped to the ground and dashed between the floating rocks. As fast as he was, Char couldn't outrun them… they instantly moved to catch up with him, slamming together to crush Char from both sides. Char, of course, didn't feel a thing thanks to Prince's mysterious power of immunity, and the rocks soon parted to let him advance.

Char carefully approached the Onix, whose expression turned to a startled one. He almost chuckled to himself at the irony. Very slowly, the monster shifted its weight and uncoiled its tail. Char saw the attack coming with ease, and merely stepped back a bit to watch as strand of rocks sailed harmlessly past his face.

Gotcha, Char thought to himself as he sprinted toward the beast, who had yet to recover from the recoil of its own attack. The Charmander's claws began to glow, remembering the technique he had learned just for a situation like this one. Taking aim, he swiped at the beast's face with metal-infused claws.

The Onix jerked away with unexpected speed, and the attack connected with one of its body segments. A series of impressive gouges was left behind, but the beast's rock-hard skin hadn't been pierced.

Hmm, Char realized, focusing energy in his claws and rearing up to strike again. I guess I can't overestimate my own speed. Enemies can still move pretty quickly when they need to…

Taking aim a little more carefully this time, and anticipating the creature's dodge, Char pounced with gleaming claws… or, at least he tried to, but his feet seemed frozen to the floor.

Looking down, Char found that his body was wrapped in the coils of the Onix, and he hadn't even felt it.

Ugh… no! Char scolded himself, slamming his metal claws against the thick, rock hide of the Onix. Why did I not watch its tail? Why did I think I was too fast for it?

He wiggled, wormed, and lashed at the rock beast with tooth and claw, but the bind did not budge.

*Booooom…*

The dull roar of thunder erupted, the sound of an explosion slow to reach Char's ears. Char glanced up to see Prince's skillful attack, leaping and slamming a flattened hand against the beast's face. While the karate-chop did not shatter the Onix's head, it caused the monster to falter and fall. Char felt the stony coils weakening around his body, and leaped to freedom as soon as it was possible.

Well… I know one thing that works, Char told himself. Maybe this will work just as well as it did against the Steelix!

While the Onix's head was still dipping down from the blow Prince delivered, Char pounced, grasping tightly onto its horn. After a few seconds slowly passed, the Onix tried to recover, rearing back into the air and taking Char with him. Char carefully balanced himself with the snake's movements and kept himself secure.

As he wondered if the Onix even knew he was there, Char took a moment to consider his next move. He knew his fiery fangs weren't going to melt the beast's shell this time, but wondered if perhaps something else would work. He wondered if trying to break off the beast's horn was a good idea.

Then, he heard his name called.

Char didn't really know how he heard it; the voices spoke so slowly that he had no idea who was speaking. It seemed more like someone had called his name long ago, and he had just now realized it. Regardless, Char turned his attention to his other teammates who were still cowering in the middle of the treacherous floating rocks.

Ray. He was trying to get Char's attention. He was pointing to the bag.

He had found something. An item. He was holding it.

Still carefully clutching the horn and shifting his weight with the Onix's motions, Char took the time to squint and ask himself what Ray held. It was small, metallic. Like a metallic spike.

An Iron Thorn! Yes! He remembered slaying rock beasts with those. He had become adept at using them as daggers. They easily cut through the hides of rock Pokémon if he could connect with his attacks. He nodded to Ray, signaling to toss the object over, and Ray obliged.

It took Char a moment to realize that Ray had not exactly followed his command. No… Ray had hurled the spike, pointy-end-forward, straight at him. It was coming pretty fast, fast enough that Char wondered if he could catch it out of midair…

But then he had a better idea. Still holding on tight, Char flung his body from the side of the Onix's head. Feeling the body of the Onix vibrating as it roared in rage, he weighed the monster down to the side, causing it to lean... right into the exact trajectory of the thrown dart.

The thorn sank into the Onix's left eye.

Char tried to reach up, to retrieve the weapon and use it for himself, but the beast thrashed powerfully and Char decided to let go. He tumbled onto the ground and backed away as fast as he could crawl, the Onix now squirming wildly in pain. He watched as Prince jumped to launch a second attack upon the incapacitated monster, wrangling it to the ground and giving it several great blows to the head. After twitching a couple of times, the monster lay motionless; it was out cold.

*RUUUUUUMMMMMMMMBLE…*

In slow motion, the floating rocks all rattled to the ground and became harmless. Char felt the shockwaves of pressure they caused, and soon, everything was still.

Char felt something on his shoulder. Ray was there. He looked concerned. Very concerned.

"What?" Char replied. "I'm fine!"

Ray indicated the object which Char was wearing. The Speed Brace.

"Hey, I think I like this," Char said, grasping it possessively. "Can't I keep it on for a while?"

Ray sternly shook his head. He extended his paws to help Char remove the accessory.

"Fine, fine…" Char grumbled, fumbling with the strap and trying to get it to loosen. "I can do it myself. Here…"

*Slump*

The moment he loosened the belt and deactivated its effect, all of the feeling in Char's body disappeared. He fell limply to the floor, the brace still looped around his torso.

"Char, you can't wear a Speed Brace for more than a few minutes!" Ray admonished him, slipping the powerful item over the Charmander's arms and head. "It makes you sick!"

"SSick…" Char muttered with his numb mouth, feeling all of his limbs begin to tingle. He did feel slightly nauseous, but it didn't feel like motion sickness to him. It felt like the world was simply moving too fast for him to handle.

Scythe's blade slid into the brace, lifting it from Ray's clutches. "Mentally sick," the Scyther said. "More precisely, it's addicting. A Pokémon who wears one for too long will forget how to properly survive the normal flow of time. You become too used to the world running at a fourth of the speed it's supposed to… it becomes a great hindrance to your reflexes and your basic motor skills. Speed Braces are only to be used sparingly, and only when other Pokémon are around to separate them from you by force if necessary."

With a weak grunt, Char found the strength to climb back to his feet. Still feeling very out of place, he settled for standing on all fours. His heart pounded so fast, it felt as though his body was going to burst. He felt his ember burning dimly.

"Wow," he finally breathed, managing to stand again. "It was intense…"

The team picked themselves up from the scene of the battle and continued to explore the grand, sideways temple. For a few minutes, Char felt a vaguely familiar clumsiness about him, like the feel of being trapped in a body that was not his own. At first he had a little trouble walking, even on four legs, but he shortly regained his rhythm shortly.

"I once knew a Pokémon who decided he wanted to wear a Speed Brace permanently," Scythe spoke in a dark tone, handing the item to Prince. "He had trouble speaking, but he proved an asset to my force, and so at first I supported his decision. However, before the end of the second month, he came to me and told me that he wanted to visit a place where time did not flow at all. The next day, I found that he had taken his own life."

Char cringed at the thought, imagining the scenario vividly in his mind.

Prince slung the powerful belt around his arm, holding it safely for the time being. "That was back when you worked for the Master, wasn't it?" he said inquisitively. "I remember you were telling me that story long ago, back when I still worked at the Gold Division…"

"Indeed…" Scythe sighed. "I told you the story when Alakazam had offered to let us use one on the Cane mission. It might have been the same one you're now holding, since he placed that one in the bag himself. But yes… I fear those things. The power of the gods is not something to be taken lightly by mortals."

"Heh… Power of the gods, huh?" Lily laughed. "That's what you call it? It's that bad?"

Scythe glared at her for a moment. "It is not a joke. A Speed Brace is crafted with a shard of Dialga's true power. Each one contains the grain of a fallen scale from the dragon's body itself, coated heavily with spells to draw out its power."

"It is said of the Pokémon who invented the device, that she did not understand how it worked," Prince added. "She merely discovered that by casting an awakening spell upon a relic of Dialga, her perception of time became blurred whenever she would hold it. Even though she could not comprehend the effect, she built an instrument to utilize its power anyway."

"So… it actually lets you control time," Char spoke, still feeling like his body wasn't moving correctly. "That's why it felt so unnatural…"

"Because you are not Dialga, you can't comprehend what you were doing with the power," Scythe told him. "Because it was not meant for you. That is a hard lesson for anyone who seeks power without understanding its nature. The Speed Brace is not even a power most Pokémon require. In pulses, I can already fly faster than most eyes can see. I don't need a soul-consuming device to make me faster."

"Wow. Pretty deep," Lily replied, laughing nervously. "Well! I think that's killed any chance of me ever trying one on for myself. I already have one godlike power to my name, I don't need another one, thank you very much."

"Th—" Saura gasped.

Char stopped walking. He turned to Saura, and found his best friend trailing a few steps back. Tears were building at the sides of his eyes.

"That—," he tried to say. He shut his eyes tightly, rubbing his forehead against the ground. Char knew his headache was acting up.

"Saura… what is it?" Char asked him, afraid to give him a hug. "Are you okay?"

"That's what you said, isn't it?" Saura replied, blinking the tears away and trying to fight the headache. "Or, that's what your vision of me said… in the dream. Mortals can't understand time…"

"Y…yes…" Char said, frozen with a momentary sense of shock. "That… that's right."

Char didn't quite know what else to say. Saura looked upset at him, or upset at himself. Either way, it looked like he was struggling with pain. A quiet moment of tension settled over them, as Char tried to ask himself what it meant.

"Heh… I guess maybe the vision was trying to tell you something after all," Saura said, shrugging. "I'm sorry if I doubted you. Let's keep going."

"Saura… are you going to be okay?"

"Don't worry about me," Saura replied flatly. "I just… don't like this place. Let's just keep going, okay?"

Char opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came to him. Saura walked past him.

… … …

"Check everything again!" Scythe ordered. "I'll fly and explore the opposite end of the room. Check all the walls again. Temples such as this usually have a hidden passageway."

About half an hour had passed. The team found themselves walking circles around the same temple hall, combing the room for any clues or secret openings. The Onix never did wake up again, but Char thought he saw it squirming sometimes, and the stairs were nowhere to be seen. He realized how much more challenging the battle would have been, not to mention the rest of the room, without the Luminous Orb having been used.

Save for the wreckage around the Onix, the scenery itself was bland and featureless; the true floor of the room, which was attached to the wall like a giant tapestry, was much more interesting with its royal red rug and the miniature statues of ground-type Pokémon worshiping the legend.

"Isn't that a door up there?" Saura noted. "Since the room is sideways, wouldn't the exit be on the ceiling, since we came from the floor?"

"That is not a door," Scythe grumbled. "It's an alcove where a statue should be. But if there is a door up there, I will find one. Stay here, and don't do anything stupid. I'll be right back."

"Hey, wait…" Ray said, touching his chin.

Scythe had opened his wings already, but he hadn't taken off. "What is it?" he demanded.

"Um… how about we just use a Stairs Orb?"

"Alakazam packed none of those," Scythe told him. "Are you telling me that you have one in your bag?"

"Yes!" Ray exclaimed. "I packed one of those too. It helped us through Pinpoint Valley once when we were going in circles like this. Since we had a leftover one, I packed it."

Scythe looked relieved. "By all means, Ray. Use the orb."

"Hmm… I'm impressed with you, little Raichu…" Prince said as Ray dug into the bag. "You've seemed to come very prepared. Are you the designated items specialist on Char's team?"

"Not… really…" Ray muttered, feeling around inside of the sack. "Since I'm the strongest Pokémon, I've always had to hold the item bag on missions, so I got used to using a lot of items… Hmm, that's funny. The Luminous Orb lit the inside of the bag, too. Okay, here!"

Ray yanked the shiny sphere from the sack. Char thought it looked larger than most other orbs he'd seen, but figured it was probably just a trick of the light. Ray clutched it with both hands and began speaking telepathically to it.

The orb shot out of his paws, blasting off like a cannonball.

*Ching!*

It crashed directly into the head of the Groudon statue, shattering apart. The shards sounded musical as they fell to the floor.

"…The statue." Scythe said, rubbing his forehead on his blade. "I should have known. There's a secret passage under the statue. Or behind it, from this point of view."

"Now just don't step on the broken glass this time, Char," Ray said. "Last time we used one, Char got a shard stuck in his foot…"

"Question," Lily said. "Apart from bringing the statue to life, and trying to battle it… how are we going to move it?"

"Good question," Prince replied. "Does anyone know how to perform a Hyper Beam?"

"I… used to," Scythe said. "I have not used that technique since Team Remorse was founded. I have since forgotten…"

"Break the wall," Char suggested. "Prince, try to smash the wall like you did the mountainside. Maybe it'll trigger another avalanche and bring the statue down."

"I'd rather not," Prince answered. "Even if I wore the Speed Brace, I don't think I'd be able to get out of the way before it falls on me. And that thing's not made of stone… it's made of metal. It would be another Reviver Seed gone. Ray? Can you suggest any more items that might help us?"

"Maybe…" Ray started. "If we—"

There was a faint sound.

It resembled a windstorm. A tornado. It overtook the entire chamber for just a few seconds, as though a sudden breeze whooshed through a faraway corridor.

Every Pokémon in the room froze at the sound, and then it ended, just as quickly.

"Um… what was that?" Char wondered, breaking the awkward silence.

Char glanced at his teammates. Saura, Ray, and Lily all appeared just as confused as he.

Prince and Scythe, on the other hand… appeared to be breaking into a cold sweat. Panic could be seen in their eyes.

Somehow… Char instantly began to dread that sound.

"Oh… oh gods," Scythe breathed. "No, no, no. No…"

"What? What?" Char stammered.

"You… don't want to know what that was," Prince uttered. "I'm being honest. You do not want to know."

"Wait… how do you know what that is?" Lily asked, looking over her shoulder as though trying to find the source of the sound. "You've never been in this dungeon before, have you?"

"It's… a sound which every dungeon explorer hears eventually," Prince said. "Something's stirring. We have to get to that staircase now. Scythe? Any ideas?"

"Yes," Scythe said. "I wear a Mobile Scarf and fly through the statue. I then use a Rollcall Orb and bring the rest of you behind the statue with me. We proceed from there."

"That will be our last Rollcall Orb, you know," Prince warned him. "We cannot abuse that strategy any longer. If we run out of those… we must stay together as a team from now on. If just one of us gets trapped, they would run out all of our Reviver Seeds before we could rescue them."

"If we wait around here any longer, our Reviver Seeds will be useless!" Scythe shouted. "We have no choice. Ray, Char, or someone. Find our last Rollcall Orb and place it on the very top, so I may be able to activate it. Someone else, tie a Mobile Scarf on me. We must move!"

Scythe's plan worked without a hitch, and soon, Char and his friends were teleported into the ridiculously cramped chamber behind the bronze statue. The staircase to the next floor was in full view, with no tricks or traps standing in their way.

Char could only begin to wonder what Scythe and Prince were so scared of. He wondered what kind of danger was chasing them this time.


Temporal Tower 6F

A minute after ascending the stairs, the team overlooked a long, brutal cliff into dark nothingness. The walls were lined with broken ladders and bent support beams all the way down – like an abandoned mineshaft, it seemed. Some of the rocks in the walls were luminescent, emitting a soft blue glow. Scythe heaved a huge sigh, commenting that his wings were growing tired, and he began brainstorming for ways to descend the pit.

And then Char pointed out that the stairs to the next floor were right behind them.

"Yes, it happens sometimes," Prince said, joining everyone in a nervous, yet relieved chuckle. "Even in places like this, it happens sometimes."

Instead of continuing to the next floor, the team unanimously decided a short breather would be good. Prince punched the rocks in the hallway that led to the abyss, causing a minor avalanche which closed them in a cozy little room so that no Pokémon would bother them. The blue glow-rocks upon the walls mixed with the orange and red light of the fire Pokémon, setting an atmosphere not unlike a seaside sunset.

"Okay, so tell us," Char insisted as Prince poked around in the bag for elixirs. "What was that windy noise? Why were we running away from it?"

"To be perfectly honest," Prince grunted, "Nobody knows. Nobody has been able to see it. Ah, there are five Max Elixirs in here. Alakazam did pack well. Also, if anyone's hungry, we can cut into the last apple…"

"See what?" Saura pressed, just as interested as Char. "What does it do? Does it kill you?"

"It is a force," Scythe explained, sitting against a wall. "An invisible force. If it touches you… you pass out instantly. The Reviver Seeds cannot counteract it. They are powerless to save you. That… is all we know about it."

"It tends to come when you spend extended periods of time on a single floor of a Mystery Dungeon," Prince continued, uncapping a jar of Elixir and eying its contents. "But you can always hear it coming. Sometimes, it sounds like a whirlwind. Other times, it sounds like an earthquake."

"Hmm… I've heard about it, but that's the first time I've ever heard it myself," Lily said. "Which is weird. I've spent long times in dungeons before, and I've never heard… well, whatever it is."

"Remember what it sounds like, and always run for the stairs when you hear it," Prince told her, offering her a drink. "If you can't make it to the stairs, use an Escape Orb. It's that simple."

"I've heard an interesting theory about the mysterious force," Scythe said, staring at the ceiling. "According to some, the wind, and the quake… are the sounds of the Mystery Dungeon changing shapes. The dungeons are different every time you enter them… they change shape when nobody is looking. If you happen to be caught inside a floor when it changes shape… the dungeon brutally rejects you."

"That is a theory I personally reject, but Pokémon are allowed to hold it," Prince said. "I've had my men go into dungeons at almost the same time and have experienced different floor layouts. I highly doubt the mysterious force is the cause of the dungeons changing. It's simply something we can't yet understand with our knowledge of the Mystery Dungeon curse."

"My teammates have claimed to have witnessed spatial distortions before their eyes," Scythe retorted. "We were once trapped in a dungeon when we felt the earthquake coming. Since we had no way to escape, I told my teammates to watch and try to perceive what happens. Although I myself saw nothing, both Markov and Brock claimed to see the dungeon walls shifting and growing before blacking out."

"But you cannot be sure what they witnessed was not a dream, once they had lost consciousness," Prince insisted. "No offense to your team, but you're one of the most perceptive Pokémon I know. If you saw nothing, that's good enough evidence against their case."

Scythe gave an indifferent shrug to the comment. Prince continued to sift through the bag's contents, and he soon lifted the final remaining Golden Apple, which he set upon the sand-covered floor. Char's eyes fell upon it instantly. He was starting to get hungry. Though he convinced himself to hold out for a few more floors, the twinge of hunger had certainly flickered to life down in his belly.

"Oh, Char…," Prince said. "Before I forget, I had something I wanted to show you."

Char reluctantly tore his eyes from the shining apple to find that Prince was untying something. He was opening the small brown pouch which hung from his belt.

That! Char thought to himself, suddenly very interested. He's been hiding something in there since we left Rayquaza's Clutch!

Prince's fingers struggled a bit to unloop the tiny knots in the twine. Char knew that this pouch was something Prince rarely opened. He realized it must be something of grave importance, great power, to constantly keep it hidden from sight as such…

At last, Prince yanked open the small, sagging pouch… He hesitated for a moment, lending an affectionate gaze to what lie within, before lifting it up for the world to see.

Prince held in his palms a sphere-shaped object, made of unblemished, lustrous glass. Within the sphere, suspended at its very center, there existed… a streak of light. It emitted a soft, hypnotizing, icy-blue radiance, as if a perpetual bolt of lightning had been captured and petrified within the glass.

No… not lighting.

Fire.

It was fire, Char realized. A beautiful, ethereal tongue of white-blue fire stood within the center of the orb. Although it produced light, the flame did not burn, flicker, or dance… it simply existed, perfectly still, eternally frozen in the shape of a baby ice-phoenix yearning for rebirth.

The light was warm and welcoming to Char's eyes, somehow. Its glow was like the mark left on the eye after staring into the sun for too long.

It was an item of such simple, eloquent beauty, Char could not help but revere it. He turned to Saura, and noticed both he and Ray were just as captivated by the object as he was, a silvery sheen sparkling in their eyes as they beheld it.

"This… is the 'frozen flame'," Prince announced, "or so I like to call it. This is what grants me, and Char by extension, invincibility from rocks."

"It's pretty…" Saura admitted. "What is it?"

"It's… an object I found in a dungeon long, long ago, a dungeon known as the 'Destiny Abyss'," Prince explained, turning the orb in his hand and admiring it. "It is a 'Fiery Globe', a legendarily rare object which has been previously documented to exist, though only about three of them have ever been found… so I was stricken with the most humbling sense of awe when I stumbled upon it just sitting in the corner of a Mystery Dungeon. However… something is different about this one. Fiery Globes are known to be red in color, and have the property of protecting fire-type Pokémon within a certain radius from being harmed by water. If you had one, Char, you could easily go swimming in the sea, as your flame would continue to burn even underneath the water.

"But this one… I can only imagine that it was altered by the severe spatial anomalies of the Abyss, for it does not protect against water. It does, however, protect against damage from rocks. I suppose I cannot complain…"

Char smiled, his eyes glimmering in the frozen firelight. The sight of this simple orb brought warmth and comfort to his heart.

"Is it fragile?" Saura asked. "That glass looks so thin. Will the fire disappear if you break it?"

"I don't know," Prince admitted. "And no, it does not break easily. Even though the glass looks like a water-bubble, and it's not that heavy, it seems to be very solid. I've dropped it on the floor a few times and it has yet to even gain a dent, although I have not tried to destroy it on purpose. Here, Char. Want to hold it?"

Char accepted the sphere into his claws carefully as he would handle a newborn hatchling. He stared intently into the ghostly, motionless streak of light. He guided his claws over its nearly-transparent surface, and felt nothing. The surface was so frictionless, its touch was like a gentle gust of wind across his hands…

"That's probably the most awesome item I've ever seen…" Ray said solemnly. "You're very lucky to have found it."

"As far as the rare, magical items out there, there are better," Prince said. "I'd have preferred to get my hands on a real Fiery Globe, personally. But yes… I am lucky, especially since a number of Fire-types served on my team back in the day and were able to utilize the globe's effect… Ahh, and it did bring me such strength and confidence to wield. In fact, it was soon after I returned from the Destiny Abyss with this item, that I founded the Silver Division… which I, admittedly, named after the color of this globe."

Scythe scoffed.

"You've never told me that before," he said with a coughing laugh. "Your Silver Division was named after that?"

"Seemed appropriate enough, at the time," Prince returned. "It still does, in fact. A tiny tongue of fire which refuses to die, despite being encased in glass and infused with the color of ice, bringing strength and hope to those who fight…"

"Fair enough, I suppose," Scythe sighed. "It has gotten us this far, after all…"

Even after Prince had dropped the Frozen Flame back into his pouch and secured the tiny knots again, Char could still see a silvery fire when he closed his eyes.

*Chapter 62*: Chapter 44, Part 5

Chapter 44

Part 5

I peered into the future of creation
A future with no definition
A future without existence
A future I was tasked to construct
for every life, and any possibility…

And I pondered, for many eternities,
how it would work.
How the force called "time" should behave.

I asked my heart what it wanted,
and in judging its responses,
I crafted my vision…

And at my consent,
with a bow of my head,
"time" was molded to my will.

I designed the system
with creatures in mind.
As they would swim in its currents,
they should not feel confused, or afraid
unable to comprehend how their actions
would affect their existence.
Their lives needed to be consistent,
and I wished for them to feel comfortable.
Secure.

Yet, I wished not for time to constrain.
It should allow freedom.
It should be bent, broken, defied…
under the proper conditions.

And so…
By my decision, "time" was tied
into my brother's gravity wells,
the great forces of cohesion he had created
to bind particles together in space.
Thus, for creatures living
upon the surface of the spherical planets,
Time would move slowly and comprehensibly…
whilst up above, in the vast voids of space
eons would pass
as the stars and planets would circle.

And for the mortals,
time became easy to perceive
simple to swallow, digest, and remember:
An action in the present changes the future
And the past lives in memory.

And so, as time flowed in many directions
with all its continuities and intricacies
incomprehensible to all but one,
To mortals, it could be seen
as a line, a straightforward chain
of cause and effect.

And for the gods,
the brothers whom I looked in the eye,
time remained contained,
trivial to meddle with,
to enter and leave,
to modify, and to manage
unbeknownst to the mortals.

When I had finished
I appraised my work.
I saw how the hearts of creatures
both mortal and eternal
were pleased…

And so, too, became mine.


Another floor had passed, but recent memories seemed as distant as fading dreams. The void between floors, with its every-colored collage of light, distorted any remaining perception of time's passing and made the staircase climb feel like a months-long journey up a mountain's trail.

Though healed and well-rested enough from their recent rest stop, Char had long since grown mentally weary. As far as he was concerned, he'd spent a year or two in the confines of this brutal, treacherous tower; any longer, and he felt the dungeon might would become the only reality he would know. To keep the insanity held off, he allowed his mind to reach backward through his memories and cycle through all those past experiences he held dear… all those times, mere weeks before, when things felt so much simpler, and he was just happy to be a Charmander and to be alive. Though they burned as faintly as a candle in a snowstorm, he could still feel all those happy memories somewhere back there: times when his only enemy was a nameless, faceless menace he would never meet in person, times when he was surrounded by his friends and allies in the thousands who would quell all his insecurities and aid him through the difficulties of his new world… memories of his friendship with Saura, and his deep, almost instinctual pride of his good reputation and his many victories as a resistance team leader.

He wondered, for a moment: where had those days gone?

They were swallowed, he knew, by the threads of fate. Ambera could not remain content to leave a Charmander with a human soul to his own designs, especially one such Charmander with the power to brainwash and command armies with his mind. He knew, no matter how far he could run or wherever he might hide, the eternal power struggle and the battle for Ambera's freedom would find him and capture him. As it already had. This Scyther he trusted and followed, as well as his Infernape companion, would not take "no" for an answer. Their entire lives, their countless emotions and motives spanning down to the cores of their beings, hinged on his survival and the success of his mission. And there was nothing he could do to stop it, nothing but to comply with their demands. And even then, if all went well and Dialga answered his Call, he wondered if he would forever be a puppet of fate, a source of power to be coveted and used against his will.

To answer the question, he had to look no farther than at Lily, the previous soul unfortunate enough to be cursed with his terrible power. She had never found respite from her tragedies; even with the memory of the Emerald Division's destruction haunting her so, a disaster which she was partially responsible for, fate still found a way to call legions of corrupted ghost Pokémon upon her head and to inspire Lucario into evicting her from her home. She had never recovered from the past, and would likely never get the chance, if fate kept having its way.

But Scythe and Prince were not the only Pokémon at fault for taking his youth from him so quickly; Char knew, deep down, that the ultimate blame could be pinned onto nobody but himself. As he learned from experience, being a Charmander with a human's soul, especially one which spontaneously popped into existence in an unknown land with nothing but hazy memories of having met the gods of time and space, deeply disconcerted him. It itched, as one of those aggravating itches beneath the skin which cannot be scratched, not to know about his origin, or even his name. Though he greatly, deeply enjoyed being a Charmander and all of the power, freedom, and friends it afforded him, there was a tiny, nagging part of his heart which remained human and refused to give into a life of blissful ignorance. Even just knowing his own name, he felt, would bring him comfort he could barely fathom.

And then… there was the third Pokémon who tragically shared the destructive power of the Call. A third Pokémon who would never find peace and freedom… a Pokémon who would have to grow up too quickly, for his life would always be tainted with danger, disaster, and a broken heart… Saura.

Saura was not well. This much, Char knew. As the floors passed, Saura had grown distant, bitter, and perhaps most disturbingly, quiet. He was not taking the Watcher's curse well. Or he was not taking it well that he had the Call. Or both. Whatever medicine or spell that Gardevoir had given him to keep him bubbly and optimistic had proven to be very temporary, wearing off sometime soon after the Temporal Tower had been spotted on the horizon. For most of the dungeon floors, Char found himself walking and fighting beside a Bulbasaur he did not know, a Bulbasaur who probably despised him for ruining his life and dragging him away from his beloved family to the frozen ends of the earth.

What could he say to Saura? Char didn't know. Nothing seemed appropriate. "What's wrong?" seemed too presumptuous. "Are you feeling well?" seemed downright ignorant. Silence seemed best, even if it remained the awkward type of silence that made him feel empty and lonely, as he was still bursting with questions to ask and ideas to convey to the Pokémon who was once undoubtedly his best friend in the world. But if Saura wanted silence, then silence is what he would get; if it was the only way he could help, then so be it.

Even through this resignation, Char felt he had learned some grave, heartbreaking lesson about friendship. He remembered that fateful yet happy night in Zerferia when Saura had told his deepest secrets, his possession of the Call and his refusal to have his memories erased. It was one of the last nights he and Saura had shared in good terms. The funny thing was, he was so certain that the "real" Saura was back to stay that night, the Saura he was so able to freely share thoughts and feelings with. Saura had somehow convinced him that he'd overcome the worst of the Watcher's curse and was ready to be the same faithful, endearing friend he had always been, standing with him until the tower's last steps, until the last ember would fade. But within days, the "real" Saura had vanished again, leaving their friendship broken and forgotten…

The heart wants good things to stay the same, Char realized, yet the universe never stops changing. Time brings change, and change is the nature of the universe…

"Time does not work the way you think it works," the words repeated in his mind. "Mortals have not the capacity to understand time. Past and present are lies…"

Lily was the one to break the solemn silence, speaking the words Char couldn't bring himself to say.

"Are you going to be alright?" she offered to Saura, genuinely sorry for him.

Saura pawed at the stair-step and kept climbing. "I'll be alright when this tower is over with."

The Bulbasaur took a strained step up each stair, as though the seed planted upon his back had come to weigh as much as a Venusaur's tree. Yet he kept marching forward, his face stoic as a martyr on the way to his execution…

"How high is this tower, again?" Saura grumbled, staring into the opaque white light which encased the stairwell.

"Twenty-four floors, or at least that is what Legend told me, which he read in a book somewhere," Prince replied, the thrill of the adventure long since gone from his voice. "You might remember it as the number of hours in a day. Well, at least you two would, Char and Lily… It slips my mind sometimes that the units of 'hours' and 'minutes' are not as popular among Pokémon as they are with humans…"

Prince trailed off, and a collective sigh rose from the team at the reminder that they were not even halfway to finding their answers.

"Oh, yes. Another thing," Prince spoke suddenly. "If it's any consolation, Legend suggested there might be a Kangaskhan statue on floor thirteen,"

Lily rolled her eyes. "So, a possible rest stop in, what, seven floors? What good will that do for us? Didn't we just stop to eat? Also, how the heck did a Kangaskhan statue make it in here, of all places?"

"Remember, we're not the first exploration team to scale Temporal Tower," Prince replied, his voice echoing oddly against the swirling curtains of light. "I wouldn't rule it out. Most likely some other team teleported the statue in here long ago. Besides… if there is indeed a Kangaskhan stone in here, it will temporarily dispel the Mystery Dungeon, and we will finally be able to witness what this tower is supposed to look like on the inside. That's enough to fascinate me."

"Alright, but still," Lily said. "I'm still not sure why this dungeon is here in the first place. I looked up to Dialga all my life; you'd think he'd take better care of his house."

After climbing a few more steps, Char noticed a subtle fading in the twinkle of the divine light.

"Now," Scythe barked, raising his blades to stop the Pokémon behind him. "We are approaching the next floor. Starting now, we will stay vigilant, tread carefully, battle efficiently, and there will be no separations, no mistakes. Above all, be ready for anything. It is already very clear to me that this tower is not to be trusted."

"Yes. Tell this tower who's boss," Prince mock-cheered. "Make it stop dealing us the difficult floors."

Scythe glared at him for a moment before disregarding his words. "This is the most important dungeon exploration of our lives, possibly of the history of Ambera as well; we are going to start acting like it and dealing with the challenges as professionals. Prince, you lead. Char, Saura, stay behind him. Closely. Lily, you watch Saura's back, and Ray, you follow Char. I will bring up the rear."

"As you wish," Prince replied with a subtle smile, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice this time. "In all honesty, you're right, Scythe. We have six Pokémon at our disposal and this dungeon has yet to give us a challenge greater than I've seen in the Destiny Abyss. Now, fall in line, and we will make floor seven wish it had never stood between us and Dialga."

With a few more steps up the stairs, the ethereal white glow of nothingness faded into something more tangible.


Temporal Tower 7F

When the team emerged onto the next floor, it was sadly dark again. Without a Luminous orb, the team was back to relying on Char and Prince for light. Scythe made a passing remark that he had forgotten how difficult dungeon exploration could be once his Charizard had left the team.

Aside from being dark, this floor smelled bad. The air was stuffy, moldy, and rotten, bringing back memories of Lucario's hideout beneath the Emerald Division. The ground was Pokémon-made, consisting of damp, slippery cobblestones. Water could be heard dripping from a ceiling somewhere into sizable puddles. Char held out his tail in front of his eyes, making dead sure not to trip and fall into one of them.

The path spanned a long, narrow corridor, one which happened to be perfectly square in shape. The ceiling was very low, and Odd racks hung from the wall – Char figured they were supposed to hold torches.

"It's a dungeon," Prince said, pressing a hand upon the wall and feeling the texture of the rocks. "As though to state the obvious, yes, this is a Mystery Dungeon. But this particular floor mimics that of a true dungeon, the namesake of the word. Dungeons are typically built underneath castles and fortresses, and they are built to hold prisoners of war for ransom… or torture. In the more civil times, the worst of society's criminals could be locked up in places like these, left to starve to death. Sadly… I have seen it happen with my own eyes. I remember… King Davious, my father's human master, would take many prisoners in times of war… and my father taught me how to negotiate with them. It is… ironic, how Lucario dwells within a place just like this. For the sake of security."

"That's not the true irony here," Scythe spoke, his deep voice bouncing down the walls. "I believe I… may… recognize this place."

"Really, now. Do you think?" Prince said with something like a smirk. "Is this a part of the Master's great stronghold?"

"I'm not sure, yet…" Scythe muttered. "It's bringing back memories, but…"

The team turned a corner, and a larger room opened before their eyes.

A grid of rusted iron prison cages ran through the room, forming several large cells. Each were strewn with piles of junk; broken braces, chains, shackles, some which were still pinned to the wall… Char peered through the maze of bars, looking at the way his fire cast thin, parallel shadows upon the walls, shadows which combined and danced with those coming from Prince's fire.

"So, this is a real dungeon," Char said, trying not to breathe heavily the sewer-like scents of the chamber.

"In some ways it looks like the Pokémon Prison in Iron Town," Saura noted. "It's the same design. But they used thick solid walls instead of bars in the prison house. Fire-types can melt right through bars if they're strong enough. This place would be useless."

"I'd go so far as to say that… this dungeon was not built to contain Pokémon… but humans," Prince considered. "Look at the size of the cell doors. Many Pokémon can't even fit through them. And the containment devices. The shackles. Those are for human-sized limbs. If this prison house exists within Ambera… it's simply a joke."

*Clank.*

Scythe's forehead collided with the cell bars. His mouth was stretched wide into an involuntary smile.

He was laughing.

"I do… recognize this place," Scythe confirmed. "Hnn hnn…! And, hnn… I can tell you… it does exist in Ambera, and yes… it was primarily built to contain Pokémon. It… held me just fine. I was not recognizing it… it's been left in such disarray since I was last here."

"You… were held hostage here?" Ray gaped. "In this dungeon? B—how? How'd you get caught?"

"This dungeon… lies underneath a castle. The castle lies in a city far to the east of the Emerald Division were Pokémon live by human culture… or as much as they can manage. I have always found the city laughable and out-of-place in Ambera. They have built the city, houses, streets, and the castle, and this dungeon… strictly modeled after human architecture. It was a place I knew well, because of the dealings I had made with the city's lord, under the service of the Master."

"But… why were you locked up in a dungeon, Scythe?" Ray asked. "Did you break the law?"

"…Yes, but on purpose," Scythe explained. "It was to play a trick on Cepheus, The one who ruled the city. Cepheus was a clever creature, but his sense of self-worth often got in the way of his perceptions. So, I let him throw me in this prison to let him underestimate me, and overestimate himself."

"Well? Did you trick him?" Ray asked eagerly. "Did your plan work?"

Scythe sighed. "Please do not make me tell stories about what I did before I joined the Resistance. I prefer not to associate with myself, as I once was."

Ray shut his mouth tightly.

"But if you really must know… yes, I succeeded in recruiting Cepheus as a servant to the Master," Scythe added, disregarding his own words. "Little did I know that I would be gone from the Master's service in a mere few years, and leave him behind as a thorn in my side for the whole of my service with the Resistance…"

Ray blinked. He shot a worried glance at Char.

"But that is indeed a story for another day, and hopefully not one I will get to tell you. Now, help me search for the way out. Be sure to check inside of the cells. The stairs may be anywhere."

Ray shrugged. "Sorry I asked," he whispered back to Char, then disregarded the issue.

By the light of Prince's fire, the team systematically searched each cell and hallway of the dungeon. They met no opposition except for a single Raticate and two Zubat. They reached the staircase quickly, which happened to be in the cell which Scythe had once been chained within, and the floor passed uneventfully.


Temporal Tower 8F

The afternoon sun shined dimly through the clouds in an overcast sky. The air was saturated with the pressure of an approaching thunderstorm.

Floor eight took the appearance of a peaceful thicket of saplings and shrubs, none higher than Char's head. A simple dirt road paved the overgrowth, easily wide enough for Char's team to hold their formation and giving them more than enough time to react if something were to jump out from the tall grass. But Char was not willing to trust the serenity of the illusion; just like most of the floors before, he was willing to bet the dungeon secretly held some twisted danger in store for them.

Like many floors before, the environment was disturbingly serene, and would have passed for a comfortable countryside trail had it not been for the knowledge of the anarchistic forces of space and time which had generated it.

"Hmm," Prince said quietly, observing the area. "Judging by the appearance of this place, I'm expecting no stronger opposition than Rattata or the occasional Ekans. Perhaps some small grass-types. Though, those clouds bother me. We would do well to be rid of this place before the clouds open."

"I don't know, maybe a little rain would feel good," Lily teased.

Char felt a tap on his shoulder, and then a whisper in his ear. "Don't worry," Ray told him. "If it rains, I have an Air-lock Orb. Remember those?"

"We're using a lot of items," Char whispered back. "We still have a long way to go. Are you sure it's a good idea? I can bear the rain a little bit, you know…"

Ray shrugged. "Better to use ours now and save all the stuff in Scythe's bag for the tough stuff," Ray commented. "Besides, the lighter the bag gets, the faster I can walk, you know?"

"I guess you're right," Char said with a nod, taking a deep breath and not worrying about the weather. "Thanks…"

We really haven't been using a lot of items in Alakazam's bag, have we? Char realized. Just the apples, and those goggles, and… well, the Reviver Seeds of course. And…the Speed Brace. Alright, so we've used a little bit of those supplies. But none of the really powerful stuff… I guess it's safe to save all those orbs and bands for when we really need them, but… I can't believe the items we picked out with Ray are more useful to us than the ones Alakazam picked. Though at this rate, we're going to get to the top of the tower with a pretty full bag.

RRRrr… rrumble…

High above, the clouds emitted a purr as unseen lightning leaped between them. Prince seemed worried.

"It's not the rain I'm concerned about," he mentioned. "It's the fact that we're on a level plane in the middle of a thunderstorm… no trees, no shelter, nothing to channel the lightning away from us."

Ray chuckled. "When I was really young, my brother would take me to the prairies just like this to practice playing with lightning storms. Don't worry… if that storm drops a charge on us, I can draw it away."

"If you let yourself get struck by lightning, wouldn't that make the bag explode?" Lily said oddly.

"Not if I let go of it fast enough," Ray said. "Before lightning strikes, I can always feel a static charge. The electrical current is completed before the lightning ever strikes. Like… an invisible wire from the sky to the ground. Besides, this bag is fireproof and shock-proof. Otherwise I would probably have already destroyed our items just by me holding it for so long."

Rrrrrumble…rumble…

As Char listened to the oncoming storm building somewhere far behind them, the rumbling of the thunder sparked a very dismal feeling in his chest. dread clutched his heart and mixed with the thrill of the storm…

And Char found himself with what must have been the instinct of an Absol, for he knew, beyond any doubt, something horrible was about to befall them. It was not rational – he could not tell why – but he felt it, just as strong as his hatred for that invisible demon which still watched him from behind the curtains of space, that demon which had impersonated Saura and given him such vague advice.

"I think… we should use that orb right now," Char decided. "I don't like that storm. I don't know why exactly… it doesn't feel natural, almost. Ray, you should use that Air-lock orb!"

"Is that wise?" Scythe questioned. "Look at the sky… it neither rains nor shines, precisely the type of weather which an air-lock orb will induce. The storm has not yet reached us. Until it does, the orb might be useless. Do you possess any other kinds of weather orbs, those which produce hailstorms or sandstorms, perhaps?"

"Um… no?" Ray replied oddly. "I have one that makes rain, but something tells me it's going to rain anyway. Otherwise… I never thought those kinds of orbs would ever do us any good…"

"I believe Alakazam had similar opinions on the matter, and packed none for us," Scythe said. "Keep up the pace," he directed to everyone else. "If it comes to outrunning this storm, I'd appreciate a head-start."

Char looked over his shoulder, past the watchful Scyther and to the far horizon. Deep black storm clouds roiled there, spilling across the sky like the top of a violent waterfall.

"That looks more like a cloud of smoke than a storm, if you ask me," Char noted. "Maybe we should move a little faster."

"No," Scythe replied, reaching out with a blade and prodding him to stay in line. "Not yet. If we flee in panic, I worry we will run headlong into something much worse, just as we have done each time before. Walk slowly; watch for traps and foes. I will not stand to be a plaything of this place any longer."

Char took a nervous breath and crawled on all fours, trying to relax and keep his eyes and senses focused on the immediate surroundings, rather than on the budding black hole in the sky. But it was difficult; even the ground grew darker as the gloomy shadow spread further across the land.

The road trailed on and on across the vacant wilderness with no destination in sight. Char was used to it by now; aimless wandering was usually the proper solution to searching for the exit to the dungeon floor. It could be anywhere at all, so as long as a path existed and did not wind in circles, there was no reason not to follow it. But there were times, like the present, where he wished the stairs were right around the next corner so he could be freed from the present perils and leave them behind.

After a few dozen more minutes of walking, a warm yet violent wind nearly took Char's breath away, sending a discomforting tingle through the nerves of his tail. He stood and walked upright, pulling his tail close to his belly and shielding it from the breeze. Prince ducked his head, wincing as the warm front of air slammed into his back. Lily emitted a yelp as she nearly fell over.

Char glanced to the side, checking to see if Saura was alright… but the Bulbasaur's head was turned, keeping a steady watch into the weeds for danger. Though he was going to ask Saura to hold his hand, he instead followed suit and kept an eye into the overgrowth.

"Tropical storm," Prince said. "With such superheated air, we must be south and close to the ocean.."

Another burst of hot air pummeled the team, and this time Char topped like a leaf, barely catching himself on his front claws. Prince held his forehead to shield the fire on his crown, turning around to check on the Pokémon who followed him.

Char saw him hesitate, stopping in mid-stride. His gaze rose higher.

"Hmm… that's not good," he uttered, staring at something.

"What?" Lily demanded, rooting herself to the ground with her vines and trying not to get blown away. "Let me guess, there's a tornado after us."

"No…" Prince said, his eyes blank and filled with awe. "There is brimstone raining from the sky."

*Zip!*

*Thunk.*

A small chunk of red-hot coal shot through the air above Prince's head, hitting the soft dirt of the road and sinking deeply into it. Flames rose from the tiny crater it created.

Together, Char turned with the rest of his companions to see.

The mighty squall of clouds billowed toward them like a poisonous liquid shadow consuming the sky. Beneath it, at least one hundred gleaming red lights of all sizes streaked through the air with comet-tails. It instantly reminded Char of the Watchers who had filled the sky just a few floors before, and it almost brought him just as much terror to see.

"Oh, my…" Lily breathed.

The storm roared with its eerie thunder, red flashes of lightning illuminating the monstrosity from the inside. Char's instincts had been true; this was not a storm. This was a spell. Or some kind of vengeful spirit intent on destroying the world.

Char laughed nervously. "You were right, Lily," he said with a smirk, watching her leaf flail like a flag in the wind. "I guess a little shower wouldn't be so bad after all."

She returned a disgusted glare.

Looking at the sky, Char saw that the storm had certainly made fast progress, halving the distance to the party in just the half hour-or-so they'd been exploring the floor. But, just as suddenly as he was terrified to see such a beautifully dangerous phenomenon, he didn't feel so bad.

What are those… fiery rocks? Char wondered. I should be fine. The Frozen Flame will take care of the rock part, and my skin should take care of the fire part, right? So I have nothing to worry about. Everyone else, though…

He thought to look at Saura.

Saura said nothing. Not even a gasp of amazement had escaped his throat. He stood perfectly still, his paws curled into the dirt path, his gaze unbroken from the sky. Char wondered if he was holding his breath.

"Uh… maybe we should run?" Ray suggested urgently.

"I second that," Lily yelled over the wind, her voice almost wailing in hopelessness.

"NO."

The angry, roared reply had come from Scythe. The Scyther turned to face the rest of the team, his eyes burning with fear, his gaze focusing on the dirt below.

"No, we will not run," he called over the wind. "Not this time."

"Scythe… what do you mean, we're not running?" Lily yelled back, bucking her paws anxiously against the dirt. "Do you even see that? We have to GO!"

"NO!" Scythe roared back. "STAY in formation. Just… give me a moment to think."

Char looked up to the Scyther, whose expression as frozen in thought. Above him, the sky was alive with long streaks of slanted light, several of which looked as though they were quickly descending upon the point which they stood.

FWOOM! A large, mighty comet slammed into the grassland mere hundreds of feet away, causing the crushed shrubs to burst into flames.

"…Scythe?" Lily cried.

Still, Scythe kept his head bowed in silence. His eyes darted from side to side in deep thought.

Uh-oh… Char suddenly realized. What if…

What if Saura is using the Call on Scythe right now? What if Saura's terror is distracting him?

If Scythe doesn't speak soon… I might have to attack Saura. I need to make him snap out of it!

Or maybe it's Lily who's causing the disturbance? I don't know…

I don't want to have to do anything drastic… not right now…

So he waited, holding his breath and praying to Arceus that he wouldn't have to forcefully break the Call, as Scythe silently let the seconds draw out, one after another…

"Scythe… what are you thinking?" Prince calmly replied.

Scythe nodded to himself, finally finding something to say. "This 'storm' might not be raining brimstone," he replied. "If this is indeed an arcane show of divine wrath, we should consider ourselves lucky; two of you are immune to its effects, thanks to that silver orb and your alignment with fire. However, it might also be a Draco Meteor attack, in which case you both will be just as susceptible as the rest."

Another large, fiery rock landed very close by, spraying a sparkling wave of embers as it slammed into the grassy ground. Another brushfire sprang up.

"Ray, you said you had a rain-maker orb?" Scythe asked.

"Yeah?"

"Prepare it," he ordered. "But do not use it. Take it out of the bag. Prince… dig into my bag and find the Pierce Band. Also, find the satchel of Heal Seeds and Sitrus Berries. Keep them at your side."

"Very well, then…" Prince replied, matching Scythe's patient demeanor amidst the catastrophe.

Two more flaming meteors smashed down nearby as Prince delved into Scythe's backpack. The blaze rapidly spread through the wild overgrowth at the roadside, threatening to trap the group of Pokémon in a hallway of fire.

Lily shrieked. "People, we have to do something!", she pleaded, trembling before the growing wildfire. "We can't just keep standing here…! Can't we dig? Let's dig a hole right here! At least that will keep Saura and I from combusting!"

"Quiet!" Scythe growled, eyeing the sky. "I am doing something. Stop distracting me. The fireballs are dispersed enough that I can tell when one of them may hit us. This is not an emergency. And Prince, I told you to find the Pierce Band, not to wear it. Take it off your arm."

With a confused scowl, Prince slid the gold-and-leathery brace from his arm, bunching it up in his hands.

He's still struggling, Char knew. Saura and Lily are both panicking and flooding him with thoughts. And if he doesn't think of something fast… we won't make it.

KRA-CHAW!A boulder-sized piece of the sky-stone struck the very edge of the road, clouding the air with ash and embers and sending them swirling in the strong wind.

"YEEAAOOOWW!" Lily cried, a glowing fleck of matter landing upon her leaf and catching fire. She violently shook her head to put it out, but the wind and the motion only fanned the embers. She quickly reached up with a vine to suffocate the flame.

"There's no humidity here! The air is too dry," she gasped. "Scythe, if we stay here, I will burst into flames…"

And if you keep whining, Scythe won't be able to think, Char mentally shot back, hoping to somehow utilize the Call to communicate his sentiment. Scythe has this taken care of. We can activate the rain orb at any time. And the heal seeds will save us from burns.

On the other hand, of course you wouldn't be worried, he argued back at himself. I'd probably feel scared too if I were dangling over an ocean.

He blinked.

Char was already well used to arguing with himself. But this time, it felt far too sudden and did not seem to fit with his own train of thought.

Did I just think that? He wondered. Really? Was that really me? Or… was that Lily? Or Saura? Did they just communicate with me? How long have they been doing that?

Char bit his lip. It didn't seem right.

Right there, in the middle of the fiery field, Char closed his eyes and tried to examine his mind for a moment. Had he really been affected by the Call? If so, it scared him how deeply into the subconscious mind the Call planted its messages, its ideas… so deep, he feared he would be absolutely powerless to stop them, or worse, to even notice them affecting him.

Then again, it could have been his own thought, after all.

If they're fighting Scythe with their minds, maybe I can fight back, using my own Call? Char wondered. I should try. I wonder how it works. Maybe I just have to pick an idea and think about it really hard? No, no… that seems like the first thing every Pokémon before me would have tried. If the Call activated by thinking hard, I think it would have been found out by now.

No… what was it that we were talking about at Zerferia's plains the other day?

The Call is all about empathy. I can use the humming to make other Pokémon feel the same way as me. I need feelings, not words.

Lily and probably Saura want to get out of here as fast as possible. They are projecting feelings of terror and haste. Like a Rattata feels when a Pidgeotto is diving down to catch it. That's how they feel. I want to cancel that emotion. So…

Maybe I could project feelings of patience. Trust and security.

"That one is going to hit us," Scythe announced suddenly. "Follow me quickly, but don't pass me."

Scythe turned around and lunged back down the path in the direction they came, against the fiery storm and the wind. Char followed him, digging his claws deeply into the dirt upon every step to fight against the headwind. Saura seemed to be fighting the wind very effectively, thanks to the weight upon his back, although he was clearly not enjoying the blasts of hot wind to his forehead.

Between steps, Char craned his neck and glanced at the sky. He saw the meteor which had threatened to drop upon their heads, hurling down at a sharp angle which made it difficult to estimate its landing trajectory. It seemed to remain stationary in the air no matter how many steps he took.

"Scythe, wait up!" Lily shouted. "Scythe, we can't go in the wrong direction! We've already been that way. Th—the stairs aren't over there!"

"Lily, you're panicking," Prince told her plainly. "Do not be a coward. Clear your mind and follow along."

Thank you, Char tried to say to Prince telepathically. I was getting about ready to say that myself.

FWOOM! The boulder-sized meteor slammed into the ground far behind, causing a sharp tremor and spewing droplets of fire several dozen yards down the path.

"See?" Char said, pointing toward the area of impact. "If we had run in the other direction, it would have sprayed us."

Lily said nothing in reply; terror still burned in her eyes, but she kept her head down against the wind and focused on the path.

"Another one…" Scythe warned, gritting his teeth in frustration. "Quickly. Again. Move."

They dashed against the storm once more, the powerful wind now pelting them with thick ashen clouds and airborne debris. Scythe hurried ahead, weathering the storm with small bursts of speed between moments of rest. After a few yards, he stopped and indicated the group should go no further. Char looked in the sky to search for the meteor that was supposed to have hit them had they stayed at their previous position.

"Hey… hey, wait." Lily called, shaking grit from her face. "Wait. I recognize this. I think… I know the road we're on."

"You do?" Scythe replied, sounding disinterested as watched overhead for danger. "Pray tell, where are we?"

"This is northwestern Ambera. I've walked on this road before. When I first came to Ambera, I traveled this road to get to Great Crystal City. I didn't recognize it at first because we were going in the opposite direction…"

THUM. The rock crashed harmlessly behind the group, albeit bit farther down the road than Scythe had estimated. Char saw how most of the tall grass had almost all caught on fire thanks to the dry, dusty wind, leaving them standing on a perilous column of safe dirt amidst the burning plain.

"Wait, I have an idea," she proclaimed, suddenly looking frantic for escape. "If we run down this road, there's a place that's safe."

"We can't," Scythe returned. "We must stay here."

"Look, down the road, there's a giant sand pit," she said anyway. "Sand won't catch on fire like these grasslands do. And the cliff can protect us from being hit in the head. You have to trust me. I remember where it is…"

"We're fine here," Scythe grunted loudly. "Too much of a risk to run."

"Too much of a risk?" Lily spat out, incredulously. "Scythe, I can barely even breathe here. And I'm about to burn up to death just by the temperature alone… please listen to me!"

"I am listening, Bayleef, and I find it a poor judgment," Scythe growled. "If we run, I cannot judge which meteors will strike us. If we stay still, I can make sure we remain unharmed until the storm passes. Besides, I don't understand how walking on superheated sand will help our cause…"

"The storm isn't going to pass," Lily insisted. "Does it look like it's going to pass? Prince…? What do we do?"

"I trust Scythe's judgment with this one," Prince said. "Stay in formation. We will bear the storm."

"No! No! No, no, no!" Lily shrieked. "You guys aren't listening to me! I have to get out of here!"

CRUNCH. A meteor fell uncomfortably close to the side of the road. Char felt a pebble fly into the side of his head.

Okay, now it's getting creepy, Char thought. Why do we have to go, Lily? What's the rush? Where is there to go? What's so important that you have to run off and…

oh.

"You guys can stay if you want… but I'm out of here," Lily cried, her body trembling as she continually gazed into the fearsome sky. She took a hesitant step against the wind…

"Prince…" Scythe hissed. "Quickly. Hit her with a sleep seed. Make sure you're not wearing the piercing band. Quickly!"

"WAIT!" Char shouted to her, his voice breaking through the fire and rain.

Without waiting for a response, Char lunged forward against the headwind. He hurled himself in Lily's direction, catching her hind leg just before she kicked up dirt and fled.

"Get off," she growled, kicking Char in the face. Char held on tightly, knowing that Lily was in no way harder to hold onto than a Steelix.

"Lily, listen to me," Char shouted over the wind. "You're making a mistake. You're being mind-controlled!"

Lily stopped her struggle immediately, turning to look Char in the eye with a hint of confusion upon her face.

"What?" She uttered. She looked like she was about to add something, but Char cut her off.

"You know the Call, right?" he spoke calmly, relieved that he had gotten her attention. He climbed to his feet. "Well, I think you're being affected by it, or something. But not by me, or anyone else. I think the dungeon is doing it."

Disgust and abhorrence appeared on the Bayleef's face, as if to say "are you crazy?"

"It must know that the only way to beat us is to keep us separated," Char continued. "That's why it's using mind control to pick us off one-by-one. I don't know if it's the same thing as the Call, or what. It's has to be something. But the same thing happened to me a few floors back. Remember when I ran off to get myself killed by the Watchers? You're doing the same thing to us right now. The dungeon is controlling our thoughts somehow. It's trying to lure you away into the trap."

"Excuse me for being afraid of fire," Lily shot back. "Excuse me for not wanting to die. You think not wanting to die is mind control?"

Prince tried to talk me out of it when I was digging myself out of the rock pile to run away, Char remembered. But I ignored him. The Watchers were just too interesting to me. I had to go and get answers from them. It was such a strong and irrational feeling. If I'm going to talk Lily out of it, I have to be a little more creative.

"But you're not afraid of fire," Char said. "Prince is your best friend; you aren't afraid of him, are you? And you're not afraid of dungeons. You've been in worse situations than this, haven't you? The Watcher swarm was worse than this!"

Char saw that fury was building behind Lily's eyes, and he bit his tongue very hard. No, I'm just floundering here! He told himself. What am I going to say that will break the spell?

"Lily, you're not going to die," Char assured her. "You might use a revive seed if it comes to that. But you're not going to die. This is a mystery dungeon. This isn't reality, Lily. This is just an illusion."

"Listen to him."

The voice came from Char's side. Char turned to find Saura standing beside him. He spoke to Lily in a voice of power and authority. It was a side of Saura that he'd never witnessed before.

"Listen to him. He's telling the truth," the Bulbasaur said. "Don't go, Lily. We need you here."

The core of the fire-storm passed overhead, raining chunks of white-hot hail in frightful numbers. The ground shook as meteors violently bore craters into it. The roar of the burning plain was deafening; the only sound greater was that of the occasional whistle of a meteor zipping through the air nearby…

Through it all, the two grass-type Pokémon before Char didn't move or speak. Their gazes were locked together, communicating wordless ideas, emotions, and pleads… Their bodies glowed in bright orange from the light of the fires, as though the fire had already caught them…

Char watched as the Bayleef's body sagged and fell to the ground, looking hopeless and defeated as she tried to ignore the deadly catastrophe which surrounded her. She bowed her head, then raised it again to send one last powerful glance directly into Saura's eyes.

"Alright," she replied, her voice full of resignation. "Alright… I hope you're right…"

Saura…

Saura did it…

He did it. He stopped her. Lily was going to run off and get herself hurt, but…

Saura convinced her to stay.

Saura… does he know how to use the Call?

How did he do it?

How can I do it?

For just a moment, Char cleared his mind of Temporal Tower's hazards, of the mighty, roaring fire-storm surrounding him, and realized what had just happened.

The Call… was it really so simple to utilize? Did it just involve a few mental tricks to trigger?

Worlds of possibilities were beginning to open up to Char's imagination. What could he accomplish if he could utilize the power to speak directly to a Pokémon's heart?

Perhaps… when he would approach Dialga, would he be able to approach as a master, rather than a servant? Could he or Saura use their mental prowess to make the lord of time obey their wills?

"What was that human rule, Char?" Saura said, turning to his friend. "If a storm arrives quickly, it leaves quickly, right?"

"And if it arrives slowly, it leaves slowly, yes," Char replied. "Storms go out… exactly as fast as they come in."

And this storm arrived very quickly… Char noted.

Another intense blast of wind struck Char directly in the face, forcing him to close his eyes. Even for his standards, it was quite hot, like the deserted plain at the top of the Great Plateau on the sunniest of days…

"Aiii!"

Char heard the yelp of Lily's voice, and forced himself to open his eyes against the wind. To his horror, he found that Lily was on fire.

Parts of her body had simply lit up, as though the wind had blown the flames from the infernos right onto her. When she realized it, she began to flail around in panic…

Saura, too, had been caught on fire, much to Char's dismay. His bulb had lit up like a candle, the flames licking from its undersides. Saura opened his mouth, but all that came out was a confused, helpless squeal…

Char didn't know what to do… He opened his mouth to cry out to them, put his claw forward to help them, but there was nothing... nothing that could be done…

For every life, there must be a predator, words echoed in Char's mind. And so as the world fills with life and beauty and majesty, there must also be a cleansing force to destroy that life and tear down that beauty, so that the world might be held in the balance. That is why he created the Ember and all the Pokémon who carry it, so that we may spread it far and wide and turn the world into ash.

SNAP!

With a disgusting popping sound, almost as though bone had snapped, Both Lily and Saura had their fires put out. Char realized he had witnessed a small object, a projectile of some kind, flying directly through them and coming out the other side of their bodies. Char thought he could still see the small hole in the Pokémon through which the object had passed, but it looked to be closing up quickly.

"AUUUUGH," Saura whined, shaking his head violently. "That… hurts… Please don't do that anymore…"

"Pierce-hurling… Ugh, ugh…" Lily replied, her body shuddering. "I think I would have preferred to stay on fire, personally."

Char turned to Prince, whose arm was adorned with the Pierce Band. He looked quite proud of his shot.

"Well, I was actually just trying to save Scythe from burning to death," he said. "He told me to throw the heal seed. You two were just collateral damage, I guess."

"Thank you," Scythe said to Prince. "And good throw. You always had good aim. Don't let your guard down; you may have to throw another one."

But it was not necessary; the storm soon blew over.

After the remaining fiery meteors crashed down onto the world's surface, the sky once more became clear and unthreatening. Only the scattered grass-fires which had spread throughout the dry grass upon the meadow seemed to pose any kind of threat…

"Ray," Scythe commanded. "Use the orb to make it rain."

Ray did, and the sky darkened with stormclouds. Ironically, Char felt quite comforted at seeing the sky filled with such a natural and recognizable phenomenon, even though he knew he would be unable to escape the awful pins and needles he would soon feel coming from the tip of his tail as the rain would hit it.

Char cringed to keep his composure as thick sheets of rain pounded the land. They hurt, but somehow it wasn't nearly as painful or unpleasant as losing an entire limb, so he easily found the strength to bear it. He did, however, hold his tail as close to his chest as he could pull it.

The roaring brushfires soon died out, emitting great billowing clouds into the sky to join with the thunderheads, and Char found himself standing upon a ravaged, soggy, steaming, miserable-looking land.

"Return to formations," Scythe commanded as if nothing had happened. "Prince… lead us that way."

"This way?" Prince echoed in surprise. "Off the path? Across the prairie?"

"Yes," Scythe answered. "I will be surprised if there remain any more wild Pokémon in the tall grass beyond charred carcasses. It should be safe to travel at this point in time."

Char held his flame close to his body to shield it from the rain

When the team had returned to their ranks, with Prince in the lead and Scythe keeping watch in the rear, Lily turned to Scythe and gave a sad nod.

"Alright, I guess it was a good idea to stay put," she admitted. "Actually, I don't really know what came over me. I wasn't thinking right, I swear…"

"Char's theory could very well be correct," Scythe replied. "The dungeon could have played a mind-trick on you, in which case, it was not your fault. Nor was it yours, Char, for running away and seeking solace with the Watchers. But I think, from this point onward, we should restrain one another a bit more forcedly if we suddenly get the urge to separate from the group and explore. Prince?"

"Right;" Prince said with an understanding nod. "Next time, you will not even need to ask me to throw the sleep seed. No one will escape from this group."

"That wasn't actually even that scary," Lily reaffirmed, rainwater trickling down her neck and dripping from her leaves. "I've seen worse things that you do not want to know about. Now, if a storm like that happened outside of a dungeon? Maybe that would be scary. I really don't know why I froze up like that. If I was being mind-controlled, I really don't think I noticed it happening."

"Mind-control isn't something you notice happening," Char said suddenly. "Because if something is controlling your mind, it's also controlling your ability to notice what's going on in your mind, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Lily said. "Yeah… you have a point. Alright, if I try to run away again, tie me down, because as flammable as I am, I am not a coward."

I believe you, Char wanted to tell her. But… I still don't know what's going on.

Is the tower using the Call on us?

Or are we using the Call on each other and not knowing it?

I just… don't get it…

The team was very thankful to find the staircase next to a particularly large ash heap; Char especially, who was just starting to tear up in the eyes from the stinging raindrops upon his tail.


Temporal Tower 9F

Clack-Clack. Clack-Clack.

Before he even had the chance to appreciate the new surroundings, Char noticed the peculiar sound made by Pokémon claws against the floor. Glancing down, he found the floor to be tiled with polished, copper-colored stones, so smooth a surface that he glimpsed himself staring back.

Looking around, he found the rest of the room even more hypnotizing; the walls were crafted in a gorgeous type of marble which was tinted to the color of a clear, afternoon sky. They stood tall, not obscuring the way forward with mazes or confusing illusions, but adorning a clear path to the next staircase as a temple isle would lead to the altar.

"Okay, now this floor is pretty," Lily admitted.

Scythe snorted. "This is a tower which personally wishes to kill us. Do not trust what you see," he warned again. "Now, concentrate…"

But then… it was gone.

In the blink of an eye, the pleasant, blue-and-brown architecture of the room was nowhere to be seen.

Char tried to understand what he was seeing. It was another outside environment. The ground was now a dull plane of dark-orange dirt, dotted as far as the eye could see with dead, scorched-black tree trunks missing most of their limbs. The sky was obscured, a hazy blanket of clouds making it impossible to tell whether it was dusk, dawn, or somewhere in between.

Char felt a tiny breeze against his skin, bringing with it the smell of charred wood. It was almost a comforting smell; but his mind was too confused to stop and appreciate it.

"Alright..." Lily shouted in a stupefied cry. "Somebody tell me, where are we, again?"

"Temporal Tower," Prince replied, recovering from a momentary state of astonishment.

"I know, but..."

"No, you don't understand," Prince said. "That place we just saw… I think that was Temporal Tower. The real Temporal Tower."

I knew it… Char thought to himself. That was the same kind of architecture on the outside of the tower! For just a moment, it looked like the tower didn't know where to send us next…

Bending down, the Infernape traced a hand across the ground, as though testing it to see if it were tangible. "So, what does this mean?" he wondered, rubbing his fingers together and feeling for dust. "The illusion of the Mystery Dungeon… it faded for a brief moment. We all witnessed it… could the curse be fading?"

"Whatever the case, let us not allow ourselves again to be distracted by the tower's tricks," Scythe insisted, his eyes darting around for signs of danger. "Space and time may do what they will; but do not forget our mission. Keep moving."

No sign of life, Pokémon or otherwise, showed itself as the team moved through the ashen forest; every last tree was completely hollowed with death, the empty logs of charred bark standing in place of what must have once been an impressive woodland. Each pillar of timber looked as unstable as an eggshell, ready to crumble to pieces at the influence of a moderately strong wind, yet they all somehow remained standing. The forest floor, too, was unnatural; no stray branches or fallen trees littered the way as Prince weaved the team through this destroyed, forsaken land.

Time…

As Char trailed behind Prince and kept an eye out for danger, he remained obsessed with the demon Bulbasaur he had seen and the message it had tried to deliver.

A thought had occurred to him, inspired by the flicker of Temporal Tower's illusion. It caused a cascade of other thoughts.

I perceive time wrongly, he told himself.

Like we perceive the tower wrongly, we also perceive time…

This must have some meaning.

What's the proper way to perceive time, then? What am I missing?

Is there some message?

I get the feeling… the message was not in the demon Saura…

But in the tower itself. Or some spirit inside of it.

The entire tower was speaking to me. It spoke to me through the dream.

Just as it tried to speak to Lily, but we stopped it.

Even now, it's watching me. Somehow.

It's the tower.

The tower itself.

The illusion.

Behind this illusion…

What's hidden behind the illusion?

What am I missing?

"I have determined one thing for certain," Prince announced, pumping his fists in the air. "We are fleas upon the back of a colossal Umbreon! That is, if the tower grew a sense of humor lately. Otherwise, this is just a boring, predictable forest, probably laid to waste by a tempest of fiery meteors. Or maybe some angry fire-type whose mate had unexpectedly abandoned him."

"If a sideways temple and a Groudon statue that didn't come to life isn't a sense of humor, I'd hate to see what is," Char commented.

"Or killing yourself by choking on a Reviver Seed," Lily returned with a wry smile. "Except, I guess that wasn't really much of Temporal Tower's fault… but still pretty funny, you have to admit."

"Quiet!" Scythe hissed. "Please."

The banter stopped abruptly. After shaking his head in annoyance, the Scyther tapped a nearby tree with his blade. Pieces of ash crumbled away from the impact, floating off in the breeze. "Hnn... stay alert for vibrations in the ground, as well as other dangers," he commanded, giving the tree an uncertain glare. "Though there are no land or air enemies to be seen just yet, there may still be ground-burrowers…"

Char gave an understanding nod, dropping to all fours and paying keen attention to the sense of his claws dragged across the hardened, almost petrified forest floor. It felt as though the ash had solidified over the centuries, turning the soil into some kind of unnatural obsidian putty.

"I'd be surprised if burrowing Pokémon could even dig through this…" Char uttered, scraping his claws against the strange muck underfoot.

"Saura."

Lily's voice gasped the name.

Prince's voice followed.

"Saura? Where are you going? Saura!"

Char snapped to attention. His Bulbasaur companion had disappeared from his side with surprising haste. From the corner of his eye and between Prince's knees, he perceived a flash of green amongst the blackened trees up ahead.

Saura was running away.

Before Char had time to react, Scythe leaped over his head and landed at the front of the group. "Blast it to the gods, No!" the Scyther growled fiercely. "Prince, you were supposed to pay attention for this! Follow me. STAY TOGETHER! Do NOT lose sight of me."

Almost faster than the eye could perceive, he opened his wings and zipped forward into the trees after the stray Bulbasaur.

"Saura, what's WRONG!" Char finally belted out, joining in the race… "SAURA!"

Not allowing apprehension to take hold, Char unquestioningly chased after his teammates. He dashed through the forest like a skilled Arcanine, leaping around trees and keeping his traction on the awkward, rubbery ground.

The race did not last long; the adept Scyther caught up to the fugitive in a mere dozen seconds. But no force was necessary to stop the Bulbasaur; he had found what he had been looking for.

When Char caught up to his friend, he and Scythe were standing in a clearing.

The treeline stopped abruptly, leaving a barren radius of land in the middle of the disturbing forest. Had the forest been a real place, full of blossoming trees and silky grass, this would have been a charming little clearing, a miniature meadow where the sunlight would shine through the treetops so picturesquely. But here, there were no treetops, and the rays of sunlight were halted by the murky clouds. The plain looked like nothing more than an awkward scab of land where the headless tree trunks decided not to grow.

Standing at the far end of the featureless meadow, there stood a wild Pokémon. Something red.

Saura said nothing; his gaze was fixated on this creature, as though it sounded a siren's call to him… He took a wary step forward.

"Saura… if you need that thing slain, just ask," Scythe uttered to the Bulbasaur. "Do not face it alone, Saura. Saura! That thing is a fire Pokémon, it will destroy you…"

But Saura seemed to hear none of it. He took another wide-eyed step toward the enemy creature. His face looked overwhelmed, disbelieving, but not panicking… as though an epiphany had just dawned on him, and he had to think it through.

"Char, go," Scythe commanded, nearly kicking the Charmander forward. "I promise, that Flareon will be in fourths if it so much as twitches in your direction. Go and get ahold of your friend. This confirms your theory… the Tower takes control of our minds."

"I… I don't think I can stop him, though…" Char warned, awkwardly stumbling forward…

Scythe ignored his reply, keeping a Starraptor's gaze upon the Pokémon…

Flareon?

He hurried forward to the Bulbasaur's side. Saura's gaze didn't falter, and Char wondered if the Bulbasaur even acknowledged his presence.

In silence, they stood together for a while.

Char waited for Saura to move, to make any indication that his spirit had not abandoned the body and flown away, as Saura continued his wordless and mysterious standoff with the wild Flareon. Char felt that Saura was not afraid of the thing, but he could sense other feelings in his best friend's eyes and in the patterns of his breathing. There was confusion and disdain, perhaps, but other feelings he could not quite tell.

When Saura finally opened his mouth, he spoke with such frankness and emotionlessness that Char felt hurt to hear his voice.

"There was a cluster of trees," Saura sighed, his voice limp and dry. "I always used to hide behind them when my sisters and I would play finders-seekers. I recognized it… this place… is my home. The Tiny Meadow. And my family's den… is right over there. Right where the Flareon is."

"And the Flareon is the one who stole your freedom," Char remembered. "He summoned you to the Master."

"Yep," Saura said bluntly. "And to think… if I had let my memories get erased, this… wouldn't even mean anything to me right now. I wouldn't have recognized any of it. Char…"

"Yes?"

Saura finally turned his head to look his best friend in the eye. His expression was not sad or pained as it usually was… it was stronger. More calloused. More accepting.

It was as though his friend Saura had evolved, right then and there, but only on the inside. Something was different about him, something which perhaps would never be the same.

"It's fake," Saura spat. "This tower… is mocking us."

Char blinked. "You really think… it knows who we are?" he wondered.

Saura pawed the ground. "It has to, Char. This proves it. There's no way it could have randomly recreated my home and my forest down to the last tree."

"The tower is assimilating other Mystery Dungeons," Char noted. "Maybe, sometime in the far future, your forest could have been taken by the curse…"

Saura's voice cracked a little, and he dug his hoof-like paws harder into the mucky dirt-like substance which paved the forest floor. "If it were the far future, Char, the trees would have moved. Trees germinate and die and fall and grow back in other places. This dungeon recreated my home as it is right now… and I know for a fact that the meadow I grew up in is not cursed with a Mystery Dungeon."

Char blinked again. Saura had a point.

"This tower is using our memories and fears against us," Saura proclaimed. "It's not random chance. Not this time. It recreated something I knew personally because it thought it could make me cry or something. But I don't feel like crying right now. So I won't. Because… because I know this is fake now! The tower is scaring us like… a ghost Pokémon plays tricks on its victims. Like…

His breath caught in his throat.

"… like a Watcher messes with the mind. Just like the visions and dreams in my head ever since… ever since it hurt my mind. Char… that's what this tower is. This tower is infested by the spirits of the Watchers!"

Char found himself holding his breath, feeling his inner fire build up until he could barely contain it. His body started to viciously tremble as the idea sank in…

But once it did, there was really no denying it. It was the only thing that made total, complete sense.

The strange apparitions everywhere. The mind-controlling. The mysterious entity watching him from behind the curtain of the illusion.

He knew it was all true.

"We… we're their playthings," he gasped, clenching his claws.

"It makes sense," Scythe offered from just over his head, giving Char a start. "I found it odd how this tower had sent us into the particular environment where I had trained and grown as a child… but I ignored the idea. I figured the dungeon curse had grown so deep inside that particular plateau that it had become a likely source of inspiration for the special anomaly to draw from. But you are correct, Saura… this forest is far too suspicious."

"Wait, you too?" Saura cried, gaping at Scythe. "We visited your home, too?"

"In a manner of speaking; Scyther clans have no true home. But a few floors back, when we had gotten separated by the warp trap… the environment had been the place where I spent the greatest portion of my hatchling days, as well as the place where I participated in my clan's coming-of-age ceremonies. The memories it evoked were… distracting, to put it lightly. And the Scizor we fought was built too similarly to a Scizor I personally know. And then there was the dungeon we recently visited…"

"And the third floor, I am ashamed to admit… I recognized immediately," Prince mentioned. "The endless hallway of pillars was Kyurem's Plane, a dungeon whose location is kept secret. I was hesitant to say anything… I didn't want you, Scythe, to begin prying for information about it."

"And that first floor!" Ray chimed in. "That place you got your arm cut off, Char… that was the Wanderer's Meadow. That's where we found Otto! Guys… I don't think any of these places are real. I don't think they come from the past or the present. They're all memories. They're all corrupted versions of memories that the Watchers are putting in front of us…"

GRRRRRAAAHHHHHHRRRR!

Char released a feral roar that surprised even himself. He spewed flames into the air.

"No…!" Char cried as he stopped the flame, his voice wavering with his bitterness and hatred. "No! No! So all this time… it was just… the Watchers? We've just been their playthings? Dancing for them? Going insane for them? For their amusement? You mean… The Watchers… The Watchers… ARE THE DUNGEON?"

The team fell silent.

Everything we've seen…

Every Pokémon we fought… every challenge we've faced…

Every trap we set… every dungeon floor we've seen…

Just the Watchers?

Just the Watchers pulling things from our memories and tormenting us with them?

The silence continued… nobody, it seemed, could accept it. It was simply too awful to contemplate… the idea that the Watchers had taken total control over their perception of reality…

Yet… the evidence was too clear.

Scythe stood perfectly still, his eyes flicking in many directions as his mind processed the idea.

Prince bowed his head, concealing his rage. His fists were curled tightly, and fire began to consume them.

Lily had her eyes shut, as though refusing to even so much as look at the false forest anymore. Char knew she abhorred the Watchers more than she could express in words.

Ray no longer smiled. He sat back upon the grimy forest floor, looking exhausted and defeated.

And Saura…

Saura still faced the Flareon, his eyes burning with contempt.

He took a step towards the Flareon.

He took another step.

Teeth clenched, face on the verge of a violent snarl, he took another step…

…until Saura and the Flareon were standing nose-to-nose, quite a distance away from the rest of the team. The Flareon didn't budge, it only seemed to breathe calmly and focus its attention on the Bulbasaur.

"You destroyed everything," Saura said. "You took everything away from me. You took away my family, my life… you took away my mind too…"

"…And I just have one thing to say to you, Watcher. I…"

"…I'm not afraid of you anymore. I don't care what you do to me, I'm never going to stop fighting you ever again because I'm afraid. You… you can't control me like that anymore."

"Those are bold words," Scythe said, carefully approaching the place where the Bulbasaur and Flareon stood. "Fear is not a choice; fear is an instinctual reaction, just as hunger. You may not always proclaim that you do not fear something as a way of trying to convince yourself. However…"

Scythe turned his attention to the Flareon.

"Courage is a choice. Watcher… I fear you because you have harmed me, and you have destroyed many things I have sworn to protect, and because I do not understand you. But despite my fear, I know that it is within my power to defeat you. You will find that taking hold of my mind a second time will not be easy."

The Flareon did not seem to react to Scythe's word, but Scythe did not back down again.

"You ruined Ambera, too," Lily spoke, coming to Saura's side. "Without you here, Ambera would be a nice place to live. It might even be a Pokémon utopia. You know what? When I learn how to use my Call power, I'm going to leave the Master to someone else. Me? I'm coming after you. I won't stop until I've killed each and every last one of you, and made Ambera what it should have been from the start. Mark my words, Watcher. I don't go back on my promises."

The Flareon did not so much as lift its eyes from Saura.

"You know we can destroy you in one hit, right?" Ray chimed in. "Besides, we got this far, didn't we? Nine floors. Soon to be ten. You did everything you could to stop us, but we got this far, and we're not stopping here. We're going to stop when we reach the top of the tower, and not a moment before. And between you and me, you're not doing a very good job of messing with our minds, since we figured it out this soon. Try harder next time. Not like it matters, though, because we'll still destroy you."

Char thought he saw the Flareon balk at the taunt.

"We're not here for you!" Char blasted, jumping to his friends' sides. "I don't know how you managed to get into Temporal Tower. I don't know how you stayed in here for so long escaping the wrath of the legendaries. And I don't know why you're trying to stop us from getting to the top. But we're here to see Dialga, and you're just standing in the way. LEAVE US ALONE."

It felt good to taunt the Watcher – or at least, what he thought was a Watcher – alongside his friends. Char wondered if Prince would have something to add…

…but he did not. Char guessed he might not; Prince was the only one among them without a personal vengeance against the Watchers, for he was the only one among them who had not gotten touched by them at one point.

Thus, five Pokémon faced off against a single, motionless Flareon.

"You have until the count of ten to disappear, eon," Scythe growled at it. "Or you will soon be nothing but food for the trees. Ten."

"Nine."

"Eight."

…Before Scythe reached seven, the Flareon was gone…

…And so was the rest of the disgusting, burned-down forest.

The six Pokémon stood upon a polished gemstone floor in a chamber of sparkling blue and bronze.

*Chapter 63*: Chapter 45: End of the Charade

Chapter 45

I thought I had done well.

Perfection was my goal,
My methods absolute,
My power without boundary,
My plan unbreakable.

Time stemmed from my soul
precisely as I had intended it,
Its fabric seamless,
Its flow unending.

To celebrate my power,
To remind the mortal creatures
of the one who had crafted the time stream…
Of the one who managed and directed
the great flow of causality
through which all things came to be,
I built a monument to myself.

A mighty tower
Visible from the realm of the mortals
Yet unbound by time or space
A mighty tower which pierced the sky
breaking the membrane between the physical realm
And the endless hall of origin…

And upon this tower, I perched,
Watching the growth of creation
Watching the cycle of generations
The beautiful, elegant haven we had created,
My brothers and I,
For creatures who could not fathom
The divine designs we had implemented…

I thought… I had done well.

Little did I know
my designs could be unraveled
My cherished time stream
could be infected, infested…
Destroyed…
And that even the designs of a god
could be outsmarted.

And here, as I watch you,
So close, yet so far away…
Powerless to aid you…
Powerless to intervene…
Powerless to use the talents
which had been my birthright…

I know now what it is like
to watch the work of a god
come crashing down…


The haunting beauty of Temporal Tower was unmasked, and the persevering group of Pokémon paused to behold it.

There was no doubt in anyone's heart that a god had crafted this tower; its fabric emanated a soul, contained a level of perfection and symmetry that no Pokémon of Ambera could have attained. Just one floor of the majestic monument appeared as a stories-high cathedral. Sculptures and structures made of glossy gemstones and precious metals surrounded the awestruck Pokémon as natural light streamed in from the lofty, arch-shaped windows.

To Char, it wasn't only a comforting feeling, but an enthralling one, knowing that he had left behind all of the dark, twisted dungeons which the Watchers had supposedly concocted for them. Now, he had entered the true jurisdiction of Dialga, the creator of time itself. Excitement and nervousness welled up within him, knowing that the glorious blue dragon stood waiting for them somewhere just above their heads.

The clack-clacking of Pokémon claws once again sounded as the six treaded across the unblemished floor, their gazes turned ever upward at the spacious dome above.

"This is impressive, but don't let your guard down," Prince spoke out, his voice echoing through the stunning chamber. "This is still a Mystery Dungeon, do not forget…"

"…Doesn't look like one to me," Char replied absentmindedly. "Are you sure?"

"Temporal Tower has always been a Mystery Dungeon, and always will be, as far as I know," Prince answered. "That is, if the accounts of previous explorers are to be trusted. Here, I know how we can know for sure."

Prince reached into the bag upon Scythe's shoulder, Alakazam's bag, and felt around for the magical orbs.

"Indeed, the Escape Orbs still report that they are ready for use," he said, "and those rely on the spatial anomaly of the dungeon. There is your answer; we are still bound by a Mystery Dungeon, although it appears the distortion has become so weak that we can see the tower's true nature straight through it."

Clang. Scythe struck the ground with a blade, breaking everyone out of the dazed stupor.

"If that is the case, wild Pokémon may still lurk here," noted the vigilant Scyther. "Let us not stand still and wait for them to come. We are not tourists here; we are here for a purpose. Return to the formation and get to the staircase."

It was an easy feat; the staircase was in plain sight, and nothing stood in the way…

But just as Char was about to follow his friends up the staircase to Temporal Tower's tenth floor, he felt a sharp, sudden pull on his shoulder, accompanied by a hissing whisper that was spoken so quietly it could have been mistaken for a voice in his mind.

"Char. Hold on a sec."

He hesitated, silently regained his balance, and watched as Scythe passed him right by, abandoning his position as the rear guard of the formation and paying him no attention.

"Uh…" Char started, trying to swivel around to see what was going on. But the grip on his shoulder held him firmly, an unspoken order not to move.

"Quiet," the voice said again. "Just wait."

He watched as Prince, Saura, and Lily unknowingly left him behind on the ninth floor, disappearing up the staircase. He watched as Scythe followed them, not even taking a moment to give a passing glance.

"Okay," said the familiar voice. "I think we're good…"

As soon as the grip released him, Char spun around to see that Ray had been holding him captive.

"What's going on?" Char demanded, growing just a bit nervous. "We have to stay together on staircases. This is still a Mystery Dungeon, you know. If they get to the next floor soon, we might get completely separated from them!"

"That's why I have to make this quick," Ray said, glancing around for signs of danger or eavesdroppers. "Okay, here's the deal. Scythe wanted me to tell you something, but he doesn't want Prince or Lily to know I told you. It… has to do with what he's planning, apparently."

Char felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. He had completely forgotten about Scythe's "plan", whatever it was, during all the intense dungeon crawling they had endured. But upon remembering, his resolution had come back to him just as strongly: he trusted Scythe, and would help him carry out his plan, whatever it was. Anything less would risk projecting his insecurity into the Scyther's mind, which might just risk everyone else's lives.

Char nodded. He was ready. Even if it meant fighting his teammates, he would do it.

"Go on," he said.

"Scythe is going to give you an order soon," Ray told him. "I don't know what that order is going to be, he didn't tell me… but he says it's something that's going to surprise you and might even be hard to accept. But he says that you're only going to have a very small window of opportunity to do it, so you can't hesitate or question him. Got it?"

Char nodded, trying but failing to squelch the new inklings of worry he felt. "Got it… just do what he says, and don't ask questions. Um… how am I going to know? Is there going to be some kind of signal?"

"Uh… no, I don't think so," Ray replied oddly. "I think he's just going to tell it to you when the time is right. He says it has to be done before we meet Dialga."

That's pretty soon, Char realized, especially if the rest of the floors are going to be empty like this…

Char clenched his fists. "Alright, I'll do it," he decided. "I'll prepare for the worst. I just hope it's not something too drastic…"

"Well, it kinda, uh, sounded like it was drastic, to be honest," Ray said awkwardly, "But…"

The Raichu's tone changed.

"Hey," he said, holding a paw to his heart and offering a small bow. "I'm here to help, alright? Whatever side you take, I'm going to be fighting on that side, alright? I'd even knock out Scythe for you if I had to. You're not alone. That's a promise."

The Raichu offered his paw.

Char looked him in the eye.

"Thanks," Char replied earnestly, obliging the handshake. "It means a lot to me."

The two Pokémon shared a smile.

"Are you ready for this, Char?" Ray asked.

"For what?"

"For the top of the tower? Are you ready to meet Dialga? Ask him who you really are?"

"…No," Char admitted, scratching his head. "Actually, I think I'm terrified. With all of those dungeons we just got through, I completely forgot to start mentally preparing myself."

"Yeah, me too. But hey, we're probably running out of time," Ray noted, tearing away from the handshake and bounding up the stairs. "Let's go fast. Let's tell them you tripped on the stairs and I went back to help you."

Dropping to all fours, Char scurried after him. As he began ascending the curved flight of stairs, the thought crossed his mind that, among all five of his teammates, Ray was the only one he knew he could trust unconditionally. His relationships to each of the other four all hung in the balance of some type of turmoil. Ray's gesture of support, as small as it was, helped to console him far more than Ray would have guessed.


Temporal Tower 10F

The stairs leading to the next floor were very numerous, winding around the outer circumference of the tower. As Char bolted up the staircase with his friend, he resisted the urge to climb up the ridged walls and peer out of the tiny windows, to see if Zerferia still appeared somewhere down below.

At the end of the long, long staircase, Char found the team waiting for him at the beginning of the next floor. For a second time, Char was struck with the glorious beauty of the temple he trespassed upon. The architecture of the divine building demanded reverence and attention; it was very difficult to take his eyes from its splendor. However, to Char's surprise, the floor had a slightly different appearance than the previous one: the looping, spiraling designs on the dome-shaped ceiling portrayed a different design, one that looked like pedals of an electrified flower, and there were more pillars. Char wondered if every single floor had a different design.

"Oh, there you are," Lily said with relief. "We were afraid you fell out of the tower or something."

"Char tripped on the stairs," Scythe lied. "I have little means of helping up a fallen Pokémon, so I sent Ray back to help him."

"I see," Prince said. "Char, don't try walking up stairs on two feet. Always climb stairs on all fours and you will not trip."

I know that, Char thought annoyed, but understood that he was creating a ruse so he feigned humility and gave Prince an affirmative nod in reply.

"The stairs are still there," Ray noted suddenly, looking over his shoulder. "That doesn't usually happen in a Mystery Dungeon…"

"You're right; it does not," Prince considered. "That's… quite interesting. The spatial anomaly must be extremely weak here. I wonder if we could go back down the stairs to the previous floor if we needed."

"Formations. Now. Walk." Scythe ordered, prodding the team members with his blades and shooing everyone together. "Get moving."

"Scythe," Prince suddenly said. "Perhaps you should take the head of the line now."

Scythe squinted at the Infernape. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, Char obviously has trouble climbing staircases, and we have many more to climb. I would like it if a Pokémon with hands were there to keep an eye on him," Prince said in an almost threatening tone.

Char frowned. Do you have any idea how many flights of stairs I had to climb every day in the Gold Division? he wanted to say. I do not have trouble climbing staircases. Couldn't we have picked a better lie?

"Let me walk behind him," Prince reasoned. "And since you're always so eager to move forward, we'll all follow you for a change. With the alternate realities gone, so the rear guard has less to watch out for."

Scythe seemed very displeased at the proposal, but Char knew he could not betray too much of his aggravation or Prince would begin to suspect something. Char wondered if Prince already had begun to suspect something.

"Fine. Go," Scythe grunted, angrily swiping a blade through the air. "I'm nearing the end of my energy. I will not waste any more of it arguing with you..."

Char exchanged a worried glance with Ray as the two leaders switched places, and the team was on their way once more. The staircase was, again, in plain sight on the far side of the room, requiring nothing more than a linear march through the center of the grandiose chamber.

Char was loathe to walk past the wonders which filled Temporal Tower without properly stopping to appreciate them, but Scythe kept up a speedy, determined pace and he knew he couldn't hold the group back. As they passed by each pillar, he noticed a matrix of figures and unidentifiable runes engraved on their surfaces, and some protruded miniature golden statues of Pokémon he had never known existed. One in particular appeared as a Mew, but had two tentacles trailing from its form instead of a tail. Another appeared as a giant, dark snake-dragon which encircled a spherical object he assumed represented the world.

Scythe abruptly stopped walking, and Char, having paid most of his attention to the stone mosaic, hit his forehead on the Scyther's left leg.

"Vibrations…" he hissed. "Something might be coming."

"It felt as though it was coming from a floor above," Prince added. "Perhaps Dialga is impatiently pacing at the summit, waiting for us."

Scythe turned his gaze upward. "We can hope," he said. "There might also be wild Pokémon patrolling the floor above. We should be prepared for battle. I hope they are nothing more than the Salamence, Lunatone, and Metagross we had come prepared for in the first place."

Warily, Scythe stepped onto the first stair of the fight leading to the eleventh floor.

"Ray, do you have any cross-eye seeds in that bag of yours?" Prince inquired as he ushered the group on to the staircase.

"Um… I don't think so," Ray replied. "We have a few different kinds of seeds in ours, but not one of those. I think there are some in Scythe's bag, though."

"Could you fetch one for me, please? I would like to have one ready in case we battle. There are some particular circumstances where they are useful."

Ray shrugged. "Alright," he replied, stepping around Char and preparing to get Scythe's attention. Char exchanged a glance at him.

Before Char knew what was happening, he felt a strong hand grasp him by the tail and pull him backward. He gave a startled yelp…

… and suddenly, the rest of the group was gone. Simply gone. They had disappeared into thin air right before his eyes.

Thump. The hand dropped him headfirst onto Temporal Tower's cobbled floor.

From his upside-down perspective, he realized Prince was standing over him.

"Prince-!" cried Char, astonished. "What was that for?"

"I'm sorry," Prince replied, reaching down to help the Charmander to his feet. "I wanted a moment alone with you. When you tripped on that last staircase, it gave me an idea. I realized that none of us could hear you or see you until you rejoined us. It seems there are still powerful boundaries between floors. So I came up with the idea that if I could get the rest of the team beyond the boundary, while you and I stay on the previous floor, the others couldn't come back to get us and we could have some privacy."

"That's why you wanted to walk behind me," Char realized, growing a bit frustrated. "You realize you could separate the team like this? You're taking this risk?"

"Char, I've crawled hundreds of dungeons in my time," Prince returned, kneeling down to look the Charmander in the eye. "I have a firm grasp on the mechanics of dungeons. I understand how the boundaries between floors work. I wouldn't take a risk like this if I didn't understand what is involved. Trust me."

Despite the Infernape's humbled demeanor, Char scowled. "Alright, fine. Fine," he grumbled. "What do you want to say? What's so important that you can't let anyone else hear it?"

"Well, this is a bit difficult for me to say," Prince began, "but lately, I… fear for your safety. And it's not due to the hazards of this tower. It's…"

"Scythe?" Char guessed, feeling his throat clench again.

"Yes," he replied, his tone darkening. "I… I can see it in his eyes, and in the way he moves. He's preparing for something… something he's been keeping a secret since the day we set off from Fort Emerald. In reality, I fear for the safety of everyone in this tower, but my greatest responsibility is to you and Lily. Most of all to you."

Char bit his tongue. Hesitating, he opened his feelings to the Infernape.

"What… do you think he's going to do?"

"I have not a clue," Prince admitted. "Worst case, it could involve slaughtering you. Next worst case, the Master and his army might be positioned at the bottom of the tower when we disembark from this place, ready to snatch you up. I honestly cannot tell. The most painful part is that he refuses to even speak of his plan to anyone. He knows and trusts me, yet he refuses to let me in on the plan. This gives me the impression that it is something dangerous, foolish, or perhaps even evil. And I am worried to the core for you."

"You… really think he would do something like that?" Char replied, welling with nervousness. "Why? W-what makes you think that? What reason would Scythe have to betray us? Scythe isn't evil! Why would Scythe do something evil?"

"Do you know who Adron the Terrible is, Char?"

"Adron the Terrible?" Char echoed. "No…?"

"Adron the Terrible was a Scyther who once worked for the Master," Prince replied. "Was, in fact, one of the most notorious generals the Master had at his side. Slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent Amberans and never blinked an eye. Even today, the name is spoken with fear and reverence. Now… not a lot of people know this, especially not the members of the Gold Division, but Adron the Terrible died one day, and in his place, another Scyther was born. A Scyther who hated the Master and everything he stood for. Showed up at the gates of the Gold Division, desiring nothing more than to orchestrate the Master's fall. Or… so Scythe would have you think."

Char let it sink in for a minute.

"I know Scythe worked for the Master once," he replied. "He told us that…"

"He didn't just work for the Master, Char," Prince said gravely. "He was one with the Master. His name was synonymous with the terror and destruction which flowed from the Master's ranks. He was the best of the worst, Char. And you may hear about many celebrities among the Master's ranks today, names that strike fear into your heart. Adiel, Enigma, Cepheus, Mirandalys… none of them held a candle-flame to Adron the Terrible during his reign. He tells nearly every Pokémon he works with that he once served the Master. He tells only his closest and most trusted friends that he and Adron the Terrible are one in the same."

Char swallowed hard.

"Now, I earnestly believe people can change," Prince continued. "Even knowing where he came from, I was his confidant and ally for over a decade, and I did not regret it for a minute. I trusted him as closely as a soul could trust another. Being at the Emerald Division, I dearly miss his help and his company. He did not have to convince me his heart had changed—he showed it in everything he did. According to him, he changed his heart years before he cut the strings and escaped from the servitude of the Master. Ever since, his passion and focus against the Master have been rivaled by few. Make no mistake, Scythe is a good and trustworthy Pokémon."

"Then… what reason… do we have to worry?" Char asked weakly.

"Because," Prince replied, "I have never seen him so destroyed, Char. Never in my life have I seen him so crushed and world-weary. We cannot… discount the possibility… that Scythe might be losing the fight. And if he falls… Adron the Terrible could rise again in his place. He might regress."

No…

That can't happen.

"That's not going to happen!" Char almost yelled. "Scythe likes me! He knows I'm a human and he serves me like one! Everything he's doing, he's doing for me! He said so!"

"Believe what you like, Char, but you have known him for how long? About a month?" Prince replied. "I have known him for decades. I know the meaning behind how he acts and what he says in a way that you cannot fathom. Just like how I cannot fathom how you and Saura understand one another so well. I know him. And what I'm saying is, you need to trust me when I tell you that Scythe… might soon become a danger to you."

It was worse than Char feared.

Char did not have to question what Prince said. He knew it all to be true. It made too much sense. Even he, himself, had felt that inkling of distrust to his mentor for the entirety of the journey…

But no! No! He could not distrust Scythe! Not now! Not at the focal point of the journey! With the Call, he could not stand to project such a powerful, almost perfect fear of the Scyther into his already-unstable mind. He knew he would cause such a horrifying thing to happen if he did. It would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"I believe, Char, we have until we exit this tower to think of something," Prince said. "I have reason to believe that is when he will strike, or when he will put his plan into motion, whatever it is."

"Okay," Char said, breathing deeply and trying to keep his ember from boiling over. "What do we do?"

"I am formulating a plan," Prince said. "I think I know how I can get Scythe to at least tell us what he has in mind. After all, maybe I am blowing it out of proportion. There's no way to tell until we know what's going to happen. So, I figure that—"

The ground shook.

Instinctively, Prince snatched Char into his arms. He glanced around for a sign of danger. But what he saw was the very last thing he expected…

"Char…" Prince reported, "I… think I have some bad news."

"What is it?" Char demanded, unable to see much from his cramped position against the Infernape's chest.

"Temporal Tower… has… vanished again."

"Huh?"

"The… Mystery Dungeon has returned. Char… we're lost."

… … …

Char pressed against Prince's hold, and Prince did not deter him. Landing on all fours, he looked around and beheld yet another magnificently dangerous and deadly incarnation of the Mystery Dungeon curse, a curse he thought had been put behind him for good.

The two Pokémon stood amidst a burning city.

Towering skyscrapers surrounded them, all ablaze with a magnificent inferno. Flames licked the structures from top to bottom, some with brick walls mostly intact, others left teetering on nothing but steel support beams that flared like logs in a campfire. Underfoot, the ground was a disastrous heap of broken bricks, chunks of cement, and twisted metal, all lined with a heavy ashen blanket.

Char panicked.

"We're lost," Char said loudly, over the continual roar of the flames. "Prince! You got us separated from the group. We're on our own! Prince! How could you let this happen? We lost them! They're going to die without our help! Or we might die! I thought you said you understood the risk!"

"Calm yourself," Prince grunted. "Quiet. Let me think."

"You'd better think harder than you did when you decided to let us get separated again," Char growled.

"Char, enough," Prince growled back. "I'm not happy this has happened, either. But separated or not, if there is a relay point on floor thirteen as I suspected earlier, we will see them again soon. We are only two floors away."

"And what if there's no relay point?" Char cried. "What then, Prince? They have all the items. We have no reviver seeds! No orbs! We have nothing! Prince, the dungeon did this to us! On purpose! It wanted to separate us just like Saura said, and it did. Now it can eat us alive! It tricked us by making us think these horrible worlds were all gone, and now it separated us! Prince…"

"Prince…?"

Prince did not seem to be listening to Char's worries. Instead, something had caught his attention. He seemed suddenly fascinated with one of the nearby buildings, perhaps involuntarily so.

"What do you see?" Char wondered.

Prince was silent for a moment. He did not move; he only fixated on a nearby brick building that was nestled snuggly between two of the burning towers. Within the inferno, it looked more like a smelting oven or a fireplace than a building of residence. It was the only building in sight that appeared to be fully intact, with no crumbling or missing walls.

"Hmm," Prince said, a bit absentmindedly, "Do you ever have the sensation that… you've suddenly recalled a forgotten memory, only… you're not sure whether it was a dream, or if it was real?"

"Quite a lot, actually," Char responded, climbing up a nearby junk heap to get a better view of the cityscape. "Why?"

Prince didn't reply this time. He started to take a step in the direction of the brick building, but stopped himself.

"I'm sorry, Char," Prince suddenly said, rubbing his eyes. "I'm letting the dungeon get into my mind. Let's try and find the staircase…"

… … …

The two wayward Pokémon began to navigate the burning city, carefully crawling across the rubble-strewn streets and collapsed alleyways. Char found this to be one of the more exciting floors to explore; he had no trouble breathing, although he couldn't quite understand why, as he could not imagine that a single speck of oxygen survived at the base of the inferno where they walked. The skyscrapers themselves seemed oddly stable; not one of them collapsed or even so much as dropped a piece of debris upon their heads. He hoped, however, that he would not suddenly feel that sickening pop in his head and lose all feeling in his body, meaning that his skin could no longer withstand the heat and he was about to get burned.

"Interesting place," Prince said as he guided Char through what appeared to be the city's main street. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that the tower has forgotten how to torture us and instead wanted to send us to paradise for fire Pokémon. I would almost call this relaxing."

"Heh… almost," Char said with a nervous laugh, as he didn't completely agree. He didn't quite enjoy the sight of the sky above the rooftops, where the time of day was entirely irrelevant. Instead, all that could be seen was a thick, eternal cloud of pitch-black smoke, though in some places it reflected the orange glow of the city's firelight like a twisted, unnatural sunset.

"It's amazing we can actually breathe in here," he added.

"Not too amazing, considering that we are both fire Pokémon," Prince replied. "Fire Pokémon have a small sack attached to the back of the lungs which gathers and stores oxygen as you breathe, and compresses it so tightly that it becomes a tiny chunk of solid matter. Most of the time, it helps to feed your internal flame, but sometimes if you are trapped without air, such as in the midst of fire, it will give you oxygen to survive for quite a while, sometimes for months depending on what kind of Pokémon you are. It might seem as though you are inhaling as normal right now, but in reality your diaphragm is pumping the reserve supply of oxygen through your respiratory system."

"Does that mean fire Pokémon can breathe anywhere there is no air?" Char wondered, recalling very clearly times when he had felt short of breath.

"No, sadly," Prince answered, kicking a piece of rock out of his path. "For some reason, the body will only draw from its reserve supply under conditions of extreme heat. It is probably an evolutionary device to discourage fire Pokémon from trying to swim, or suffocating in deep caves, which will kill us for other reasons besides lack of air. That is, in contrast to most rock-type Pokémon who do not even breathe at all…"

"Hey, Prince," Char said offhandedly, climbing over a pile of bricks that was in his way. "Thanks for helping teach me how to be a fire Pokémon…"

"It is nothing," Prince returned, rubbing his head in shame. "Thank you for listening to the ramblings of a naïve old ape, and I'm sorry for getting you stuck in the dungeon again. And for triggering the avalanche that trapped us. And for falling into the warp trap. I'm sorry… it seems I just cannot stop making mistakes nowadays."

"Everyone makes mistakes", Char told him. "I'm just happy you came. If you would have let me go with Scythe, we would have been dead by now. I know you're just trying to watch out for us."

Prince grunted in reply, and said no more. He seemed distracted.

"Hey, Prince?" Char said again.

"What?"

"Do you really think Scythe isn't trustworthy?"

"I do not know for sure, Char," Prince said. "I only know that it is a possibility, and I err on the side of caution. Understand, if Scythe does something brash, there are not many Pokémon who can stand up to him. He is more of a deadly and destructive force than I ever was… I merely want to know what he is up to, so I can make my judgment then."

"But…" Char said, a bit hesitantly, "What if trying to find out what his plan is will ruin it?"

"That is precisely why I am worried," the Infernape returned, frustration growing in his voice. "Plans which rely on the element of surprise from close friends are usually plans of betrayal, or at least related to betrayal. I have every reason to believe his plan involves you in some way."

"It does involve me."

Prince stopped in his tracks. He looked at Char with disbelief.

"You mean, you know what he wants to do?" Prince demanded, holding back his shock.

"No, he didn't," Char said. "He never told me his plan. But he told me once that it involves me. He told me because I kinda demanded it at the time. But yeah. I don't know what he means by it."

Prince's mouth hung open for a moment.

He closed his eyes, looking pained. His hands closed into loose fists.

"Well, that is especially promising news, you know that?" he said with a defeated-sounding sigh.

He knelt down in front of Char, sharing his eye-level. He put a hand on Char's shoulder; a distinctively human gesture of fidelity.

"I will stop him," Prince said solemnly, resolutely. "If he intends to hurt you, Char, mark my words: I will stop him. By the blazes, Char, I have seen too much betrayal and senseless slaughter in my time; if I have one dying wish, it is to keep our last remaining hope against the Master safe from the misaimed actions one lunatic Scyther… I will find him. I will strangle his secret from his throat, and if he intends to harm you, I will fight until he is no longer a threat, or until I can no longer move. Let this be my last will and testament."

Char stared into his eyes, not really knowing what to say. The Infernape's flame burned brightly with his steadfast will, and the fire of the burning city reflected upon his eyes…

"Alright…" Char finally said in reply. "But, Prince… I still don't know about this. He might not mean any harm… Part of me still wants to trust him."

"It is possible he means no harm, but will cause it anyway," Prince replied. "Believe me, Scythe's judgment is not always flawless. On the contrary, he… has been known to make rash, illogical decisions that have no means to work. That's why he always has Daemon constantly at his side to beat some sense into him when he starts to disconnect from reality. That hellhound has a way of getting into his mind and making him see the truth of the matter, something I really could never do…"

And Daemon isn't here, Char realized. Scythe hasn't spoken with Daemon in a long time… if Scythe really is going to do something crazy, there's no one here to really help him!

What if… what if I shouldn't trust him after all?

What if Scythe really is the one who has to be stopped?

I just…

I don't know anymore.

I just don't know…

"But believe me, Char, when I say that I've seen far too much betrayal, too much senseless slaughter in my time, to stand for it," Prince growled with conviction, standing to his full height and motioning to Char to follow. "I've watched entire cities… burn…"

He glanced oddly at his surroundings, as if recognizing them from somewhere. He seemed to lose his train of thought after a few moments, and simply continued down the path. Char followed.

… … …

The two of them navigated the ruined city streets, crawling over and through the rubble wherever they could find a way forward. Thankfully, no wild Pokémon showed their faces. Char wondered if it was because any Pokémon would have been burned alive in the fire.

At one point, the piles of rubble seemed to end, leaving a clear path down the central city street, as well as a greater view of what lay beyond. The city looked intricate and advanced; Char recognized many structures along the sides of the road as shops, warehouses, and factories which closely resembled those in Iron Town. He wondered if it would be worth it to scour the half-destroyed buildings for loose items, but worried that the Watchers had set up traps or enemy Pokémon waiting for them.

"I wonder if this city was struck by the meteor shower from a few floors ago," Prince said.

"Actually, it reminds me of something else," Char returned. "It reminds me of… what you said about fire Pokémon earlier. You know, that their purpose in life is supposedly to burn down the world to make room for the future. This place looks like… a place where fire Pokémon have had their way."

Prince crouched down, brushing a finger lightly against the cement-paved road.

"But see, the thing is…" Prince said, almost trailing off. "This city… strikes a chord with me, in a way. There are many minor details – the shape of a doorway, the size of a house or a streetlamp – Nothing I can distinctly remember, you see, but I wonder…"

He stood up, brushing the dust from his hand and gazing intently down the road to the city's center.

"You've been here before?" Char finished his thought. "You think the Watchers pulled this city out of your memories?"

Prince did not respond. Silently, he stepped forward and gazed at a singular building which loomed above them.

They had arrived at the center of the forsaken city. At its heart, encircled in a grand avenue which branched off into many roads leading in each direction, there stood a plain rectangular building. Its walls were high and flat, built more for defense than decoration, and a simple flight of stairs led to the front entryway.

"Yes," Prince said simply. "Yes, I know this place."

Char followed Prince's gaze. Standing in the building's doorway, there stood a small, humanoid silhouette adorned by flames.

"Rayquaza's Clutch," Prince said. "Amidst the snow and perpetual winter of northern Ambera, it is a building I watched burn to the ground, along with its surrounding city… Though this city looks nothing like it did from my memories, this particular building is one I will never forget. This is… a place I once fought for… And failed to protect… Well, according to some. To others, I was a hero who saved half of the people who dwelled in this city…"

Char kept an eye fixated on the strange Pokémon in the doorway, wondering how it was not burning alive.

"Prince, you can't let the dungeon get to your head," Char reminded him. "Remember, the Watchers are doing this to us. That Pokémon up there is probably a Watcher too, just like that Flareon was last floor. You can't let your guard down."

Prince suddenly laughed. "The Watchers have failed to take into account the fact that I have put my past behind me," he said confidently. "Do I regret what I have lost? There is not a living Pokémon who does not. But it does not haunt me. Let's go, Char. These smoke and mirrors mean nothing to me. Let us look for the staircase within Rayquaza's Clutch."

"What about that thing?" Char said again, pointing nervously to the enemy Pokémon. "What is that?"

"That… is Sicarius, the Lucario responsible for dooming this place," Prince shrugged. "He also means nothing to me. Come, let us defeat him together."

Side-by-side, the Charmander and the Infernape climbed the stone stairs and approached the diminutive figure standing in the way. The figure did not appear to move or even take notice of their presence.

"He is out of his element, here," Prince spoke to Char. "I will engage him. Stay back and blast him with whatever projectile fire attacks you know how to create."

"Got it," Char said, preparing himself for battle and wondering whether or not the Lucario would pose any threat.

Prince stepped ahead, closing the distance between himself and the lone, still figure who filled the doorway of Rayquaza's Clutch…

Char tensed the muscles in his limbs and let a fireball swell in his throat as Prince stepped onto the third stair from the top… and then the second… and then the first…

The Lucario erupted in an aura of dark blue flame. Mysterious blades extended from its paws, and it assaulted Prince in a deft, unexpected motion. Prince blocked the attack and leapt away from another.

Char loosed a fireball at the assailant, not worrying about trying to miss Prince. The attack hit the Lucario in the Chest, but did not seem to faze him.

The Lucario was very swift and deadly, nearly matching Prince in prowess and being twice as hard to hit. Remaining silent, it lunged toward the Infernape as fast as a Scyther to impale him in the neck. Prince ducked and countered with a solid punch to the gut, but the enemy turned, swiping its strange glowing blades around its back and almost connecting with Prince's side.

Fwoosh! Char let loose another fireball, a bigger one this time, and timed it more carefully. It hit the enemy in the face and fazed it for a split second.

Prince launched himself into the air, jumping out of range as the Lucario swiped its blades. The Infernape planted his feet onto the face of the fort's wall, then reflected his angle of attack at the place he guessed the Lucario would dodge.

The evil, dark-furred beast dodged right where he predicted, and would have dodged a second time if it hadn't been for a headbutt to the legs by the Charmander he had not viewed as a threat.

Prince's attack connected, and very powerfully. Sicarius was sent tumbling down the stairs and collapsed onto the cement below. Before he could twitch, Prince leapt down the entire flight of stairs, landing directly on top of him with a hand upon the Lucario's throat. He reared back a fiery fist…

"Heheh…"

To Char's surprise, the dark-furred Lucario, assumed to be nothing more than a Watcher, spoke…

"Heh… heheh… I… I do not remember…"

Char's heart was gripped with fear. It was the same voice that the corrupted visage of Saura had spoken with in his nightmare…

"I do not remember my past," the Lucario said to the angry Infernape. "…Do you remember yours?"

The Lucario burst out laughing for only a moment before Prince slammed his fist down, mutilating its face and ending its life. Char had to avert his gaze from the brutality of the attack.

In a few moments, Prince had returned to Char's side, and the two of them entered Rayquaza's Clutch.

"I've never heard a Watcher speak before," Prince admitted. "That was a bit unnerving."

"I have," Char told him. "They're just trying to confuse us. We have to get out of here before it starts to work."

"Yes," Prince said. "Come, I know these halls all too well… I know where the staircase would be if it were here…"

The Rayquaza's Clutch was like a broiler; the floor radiated such incredible heat that Char knew any Pokémon – that is, any Pokémon besides a Watcher pretending to be a Lucario – would have shriveled and died at a single contact. Even he was beginning to feel worried that his tolerance to heat was about to fail him as he and Prince rounded corners and rushed through the obscure doorways of the fortress.

Finally, the two emerged into the courtyard, and the stairs were neatly positioned in the middle. Char gazed in awe as he watched the upward waterfall of endless smoke flow over the lip of the roof and escape into the invisible sky. Then, he joined Prince on the staircase and didn't look back.


Temporal Tower 11F

The smell of heavy smoke, the blasting of heat and the continual roar of a wildfire did not disappear when Char stepped foot onto the eleventh floor.

The two fiery Pokémon stood in an outdoors environment once again, this time it was one not populated with looming buildings and rubble-strewn roads. In comparison, this place felt less constraining…

Before their eyes, there stood a humble Pokémon village. It was built using wood and dry straw, and contained many simple, one-room abodes. Most were compiled in ways that no human would think to design a house, typical of Pokémon architecture.

However, like the city on the previous floor, it was perpetually burning.

The combined flames from the rooftops created a much smaller flare than the city did, one that didn't nearly block out the sky. The night had fallen on this floor of the dungeon, and with the exception of the pillar of ash, the clear sky was dotted beautifully with stars. There did not seem to be any Watchers in sight, either.

"And to think the Watchers could have sent us to an ocean, or an icy abyss," Prince mused. "Someone should tell them that our kind enjoys a good wildfire every once in a while."

Don't give them any ideas, Char thought quietly.

Prince stepped within the flimsy village walls and began to inspect the place. The structures were all made of materials that should have been shriveled to ash in mere seconds, yet the walls never collapsed and the fire never died. It was like an endless torch, a sacrificial flame to the gods above…

As suspected, the village was empty. The doors were shut tight, presumably trapping any inhabitants inside to be cooked to a char. The village square was devoid of life as well, with only one small water-well in the middle of the clearing to break up the monotony. Even that was on fire.

"Any place you recognize, Char?" Prince inquired. "I cannot say this is any village I've visited…"

Char tried to remember. He had seen a few places like this. Some of the buildings in Sitrus City looked similar, but this was far too small.

"No," Char responded, peering at the well and wondering if the staircase was somehow at the bottom of it. "Not unless this is a place in the past or the future. Hey, should we check down this well? It—"

"Sssh."

Char closed his mouth immediately and tensed, taking his attention from the burning well and glancing over at Prince. He waved to him, a signal to not move any closer.

It took Char a moment to realize Prince was at a standoff with another enemy. This one was a blue, hard-headed creature who stood on two legs. A Rampardos, he remembered. He had seen a few before, one as a member of the Gold Division, and another working with the Emerald Division. He did not recognize this particular one. Though they stood far apart on separate sides of the village square, their attentions were clearly upon one another.

"Prince!" Char hissed. "Prince, it can't hurt us. At least not much. Its body is made of rocks, and you still have the Frozen Flame."

"I know…" Prince responded dismissively, not taking his eyes from the creature.

"Prince? What's wrong?" Char asked, sensing the hesitance in the Infernape's motions.

"Who… are you?" Prince wondered, speaking in the direction of the Rampardos but not calling out to it. "Char, I… Do you remember, on the last floor, when I began to have inklings that I recognized the city? I am… having the same feeling right now, only… it is stronger."

"Do you know that Pokémon?" Char asked.

"No…" Prince replied, taking a wary step in the creature's direction. "But if that's the case… why does it seem so… familiar?"

A minute passed, but neither Prince nor the dinosaur Pokémon made a move. Char started to get anxious. He did not understand what Prince was waiting for…

"Char," Prince said suddenly. "Wait here. I have something I need to do."

"Wait!" Char cried.

But it was too late; Prince had taken a single step in the dinosaur's direction, causing it to turn tail and flee between two of the fire-encased straw huts. Prince dropped to all fours and sprinted towards it.

Char followed as close behind as he could manage. He knew exactly what was going on; Prince was caught up in the Watchers' rapture, their lies; just as what had happened with everyone else on the team. And without anyone else to help, Char knew he was the only one who could break the spell before Prince did something foolish.

"Prince, stop!" Char called. "Prince! Prince! Where are you going? You said you would protect me, remember? You promised!"

Thankfully, that did it. Just before Prince was about to turn a corner and disappear behind a house, he paused and turned around.

"Char… you don't understand," Prince told him. "Char, this… this means something, and I have to… I have to know… what it is…"

"No, you don't," Char said firmly. "Prince, this place isn't real. WE are real. Whatever that Rampardos was, whoever it was, it doesn't matter. We need to get out of this place and meet with the others."

Prince looked distraught. Angrily, he forced a fist through the wall of fire and into the straw house which he stood beside. The straw collapsed easily and his arm went straight through.

"What if this is the only chance I have to know who that was?" Prince grunted in frustration.

"It's not," Char insisted. "I said the same thing when I went out to talk with the Watchers, and guess what? They didn't even tell me what my real name was. Snap out of it, Prince! Don't make another mistake…"

"Char, I… I'm sorry!" Prince yelled back. "I need to do this. This village means something to me, and I did not even know it. I… I'm sorry…"

No! Char cried to himself. No, it's not working! I can't stop him. Just like I couldn't stop Lily on my own. Prince is much stronger than Lily; there's no way I can snap him out of it! I wish… I wish I was strong enough to give him a knock on the head!

WHAM!

The straw wall collapsed under a mighty force, as the Rampardos charged straight through it, the forceful headbutt knocking the wind out of Prince and tossing him clear across the street.

Char ran to him as fast as he could, keeping an eye on the monster. It seemed to still be shaking ember-covered straw from its head, but he knew it would not be distracted for long.

"Prince! It hit you!" Char cried, rushing to the Infernape's aid. "You have the Frozen Flame, how did it hit you?"

"Must be 'mold breaker'," Prince grunted in pain, shamefully climbing back to his feet.

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later, if there's time," Prince replied quickly. "Char, duck."

Without questioning, Char dropped to the beaten dirt ground and flattened his body against it. Wasting no time, Prince scooped his body into his arms and thrust him high into the air. Char's breath was taken away for a moment, and as he flew high above the village road, he witnessed the charging dinosaur returning to engage the Infernape in battle, delivering a brutal body slam. Prince parried the blow to the best of his ability, causing the enemy to stop in its tracks—right beneath Char, who quickly plummeted back down.

Char held his breath and snagged one of the creature's head-spikes, hanging on tight.

Steelix, he thought to himself. Except… made of rocks. Ahh, I will have to use something else!

Charging white energy into his claws, Char pulled himself up just as the beast reared its head high into the air. He slammed his claw down into the beast's blunt cranium. Metal collided with rock, and the Rampardos roared in irritation.

Pow. Prince delivered a solid blow to the beast's chest. However, he soon retracted his fist, looking pained. Char had to wince in sympathy as he saw that the knuckles upon his fist had nearly shattered and were fresh with blood. Prince leaped out of the way as the beast swing its tail around.

Char tried to regain his hold on the beast, charging his energy for another deep scratch to its head. But the beast twisted its body and bucked suddenly, tossing Char back in to the air in a direction he could not comprehend…

Thunk. Char's vision jolted as he hit the side of a vertical stone wall, and panic filled him as he realized he was still falling, and that it was growing dark.

He was falling down the well.

Panicking, he reached out his glowing metallic claws and tried to dig a handhold in the wall, but his claws just slipped off the mossy surface…

Below him, there was water. He could see its reflection in his own firelight.

"PRINNNCE!" he yelled, his desperate voice echoing up the vertical tunnel…

He saw it coming… in a few seconds, he would be plunged deep into the well-water, tail-flame and all…

He bit down on his tongue so hard that it bled, and braced himself for unimaginable agony…

… … …

Thump.

Char landed on a solid floor.

His first thought was, wow, being submerged doesn't feel as painful as I thought it would.

But when he opened his eyes, he saw that the deep, dark well was gone. So was the burning village and the Rampardos.

Instead, they were once replaced by the gloriously beautiful hallows of Temporal Tower. The Mystery Dungeon illusion had simply flickered out, just as it had done once before.

Breathing faster and harder than he thought he was capable of, Char turned to see Prince kneeling behind him, inspecting his own wounds. He licked his knuckles, which were still bleeding profusely.

"Well… that was something," Prince said dryly.

"Did you… remember who the Rampardos was?" Char asked, the only thing he could think of to say at the moment.

Prince coughed. "I do not even care about that anymore," he barked. "Let us get to the relay point before those accursed dungeons return!"

Prince didn't even wait for Char to reply. He snatched Char from the ground and carried him as fast as his legs would carry him to the stairs.


Temporal Tower 13F

Prince rushed Char up the stairs of the eleventh floor, through the empty and uneventful twelfth floor, and emerged triumphantly onto the thirteenth…

As if a blessing from the heavens, there stood a magnificent stone statue in the center of the room; a giant Kangaskhan stared warmly down upon the weary explorers. Though it paled in comparison to the divinely-designed décor Temporal Tower exhibited, this simple statue held a powerful and welcome meaning to the travelers: safety.

And there, under the watchful protection of the giant stone statue, a few Pokémon were sprawled out on the floor, the contents of bags spilled out upon cloths for sorting and consumption.

Ray was the first to notice them.

"They're here!" he exclaimed loudly. "They made it!"

A cheer filled the air, and did not die down anytime soon.

Prince put Char down just in time for the Raichu to tackle him, a joyed relief spread over his face. Saura soon joined him, pressing his forehead tenderly against the Charmander's cheek.

"Char, that was awful!" Ray exclaimed, refusing to let him go. "We got up here without you, and we had no idea if you were dead, or lost, or on your way, or if we should keep on going, or how long we should wait… it was just so awful, I don't even want to think about it anymore! Thank every legendary ever that you're here!"

Char was out of breath and couldn't quite think of how to respond, so he settled with accepting the embrace of his friends and relaxing for once.

"What took you so long?" Scythe's familiar voice barked angrily at Prince.

"Mystery Dungeon came back," Prince said as Lily wrapped him in vines. "Thankfully, the dungeons were relatively easy and we made it out. I believe I need some Sitrus berries, though, if you do not mind…"

"You kept him alive, yet again," Scythe said, looking Prince in the eye and giving a respectful nod. "You have done well."

"And you kept her alive, and the rest;" Prince returned, indicating Lily. "You have my gratitude."

"It was not difficult," Scythe admitted. "We battled only once. There was a Metagross on the eleventh floor. We destroyed it. The rest of the floors were empty."

"Don't do that," Lily cried, squeezing Prince tighter. "You're the one who always told me, always stick together on staircases in dungeons… Please don't do that again."

"I promise, I will not," Prince assured her.

After the warm welcoming, the wayward fire-types sat beneath the shade of the Kangaskhan and feasted on some well-deserved berries to heal their wounds and fill their stomachs. When everyone had their fill, Scythe suggested that the party should sleep for the night before continuing forward.

"Even if the rest of the floors in this tower are empty, we should reach the summit at our best," Scythe proposed. "You should sleep. I will keep watch."

Not a single objection was raised. Even if the Watchers' curse had faded as the floors went by, the following day would involve trekking up at least one thousand stairs, and meeting the creator of time face-to-face. For Char, it would be the single most important day of his life as a Pokémon… at least, thus far.

So, under the vigilant eye of Scythe, and the blessed shelter of the relay point, the weary Pokémon settled down to rest within the safety of the relay point, their minds buzzing with possibilities of what might lay just a dozen floors above them…

… … …

"Char."

A hissed whisper. One that he knew too well.

A blade gently prodding his shoulder.

Char stirred. It took him a minute to remember he was trapped in perhaps the most hostile dungeon on earth, but he knew instantly that his sleep had not been nearly long enough. Rolling onto his back, he saw Scythe standing over him.

"Char, get up," the Scyther silently ordered, his voice no louder than a breath of air. "I need you. Come here."

It dawned on Char…

This was it.

This was the moment Ray had warned him about.

Slowly, silently, Char crawled on the pads of his claws to where Scythe had been keeping watch. There, sitting next to him, was the bag of valuable items which had been granted by Alakazam…

This was the moment. Scythe needed help to finally put his plan into motion.

Char's heart was racing. He knew his tail was flaring, and worried it would somehow raise attention from the sleeping Pokémon. What would Scythe ask of him? What did this plan of his actually entail?

Scythe indicated the bag.

"Char… I need you to pull out the satchel of reviver seeds… and toss them down the stairs to the previous floor."

WHAT?

"DON'T—speak." Scythe hissed. "Prince just fell asleep, and I do not think he will remain unaware for long. You have mere seconds to do this. Please, Char."

Char hesitated.

Throw away—the reviver seeds?

Why…?

Does Scythe realize… what kind of danger that puts us in?

Is he… crazy?

"Char, please," Scythe hissed again, this time with a humiliated, almost begging voice. "If I never ask anything of you ever again… I need you to do this for me. Please, do not betray me…"

"Alright," Char decided, crawling over to the bag and searching through it. "Alright, I will do this for you."

It did not take long to find the small, stuffed pouch of sacred seeds, seeds which had the divine power to cure the worst of ailments, even death itself…

Clenching it tight with shaking claws, he silently shuffled over to the long, long staircase which circled down and around to the twelfth floor…

He yanked the satchel open, and peered inside.

So many… beautiful, golden, indescribably valuable relics were laying there… each one, like a gleaming amber gemstone, full of benevolence and salvation…

And he needed to discard them all.

As he glared down at those precious seeds, Char hesitated one final time.

This was it.

This was the decision that might save him. Or it might destroy him.

It was in his hands.

Did he trust Scythe?

Did Scythe have a good reason to request this of him?

Or was he reduced to a raving lunatic who didn't know what was good for the team anymore?

I can't…

I can't decide…

He squeezed the bag, his sharpened claws almost boring holes into the thick fabric.

No.

No.

Scythe…

I…

I trust you.

But…

But sometimes, you need a little bit of help.

And Daemon isn't here right now.

So it has to be me.

I have to help you!

Clink-clink-clink… one seed rolled down the stairs.

Clink-clink-clink… and the next one.

Clink-clink-clink… their hard, metallic shells ringing like glass as they disappeared from sight, past the barrier between the relay point and the previous floor…

...They were lost forever, or at least until a future exploration team would be lucky enough to find them…

As he watched the seeds go, one-by-one, he managed to produce a strange seed which had lost its golden luster. He realized it was the seed he himself had inadvertently used, right after he had choked to death on a previous floor. The power had evaporated after it had revived him, and the seed had visibly changed…

He threw it out, too.

And he kept throwing them, one by one, until the bag was empty…

…all except for two remaining reviver seeds.

He removed them from the satchel, and tossed the empty satchel down the staircase. It flopped down a couple of stairs before remaining still.

Char held the remaining two reviver seeds, one in each claw…

As he returned to the sleeping team, Scythe eyed him questioningly. Char ignored him, and proceeded over to Saura.

"Saura… wake up."

Saura grumbled and stretched.

"Too… early…" he sighed. "A few more minutes, please?"

Char sighed.

"The fire will never die…"

Saura's eyes blinked open instantly.

"Char? What is it?"

"Here," Char said, presenting him with one of the reviver seeds. "Can you hide this? Maybe in your bulb?"

"W-why?"

"Trust me. Just do it…"

"You do it. Go ahead, there's room in there, I think…"

Saura winced as Char stuffed the reviver seed down between the folds of his bulb, making sure it was fully hidden…

When he turned around to check on the sleeping Pokémon, he was just in time to witness Prince's eyes blink open. They stared right at him.

His breath caught. He clutched the reviver seed tightly.

"Char?" Prince said wearily. "Is that a reviver seed? What are you doing with that?"

"He's holding onto it," Scythe explained, stepping into the conversation. "Since he is the reason we are all here, I told him to get one of the seeds to hold for himself. Because, if you hold a reviver seed on your person, it will not activate for any of the other members of the group except for you."

"Ahh, yes," Prince said with a nod. "Good thinking… How long have we been asleep, do you think?"

"Perhaps two hours," Scythe replied, sending Char a glare that was nearly as deadly as his blades. "Go back to sleep. We still have time."

Char returned to the place he had been sleeping, and clutched the seed as tightly as if it had been a safety-blanket. But he knew he would not be able to sleep anymore. Not now, now that he might have doomed the group to failure, expulsion from the tower, or worse…

And he had a deep, dark, sinking feeling that he had made the wrong choice by trusting Scythe…

… … …

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Tremors rocked Temporal Tower. The team jumped awake in unison.

"That sounds like…" Lily said groggily. "That could be…?"

"Dialga?" Char wondered. "Sounds like Dialga is pacing on the summit…"

"Alright, rise and shine, warriors of the Silver Resistance," Prince called, climbing to his feet. "We have an appointment with the god of time, and it sounds as though he is growing impatient. Shake off your sleepiness, we have rested for long enough! Let us be off!"

A vine wormed its way into Char's fist, which was still tightly clenching the reviver seed. He turned to see Saura standing next to him.

"Hey…" Saura said weakly. "Hold my hand?"

… … …

The team roused themselves, packed up, said their prayers to the legendaries, then set out to conquer the stairs of Temporal Spire.

There was no opposition; every floor was empty. But the stairs were so numerous and draining that it took nearly a half hour to climb between every floor.

Soon, they passed Temporal Spire's second floor…

Then the third…

Then the fourth…

And with every passing floor, the tremors increased in volume and intensity. Something was above them, and it was something mighty, and powerful…

The fifth floor passed by…

And the sixth…

And the seventh…

GRRR-OOOOOO! A mighty, primal cry echoed down through the chambers… It sent a sickening chill of fear and excitement into each and every one of them…

When the Pokémon arrived onto the ninth floor, Scythe stopped them for a moment.

"Prepare yourselves," he hissed. "The legendary dragon may be on the next floor."

"Here we go, Char…" Saura whispered. "This is it. Everything… rests on this…"

"I can't believe… we're actually here…" Lily stuttered. "I didn't think we'd really make it… it just doesn't seem like this is happening!"

"Remember, Char… and Saura, too," Ray whispered. "Whatever happens, we got this far, and that's all that matters. From here on out, we're just going to do our best, alright?"

"Alright…" Saura replied. "Thank you."

"The fire will never die…" Ray whispered.

"Until the last ember fades," Char and Saura responded, though with more fear than conviction in their hearts this time.

And thus, the team began the trek up the final staircase. Every single step felt dreadful, as though it were a step towards glory, or towards doom…

Before anyone could believe it, the stairs were no more.


Temporal Spire 10F

And there, standing in the middle of the perfect, dome-shaped room…

No, filling the room…

…stood a majestic blue dragon.

Its body was adorned with sparkling shards of steel, its eyes deep and eternal. Veins of diamond streaked across its glistening hide, and a magnificent gemstone sat planted in its divine chest. Upon its back, there were no wings – as it was powerful enough to fly without them – but instead, there rested a holy plate of metal at the base of its winding tail.

Char was reduced to a whimpering child at the visage of the time god. His claws fumbled and nearly dropped his reviver seed, but Saura's vine gripped hard and held it for him.

Char's only thought, oddly enough, was, Wow, Dialga IS bigger than the statue!"

The great blue dragon bowed its head to the puny mortals… and spoke.

I AM DIALGA, KEEPER OF THE TEMPORAL STREAM, its voice boomed, shaking the room and the hearts of every Pokémon who stood within it. YOU HAVE TRAVELED FAR TO BE HERE. IF YOU WISH TO BESEECH MY INTERVENTION, PROVE YOURSELVES WORTHY. I CHALLENGE YOU TO BATTLE!

Upon hearing those words, Char nearly died right then and there from pure shock.

Battle?

Against Dialga?

How… are we supposed to defeat the creator of time itself… in battle?

*Chapter 64*: Chapter 46: Fateful Encounter

Chapter 46

The omnipotent lord of time stood tall and proud with a hint of malicious glee in its eyes. It swung its tail thunderously through the air, as a Luxray eagerly anticipating the taste of its prey.

IF YOU DESIRE TO CHALLENGE ME, MAKE THE FIRST MOVE, Dialga commanded, its mighty voice resounding through both the channels of telepathy and the ears at once. I WILL WAIT FOR YOU. IF YOU RECONSIDER YOUR CHALLENGE, YOU ARE FREE TO LEAVE. NOW, WHAT WILL IT BE, WEARY TRAVELERS?

At hearing the enraged voice of the temporal dragon, Char felt crushed. He had waited so long for this moment, hoping the lord of time would smile upon him and shed light on the mysteries he held. Instead, the mighty god stood above him condescendingly, snarling in disgust at his very presence.

Why do you want us to fight you? Char tried calling to it telepathically, hoping it would hear. Why, Dialga? What will this accomplish? We don't want to fight you! We have fought enough! Can't you take pity on us?

"We can win."

The bold statement came from Scythe, whose gaze was so focused on the dragon it could have melted Dialga's steel.

"How do you figure?" Prince replied in a low tone, keeping his heart still amidst the presence of the god. "Scythe… realize, there have been many Pokémon throughout history who have fought and defeated the mortal legendaries. We might be the first Pokémon in recorded history to challenge one of the gods… Scythe…. Understand. It is immortal. It cannot die. It has existed since before time began, and you think it can fall in battle?"

"It is not immortal," Scythe breathed, certain of every word he spoke. "As a god, it is immortal and its power is without bound. But only in spirit. When it chose to become corporal, wear the shroud of flesh, it accepted limitations to its power. The dragon you see before you… it is mortal, just like any other Pokémon. It has strengths and weaknesses… and it can fall."

"Scythe… how can you be so sure?" Lily implored in a weak voice. "What do you know about the gods that we don't?"

"Some Pokémon… would call me intelligent," Scythe sighed, speaking solemnly. "But in reality, my only talent is to know when a battle can be won. And I tell you… this is a battle we can win. I… I have learned more, serving in the Master's ranks, than I care to speak of. It is the truth, that… we are not the first to challenge a god. And we will not be the first to defeat one."

"A-alright, Scythe…" Ray whimpered, trying to avert his eyes from the foe, "In that case… what do we do?"

"We will need to make a plan, quickly," Scythe said, slinging the bag of powerful items from his shoulder and dropping it to the ground, causing an orb to roll out and knock against Prince's foot. "Let us examine our assets and our strengths. Forget for a moment about Dialga's significance. Treat Dialga as you would any other enemy."

I… can't, Char thought to himself, unable to speak. Dialga… is the reason I'm here. Not just here in this tower, but here in Ambera. Dialga is the one I remember most vividly from my dreams…

Char stared into the glowing red eyes of the deity, searching for some sign of love, kindness, tenderness – any emotion that could betray the dragon's true inner nature. But he saw none. The god's eyes were deep, powerful, and cold, as though they lacked any mortal feelings aside from wrath.

"Char, pay attention," Scythe snapped, having already started the discussion huddle. "I need your help, too."

"I don't want to fight Dialga," Char insisted. "That's not why we came here! This wasn't part of the plan!"

"Well, Char, nobody promised us that Dialga would be agreeable," Prince said. "Turns out that Dialga wants a fight. We're lucky we've even got a chance to earn its favor. Now, Scythe… you were saying?"

"First, we need to determine Dialga's strengths and weaknesses," Scythe continued, looking over his shoulder to appraise the intimidating figure. "It is a dragon, that is for certain. We might expect it to have weaknesses typical of dragons. Notably, it would be weak to iced attacks, if only we could perform any. Does it appear to have a second elemental affinity?"

"It's Steel," Lily chimed in. "Steel. I heard that once, somewhere. Dialga is a dragon- and steel- type. Its body is covered in steel and diamond, two of the hardest solid substances known to anyone."

Scythe bowed his head, thinking. "Dragon… and Steel," he grunted. "There is a type combination I have never puzzled out before. What does that mean? What would the weaknesses be, then? Prince…?"

"Well, let's go down the list," Prince said, pointing at Char. "Fire. Fire might be a viable weakness. I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't be. What else?"

"Five things," Ray said. "Team Stripes beat the weakness web into us until we were numb. At least the basic weaknesses. I never memorized the combinations… But you can attack steel enemies with… fire, and water, and earth, and electricity… and martial arts. I think that's it."

"Electricity would not be very effective," Scythe puzzled out, looking at Ray for a moment. "The dragon is resilient to it, even if it is a weakness to the steelskin. And we have no means to perform a water attack, or a ground attack… that leaves us with…"

"Fighting?" Prince laughed oddly. "What are you saying, Scythe? You think our best strategy is to get me to run up and punch Dialga in the face?"

Char had a sudden, vivid memory of Prince trying to attack the Rampardos the previous day, and how his knuckles had shattered at the contact. Char imagined Prince trying the same tactic on the diamond-plated forehead of Dialga, only to leave his forearm in some kind of bloody stump.

The team stood still for a moment, each awkwardly trying not to anticipate the insanity of the battle they were about to attempt. He saw that both Saura and Lily were visibly terrified, even more so than himself. Ray's demeanor had changed; he now seemed too fascinated at the dragon's presence to fear it.

And Scythe… Scythe hung his head low, thinking and focusing. By his will, the team's supply of reviver seeds had been thrown away. He had hoped and gambled, betting everything on the assertion that there would be no battle of impossible odds. He had failed that bet. Now… he knew the fate of the team rested on his shoulders.

The Scyther closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, appearing to hold his breath for a prolonged moment. Char knew he was iterating through all of the odds in his head, trying to convince himself that there would be some strategy, any strategy, that would work.

His eyes snapped open. "Dragon and steel. Good. Fire and martial arts will penetrate the defenses. Good. Now, what kind of equipment do we have at our disposal that could help us?"

NOW! THE TIME IS NOW! Dialga suddenly cried, romping his front paws against the floor and causing quakes that nearly knocked Char over. I GROW IMPATIENT! MAKE YOUR MOVE!

"Be silent, dragon!" Scythe surprisingly shot back to the god of time, glaring at it over his shoulder. "How do you expect us to stand a chance against you if you do not give us time to prepare?"

I DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO STAND A CHANCE, MORTALS! roared the great blue dragon. WHAT CHANCE DO YOU EXPECT TO HAVE AGAINST ME? YOU CANNOT OVERPOWER ME AND YOU CANNOT OUTSMART ME! WITH ONE LASH OF MY TAIL, I WILL KNOCK YOU ALL DOWN. WITH BUT A BREATH FROM MY MAW, I WILL SEND YOU TO THE FAR CORNERS OF SPACE-TIME! GROOOOOOOOOARRRRR!

The dragon's mighty roar caused the chamber to shake.

This can't be happening, Char could not stop thinking, squeezing Saura's vine tightly for a fleeing sense of comfort. This just isn't – isn't fair…

But, to everyone's shock, Scythe did not back down. Instead, he turned to face the dragon.

"Your foes outnumber you, and you underestimate them?" the Scyther vehemently called to Dialga. "You are the creator of time. I would have expected a level of timeless wisdom from you. Instead, you make the commoner's mistake of underestimating your opponent? Or, are you perhaps afraid to let us form a proper strategy against you?"

BOLD WORDS, INSECT! The dragon roared back down at him. DO YOU HAVE NO MANNERS BEFORE A DEITY? NO SENSE OF RESTRAINT? I ASSUME YOU ARE THIS GROUP'S LEADER; I WILL OBLITERATE YOU FIRST.

"No, he isn't the group's leader", Char decided to say, dropping Saura's vine and taking a shaky stand before the dragon. "I am. My name is Char. I am a human trapped in the body of a Charmander! I'm – I'm the – the reason we're here. These are all my friends; they helped me come this far. We just—wanted – to ask you a few questions. We just… need… we need your help, Dialga. We don't want to fight you."

A MORPHED ONE, YOU SAY? Dialga hummed, lowering his voice a little in response to Char. INTRIGUING. BUT MY POWER IS NOT TO BE PASSED OUT AND USED AT WILL! I SHALL NOT STOOP TO THE LEVEL OF THE MORTALS. PROVE YOURSELF IN BATTLE, BRAVE CHARMANDER, AND PERHAPS I WILL BE WILLING TO HEAR YOUR INQUIRY.

"What do you mean?" Char stammered, in spite of his cowardice. "You aren't making sense. How can you say you can't stoop to the level of us mortals, but then offer to help us if we defeat you?"

AH, HAHAHAH, Dialga laughed evilly, almost demonically. YOU MUST MISUNDERSTAND. I AM NOT WILLING TO HELP YOU, PUNY ONE. IF YOU WISH TO UTILIZE MY POWER ONTO YOUR OWN ENDS… THEN YOU MUST MAKE ME. I DARE TO YOU, ALL OF YOU: MAKE ME BEG FOR MERCY AT THE TIPS OF YOUR FANGS, YOUR CLAWS, AND YOUR BLADES! FOR THE GIFTS I GIVE SHALL ONLY BE GIVEN IF I AM TO BARTER FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF MAKING YOU LEAVE!

Char clenched his fists. The words he was planning to say next did not escape his throat.

The temporal dragon lowered its head, its condescending eyes peering into Char's own. Char felt the dragon's pressure weighing down upon him, and a sickening jolt filled his stomach, but he did not back down.

"So, wait," Char said, his voice hardened. "You're telling me… that I came all this way, thinking I was some kind of… special combination of human and Pokémon, and that I had some kind of special past that had something to do with you… and that you'd listen to be because of it... and that it was all a lie? You mean all of this fighting we did to get here… All that my friends and I went through… it meant nothing? You're not even going to hear me out?"

HUMANS ARE TRANSFORMED INTO POKÉMON OFTEN, AND RARELY A POKÉMON WILL BECOME A HUMAN AS WELL. YOUR NATURE IS NOT AN UNUSUAL ONE. YOU HAVE NO GREATER RIGHT TO COMMAND MY POWER THAN A COMMON RODENT.

Dialga smirked evilly, lowering its gargantuan head until it was only a few feet from Char's own.

I HAVE WATCHED THE STARS IGNITE, CHARMANDER-HUMAN, Dialga said in a mock-whisper. THE FLAME UPON THE END OF YOUR TAIL MEANS NOTHING TO ME. IF I WERE YOU, I WOULD LEAVE THIS TOWER BEFORE YOU COMMIT TO A BATTLE YOU WILL REGRET…

Char felt different.

Dialga had betrayed him. The gods themselves did not care about him. They did not bother with him.

He was not special.

He had reached the top of the world, the summit of time itself. He had risen to the challenge and stood proud and strong in his Pokémon form, only to find…

… that everything he had hoped for… had been a lie.

Char's fire roiled. A deep disgust, a pure kind of hatred sparked to life within his ember.

"Your taunts mean nothing to me either, Dialga," Char returned, his voice subdued but brimming with bitterness. "I have nothing to live for. Nothing, Dialga. My human life is over. I don't even remember it. And I didn't even get to hatch from an egg here in this Pokémon world. I just appeared here. I didn't get to learn about this world firsthand. I didn't get to grow up with a Pokémon family and have a culture to call my own. I have no childhood memories to hold onto. I have no hopes or dreams. I'm lost here in this world. I'm an outsider, and I have no home to go back to. You try to scare me with your legendary power and all, it doesn't work. What are you going to do? Kill me? I'm—I'm already dead. And that's why I'm not going to back down from your challenge. My friends and I placed all our hopes onto you. We have nowhere else to go, nothing else to do. We have no other options but to fight you…"

Char swallowed hard. He decided to place his trust in Scythe's conviction that the battle could be won.

"…mark my words, Dialga. We'll fight you. And we won't give up until you're lying on the floor and we're standing over you."

Dialga didn't respond. The dragon's eyes had widened slightly, as though it needed a moment to think. But Char did not give it that moment; he turned tail and returned to his group, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it.

"Char… you're nuts," Ray whispered. "You just talked down to Dialga."

Char knew what he had done. But he had snapped now. He no longer felt like a tiny, vulnerable little candle. He felt like a leader, and not just a leader over his puny Team Ember. He felt like a leader who would lead the fight against Dialga. For revenge.

"This is it," Char commanded to group. "We have to use all our tricks. All our items. Everything we learned. And we have to work as a team."

"You heard him," Scythe said. "Our self-proclaimed leader has spoken. Heed his words. And Char… I don't know what latent human abilities you have left within you, but I know the key to this battle certainly does not lay within me. I think it lies in you. After all this time, it looks like is finally time for you to play the role of a Pokémon trainer."

"Maybe, but I think you can help," Char said. "Alright, so… engaging a colossal dragon in battle. What's your first thought, Scythe?"

"Generally speaking, large opponents have a distinct disadvantage over tiny opponents," Scythe noted. "Small targets tend to be difficult to hit. And if you're never hit, you can't be defeated. It does not assure a victory, but it at least assures a stalemate."

"Yes. As my father once put it, 'Stay unharmed, wait for your enemy to make the first mistake. That is how hand-to-hand battles are fought'," Prince said.

"I learned differently," Scythe replied. "You search your opponent for patterns, use their telling motions to anticipate their actions, and cause them to make a mistake."

"Yes, and that is why I defeat you every time we battle," Prince shot. "You always tire out first, and you become easy to fool."

Scythe only hissed in reply.

"Alright, so not getting hit. We might be able to accomplish that," Char said, cutting the tension between them. "Ray and Prince, look in the bag. There must be some things in there that can help us."

With a curt nod, Prince descended down into Alakazam's bag and began to dig through it. "Probably can't use orbs," he said. "Dialga's pressure is too severe. It's interfering with the orbs. We would have to run down a floor if we wanted to use an escape orb."

"Can we use seeds?"

Saura had asked the simple question. He was surprised that everyone seemed to pause at the notion.

"What?" he stammered. "I was just asking, do you think seeds could work on Dialga? That's what our team would do whenever we met an enemy that was too strong for us. We'd throw a seed at it to make it fall asleep, or to stun it or something. That's… usually how we dealt with enemies we couldn't beat by ourselves."

"Saura… you're a genius!" Ray blurted in a whispered laugh. "Dialga has eyes! And if he has eyes, just smack a cross-eye seed right between them, and he won't be able to see. And if he can't see, he can't attack us! At least not accurately."

"We also have seeds to turn ourselves invisible," Scythe noted. "I believe there are only two, but they would also assist us in protecting us from harm."

"I don't know how long it will take for the battle to be over," Prince said. "We could be up here for weeks. Let's not squander our supply of seeds."

"We have plenty, trust me," Ray said. "We brought a few of our own. And then there are all the seeds in Alakazam's bag."

"Good," Char said. "At least we didn't have to use them all before we even got here. Good job. Now, what kind of items do we have to wear?"

"The X-ray goggles would be useless up here," Prince said, sorting them out onto the floor. "The speed brace, on the other hand, may help. So will the detect bands. Those will help us evade taking some hits. This looks like, hmm, a defense scarf? And a mobile scarf… Yes, I can see many of these coming in handy."

"Hey, do you think maybe Dialga's actually listening to us?" Lily uttered under her breath. "Dialga's been eyeing us down all this time…"

"I believe not," Prince replied, pretending to be fully focused on the items he was sorting. "I believe it could hear us if it wanted to, but its eyes have been glancing to the side every now and again. Dialga might be distracted."

"Distracted by what?" Lily asked, looking around the grand chamber. "There's nothing else in this room."

"Not by anything here, Lily," Prince said. "I believe Dialga is lost in thought. The temporal dragon appears contemplative. Maybe even confused."

"Not only confused, but… afraid," Scythe said thoughtfully. "Dialga fears us. It has been acting as such ever since you spoke just now, Char. Either it genuinely believes there is a chance it could lose the battle, or… something you said shook Dialga to the core. Or perhaps both."

Char looked into the dragon's eyes again. Though they were just as piercing and intimidating as ever, he searched them deeper this time, trying to tell if Scythe was right. It took him a minute to realize that the temporal dragon was no longer looking at him. It was gazing past him, possibly straight through him. It was true… something was unmistakably on its mind.

Dialga… what are you thinking?

"What else do we know about Dialga?" Char wondered, focusing back on the meeting. "How does he battle?"

"Dialga is said to possess a supernatural battle technique known to no other Pokémon, only known as 'Roar of Time'," Prince offered. "Unfortunately, no one knows exactly what the Roar of Time is. Every Pokémon who has ever experienced it has been unable to describe it using words. And none of them seem to remain alive today, so we cannot read their memories."

"Well, there's one thing we might know for sure about it, at least from what Legend says," Lily recounted. "They say that when Dialga performs the Roar of Time, it takes all of its energy. Like, enough to knock it senseless for a minute or so. All the stories say that Dialga only uses its greatest power when it has no other options, because… if the attack isn't fatal, it leaves Dialga vulnerable."

Char thought about it for a moment.

"Alright, one more question," Char said, clenching his claws and grasping at the ghost of an idea in his mind. "If you want to cripple a quadruped, what do take out first: a front leg or a back leg?"

"You can incapacitate a quadruped by destroying any two adjacent legs," Scythe offered. "That would be optimal. But if you only had the opportunity to destroy one… that is a good question."

"Front leg, that would be my guess," Lily replied, demonstrating by lifting her left front paw from the floor. "Front legs are weaker, you need both of them for support. If you lose one, standing and walking gets really hard. And since most of the time you're not walking backwards, you're going forwards, it would be easier to get thrown off balance if you tried to run too fast. But… I haven't lost a leg before, so I don't really know. Char, you would know better than me, losing an arm and all."

"Yeah, but I can walk on two legs anyway," Char said. "I couldn't answer for a Pokémon who can't stand up on two legs. But I'll trust you. Front leg it is, then. Now… I think I might have an idea. Here's what I think we should do."

Wasting no time, Char explained the plan to his friends, making sure not to speak loud enough for the dragon to hear. When he was done, he waited for their replies.

"I, for one, have no objections," Prince said. "It seems like the best we can do, given the elements we have at our disposal. My only worry is that we might end up slaying the god of time if things go too well in our favor."

"You would only be slaying the god's corporal form," Scythe reassured him. "Dialga's spirit is eternal. If we were to kill its body, the spirit would be released. Perhaps that is precisely what we should aim to do."

"So… fight hard, have no mercy, and aim for the kill if we absolutely have to," Char said. "And maybe, if we're lucky, we can ask a favor of him when we're done. Like, destroying the Master."

A moment of silence ensued as Char reflected upon how crazy it all was. He tried not to remember that he had no reviver seeds left, either – except for the one he held in his paws, and the one Saura secretly had hidden in his bulb. There was nothing to stop a casualty if Dialga deemed one of them no longer had the right to live.

"Heh… you know, when you put it that way, it really does sound like a longshot, doesn't it?" Char nervously admitted. "I hope that coming up here wasn't just a big mistake."

The team solemnly nodded their agreement. The six Pokémon exchanged some sad glances, acknowledging that this meeting might be their very last as the team that had scaled the horrors of Temporal Tower and met the great and fabled Dialga face-to-face.

"Well, I guess we have nothing better to do," Char sighed. "I guess now's the time… Saura, Lily, let's go have a talk with Dialga."


Char's heart pounded hard as he accompanied the two grass-type Pokémon to the opposite end of the room where Dialga sat in wait for the battle. Though Temporal Tower's chamber was about as spacious as the Gold Division's meeting hall, the temporal dragon's majesty and stature was a sight which Char was finding difficult to swallow. Just gazing at the beast gave him a sense of vertigo, and the steely mass of its body seemed to grow larger the closer he approached.

And through it all, Char couldn't help but feel that the Dragon's appearance was… deeply beautiful, in a misleading, deceitful way. Its towering presence, glittering scales, steel so polished he could see his own reflection… it all combined to demand trust, to radiate a surreal sense of serenity. It was as though Dialga was a motherly figure, or perhaps a fatherly one, a god which he could find peace and comfort with…

"Come," Dialga told him, deep in his heart. "Lay at my side. I will protect you. You no longer have anything to fear, little one."

But fate would not have it. The Dialga which Char approached was a proud, ruthless, and hostile god. It perceived only issues as large as itself, and didn't care about the hopes or the well-being of the tiny earth-crawlers far down below, beyond the doors of the tower…

…Or so it seemed. It had come down to this final encounter. Char was giving the lord of time one last chance to be agreeable, to listen to the pleadings of a tiny little Charmander and the friends that stood by him. He figured it probably wouldn't work, and the confrontation would result in violence, but he was prepared to take that risk.

Because he wasn't scared of Dialga. Not anymore. Now, he was enraged.

Remembering for once that his tail flame would betray his true state of mind, Char tried to calm himself, at least superficially. He needed Dialga to think he was a humble Charmander for the moment. He needed to look vulnerable.

The Charmander is not in control right now, Char repeated in his mind, remembering the discipline technique that Prince had taught him. The human is in control. I am the human. The trainer. And I order the Pokémon to stand down…

You will get your chance…

Dialga's eyes did not follow the three little Pokémon as they drew nearer. Its eyes were now subtly darting from side to side, as though watching something invisible fly past at high speeds.

Probably watching the stars, Char figured. No concern for us, I guess. Alright...

here goes nothing. And everything.

Char exchanged a glance with a quivering Saura on his left, and a steadfast Lily on his right. Finally, clutching tightly the reviver seed in his claws, his glance fell upon the dragon god…

"Hey!" Char shouted up to the massive beast.

Dialga's daze was broken. Its belly emitted a deep groan of frustration as its head swiveled to attention.

HAVE YOU MADE YOUR DECISION, TINY ONES? It blasted in its voice that was both audible and telepathic at once.

"Yes, great one," Lily replied, humbly and reverently. "We have decided not to battle you."

There was a visible change in Dialga's demeanor. It looked almost like… relief.

A WISE AND UNDERSTANDABLE CHOICE, Dialga roared. I COMMEND YOU. NOW, LEAVE MY PRESENCE, AND YOU WILL HAVE MY FORGIVENESS.

"…No," Saura shouted. "We're not leaving."

Dialga was visibly surprised. The dragon's head jerked forward.

"You misunderstand us, great one," Char told it in a powerful, authoritative tone. "We're not going to battle you. But we're not leaving. Since you won't listen to us, we're going to mind-control you."

A snort of laughter thundered from Dialga's throat.

WHAT GIVES YOU THE NOTION YOU CAN DO THAT? WHAT DRIVES YOU TO BELIEVE YOU CAN CONJURE ENOUGH INFLUENCE OVER MY MIND TO MAKE ME BEND TO YOUR WILL? YOU ARE NOT EVEN PSYCHIC POKÉMON.

"Because we are the Call-bearers of Ambera," Char proudly spoke up to the dragon, "Out of all the Pokémon in the continent of Ambera, we have been gifted with the power to move mountains with our minds. With one blast from my mind, I can control the actions of thousands of Pokémon. If the three of us combine our power, we can make even you grovel at our feet."

Char held his breath, not because he feared Dialga's response, but because he hoped Scythe and Prince would not suspect the truth about Saura. When he had described the idea for his plan, he mentioned that he would "pretend" Saura had the Call to trick Dialga. He prayed to whatever benevolent gods remained that Scythe in particular would not immediately jump to the conclusion that his ruse was reality.

Dialga tilted its head. CALL-BEARERS, YOU CALL YOURSELVES? I HAVE BEEN ALIVE SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME, YET I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING.

"Then you must not know very much about the world you helped to create," Char taunted. "I called to you, Dialga. My presence in Ambera is what summoned your tower to appear!"

Dialga snorted again, and he seemed to wince in discomfort. YOU ARE EITHER BLUFFING, OR YOU ARE DELUDED. I OBEY NO ONE BUT THE ALMIGHTY ORIGINAL ONE. HOW CAN YOU CLAIM TO HOLD POWER OVER ME OR MY TOWER OF RESIDENCE? HAVE YOU EVER STOPPED TO CONSIDER THAT PERHAPS REALITY DOES NOT HINGE UPON YOU, LITTLE CONCEITED CHARMANDER? HAS IT OCCURRED TO YOU THAT, PERHAPS, THERE ARE HIGHER COSMIC FORCES AT WORK?

Why is he denying everything I say? Char wondered, absolutely puzzled at the responses the god of time gave him. Is Dialga really this ignorant? I expected better of him.

"I would ask the same of you," Char shot back. "I am a higher cosmic force than you. I am a human! Isn't it true that the gods themselves gained their wisdom from the humans? Of course, I have always found that hard to believe myself, but every Pokémon in Ambera seems to believe it, so who am I to deny it? I am a human. A Pokémon trainer. And you are a Pokémon. If I had a Poké Ball, I could capture you and make you subservient to me. That makes you inferior to me. No matter how powerful you are. A human baby is superior to you, Dialga!"

Lily and Saura both cringed. "Uh, Char… overdoing it, much?" Lily hissed.

Dialga seethed in rage, rearing back its massive head as though to slam it down upon the three tiny Pokémon far beneath.

TALL WORDS! VERY TALL WORDS! Dialga cried, roiling in anger. AND EVEN SO, BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT HUMANS AND WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO POKÉMON… BUT, UNLESS I AM MISTAKEN, YOU ARE NO LONGER A HUMAN, ARE YOU? YOU WERE TRANSFORMED! SO YOU HAVE LOST THE RIGHT TO TAUNT ME AS A HUMAN, PATHETIC LITTLE CHARMANDER! GRRRRAAAWWWRRR!

Char, Saura, and Lily stood still, their expressions steadfast and stoic as Dialga's tantrum shook the chamber. Far behind them, at the opposite end of the room, Prince, Scythe, and Ray could only watch in nervous anticipation. Their minds were focused, their claws drawn, their muscles coiled to pounce. They knew the battle would start soon.

ENOUGH SPEAK, THEN! Dialga roared. IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITIES, DEMONSTRATE YOUR "CALL-BEARER" POWERS TO ME. PROVE THAT YOUR WORDS HAVE WEIGHT.

"Very well, your majesty," Char replied. "We will."

Char took one final deep breath, to prepare his inner Ember for what was about to come. He turned to Saura.

"Alright… now's your chance," Char whispered to his best friend, quiet enough that he hoped Dialga could not hear. "If there was one time we needed to figure out how to activate the Call on our own… it's now. And between the three of us, I think you're the only one who's done it."

"Uh… I did?" Saura replied. "When did I do that?"

"During the meteor storm," Char told him. "I think you used the Call on Lily to get her not to run off. Didn't you?"

"Um… I don't remember."

"You're kidding," Char said flatly.

"Yeah… I'm sorry, but I really don't remember what I did," Saura admitted. "I just remember I was really scared. The thoughts that were coming from my headache were really powerful, with the Watchers speaking to me and… and I just kept remembering my brother and my sister, and… that's all I remember. I was just really scared."

"Well, uh… aren't you really scared right now?"

"Yeah?"

"Then can you at least try to do it again?" Char pleaded. "Look, if this doesn't work… we have to fight him. As in, battle. Physical, claw-to-claw battle. And even though I think our plan is going to have a chance to work, I don't think it's going to be easy."

Saura pawed the ground. "I can't… I can't do it," Saura said. "I have no idea how the Call works. I can't use it on purpose. I… I'm sorry."

Char sighed.

"So that's it, then?" Char told him. "We can't use the Call on Dialga?"

"I guess not…" Saura replied. "I'm sorry, Char, I really am…"

"In that case… I guess this is it," Char said. "We have no other options left…"

Dialga watched the panicked little Pokémon with amusement.

"Alright…" Char said loudly, calming himself and closing his eyes. "Focus the power. Focus the power of the Call."

Char remembered all the times that it happened.

That first time in the Gold Division. That awful second time in the Emerald Division.

And that third time… when they learned that there was more to the Call than they thought. That it wasn't just an uncontrollable superweapon, but a means of communication. That it could be used to talk to the other Pokémon around him, or to hear them respond. And that it could be used against those sensitive Pokémon like Scythe to alter their internal feelings, as an enforced sense of empathy.

He reflected on the Call, on everything it had ever done for him, and everything he had ever felt…

It is a shame that we can't actually mind-control Dialga, he told himself. I think if the Call were to activate again, especially if it's supposed to activate in response to peril, it would have done so by now. In the end, our powers proved to be worthless.

I can't control the Call. I know that by now. It does what it will.

Like a wild animal. One that can't be controlled. One that can't be reasoned with, or tamed.

We can only learn about it; we can't control it. At least not using what we know right now.

It is a shame that this is the best we can do, pretending to try activating the Call, just to catch Dialga by surprise.

It is a shame…

Char's muscles tightened. He finally began to let his fire burn freely.

If it is true, that past and present are lies…

If all that exists, truly is fate…

I suppose…

This is what fate wanted.

It is…

a real shame…

Drawing one long, sharp breath, he spoke a tiny little word.

"Now."

That was the signal.

Char felt four vines swivel around his back, two from his left and two from his right. In a heartbeat, the two grass-type Pokémon combined their strength and slung Char high into the air.

And before the temporal dragon knew what hit him, the tiny Charmander had latched onto its elongated headplate.

YOU—

I'm getting good at flying, Char realized, proud of his one-clawed landing, as the other claw still tightly clutched his dear reviver seed. Now if only I could evolve already. I think I've got this Charizard thing nailed down.

Char swung around on Dialga's forehead to stabilize himself. He found that the steely ridges of Dialga's headplate made excellent footholds.

YOU TREACHEROUS, SLIMY—

Char didn't listen to the flabbergasted rambling of the dragon. Instead, he drew a great breath, restrained an exhale, and a stream of thick, tightly-compressed black smoke poured from his maw and his nostrils. He held that breath until he choked out the last bit of ashen cloud his throat could produce.

It was the best smoke screen he could possibly perform. Dialga deserved no less from him.

WHAT?

The cloud of smoke expanded quickly, leaving Dialga's head drowned in a void of no visibility. The dragon took a lurched step forward trying to escape the smoke screen, but it had expanded too rapidly, and Dialga could not seem to find the open air again.

I WILL PUMMEL YOU INTO THE GROUND! The dragon roared, jerking its head up and down in an attempt to shake Char off. I WILL BREAK YOU! YOU WILL KNOW MY WRATH!

"Tall words, for one who is outnumbered," Char returned. "…and soon to be outsmarted. Go ahead. Smash the annoying rodents with your powers. I dare you!"

Dialga thrashed its head violently, barreling forward through the cloud of smoke at the place where it had last seen the bystanding Pokémon. Every crash of its paws against the chamber floor caused a magnificent earthquake that rattled the tower's infrastructure and felt as though it would shatter the floor.

But the cloud had expanded at a startling rate, and Dialga could not find the way out. The Pokémon he had once seen standing at the opposite end of the room were no longer there.

COWARDS! Dialga cried, a sickening distortion echoing in its rage-filled voice. YOU HIDE IN THE SHADOWS LIKE COWARDS! REVEAL YOURSELF! FACE ME!

"Actually, I'd say what we're doing is pretty courageous," Char said plaintively from his perch on Dialga's forehead.

The enraged dragon crashed its forehead into the wall of the tower in an attempt to smash the Charmander. But Char had leapt free of the dragon and scampered off into the darkness. The walls and pillars of the chamber trembled, and bits of debris fell from the ceiling.

After recovering from the failed attack, Dialga found itself standing lost and alone in a cloud of darkness.

GROOOOOAAAARRR!

It rampaged aimlessly, stamping its massive paws in an effort to flatten Pokémon that were never there. Its tail swished around unpredictably, a giant steely mace praying for a skull to bash.

There was an orange glow from nearby. Fire, probably from the Infernape's head. Dialga pounced toward it, but the attack missed and the target was nowhere to be found.

"Whiffer! You're just a whiffer!" a high-pitched voice called from nearby. "Try aiming next time!"

GRAAAHHH!

Dialga lunged in the direction of the voice, but once again hit nothing.

"The ironic thing is, I'm just a common rodent!" the voice taunted again. "Maybe next time you'll speak more highly of us common rodents!"

CRASH! In its rage, Dialga slammed face-first into one of the chamber's pillars. It cracked and collapsed against the might of the steel collision, falling harmlessly to the ground. On the other side, the smoke screen had been slightly fanned away, enough for Dialga to catch sight of a defiant little Raichu standing there.

"Oh… you found me," Ray gasped, static sparking across his fur. "Uh oh."

SLASH! SLASH!

With its front paws, each as thick as an oak tree's trunk, Dialga furiously slashed at the rodent… and the attack connected, knocking Ray onto his back.

But Ray wasted no time in righting himself, and stood on four coiled paws, prepared to dash away.

"What's wrong?" Ray said to the temporal dragon. "Thought that would hurt me more?"

Ray indicated an article of clothing around his neck.

"Defense Scarf," he said. "You're going to have to hit me a little harder of you want to do some damage."

OBLIGED.

Dialga paused. Its feet seemed frozen in place.

WHAT…?

The dragon gnashed its teeth, furious that its muscles would not seem to obey commands.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?

"Oh, you can't move?" Ray said to Dialga, humorously surprised. "Oh. You're probably paralyzed. That tends to happen if you touch me. I've got the power of several lightning bolts in my cheeks, you see. I'm not safe to touch if I get angry!"

Ray released a stream of static power which arced through the murky clouds and struck Dialga on the metallic forehead. Dialga snarled, and Ray dashed off into the dark clouds.

NO! Dialga cried in a breaking voice, waiting impatiently for the paralysis to release his legs. YOU WILL NOT TOY WITH ME AS THOUGH I AM SOME INSECT! IF YOU DESIRE TO WITNESS MY TRUE WRATH, THEN YOU SHALL SEE IT!

Once free of the static's hold on its muscles, Dialga jumped forward and opened wide its maw. A spiral of energy formed in front of its face, which it launched as a glowing, electric ball of power blindly into the darkness.

CRASH! CRUMBLE…

They hyper-powered ball of light struck the far wall of the chamber, exploding shards of polished rock everywhere.

Char trembled on the floor, drawing panicked breaths. The unexpected attack had just barely missed him.

"I'd say he's getting angrier," Prince noted from Char's side.

"Yeah…" Char said, short of breath.

"Shall we see how far we can push him?" Prince said as he picked Char up into his arms and ran behind another pillar. "Perhaps soon we can begin to use the seeds."

"Not yet," Scythe hissed from his position overhead, planted on a small ridge upon the pillar. "Wait until the smoke dissipates first.

"Ah, Char, can't you just make some more smoke?" Ray wondered, catching up. "When this smoke goes away, I mean…"

CRASH! CRUMBLE…

"Probably not a good idea," Prince told him. "If Dialga keeps using projectile attacks like this, he'll-"

CRASH! There was another impact very nearby. Char felt the rubble pelt his face.

"What I mean to say is, we'll need to be able to see those attacks coming, too," Prince finished. "Smoke screens work both ways, you know…"

"Ahh, good point," Char said, trying to worm his way out of Prince's grasp and back onto the floor.

"Here he comes!" Scythe warned. "DODGE!"

CRASH! The pillar shattered as Dialga swung its mighty tail, having no regard for the condition of its own home in its blind rampage.

Clang! Clash! Clang! Clang! Char heard a resounding metal clash as Scythe harassed the dragon, striking around its face with his blades. Prince reaffirmed his grip on the Charmander and dashed out of the way before the pillar could fully fall and crush them.

YOU CANNOT MATCH ME,Dialga's voice resounded. TASTE THE STEEL OF YOUR GOD!

Slice!

After a sickening sound of blades cutting through carapace, Scythe struck the ground next to Prince and Char. Three deep gouges appeared on his body under his arm.

"…Pain…" Scythe said, lying crumpled on the floor for a moment.

CRASH! CRASH!

Rocks began raining down from the air. They were the broken chunks of the pillars and other parts of the chamber interior. Dialga was somehow lifting them into the air telekinetically and launching them around.

"Char, go," Prince commanded, tossing him to the ground and leaping above Scythe. "I'll get him a berry."

Char scampered away. Before running too far, he looked back in time to witness a large boulder-shard falling upon Prince's head and splitting into two, as he relied on the power of the Frozen Flame to shield the fallen Scyther.

Nearby, Saura danced around at Dialga's feet. He knew he had to distract the Dragon from his friends until Scythe could move again.

"Hey, Dialga!" He called. "Having trouble seeing? Want some sunlight? Here! I saved some for you!"

Saura blasted a solar beam from his bulb, striking the dragon on the flank.

Dialga groaned and tried to retaliate, but it once more found that its body wouldn't move. The intermittent paralysis still affected him.

ACCURSED ELECTRICITY, Dialga seethed. I SHALL RETURN TO THE MOMENT WHEN ELECTRICITY WAS CREATED, AND PREVENT IT FORM EXISTING…

Saura ran away as fast as he could before Dialga regained mobility.

It was a deadly game they played, taunting and harassing the deity before evading its wrath and running out of its reach. But it was the first stage in Char's idea, and they were able to keep it up for a few minutes while sustaining minimal damage and keeping themselves healed with their supplies.

The smoke cloud was starting to let up as Char found Ray, who had been hiding behind the room's third pillar with the lesser bag of supplies.

"Scythe got hit," he reported. "I think he'll be okay, though. I might need an Elixir soon…"

"Already?" Ray said, digging in the bag to find one. "I was starting to feel tired, too…"

"It's Dialga doing that to us," Lily said from nearby. "You fight a legendary, you get tired faster. They do something to the air around them that makes you get tired. It's called 'pressure'. "

"Here," Ray said, breaking open the elixir. "That's our last one. We'll have to share it. The rest are in Alakazam's bag."

I CAN SENSE YOU, INSECT, Dialga called from across the room. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT I CAN FOLLOW YOUR SCENT? DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE YOU CAN HIDE FROM ME?

Crash-crumble…

Char, Lily, and Ray trembled at the oppressive sound of the Dragon's voice as it apparently hunted down Scythe.

"If we're going to get tired faster, we may have to speed this up," Char realized. "He's not getting angry enough."

"He's almost ready to bring down the roof of Temporal Tower," Lily noted, wincing as a tremor rattled the ground beneath her. "I'd say he's pretty angry already…"

"No," Char said, shaking his head. "He's not using enough of his supernatural attacks. I don't think he's even considering using 'Roar of Time' just yet. He's holding back on us…"

Char was about to sip from the elixir bottle, but handed it to Lily.

"No," he said. "You and Saura are going to need this more than I do. Ray, I think we should start figuring out which seeds we should use."

"Ah-alright," Ray said, digging into the bag again. "Let's see. If we're going to make Dialga miserable, we have to use a few different kinds of seeds. Here's a stun seed. I'll take this one. Char, since you're holding that reviver seed already, you probably can't hold two, but here, you wear the mobile scarf. Your job is most dangerous, you can probably hide inside one of the boulders or something."

"Wait, let me try something," Char said, taking the mobile scarf.

He tied it tight around his belly, wedging the reviver seed against his back.

"There, now I have a free hand," Char said. "Give me something."

Ray tossed Char two metal spikes.

"Remember these?" Ray said with a sly grin. "You were good with them."

"Yeah, but I don't need them anymore," Char said. "Now that I learned how to turn my claws into metal."

"You can always throw them," Ray said. "If that doesn't work, you can always just use fire fang. You're good with that, too. Anyway… Prince has a detect band. He also has the speed brace, I think. He's going to give it to Scythe, but Scythe isn't wearing it yet…"

"If Dialga starts messing with the flow of time, that'll come in handy," Char noted. "I'm just wondering why he hasn't started doing that yet… you'd think that he'd be going back in time and undoing his mistakes by now… why isn't he?"

"Lily, you take this," Ray said, handing her a seed. "This is a hunger seed. I don't know why I brought it, but we had some extra room left in the bag and all we had left in storage were useless items. But I guess we're going to use it after all. Throw it at Dialga when we throw the seeds."

Saura came scurrying from nearby.

"THERE you are," the Bulbasaur sighed, almost out of breath. "I'm getting really tired for some reason. But I found you because… the smoke is going away."

"Saura, good. We're going to use the seeds a little earlier than planned," Ray told him. "Here. This is a vile seed. It will reduce Dialga's defenses. This one's from Alakazam's bag, it's really powerful, so don't miss, okay?"

"Uh… I can try," Saura said, twitching nervously and grasping the seed with the end of his vine.

I SEE YOU GROW WEAK! Dialga shouted at Prince or Scythe, far away from the huddled group of Pokémon. YOU CANNOT RESIST MY POWER FOREVER. SUBMIT TO MY AUTHORITY!

Ray took a few deep breaths and continued focusing on the plan. "I hope this works, guys," he said. "Three seeds. We have to hope they all hit, and they neutralize Dialga long enough to do damage. We have some more, but the longer this battle goes on, the harder it will get. I wish we would have known about the 'pressure' beforehand…"

"What if the seeds don't work?" Saura implored, his voice quivering at the thought. "W-what if he's too powerful?"

"Then our whole plan falls apart and we probably fail," Char sighed. "But it's worth a try."

WAAAARRRRRRRGHHHH!

The vengeful cry of the dragon god sounded from very close by, filling the Pokémon with terror.

Dialga galloped into sight, thrashing its head around. Char's heart sunk as he realized that Dialga was holding Prince in its maw.

Prince lit his body on fire, surprising the dragon and prompting it to fling the Infernape across the room.

It occurred to Char that he needed to run. He bounded to the nearest safe place he could find: the still-sanding pillar. He pounced and his body disappeared inside of it, harnessing the power of the mobile scarf he now wore.

Lily and Ray also got away, taking the bag of supplies with them.

But Saura wasn't so lucky. It was clear that Saura was exhausted. He hesitated for too long.

Char peered out from the safety of the pillar, and realized too late that Saura was in the dragon's line of attack.

Char held his breath in horror as he watched his best friend realize the fate which was about to befall him…

…but then released that same breath, a moment of utter relief, when he remembered the reviver seed tucked inside of Saura's bulb. Dialga could stomp the poor Bulbasaur to death, but he'd be revived.

So he watched, perhaps in bile fascination, for the roaring dragon to strike.

Dialga reared up on its hind legs like a rampaging horse, a fearful, awe-inspiring sight.

It eyed the Bulbasaur.

KA-CRAAASH!

Cracked craters formed in the floor as the fearsome god pounded the ground, one mighty leg crashing down on either side of the cowering Bulbasaur. With a flick of one of its clawed paws, the dragon punted the Bulbasaur to the side.

Char was speechless, not believing what he had just seen.

He…

He… hesitated, Char realized. He… Dialga…

Dialga stopped himself from killing Saura.

Why?

Dialga, what's holding you back? Why are you restraining yourself?

What is going through your mind?

Char hid from the raging beast, confused. Something wasn't right.

Maybe… maybe Dialga really is testing us after all.

Maybe he's just toying with us. Deeming us worthy.

His stomach rumbled. The mobile scarf was taking its toll.

Oh, no… Char realized. No, no, no… I am NOT passing out from hunger. Not this time.

Mustering his courage, Char stepped out from the pillar.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU FINISH HIM?" Char blasted at the dragon. "YOU COULD HAVE DEFEATED HIM! WHY DIDN'T YOU?"

BECAUSE I AM A GOD OF MY WORD, CHARMANDER,it replied. AND I PROMISED I WOULD DESTROY YOU FIRST!

Dialga's head whipped down, and before Char could react, he found the floor spinning around far beneath him. Dialga had captured him between his jaws.

Uh oh…

CRY OUT FOR ME, CHARMANDER, Dialga commanded. YOUR STRENGTH CANNOT LAST FOREVER. LET ME HEAR HOW PAINED YOU ARE.

Char strugged, but teeth were bearing through his skin, holding him in place.

Not good… not good…!

He tried to use the power of the mobile scarf to phase out of the dragon's grasp, but it didn't work. The mobile scarf had not the power to allow Pokémon bodies to pass through one another…

YOU DESERVE A COLD, AGONIZING DEATH, FOR TRESPASSING UPON MY LAIR AND BRINGING HUMILIATION UPON ME.

Char flung his right hand, the hand that dangled out of Dialga's mouth. He released the spike it held.

It was a blind shot, made in complete desperation.

The spike sailed a few inches, then sunk into Dialga's eye.

WRYYYYYYYYYYY!

Dialga opened its jaws to roar in shock, dropping Char to the ground with a thump. Char felt blood trickling over his body from the teeth-wounds, but he resisted the pain and did not worry. He still had the reviver seed. Besides, his plan was working.

And now, it would come to fruition.

As soon as the torn, bloody Charmander thumped to the ground, and as soon as he shook off the dizziness of the pain, the hunger, and the exhaustion caused by Dialga's pressure, he tilted his head back and gazed up at the temporal dragon which loomed over him.

"You want to see me cry out?" Char shouted. "Okay! Alright, Dialga! I will cry out! THROWWWWW!"

Seconds later, a loud pop could be heard, as though a firecracker had exploded. The stun seed struck Dialga's jaw.

The hunger seed followed, emitting a loud snap as it landed between Dialga's jaws and sank into its mouth.

The third seed followed, the powerful vile seed. It struck Dialga straight on the muzzle. From the collision, a sizzling kind of energy flowed forth, spreading over Dialga's face and tracing its way down its body.

And for just a moment, the chaos stopped. The shroud of ash had almost entirely faded away, and the lord of time was frozen in paralysis, unable to move a muscle, speak, or turn its head. Only its eyes, one of which was still gouged with the metallic thorn, glared down at the tiny little Pokémon with eternal disdain.

"This is it," Lily said, passing the remainder of the elixir to Saura. "Drink. Get your strength ready. You're going to need all of it."

"Scythe, this is your moment," Prince said, tossing the speed brace to the Scyther. "Remember. Aim for the right front knee. Do your best."

Not hesitating, Scythe slipped the speed brace down a blade and onto a shoulder. It would allow him perceive and exist in time twice as fast as every being around him.

Once it had taken effect, Scythe drew his steely blades, spread his wings, and zipped forward in a blur of green.

"KIAAAAAHHH!"

CLANG-g-g-g-g!

A pure, sharp, high-pitched ringing sound reverberated from the collision of Scythe's blade and the temporal dragon's knee.

Scythe paused once the deed had been done. His blade was wedged halfway into the dragon's limb. For a few moments, it remained stuck in place, and he could not yank it free, but after a few attempts he managed to withdraw it. The dragon's posture slouched.

Scythe's blade was broken. A large gouge of his steel had simply snapped off from the collision, leaving a jagged, crippled claw within the husk of the mantis's arm. Scythe looked at it disbelievingly for a moment, but then his attention turned to the wound it had caused.

Dialga was hurt, now. Thanks to the vile seed, Dialga's natural defenses had been weakened, allowing the Scyther's blade to cut a deep gash into the very core of the dragon's joint.

"The tendon is severed, and the joint is mangled," Scythe said, his voice sounding warped as he struggled to speak at half-speed so his allies could understand. "Dialga clearly needs to take more iron."

CLANG-g-g-g-g!

Scythe reared back and struck again, this time with his other blade, striking at the same wound. It cut even deeper, causing the dragon's stature to buckle, but it did not sever the leg completely. Scythe yanked the blade back out, and saw that this one had fared much better; only a small chip had formed in it.

Knowing that the dragon would soon gain control of its body again, Scythe withdrew his attack and returned to the floor.

"Scythe-!" Ray gasped, horrified at the sight of his destroyed blade.

"It is only a blade. Blades grow back," Scythe reassured him. "Now… run. I think we've angered him enough."

The six Pokémon bolted from the disabled legendary, hurrying around and across the rubble left behind by the fallen pillars and damaged walls. They assembled on the opposite end of the room, right near the staircase from where they had come, and stood in the same place they had when they first laid eyes on the majesty of the temporal god.

And they waited.

"By the way, in case this doesn't work…" Ray squeaked, "I—love you guys."

"Don't die," Scythe grumbled powerfully.

Perhaps it was the distortion from the speed brace, but Scythe's voice sounded terrifying to Char. It seemed as though every layer of strength had finally been stripped from him, leaving him with only the raw core, which sounded like some kind of monster.

"Don't… die…" Scythe said again, speaking very slowly and deeply. "Hold… your will to live… don't let the pain consume you… and… you will not die…"

Dialga's head twitched. The seeds were wearing off.

"Do not let the fear consume you…" Scythe said. "Do not let the pain consume you… do not… lose sight of yourself… do not let your thoughts stop… hold… onto reality… FOCUS…"

Scythe's words were chilling.

"Do not… die… Survive… survive… survive…"

Char vaguely wondered if Scythe was talking to himself.

Dialga bent its neck, swiveled his head around… and glared at the small group of gallant Pokémon with one eye.

The eye burned with deep, dark hatred.

One leg shifted, as Dialga carefully began to turn its body around to face them.

The temporal dragon staggered, hobbled, as it found that one of its legs would not fully support the weight of its gargantuan form. A wince crossed its face. Pain glowed in its eyes.

It said nothing. It didn't have to say a word. Char figured how humiliated it must have been, for a god, one of the creators of the realm of the real, to be abused so by a few insolent, seed-throwing pests.

Char knew that its rage transcended anything that a mere mortal could have comprehended.

"Cry out for me, Dialga," Char whispered to himself. "Let me hear how pained you are."

Dialga bared its teeth.

Its chest expanded as it drew a thunderous breath.

"Survive," Scythe repeated one more time. It was an order.

You have left me with no choice, it said, its voice weakened. Behold! The strength which has co-authored your world…

And Dialga released the Roar of Time.


Hey!

Hey, wait!

I want to change something.

May I change something? Will you let me?

They were memories.

Many memories flooded his mind. So many at once, all in slow motion.

So many… both from his time as a Charmander, and of his time as a human, although they were far detached from reality and he couldn't recognize any of them…

Or perhaps, some of them were from the future.

He wondered if… if…

…if he had been sent back in time, to briefly witness those moments…

There's no stopping him.

You know that. That's how fate works.

That's how Dialga designed it.

Unless… we make our own fate.

And that's complicated.

Because you can't see everything.

Only the gods can do that…


Char came back to himself.

The pain. The pain. The pain…

I can't move…

I… I am nearly dead…

His mind was so clouded, so deeply destroyed and distorted… he barely had the strength to twitch.

But once he found reality, he clung to it tightly, not wanting to get sucked back into the horrible, painful vortex of memories…

Temporal Tower.

I am in Temporal Tower.

Facing Dialga.

In battle.

There was…

Something really important.

Did I win?

Did I win the battle?

No…

No!

Not yet!

NOT YET!

"NO!" Char grunted, stirring from his position on the floor. "NO! We… we have to get… up… We're not done yet…"

Suddenly, the pain went away. All the tiredness, the hunger, the bitterness, the confusion…

It was washed away by a sacred, cleansing fire, a fire he knew so well. And with that fire came his strength, his power, his clarity of mind. The strength to go above and beyond his full potential.

Char didn't have to look; he knew his tail had become a bonfire, with flames that might as well have been licking the ceiling.

He was blazing.

All of a sudden, Char felt himself lifted into the air. Prince had helped him up.

Char looked at the Infernape, and beheld a brother of the flame. Prince was blazing too; his flames had grown to engulf almost his whole body. He stood as a fire elemental, his eyes glowing with such a bright whiteness that his pupils could not be seen.

"Have you blazed before?" Prince spoke.

"Yeah…" Char answered. "You were there. Remember?"

"Ah… I am sorry," Prince said, setting Char onto his feet. "I seem to have lost the distinction between past and present… So, you know what to do now?"

"Yes," Char replied. "We fight."

Char looked at the others.

Saura and Lily stood nearby. Their bodies were overtaken by an incredible power as well, but a different kind than Char's, as they harbored a different elemental affinity in their hearts. Their eyes glowed with a bright yellow light, their leaves sprung to life and shed particles of pollen, and multiple tentacle-like vines sprouted from their bodies and waved around their heads…

And at his other side, Scythe… his teeth were gritted, his eyes became blank and emotionless. His body twitched with uncontrollable power. It was a reaction that Char had seen him have before when he reached his limit; it was his swarm reaction.

Char's plan had worked.

They had coaxed the temporal dragon into using the ultimate attack, knocking them onto the very edge of defeat. Now, in their one and only moment of opportunity, their second winds had all activated… and Dialga was helpless to stop them, as the dragon was frozen in an exhausted daze, panting and grinding its teeth.

Ray, the only Pokémon of the six who did not possess a biological second wind, still lay on the ground.

"Well… what are you waiting for, guys?" he grunted, trying to ignore the pain. "Go! I'll… watch from here. Good luck…"

The five other Pokémon nodded to one another… and then rushed toward the weakened dragon god.

No…

Leave me alone. Can't you see you have done enough?

"Not yet, we haven't!" Char said to himself, smiling gleefully. "But… almost…"

Snap! Snap!

Saura and Lily aligned themselves on the right side of Dialga's body. Using their body's accelerated growth, they each launched a dozen vines up and onto the dragon; Lily wrapped her vines around Dialga's neck, while Saura hooked them around the large steel plate on the dragon's back.

No!

You… cannot do this… to me…

But Char and his team were already dead-set in their plans. No amount of whining from the downed dragon would keep them from victory.

Saura and Lily sprouted a series of roots from their paws, roots which dug into the ground and anchored them in place. Once they were secure, they began to pull on their vines with all of their might.

Dialga buckled at the force. They were ever-so-slightly shifting the dragon's weight onto its broken leg…

No…

Stop this… Cease your attacks, this instant…

You have no right to defeat me…!

"PULL!" Lily ordered. "PULL…HARDER!"

The vines were taught and strong. Dialga, still winded from the great roar, was succumbing to their force.

I will… never… fall…

To you…

"Take him down," Char ordered. "Scythe, Prince… go."

Scythe gave a nod, and zipped forward to the prone dragon, striking at its weakened leg again with what was left of his blades. The dragon wavered in pain, but it still could not fight back…

And Prince, using the power of his blaze, performed a masterful running leap by somehow using his fiery aura to help him jump higher, leaping onto the wall of the chamber, then onto a pillar, and then straight for the dragon's head…

Seconds later, there was a bright white explosion as the full force of Prince's fist collided with the side of the dragon's face.

The last of the wind was knocked from the great beast's lungs. Its glowing-red eyes fluttered closed.

The powerful force of the vines caused the limp dragon's body to slump to the side, shifting nearly all of its forward weight onto a limb which could not hope to support it. And so, it continued to fall…

And by the mighty tug of the vines, the great god of time came crashing down onto its side. Its impact seemed to shake Temporal Tower to the foundation, and the spikes upon its body body dug feet-long craters into the once-beautiful floors.

The dust settled, and Dialga lay still on the floor, motionless. Defeated.

*Chapter 65*: Chapter 47: No Answer

Chapter 47

Char beheld the form of the fallen time god, its slumped head lying just before his blazing eyes.

For a few moments, he savored the flavor of euphoria a hunter feels when it has brought down an opposing hunter, triumphed in a battle of strength and wits. He still wasn't sure how he had done it, how the plan had come to him after all the clues clicked into place, but it was done. He had risen to Dialga's challenge, a challenge he suspected he was never meant to win, and he and his four teammates stood in a circle around the sleeping giant. Just as Char had predicted.

But when those few moments were over, the good feeling was replaced with a simple thought:

What now?

Before he had time to consider answers to the question, or speak it aloud to his friends, the fallen form of the diamond dragon vanished.

Dialga's body had merely popped out of existence, or become invisible, in a single instant. The Pokémon warriors were left alone in the wrecked temple chamber.

"OH, GOODNESS!"

There was a high-pitched voice, one which didn't belong to Dialga or any of Char's friends. It came from above, echoing through the chamber like the voice of a child calling into a canyon. It gave Char a horrible start; it was the last thing he expected to hear.

"Oh, goodness gracious!" The voice called loudly. "What in the world is going on down here?"

The five Pokémon tensed, prepared for another battle with an unknown Pokémon. Their last winds had not yet faded away, so they knew they still stood a chance.

"It's coming from the staircase!" Scythe hissed, still enraptured with his swarm reaction.

Char dropped to all fours and faced the stairs which led up to the very top of Temporal Tower. Indeed, the voice was coming from the stairwell, though he heard no footsteps or anything to indicate that a Pokémon was headed their way. He hoped that whoever it was, whatever it was, it did not want a fight, but he prepared for the worst with the last throbs of strength he had left.

What greeted him was a very small, green creature with large blue eyes. It flew on tiny, tireless wings which looked like they belonged to a fly.

Upon seeing the distressed Pokémon warriors and the crumbled room they stood within, the little creature gave a shrill shriek.

"AIIIIIEEEEEEE! What a mess!" it cried, covering its mouth with a tiny hand. "And visitors! We weren't supposed to have visitors now! What happened? Oh, my! Oh, dear! What is going on?"

"Who are you?" Saura asked it, speaking the question that was on everyone's mind.

The strange fly-like creature jerked in mid-air, giving a curt, humble bow before zipping around on its tiny wings to survey the damage. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I should have introduced myself first, but my, oh my, what have you done to the place? This is going to take ages to repair, even with Palkia's help…"

"We just defeated the creator of time itself in battle," Scythe told it. "And I second the notion; who are you?"

The little creature stopped again, turning its full attention to Char and his team. "Oh. I'm Celebi. Rather, I'm a Celebi, as there's more than one of my kind, but we're a very rare species, so I never needed to have a nickname I guess. Lord Dialga has given my kind a share in his power over the time stream. And of all the Celebi, I'm the one with the largest share in his power, because he has chosen me to be his personal servant and stewardess of his home! On behalf of Lord Dialga, welcome to Temporal Tower!"

There was an awkward pause.

It's a bit too late to welcome us, Char thought. A few minutes ago, your master wanted us dead.

"Um… we just knocked out Lord Dialga," Lily told the fairy Pokémon. "It wasn't pretty. But Dialga wanted a fight…"

"Oh, don't be silly!" Celebi giggled nervously. "That was a fake."

There was a unified cry of astonishment.

"A… fake." Char stammered. "A fake Dialga. We just spent all of our energy, and nearly died, just to defeat a fake Dialga?"

"How is that even possible?" Lily demanded. "It looked pretty real to us. Its roar of time… hurt. A lot. And as soon as my overgrow ends, I think I'm going to pass out right here…"

"Well, uh," Celebi said, "You see, uh, it's like, a security system! See, sometimes Lord Dialga isn't here in the tower, so we made a big scary projection to scare away all the visitors. It's supposed to be impossible to defeat and just send you running, but wow! I think you're the first group of visitors to actually defeat it!"

There was another, very awkward moment of silence. Celebi seemed overly cheerful, as though she didn't quite comprehend the gravity of the fight her visitors had just won.

"What are you saying?" Prince said after the prolonged moment. "Dialga isn't home?"

"He's home! He's certainly home," Celebi reassured him, eyeing the ceiling. "Lord Dialga and I were just taking a nap up on the pinnacle. The lord sleeps very deeply, see, and I didn't wake up until I heard that great crash! We don't usually leave the projection active while we're home, but… I had no idea the tower was visible to earth! It wasn't supposed to be visible right now. I thought it was hidden! But, oh well. Mistakes are mistakes!"

Celebi zipped closer to the weary warriors, looking them over.

"Oh, dear. You have gotten yourselves tattered up, haven't you? Let's get that fixed… I owe you at least that much."

Just as Char felt that his blaze was nearly out of fuel, Celebi flew close to him.

"Hold still!" Celebi told him gently. "Just relax…"

Char winced as the fairy Pokémon placed one of her tiny hands onto his forehead. Soon, he felt a heavenly wave of relief, pleasure, and strength come from that tiny touch. The wonderful feeling seeped into his bloodstream, filling his exhausted limbs and soothing his aches from the inside. Though it dowsed out the powerful drive of his blaze and made his inner fire subside, he didn't want it to end. It felt like he had just jammed thirty Sitrus berries down his throat and was basking in the drunken relief they brought.

He thought he faintly perceived the sound a soft bell chiming in his head as Celebi's power nursed him back to full health.

"There!" Celebi said about thirty seconds later, withdrawing her hand. "Good as new! How do you feel?"

"Perfect," Char replied, trying his claws and feeling his body for the wounds that were no longer there. "I feel perfect. Thank you…"

"My pleasure!" Celebi said with a huge grin. "Now! Who's next? Oh dear, you all look so beaten up… The projection can put up a real fight, can't it?"

One by one, the little green fairy Pokémon healed all five of Char's teammates to full strength. Her healing touch was even able to restore Scythe's broken blades. Scythe's speed brace was removed and put back in the bag.

When she had finished working her miracles, Char and his friends were in very high spirits. They congregated around the tiny legendary creature, eager to ask her all sorts of questions.

"Hey, um, sorry for breaking your tower," Ray said sheepishly. "It was really pretty, you know, before the battle."

"Ahh, don't worry about it!" Celebi said. "It just means you put up a good fight! Besides, the spatial distortion is just going to work its magic and put everything back together. It'll be done in no time! Well, no time for me, that is. Eons for you. It's… hard to explain the way time works here in this tower…"

"Wait, so this tower is supposed to be a Mystery Dungeon?" Lily wondered. "I thought Mystery Dungeons were… curses."

"Well, yes and no," Celebi told her. "Mystery Dungeons exist wherever your reality brushes up against the outside of reality. Well, the outside of reality, we call the Hall of Origin. You might have heard of it. It's just this massive… um… sky, I guess you could say, where realities are born! Hard to explain… But if you poke a hole in the side of reality, it's like opening a window in a house during a blizzard. Some of the snow and the wind gets in, right? Well, dungeons are like that. Reality and the Hall of Origin swirl together and it makes a place where space and time aren't consistent. And see, in other places it happens by accident, but in here it's supposed to happen! See, the top few floors of Temporal Tower actually go outside of the time stream completely!"

"…Really?" Saura gasped. "So we're…"

"You guessed it! You're in the Hall of Origin right now!" Celebi said cheerfully, enjoying the look of amazement upon the visitors' faces. "Just outside of those walls is the sky where everything exists! And when we go to the top here in a moment, you'll be able to see it for yourself…"

"Dialga is… up there too, right?" Char asked eagerly. "Can we talk to him? He won't be like… like that projection, will he?"

"Oh… no, no, no!" Celebi told him, brimming with seemingly endless excitement and energy. "Lord Dialga will be happy to talk to you! He loves visitors… Really, it's my fault that I didn't disable the projection since the last time we got home… But don't you worry, he's a very kind and agreeable dragon! I'll just have to go upstairs first and wake him up. Just wait until he hears how hard you fought to get here! You'll be guests of honor!"

Char released a long sigh. The revelation hit him so hard, it nearly took away all the energy that Celebi had just given him back. He felt so happy… their journey was complete. The battles were all over with. And Dialga… was agreeable? Would he hear out their pleas? Would he assist them in the war? And failing that, would he at least give them some kind of hope, or power to take with them, to help them in the eternal struggle against the Master?

Still standing upon all fours, he shut his eyes for a moment and let his nerves finally relax. His anger, his resentment against the projection of Dialga for insulting him and disregarding him, was fading fast.

"This is the happiest day of my life," Char uttered to no one in particular. "At least, the part of my life I can remember."

"Aww!" Celebi said, giving Char a pat on the head. "You know what? You look very eager to see Lord Dialga, so I won't waste any time. Not that there's any time to waste here in the Hall of Origin anyway. But we mortal creatures still perceive time, even though there isn't any. Strange, isn't it? Why not follow me up the stairs? I can introduce you properly to the great lord!"

Following behind Celebi, the team began their very last procession up the final staircase of Temporal Tower… the one that would lead to the summit. The pinnacle. The platform upon which the real Dialga perched. The stairs were numerous, as they had been on every other floor, but the longsuffering Pokémon climbed them cheerfully, chatting with the fairy Pokémon along the way.

"So, you can travel through time?" Lily asked Celebi. "I think I've heard of your kind before."

"Yeah, we can!" she answered. "It's easy to do. Going back in time is like… flying in a different direction. We just turn around and fly backwards and we can see where things came from, or we fly forward and see where things are going to go. It's natural for us! Though… it's easy to travel time, but not so easy to change time. In order to change things, you have to understand something called fate."

"Fate…" Char spoke, wondering about the word, the same word the demon in his dream had spoken. "Fate? Do you mean… things that you can't change? Things that are inevitable?"

"Not exactly," Celebi said. "Nothing's set in stone, dear. Fate isn't such a dark and foreboding thing as you're probably making it out to be. Fate is just a word we use to describe the general direction things are heading, and things that probably will happen as a result. See… it's really hard to explain … fate is just like gravity. Almost exactly like gravity. It's like time's version of gravity. If you push a big huge rock off of a cliff, gravity takes hold, and that rock's fate becomes hitting the ground. But it's not impossible to stop that rock from hitting the ground! It's just very hard to do if the rock is so big and heavy. You'd need a huge dragon to catch it. See?"

"Um… I think so?" Char replied, trying to follow the logic.

"Couldn't you just go back in time and stop someone from pushing the rock?" Lily wondered. "Then you could change history."

"Well, again, see, that's harder than it sounds," Celebi said. "If that rock is sitting at the edge of a cliff, there are lots of things that could push it off! Animals, the wind, and earthquake… you'd have to go back in time and prevent all of those things from happening if you didn't want the rock to fall. Just because you prevented the first cause doesn't mean you stopped all the other causes that could take its place."

"Um… why not just go back in time and move the rock away from the cliff?" Saura offered. "That would stop it from falling, right?"

"Not if the rock is very heavy!" Celebi answered. "Yeah, it would be easier than trying to catch it out of thin air, but still not very easy."

"What if the rock was small?" Ray offered, interested in the insights Celebi offered. "You could stop it from falling more easily, right? It would be a lot easier to change its fate."

"Well, of course! If you could just pick up the rock and throw it somewhere it wouldn't fall, yes! But then again, it wouldn't make such a powerful dent in the earth if it did fall, now would it? Because it has less weight. You wouldn't fear a pebble falling the same way you fear a boulder, so why even go through all the trouble of trying to change it?

The little fairy Pokémon sighed whimsically. "Ahh, but the analogy is going a little too far… All of that is all just an example, anyway. Fate is just a word we use to mean that things are headed a certain way. Things happen when the circumstances allow them to happen, so if you want to prevent something from happening, or cause it to happen, you have to change the circumstances, rather than the event itself. And that's hard! Because it's so, so, so complicated! For a little Pokémon like me to try to see all the circumstances surrounding an event, it is just too much for my tiny little mind! But that's why Lord Dialga is so powerful, because he sees everything! All at once! If you want to change fate, he's the Pokémon you will want to talk to… Which reminds me, why are you here to see Lord Dialga, anyway?"

"We're here because of me," Char said, crawling up the stairs on all fours as he spoke. "…But actually, when I think about it, we're here because of all of us, in some way. If it wasn't for all six of us, we wouldn't have ever gotten this far. We come from Ambera, where there's been a long war going on. Our land is under control of someone we call 'The Master', and he's really oppressive, but he's really strong so he can't be overthrown. But we have a big resistance movement going on, too, trying to defeat the Master and free the all the people. The Pokémon, rather. We were wondering if Dialga could help us."

"And failing that, if Dialga could enlighten us as to how the Call works, so we may utilize it as a force for the Master to reckon with," Scythe added.

Celebi visibly hesitated. "Um… the 'Call', you say?" she uttered oddly. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's… a psychic power. We think," Char said. "Only some Pokémon have it. We can use it to mind-control lots of other Pokémon, but we can never use it on purpose. It only happens when we least want it to happen, it seems. But Lily the Bayleef here and I both have that power."

Celebi pondered it for a second, looking very confused.

"Uhh… I'm still not following you, honey," the little legendary Pokémon sighed. "I'm sorry. Maybe you're talking about something else? We might call it something different. Ask Lord Dialga, he might have the answer for you! Hmm, the Call, the Call… No, I've certainly never heard of it. It's not a common name for a Pokémon's ability. It's not a rare ability, either. I mean, I've heard of the 'Dimensional Scream' before, but not the 'Call'…"

That's very weird, that the legendaries don't know what the Call is, Char thought to himself. Maybe we've been getting it wrong this whole time and had no idea. Maybe it's something else completely. Like the projection said, maybe there are cosmic forces at work we can't grasp…

I hope the real Dialga will be able to clear this up for all of us…

"Okay, okay!" Celebi suddenly shouted, swerving in front of Char so he couldn't go any further. "We're here. Now just let me go and wake up Lord Dialga, and I will be right back!"

Flitting her tiny wings, Celebi zipped up through a trapdoor in the ceiling which marked the end of the staircase. Eagerness tingled all through Char, both to see the Dialga he'd hoped to meet in the first place, and to witness what the Hall of Origin looked like. He turned around and glanced at all of his teammates one more time, greeting them with a beaming, childish grin. They exchanged wordless expressions of congratulations and awe with one another.

This was it; the very end of the journey that had started that long, long day ago in the Gold Division…

They had soared upon Dragonite wings, braved the Watchers, trekked across the snowy plains of Zerferia, and endured the horrors of Temporal Tower's dungeons, and brought down a dragon fifty times their size…

And it was all for this. There was nothing left to do but wait and see what fate had in store for them.

Celebi peeked over the rim of the opening for a moment before jumping into plain view.

"He's ready for you," she advised them. "Come on up, and don't be afraid!"

Char took one last attempt to breathe deeply and calm his jittery nerves, then began to climb the last dozen stairs which led to the top of Temporal Tower.


Temporal Pinnacle

It was as though Temporal Tower had risen far beyond the clouds, the skyline, the atmosphere, and opened up into infinite space. Twinkling stars and gorgeous nebulas painted a pitch-black sky with palettes of exotic colors, glowing with purples and oranges and blues and many colors he thought stars would never have. It was as though the void of space had been filled with the colors of the sunset. The ground below, the world of Zerferia and Ambera, was nowhere to be seen.

Char's mouth gaped in deep awe and reverence, captivated by the beautiful sight and trying to take it all in. This, he knew, was the Hall of Origin, the fabled space which existed outside of time, the place where the gods themselves dwelled…

It was an honor to behold such a visage. He wondered if every twinkling speck he perceived was some kind of alternate, far-away reality inhabited by entire worlds of Pokémon, or perhaps other kinds of creatures…

"Children…"

The voice was mighty, but soothing and welcoming. It filled the air and confused Char's perception, prompting him to scan the spacious rooftop of Temporal Tower for its source.

And there, sitting at the base of a tiny mechanical monument, sat the figure of a magnificent blue dragon.

The moment Char set his eyes on the temporal god, he knew all his prayers were answered. This incarnation of Dialga was different than the soulless beast they had battled. The dragon's form was slightly smaller in size, making him much less intimidating, though it was still impossible to not feel humbled in its presence. It sat regally like a contented lion, its tail curled around its front, exhibiting a calm and relaxed posture. Its voice was no longer overpowering and brash, but subdued and sensitive. Its blue and turquoise scales glittered with the mixed light of the many suns overhead, its shards of steel gleaming like the moonlight on a still pond.

A warm, amused smile formed on the god's face, beckoning to the visitors.

"I welcome you," it spoke, ever-so-slightly bowing its head to signify its heartfelt candor.

Char's heart simply melted. He approached the temporal god upon tiny steps, drawing himself nearer to the breathtaking figure.

Dialga gave a perceptive, gentle laugh. "Do not fear," he assured them. "Unlike my warmongering twin, I do not bite. Come close, so I might hear you when you speak."

Char did. He bounded forward to the great dragon, not stopping until his head was planted firmly against its great diamond hide.

And there, for what seemed like several minutes, he took refuge in the shade of the beast. He felt Dialga's armor against his cheek; it was firm, but warm. He could feel the layer of steel somewhere beneath the outer armor. It surprised him that Dialga's hide was not covered with scales, like most dragons, but by some kind of smooth, unbroken layer of firm flesh. He savored its feel, pushing against it with his face and his claws, relishing the security it brought him.

Tears streamed down his muzzle, trickling onto the dragon's hide.

Dialga was visibly touched. He looked down at the little Charmander, curling its tail closer. "You are safe here," it said. "Have peace."

"Th…th…thank you…" Char whimpered, his body trembling.

Peace. It was all he had ever asked for, really.

Unbeknownst to Char, his friends approached the time god. The great dragon nodded and lifted its tail, welcoming them into the embrace. Celebi flitted down from high above, coming to rest her wings and relaxing against Dialga's front paw.

Once Char was empty of his tears, he withdrew from the dragon, turning to see that his friends had all solemnly joined his side. Dialga's body and tail had curled around them, in a tender, motherly way, and the dragons' head loomed above them like a mother-bird gazing upon her nest.

"Celebi tells me you have journeyed far to speak with me," Dialga said. "I am listening. Ask me whatever your hearts may desire, and I will answer every one of your questions… to the best of my knowledge. It may surprise you to know that I am not omniscient. There is much I do not understand about the Hall of Origin, or the world in which you have journeyed from. But still, my knowledge is vast, and I believe I can help you. First… may I know your names? I wish to address you personally…"

Char let his body slump, sitting down right next to Saura against Dialga's great tail.

"I am… Char," he told the temporal dragon. "At least, that's what everyone calls me. I have another name, I… just don't know it. I'm… actually a human. I was turned into a Charmander and sent to Ambera without any memories of my life as a human. I'm… searching for… answers about my past. Not that they matter, really; I'm happy living in Ambera and I'm pretty sure I don't want to go back to being a human. But my past has been bothering me. I'd just… I'd like to know how I got here. And I'd like to know what my name is. It would help me feel better."

"A transformed human!" Dialga hummed. "I know and understand your kind. Unfortunately, without telling me details about your past, I have no way of identifying you, or determining what kind of life you led before you became a Charmander."

"I… think I have seen you before," Char admitted to Dialga. "In memories. Or dreams. Or something like that. I remember meeting you. Palkia was there too. He was holding a Poké Ball."

"Hmm. It means I may have had a hand in your transformation," Dialga said. "But I have helped many humans become Pokémon through the course of your history, and it is difficult for me to remember each soul. I am very sorry, little Char. Perhaps you will remember more shards of insight that will help me remember. Until then, there is no shame in being called Char. Your soul is the same, regardless of your name."

"Okay…" Char said, his gaze hypnotized by the temporal dragons' red eyes. "Okay…"

"I'm Saura," the Bulbasaur spoke up sheepishly. "I'm just… an everyday Bulbasaur. Nothing special about me. I'm just Char's friend. He helped me run away from home, so I promised I'd help him until he found out why he was transformed. And here I am, I guess… I have a family, but…"

Saura winced painfully. Concern shone in Dialga's eyes.

"I… don't know if they're still alive. They might have been killed… but I just don't know for sure. Could you look back in time and tell me if they're alive or not?"

"Your mind is clouded," Dialga said in a saddened tone. "You have been struck with a curse of corrupted memories. I am not a skilled psychic, but it is plain for me to see what has happened to your mind. Tell me, little Saura, how did this happen?"

"I got… caught…" Saura said, wincing as more headaches tortured him. "By a Watcher."

"A Watcher?"

"Yeah…" Saura said. "They're ghost Pokémon that come out at night. If they touch you, there's no telling what they will do to you. They could kill you on the spot, or they could make you go insane… anything, really… But this Watcher gave me a bad memory… and I don't even know if it's true or not."

"Ghosts… which come out at night…" Dialga repeated thoughtfully. "Are you perhaps referring to… the newborns?"

"Newborns?" Saura echoed.

"Newborn souls of Pokémon who have yet to live, or hatch into the world of the living," Dialga explained. "They exist without identity, without destiny, without purpose, because their Pokémon forms have yet to be conceived. In fact, they are not Pokémon, but they are destined to become Pokémon. They normally exist deep in a place known to you as the 'Reverse Realm', which is my brother Giratina's haven. They are created there, where they are meant to incubate until conception. However, lately I have heard there is a break in the barrier between your realm and the Reverse Realm, and many of the newborns have escaped into the world you inhabit."

"Then… why do they look like ghost Pokémon, if they are not Pokémon?" Lily wondered. "And… I'm Lily. I won't tell you my story yet. It's a bit long."

"Here, in the Hall of Origin, we have all the time we need, little Lily," Dialga hummed to her. "To answer your question, we creators of your realm have altered your perception in many ways, allowing you to swallow what could not have been otherwise comprehensible to you. For instance, do you see the stars above you? You see only a simple representation of what I see, when I look upward. And you may believe you feel the passage of time here where no time exists. That is another courtesy my brothers and I have afforded you. So, too, have we altered your perception of newborn Pokémon souls. It is because Giratina intended for the newborns to appear as ghost Pokémon to the eyes of mortals, in the event one would escape into the world of the living. Their behavior is not unlike ghost Pokémon, and Giratina determined it to be easier for a mortal to comprehend an encounter with a newborn, if it resembled a ghost Pokémon."

"Alright, so… they're not Pokémon, they just look like ghost Pokémon for our sake. That makes sense, I guess," Lily said, cocking her head and staring curiously at the colored nebulas which streaked across the sky. "But why are the Watchers, or the Newborns, evil? Why the heck do they corrupt whatever Pokémon they touch?"

"Because, for reasons unknown to me, they, themselves, are cursed," Dialga explained, a stern dissatisfaction ringing in is voice as though it spoke of a tragic truth. "The Newborns which have escaped from the Reverse Realm have been tainted by the flow of a foreign power. It causes them to act upon an unnatural will. Untainted, they are powerless and innocent. But something has caught hold of them, and even I have yet to determine the cause."

The great dragon sighed, setting its sights on the little Bulbasaur again.

"Brave Saura, I mourn your curse. It is something I cannot repair without fundamentally changing your identity. I read your heart and know you would not want that. But let your heart be at peace for now; I have good news. Your whole family is safe, and they dwell in the same den where you were raised. The nightmares given to you by the corrupted Newborns are utter lies."

A tremor shook the Bulbasaur. He bit his lip hard, digesting the news.

"I'm… glad…" he said simply in a sigh of relief. "I… I'm so… glad… for them."

Char and Ray congratulated their friend, giving Saura a subdued little cheer. Saura smiled wide.

"Um… I have another question for you," Lily submitted with a twinge of awkwardness. "It's a weird question, but it's been killing me for a long time."

"I fear no question," Dialga told him. "Tell me."

"Are you… male, or female?" Lily asked carefully. "It's always bothered me…"

"Neither… yet, both," Dialga replied simply, giving an amused twitch of the tail. "In the literal sense, I cannot make eggs, so I have no gender. But I am both a mother and a father to creation, and I have traits of both. Therefore, do not feel ashamed of calling me 'he' or 'she'; it is simply something which your verbal language requires. I understand that. So do my brothers, Palkia and Giratina. So does Arceus. The same applies for all of us."

Lily smirked. "Hah! I knew it…" she cheered. "I always knew it didn't matter. But everyone I ever met in the Emerald Division always told me I was wrong for always calling you a 'he'. Hah, you know what I should do? I should talk about you, and call you a 'he' and a 'she' every other sentence, just to mess with them. When they call me crazy, I can say that Dialga told me I could!"

Dialga chuckled. "Clever little Lily, but beware of sowing confusion to your brothers. They would reprimand you for it. Now… who are you, little thunderous mouse? What is your name?"

"I'm Raikouun!" the Raichu shouted proudly, happy that Dialga took notice of him. "But everyone calls me 'Ray'. It's an honor to talk to you, Lord Dialga! I never thought in my life I'd get to do something like this!"

"Fate surprises all," Dialga said warmly. "It is equally an honor to meet you, little Ray of light, conqueror of the highest tower and friend to the gods."

"Wait… can that be my actual name now? Can I keep it?" Ray gasped. "Aww, hahah, I'm kidding. But… I had a question of my own. Do you know about the 'Master' at all?"

Dialga visibly frowned. "Somewhat," he replied.

"Well, uh… is he a Pokémon or a human? And if he's a Pokémon, what kind?"

The great temporal dragon sighed deeply. "The Master, as you call him, is at the center of several anomalies. He has gotten himself wedged within… loopholes…of space-time rules. But to answer your first question… the answer is both."

"BOTH?" Ray gasped. "What do you mean, both?"

"Simply, the one you know as 'The Master' was once a human, but now is a Pokémon. Like little Char here, the Master was the subject of a transformation."

Char's friends were collectively shocked at this revelation.

"I… did not know that," Prince said. "I doubt many Amberans have even suspected such a thing was true. The Master has a human soul? That is… hard to swallow. I can barely begin to consider the implications…"

"No wonder the legends were all mixed up!" Ray responded, his mouth gaping. "Because they were both true! So the Master was a human, then he got transformed. Maybe he was the only human in Ambera! He was a Pokémon trainer. No… he was a Pokémon Master! I bet that's why he got his name! So… what kind of Pokémon is he now? What was he transformed into? If we knew, it would really help us when we go to fight him!"

"I don't know."

An even heavier wave of shock resounded through the group.

"You don't know?" Ray echoed. "How can you not know? Can't you just… go look?"

"I was not involved in the transformation of the Master," Dialga explained. "My brother, Palkia, caused his transformation. When he did, he did not choose which form the Master would take as a Pokémon. Instead, Palkia triggered a symbolic transformation; meaning, the Master took a form which reflected the character of his soul. Shortly after the transformation, the Master became… hidden from our sights, and so, no one, mortal or god, truly knows which Pokémon form the Master has taken. This is the extent of my knowledge about the identity of the one you call 'The Master'. I am sorry I cannot tell you more.

"However, if you were to ask for my opinion on the matter, I might speculate, based on what I know of the Master, about which Pokémon he became,"said the Temporal dragon, tilting his head and momentarily staring at the sky. "His lust for power… may have caused him to become… Mewtwo. If I am right, it is a legendary irony that his transformation, which was designed as punishment, became the greatest source of his power."

"Mewtwo!" Lily repeated. "That would make a lot of sense, actually! That's why he was able to brainwash so many slaves!"

"Uh… this might be a dumb question," Saura said ashamedly, "but… what's a Mewtwo? I've never heard of a Mewtwo before. Is it an evolved Mew?"

"Saura, Mewtwo is one of the most powerful legendary Pokémon on the face of the earth!" Lily replied. "Human scientists once tried to make a clone of Mew and use it as a weapon. But they made a psychic-type Pokémon so strong, they couldn't contain it, so it escaped into the wild. I'm really surprised you haven't heard of it before."

"Uh, I haven't, either," Ray admitted. "It sounds really dangerous, though. But if it's true, at least we know what kind of Pokémon we're up against… We'll have to take lots of dark Pokémon to that battle. And bugs, too. Wouldn't that be epic, Scythe? You could deliver the finishing blow to the Master with your fury-cutter."

Scythe didn't respond. He didn't appear to be paying attention.

"Are you troubled, noble Scyther?" Dialga beseeched, noticing that Scythe was remaining stoic and silent through all of the revelations. "What is your name? Tell me what is on your mind, so I may put your worries to rest, as well."

Scythe appeared lost in thought. He absentmindedly responded to the dragon's words.

"My name is…"

He paused.

"Scythe," he told the dragon. "It is what every Pokémon calls me. And I am afraid you cannot put my worries to rest as easily as it might seem. I once served the Master with my own blades. I hold remorse for the days I spent within his halls. Though, I have come to terms with what I have done. You need not help me with that."

"I see," Dialga replied solemnly. "You have suffered much, but you are strong, and you work to repent for the deeds you have done. I respect you, honorable Scythe. But I have something to tell you as well. I consider it a secret, but you might be pleased to learn it."

Scythe scoffed. Char thought he looked angry.

"I live and die by the secrets you gods hold, but so be it," Scythe sighed. "If you insist, tell me."

"Hear me, Scythe. You feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. You feel it is your duty to lead the resistance against the Master's forces, and you feel that without you, there would be no hope for your people. But do not fear; for I tell you, the fate of Ambera does not rest only upon you! In truth, there is already a plan in place to remove the Master's influence from Ambera… a divine plan. One that I helped to conjure."

"Is… that so?" Scythe uttered, his eyes widening. "What do you mean? How can I trust you?"

The lord of time smiled warmly and wide. "I am your god! The very notion of change, of cause and effect within your realm of reality, was my design. If my words are not trustworthy, whose are? Of course, as fate dictates, there is a small chance our plan will not succeed in the end. But we have done our best in weaving the threads of fate so that the Master's influence will be destroyed. So, do not take the world upon your shoulders, brave and noble Scythe. Never give up the fight, but know, through it all, that your gods have not abandoned you in your darkest hours. We… are here to help."

A very strange emotion flashed in the Scyther's eyes upon hearing the news. Char thought that Scythe looked vulnerable for a moment; like a hatchling looking up to its mother. It was gone soon enough, but Scythe replaced it with a peaceful smile that made Char happy to see.

"Well met, lord Dialga," Scythe replied, bowing his head reverently. "Forgive me for doubting you. The resistance shall have heart to know this news."

Scythe chuckled. It was a happy laugh, a sound Char hadn't heard from the old Scyther since the days they had trained together in mystery dungeons. Char knew that Scythe might have forgotten what happiness felt like, but was quickly remembering.

Char saw that his friends were all beaming in joy, restraining cheers of happiness at the news. So much good news! Saura's family was safe, the Master was destined to fall… but though their spirits soared, it was difficult to speak out of line. No one wanted to interrupt the temporal dragon as it spoke, as it had personal conversations with each of them. Everyone waited their turn.

"And what about you, strong Infernape?" Dialga spoke, addressing Prince. "What is your name, and what answer does your heart seek?"

"I am Calamar, but I am called 'Prince'," he replied. "I think, the question which burns brightest on my heart is this: if you are so powerful in spirit, why do you choose to limit yourself by taking a mortal form?"

Dialga nodded. "Impressive question, good Prince. While it is true that my powers are limited within this body, and that I no longer have access to my original powers which I used when I first spun the time stream, this body is the most important aspect of my existence. Without my flesh, I would hold no influence over the mortal realm."

Prince looked thoughtful. "How so?" he asked. "Are you saying that your incorporeal soul can't interact with the corporeal world?"

"Correct," the dragon told Prince. "I designed the time stream this way. Understand, I believed that if the gods were given free rein to change whatever they desired, reality would become confusing and inconsistent to mortals, and no mortal would feel happy. Therefore, I devised a mechanism to place a fair limit on the authority the gods hold over the physical realm. This mechanism… is called 'fate'. If a god wishes to intervene in the affairs of mortals, they must themselves become mortal. Only then do they hold the power to influence the world's fate. Thus, the flow of cause-and-effect remains intact, and the rules of reality retain consistency. In fact, there is, and will forever be, but one Pokémon who holds the power to change things at utter will, even in corporeal form."

"Arceus," Char spoke. "Arceus is the one who can do whatever he wants."

"Indeed," Dialga spoke, reflecting reverence of his superior. "When a god breaks the laws of the mortal realm and changes something without cause, it is called 'mutation'. Only the Great Original One, Arceus, harbors the power of mutation. However, Arceus refrains from using the power at all costs."

This struck Char as odd. "Why is that?" he implored. "If you can change whatever you want, without risks or consequences… why don't you?"

Dialga sighed whimsically. "Ahh, little Char… you are now inquiring about the deep, core natures of the universe. Understand, there are principles which I cannot explain to you as a mortal child. But I will try to explain. The power of mutation comes at a price: the more it is used, the less coherent reality itself becomes. Consider this; I will tell you a story. 'Once upon a time, I swam in the ocean. But I did not swim in the ocean.' This makes little sense to you, correct? It is a paradox. A contradiction. Mutation, when it is used, creates these errors in continuity. If many errors are created, the world which we labored to create may come to lose all meaning."

"I believe I see what you mean," Prince responded. "If Arceus breaks the rules of reality and changes something that wouldn't have changed on its own—essentially, if he works a true miracle—the laws of the universe become neglected. So if a god wants to change something, they've got to get into their own bodies, come down, and change it themselves. I'd dare say it; that is brilliant. And you say you invented this rule?"

"I did," Dialga said proudly. "It seems to have worked out well, hasn't it? Mortals such as yourself do not fear inconsistencies. You do not fear sleeping one night, and waking up two days prior, in another city. You do not fear growing young instead of old. And you do not fear slaying a foe and having it return to life minutes later. You take comfort in knowing that actions have predictable causes and consequences. Therefore, I believe I have succeeded at my work. However, it hasn't always been an easy rule to live by, for us gods…

"This body is very physically powerful, and retains many of my innate temporal powers; I am able to stir up the time stream in any direction I choose. However, sometimes, even my own might is inadequate. Some tasks, such as the overthrowing of the Master's reign, are too complex to change all at once, even for me. These complex tasks require strategy and planning, and intervention throughout many stages of history, all to arrive at the final result. But since I have the power to leave the time stream and view it as a whole, and since I also have the unlimited opportunity to deliberate before acting, I can manipulate fate in ways which mortals can't – not due to my power, but due to my perspective."

That makes perfect sense,Char realized, still thinking about the dream which the demon had given him. I get it now! Fate is just a word for what will happen if you don't act to stop it. But the hard part is… knowing how to stop it. That's what Celebi meant when she said that Dialga can see everything. He can see causes and effects all throughout history! So he has more knowledge, and he's better than mortals are at changing fate when he wants to. That's really what makes the gods superior to mortals, isn't it? It's not necessarily their powers, because their powers don't mean anything if they don't know how to apply them. It's the fact that they know why everything will happen! That's the key to changing fate! It's not brute power! It's knowing why something happens, so you can manipulate something else to happen!

In that way, Dialga and the other gods have to follow the same rules we all do. They can't just wish things into existence. They have to learn it and study it and change it themselves.

But… what does this mean? The demon said that it's trying to change fate, to prevent an anomaly from happening…

It's trying to change something… it's trying to alter a series of causes and effects to change something…

But what? Something far in the future? Something I can't see yet?

Prince seemed delighted at the answer he was given, too, but Char knew he couldn't quite wrap his head around the mechanics. It would probably take him a few weeks of puzzling.

"I have a question," Scythe suddenly said, almost interrupting Prince's next comment. "This should have been the first thing we asked, in hindsight."

"What is it, great Scythe?" Dialga answered, appearing surprised at the Scyther's abruptness.

"How does the Call function?"

The dragon blinked. "The 'Call'… What do you refer to, great Scythe? I do not understand this term."

"It surprises me," Scythe said, "that neither you, nor Celebi, nor the projected version of yourself knows of the Call. It has been a ubiquitous subject among Amberan history for over two centuries, at the least."

"Forgive me, good Scythe, for I must not have been paying attention at the proper points of time," Dialga uttered in polite shame, bowing its head. "Please, humor me. Explain 'the Call' to me, and I will try to interpret your words."

"It's a power which a Pokémon can rarely get," Lily said, deciding to speak up. "It's a psychic power. It grabs the attention of any other Pokémon in a big radius."

"It doesn't make a sound," Saura said. "It's completely subconscious. If you hear the Call, you probably won't even know it, you'll just do that it commands. Like you're brainwashed."

"We can't control when it happens, either," Char offered. "It happens all on its own. And if there are any Pokémon nearby, it sends them all into chaos."

"Some psychics have learned how to detect a latent Call in a Pokémon's mind," Prince said. "They say it resembles a second voice deep within the subconscious mind, one that does not follow the Pokémon's thoughts."

"Huge battles have been fought over the Call! Every time it appears, both the resistance forces and the Master's forces struggle to take control of it for themselves!" Ray submitted. "It's because the Call is so powerful, everyone thinks it could single-handedly win the war if we knew how to use it. But nobody ever figured out how… it's too random!"

"It seems to come in varying degrees of power, as well," Prince added. "One Pokémon's call can be more powerful than another's. Char and Lily both have the Call, but the strength of Char's call seems to be vastly louder than Lily's."

"It was determined by historians that a Pokémon with a Call of great magnitude would appear in Ambera once every twenty-seven years," Scythe said. "Indeed, Lily here represents the Call of the previous generation, and Char has the Call of the new generation. It seems strange that such a phenomenon could appear at such fixed intervals throughout history."

The six Pokémon paused, waiting for the attentive temporal dragon to think their words through and reply.

"Everything you have said to me, regarding this 'Call', is fascinating," Dialga said. "Truly, fascinating. But new, utterly new to me. I am deeply sorry, good travelers, to say that knowledge and understanding of this force is beyond my recognition. Immediately, as soon as you leave, I shall investigate what you have reported, and come to an understanding… Surely, unless divine mutation is somehow involved, there must be an explanation for this."

Char and his friends collectively released a sigh of disappointment, relinquishing their built-up expectations.

"Still, this fascinates me," the temporal god said again. "Tell me… does this 'Call' have any other properties than what you have described?"

"Actually… yes," Lily said suddenly. "Yes… it does."

Char winced. It was true. In the moment of heightened emotion from talking to the god of time, he had completely forgotten about the Call's other quality… perhaps its most important quality.

He exchanged a worried glance with Lily.

"Should we… tell them?" Lily asked. "We'd be letting out the secret… but maybe Dialga can help us if he knew…"

Char bit his tongue, glancing up at the curious gaze of the temporal dragon.

"Tell him," Char decided. "It's our only chance to get answers."

Lily nodded. "Alright, here goes nothing… Dialga, the 'Call' has another, more powerful ability," she explained. "It… well… it can be used to communicate."

"Communicate…?"

"On a deeper level than just telepathy, yeah," Lily continued. "It… if you have the Call, the Pokémon around you… start to change. They start to think like you, act like you, feel like you. It's as though… you're giving them parts of your mind. And this always happens, even when the Call isn't activating. And some Pokémon are very sensitive to it; they'll change faster. "

Lily paused. She looked at Prince and Scythe, wary of their reactions.

"Why… why didn't you tell me about this…?" Scythe uttered, looking shocked. "So, am I to believe, Char, and Lily, that through this whole journey, you have been… changing me, from the inside out? That my head… has been filled with your feelings, your thoughts, your beliefs…?"

"Scythe… yes," Char told him, almost reluctantly. "It's… something we figured out right before we found Temporal Tower. We never told you because you were already getting worn out by the journey, and we didn't want to make it worse…"

Scythe closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "In some ways… it has helped me," he said, his voice breaking a little. "My mind became clearer during the final leg of our journey. It became easier to focus on my thoughts. If this is true, that you were giving me your thoughts, Char, Lily… I thank you for remaining steadfast and resolute… Though, other times, I felt… lost… disoriented… and I just… didn't understand why. I'm used to listening to my subconscious mind… it guides me. I trust it. It always has the answer. I wish… I wish I would have known this truth earlier…"

"Scythe… I'm sorry…" Char said quietly.

"Don't apologize," Scythe snapped back, his voice darkening. "You had no control over it. Nobody… nobody has ever been able to control the Call… I see now… all those times I heeded the Call… my greatest hope is, was, has always been… hopeless…"

"Not as hopeless as it might seem, great and noble Scythe!"Dialga spoke warmly. "Because of this new information, I know of the phenomenon you refer to, now. It is called… Heart-speak."

Char tensed in excitement. So did Scythe, and the rest of the team.

"Heart-speak is a force which mortals were not meant to gain awareness of," Dialga explained. "It is a secret. Like your breath, or your heartbeat, it is meant to silently help you, without drawing attention to its nature."

"Heart-speak…" Lily uttered, testing the word. "Char…"

Char nodded, trying to contain his amazement. "Yeah… that's exactly what we discovered," he told Dialga. "It lets you share feelings, but you never even realize it's happening. How… does it work?"

"It is a type of deep telepathy, communicating emotions and ideas, and rarely, words, Dialga explained to the astonished little Charmander. The Original One is responsible for its existence. As he watched the world, he found that Pokémon could communicate well with one another, but Pokémon and humans were distant. So he altered the soul of every Pokémon, giving them Heart-speak, so that they might get along with humans more easily."

"Wow! That makes… so much sense!" Lily said, almost squealing. "But, but… if that's true, why do only some Pokémon have it?"

"Generally speaking, every Pokémon has capacity for Heart-speak, little Lily," Dialga said. "But Heart-speak only grows and strengthens when a Pokémon has spent a sufficient amount of time among human company. But once it has grown, it allows humans to share their hearts with Pokémon, and also allows a similar connection between Pokémon and Pokémon. I am impressed that you were able to discover the existence of Heart-speak on your own; as I have said, it was intended to be a secret."

So… being around humans makes the power grow! Char followed. That explains why I have it… and why Lily has it. But… why not Prince? Didn't he come from the human realm? And what about Saura? He's never been to the human realm, but he has it… What about all the other Pokémon who sailed here from overseas? Why don't they all have it?

"Are you saying, Lord Dialga, that his 'Heart-speak' is completely involuntary?" Scythe asked. "The Pokémon itself has no control over the power?"

"Indeed. The effect is constant," Dialga replied. "It cannot be stifled, it cannot be controlled voluntarily. The only way to change its effect is for the Pokémon to gain discipline, and learn to control what they think and what they feel. This will change the emotions that seep out into the hearts of others, but nothing can ever stop the flow, once it has started. Do not fear, though; this is by design. Heart-speak, even at it strongest, is still a weak force. Its effect is exceptionally subtle. It does not guarantee friendship; it only guarantees that a thought or a feeling will be shared every so often. It creates… a temptation to be open-minded, and to understand those around you. That is all."

There was a moment of silence as Char and his friends took in the information. Char had just barely begun to scratch the surface of the profoundness of this Heart-speak, of what it could accomplish and what it meant…

…But the moment didn't last very long, as Saura broke the silence.

"…Wait," Saura cried in confusion. "Then why does it explode?"

"What do you mean, little Saura?" Dialga asked oddly.

"The Call. Or, Heart-speak. Whatever you call it," Saura rambled. "You say it lets you share your heart with everyone around you. I get that. But nobody ever knew about that before. Like you said, it was secret! But… we all knew about the Call because it explodes. Why does it explode, Dialga?"

Dialga stared blankly at him.

"Yeah!" Char chimed in. "That's what we were talking about earlier! Sometimes you could just be sitting around, minding your own business, and then it will explode! And all the Pokémon in a mile's radius will just be sent into panic! I'm pretty sure that's not how Heart-speak is supposed to work! And that's what Ambera knows as The Call!"

"Heart-speak is not supposed to explode," Dialga said, looking quite confused. "I have never before learned of Heart-speak exploding. I assure you, this was not an intentional effect of the power. I will investigate…"

Char winced. His heart skipped several beats.

Dialga's words didn't sound right.

Something about them…

Something… surreal?

Dreamlike.

A dream…

"I can't," Char uttered to himself. "I'm powerless."

"What was that, little Char?" Dialga spoke.

"That's what you said," Char told the temporal dragon. "Those were your words. You said that to me."

"I do not understand…"

"The Call activated," Char said. "It was an explosion. It got through to all the Pokémon in the Gold Division. And, it got through to you. You said, 'I am here.' – you answered me. And I said, 'help me, Dialga!' and you said, 'I can't, I'm powerless!'"

"This is not an exchange I remember…"

"Of course you don't remember," Char growled at it, now seething in anger. "You don't remember because you just said that you've never heard of Heart-speak exploding before. Even though you were there when it happened. And you heard it. You heard my call."

Against his better judgment, Char rose to his feet. He stared defiantly at the temporal dragon.

"Easy, easy, little Char!" Dialga cried. "Let your heart be still. There is no need to feed your flame here…"

"WHY SHOULD I be still?" Char demanded of the dragon. "Even after all we've asked you, you've still not given us ONE CONCRETE ANSWER. Not ONE! You told me I wasn't the only transformed human, but you wouldn't tell me my name. You told us the Master is a transformed human, probably a Mewtwo, but you couldn't tell us about him. You told us the Watchers are newborn Pokémon, but you couldn't tell us why they're psycho. And now, you told us about the Call, but you say you've never heard it explode before."

Char's claws started to glow.

"And I know why, Lord Dialga. I know why you won't give us the answers we need! It's because…"

"It's because you don't know the answers! Because…"

"YOU'RE FAKE, TOO!"

Releasing his rage, Char closed his eyes and slashed his metallic claws against Dialga's hide as hard as he could.

*Clang! Clang!*

His glowing claws slid right off the impenetrable steely hide of the temporal dragon, but he didn't stop attacking.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

Finally… Char's claw connected with nothing, swinging through empty air. The momentum threw him forward onto the floor.

Dialga was, once again, gone. Simply gone. Vanished from reality.

Char panted hard, feeling the adrenaline of unfathomable rage and discouragement filling him.

He looked at his friends. They stared blankly at him, frozen in shock. Motionless.

…All except for the little green fairy which cowered nearby, averting her gaze into the floor.

Celebi's body trembled so violently, Char thought she would self-destruct… Tiny tears fell from her eyes.

"Celebi?" Prince said, breaking the silence with a calm, plain voice. "Celebi, what is the meaning of this?"

"I'M SORRRRRRRRRRRRRRY!" She shrieked, bounding toward Char and latching onto his legs, sobbing and crying profusely. "I'm SO SORRY, SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY… I'm SORRY, I'M SORRY, I, AHHHHHHHHH! NO, no, no, no…."

"Celebi…" Char spoke in a low, threatening tone. "What just happened?"

"IT'S TRUE, IT'S TRUE!" She wailed, looking up at Char streams of tears pouring from her large blue eyes, before throwing herself back onto the floor in a humiliated bow. "It was ME all along! There was no security system! I… I made that fake Dialga to scare you away! And when it didn't work… I… I made you another one! I tried to make him act like Lord Dialga would really act! Because… Lord Dialga's NOT HERE! He's gone! And I… I just wanted you to… to be happy! I'm SOOOOO SORRRRRRY!"

Blades drawn, Scythe pounced at the tiny legendary which had latched onto Char. In his anger, he nearly bludgeoned her on the head, but Celebi projected a psychic barrier around herself that bounced it back. The barrier threw Char to the floor.

"You lied!" Scythe growled. "You deceived us, you witch…"

"No! No, no, no, no! NO! No, I, I, I didn't lie!" Celebi stammered. "Really! I didn't! I answered all of your questions as best as I could! Those answers were all real!"

She paused for a second, shuddering at the sight of the displeased eyes which fell upon her.

"I'm serious!" she cried. "All those things I told you, about the Newborns, and Heart-speak, and the Master... they're all true! Honest-to-Arceus true. They're all things Dialga taught me, see. Um... well, except for maybe one. Maybe... maybe there was one little fib I told..."

She turned to look at Saura, who had a broken expression on his face.

"Saura, I have no idea what happened to your family…" She admitted painfully. "I read a little shard of your memory, and I just made it up from there. But… but I just didn't want you to feel awful, over something you couldn't change! I wanted you to feel happy for once! It was… … the best I could do! I'm… I'm sorry… Please… don't kill me!"

"Then where is the real Dialga?" Scythe demanded bitterly, backing down from his attack. "WHERE IS THE GOD OF TIME?"

"I TOLD you, he's not home!" Celebi yelled, sniffling and letting down her barrier. "He's… he left a while ago, and… hasn't come back."

Char's heart dropped even further into his gut. All along, Dialga wasn't even in Temporal Tower?

"I've been calling for him… For such a long, long time, I've been calling for him… But there's… always been no answer," Celebi rambled humbly. "And I suppose I may have left the tower's entrance tied to the physical world, because, well, it has to be anchored in the physical world if I want to try calling to Dialga, and I… suppose I may have forgotten to make it disappear again… And then you all came, and… and I… I couldn't dream of tarnishing the legacy of Lord Dialga! I didn't want you to know he wasn't here. So I… I panicked! I used the tower's energy and made a projection, and I pretended to be Lord Dialga. Twice. The first time, I… I… wasn't quite sure how to act, because, well, I don't really know how Lord Dialga acts when he's angry! I've never actually seen him angry before… He's always so fearless and reassuring."

"You were quite convincing, I'll give you that," Prince spat in the Celebi's direction. "Any idea where we could find your missing lord?"

"I don't know! And I can't go looking for him," Celebi said, regaining her composure somewhat and flying back off of the ground. "I'm… stewardess… of Temporal Tower. If I leave… something could happen, and… the tower might fall. If it falls… time stops everywhere. So I have to stay here, and watch out for the tower, and… and I'm just scared, okay? I'm terrified. I'm terrified of you, and of whatever happened to my lord, and… And I don't know how much longer I can watch out for this tower. My own strength might fail… I just… I'm sorry…"

She drifted upon her tiny wings, back to the tiny monument which held several gear-like objects.

"You can just… forget about little old me, okay? I have been a liar, and a failure to you…" she sighed in dejection, dropping back down out of the air at the monument's base. "Go on, tell the world what kind of an awful witch little Celebi is… I'll understand…"

There was a solemn, burning silence. The six Pokémon warriors stood frozen in place, their hearts wading through all their broken hopes and disappointments…

"We forgive you…"

Ray had spoken. He hesitantly approached the little green fairy.

We… do? Char thought to himself, his fists still clenched in frustration.

Ray stood over Celebi, sympathy shining in his eyes.

"You did your best," Ray told her. "I'm sorry Dialga wasn't here. You had no control over it. I understand why you pretended to be him. You did the best you could…"

Faster than lightning, Ray pounced toward the Celebi. She tried to deflect the Raichu with a psychic barrier, but only managed to trap Ray inside of it with her.

Ray gave her a hug.

"Thank you," he told her warmly. "Thank you for making us feel happy for a little bit. And thank you for making this an epic adventure for us. We'll never forget you."

Celebi smiled sadly, letting her barrier fizzle away.

"It's okay," Ray whispered to her. "You did your best."

Char's heart was in turmoil, but he tried to calm himself. Ray was right; Celebi never meant any harm. It was why the violent projection of Dialga was mostly just taunts and show; it never actually wanted to destroy them in battle. Celebi just wanted them to leave without knowing her secret.

And she had given them a few answers, and failing that, many hints that would surely lead them in the right direction.

But his heart was still unsettled. It was just… too much of a disappointment, to have come all this way and have nothing to show for it…

"I guess that's it," Char muttered, turning to Saura who had come to stand at his side. "This is all Temporal Tower has to offer us. Time to turn around and go back, and tell Ambera that we didn't really learn much…"

"Well, we know about Heart-speak now," Saura offered, "But not the Call. And we know that the Master was a human once, but we don't know what Pokémon he is. And…"

"And we still don't know about your family," Char sighed. "Yeah… I guess that's it. We've reached the end. Time to turn back…"

Char began to wonder how he and his friends would descend Temporal Tower. He hoped it would be easier than the climb. Once they were done, hopefully Nameless would still be waiting for them outside, to calm the eternal blizzard of Zerferia and guide them back towards home…

…the long, long journey back home…

CLANG.

Scythe had loudly rapped his blade against the roof of Temporal Tower. Startled, Ray broke his embrace with Celebi, and Char snapped to attention.

"Wait. Wait for one moment," Scythe commanded. "There is something you said, Celebi… and it didn't sit well with me."

"Huuh?" Celebi gasped, turning her attention to him, and looking like she was about to raise another barrier.

"You said you called to Dialga," Scythe said. "And that there was no answer."

"Uh-huh!" Celebi responded, fidgeting. "Why? It's really the only thing I can do, from up here…"

"How, precisely, did you call to him?" Scythe asked, hostility raising in his voice, and fire burning behind his eyes.

Celebi backed away slightly. "I, uh… I, um… Well, see, I used the Time Gears over here… I touch them, and I'm able to draw upon their energy, and…"

"AND it would take a powerful signal to call out to your lord, would it not?" Scythe pressured. "After all, you don't know where he is. So you would have to send that signal far and wide, in order to hope to contact him."

Char's jaw dropped.

He was following the Scyther's chain of logic, and he would have never, in a million years, believed in the conclusion it was leading to.

Yet… there it was.

"Call to him," Scythe demanded powerfully.

"W—what? Now?" Celebi squeaked.

"Yes. Now." Scythe insisted. "Call to him. Right now. You have put us through great turmoil, Celebi. The least you can do is humor my one final request."

"Um… uh… okay! Fine!" Celebi stammered. "Alright, alright. The tower's still anchored in reality, so… I guess I can just… do it…"

She hesitantly flitted over to the monument which housed the shining, rune-engraved gears. Though they had cogs, they sat motionless in their grooves, glowing with an ethereal, turquoise-colored energy.

Celebi placed her hand upon one of the time gears. She reluctantly glanced back at Scythe, then shut her eyes tight, cringing tightly…

There was a humming noise.

Except, it wasn't a noise.

It was all in Char's head.

It was so painfully loud, Char screamed in agony and dropped to the floor, rolling onto his side and clutching his head tightly.

The hum became a roar.

The roar exploded into a full-blown, soul-shattering feeling that made Char feel like he was being blasted away at high speed. With each pulse of the soundless cry, Char could have sworn his entire being had been ripped into a million tiny pieces. To call it overwhelming would not even come close to describing it. And it wasn't just an overwhelming feeling, but it was an overwhelming emotion. Some sort of all-consuming emotion flooded Char's being, soaking through every crevice of his soul. It was the feeling of despair, of hopelessness.

The roar, then, became a voice.

DIALGA!

I AM LONELY…

I HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR YOU TO RETURN…

PLEASE COME BACK SOON…

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITHOUT YOU…

PLEASE, HELP ME!

"ENOUGH!" Scythe screamed. Swatting Celebi away from the time gears so she could not continue the torturous call.

Celebi lay on the floor, her barrier shining brightly around her.

"It was you!" Scythe proclaimed at her, his voice breaking into a triumphant laughter. "YOU ARE THE CALL!"

Celebi blinked.

"M-me?"

"We've solved our mystery," Scythe declared. "Celebi, you have been calling to Dialga, but your call has been reaching others instead: Lily, and Char, and all the rest of the Call-bearers throughout Ambera's history. Tell me, since Temporal Tower lies outside of time, you do not need to know just where to call, but when to call as well. Is this true?"

"Well, yes," Celebi responded, looking mortified. "I don't know what time period to search for Lord Dialga, so I, uh… I tried to spread them out. If I didn't get a reply, I'd try again a few times, then I'd move maybe a decade into the future…"

"TWENTY-SEVEN years apart, correct?" Scythe cried, swinging his blades at his side. "You're calling out at fixed intervals across time, hoping to catch wind of your missing lord, and creating a very noticeable pattern for the mortals down below!"

"Oh, uh… twenty-seven years? Really? That far apart?" Celebi croaked. "I thought it was a bit closer together! I, uh… I must have atrocious aim!"

"And furthermore," Scythe shouted to her, "With such a powerful signal you send, how do you know other Pokémon will not hear it?"

"Because it is only meant for Lord Dialga!" Celebi replied defensively. "Other Pokémon aren't supposed to hear it! It's… I suppose it's an intelligent signal, you could say? It searches for Lord Dialga, or whatever Pokémon I happen to be calling for, and calls only to them! It's a call that's only supposed to have one target."

"And what, do you think, would happen if the signal could not find its target?" Scythe said. "What if the target was there, but it was simply… too far away, so your signal couldn't reach it? What would happen then?"

Celebi tried to think. "Well, I suppose in that case, it would… Oh, by the hooves of the great Arceus, you're right. It would still try to find Lord Dialga, but it would send the message through… whatever other available means it can. A path of least-resistance. It would re-route itself to another Pokémon, but only one, if it could get to Lord Dialga by doing so!"

"Which is why the Call only hits one Pokémon at a time," Scythe finished. "Well, we've done it. We've finally figured out what triggers the Call. It's a lost and lonely little legendary Pokémon trapped at the summit of time, awaiting her master's return!"

Scythe began laughing. "I… I have never before witnessed fate playing a prank upon me, before," he breathed. "This is… so ridiculous… yet, here it is. We finally have one concrete answer."

"There are still some unanswered questions, however," Prince offered. "In particular, why does the Call mind-control nearby Pokémon, when it is only meant to be sending a message? And why does the Call only echo through particular Pokémon, like Char and Lily?"

Shakily, the little green fairy Pokémon lifted herself into the air again. "I… might be able to help you answer that…" she said meekly. "I have my suspicions…"

She fluttered over to Char, who was still reeling on the floor. His head was spinning with the strange and powerful imagery the psychic pulse had delivered. He barely recognized Celebi when she drew close to him, putting her hand on his head.

She soothed him, washing away the pain of his headache, while searching his mind for answers.

"Char's Heart-speak is very developed," she noted. "Very strong. He has either spent many decades in the company of humans, or it has held over from before his transformation into a Charmander. Either way, his Heart-speak is strong. Hmm, oh dear. Yes, I don't think I've ever encountered a Pokémon with Heart-speak quite as strong as yours… And see… I believe my signal reacted with his Heart-speak…"

"So, that means… I didn't do it?" Char said, groggily. "You were just speaking through me?"

"No, I believe the Call came from you, dearie. See, I'm looking into your memory of the event just now. I believe you acted in reflex. The great call did, indeed, come from you. But you needed my signal to stimulate it. Once you heard my signal, you translated it into Heart-speak and sent it out from your own mind."

"So… I can't control it," Char concluded. "So I have really loud Heart-speak, but it won't explode unless I hear a powerful signal, like the kind you send out from Temporal Tower?"

"That… would be my best guess," Celebi said.

Scythe laughed again. It was a frightening kind of laugh, sounding as though he was losing his sanity. "Am I to believe that the Call will stop happening now, now that you are aware of the repercussions?" he cried at Celebi. "Now that you know you're causing chaos in Ambera by calling to your Lord Dialga?"

"Um… no, I'm afraid not," Celebi told him sheepishly. "I don't know what time period you are all from, exactly, but… I have already sent out many calls. They'll keep on happening at regular intervals throughout your history."

"So, just so we are all clear," Scythe said, "The Call will simply happen several times every twenty-seven years?"

"I suppose you are right," Celebi replied.

"But not precisely every twenty-seven years, only approximately, because you are bad at aiming."

"Yes…"

"And we don't know for sure who the Call will be delivered to. It will merely land on a random Pokémon who happens to have strong Heart-speak, and channel through them."

"Sounds right…"

"And at the end of the day, there's no way to manipulate it, to withhold it, to silence it, to time it, or to use it as a weapon against our enemies. It is merely pure chaos, falling upon those with poor luck."

"I'm afraid so…"

Scythe laughed again. It wasn't a joyful laugh.

"Trivia!" Scythe cried. "This is all trivial knowledge. Even knowing this, we are only back to where we began: knowing the Call is unpredictable and useless as a weapon. Our journey here was for naught!"

"Look," Celebi said, hovering close to him, "I'm sorry –"

"I figured you were," Scythe replied bluntly, "After the first twelve times you apologized. But your sorrow is not going to fix the state of affairs in Ambera."

Scythe growled at her, and turned to walk away, picking up the bag of items which had been left sitting on the floor near where Dialga had sat.

"We have wasted enough time on this pointless detour," he said. "Come, everyone… it is time to leave. Ambera is burning while we sit and watch. We must return to our duties."

Before Char could object, there was a tremor.

Boom.

Boom.

The tower shuddered, as though some mighty creature was pacing across one of the floors.

"Oh, my," Celebi said, noticing the tiny quakes. "What was that?"

"We felt that before," Ray remembered. "Back down when we were at the relay point. We thought it was Dialga pacing on the top floor, waiting for us."

Boom.

Celebi shook her head. "Couldn't be," she said, dropping out of the air so she could feel the ground shake. "I didn't start that projection until you were about just a floor away. Because I didn't know you were here until then. No, dearie… this feels like… something is hitting the Tower… from the outside?"

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

The tremors increased.

The sky, dark and starry and beautiful, suddenly turned white.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom!

Boom!

In mere seconds, the tremors came harder, accompanied by the sounds of explosions.

"What… what's happening?" Celebi demanded to no one. Her face was panic-stricken. "Oh, no! OH NO NO NO! NONO! NONONO! Please, Arceus no! RUN!"

She waved at the Pokémon before her. "RUN! GET OUT OF HERE! AIIIEEEEEE! No, No! Wait! You'll never make it! I'll teleport you out!"

But there was no time.

The sound of anguished Pokémon shrieks and cries filled the air as the ground beneath them shattered.

The sky became a blinding white, blocking out everything, as though a sun had descended upon them from space.

For the last few moments, Char felt his reality falling apart. Nothing made sense.

And then, with a sudden tearing pain, everything was gone.

*Chapter 66*: Chapter 48: The Master Plan, Part 1

Chapter 48

Char felt nothing.

No emotions, no sensations…

…not even the familiar beating of his heart, or the searing of his fire within his belly…

He saw nothing, he heard nothing…

It seemed to him as though his existence had been simplified. As though he had been reduced to merely a concept. The smallest symbol of who he was.

His feelings, his wants and desires, his sense of pleasure and pain, of emptiness and fulfillment, of safety and fear…

…they had all collapsed down to one single feeling. A conviction. This conviction defined him. He could not reach beyond it, could not think about it, could not communicate it. It merely became his identity.

He did not know whether he still had a body. There was no way for him to tell. He had been utterly cut off from the rest of existence. He was alone.

Or… perhaps not.

Char found that he still possessed a sense of some sort. It was not sight, or smell, or touch, or hearing… but it seemed to resemble each of those, in its own way. It was merely a small, weak, persisting sense, and it was his only remaining connection to anything outside of his own existence.

Through this sense, he discovered them. Others were with him. Others he knew. Others he had bonded with.

They seemed familiar.

He realized:

They are all here. All of them are still here. None of us have gone anywhere.

I'm not alone.

Saura. He is there. Very close.

And Scythe, and Prince.

And Ray, and Lily.

They are all next to me.

There is another, too:

Celebi?

Yes. Celebi is still here.

Celebi was different, though. She was more… vibrant.

She still had her thoughts, her feelings, her hopes and fears…

Char could sense them.

He could sense her feelings… they were awful, pained feelings.

She hated herself. She hated her life. She felt she had failed.

She felt there was no reason to continue.

Why, Celebi?

What is wrong? Why are you so pained?

"I'm so sorry…"

Her response surprised Char. Though it was an unspoken message, he clearly understood it.

Celebi? What has happened? Why do you cry so?

She fell deeper, darker in to her despair. It moved Char. It affected him. He wanted to rescue Celebi from that darkness, whatever it was. He wanted to make her feel better. It was his conviction.

"I'm still not exactly sure what happened," Celebi spoke through the ethereal medium of communication. "But I think… something crashed into Temporal Tower. It was something very big. Bigger than a mountain, or even a planet. I think… it was… another dimension. I think another dimension collided with Temporal Tower."

Another dimension? That is unusual.

"I know…" Celebi said, causing Char to realize she could sense his intent to communicate. "Dimension collisions are rare, even more rare than planetary collisions… and I think an alternate dimension from the Hall of Origin just… rammed into Temporal Tower… I didn't even see it coming… I'm so sorry… So so sorry…"

Why are you sorry?

The thought did not come from Char. It came from somewhere else. From one of his friends. They, too, were trying to communicate with her.

Why are you sorry? It was not your fault. You had no control.

"Because… because…"

Her spirit was broken. Char wanted so badly to heal her, to tell her that everything would be alright. But he couldn't. He could only… exist.

"Look," she said. "You're dead. All of you are dead. You all died in the crash."

Dead.

Dead…?

Death isn't as painful as I expected.

It's very peaceful.

And you survive, Celebi? You remain alive?

"Yes, I used a barrier. I salvaged energy from Temporal Tower and made a barrier as big and as strong as I could. And I guess it protected me. I'm still alive."

Very good, Celebi.

You've done well.

Why do you cry?

Do not mourn us, Celebi.

It is true; we had hopes and dreams. We left goals unfulfilled…

But none of that matters now. We are finally free. We can leave it behind.

It is okay, Celebi. Please do not cry for us.

You can let us go…

"No… no…"

A strong throb of sadness came from her.

"You don't understand… The way you died…"

What? The way we died?

It should not matter how we died. Death is death…

"See… there's a problem," Celebi said with much difficulty, overcoming her anguish. "You all… died outside of the timeline. When you die within the timeline, the time stream sweeps you along, and you can remain in the world... But, but… here… outside of time… if you die, you'll just drift away into the Hall of Origin, and no one will ever hear from you again."

What do you mean, Celebi?

Why does this matter?

"Because… because if you die outside of time… you are erased from the timeline. Backwards and forwards. It becomes as though… as though you never existed in the first place."

Erased?

We are… erased?

We will have never been born?

Never have existed?

All the things we've done… they will never have happened?

"Yes… all because you died here, at the top of Temporal Tower… if you would have been a few floors down when this happened, you would have at least kept existing… But now…"

"Now, I'm just holding onto you… I trapped you inside of this barrier with me, and I'm holding it up… but… but as soon as I drop the barrier, you'll all drift away…"

"And… your story will be over. No one will remember you… no one will even know you ever existed."

She descended back into her anguish.

We were the victim of an unfortunate fate.

The world will not remember us.

No one will speak our legends…

Celebi…

It is alright. This is not your fault.

Please.

You remain alive. You must carry on.

For us.

"I can't… I can't…" she said, her messages brimming with so much pain, so much regret. "My one purpose… was to protect Temporal Tower. And I let it fall. Now… time probably stopped everywhere in the world…"

You couldn't control it.

You could not prevent the streams of reality from colliding in the Hall of Origin.

Dialga abandoned you. You could not fare on your own.

This was his fault, not yours.

And even if so…

Celebi… rebuild it. Rebuild Temporal Tower.

You can do it.

It would take eons. But you could do it.

"I… I… I can't… I'm not… powerful… enough…"

"I don't even deserve to be called a legendary Pokémon anymore… I am a legendary failure… I am a disgrace."

"You are the legendary ones… you great Pokémon warriors, you only wanted to help your people… and I…"

"…I couldn't help you… and I let you get erased."

Celebi…

"I… I can remember you," Celebi promised, a strong power coming from her conviction. "I won't forget you, ever. I promise. Whatever is left of the world… they will know about the six Pokémon who died up here. I'll write about you… I'll make sure… you're not forgotten… You will become myths, but you won't be forgotten."

Celebi, it's alright.

"No, no, it's not… I… I can't hold this barrier forever. I'll have to let you go… And then… Then…"

Then…

There was a presence.

It arrived suddenly. Char just knew it was there with him, just as his friends were still there.

It was different than his companions… yet, in some ways, just like them. The same.

Was it another spirit? One that had died in the falling of the tower?

The others noticed the new presence, too. They became curious as to what it was. It seemed important, significant…

And it spoke. Its messages were loud and vibrant, like Celebi's…

"Good evening," it spoke. "It is a relief to meet you, on this exceptionally strange day."

The message broke through Celebi's despair. It caught her attention.

"L—Lord?" she gasped.

"Yes… it is I," the foreign presence said.

Dialga?

This is Dialga?

Dialga does not seem… so intimidating.

His spirit is strong, but simple…

Like ours.

"My lord… I'm sorry, I didn't know how it happened… Something came from the Hall, and…"

"Be still, Celebi. Do not expend your strength on angst. Keep holding your barrier."

"Yes… my lord," Celebi said, her messages wrought with humiliation, but also relief. "Where… where have you been? I have been waiting for you for so long…"

"I never intended to leave you alone for so very long," the spirit of Dialga said. "But during my time upon earth, something unfortunate happened to me. I became trapped in an apricorn singularity. I was powerless to escape, or to act. But now it seems that my tower has been wrecked, and the time stream has collapsed with it. In the temporal chaos, I managed to escape from my prison, but only in spirit. My body remains there."

Apricorn?

That's a Poké Ball. Dialga is talking about a Poké Ball.

Dialga was trapped in a Poké Ball?

Dialga… had been captured?

Dialga? Are you real?

Char felt one of his friends imposing this demand upon the spirit of the temporal god.

Are you the real Dialga?

We were deceived twice by Celebi with false apparitions of you.

We just need to know. We want to trust you.

"Celebi…?" Dialga said, a hint of amusement in his spirit. "Is this true? You made copies of my form to deceive these poor souls?"

"Yes, Lord Dialga, I did…" she said firmly, not hiding her guilt. "But, at the time, it seemed like the best course of action…"

"Come now, Celebi, what have I always told you?" Dialga replied. "We must always strive to make timeless decisions."

"Yes… Lord Dialga," Celebi said dejectedly. "I am sorry. I… I'll make it up to you, somehow…"

"Do not mind," Dialga said to her. "The ruined tower is not the greatest issue here. Tell me, do you see the soul of the human with you?"

"Yes?"

"Examine it. Closely."

Char felt Celebi's presence beginning to impose upon him. He could not tell if she had physically moved closer, or if she was just probing him with her mind, but Celebi felt very close.

"It… it shimmers…"

"…like silver…"

A powerful impulse stemmed from Celebi. She was deeply, utterly shocked.

"IT'S… YOU!"

Her signals became scrambled in confusion. Her thoughts and feelings were electrified.

"NO, HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" she gasped, utterly mortified. "HOW DID YOU GET HERE?"

Me?

You recognize me?

Who am I, Celebi?

"I… I can't BELIEVE THIS!" She cried, her signals blasting at full volume. "HOW DID YOU – A – AM –"

"Do not say his name," Dialga abruptly reminded her. "It is not your place."

My name?

You know my name?

"We do," Dialga spoke. "Your name happens to be well-known among the gods."

What is it?

What is my name?

Please, Dialga. Tell me my name.

I am about to die. It is the least you can do for me.

"No," He said, simply.

Char felt rattled.

No?

Why not?

After everything we have done? After all that has happened to us?

And you still keep my name a secret from me?

Why, Dialga?

"Because… you asked me not to tell you."

Char hesitated. This confused him.

I told you not to tell me?

"Yes," Dialga said. "You made it very clear and specific that I was not to tell you your name, and that no other gods, nor their servants, were to utter it to you."

Well… I'm telling you to tell me now!

What is it? What is my name?

Please, tell me. I want to know.

"You made it clear that I was not to tell you, regardless of how much you would beg," Dialga informed him. "You are Char. That is your name among the world of the living. That is the name I shall call you by."

Char felt weak and confused. He could not think this through. His existence was now too simple; he no longer possessed an imagination, or a strong sense of rational thought. Senses were surreal, vague, and fleeting…

"However, if you wish, I might be able to shed some light upon what has happened on this exceptionally strange day," Dialga spoke. "I can tell you how you got here, and I can tell you why these events have happened the way they have. My promise to you prevents me from telling too much of the truth, but those things which I believe I am allowed to tell you, I shall."

Yes, Dialga…

What do you have to say?

Tell us. We will listen.

"Then I shall," he spoke, his spiritual voice clear and pure to their senses. "I believe it all began with you, Char. Once, you stepped outside of the time steam, and you were able to view and understand the course of fate as the gods do; in full."

"As you gazed upon it, you noticed something which you did not agree with. Immediately, you turned to the great Arceus, and said to him, 'I want to change something. Will you let me?' And the great Arceus honored your request."

"In his kindness and his mercy he allowed you to spin your own thread of fate for you to follow. You planned and labored upon great lengths to steer your fate in the precise direction you wanted. You consulted with me, asking me many questions pertaining to cause and effect, and asking for my opinion regarding your visions. You relied on Palkia and I, for you were human, and your understanding of space and time was amateur, and we helped you to craft your idea."

"At last, when you had researched the course of the timeline, asking thousands of questions and considering the answers we gave, you determined your great plan. The exact nature of this plan, and the ultimate goal you sought, was something you never revealed to me, personally. In truth, you had revealed it to only two Pokémon in total: the great Arceus himself, and the guardian of souls, Giratina. That plan was yours; you were very proud of having created it yourself, and having sorted out all of the details properly, and having minimized your margin of error."

"When you put your plan into motion, at your request, you were given the body of a Pokémon and placed in the timeline. You also insisted upon the loss of your memories. The reason for this, you claimed, was two-fold: first, you predicted that your concrete memories, notably something as simple as your own name, would become your primary motivation which would pull you through your intended path. With the simple desire to learn your true name, you would follow the path you laid out for yourself, the plan you had created. You explicitly banned the gods and their servants from revealing these truths to you prematurely, for you knew they would cause you to become complacent with your new existence, and you would abort your plan without it coming to fruition."

"The second reason you chose to have your memories taken was, as you said, that you did not want to have any regrets."

"And so it began. You entered the timeline, and became subject to the circumstances you had planned for yourself. You crossed paths with Saura, and for a time, everything happened according to your plan."

"Unfortunately, you failed to realize something. You were not aware that an enemy had learned of your plan, and sought to destroy it. This foe… is the one you know as 'The Master'."

"To foil your plan, he labored just as thoroughly and painstakingly as you had, creating an alternate path of fate for you to succumb to. And succumb, you did, little one; your journey here to my Temporal Tower was a useless detour. See, as far as I can tell, you were never meant to be here. Your plan did not involve coming here. Somehow, the Master succeeded in throwing you off-course, causing you to branch away from your own plan and climb to the top of my tower…"

"…where a rogue dimensional continuity had conveniently collided with the tower. Temporal Tower came crashing down, murdering you in the process."

"And that is the story of why you and your companions have perished today, little Char," Dialga concluded. "This was the pre-meditated conclusion of a grand plot to kill you, in order to cut short the plan which you had created for yourself. And it seems the Master was not just content to murder you, even, but needed to fully erase you from your continuity. Thus, his goal was to lure you outside of the time steam, and into the Hall of Origin, before triggering your demise. This plan… succeeded."

I died because… the Master plotted to kill me?

But…

But Dialga, where did I go wrong?

When did my path branch away from what was right? What did I do that made me fail my original plan?

"This is where things become interesting," Dialga's spirit explained. "Though I have been captured in the mortal realm, my perceptions have not been entirely stifled. I have been able to watch history unfold, from within the Apricorn… to an extent, at the least. I have been watching you, too, Char. Here is the explanation I offer for how your fate became marred."

"Because he remains hidden, the Master was unable to use conventional means to change the fate of Ambera, and your own fate, Char. Thus, he had to resort to indirect means. He found a perfect tool to tilt the balance of your fate in his advantage, and he found this tool in the newborn souls."

"As strange and fickle as they are, the Master was able to influence the behavior of the newborn souls who leaked from the realm of Giratina. These leaks between the two realms exist due to the same errors in infrastructure which cause the so-called "mystery dungeons" to persist and grow. The rate of dungeons existing and the rate of newborns escaping into the living realm are in proportion, for the same problem is causing both. Unfortunately, this is not a problem I can explain clearly to you, for it involves cosmic forces far beyond your realm of understanding."

"Regardless, he captured the newborns and corrupted them with his own will, causing chaos throughout the land of Ambera. Through the confusion, he encouraged the newborns to target only a few particular Pokémon who were central to your own fate, Char. Acting through the corrupted newborns, or the 'Watchers' as they are known in Ambera, the Master was able to subtly influence and modify the lives of certain Pokémon throughout history to ensure that your journey here to the top of the tower would one day be a success. In fact, all five of your companions were, at one point, touched by the corrupted newborns, changing their personalities to help them make the decisions necessary to guide you here to your demise. This ensured that his plan would fall in place as a complete success, and you became powerless to stop it without knowing of its existence. Once you arrived here at the destination they had intended, the corrupted newborns merely needed to use fear tactics to push you upward and to the summit, where the plan would succeed."

Wait, Dialga.

That's not true.

Not all of us were touched by a Watcher.

Yes… what you said was incorrect.

There was one of us who escaped being corrupted.

It was Prince.

Yes, Lord Dialga. I was never infected with the touch of a Watcher.

I have avoided them for all my life. They did not affect me.

"Ahh… Princely Infernape, I have some sad news for you," Dialga's spirit spoke. "You were, indeed, touched by a newborn once. You merely do not remember it."

That cannot be.

How is that possible?

Please explain… I do not believe what you say.

"I do not enjoy being the bearer of bad news," Dialga's spirit said, his voice pulsing with somberness. "And I have already borne much bad news on this strange day, but I will still answer you. Once, when you served under the 'Gold Division', you stayed out too late at night, and a newborn attacked you. Your mind became corrupt, and you were sent into rage. You burned a small town to ashes with your fire."

No.

You lie.

"I'm afraid I speak the truth, princely Infernape," Dialga sighed. "When your rampage ended, you felt such a deep remorse for what you had done that you begged a rogue psychic to erase your memory of the happening."

My memory was erased?

"Yes," Dialga said. "This is why you felt such a strong urge to leave the Gold Division behind and join the Emerald Division; though you were not able to remember what had happened, your subconscious mind still retained much of the fear and sorrow from your unfortunate act, and so you abandoned your Gold Division and migrated northward with your team. From there, you began to play out the long and unlikely chain of events which would eventually contribute to Char's downfall here today."

Char was filled with pity as he felt Prince's soul collapse in on itself.

Prince descended into very deep anguish, just like Celebi had.

Let me go.

If what you say is true, my existence means nothing to me anymore.

Drop your barrier, and let me drift away into the Hall of Origin.

Please have mercy on me.

I wish to no longer exist.

"I can't," Celebi said. "I can't let you go without letting everyone go… and I don't want to do that yet…"

Prince, have strength.

You had no control. You were controlled by the Watcher.

I have watched more Pokémon die than you have seen in your life.

I have been a murderer. And I was a murderer by my own choice. I enjoyed the act.

You were not.

If I can repent, so can you.

Char knew those sentiments had come from Scythe. Prince responded.

There is no point anymore.

We have perished. There is no time left to repent.

Time is destroyed and we are erased. We will just disappear.

"Wait a moment," Dialga said. "There is a problem with simply letting you all disappear. Celebi… remember the little one, Char. Remember his significance to history?"

"Yes, Lord Dialga?" Celebi replied thoughtfully. "I… I think I know…"

"Imagine if he were to be erased from history. Imagine the repercussions."

A jolt of revelation stemmed from her.

"Oh dear," she gasped. "Oh… ohhh, dear. That would not be very good."

"Yes," Dialga put simply. "History would become re-written in such strange, unpredictable ways, that even I might not comprehend the full litany of repercussions. It would be, for all purposes, a disaster, the likes of which the Pokémon gods have never witnessed before."

"Wow! You're right!" Celebi cried, panic and desperation clear in her messages. "And the Master wanted this, do you think? Was this his plan?"

"To be honest, I do not believe the Master understood the full range of repercussions, either," Dialga answered. "I believe he was never aware of Char's true significance, and he could not have guessed what would happen if he were to be erased permanently. He did not understand the gravity of his own plan, that even he might be affected so terribly by it. It was, I believe, a grave miscalculation on the Master's part."

"So… what do we do, my lord?" Celebi asked, her words trembling nervously.

"Is it not obvious?" Dialga replied. "We must revive these Pokémon. They cannot be allowed to disappear, especially the Little One, Char."

Char's spirit stirred.

You're going to revive us?

We had given up all hope. We had accepted our fates.

We're not going to die? We're not going to be erased?

"Not if we can help it," Dialga replied warmly. "And I wouldn't have given up hope, if I were you. Even though you are reduced to only your souls, you're not gone yet, are you, now? In fact, you might say… that you are truly down to your last remaining embers. And, as a wise Pokémon once said, you're not gone until that last little ember loses its glow, and fades away."

So it is true.

Our story is not yet over…

We will carry on another day.

We know now. We will never doubt again.

We will keep fighting.

Even though we have died, and come this close to extinction.

"But wait!" Celebi shouted. "How will we revive them, Lord Dialga? I… I do not see how this is possible. They were all touched by the Newborns; their fate is sealed… And you cannot do anything without your body… W-will you use mutation? I know you are capable of some mutation in your spiritual form…"

"I will not mutate anything; I would make only make this mess even worse than it is," Dialga said. "Besides, mutation is not necessary for this task. See, Celebi, I believe there was another factor that the Master did not plan for, when he predestined the deaths of these Pokémon. I believe the Master thought Temporal Tower would be vacant. So there remains one unknown element in his carefully-laid plan. And that random element… is you, Celebi!"

"Me, my lord?" Celebi squeaked, her emotions becoming weak and puny.

"Yes!" Dialga asserted. "The Master never planned that you would be here, Celebi. Since you are hidden here, outside of time, it was something he could not see, and could not plan for. All he knew was that I was captured and did not factor into the equation. He never guessed that another Pokémon would be waiting here in my stead, someone with a grasp on the grand nature of time just as I have. Someone… I have personally trained, for all these eons, just for a cataclysm such as this one."

"W—What are you saying, Lord Dialga?" Celebi implored, her voice so fragile and frightened. "You want… me to… to… reincarnate them?"

"You must!" the god of time proclaimed. "And not only reincarnate them, but repair the time stream so that my tower would have not fallen. You are their only hope, Celebi. You are my only hope. You are the only hope of the octillions of sentient souls who have ever lived in our time stream… It is all upon your shoulders, now."

"N—no! NO, NO!" Celebi cried, breaking out in intense panic. "Y-You've got to be joking, my lord! I can't do that! I'm—I can't! I'm not strong enough! I'm not intelligent enough! I don't even know! Know, what you… what you want me to do…"

"You are strong enough, intelligent enough, and you know what to do," Dialga reassured her. "I have made sure of this. I have taught you."

"But Lord Dialga, I wasn't always listening…" Celebi whimpered. "It was always so… confusing for little old me! I didn't always know what you were talking about…"

"Then trust your instincts," Dialga said to her. "You are mortal. You have a subconscious mind, like all mortals. Your instincts are always listening, even when your attention is turned elsewhere. Trust yourself, Celebi. You have the ability."

"But… but, but, I don't even know where to even start!" the little Pokémon stammered. "Can't you do it for me?"

"No, Celebi. Not without my body," Dialga said. "And to be honest, I don't know if I could mutate this problem away, even if I decided to. It is too large, too far-reaching of a problem. Without proper planning, I could cause more harm than good. Please… focus."

"Are you going to at least tell me what to do?" Celebi shouted at her lord. "I don't even know…"

"Listen," Dialga sighed, his spiritual voice persistently strong and clear. "You will have to perform a feat similar to one I performed, many eons ago, when I rescued a Pokémon from being permanently erased from their reality. You will have to fork the timeline."

"How?" Celebi cried. "I've never done anything like that before! You've always told me never to mess with the time stream like that!"

"Celebi, if you'd listen to me, I will walk you through it," Dialga reprimanded. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here until the deed is done. Now… focus on the timeline."

Celebi's rampant emotions were dampened. Her thoughts became steadier and smoother.

"Examine closely, the point where the time stream put the tower in a collision course with the other dimension," Dialga instructed. "There. Do you see it?"

"Yes, there," Celebi said. "Now, what do I have to change?"

"You don't have to change anything," Dialga said.

"Huuh?" Celebi returned, her thoughts and focus unraveling again. "But I thought you said, if you want to fork the timeline, you need to change something. So that in one path, something is true, but in the other, it's false."

"Normally, that is true," Dialga told her. "But, see, you do not need to change anything this time. You merely have to move the time stream away from the cataclysm. Make it flow in a different direction, so it will not collide with the rogue dimension and the disaster will have never happened."

"So… I just have to fork off an identical copy?" Celebi asked. "Right there?"

"Before that point, Celebi. Otherwise your fork will mean nothing."

"WAAAAAAAAAHH!" Celebi suddenly screamed, losing all semblance of focus and causing her psychic barrier to waver. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! AIIIEEEEEEEEE!"

Celebi…

Please don't lose heart.

We know you can do it.

Celebi… if you save us, you will be legendary.

You will be a legend among legends.

The little Pokémon who did the work of a god.

The little Pokémon who saved the time stream.

Just focus. The answers will come if you focus.

Forget your fear. Push away your nervousness. They are useless.

Focus on your lord's words.

You can triumph.

We believe in you.

"Ahh… Ahh… Alright," Celebi choked out weakly. "I—I can't let you guys down. No. You're right. I'm going to do this. Alright, my lord… what's next?"

"Split the time stream, directly in the center, so the identical copies flow in different directions," Dialga instructed. "This is the simplest part. You've watched me perform this task several times. Just make sure it does not flow back in on itself, or you will create a wave of very strange paradoxes."

"Ahh! Um, alright… Alright… here it goes."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Like that?"

"Very good. Now, bend the stream a bit further away, so that it is not in danger of colliding with the one that destroyed the tower to begin with. NO, NOT THERE! Oh, better. That is better. Well done."

"AHH! Um… alright? What now?"

"Now, for the most difficult part," Dialga warned her. "There are two identical branches of the time stream now, but only one of those branches is inhabited by the sentient souls. Now you must discontinue the original branch, so all of the souls within the timeline flow into the new branch. This is difficult; you must block off the original path precisely after the fork you've made. If you create the barrier too far upstream, you create a complete dead-end and you risk killing every Pokémon who's ever lived. Place it too far downstream, and you risk allowing some of the souls to take the wrong route occasionally, and it will cause mass confusion."

"Oh, geeze… That sounds hard," Celebi croaked, her message feeling jittery with nervousness. "So… if I'm going to screw up, make sure it's too far downstream, not upstream. Right?"

"Try not to make a mistake in the first place," Dialga warned. "But yes, if you must, undershooting the fork will have less disastrous repercussions."

"Um… Okay. So, I block it off by… squeezing it? Like this?"

"Yes, but focus. You must get the positioning exactly correct."

"Alright. Here goes…"

Good luck, Celebi.

No, not luck. Skill. Good skill.

You can do this!

We know you can…

We trust you.

"…"

"…"

"… … … … … …"

"Um… did I do something wrong?"

"Yes. You placed the blockade too far downstream."

"NOOOOO! OH NO! OH NO OH NO OH NO! I TOLD you I couldn't do this!"

"Celebi, focus. All is not lost. Adjust the barrier. Push it slightly upstream until none of the souls can stumble into the old continuity."

"…"

"Further."

"…"

"A bit more."

"… …"

"STOP."

"I did it? We're done?"

"Because of your mistake, you have caused several denizens of the time stream to perceive time running in reverse for about six minutes. They will be particularly confused. Otherwise, you have done well."

Good job, Celebi!

We knew you could do it!

We expected nothing less from the apprentice of the great time-keeper.

"I'm… I'm sweating like you wouldn't believe!" Celebi laughed. "Uh… now what?"

"Now," the lord of time instructed, "The hard part is over with, but in this final step, you must be exceptionally gentle. Do you see the tower?"

"YES! It's there!" she cried. "Right there, in the new branch. It's like it didn't even fall!"

"Do you see the six Pokémon who perished in the fall?" Dialga asked.

"YES! They're there, too!" Celebi exclaimed. "They're all whole and alive! They didn't die!"

"Yes, but they are soulless," Dialga said. "Because their souls are missing. Now, you must take these souls in your care, and guide them into their rightful incarnations in the new timeline you just created."

"Oooh, right, I have to reincarnate them… I almost forgot about this part."

"Yes. But please. Be gentle," Dialga warned. "You could traumatize these souls by making their re-entry too jarring. Souls are very sensitive. They have likely forgotten all about their bodies by now, and what it means to live. Ease them into it. Do not rush."

"Yes, Lord Dialga," Celebi replied. "I will try my best…"

"And know… that when you have completed your task and you re-enter the new branch of the time stream, I will not be able to talk to you anymore," Dialga warned. "I will once again be trapped somewhere, in an Apricorn, slowly awaiting my rescue… So, this might be the last we speak to one another in a while."

"I understand…" Celebi said. "Thank you, Lord Dialga… for your support. I never would have believed I could pull that off on my own."

"Thank you for saving the time stream, when I could not," Dialga told her. "Now, the rogue dimension which caused the disaster is far away from Temporal Tower, and will not threaten to repeat the same cataclysm. Before that happens, you can unhinge the tower from reality, and you will be safe."

Thank you, Celebi…

You have done so well…

We are happy for you.

Dialga must be very proud.

"Oh, and one reminder, before I lose contact," Dialga said. "Char… try to understand what has just transpired. On this exceptionally strange day, we have foiled the Master's plan. The consequences of his plan are now completely un-done. It is not just unlikely, but impossible, that he would have planned for you to survive the falling of the tower, and to be revived, as you have. This leaves you free to continue with your own plan, although you must look for a way to return to your proper path from this fateful detour."

I understand.

Then what do I do, Dialga?

Where do I go now?

"Find the Pokémon known as Giratina," Dialga instructed the soul of Char. "Giratina is the only Pokémon who has your permission to tell you your name, or even to utter it. And not only your name, but every answer you seek. This was an important part of your plan, to meet Giratina and learn the truths you needed to carry out the final actions you wanted. If you can do this, your plan will be back on track."

Alright. I will search for Giratina.

But… that might take a long time.

What if it takes me a while to find him?

Until then, what do I do?

"Do what you have always done, little one," Dialga said to him affectionately. "Enjoy life. Enjoy Ambera. Enjoy being a Charmander. Enjoy the company of your friends. Learn and train to grow stronger and wiser. Fight for what you believe in, whatever it may be. And don't give up until the fire in your belly ceases to burn. That is, indeed, what life was meant for! Savor it while you can, but don't ruin it with bad decisions and poor judgments."

I will, Lord Dialga.

Thank you.

"Thank you, little one," Dialga hummed. "It was a pleasure to encounter you today, though it happened amidst the most unfortunate of circumstances. And it was an honor to meet the rest of you, as well. This will not be our final meeting, I suspect. I will see you again… when the time is right."

Wait.

Wait, Dialga.

"Yes?"

Tell me one thing.

"What is it?"

Have you ever said to me, 'This is not something we wish upon you. You bring this upon yourself, by your own actions.'?

"Hmm… I am sorry. I do not remember ever saying that. However… it seems like something I would say, given the proper circumstances. But as I am trapped in this apricorn, it is difficult to glance far back in time to tell."

Alright.

Thank you, Dialga…

Goodbye.

"So long, little one… may fate flow ever in your favor. You will have the answers you seek, one day…"


Yellow.

There was a yellow light, almost like sunlight, coming from everywhere.

It was a color. It was the first color Char had seen in what seemed like a very long time.

Yellow engulfed him.

It bubbled up around him, like many tiny suns.

Through it, he felt a rush of power.

A burdensome weight had been attached to him. It was a familiar weight. A beloved one. His pet Charmander. His body.

Char blinked, trying to get the yellow bubbles out of his eyes as it gradually faded away.

His eyes.

Char realized that his body was back under his command. He felt his heart pounding. He felt his ember licking his insides. He felt his thoughts racing.

His thoughts. His emotions. They had all returned.

"Ughh…" he groaned as he rolled over on the floor, stretching his muscles.

It felt so good to hear his throat produce a sound. He could speak again. His spiritual communication had been far too inhibited.

Groggily, he righted himself and stood upon his four legs. He glanced around the room. They were still upon the temporal pinnacle. His friends were there. They were barely moving, all staring wide-eyed at one another, feeling the shock being back home in their rightful physical forms.

"Well? Well?" A voice chirped from nearby. "Was that not gentle enough? I didn't traumatize you, did I?"

Char eyed the little green fairy Pokémon. She was so winded and spent, she did not fly anymore. She stood upon the floor quaking in anticipation.

"Please be okay…" she muttered, almost whispering. "Say something? Please?"

Char grinned.

He jumped to his feet and blew a stream of flames into the air.

"YEAH!" He shouted rapturously. "WE'RE ALIVE! We MADE IT! YEAAAAH!"

A joyous, contagious laugh of triumph sounded upon the Temporal Pinnacle as Char's friends joined in the celebration. Char pounced upon the Pokémon closest to him, which was Ray, just so he could feel his heart pumping again. Ray sent him a playful jolt of static in return, but he barely even felt it over the euphoria he felt.

"Oh, man. We just died and came back to life!" Saura cried, wide-eyed.

Lily gave him a joyful hug with her vines. "Yeah! Some exploration team we make, right?" she laughed. "Now we can say that we explored the final frontier! The place where no one else has ever wanted to go. Though, let's not go back anytime soon, alright?"

"You said it!" Saura shouted in reply. "Now we can tell everyone that we came back from the dead. They'll never believe us, but I don't care! We know what really happened!"

"Char, what was all this about you having a plan?" Scythe asked, a wide and curious smile on his face. "It seems as though you anticipated the actions you would take, after having your memories erased. That is very impressive."

Char recovered from his short scuffle with Ray. "I… guess so," he laughed nervously. "I still don't know what kind of a plan it was. No clue. I guess I have to find Giratina to find out for sure…"

"Yes, and stay far away from the Watchers from now on, at all costs," he warned him. "It seems as though they were the ones who tilted your fate in an unfavorable direction. As long as you make sure never to become corrupted again, the Master should not be able to destroy your fate again. The same goes for your friends. Keep them safe from the Watchers, and you may be able to continue trusting them."

"Right," Char replied. "Never again… but even so, I came really far off-course. I hope I can get back to where I wanted to be originally…"

"The Master is surely scrambling to create a backup plan, even as we speak," Scythe said. "But you have the advantage. You are ahead of him, now. Avoid the Watchers, avoid his influence, and you will find a way. I am certain."

Across the room, the beaming Raichu pounced on the weary, spent Celebi, clinging to her tightly.

"BEST. LEGENDARY. EVER!" Ray laughed. "At first I kinda liked Nameless, and Dialga was impressive, but now, you're officially the best!"

"SHHH! Quiet! Don't let Lord Dialga hear you say that!" Celebi laughed. "He'll be angry!"

"But in all honesty, thank you," Ray said. "You did something really difficult for us. We owe you our lives. Everyone owes you their lives, now."

"Well, I, uh, I still can't believe what just happened," Celebi squeaked. "I kinda want to forget all about it… it was too scary. But… you're welcome. I just did my best, after all…"

"Your best was awesome," Ray replied. "Thank you…"

Char looked at his friends, all laughing and frolicking happily.

He smiled as he watched them celebrate. They were happy to just be alive.

He looked at his own claws. The claws of a Charmander. He knew now, there was a purpose in having these claws, having this flaming tail, and having this fire within his belly. There was some kind of reason for it. And even though he didn't remember what it was, he knew that his past self had something planned. And now that he had shaken off this devious plot to end him, escaped from death itself, he was free to venture forth and discover just what this plan was.

My name… it's just the carrot at the end of the stick, Char realized. I don't care what it is anymore. I'll find it. And when I do, I'll find the rest of my purpose, too.

Giratina… wherever you are, I'm going to find you.

Char clenched his claws in solemn resolution. His past self had never meant for him to set foot on Temporal Tower, let alone climb to the top. But here he was. And now he had some of the answers.

Against the strangest of odds, his plan was prevailing…whatever it was.

Char glanced at his friends. They were still laughing. Practicing their battle moves against one another. Getting back into the spirit of being alive. Even Celebi seemed gleeful, for once.

But, among them, there was one who did not look so excited to have returned to the realm of the living.

Prince, like the rest of them, had a smile upon his face. His, though, was a sad smile.

*Chapter 67*: Chapter 49: The Master Plan, Part 2

Chapter 49

The adventure had come to an end.

The team remained upon the temporal pinnacle for a while longer, chatting with Celebi about the challenges they had faced climbing the tower, as well as life back in Ambera, the perpetual struggle with the Master, and thoughts about how the resistance would react when the learned that the Call had no potential to be used as a weapon. Through Celebi's glee and polite humor, Char could see how she jittered with weariness; she was spent, physically, spiritually, and emotionally, and would probably collapse into a deep rest as soon as they left.

And so, it soon became time for the triumphant group of Pokémon warriors to say their goodbyes to Dialga's faithful assistant, descend the tower, and return to the world from which they came.

Char turned his gaze upward one last time, trying to savor the gorgeous, supernatural sight of the Hall of Origin. His heart was loathe to leave it behind. Somehow, some small corner of his spirit yearned for that sky, found solace in those swirling auras of stars, those glowing specks of blues and oranges, that perpetual sunrise and sunset of existence which most mortals would never glimpse upon.

A rare combination of colors in an unlikely place, Char realized.

By itself, it has no beauty.

It only has beauty because I have eyes to gaze upon it, and it means something to my heart.

It means…

something special. Something most Pokémon, and humans, wouldn't know about. Something they wouldn't appreciate.

But something I know. Or, something I used to know.

"Do you remember the stars?" Celebi asked him, jolting his gaze away from the sky. "They were always your favorite part of the Hall of Origin, A-… Char. You would just… stare at them, endlessly…"

"I think I might," Char admitted, glancing back up at them. "They're stirring something in me… Even when I see the stars at night in Ambera, it gives me this feeling… But it's only just a feeling. There are no memories to go with it…"

Celebi smiled knowingly. "Ahh, you've come so far…" she sighed, flitting in front of him and looking into his eyes. "I still can't believe it's actually you. Wow… you have no idea how hard it is not to call you by your real name. I just – I hope, when you discover who you really are, you aren't disappointed…"

"Celebi, I'm sorry about Dialga," Char told the little weary fairy. "If he's in a Poké Ball somewhere in Ambera, I'll try to find him for you. I promise."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Celebi returned humbly. "That's not important right now. Lord Dialga can take care of himself. What's important now is that you find Giratina, alright? Trust me."

Char nodded. "I understand. But you never know; maybe I'll find Dialga along the way."

"Right! Fate surprises all," Celebi giggled. "In the meantime, I'm sure I'll be fine up here. Lord Dialga prepared me for this, after all. I'll keep watch over Temporal Tower as long as I need."

Char smiled. Celebi seemed much more confident in her abilities now.

"Oh… I think you dropped something," Celebi chirped, swooping around Char's back before presenting him with a particular object.

It was the golden reviver seed Char had clung to for so long. It was still unused. Char gratefully accepted it, wondering just when he had dropped it.

"You held onto it for so long, even through that whole battle!" Celebi said. "I was impressed, actually. I don't think you dropped it until… well,when the tower fell. It's a shame that there are some things they actually can't revive you from, like cosmic cataclysms… But they try their best, so keep holding onto it, alright?"

Char nodded. "Thank you," he uttered, grasping the seed in both claws. "…for everything."

Celebi just smiled in return. It was a spacey, far-away simile, but a happy one.

"Can you teleport us back to the surface?" Prince inquired. "Do you have the power to do so? It would make our journey much easier."

"Um, I could, but I'd have to teleport with you, and I might end up leaving the tower abandoned for eons," Celebi explained. "And even then, it's a long teleport down to the surface. I might miss. I'm sorry; I don't think I'm willing to take that chance. But on the bright side, you shouldn't have any problems with the dungeons this time. I think that blasted other dimension was doing strange things to the tower's dungeon, so it should be gone now. Just walk down the stairs, swat some of the wilds away if they bug you, and you should have your feet back on the ground before you know it!"

We also have a couple of escape orbs, I think, Char remembered. But they'd separate us. They would only teleport out those of us who have these emblems on our scarves. Prince and Ray would still have to walk the rest of the way down by themselves. So I think we should stick together.

"Then we will enjoy the walk through this godly monument, while it lasts," Prince replied, presenting a subtle bow to her. "And now, we shall take our leave. Your hospitality has been god-like, good Celebi. You will not be forgotten."

With one final heartfelt goodbye, Char and his friends gathered their belongings and approached the stairway to begin their descent. Ray strapped the bag of Team Ember's to his back, and Scythe held Alakazam's bag. Both bags held many unused items, which was fortunate; they would surely become useful in future endeavors. But Char still wondered if more items had been used from his own team's bag than from the one Scythe held; the bag of Alakazam's priceless valuables…

"Char…" Celebi spoke, framed by the last remaining view of the gorgeous starry sky as she watched the visitors descend the staircase. "The Charmander… suits you. Perhaps someday soon, you could grow wings… then you could be closer to the stars you love so much..."


Temporal Spire 8F

The walk was long. Char knew it would take at least a full day to traverse the twenty-four floors and the hundred-thousand stairs needed to return to the base of Temporal Tower. But unlike the climb, it would at least be a walk, rather than a fight. There would be enough fighting back in Ambera. There was always fighting. The resistance fought the Master. The Master fought the innocent civilians of Ambera. The civilians fought the wayward newborn souls who populated the night sky. The police fought the criminals. The exploration teams fought the feral, mindless Pokémon in the mystery dungeons. Resistance team leaders fought with their division leaders. Rivals fought with rivals, and brothers fought with brothers. There was always so much fighting in the world, so much unrest…

And the only way to stop all the fighting was to join it. Such was the life he was headed back to: the life of perpetual struggle; the life of no peace.

In a way, it made sense to Char. Pokémon were built to fight. He knew that now. It was all part of a Pokémon's identity. It was part of their whole culture, their whole reason for living. Arceus had bestowed upon Pokémon, as a birthright, such a strange and wonderful myriad of powers, powers of fire, of water, of lighting, of earth and rock, of steel and darkness, of leaf and wing and fist… and these powers came to define everything about them. Life was a glorious struggle for Pokémon, a climb to the top of the tower. It was a quest for self-realization, mastery of skill, and perfection. It was in their strength, and in their ability to use that strength to shape the world and to help their friends and loved ones, which they found the deepest kind of happiness.

It was something human Pokémon trainers could barely comprehend. Humans would never understand just how important battling was to Pokémon. Trainers challenged one another for recreation and serious competition alike, but for the Pokémon, it was a celebration of life itself. It meant everything to them.

But the kind of fighting that took place here, in this world of Ambera, was different.

Ambera should have been a Pokémon utopia. It was a wide, expansive continent featuring every imaginable formation of land, every kind of terrain, every kind of habitat… And within these habitats lived every imaginable kind of Pokémon, free to live, to fight, to form their own families and cultures and lives apart from human influence. It should have been perfect.

But instead of fighting to grow, the Pokémon of Ambera fought to survive… while others fought to kill.

It was wrong… so, so wrong. Pokémon fought wars over control of the land, a land big enough for all to live in harmony, and many died. And at the center of all these wars, it seemed, was the enigmatic Master who wanted to see Ambera crumble to dust. The Master, who continually reconstructed Ambera's social structure by purging innocent cities from the map, failing to rebuild them. The Master, who saw fit to curse the most innocent newborn souls of Pokémon, creating the Watchers who reigned over each night using fear. The Master, who was so desperate to have his way that he was willing to let Temporal Tower become destroyed, willing to stop time across the face of the whole planet, just to defy the plan of a single human who wanted to make a difference in the world.

In response, Pokémon did the one thing they knew how to do best – they fought. They fought every day to free Ambera from its shackles, to help it become the Pokémon haven it was always meant to be.

Tomorrow, Char would rejoin that fight. But not today; today was to be a day of peace.

Temporal Tower was mesmerizingly gorgeous. The symbols, the designs, the etchings upon each pillar, the swirls of sparkling metal which flowed through the floor and upon every monument… Char tried to appreciate them to their fullest as he passed them by. At one point, as he observed a statuette of what must have been a Rattata curled around three young hatchlings, it occurred to him that Temporal Tower, itself, was a representation of the time stream. It was expansive, stable, and beautiful, housing the complete history of the world within its confines… but at the same time, being a mystery dungeon, it was slightly random and not completely predictable.

Just like fate.

Char knew that the wonders he witnessed within the tower's cathedral-like chambers were not the same as they had been when he had passed through before. Though they kept the same basic formation, they had subtly shifted around and changed in appearance. It was indeed a beautiful design for the temporal god's home, though in a disturbing kind of way.

"Try to remember what you see," Prince recommended. "Keep everything close to your heart, everything you've seen and felt. Hold onto those small details that have defined this journey for you. Legend is going to want to hear all of them."

"I don't think we can…" Ray admitted. "There's just too much. We can't possibly remember enough of… this… to explain it to Legend."

"Yeah… and I don't know how we're going to explain to him what death feels like, either," Saura added. "It didn't feel like much of anything, really…"

"Well, that is why there are six of us," Prince said, pausing for a moment to behold the inscribed runes upon a pillar. "Legend will have six different accounts of this journey, and he can piece together an idea of how it all went. He's skilled at that."

Prince traced his finger upon a plaque. "Hmm, these resemble Unown," he muttered. "Though, they are a bit small…"

There was a blur of motion.

There was a powerful impact.

*SLASH!* *THUMP*

Prince's body slumped to the floor with a large, bloody streak across his back.

Scythe stood over him, his blade dripping with the same blood.

For that instant, time seemed to stop.

The Scyther loomed above the fallen form of his old friend, his blades still drawn in a pose of lethal attack. Pity sparkled in his eyes, though his expression had become one of cold determination.

"Scythe…?" Char gasped, though apprehension swept through his body, sapping the energy needed to move a muscle.

Scythe did not answer. Instead, he placed one of his flat, spiked feet upon Prince's back.

"You…" Prince groaned, a raspy whisper. "You tricked me…"

Prince stirred, pushing against the floor in a shaky attempt to overcome the Scyther's strength. But Scythe forced him back down, pinning him.

"I was… expecting… you to betray me, but this is too soon," Prince uttered, struggling to draw breath. "Thought you wouldn't try… until… we were out of the tower. But… that's why you told Nameless what you told her, isn't it? You… you asked her to help you knock me out after we were done with the tower. You –you expected her to tattle to me… and so… I anticipated your attack coming tomorrow…"

The Infernape writhed, managing to twist his head enough to meet the Scyther's glowering gaze.

"You sly bug," Prince grumbled. It was not a statement of hatred, or bitterness, but of resignation.

"I have fought you twice, and failed," Scythe spoke down to him in a low, threatening tone, one that deeply frightened Char. "Did you think I would fail the third time? No; even now, even after everything which has happened to you, you still underestimate. You have not learned how to anticipate surprises. Now, be gone, Prince Calamar."

Lily shrieked, calling Prince's name as the Scyther raised his blades to strike.

*TWHAP. THWAP. THWAP. THWAP.*

Scythe swung his blades as mighty bludgeons, hammering them into the sides of Prince's skull. The flames upon the Infernape's head danced in rhythm to the concussions, as though they were trying but failing to begin the blaze reaction… Char's stomach lurched at the calculated brutality of each attack.

*TWHAP. THWAP. THWAP. THWAP.*

Char began to tremble. Remembering he held a reviver seed, he began trying to dig his claws into its shell.

"Scythe…" he said again, utterly incredulous.

The Infernape stopped moving. The fire upon his crown dimmed. He was unconscious.

Scythe lifted his foot from the fallen body of Prince, taking a deep sigh. He then turned his gaze, cold and evil, to the cowering Pokémon who had witnessed the act.

"Weakness," he spoke solemnly, taking a deliberate step towards Char and his companions, keeping the sharp, bloody ends of his blades drawn, "is the most–"

His words were interrupted by a supersonic screech.

A glowing aura of yellow, almost like a pillar, flashed behind Scythe in the place Prince had fallen. Scythe twisted his body and spun around, preparing to assault the source of the noise.

His eyes met Prince, standing back on his feet and fully healed. Revived. His fire burned brightly. His hands curled into fists. A determined scowl formed upon his face.

Scythe staggered backward in surprise. He buzzed his wings for a moment in an attempt to keep himself from falling over in shock.

There was another painful, electric moment of silence as Prince and Scythe stood off. Scythe's mouth gaped open, looking utterly baffled.

"Char," Scythe gasped deeply, his voice breaking even upon the one syllable, "I thought I told you to throw away all the reviver seeds…"

"Oh, I'm sure he did," Prince returned, smirking. "Char trusts you. He would have done whatever you asked, you know. It's his character."

Scythe gaped again, his jaw hanging open as his eyes darted intensely across the form of the Infernape. He was desperately asking himself what had gone wrong, how his plan had been foiled…

After a moment, the Scyther's eyes widened – farther than Char had ever seen before. They were dilated and bloodshot. Within them, he saw genuine fear.

"You – you –" the Scyther stammered, taking another step backward. "You hid reviver seeds in that sack with the Frozen Flame!"

Scythe shook his head violently before assuming hostile posture. "How many, Prince? How many do you have in there?"

"Eight," Prince taunted, confidence now ringing in his voice. "Though, since one was just now used, the count is now seven. And since I hold them so close to my form, they will revive nobody but me. Now, old friend, it appears you have a choice to make."

Scythe winced, crossing his blades in a defensive parry as the Infernape took a single step in his direction.

"Tell me what you are planning, Scythe," Prince ordered, talking down to the Scyther. "Tell me, so that I might help you carry it out. That is… unless you believe you can knock me out eight more times, before I can knock you out once? It's your call now. What will it be?"

Scythe cringed, raising his parry higher and closer to his face. He drew short, desperate gasps of breath. He was terrified.

"Why don't you tell me?" Prince pressed. "Am I untrustworthy to you, Scythe? You have trusted me with so many plans before, why not now? Why do you quake with panic at the thought of letting me in on the secret? Scythe… how am I to make any sort of judgment when you will not speak to me? How am I to know that you are not planning to betray… those innocent Pokémon who stand over there?"

The Infernape took another step closer to his rival.

"Let it be known, Scythe… if you lay a blade on those who we were sworn to protect, I will fight until my fire dies," he spoke powerfully. "All my life, I have stood back and witnessed violence and betrayal. And so have you, Adron. But now, the time has come for me to keep it from happening in the first place."

He extended a hand. It was a sign of peace.

"Scythe… tell me what you plan," he spoke carefully. "Ally with me."

"I'll NEVER tell you!" Scythe screeched, opening his wings and his blades to strike.

*CLANG!* *CLANG!*

The sounds of clashing metal rang as Prince parried Scythe's open-blade attacks with his metallic wristbands.

Scythe attacked violently, almost maniacally, moving faster than light seemed to travel. Prince held his ground, dodging and blocking every blow.

Prince ducked under a flying blade, then caught another one on his wristband. He batted it away, countering with a fire-fisted blow to the side of Scythe's head.

*POW.*

Scythe reeled back, stumbling.

"Give up, Scythe," Prince warned him. "You can't defeat me."

Scythe did not listen. Screeching a terrifying war cry, the Scyther opened his wings and struck again, buzzing through the air above and around the Infernape. But he could not hit his opponent, for Prince fought at full strength from being recently revived, and he danced and tumbled out of the reach of every attack.

Prince coiled his body, then leaped straight into the air as Scythe zipped past underneath. He planted his feet upon the stone pillar, twisted his body, then delivered a fiery punch downward, putting the entire force of his weight behind his fisted arm.

*SMACK.*

The attack connected. Scythe tumbled backward in a blur of buzzing wings and flailing blades, slumping to the ground.

"There's a simple way to end this!" Prince called to him after landing graciously on all fours, coiled for another strike. "I don't want to defeat you. Stop attacking me and talk."

From his position on the floor, Scythe pounced. He zipped past Prince, striking him on the forehead with the backhanded tip of his blade. Prince winced and couldn't recover from the surprise; Scythe pivoted and swung his other blade, slamming it into Prince's chest and thrusting him against the pillar. He locked Prince's neck between the backsides of his blades, jumping over his attempt to counter with a kick.

"You can strike me down, maybe once or twice more, but you can't defeat me," Prince begged, his voice once again rasping as the blades choked him. "Will you try to see reason?"

"I have my reasons," Scythe hissed angrily. "It is you who does not see them!"

Prince lurched his body and kicked powerfully at the pillar, throwing Scythe backward and freeing his throat from the deadlock. He dropped close to the ground and bucked his feet at Scythe's abdomen, throwing the Scyther off-balance.

Scythe took to the air again, trying to fly out of the Infernape's range, but Prince jumped after him and thrust himself from the pillar, delivering another swift blow to the Scyther and sending him lurching back to the ground.

Through the fight, Char clutched his reviver seed so tightly it might break.

He didn't understand what was going on. Why was this fight happening? Why was Scythe so intent on removing Prince from the picture, even to the point of battling him like this?

And why did he keep fighting even when he knew he would fail? Why didn't he listen to Prince?

Maybe… Prince was right? Char realized, a cold, dark dread coming over him.

What is Scythe doing?

Did I make the wrong decision in trusting him?

"Guys…" Ray whispered, clearly as frightened as Char. "Guys, I think… we might need to fight."

"Fight?" Saura croaked, cowering from the violence he witnessed.

"Look. If we gang up on one of them, we can end the battle," Ray said. "We probably can't stop them from fighting, but… Five against one… we could win. We beat Dialga together, we could win. But… who do we help?"

Scythe's cries of madness resounded through the cathedral chamber as he zipped in circles around his opponent with the agility of a fly, striking with bared blades around and behind the Infernape's defenses. Prince's skills of dodging and anticipating the Scyther's attacks proved to be incredible and incomprehensible, perhaps because he relied on the primal, terrifying fear of simply having a Scyther take aim at him. A Scyther, whose blades were built for clean and easy dismemberment and decapitation… A Scyther who had cut halfway through the diamond-encased pillar that represented the temporal god's leg.

Prince poured all of his focus and agility into dodging those swings; one stray, unexpected blow could send his head rolling across the floor or his blood spilling in droves upon the ground.

*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLASH!*

He twisted and spun, rhythmically catching the Scyther's blades upon his plates of golden armor from any direction they came, stopping them dangerously close from slicing through his fur and flesh.

Scythe lunged, and Prince cartwheeled out of the way, thrusting himself into the air by the strength of his arms and landing back on his feet.

"Char," Ray breathed. "You were closer to them both than any of us were. Who do you think should win this fight?"

Char shook his head blankly, choking his words out.

"I…"

Scythe delivered an unexpected move, slamming away Prince's parry with the brunt of his foot. From his position in the air, he forced the other foot into Prince's face, causing the Infernape to reel back.

I don't know…

Prince tried to guard himself from the next blow, but Scythe attacked from an unexpected direction and managed to strike a shallow slice into his back. Prince propelled himself out of the way before the blade could cut too deeply, but Char could see that it had hurt.

I don't know…

*FWOOM.*

Desperate to keep the crazed insect away, Prince spat a ball of fire into the air before him. It missed, spattering against the chamber wall.

Scythe's fury only seemed to grow. He grunted and shrieked with every move, forcing his calculated might into each swipe of his blades.

*SLICE!*

The tip of Scythe's blade nicked Prince in the arm. A few drops of blood landed on the floor.

Though his attacks were beginning to make contact, Scythe had a long battle to fight if he wanted to deplete his opponent's reviver seeds. His strength was beginning to fail him, his movements becoming jerky and erratic in his desperate attempts to subdue the Infernape.

I just don't know…

Prince dropped to all fours and pounced low, snagging Scythe's airborn leg and whipping the Scyther down into the ground. Scythe cried in fury, smashing the Infernape's grasp between both of his feet and twisting away.

I don't even know why they're fighting…

*FWOOM! FWOOM*

Prince blew more balls of fire into the air, attempting to control the Scyther's route of attack. Scythe instead aimed for one of them, blocking it against the crossed surfaces of his metal blades, then opened his blades into a scissor formation to close upon Prince's neck. Prince ducked below it, thrusting his flaming crown into the Scyther's belly. Scythe reeled back with several embers glowing upon him.

"Char!" Lily cried angrily, stamping her feet against the floor so hard that it looked like she would break them. "Char, why are… why are you even thinking about this? This isn't a hard decision!"

"But I don't know why they fight," Char said simply. "How can you expect me to choose when I don't even know why they are fighting?"

Lily leaped close to Char. "PRINCE!" she screamed desperately into his ear. "PRINCE is fighting for you! Do you realize? He's FIGHTING FOR YOU!"

"…"

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"…"

Char blinked. It suddenly became clear to him.

"…"

"Even as the darkness of the storm threatens to choke the sun, it shines ever brighter."

"…"

"No," he spoke quietly, holding the reviver seed close to his chest and shaking his head. "No… he's not."

"What are you talking about, Char?" Lily growled at him. "Everything he's done… it has all been for you, Char! You were the one he spent his life seeking! We have to – we have to help him!"

"No," Char said again. "He's not fighting for me."

Char looked at the floor.

"Prince isn't fighting for me at all. And he's not fighting for you, either. He's fighting for himself."

"Char, what are you talking about?" Lily yelled at him, now with a fearful waver in her voice.

"I think he doesn't know what he's fighting for," Char told her, turning to meet her gaze. "The Call is useless now. It doesn't mean anything. Lily… we aren't special anymore."

Lily's mouth gaped, as though to scream a reply at him. Instead, she said nothing, and her face turned to a scowl.

"We're… we're just Pokémon now," Char said. "We're just ordinary Pokémon. You… you heard what he said when we were spirits. His whole life was a lie. He doesn't even know why he's here anymore. He's just fighting because he feels like he has to fight."

"Char…" Lily growled. It was a threat.

Char held his gaze to hers, resolute and steadfast.

"But Scythe," he told her, "is fighting for Ambera."

Char turned to face his Bulbasaur and Raichu friends.

"Fight Prince," he ordered them. "Help Scythe!"

"…Are you sure, Char?" Saura asked him. "Is that really what you want?"

Char nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm sure," he muttered. He wasn't, but he felt as sure as he was going to get.

"Alright. You heard him!" Ray cried, dropping to all fours and letting static arch from his cheeks. "Prince is going down! Let's go!"

Char was about to launch himself into the fight, but felt himself pulled back. A pair of vines twisted around his body.

"No, YOU CAN'T!" Lily shouted. "Don't touch him!"

No…

Char pulled against the vines for a moment. He hesitated to attack.

No…

You don't understand…

He closed his eyes, and for five short seconds, he let his thoughts settle.

This is your chance, he said to himself.

There's no convincing her. She is a friend, but she can't hold you back from what you need to do.

Time for the trainer to step back, and let the Charmander fight.

Go. Don't think, and don't feel. Just fight.

Char opened his eyes.

He twisted around, turning to face Lily and leaping toward her so that her vines loosened.

He launched a stream of fire at the Bayleef.

"YEAAAAGHH!" Lily screeched. Her vines tightened their hold, tried to thrash Char's body away from herself.

"CHAR, you little jerk!" She wailed, blinking the soot out of her eyes.

Char held his breath, attempting to overheat his body just as Prince had taught him. He hoped it would light the vines on fire.

*SMACK!* Ray bolted into her, delivering a powerful head-butt to her side. She staggered, loosening her vines and letting Char wriggle to freedom.

"Sorry…" Ray said meekly, backing off from the attack.

"You're crazy!" Lily spat at the Raichu, scampering a few feet away from him and regaining her balance. "Just like Scythe is! All of you are crazy! You think you can trust him? Do you really think you can trust him and not Prince? Do you have any idea what Prince has been through? Do you know how many times he's pulled through for us?"

"Sorry, Lily," Ray said. "Sometimes you've just got to choose a side and go for broke. We choose Scythe, and if you hold us back, we're going to fight you…"

"But why do you blindly trust him?" Lily cried, taking a few fearful steps backward. "You blindly trust Scythe and you blindly trust Char for blindly trusting Scythe!"

"And you blindly trust Prince," Char shot back. "So we're even."

"NO! You don't get it!" Lily wailed. "I trust Prince because I've been with him for thirty years! He's proven it to me! How much does Scythe have to prove, huh? What has he done to make you so… so attached to him? So far, he's only tried to use you for your Call, hasn't he? You could always see it in his eyes! You're just a thing to him! You've – you always have been just a thing to him!"

"How do you know that, Lily?" Char asked her. "Is it because Prince treated you the same way when he first found you? Did he try to use you as a weapon, too? He did, didn't he? When the call first went off, you were just a thing to him, too!"

Lily's mouth gaped, deeply offended at the insult to her mentor, but Char saw her eyes glaze over as her thoughts drifted back to distant memories.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" She cried, crouching into a hostile battle stance.

A flurry of sharp, spinning leaves flew past Char as Lily flung her glowing leaf back and forth, launching the projectiles. Char awkwardly dodged around them, trying not to fumble the reviver seed.

A leaf struck Ray in the ear.

"Oww…" Ray whined, ducking his head and rubbing the slice with his paw.

This is holding me back, Char realized, looking at the reviver seed he held. I… have to trust my abilities now.

He tossed it aside.

He dropped to all fours and bolted at the Bayleef, blowing a cloud of flame at a leaf that was about to strike him. Lily saw him coming and swatted a vine at him, striking him in the side and knocking him on his back.

Two more vines swiveled through the air. They twisted and tied knots around the Bayleef's vines, detaining them from moving.

"Saura? You too?" Lily moaned, glancing sadly at the Bulbasaur who held her vines hostage.

"Sorry, Lily…" he cried, gasping and struggling to keep her attacks leashed. "I… have to fight for my friends, I hope you understand…"

"Char, why does it matter that he wanted to use my Call?" Lily blasted, unable to untangle from the knot. "He's a good person! Char… Prince is a good person! And Scythe just… he just isn't!"

"Scythe is a good person," Ray said. "I know, I've known him for a long time. Not as long as you, but long enough. Look, Lily… it's nothing personal, but sometimes, good Pokémon disagree with one another and they can't compromise. Then they've gotta fight. There's just not any way around it…"

"FINE! FINE! Then fight, see if I care!" Lily screamed. "But you'll have to get through me first!"

Using her tangle of vines, she picked Saura straight off the ground and flung him away in an attempt to untangle the vines. But the tangle only tightened like a slip-knot, and Saura slammed into the ground.

*Slice!* *Slice!*

Ray leapt over the taut vines, sweeping his tail downward. Shining with white power, it sliced through Lily's vines and freed Saura from their grip.

"AUUUGH!" Lily roared in great frustration. She barreled at Ray, her leaf shining with a charged attack.

She rammed him, sending him tumbling backward. As he tried to roll to his paws, she launched a swarm of glowing, multicolored leaves from her forehead. They slid through the air, honing in on the fallen Raichu and scraping at the skin beneath his fur.

"OW ow ow ow ow ow!" Ray cried, flailing and trying to scratch all of the leaves away. Static sparked brightly across his face.

"Alright, you asked for it!" he cried, from the ground and to his paws.

A flash of lightning arched through the air from the electric rodent, connecting with Lily's head. It clearly fazed her.

Char took the opportunity, attacking from behind her and breathing a stream of flames at her.

Her leaves caught on fire.

"Auhghh, AUGH!" Lily cried, dropping to the ground and rolling to put out the fires. "STINGS!"

Char felt a pang of sympathy, but attacked again. He loosed another pillar of fire at the Bayleef. When the pillar dissipated, a tongue of flame remained on her back.

"AIIIIEEE!" she cried, painfully.

Don't think, Char said to himself. Don't feel. Just fight.

He dodged her attempt to thrash him away, and blew another stream of fire. It caught the leaf on her head.

*SMACK!* Ray had retaliated, launching a projectile orb at the suffering Bayleef, knocking her further back.

Lily's eyes began glowing. She sprouted several brand new vines, all which slithered through the air and tried to detain Char. Parts of her body were still engulfed with flame, but she did not seem to care anymore.

It's her second wind, Char realized. She's really dangerous now. But… I can knock her out. I think.

Char released a small smoke-screen around himself just moments before the twisting vines were able to hone in on him. When they did, they captured empty air. Char had escaped.

*SMACK!* Ray hit her with another ball of energy, directly to the face. She blinked and winced, still laying crumpled in the same position on the floor.

The vines swerved, going after the Raichu instead. He saw them coming and tried to slice at them with his tail, but one managed to wind around the spike at the end of his tail and hold on firmly.

Char leaped onto the burning Bayleef's back.

He dug his claws into her tough, rind-like skin.

Don't think, don't feel… Charmander.

No, I can't.

I can't just not feel…

"Lily, I'm really, really sorry," Char whispered to her. "If you could read my heart-speak, you would know how much I regret this. But…"

He prepared to overheat his body.

Lily gasped in pain, but said nothing. Her vines swerved away from Ray, but they didn't come toward him…

Char realized with horror that she was reaching for the reviver seed which he had dropped. It was very far across the room, but with her overgrown vines, she would have no trouble touching it…

Char released fiery heat through his skin, overheating himself. The Bayleef's green flesh erupted in fire.

Her many tentacle-like vines wavered, then dropped limply onto the floor.

"Look," she gasped with the last of her strength, "I get why you thought you had to do this. But… when Scythe tries to cut off your head or something, don't say I didn't tell you so… And I know he will. It's his character. I've been around longer than you, you know. I've… been in your place. You should have… trusted me."

She went limp. Her eyes fluttered shut.

They were streaming with tears.

Char carefully climbed off of her. As he gazed upon what he had done to her, at the patches of charred flesh that streaked across her hide, some of them still aflame, he realized… his eyes were streaming with tears, too.

He tried to pat the flames away. They must have stung so badly to her, the same way water stung his own tail. But he only charred whatever part of her skin he touched, as his body was still releasing the intense heat he had charged…

Instead, Ray's paw appeared, and he touched the dancing flames upon her skin, making them go away.

"Char…" Ray said, his own face looking distraught. "I'm sorry. I'm pretty sure she'll be okay, though. Pokémon…"

"Pokémon take a lot more than that to die, I know," Char said, clenching his fists, angry at the act he had just committed. "Still… I shouldn't have done that. Now she's probably going to be my enemy for as long as I live. There had to be a better way…"

"Uh, guys…" Saura called to them, finally freeing his vines from the loose tangle as Lily's disconnected pair wilted and fell apart. "If we're going to help Scythe, we should probably hurry."

Scythe's energy was draining quickly. When he tried to fly, he hung low in the air. When he tried to swipe his blades, he was far too slow. His attacks became desperate, sometimes aimless…

…yet, he still fought on, swiping at the Infernape who easily dodged and blocked his weary strikes.

Though, Char noticed that Prince had taken a bit of a beating, too. Bloody streaks stained his fur, and anger and frustration were clear in his face.

Scythe jabbed the tips of his blades toward Prince like needles, a technique Char had never seen him use before. Prince easily dodged out of the way.

"KAAAIIIIIYYYYYYYYYAAA!"

Scythe's cry screeched from his lungs as he lunged forward at his foe, forgetting all semblance of tact and unpredictability. Prince dropped to the ground and kicked at him. Scythe clearly saw the attack coming and tried to fly upward to dodge it, but he was too slow and the attack sent him spinning back down, where he stood upon the floor.

Prince ceased his attacks for a moment.

The Scyther's eyes fluttered and twitched. They were blood-red. His entire form rose and fell with each strained breath, wincing whenever he thought Prince would lunge at him.

"How about now, Scythe?" Prince offered, his voice full of genuine worry and concern. "You are starting to look tired. You know, don't you, that you can't carry out your plan when you are unconscious, right?"

Scythe did not reply. He laughed bitterly and lunged again, continuing the fateful battle.

From across the room, Char, Saura, and Ray watched the fight with racing, panicked hearts.

"Hey, look," Saura suddenly said, nodding in a particular direction. "Scythe put the bag down before he attacked Prince. That's Alakazam's bag. If we can get to it, we can get the speed brace, and the invisible seeds, and…"

"Wait," Ray interrupted, in a hushed shout. "I think I have a better idea. But we have to surprise Prince. He still doesn't know we're going to turn on him, so that has to be a surprise, alright? You guys, watch closely and try to attack Prince at the same time. Then, when he's surprised, I'll use an item that I have in this bag… that I think will beat Prince."

"He has reviver seeds, though," Saura warned. "You know, those will take away curses. So if you use an orb on him, the curse is only going to last until he's revived, you know that?"

"I know, but I think… I think I know what to do. Trust me. Just attack him and make him surprised, and I'll take care of the rest, alright?"

Char nodded. Saura did too.

"Alright, here's to going for broke," Ray sighed, adjusting the bag he carried. "Let's go."


*CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLANG!*

Scythe lunged at his opponent, never ceasing his efforts. His opponent, though growing wearier with the passage of the battle, continually outmaneuvered him, remaining mostly unharmed.

Scythe lunged with his blades in a scissor formation. Prince dodged.

Scythe attacked from the air. Prince caught the blades on his ridged wristbands and deflected them.

Scythe attacked low, high, and around the back, but Prince was always anticipating his move.

*CLANG!* *CLANG!*

"Attack…" Scythe rasped in mid-stride. "You… are not trying. Why don't you attack me? If you intend to cut me down, attack me!"

"What gives you the idea that I intend to cut you down?" Prince returned. "I didn't want this, Scythe. I don't want to knock you down. Do you know how much it pains me to see you struggle like this?"

*CLASH!*

"Attack… me!" Scythe commanded his foe. "Do… not… hesitate! Attack me! Kyyyaaah!"

Prince batted away the Scyther's blades.

"Why, Scythe? I know you fight the most skillfully when you are the most desperate, but if you expect me to let—"

*THWACK!*

A powerful attack connected with Prince. It hit him in the shoulder, causing him to lurch to the side and pedal his arms to hold his balance.

The fight stopped. Frozen in surprise, the two dueling Pokémon just stopped fighting altogether, both turning to look in the direction which the projectile had flown from…

Saura charged up another energy ball.

"Saura…?" Prince uttered. "What are you doing?"

"Helping Scythe!" Saura replied, letting loose his attack.

*THWACK!* Prince couldn't dodge the unfamiliar attack as it shot toward him, hitting him in the stomach and causing him to reel.

Prince hesitated for a moment. Confusion shone in his eyes, but not lack of confidence; he knew that he would be soon revived, and that he had a chance to survive attacks from multiple opponents if he needed to.

Saura followed by firing several tiny seeds from his bulb. They were well-aimed, striking Prince in the gut and the forehead. The Infernape backpedaled, trying to block the painful pebble-like projectiles…

Char took the opportunity to pounce on him from behind, biting and slashing him on the back before leaping away to safety.

In the confusion, Scythe disappeared in a blur of agility, striking the confused Infernape powerfully in the head with the back of a blade.

Prince was thrown to the floor. The attack had been so strong, it caused the exhausted Infernape's consciousness to waver.

"Ahh…" he gasped as Scythe planted a foot on his chest. "Ahh, you… you got me, I guess… Well-played. I didn't expect to be ganged up on. But… that was only once, and I will still return to full strength seven more times… so the question is… Can you keep up the pace?"

*THWACK!* *THWACK!*

Scythe slammed the Infernape in the forehead with the backsides of his blades, and the Infernape's eyes fluttered closed.

He tensed, awaiting the inevitable revival and the beginning of the next round. He crouched close to the ground in a feral battle stance, ready to strike the moment the reviver seed activated.

However… Prince continued to lie on the floor, motionless. His fire flickered, but it dimmed…

Scythe twitched.

Char, Saura and Ray joined Scythe, standing in a circle around the downed fire-type…

"He's not getting back up," Ray said. "He's done. You win the battle, Scythe…"

"How?" Scythe rasped, poking at the unconscious ape with his blade. "How is that possible…?"

"I know why," Ray said solemnly. "I used… an 'embargo orb'. It prevents the target from wielding any weapons or using any items… even reviver seeds."

Scythe closed his eyes. Something like relief spread all through his body.

"Raikouun," he spoke, "By the gods, I almost just murdered him. If my blade would have been turned to put forth its edge, I would now be standing over the corpse of one of my closest friends. However, I must admit something. You are a master tactician with items. You are gifted… you may have made a worthy addition to my team, after all. And you, Char…"

Scythe opened his eyes, those bloodshot, weary eyes that pained Char to see, and stared deeply into his gaze…

"I think… you trust me, to a fault."

"I only wanted to help," Char said. "I don't know what you're planning on doing…"

*SLAM!* *SLAM!* *SLAM!*

In a blur, Scythe smacked all three of the Pokémon in the face with the back side of a blade. They were sent tumbling backward.

He stood over the three of them, blades drawn.

A strange, frightening emotion glinted in his eyes. It was something like glee, or insanity…

Char tried to recover from the blow, righting himself and turning to witness Scythe looming over him.

Scythe assumed his battle stance once more.

"Scythe…" Char cried to him, a dark terror filling his heart more than ever before…

"My name," the Scyther spoke, "is not 'Scythe'. My name never has been 'Scythe'. It was a fake name I invented for myself. My name… is Adron. I am a servant to the Master, as I have always been."

Char's heart shattered in despair.

Oh… no…

"Weakness," he spoke, stepping toward the three small Pokémon, "is what I despise the most. Weakness is what destroys Ambera, defiles its beauties. Weakness is what the Master hates. It is why he commands offensive strikes against the civilians. He desires the Pokémon of the land to be honed, to become resistant and strong, and the weak to be culled away."

Everything…

Everything was a lie from the start…

"In my time, I have culled thousands of weaklings from the face of Ambera, and I have felt nothing," he proclaimed. "It is my duty, to teach Ambera the holy lessons of the Master, teach Ambera to know the nature of true power…"

Char began pushing himself across the floor in panic, inching away from the crazed Scyther.

"Now… the time has come to show me that you are not weak," he spoke evilly. "Now, it is time that we battle."

Adron the Scyther lowered his blades, adopting the stance of lethal attack.

"Fight like you mean it. Show me what I have taught you. En garde!"

Bitterness, anger, and a wicked, insane glee filled Scythe's eyes. Char knew… this was not the Scyther he had become friends with. This was a completely different creature… an evil one.

"Scythe…" Ray spoke, weakly. "We can't defeat you. You know that!"

"What do you want?" Saura blurted. "We don't pose a threat to you, Scythe! Why do you want to battle us? You have no reason to battle us! We're just… your students!"

The Scyther stood still, ignoring the pleas of the Pokémon before him, as if to calculate his first strike.

He hesitated. He blinked. His posture slouched.

Char thought he saw the wickedness in his eyes fade away. He came to resemble the Scyther, the mentor, he was more familiar with.

"On second thought… no," Scythe said, dropping his blades to his side. "No… I've changed my mind. I'm not going to fight you."

Scythe released an exasperated sigh, slumping to the ground into a sitting position.

The three Pokémon warily surrounded him, waiting for an unexpected movement, expecting a trap of some sort…

"No, it's alright," Scythe chuckled, noticing their wariness. "I'm not going to attack you again. And everything I just now said about being a servant of the Master was false. I…"

Scythe looked straight at the ground, as though in defeat, or shame. Char couldn't tell if the Scyther was laughing, crying, or some combination of both.

"Come close," he told the Pokémon. "I suppose… you have, heh, heh heh, you have earned the right to hear what I was… what I was planning to do."

"Scythe…" Ray breathed, drawing close to him. "What is wrong?"

"I'll tell you," Scythe said, gazing tenderly at the Raichu and at the other two Pokémon who had trusted him so deeply for so long. "But by doing so, understand, that I – well, I will just tell you. My goal, all along, was very simple. I needed to disappear without a trace."

"You mean, like, running away?" Saura replied. "Why?"

"And why didn't you just run away, if that's what you needed?" Ray implored. "It doesn't sound that hard to do. You had lots of opportunities…"

Scythe sighed, once more giving a tired chuckle. "I didn't want to discount the possibility that Dialga would favor us, and grant us our requests," he admitted. "So, I put my faith in Dialga, because if… if the great god of time were to grant us our wishes, there would be no need to run away in the first place, as I could just ask Dialga to accomplish what I wanted, and all would have been well. When I found that… this was not the case, I reverted back to my plan… What a shame it was, to discover the true nature of the Call, and to find Dialga unable to help us… I don't think I have ever felt greater expectations in my heart so suddenly disappointed. I reluctantly decided I needed to follow through with my plan, and run away."

"But you see, it wasn't as easy as just running away," Scythe continued, every word a relieved sigh. "See, I… I realized, long ago, when I read the documents in Iron Town, that Adiel desired to have his final challenge with me. He was… searching for a city, one in my jurisdiction, to use as blackmail against me. He needed the perfect city of hostages he could threaten, to lure me out of hiding, so he could challenge me… And I realized this, long before I believe he wanted me to realize it. So I had the element of surprise. And I knew, the only way I could defeat him, in all his cunning ways, was to utilize that element of surprise. So I wanted to… disappear from the sights of every Pokémon, so that no living Pokémon would have record of where I was at any given time, or even when or where exactly I had disappeared from. And in disappearing, I would be able to begin posing to counter Adiel's plan before he even began it, and he would lack any clue as to where I was."

"That's what Prince wanted to know all along!" Char spoke, astonished. "W-why didn't you just tell him that?"

"BECAUSE if he knew, Adiel would also know," Scythe blurted. "Adiel… knows how to track down information he needs, and he knows how to extract that information… using any means necessary. Mind-reading, torture, burglary… nothing is beneath him. So, by telling Prince this plan, I risked putting him in danger, as well as any Pokémon he would tell in turn, namely his Team Flamewheel, if he chose to share the secret with them. I had no control over how he chooses to keep secrets, or how the members of Team Flamewheel would, in turn, keep secrets… so I knew it was better just to keep the secret myself and tell no one. Because if Adiel caught wind of just one Pokémon who might know my last whereabouts… he would find a way to squeeze it out of them. He… he is very cunning. And he is always watching, much more than you might suspect. Especially when it comes to me."

Char let this sink in.

Scythe… only wanted to keep a secret. A secret that was dangerous to know.

That… was all? It was that simple, all along?

"But Scythe," Ray spoke weakly, "You just told the secret to us… so… we're the ones in danger, now…"

"I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW…" Scythe suddenly shouted, shaking his head violently. "I… understand, what I have done, speaking of this to you. It has been a STUPID decision, a FOOLISH mistake, and I might have just doomed you all to a life of fear and suffering and… aborting everything I had previously planned out, and… But… But I couldn't bring myself to carry it out."

"See, the most important part of my plan, perhaps, was to convince you that I was the villain."

"I have been trying to… well, so to say… alter my attitude, during this past month," he admitted. "I wanted you to begin to doubt me, to challenge your trust in me. To begin to suspect that my motives were not… reliable. I wanted you to… to begin fearing for your safety, in my presence."

"Wait!" Saura cried. "So, all along, all that stress you had, and… and all that… That was all an act?"

Scythe chuckled again. "No, no, no, Saura, not an act," he reassured him. "Those sentiments I expressed were all very real; I could not have faked them if I tried. However, I figured, since they were there, I could utilize my burdens and stress to my advantage in the end. So, I began to… exaggerate my behavior, sometimes, with the intent of causing the three of you to worry…"

At hearing this, Char held his breath. The Scyther's master plan had almost worked. All along, Char had been in turmoil over whether Scythe was to be trusted… and now he knew there was a calculated reason for it.

All those times… all those points where he had to choose between trusting Scythe, or not… All those difficult decisions, and those seemingly random bursts of insanity…

It was all… planned. Calculated.

"And when I turned on Prince, I expected the three of you to side with him," Scythe spoke ironically, almost in a frustrated tone. "He was clearly the most pure-hearted and responsible guardian between the two of us. See, it is very difficult for me to operate an escape orb, having no hands… so my chance to get away involved acting like the crazed villain, and having the three of you gang up on me to knock me out, activating my emblem and sending me to the entrance of Temporal Tower, where I could flee in any direction without being seen by a single Pokémon's eye. But, no, Char, you threw your stakes in with me, and trusted me to a fault, and here we are now…"

"But… that still doesn't make sense to me," Ray said. "Why go through all the trouble of pretending to be the bad guy? Why couldn't you have just… well, bolted for the door? You could have tricked one of us into getting an escape orb for you… I just want to understand, I guess…"

"Because you were emotionally attached to me," Scythe said gravely, his gaze shifting between the three members of Team Ember. "And in a war like this… emotional attachment is the greatest of all weaknesses. Empires come crashing down just because one Pokémon's mate, or child, will be threatened, and so those who have the opportunity to oppose the evil will instead acquiesce to their demands. I didn't want you to… to worry about me. I didn't want to risk having you coming to find me when I went missing. I needed to cut off my ties with you. Becoming the villain, in your eyes, was the most efficient way to do that. I wasn't afraid for Prince's safety; I saw his spare seeds when he opened the bag to present the frozen flame to you, Char. So, I wanted you all to knock me out, and say 'Well, we defeated him, good riddance, now Prince will protect us from now on'… "

"You must understand. It was emotional attachment… mine, to be precise… which gave Adiel the power he now has. It was… a mistake I made. Many mistakes, to be honest. I need to defeat him, before he causes any more harm to Ambera."

Char began to understand everything.

It finally all made sense. Perfect sense.

"Though, I suppose there was one issue I might have left up to chance," Scythe laughed. "That being Nameless. I knew she would be watching the surface down below, and would see me when I tried to leave. Though, I didn't exactly expect her to pose a threat when I would try to escape from this tower and become a fugitive to Zerferia. Adiel would be hard-pressed to capture her, and even if she witnessed the direction I left, she would need to stay near the tower to watch for her beloved Prince or the remainder of her team, rather than following me. However… you fixed that for me. You knocked out Lily before Prince, and so, I have no doubt that Nameless rescued the poor Bayleef which came stumbling from the tower's front door, and is currently flying her back to Fort Emerald as fast as those majestic wings can take her, leaving the way free for me to leave unseen."

"In many ways, it was the perfect plan… but in the end, I could not bring myself to become Adron again, or any semblance of… of that… creature I once was. It was too painful, even though I knew it to be necessary. There was a reason I took a new name; a plain, unremarkable name, like 'Scythe', which indicated my species as a Pokémon and nothing more. As I joined the resistance movement, I wanted to forget that part of my childhood, and my early life, and… pretend that Scyther had died. Standing over you, preparing to battle you, even in a fight I intended to lose… it brought back those bad memories in an onslaught from my subconscious, and I could not fight them. In a way, Adiel represents the one I once was, or the one I would have become, had I not found a way out of the Master's servitude. And even now, I struggle with the task of… cutting down that figure, both in the literal sense, and in my soul."

"Congratulate yourselves, Team Ember. You have just now foiled one of my most difficult plans to date. By your undying, unconditional trust in me, you have defeated me, and caused my anticipated actions to come crashing down upon my head. Well done. I am proud to have called you my students, and I mean that earnestly. You would do well in the resistance."

Scythe rose to his feet, stretching his limbs.

"But you know, now, what I must do," he said sadly, walking away from the group. "The time has come. I must leave. Ambera is about to be held captive by Adiel's claws, and there are few besides me who can stop him."

"Wait, Scythe!" Char called, standing up to follow him. "You can't just leave us here! We can't survive in Zerferia!"

"I never intended to leave you here," Scythe told him. "However, by your own actions, you have caused both of your remaining companions to be knocked out and separated from you. That is not my problem. Consider it a consequence for your blind trust in me. Perhaps now you will assess trust a bit more thoroughly and wisely."

Scythe picked up Alakazam's bag of items.

"I was hoping we would not use many of these supplies," Scythe said, appraising the bag's remaining weight. "I will need them for the challenges that lie ahead. Especially the speed brace…"

"Scythe, wait!" Saura called to him, sad and frantic. "You're—you're just… going to… WHAT ARE WE supposed to do without you?"

Scythe secured the bag upon his possession.

He then turned his head to gaze, over his shoulder, upon the members of Team Ember one last time. They were the three Pokémon he had personally trained… and he was very proud of them.

There was a glint in his eye, and a familiar smirk upon his face.

"Survive," he simply told them.

It was an order.

With that, the old Scyther opened his wings and zipped through the air towards the descending staircase.

Panic overcame Char. He couldn't let this happen.

He bolted for the reviver seed and stuffed it into his mouth, biting down on it.

Then he bolted for the direction Scythe had fled.

"Char! Wait!" Saura called from far behind him.

"Char, wait for us!" Ray cried. "Char! Wait!"

He ignored his friends. He fled from them.

Furiously, breathlessly, he motored his little Charmander legs as fast as they could carry him. He had to catch up with the Scyther. He needed to. Nothing else mattered.

He needed Scythe to show him where to go, to tell him what to do.

He needed Scythe to provide direction to his life.

Without Scythe, he was just a weak little Charmander…

…Alone…

He couldn't let go.

But as he dashed for the stairs, he suddenly found himself barreling straight into a solid wall.

"MMPH!" he grunted in surprise, biting down on the reviver seed and thrusting his claws against the floor. They screeched against temporal tower's metallic tiles, and he was able to grind to a halt.

The staircase… wasn't there.

Where had it gone? Char glanced around, sure that he had gone in the proper direction, but unable to determine where he had taken the wrong turn.

That's when he looked back in the direction he had come. What he saw caused his heart to fall into his gut.

Temporal Spire's eighth floor was no longer an elegant, beautiful cathedral-dome, shaped like a circle, with an entrance stairwell on one end and an exit at the other.

It was now a maze of twisting corridors and branching paths. And it had gotten darker, so much darker, without the sunlight streaming in from the high-above windows.

And his two companions where nowhere to be seen.

Char scampered down the first hallway he came to. It led to an empty room. He exited the room to find that the hallway's direction had changed entirely, leading to a brand new set of rooms.

Frightened, he stood on his two feet and spat the reviver seed into his hands.

"SAURAAAAAA!" he called. "RAAAAY? SAURAAAA?"

His words only echoed down the halls.

"No, no, no…" he muttered to himself, biting down on the seed again and bolting down the hall.

The corridors made no sense. They looped back around upon themselves, opened to nonsensical chambers with no exits, and never stayed the same.

He thought he heard something coming down the hallway.

"SAURA?" he called, clutching the seed in his arms. "IS THAT YOU?"

No, he realized… it was not.

It was a windy noise, as though a breeze had blown in from outside.

Something was stirring.

It was powerful, like the whoosh of a waterfall, or the howl of a tornado.

"Oh… oh no…" Char breathed.

It was the wind that had caused both Scythe and Prince to panic.

It was the force that could not be counteracted by the reviver seed. The force that would cause him to instantly faint.

Find the staircase, Char realized, overcome with primal panic. Find the staircase. Get off this floor… I've been on this floor for too long… find that godforsaken staircase!

But he couldn't find it. The corridors merely repeated themselves.

And the wind was coming closer.

No, no, no, no, no! Char repeated in his mind, running for his dear life around and through the strange doors that had overtaken the dungeon. Why did we stay on the same floor for so long? Why? No, oh, no…

The wind sounded again. It was almost there.

Char ran into a dead-end. It was dark, lit only by his flaring tail-flame. There was nowhere else to go.

He sat himself down at the hallway's end, accepting his fate. He clung to the seed, his only remaining ally in life, even though he knew it would do nothing for him.

And he waited.

The wind came for him. To his surprise, he found that it wasn't a wind at all.

It was a force of change.

Before his very eyes, he witnessed the many walls and doors of the temporal tower mystery dungeon shifting around. Walls grinded against walls, floors rose and fell, ceilings lowered… it was as though he was trapped in a giant mechanical device, a device which ebbed and flowed like the ocean tide…

Oh… god… were his only thoughts.

Then he noticed that the two walls of the hallway in which he cowered began closing together.

Char held his breath right as he was about to get smashed between the sliding planes of metal. There was nothing he could do.

And then it all went black.

*Chapter 68*: Chapter 50: Cold

Chapter 50

Char knew what death felt like. He had experienced it before.

Death was simple, peaceful, and painless. It was calming and serene. In many ways, it was the perfect state of existence.

That's why he knew… what he felt now was not death. This… was something else.

It was agony. Wretched, vile agony. It was as though spears had been jammed through his muscles, as though his head had been submerged in water. His heart raced, reverberating in his chest so strongly that it may have been on the verge of failure. His eyelids were too heavy to open; his throat too sore to produce a sound.

He tried to stretch, and was met with the sensation of jagged sawblades digging into his skin from unpredictable angles.

And there was noise. Oh, so much noise. There were voices there, somewhere. But mostly, it was just the wind. The pummeling, howling wind, sweeping over his bare skin like an ocean tide.

That's when he realized: he recognized this sensation.

Cold…

He had felt it before, somewhere… but he couldn't think clearly enough to remember.

"Hey!" a voice shouted over the continual whoosh of the wind. "Hey, I think he's waking up!"

"H-h-h-help-p…" Char choked out.

His body vibrated, convulsed so badly that he thought a ghost was wrangling with him for control. He felt a pair of paws pull him up from his position on the ground. The snow-covered ground. The snow that had surrounded him.

Squinting, he cracked his eyes open. The light glared. The wind stung. But he managed to glimpse at the Pokémon in front of him.

Saura and Ray. They were there. Ray had helped him up. Saura was standing next to him, looking deathly terrified. And cold. They both looked cold.

"W-w-w?" Char tried to spit out. "W-where… is… everyone?"

"Char…" Ray said sadly, leaning close so that his words could be heard over the bitter storm. "Scythe used an escape orb and ran away… Nameless flew Lily back to Fort Emerald, it could take her a week to get there and back. Prince… got lost in Temporal Tower because we knocked him out, then… the tower disappeared. So… he might be gone. Maybe for good."

Char opened his eyes halfway, and managed to keep them held open, though they stung whenever a burst of wind would strike him in the face. Saura and Ray looked like miserable, half-frozen, tattered remains of his friends. Behind them, the snowstorm raged. There was no visibility; the white billows and streams reduced everything in the distance to shadow. Even the sky was invisible. Was it day, or twilight? He couldn't tell.

"Char, we're the only ones left," Ray said somberly. "It's just us now… And our bag disappeared when we were expelled from the tower. We… don't… have anything."

Char's thoughts were cloudy. His mind was trying to disconnect itself from the pain of its existence.

"Come ONNNN!" Saura cried with a surprising power in his voice, shouting over the continual blizzard. "We have to GO!"

"Go… where?" Char wondered.

"AWAY from here!" Saura yelled, stomping in the snow. "We have to get out of the cold! Come on! Let's go! Come on!"

Char tried to walk. His brittle legs resisted his every command. He tried to move his arms to balance himself…

…and realized they were clutched around something.

He glanced down, and saw that he still grasped the reviver seed. Through everything that happened, it was still unused. He coughed up a painful chuckle at the irony; he had been so proud of his decision to save just this one seed for himself, yet in the end, it had done nothing for him. But now it was all he had, and he knew he was going to keep clinging to it.

"We can't just DIE out here!" Saura screamed, his pained and desperate voice rising over the storm's howl. "We have to go!"

Saura began running away. He didn't run very fast; the snow slowed him, causing him to stumble over his own frail paws every step he tried to take, but it didn't stop him. Clenching his teeth, the tiny Bulbasaur dashed through the snow as Char and Ray tried to follow behind him.

They followed him, step after step, for what seemed like a mile… but the snowy, desolate landscape of Zerferia never seemed to change.

Step after step, there was no sign of shelter. There was no sign of the weather improving. There was no sign of hope.

Char didn't have hope anymore. He didn't care. He couldn't; the stinging, stabbing cold overpowered all of his thoughts and his sensations. He remembered death, and the way it felt. He began to yearn again for that simple peace, that gentle, quiet plane of existence where nothing else existed but souls. Because it would mean that he wouldn't have to feel cold anymore.

Step after step, he plodded through the snow, tracing the trail his Bulbasaur friend had created. He didn't know how much more he could take. His nerves didn't ever numb themselves; he felt every twinge of horrid pain the wind would deliver. He tried to simmer down his inner flame to reduce his sensitivity to temperature, just like Prince had shown him, but he couldn't feel an effect…

Saura just kept going. It was like a spirit had taken over him, pushing him forward tirelessly and ignoring the pain, even though parts of his body were clearly wilting. A third of his bulb was faded brown.

The wind shifted, blasting Char in the face. Cringing, he held the reviver seed against his chest, as though expecting it to provide him warmth. Saura continued to walk.

"Y-you're going t-t-too fast…" Char called to him, trying to move his stinging legs. "Saura…"

"KEEP GOING!" Saura commanded. "Just keep moving!"

"Saura, we don't even know if we're going in the right direction!" Saura called to him. "We could be going farther north!"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Saura screamed, doubling his efforts and ducking his head against the wind. "JUST GO! ANYWHERE… BUT… HERE! KEEP… GOING!"

"We can't… go anymore…" Char whispered. "I… I need t-t-t-to rest…"

"We can rest if we find SHELTER!" Saura cried. "C'mon, Char! C'mon! Don't stop now!"

"Saura, we saw the whole area when we first came," Ray said to him. "There is no shelter, not for miles. Not unless we can get back to the Scarred Crags, and that's over a day's walk, and we don't even know which way—"

"DO YOU WANT TO SURVIVE OR NOT?" Saura blasted, not turning back to look at them. "KEEP WALKING!"

There was another rush of wind. Saura gave a broken cry, averting his face from the brunt of it.

Char felt it as well, but to his surprise, he began to feel some kind of relief. The stinging, throbbing pain was gradually subsiding. His body was finally becoming numbed down, his nerves turning themselves off to the persistent cold.

He breathed a sigh of relief. With the numbness, the cold wasn't really all that bad.

Alright… he thought to himself. I can do this now. I can survive.

He squinted ahead of Saura, plotting a course of travel.

"Saura, I'm… I'm getting sleepy," Ray warned. "I think I might faint."

"You have to ignore it!" Saura insisted, pressing forward. "Don't let yourself fall asleep! Just keep walking!"

I don't understand what's so bad about this, Char thought to himself. Once you're numb, it's really not that bad.

"Saura… I'm sorry…" Ray sighed. "There's… nothing left... we can do…"

"NO! No! NO NO NO NO!" Saura stammered, not turning back to look at him. "We HAVE to survive! We HAVE to go! Just… keep walking! Just keep taking another step! I… I have… I HAVE TO SEE MY FAMILY! I HAVE TO SEE… If they're okay! I have to… to make it back… We can't… die out here… No…"

They need to stop arguing, Char said to himself. It's getting hard to focus on my thoughts.

Now… let me think. How do we find shelter from this cold? Can we make shelter?

"Char?" Ray cried. "Char… your tail just went out."

Char blinked.

Holding the reviver seed in one claw, he reached behind himself and clutched his tail.

He examined it. It was a stub. The flame was no longer there.

He stared at it, fascinated, for several moments. Trying to decipher it. Trying to contemplate.

"What… does that mean?" Ray asked.

"It means I am about to die," Char said plainly. "I have about six minutes to live."

Saura stopped in his tracks. He turned around to face his Charmander friend, his mouth hanging open in horror.

"Is… there any way we can save you?" Saura asked.

Char tried to remember. His emotions were all numbed, and so was the sting of the cold, making his thoughts clear…

He was smoldering. Just like Prince had shown him, that one time in the freezer of Fort Emerald.

What was it that he had said?

When you find yourself smoldering, there is only one way to save yourself. If you want to live, you must find warmth at all costs. It is the only thing that can save you.

"I have to find warmth," Char told his companions. "It's the only way."

Without hesitation, Char and Ray both pounced toward him, huddling close. He knew their bodies were terribly cold, but he couldn't feel it.

He felt their heartbeats. Their breathing. The way they clasped onto him so desperately, not wanting to lose him.

And for almost a minute, the tiny team of Pokémon remained there, clinging to one another with all their might.

They were alone. The world had abandoned them to this deathly, terrible place of cold. But they had each other. And it was each other that they clung to, when all other hope was gone.

Ray began whispering. "You think this is r—?"

"Shhh," Saura hissed. "You don't have to say anything…"

The storm would not relinquish them. The cruel land of Zerferia would not show them mercy, even unto the end. Saura and Ray knew that there was nothing they could do to save Char. The least they could do was to offer him this small comfort, this gesture of companionship, in his final moments.

But Char… Char's heart and mind were racing.

"No," he said. "No, this isn't good enough."

"Char," Saura said to him, "we don't have—"

"No, we're wasting time," Char said again. "I can't waste my last minutes. There's a puzzle here. I'm trying to figure it out."

"Char, do you think that we'll live?" Ray asked. "Dialga said that you planned your own future for yourself. So maybe you thought of a way to get us out of this."

"No," Char responded. "I couldn't have. When we came to temporal tower, my plan was thrown off-course. I didn't plan for any of this to happen, so I couldn't have anticipated it… No, if we are going to live, we have to figure out our own way out of this. And I think there's something…"

He noticed Ray's neck. Unlike Saura's, and his own, there was no green scarf wrapped around it.

"Ray…" he asked, "How did you get out of Temporal Tower? You don't have a rescue emblem…"

"Um… I don't remember, I blacked out when the wind came," he replied. "When I woke up, I was just on the ground, and the tower was gone."

"That means, the tower must have expelled you when it disappeared," Char realized. "Celebi made it disappear and you were probably kicked out. That means…"

Courage, little one.

I will suffer with you.

And I will not let your fire die. You will emerge from this a stronger Pokémon.

It is a promise.

"…Prince is somewhere," he realized. "We have to go back to the tower site. Prince is somewhere here. We need to find him."

Char rose to his feet, pushing his friends away from him.

He looked at the reviver seed, then tossed it into the snow. He could not afford to hang onto it any longer. Not when he had only minutes left to live.

He dropped to all fours, turned the way they had come, then scampered back with all of his remaining strength. It was easy to follow the fresh trail of tracks they had left, although the storm would soon erase them and replace them with the same blanket of whiteness which covered the rest of Zerferia's wasteland…

He didn't worry about his friends. They would catch up.

In fact, one of them did, sooner than he had realized. Ray slammed into him from behind, flipping him over and draping him across his back. Char held on, watching the snowy ground fly by a foot beneath his face.

"If you've got six minutes, you'll never make it," Ray breathed as he dashed through the snow. "But I can."

"Thank you," Char replied.

Char felt static tingle across his skin. He knew Ray was giving it his all, using his reserves of electricity to motor his muscles and bolt through the snow astoundingly fast.

"Are you doing alright?" Ray asked between short breaths.

"I think so, I don't see any light yet," Char replied.

"Light?"

"I know I'm going to see light right before the end," Char told him. "Prince showed me."

"Well, it hasn't been six minutes yet," Ray replied, "but we're coming up on that fast. Keep holding on."

Ray seemed to double his speed and lurch forward, and Char tried not to vomit as the ground blurred past like a waterfall. He still found the smoldering reaction fascinating; his stomach was clearly upset, but he didn't feel discomfort. He also wasn't anxious about the fact that he was about to die. His thoughts were smooth and organized, allowing him to think clearly in the face of his mortal peril.

"I shouldn't have trusted Scythe," Char said to himself. "Now that I am thinking clearly, I know that now. He knew what was best for me. And for all of us. He knew Scythe would pull something like this from the start. I was emotionally attached to him. I don't know why I was so attached to him…"

"Don't worry about that now!" Ray called to him. "Save it for later, if you live. Hey, I think… we're here."

Char twisted his head to see. The white, snow-covered ground appeared to him like a giant wall rushing past his side. Up ahead, he spotted a large clearing where snow was scarce and the brown, ice-encrusted dirt could still be seen below the layer of powder. It was a perfect, pure-cut circle in the snowy wasteland. It was the site where Temporal Tower had stood.

Fast as lightning, Ray began to dash around the perimeter of the clearing.

"Keep an eye out," Ray told his friend. "If Prince is here… he'll be somewhere in the deeper snow… That's where I woke up, and that's where I found you…"

"There," Char said.

Ray ground to a halt, turning to approach the direction Char had indicated.

There was a dent in the snow, and a subtle cloud of black smoke rising from it and blowing away in the wind. Ray hopped through the snow to examine the spot, letting Char roll off from his back.

There, with his body sprawled across the rocky ground, was the unconscious Infernape. His flame still burned dimly, and he still breathed. Char rushed to his side.

"Prince!" he shouted in the Infernape's ear. "Prince? Wake up!"

"Looks like he's out cold," Ray said, nudging his face.

"Can you wake him up?" Char asked.

"I don't have much energy left, Char," the Raichu replied, looking worried. "But I can try."

*TZZAP*

Ray released a strong jolt of static into Prince's head. Prince's body convulsed.

His eyes blinked fluttered open.

"Prince," Char said. "You need to wake up. We need you."

Prince's eyes rolled back into his head, and his eyes closed again.

"No! Prince!" Ray shouted. "Wake up! Come on, wake up!"

"Can't…" the Infernape mumbled in reply.

Ray shut his mouth, surprised at the sleep-talking Pokémon before him.

"I'm sorry… I need to sleep… for a long time…"

"Prince, we're trapped in Zerferia, we don't know which way to go," Char informed him, still with a flat emotionlessness to his voice. "We might die here. We need you to wake up."

"South… east…" Prince mumbled. "The wind blows… to… the south-east… You can find shelter… crags…"

"Thank you," Char said. "But you have to wake up…"

"Don't… go through… the crags…" Prince managed to say. "You won't… make it back… I'm sorry…"

He slumped, and spoke no more.

"Prince! No!" Ray cried, ready to zap him awake again. "Prince!"

"Let him sleep," Char said. "He needs his sleep…"

Char stood up, grasping the Infernape's arm. He pulled, flipping the downed warrior onto his belly.

Then, he crawled underneath, between Prince's body and the bare, rocky ground, letting the Infernape cover him like a heavy, bulky comforter.

And he closed his eyes.

Warmth…

He could feel the warmth. It was small, but it was significant. Even through the trauma, the Infernape's ember burned many times hotter than his own. He felt the warmth pulsing through the warrior's chest…

Char knew he had mere minutes left, if not less. He closed his eyes and waited to see if Prince would be enough to re-light his flame, or if the white light would start coming for him…

When his ember began to reignite, he knew, because the cold had returned with it. Even through the Infernape's body, he could feel that wicked, stabbing sensation upon his skin, that sharp-as-glass wind that cut at whatever it touched… Also, he felt a very discomforting sensation of being crushed.

"Char! It worked!" Ray shouted in triumph. "Your flame is back!"

"I… knowww…" Char grunted, trying to bear the sensation again. "Ughhh… So cold…"

Char mustered his strength and tried to resist the weight of Prince. Struggling, he rose to his feet, draping the Infernape's body over his shoulder by the arm. Ray rushed in and took the other arm.

"Warm enough?" Ray asked him. "Now you might survive."

"I might," Char said through gritted teeth. "But this won't last forever either. Eventually, Prince is going to start smoldering, too. And we can't light his fire by ourselves."

"Then we'll take him to the crags," Ray said. "He told us the way. The wind blows to the south-east, so if we keep it at our backs and on the right side, we'll go south. I guess Saura was going the wrong way after all. We were going due east, I think…"

They began to march forward, dragging Prince along behind them. With cooperation, the burden was not heavy; they were able to march back the way they came at a very steady pace. Part of Char wanted to smolder again and return to the state of blissful numbness, but the other part of him appreciated living, and harbored some hope now that they had been given direction. He bore the pain and kept walking.

"I'm… sorry…" Char choked out as they traversed the circular clearing where the tower once stood.

"For what?" Ray replied.

"For all of this," Char said. "This was my fault. I shouldn't have told you to knock out Prince. I wasn't thinking straight…"

Ray smirked at him. "Save it," he said. "And besides, you don't have to apologize to me. Before all this, I would have followed Scythe off of a cliff, too. Right now, let's just work on getting to the crags…"

Before long, a miserable Saura came hobbling along through the snow. He never looked happier to see fire Pokémon in his life. He eagerly crawled between them and under Prince, lifting his chest off the ground and further relieving the team of his weight. Together, with rekindled hope, they marched to the south in search of shelter.

Though the wind still pummeled them from the side, Prince and Ray helped to shelter Char from the worst of its strength, and talking to his friends really helped to take his mind off of the cold…

"I guess the last ember hasn't faded just yet," Ray said with a smile. "We're still going…"

"You know, I don't think I like that motto anymore," Char admitted.

Ray looked mildly surprised. "Hmm? Why not?" he implored.

Char tried to give an ironic laugh, but it came out like a sigh. "Because… It's just… Silly… blind… trust."

"Well, heh, isn't it blind optimism that got us this far?" Ray replied. "If we gave up out there just now, we would have never found Prince, and we would have just died out here. But you didn't lose hope…"

"But that wasn't blind," Char said, grunting to keep Prince's left shoulder lifted off the ground. "Look… I think… things are going to be different from now on. I think we kept getting lucky because I wanted for us to be lucky. I mean… I… I was outside of the time stream… I planned for myself to meet Saura, and to meet you, and to meet Scythe… And when we worked together, we were always lucky, because that's the way I had planned it. We were following my fate. We never failed, we always got lucky, because we couldn't fail, because my plan counted on it. But… those plans are all gone now… Dialga says history is being re-written now. The predetermined fate I made is gone. And it's not going to come back until I can find Giratina. That means…"

He locked eyes with his friends, first Ray, then Saura.

"…everything we do, from now on… we're going to be on our own," Char said. "We don't have luck on our side anymore. We can't just… rush into danger anymore. Nobody's going to save us. So we can't be overconfident. Because… if we're overconfident… it's just as bad as giving up."

"No…" Saura muttered, breaking his silence.

Char and Ray gave him a surprised glance. He wore a look of determination.

"That's not what the motto means," he insisted. "It means… it's not over until it's over. And no matter how… confident we are… that doesn't make it any less true. Besides," he said with a tiny grin, "I wake up to that motto. We can't stop using it… At least, if we live…"

Char smiled.

"Fine," he said, grunting as he readjusted his grip on Prince's arm. "But we have to be stronger now. No more… of all this… blind trust. Not in Scythe, not in me, not in the Call, not in Dialga… It's just us. We're all that's left, now. We have to make our own hope."

Char paused for a moment to contemplate his own words. He looked to the horizon, or whatever he could see of it, for any sign of the Scarred Crags – their only hope for shelter.

"As you wish, fearless leader…" Ray said with a subtle grin.

"I've been thinking," Char said to him bluntly, "I think you would actually make a better leader than me. You've been in the resistance longer, you're older, you're stronger, you're evolved… And I know you've just been following me because you idolize humans. I don't think that's a very good reason anymore."

"Me? No, I don't think so," Ray sighed, shaking his head. "I'm single-minded. I'm good at following orders, and that's about it. When I don't have orders to follow, I get lost too easily. I'm not so good at seeing the bigger picture. I'm afraid I probably wouldn't ever make a good leader."

Saura interrupted Char's reply. "Char… I know you would make a good leader," he offered. "You know why?"

"Why?" Char returned. "I have… the same problems. I'm single-minded. I need to be given orders, or I get lost…"

"Because you're forgetting something," Saura told him. "When you were a human… you saw the bigger picture. And you planned for… coming into the world like this. You planned all of this yourself. That's why I know you're a good leader, now. Because you wanted something, and you did whatever it took to get it. That's the difference between a leader and a follower, you know. Leaders always know what they want by heart and they know how to get there. You lost your memories, but you didn't lose your person. You're still the same person. And I bet, you still have the same skill. You just need to find it again as a Charmander."

"Maybe you're right," Char muttered, shrugging. "If we end up surviving this, I'll work on being a better leader. I don't know how, though. I'll figure it out…"

And they continued trudging through the snow, hour after hour, with nothing but Prince's warmth to keep them comfortable. They kept up the idle chatter as long as they could, taking their mind off of frostbite as they discussed everything they would do when they got back home… if they ended up alive.

When the topics of conversation had run out, Char resorted to counting his steps to distract himself. He lost count sometime after two thousand.

Through it all, Char's mind kept drifting back to Prince, and all the actions he had done. Every one of them, every decision he had made for the group, was honorable and wise. Char felt such a vast and profound regret for not having seen it before. And now, he could not count the number of times Prince had saved his life.

I'm sorry, he wanted to tell the sleeping Infernape. If I could go back in time and do it all over again, I would have listened to you. I would have worn the stupid sweater, I would have sided with you against Scythe… Oh, so many mistakes I made… I should have asked Celebi to take us farther back in time, so I could change all of my mistakes… But it's too late for that…

I wish I could tell you how sorry I am, and how right you were… I'm so sorry… You are a noble and dignified leader, you didn't deserve to end up in the snow like this…

It's all my fault…

I forgive you.

Char held his breath for a moment. The words had spontaneously appeared in his mind, immediately following his flow-of-consciousness… yet, he had not created them.

He realized… they had come from Prince. They were words of heart-speak.

Prince, too, had lived in the presence of humans early in his life. He had come from a human continent, and thus he had heart-speak. But it was not strong enough to ever channel Celebi's call, especially with Lily always at his side… but now, as the Infernape was so close in proximity, his heart-speak could finally be heard.

Char knew that somehow he had spoken to Prince's deep subconscious, and that Prince had replied to him. He felt humbled.

How can you forgive me, after what I did? Char tried to speak to him telepathically. I don't deserve forgiveness…

Prince didn't answer again.

Well… it doesn't matter, I guess, Char tried saying to him. I accept your forgiveness…

Char thought he felt the warmth from the Infernape's chest grow stronger. Swallowing hard, he held onto Prince's wrist tighter and stood taller, carrying the fallen warrior with reaffirmed strength.

At last, after what seemed like an eternity of torturous journeying, the persevering Pokémon noticed a shadow looming before them. At first, Char thought the sun was going down, leading to an intensely bitter Zerferian night. But as they approached, they noticed that the darkness was a shadow cast by the upcoming terrain.

They had made it to Zerferia's mountains: the Scarred Crags.


Scarred Crags

Old yet vivid memories arose in Char's consciousness, memories of cruel pitfalls, falling boulders, and a battle with a barbaric legendary beast made of rocks. He remembered that the Scarred Crags were not a friendly place to explore. They were a place which had required Prince's guidance to traverse. Yet, he and his tired team were more than eager to seek refuge among its cliffs and crevices; at the moment, they could imagine no worse fate than freezing to death.

Taking great care to avoid unstable ground, the Pokémon dragged their former leader into the shelter provided by the thorny shards of rock. They did not stop searching until they found a secure little cove where the sky was hidden from sight. Overjoyed at their triumph but exhausted at their efforts, the Pokémon set the Infernape down in a corner to rest. Char breathed a weak stream of fire onto himself and the Infernape, trying to wash away all of the ice and snow that had crusted upon them.

"Think we can sleep here?" Ray wondered. "It looks safe…"

"Safe enough," Saura said, already snuggling up beside Prince's form. "We should sleep. Then we can make it through the rest of the mountains tomorrow. Or… whenever we wake up."

Ray hesitated. "Um… Saura… that might not be a good idea…"

"What?" Saura returned.

"When we woke him up and got him to tell us the directions, he told us not to try to get through the crags," Ray explained, indicating Prince. "He said we'd never make it."

"But…" Saura stammered, "But… why would he say that?"

"This place is pretty dangerous," Char reminded him, settling down next to Prince as well. "Remember? Last time we were here, we fought Regirock. And the rocks around here are all as sharp as blades. You could probably cut your head off just by walking into the wrong wall."

"I think we should trust him," Ray added. "He used the last of his breath to warn us not to go through the crags."

"Wait, then what do we do?" Saura wondered worriedly. "We can't stay here forever; we'll starve. There's no food here. Unless you want to eat Prince, we won't last more than a week. Ahh… we can just wait for Nameless to come back!"

"Nameless won't be able to find us down here, Saura," Char told him sadly. "She won't see us down here. She doesn't know all of Zerferia by heart. She didn't even know there was a Regirock…"

The three Pokémon exchanged wordless glances. The newfound sparkle of hope in their eyes began fading away, leaving only anxiousness and uncertainty.

"So… if Prince doesn't wake up soon…" Saura asked forlornly, "What do we do?"

Char didn't know how to answer the question. They had come so far, discovered so much hope even when all seemed lost… It was difficult for Char to admit that he was truly out of ideas, and that they might just end up starving to death, lost and alone in that treacherous mess of a rock pile deep in Zerferia. He looked sadly into their eyes, now understanding all the potential they held… the potential to be a great, powerful team together, the potential to meet Giratina, the potential to even change the fate of the Resistance and the nature of Ambera itself…

He wondered if Prince had simply pointed them to a place where they might pass away with a bit more dignity and comfort.

I wonder… am I supposed to visit Giratina by dying? Char mused darkly. Seems to make sense. I would go to the spiritual realm, and that's where Giratina is, supposedly…

Well… I won't try that option until it's all I have left.

"First of all," Char told his friend, "We should rest. We can't do anything without energy. Tomorrow, we can figure out what to do. Alright?"

"My stomach is already grumbling…" Saura moaned. "Maybe we should have saved the reviver seed. We could have tried to eat it…"

Char breathed deeply, moved with pity for him. And sympathy, too; his stomach didn't feel too full, either.

"Tomorrow," he reassured him. "Tomorrow, we'll figure out what to do. Tonight, we rest."

"Okay," Saura whispered, laying his head against Prince's leg. "Okay…"

"We'll think of something," Ray told him, curling up at Prince's side. "I'm sure…"

For the first time in longer than he could remember, Char set himself down to take a long, blissful, well-deserved rest.

It wasn't in the safety of his room back at the Gold Division. It didn't hold a candle to his favorite bed with the glorious braziers beside it. It wasn't within the hospitality of Fort Emerald. And it wasn't under the watchful eye of Scythe or Prince. But this cold, rocky haven would have to do for now. It wasn't all that bad, actually; it was warmer than the snow-covered wastelands, and it felt safe from the wilds and the elements. And, best of all, his faithful friends were right there with him, inches away…

Char didn't want to think about what would happen the following day, or whenever it was when they would wake up. The days and nights moved strangely in Zerferia, passing much longer than the days Char knew from his life in Iron Town and the Great Plateau. He knew that when he would awaken, it could be in the pitch-blackness of Zerferian midnight. He knew that they might not think of a way home. He knew that they might have decided to brave the dangers of the crags, and probably fail.

But he pushed that all out of his mind. That was tomorrow's business. Tonight, he would rest and enjoy the night… even if it would be the last night he would spend with his dear friends.

Sighing contentedly, he curled up next to Prince on the opposite side of Ray, setting his head into Prince's warm, fuzzy fur. He simmered down his fire, calmed his nerves, and let his eyes flutter to a close. Dreams were already dancing on the inside of his eyelids. He welcomed them.

Not too long after he fell asleep, a voice echoed through the cave.

"Well, well. Looky what we have here."

Char jolted back awake, panicked, at the sound of the foreign voice. Saura and Ray had done the same. They stood, frightened and wary, prepared to pounce at whatever had spoken.

Two silhouettes stood at the cave entrance. Intruders.

Char reached behind his back and clutched his tail, shining it forward to reveal the identity of the newcomers.

What he saw made his jaw drop.

Hobbling in from the frigid snowstorm, and quickly approaching Team Ember, was…

…a Seviper and a Croagunk.

"Aww, you look freezing cold," the Croagunk taunted. "Did you miss us?"

Char was speechless. He could not fathom his reality; he was really seeing Team X. He wondered for a moment if he was dreaming.

"NO! YOU!" Saura gasped, leaping back. "It's YOU! H-HOW? HOW?"

"You followed us all the way here?" Char cried in disbelief.

"Why, yesss, we did," the Seviper hissed evilly. "I suppose you have underestimated us. It was not all that difficult; just a few little rocks and snowflakes in our way. Oh, and distance. Do not forget distance."

Char crouched down and growled threateningly. His tail flared, though not as brightly as he would have liked; his energy was nearly exhausted. Saura drew his vines, and Ray weakly dropped to a hostile stance.

"HOW did you GET HERE?" Saura demanded of the intruders. "HOW? HOW ARE YOU HERE?"

"Heh. You wouldn't believe us if we told you, twerps," the Croagunk said, smiling evilly and swaggering closer. "Really, I don't think you would. It would blow your tiny little minds right out of your skulls."

"Get AWAY from us!" Saura threatened, whipping his vines in the air. "GET OUT!"

Team X began to laugh in unison.

"Ah… Ahahah… Do you… really think we're just going to turn around and leave?" the Seviper chuckled. "Do you realisssse how difficult it was to come all this way and track you down? And to just… leave?"

"Heh. Heh heh heh. I don't think you realize just how much pain you've caused us, you filthy little children," Croagunk spat. "Do you know how many nights we spent, plotting to get through to you, huh? Do you have any clue how many times we had to fall back and regroup because you had to go and run off somewhere? Well… No longer. NOW is finally our day to shine. NOW is when we get to win for once! NOW WE HAVE YOU RIGHT WHERE WE WANT YOU, TEAM PEANUTS!"

Char, Saura, and Ray were speechless.

"Aww, what's the matter?" the Seviper goaded. "Why do you look so flabbergasted that we remembered your team name, even after you so arrogantly yelled it in our faces? It's amusing how much you underestimate us."

"Alright, time to end this," Croagunk growled, rearing back a fist…

*Pop!*

An unexpected, expertly-aimed sleep seed collided with Ray's head. The Raichu thumped to the ground.

"Excellent shot, Croagunk!" the Seviper cheered to his companion. "See, you kids get to take a nice long rest after all!"

"EUGGGHHH! NO!" Saura roared, launching himself at the Croagunk and flailing his vines…

*Pop!*

And Saura collapsed, too. His extended vines swiveled to a rest upon the ground.

Char thought quickly. He had to defend himself and his teammates. He knew that fire was harmful to the Croagunk; he thought of a strategy. Pouncing away from the Infernape, he bolted into the corner of the cave.

Unfortunately, as soon as he had turned his back, the Seviper slithered after him with surprising haste. Before he could turn around, the viper's coil had wrapped around his body once, squeezing him quite tightly and holding him in place.

Char struggled. He roared threateningly. He bit and he clawed at the snake's scales. He tried to hold his breath and overheat himself, but his fire's power was just too spent from all the effort he had given.

"Feisty one!" The Seviper teased, grinning wide. "Hey, Croagunk, how good is your aim from this far? Can you hit him from over there?"

No…

Not good…

Char tried to wiggle free from the coils, but the more he struggled, the tighter the snake held…

The Croagunk produced one more sleep seed from a tiny satchel strapped to his back. He held it, tossed it from hand to hand, judging its weight.

Not… good…

Char made one last effort to move, but he was too exhausted. His last cry of defiance came out as a pathetic whimper.

"Hey, Char…" the Croagunk said cockily, rearing his hand back to make the throw. "Say goodnight."

*Pop!*

And Char fell into a deep sleep.

*Chapter 69*: Interlude: Char's Lullaby

Welcome back!

It's been a long time since we've last met. It's good to see you.

Do you remember me?

Y… yes…

I have been watching over you. You have come a very long way in this new life of yours.

I have watched as you took your first steps, and I have watched as you explored your new world.

I have watched as you have collected companions, other Pokémon who have accepted you for who you are.

Most importantly, I have watched you learn. You have experienced a new perspective. You have begun to see life through the eyes of a Pokémon, and not a human.

Tell me, does it feel different? Does being a Pokémon feel different than being a human?

I… don't know.

You don't know?

Well… in some ways, it is different. The life of a Pokémon is intense. Their emotions are very strong. It was difficult, learning to live with them. I always… had to think about what my flame was telling me, and learn to cooperate with it.

Humans have intense emotions too, you know.

The heart of a human can be just as strong as a Pokémon's. Many humans don't take the time to think about what their heart is telling them.

Many humans blindly follow their hearts. Other humans blindly ignore their hearts. The heart becomes an abused thing, a stifled force of power in a human's life.

I… I think I know that now. Humans are expected to hide their feelings all the time. So we either act without thinking, or we try to ignore what we feel. We learn not to understand our own hearts.

But… Pokémon are different. They don't ever hide what they feel. It's expected of them. It's such a strong part of life for them… The heart is one of the first things a Pokémon learns.

And do you think this is a good thing, or a bad thing?

I… don't know.

Why are you asking me questions now? I can't focus anymore. I'm exhausted…

I've suffered so much. Please, don't give me any more questions. I can't take it.

I'm sorry that you have suffered so.

I suppose I only wanted to know how you felt. I was interested in what you had learned so far as a Pokémon. And you should reflect upon it, too; the lessons you learn now will come to serve you in the challenges ahead.

What challenges ahead?

Look, whoever you are. I failed. I was an awful leader, I let down all of my closest friends, I almost got everyone killed in the blizzard…

And now, I just got us captured. We're probably being taken to the Master's dungeon right now, as we speak. I failed, alright? This is the end. There are no more challenges for me.

What do you mean?

You are doing so well, little one…

What?

Don't you see? You've come so far… There were unexpected difficulties, but still you live…

You've lost your way; you've gotten sidetracked into a fate that you did not intend to follow. But this is not the end! You still have every hope to retrace your steps and return to the path you came to follow.

How am I supposed to have hope now?

There's no hope left. I've doomed myself and my team…

Little one, please listen to me.

What if I told you that when you wake up, you will be somewhere safe and sound?

Somewhere no evil will be able to touch you?

Huh?

How… how can that be?

Do not fear, little one. Trust me; you will be safe. You will rise from this, and you will be free again.

But… what about the others? Saura and Ray, My friends? Will they be safe, too?

Yes! They will be safe as well. When you awaken, you and your team will be together again, stronger than ever before. I promise!

I… don't believe it…

You do not have to believe it right now, little one. You will see for yourself when you awaken.

But for now, it is time for you to rest. After what you have been through, you deserve a very long, deep rest.

Let your heart be at peace…

Peace…

Yes… empty your mind, calm your heart… Let everything go. It is okay; you can leave everything in my hands for now. I will take good care of you.

Focus on my voice… and let your dreams take hold.

The shadows of the night
come to fall.
You've fought so long and hard,
gave your all.

Now see your reflection
in the stars
and drift away,
drift away…

The time has come,
little one,
to rest your mind and
let your worries go.
Forget your pain
just for now;
The work you've done
means more than you can know.

Listen as your foes will laugh
in the fate they've spun.
Ignorant, confident,
thinking they have won.
That is when you'll rise again,
fight again,
'till your battle's done!
And stand
in the morning sun!

The gods in the sky
sing your praise.
The constellations shower you
in their eternal rays!
Forever the legends
will honor the soul
by whose design
the darkness came undone…
in the morning sun!

For now, take your refuge
at my side
and drift away,
drift away…

The time has come,
little one,
to rest your mind and
set your worries free.
This one small peace
you deserve;
the work you've done,
it means so much to me.

Someday you may rest again
when it's said and done.
Celebrate, recreate
all that had been gone.
All will see what heart you gave,
price you paid,
victories you've won
revealed
in the morning sun!

Just how far is there
left to go?
How much can be expected now
from such a tiny soul?
But you'll find the strength,
persevere through the night,
and end your journey
where it had begun:
in the morning sun!

When we next meet, it will be your turn to ask the questions.

Have a good rest, Amadeus…

*Chapter 70*: Special Episode: Fate Surprises All

"Fate Surprises All"

"Remember, Saurlee. Don't talk to anyone."

"Okay, already! I know!" the young Bulbasaur girl said to her brother. "I'll be quiet. I promise."

"And stay close," the Ivysaur warned her. "We need to get in and out of Shuca Town as fast as we can. Try to keep up with me."

The little one grumbled. "I'm getting tired," she whined. "Slow down! You're walking too fast! Brother, it's not even noon yet! We don't have to run from the Watchers! Why do we walk so fast?"

"I'm sorry," said the older one, trying to hide his anxiety from his sister. "We can rest soon. Just keep up the pace a little bit longer, alright?"

"I'm trying…" she moaned, stepping in a small puddle of mud.

Though she was tired, the little Bulbasaur followed her brother through a thick, bushy forest, tracing the shore of a small river. She squinted as she forced her way through a prickly dead shrub, trying to keep the pace with him.

"Why don't we just use the roads?" she wondered. "They would be faster!"

"Saurlee…"

"And why do mommy and daddy need us to bring food?" she implored, scampering around dents in the forest floor. "Can't they just get berries from the forest?"

"Because… there are no berries in a cave," the Ivysaur replied, keeping his focus on the path ahead. "I told you… mommy and daddy and the rest of everyone are all staying in a cave right now."

"Why?"

"Saurlee, we've been over this," the Ivysaur snapped, stopping in his tracks for a moment and looking at her sternly. "We need to stay hidden from other Pokémon for now."

"Oh…" she said, looking at the ground. "It's because of Saura, isn't it?"

With a solemn frown, the Bulbasaur's brother nodded his head.

"I'm getting tired of staying hidden," she whined, digging a paw into the wet dirt. "Saurvor, when can we stop being hidden?"

Saurvor sighed, casting a sad glance to the young one.

"Come on, we need to keep going," he said, turning his attention forward and forging a path through the foliage. "We'll get to Shuca Town in a few minutes."

"Brother?"

"What?" he yelped, stopping again.

"Can we stay with everyone else this time?" Saurlee asked. "I miss mommy and daddy… I'm tired of walking to different towns all the time. I miss them…"

"We'll see," Saurvor responded. "It depends. We'll stay a little while, at least."

"Promise?"

The Ivysaur smiled.

"Yeah, I promise. I miss them too, you know."

Though the young one was weary, she grew excited at the prospect of seeing her family again. She took a distressed breath and continued to follow her brother through the overgrowth.


Shuca Town was a quiet and relaxing garden town, certainly not as bustling as Iron Town or Sitrus City, both of which were places Saurlee had visited in weeks prior with her brother. They entered the town upon roads assembled from colorful, polished cobblestones winding their way through roadside flowerbeds and relaxing streams of clear water. It was so plaintive and quaint a place, with no tall buildings and no yammering of Pokémon voices to drown out the sounds of nature. The late-morning sun cast long shadows from the rocks and signposts beside the road, and made the stones in the road sparkle.

…But even though there were almost no Pokémon walking the streets with them, Saurlee noticed that her brother kept glancing over his shoulder and looking around. It was something he did no matter what city they were visiting.

"Act natural," he reminded her in a quiet hiss. "And keep an eye out. If you see anyone take a look at us and run away really fast, let me know. You remember the code word, right?"

"Poison ivy!" she recited, proud of remembering.

"Good. Now, this shouldn't take long. And remember, don't call me by my real name. And don't tell anyone your name, either. We just need to find a satchel of cheap berries, and we'll be on our way home, okay?"

"Alright, brother."

She followed close beside him, taking in the interesting culture of the new town along the way. Saurlee had been to a lot of towns lately, and this one wasn't very exciting in comparison, but she found a couple neat things to look at. The flowers in the beds were growing at differing heights, forming what looked like puddles of wobbling water with the fine, blue pedals. The cobblestone road occasionally had a bright ruby or sapphire-looking stone embedded in it, and Saurlee curiously peered at her reflection in them as she passed. Looking beyond the roads, she saw that the outskirts of town were large, flat farmlands and peaceful orchards, the plough-tracks carving the meadow into brick-like patterns.

To pass the time, Saurlee remained on the lookout for new species of Pokémon she had never before seen. Every town and city seemed to have brand new species of creatures to meet, some which awed the little Bulbasaur, and others which caused her to laugh at how ridiculous they looked. Saurvor had asked her to point out any Pokémon she didn't recognize, and he would tell her what kind they were. She was always impressed at his knowledge of Pokémon species; he seemed to know them all.

With excitement, she spotted one, and called out to her brother.

"What is that?" she wondered in a squealing voice, indicating a short but bulky quadruped walking on the opposite side of the street.

"Oh, that?" Saurvor quipped quietly. "That's a Donphan. They're pretty strong. They probably have a lot of them living here; they like dirt and they are strong enough to pull the ploughs in the fields."

The hardy elephant Pokémon did not even give her a passing glance she continued to stare at it in curiosity.

"Alright, here we are," Saurvor said, indicating a market booth on the street corner. "This looks like what we need. You can keep watch for a minute. I'm going to go buy some berries, and then we'll figure out how to get home from here, alright?"

Saurlee nodded, staying a few paces behind her brother as he approached the merchant. On the other side of the wooden stand, a Ledian meticulously arranged colorful berries in rows, judging their sizes.

"Excuse me?" he called to her. "Miss?"

The red bug paused and glanced up. Opening her wings, she buzzed over her berries and perched on the front counter.

"Good morning!" she called. "Oh, my. Been a while since I've seen a 'saur, you must be passing through!"

Saurvor nodded, producing a small bag of coins from the folds of his flower. "We're heading north for the waterfalls. We need something for the road, and those berries of yours are looking awfully appetizing…"

She smiled, bowing her head. "Aww, you know, it's an honor to be flattered by a 'saur. You're some of the best gardeners, you know. You know quality when you see it."

"Yep," he said, humoring her. "Certainly caught my eye. Those Orans in particular. Very round, no blemishes, well-guarded, ripened on the vine for seven days…"

"Ahh, it's a shame we have none of your kind living in Shuca Town," she sighed. "You would be of great help. Do you have a family at all? We're always looking for new gardeners to recruit."

"Nope, just me and my sis here," he laughed curtly. "The rest of my family is all over Ambera; don't exactly hear from them anymore."

"Well, then! What can I do for you, good traveler?" the ladybug said proudly. "I'd hate to keep you from your travels."

"No, it's no problem!" Saurvor said, grinning. "What do you have?"

Nearby, the little Bulbasaur stood guard, watching as a Pokémon wandered down the road or flew overhead every now and again. As always, she watched for Pokémon who would look like they were afraid of her – Pokémon who would see her and pick up the pace, trying to get away quickly. She didn't quite understand why, but it seemed important to her brother to spot Pokémon who would do that. Luckily, she'd never seen it happen.

Furthermore, for a good length of time, she couldn't spot any Pokémon she didn't know. A line of Sentret wandered by once. Later, there was a Buizel, followed by a Roselia. A few Starvia flew past, perching on the signposts to rest. They were all Pokémon she'd seen many times before. Nothing special.

After a while, she started to become bored. Saurvor had insisted upon starting a long, uninteresting conversation with the Ladybug Pokémon, and all she could do was sit and stare at the serene yet empty little town and its inhabitants which slowly passed by.

There were more Sentret… a Grotle…

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, she spotted a new kind of Pokémon she'd never seen before.

It stood a block down the road at another market-booth, speaking softly to the merchant on the other side. With inquisitive yellow eyes, it appraised the seller's wares, things which looked like large seeds and cloth-stitched satchels to hold them in.

The Pokémon was red, and very tall. Its armor gleamed in the sunlight, as though it were made of polished steel. It had great pincers at the ends of its arms, reminding her of the Krabby she had seen during her recent trip to the seaside.

Fascinated, she stared at this creature. It looked strong and magnificent. It impressed her with a sense of awe and respect, unlike any bug Pokémon she had seen before.

As she stared at it, wondering how strong it was, the tall red insect paused, calling off its conversation with the Machop it had been speaking to. It turned its head, and one of its eyes gleamed in Saurlee's direction.

"Brotherrrrr!" Salee cried. "Hey, hey, brother?"

"Excuse me," Saurvor said to the Ledian, looking a little frustrated. "What is it, sis?"

"I found a new kind of Pokémon!" she told him.

"Oh, um…" he said, awkwardly. "Remember what it looks like, and I'll tell you later. But sis, look. I'm having a conversation right now. It's rude to interrupt."

"You said we'd be quick!" Saurlee begged. "I'm bored. Can't we go yet?"

The Ivysaur and the Ledian exchanged an awkward glance.

"Oh, sorry. Pardon me, I ramble sometimes," she said, quickly assembling the pouch of berried he had ordered. "Go on, go on! Don't let me keep you stuffed in the dirt."

"No, really," the Ivysaur insisted, looking mortified. "It's fine."

"Nonsense!" she hummed, presenting him with a hefty pouch filled with a dozen blue berries. "I know what it's like to have kids. You've gotta listen to them sometimes, it helps keep you on track! There you are, sir!"

After a quick exchange of formalities, Saurvor paid her some golden coins and continued down the road with his sister, tying the satchel to his back with his vines.

"Brother, why did you take so long?" Saurlee moaned. "You said we'd go soon!"

"Sis, I thought I told you not to talk to anyone!" he scorned. "You promised you would be quiet… I need to be able to trust you, Saurlee. This is very important."

"I'm sorry…" she sighed. "I promise! Next time I will be quiet."

"Even if it's boring?"

"Fine! Even if it's boring."

He gave her a playful nudge. "Very good. I'm sorry it was so boring, by the way," he told her. "I admit, I was getting a bit bored, too. But acting natural means you have to have a conversation sometimes. If you look like you're in a hurry to get away all the time, that looks suspicious."

"Fine, whatever," she mumbled. "Can we go yet?"

"Yeah, we can go," he said, casting wary glances in all directions just as he would normally do. "Follow me. Let's go this way."

He began leading her down the road which appeared to lead out of and beyond the little town.

"Brother, that's north!" she corrected him. "Weren't we going east all morning? You said mommy and daddy are to the east."

"Well… We'll go north first, then east," he said hesitantly. "It's alright; it won't be that much further. Trust me."

Stifling a grumble, the little Bulbasaur shut her mouth. She really didn't understand what her brother was thinking sometimes, and it was always useless to argue. She did trust him, however.

"Hey, can you tell me about that Pokémon I saw?" she said suddenly as they were nearing the end of the town, the cobbled road underfoot turning back into a plodded-down reel of dirt.

"Sure," he replied kindly. "What did you see?"

"Well, it was a red Pokémon," she started. "And it looked like a bug. It had a really shiny shell…"

Saurvor laughed. "You're silly, you know that? That was a Ledian. You know that! You've seen them before. They're grown-up Ledyba."

"No, not that," Saurlee insisted, scampering right up to her brother's side. "No. This one was a big bug. It was really tall and it stood on two legs."

"Oh, really?" he chuckled. "What else?"

"And it had crabclaws. And a mask. And spikes on its head."

"Ohhh," the Ivysaur sang, nodding in understanding. "That was probably a Scizor."

"Scizor?"

"Yeah. They're a grown-up Scyther," he explained. "They're a lot nicer than Scyther, too. Much more calm and deliberate. But that's interesting; Scizor are kind of rare. You don't see very many around this part of the country.."

"Scythers are scary!" the young Bulbasaur quipped. "I hope I never have to meet one… Do you think they could live around here?"

"Aww, don't worry about it," he said, comfortingly. "But not every Scyther is bad. Sometimes you can meet a nice one. That Scizor you saw is probably just a town elder. Scyther make very good gardeners, you know. They're good at harvesting crops and cutting down weeds. You can't always trust their tempers, though. But yeah… sometimes, you can meet a nice one."


As they walked down the lonesome road, going the wrong way just to "act natural" as Saurvor would put it, the little Bulbasaur's mind drifted back to her home. Her real home. Before Saura left, she never imagined that the world would be such a huge place. But no matter how many places she discovered, her heart was still deeply planted in the meadow where she grew up.

"Hungry?" Saurvor said, tossing her a berry from the bag. "You can have one. But we have to save the rest for the family.

She caught it on her nose and swiveled a vine around it, keeping it from hitting the ground. She turned it over, looking at the interesting piece of fruit. It was blue, and it had leaves and a stem still attached.

She nibbled it, enjoying the sharp and bitter flavor.

"When do you think Saura will come back?" she wondered, blue juice dripping from the sides of her mouth.

Saurvor turned his head away, refusing to answer.

"Brother?"

He grit his teeth, looking into the distance with disdain.

"Sauuuuurvor?" the little one whined. "I said, when do you think Saura will come back? I miss him!"

"I miss him too, Saurlee," the older one finally answered. "But… I don't think he'll be coming back for a long time, if… at all."

"Aww, why?" she cried. "What's wrong with Saura?"

"Saura did something… very bad," he said reluctantly. "And… he has to keep himself hidden. Like us. Except… worse. Or something bad will happen to him."

"Aww, but brother, he said that he's okay!" Saurlee insisted. "He said that the Master would just find a new Bulbasaur to take his place!"

"I don't think that's quite the case," Saurvor said, lowering his voice and choosing his words wisely. "The Flareon was really specific about wanting him. They still want him. He made the Master very angry."

"Well… they still might find him!" she cheered in hope. "Then he can come back and be with us again!"

The Ivysaur sighed, hanging his head and staring at the ground. He stopped walking.

"Sis, there's something I need to tell you, and maybe it's the best time to tell you now, before we get back to the others."

"What?" she chirped, looking confused.

"Saura isn't… exactly…"

He dug his paw deep into the dirt road.

"He's not welcome in our family anymore."

Saurlee blinked. "What do you mean?" she said.

"I mean, mom and dad don't want to see him anymore," Saurvor uttered, looking gravely into his sister's eyes. "They said that they don't want him around anymore. So… we might be able to meet him one day, but… they… what I'm saying, is… he's not allowed to come back home. Dad said that."

Saurlee stood still. Her gaze was frozen at him.

"Sorry I didn't tell you until now," he said. "I just don't like to see you cry. But… it's just… because of what Saura did, we might have to be fugitives for the rest of our lives now. And… well, maybe mom and dad will forgive him someday. But not now. Now, we just… have to let him go."

He stepped close to her, his deep, sympathy-filled eyes watching as she tried to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "You can cry if you want. I cried too…"

Saurlee jumped at him, pressing her forehead against her brother's side. And she sobbed loudly.

"I'm sorry," he said again, nuzzling her forehead.


After a few hours of walking down empty roads, and a few more hours leaving the road behind and wandering through the unpaved, untamed wilderness, the little Bulbasaur and her brother arrived to the cave where their family stayed.

Saurlee had been silent for the rest of the journey. She didn't feel like saying anything. She kept seeing Saura in her head, wondering if she'd ever see her favorite brother again. Saurvor let her be, knowing just how she felt; it was the same way he had reacted when he heard that Saura had been ostracized. He was, and had always been, a part of the family; he would likely stay in their hearts for a long while after he was gone. Even if he had forced them all to become fugitives.

After navigating through a barren region covered in rocks and gravel, Saurvor found the awkward entrance to the cave. It was a long, narrow crack in the rocks underfoot, hidden by an overhanging slab of shale which made it appear as though the ground was flat and unbroken.

"It's cold," Saurlee spoke, her first words in a while, as they carefully lowered themselves into the wet, rocky passage.

"Caves usually are," Saurvor replied, carefully guiding the little one down with his vines and looking over his shoulder one last time.

"How do we know they're in here?" Saurlee wondered, listening as her voice began to echo.

"Because it's exactly where the letter said it would be," Saurvor replied. "Ah. Look, see that dent in the rock?"

Saurlee glanced up. There was a large, unusually-shaped gouge in the slab.

"Mom and dad probably dug that out so they could fit through and into the cave," Saurvor said. "They're in here, sis. They have to be."

Once the little Bulbasaur found her footing on the slanted cave floor, she scampered forward into the shadows, looking for any signs of her family.

"Hellooo?" she wailed, hearing her voice amplified by the darkness.

Then, she turned a corner, and saw them. In the light of a glowing green stone hung upon the wall of the chamber by some dead vines, she saw two elderly Venusaur and seven young Bulbasaur planted snuggly around them, taking a midday nap.

"Saurlee!" cried one of the little Bulbasaur, jumping to attention. "Saurlee's here!"

Soon, all seven of the young ones were wide awake, clamoring in joy as they tackled their sister.

"Ah, we're happy to see you," the mother Venusaur said, her eyelids fluttering between opened and closed. "Is Saurvor with you?"

"I'm right here, mom," the Ivysaur called from across the chamber, quickly catching up. "Yeah, we made it. Oh, wow. Everyone looks so wilted. Hungry? Here! I have berries for everyone!"

Like little baby birds, the Bulbasaur all crowded around their brother and begged for food. He happily passed out Rawst Berries to his siblings.

"You're early," grumbled the father Venusaur. "You should have come when it was darker. Are you sure no one followed you?"

"Not that I saw," he replied. "And besides, I had Saurlee help me keep an eye out. You didn't see anyone suspicious, did you, Saurlee?"

"I… don't think so," she replied, trying to remember all the Pokémon she saw. "There wasn't any Pokémon who saw us and then ran away really fast."

Having already ate her fill earlier, Saurlee stepped back and watched as her brothers and sister devoured the contents of the satchel.

"Mommy?" she said suddenly.

"What is it, Saurlee?" she said kindly.

"Why can't Saura be a part of the family anymore?"

The room went silent. Even Saurlee's siblings hesitated, berry skins hanging from their mouths.

Saurvor grit his teeth. The two Venusaur glanced at one another.

"Saura is gone," the father spoke in a deep grumbling voice, "He decided not to be a part of our family anymore."

"But daddy…"

"No, no buts," the father said, raising his voice. "Saura left because he wanted to leave. He has decided not to love us anymore."

"No! He still loves us!" Saurlee squealed, stepping past her siblings and meeting her father face-to-face. "Daddy, I met him! He misses us a lot and he wants to see us again!"

"Wait, you met Saura?" one of the other little Bulbasaur gasped. "Was he okay? How was he?"

The bunch of little Bulbasaur seemed keenly interested.

"Was he stronger? Did he sprout yet?"

"Was he rich?"

"Does he lead a big army?"

"Why didn't he come back?"

"Quiet!" the father shouted, drowning out their voices. "I told you. I don't want to hear you talking about Saura anymore."

"But…" squeaked Saurlee. "But, father…"

"No buts," he said forcefully. "He does not grow from our vine anymore. The faster we can forget about him, the better off we'll be. The next person who says Saura's name is sitting in the corner."

"I guess that will have to be me, then!"

A hushed silence fell over the family; the voice had not been one of theirs.

There was a Pokémon at the cave entrance that was not part of the family. The little Bulbasaur all dropped their berries and froze in fright, holding their breaths and trying not to make a sound.

Saurvor gasped in panic, leaping in front of his siblings to stand in the way of whomever was coming.

Turning the corner and revealing itself in the soft green glow of the chamber was a Flareon.

"Saurvor," the father Venusaur spoke gravely. "You were followed."

Saurvor's heart caught in his throat.

The fiery canine wasted no time in approaching the family, standing dominatingly above the children.

Saurlee knew this Pokémon. It was the same Flareon that wanted Saura to come with him. The same Flareon that had gotten mad and burned down their gardens when he heard that Saura was no longer there. The same Flareon which had set a deadline for getting Saura back, a deadline they had missed.

It all made sense to her now. She understood why the family was hiding.

It was for safety. They were hiding from the fire. From him.

Standing before the bunch of shocked little Bulbasaur, the Flareon glowered at the Venusaur who stood behind them.

"In all honesty, I'm sorry if you're sick of hearing about him, but Saura is just the one I have come to talk to you about. And we need to have a serious talk. Oh, do we."

The Venusaur mother softly growled at the intruder. The children began to back away from the fox, afraid of being burned.

"Tell me; how is it that you have managed to keep all of your children at your side, except for the most important one?" the Flareon spoke to the father. "That seems a little, how to say… tragically convenient?"

"Because he wasn't running away from us," the father answered. "He was running away from you."

"YOU HAD ONE JOB!" the Flareon barked loudly, startling everyone. "ONE. JOB. Your job was to GIVE HIM TO ME. HOW DO YOU LET HIM GET AWAY LIKE THIS? HE IS A CHILD! YOU ARE STRONGER THAN HIM! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO TRUST YOU!"

There was a moment of burning silence after the fox's outburst ended.

"Pardon me," the Flareon said in a plain voice, pacing a semicircle around the patch of little Bulbasaur. "I have let my temper get the better of me, again. But, you see… we are at an impasse, Grayleaf. The child is still missing, and the Master still needs him. What do you propose we do?"

"Get out," the Venusaur snarled. "Get out of my den, leave my family alone, or… I will put out your fire."

The Flareon paused. Saying not a word, he stepped up to the Venusaur and stared him down. Though the Venusaur towered above him, the Flareon did not seem to lose confidence.

The Flareon shrugged. "You probably could, if you tried," he said. "I have no doubt, Grayleaf. You have proven yourself well in the past. However… Could you also put out their fires, too?"

A pack of Houndoom entered the green light of the cave, sealing off the entrance. The Bulbasaur all gave muffled gasps at seeing them.

"I'm only going to say this one more time, Grayleaf," the Flareon growled softly at the father Venusaur as the children cowered in terror. "I am willing to cooperate with you. So tell me… what do you say we should do about this problem? I am quite open to suggestions."

The two of them stared at one another, in silence, for a whole minute.

The little Bulbasaur all quivered in fright.

Saurlee pressed herself close to her Ivysaur brother, hoping he could protect her.

The mother Venusaur tensed. Fearing for her children and her mate, she prepared to lash at the attackers at the first sign of trouble, thinking nothing of her own safety.

At last, after many silent moments filled with held breaths and pounding hearts, the Flareon sighed.

"Fine," he whispered. "Fine… if that is the case, fine."

He turned his back to the Venusaur and hung his head, walking slowly back to the cave entrance where the Houndoom pack waited.

He looked into the eyes of the dark, fiery hounds.

"Take the children. We can use them to draw the fugitive out of hiding. As for the mother and father… burn them. The Ivysaur too, if you must."

"NOOO!" screeched the mother Venusaur, leaping to the protection of her children.

Then, the fighting broke loose.

Saurvor quickly wrapped up Saurlee in his vines and tossed her away. Her head smacked painfully into the wall and she landed in the corner of the cave, far from the violence.

And she watched.

There was screaming. And fighting.

And fire. So much fire…

She watched as her brothers tried to fight back with their leaves and vines. Leaves and vines which caught on fire.

She watched as the evil hounds charred them and slashed them and tore at their leaves and their skin.

Saurlee's throat convulsed into a long, powerful cry of agony. Tears flooded her eyes.

She watched as the Houndoom breathed long, blazing streams of fire onto her mommy and daddy.

She watched as her mommy and daddy burned.

"N-noo! Noooo! No!" She wailed from afar. "STOP IT! STOP!"

She watched as the swirling smoke clouded and gathered at the ceiling of the cave chamber, filling the room and making everything look dark.

And the last thing she saw, through the darkness… was a Pokémon of red.

That Pokémon with the claws on its hands and the spikes on its head. That Pokémon which hid its face behind a shining, steely mask.

It stood at the cave entrance, staring at her with those gleaming yellow eyes.

And Saurlee realized her mistake. It was him. He was the bad guy. He was the one who had caused their family to burn.

He was the one who had taken everything away.

They were coming for her now, those dark hounds. They were approaching her, their teeth drawn into loud snarls, their smoke and fire brimming from their mouths. They had burned her mommy and daddy. The Venusaur had turned into crusted black shadows and had stopped moving.

"NO!" She screamed with her tiny voice, coughing as she sucked the smoke into her lungs.

She shut her eyes and waved her vines futilely at them.

"NO! NO!"

And then…

It was silent. The sound of the fire. The sound of the growls and screeches of battling Pokémon. The sound of wails and laments from her family. It had all paused.

Saurlee opened her eyes. The Houndoom were no longer approaching her. In fact, they were leaving her alone.

They were walking backwards.

They walked backwards until they began battling with her fallen parents once more. This time, however, they were not burning anything. They were removing the fire from the leaves of the two Venusaur. The flames were peeling and curling off of her parents' bodies and flying back through the air, and the evil dark hounds were swallowing it.

Her father stirred. He was regaining his strength as the fire left him. Shards of his attacks, his leaves and spores, were shooting out of the wounds of the Houndoom and flying back into his flower. His vines whipped off the fire which had caught them. One of the hounds sucked up a vine from the floor and used its teeth to re-connect it to his father's control.

Saurlee couldn't move. She felt numb. She felt like she had no control over her actions. And she didn't know what was going on. And it was all in complete silence, as though she had gone deaf.

The hounds ushered the little scattered Bulbasaur children away from themselves, until all her siblings had formed a group, and Saurvor stood in front of them in protection. They continued doing everything while walking backwards.

Then, Saurlee moved. With a power that was not hers, she leaped into the air straight at the cavern wall, smacking her forehead against the rock. But the collision did not hurt; this time, it seemed to take the pain away. She careened through the air until Saurvor caught her in his vines, righted her so she stood firmly on the ground, then retracted his grasp.

She stepped away from her brother. Now she saw the Flareon walking in reverse, his back turned toward her father.

It's backwards, Saurlee realized. This is going backwards! Everything that's happening now has already happened!

Everything… is… starting over!

She watched as the Flareon stood off with her father. She watched as the Houndoom retracted themselves into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

She watched as her father spoke to her, mouthing out words but saying nothing. She stepped away from him, walking in reverse and taking her place along with her siblings. She watched as her brothers suddenly began to devour the Rawst berries in unison, coughing them up from their bellies piece-by-piece.

Then… just as soon as it had begun, it was over. Reality became normal again.

Sound once again rushed to Saurlee's ears. She regained control of her legs.

Gasping, she looked around at her family. Everything had been reversed, like some very bad dream. Everything had been undone. Nobody seemed to remember it.

She gaped again, trying to form words in her mouth, trying to create some kind of desperate scream, a warning of some kind, to cry out with.

"…Well?" Saurvor said, looking at her strangely.

Saurlee held her breath in hesitation. "What?" she said.

"Answer your brother's question, Saurlee," her mother instructed. "It's important."

Saurlee shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't hear you…" she croaked. "What did you say?"

"I said, you didn't see anyone suspicious on the road, did you?"

She froze in apprehension.

"Saurlee?" the Ivysaur spoke in a concerned tone. "Saurlee, are you okay? Ahh… Mom, I kind of… had a discussion with her on the way. She's still swallowing it…"

"YES! YES I SAW SOMEONE!" Saurlee squealed, making the collective family jump in fright. "THE SIZER! THE SIZER IS COMING! WE HAVE TO RUN AWAY RIGHT NOW!"

"What…?" Saurvor yelped. "Saurlee, calm down! Now, say it again."

But she couldn't calm down. Not after what she had seen. "The sizer we saw in the village was a bad guy! He's coming to get us right now! AND THE FLAREON TOO! THEY'RE GOING TO BURN US!"

Saurvor swallowed hard. "Saurlee, I don't think… Saurlee, what do you mean? Did he look like a bad guy?"

"No, brother! You don't understand!" She cried desperately, jumping at his feet. "I saw it happen right now! Just now! But it all went backwards and now you don't remember any of it! But it's going to happen again! PLEEEEASE, we have to RUN!"

"I'm afraid you have done enough running."

The Flareon once again appeared in the doorway, its eyes sparkling with malicious glee in the green light of the cave.

"See? There he is! Saurvor!" Saurlee gasped quietly.

But Saurvor said nothing. He just tensed, leaping between the Flareon and his siblings to protect them. But the Flareon cockily approached him, glaring into his eyes and down at the seven little Bulbasaur he protected.

"We need to have a talk, Grayleaf," the Flareon said, motioning to Saurlee's father. "Oh, do we."

Saurlee's mommy growled at the fiery fox. The little Bulbasaur all began to inch away from the intruder and to closer to the safety of their mother's side.

"Tell me," the fox growled, "how is it that you have managed to keep all of your children at your side, except for the most important one? That seems a little, how to say… tragically convenient?"

Saurlee realized… it was happening again.

It was happening all over again, the same way it had happened the first time.

Nothing was going to change.

"Because he wasn't running away from us," the father shot back. "He was running away from you."

Saurlee knew she needed to do something to save her family. Screaming in rage, she pounced at the fire-type Pokémon. But the Flareon effortlessly batted her away with a paw, sending her rolling across the floor.

"YOU HAD ONE JOB!" he roared, closing in on her father again. "ONE. JOB. Your job was to GIVE HIM TO ME. HOW DO YOU LET HIM GET AWAY LIKE THIS? HE IS A CHILD! YOU ARE STRONGER THAN HIM! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO TRUST YOU!"

"No, no NOOOO!" Saurlee squealed, getting back to her feet. "NO! IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!"

"SILENCE, little flammable weed," the Flareon shouted at her, snarling. Regaining his false composure, he started to swagger around the gathered group of children. "Ah, it seems I am not the only one with temper problems. Pardon my outburst. But you see, Grayleaf, we are at an impasse."

He stepped up to the Venusaur, glaring at him.

"The child is still missing, and the Master still intends to have him. What do you propose to do?"

"Get out," Saurlee's father growled. "Get out of my den, and leave my family alone. Or I will put out your fire."

The Flareon paused, seeming to chuckle at the Venusaur's insubordination. "You know, Grayleaf, I wouldn't put it past you. You probably could put out my fire, if you tried hard enough. But you see, I don't take my business lightly. And I'm not the only one whose fire you need to put out."

The pack of Houndoom filed into the cave, as if on cue.

"I'm only going to say this one more time, Grayleaf," the Flareon whispered menacingly to the great Venusaur. "I am willing to cooperate with you. So, tell me… what do you say we should do about this problem? I am quite open to suggestions."

"DADDY! HE'S GOING TO BURN YOU!" Saurlee cried. "DADDY! Daddy, don't LISTEN!"

"Your daughter is a smart one, I see," the Flareon chuckled. "Very perceptive. Alright, if you don't have any ideas, I'll tell you mine, Grayleaf. Since you have failed to hold our bargain, I am going to take your children away from you, and use them as bait to lure Saura out of hiding. As for you… I have no more use for you anymore."

He motioned to the pack of dark hounds. "Burn them," he ordered, with a wave of his paw.

"NOOO!" her mother screamed in that same awful, broken voice Saurlee had heard the first time.

And just like the first time… the fighting broke out.

Saurlee couldn't take it. She had already seen her family burned once. And it was happening again.

Wailing, she joined the fight with her brothers, hoping to the gods it would help to change her destiny in some way.

"STOP."

At the command of a loud, authoritative voice, the violence ceased. The hounds hesitated, their claws and teeth not having torn through anything yet, their fire not having singed a single leaf upon the Venusaur.

Out of the shadows walked the Pokémon in red. The Flareon, as well as all of the Houndoom, seemed to act reverently in his presence. He turned his head, appraising the frozen scene of chaos before him, his bright red shell turning an odd rusty color in the light of the green glow-stone.

"Commander," the Flareon addressed. "What are your orders?"

"Stand down," ordered the red Pokémon. "There will be no bloodshed today within this cave."

"Commander," the fiery fox replied defensively. "We are only following the orders you have given. What has changed?"

The Scizor paced through the cave, eyeing the young Bulbasaur for a moment.

"A sign," the Scizor simply said. "I have been given a sign from divine providence that we are not to bring harm to this family."

The Flareon coughed. "Divine providence?" he laughed bitterly. "What is it, commander? What have the gods shown you?"

The Scizor shook its head. "In truth, this is the second time I am watching these events occur," he explained. "I have watched you capture the children and disable the elders. Then, when the deed was nearly finished, I witnessed, before my very eyes, the sum of your actions becoming undone, as time flowed in reverse."

"You watched time flow in reverse," the Flareon reiterated, "and so, because of that, you believe we should let these traitors be?"

The Scizor stared powerfully at his underling, his gaze hotter than any fire.

"Yes."

"I have never known you to have a sense of humor, Commander," the Flareon said snidely. "Surely, you jest. That is one of the worst excuses I have ever heard come out of your mouth! They call you the blood-knight, yet what are you now, but a knight in shining armor? You have grown impressively skilled in avoiding bloodshed, commander, for one who is supposed to enjoy it."

The Scizor was unfazed by the comment.

"To slaughter for pleasure is foolish," the Scizor spoke, disregarding the Flareon's frustration and approaching the Venusaur. "It is one thing which my colleagues do not seem to understand. I am not controlled by bloodlust, Hunter, in the way you are. That is why I am useful to the Master. It is what makes me your commander, and you the weapon which I use at my disposal. And be thankful I chose to assume the role of 'knight in shining armor' this day. The work we perform is delicate. As strong as we are, we cannot survive if one of the most high gods were to turn such a profound wrath against us. I do not know which god we have angered, but one which possesses the power to reverse time would also possess the ability to change history, or to alter fate. I do not wish to make enemies with such a god; do you, Hunter?"

The Flareon sat himself on the cave floor, bottling his anger.

"We have our orders, Commander," Hunter reminded the Scizor. "Would you defy Enigma's order? And on a hunch of witnessing time reverse itself: such a thing that cannot be proven, something that none of your fellows have witnessed with you?"

"Enigma trusts my judgment," the Scizor spoke. "Again, it is the reason I have been assigned to command you, and you to obey. If you do not obey my orders, I will hand you over to her, and she will give you the consequences she deems necessary."

"So… what?" the Flareon barked, astonished. "What now? Are we just going to leave them alone? We came all this way, searched for them for so long, and what now? What are we going to do with them?"

"We will escort them back to the meadow which is their rightful home," the Scizor spoke, "and leave them there until further notice."

"But, Commander…"

"At once, Hunter," the Scizor grunted. "Get out of my sight, and take this poor family with you. We have agonized them enough. Grayleaf; you may be at peace. Take your family home."

Hunter spat a fireball at the floor in rage, then began carrying out the order. He ushered the Venusaur and their children into a small group, and led them away.

The Scizor's yellow eye gleamed at Saurlee as she passed him.

"Wait," the Scizor spoke. "Let me speak to the little girl. Take the rest of them."

Saurlee gasped, looking to her mother and father in terror.

"It's alright, Saurlee," her mother told her. "Listen to the red Pokémon. Do what he says."

"Alright, mommy," Saurlee chirped, feeling so fearful.

Saurlee and the Scizor remained in the cave as the Bulbasaur family, the Flareon, and the pack of Houndoom all left their presence.

Finally, the Scizor spoke to her.

"The first time, you were standing there," he said, pointing one of his giant claws in the corner where Saurvor had tossed her. "The second time, you were there," he said, indicating a place in the center of the chamber. "You witnessed it, too, did you not?"

"Y—yeah," she croaked out. "I saw it. Time ran backwards."

"And so you changed your course of action to try to rewrite the fate of your family," he said. "When I saw that you had chosen to put up a fight the second time, I knew, at that moment, that what I had seen was not a hallucination."

The Scizor kneeled down close to the little Bulbasaur girl, bringing their gazes together.

"Do you know who I am?" the Scizor spoke. "Do you know my name?"

"No," Saurlee admitted. "Sorry…"

"It surprises me," the Scizor said. "I am a well-known Pokémon. Many Pokémon know my name. I am Adiel."

"I'm… Saurlee," the little one replied. "You—you work for the Master, right?"

"I do," he said, nodding. "The Master gives me many tasks I must carry out. One of them was to bring Saura to him."

"Why did you need Saura?" the little one implored. "I don't understand!"

"That is what I hoped I could tell you about," Adiel spoke. "As it turns out, he is impressively skilled as a fugitive. Skilled, or lucky. But it does not matter. My top priority in these past months has been to track him down and capture him, and it has proved a challenge. I say this as a compliment; I usually am able to take whatever I want, when I want it. Saura is proving to be the rare exception. I applaud him; he has learned how to evade me."

Saurlee cocked her head, wondering what the red Pokémon was talking about.

The red Pokémon looked down at her.

"He is also not your brother," he said.

Saurlee squinted. "Huuh?" she yelped. "Saura is my brother! We have known each other all of my life!"

Adiel nodded. "Yes, but he is no more your brother than I am his father. That is to say, we both adopted him and played our roles to him, but we are not truly related. See, little seedling; in the beginning, I found Saura."

"Found Saura?" she echoed, not understanding.

"As an infant, a tiny seedling, he was alone and orphaned," Adiel explained. "However, there was something very special about him; he possessed a latent power that was very strong. It was a power, for decades, the Master has been searching for. When I discovered Saura's power, I decided to take him. Yet, I did not have time to raise a child; the Master keeps me very busy with many tasks, and so, I gave him to Grayleaf, your father, so that he and his mate could give him the love and care which a Bulbasaur deserves. And I commissioned them, telling them that if they raised this little Bulbasaur into a strong and worthy Pokémon for me, and returned him into the Master's possession when it came time, I would reward them handsomely. Grayleaf and his mate failed to hold their end of the commission, the Master grew very mad, and so he told me to take desperate measures. However… I finally realize something. I know, now, why I was never able to capture Saura. At least, I understand why he kept slipping away from me… Do you want to know why, Saurlee?"

Saurlee only nodded.

"Because… the gods are on his side," Adiel said. "Somewhere, up there in the great sky, there is a being who helped to set the earth into motion, or wove the time stream… and that great being has found favor with Saura, and protects him from me. There is a god, perhaps even Arceus himself, who guides him and protects him, and is watching over him with every step he takes. And this god has blessed him with great power and great fortune, keeping him out of my reach. For as strong as I am, as strong as the Master is, or as strong as anyone is on this Earth… no one can defeat the gods in a fair fight. They always win."

"Wow…" Saurlee breathed. "Saura is really that special?"

"And by extension, so are you," Adiel told her. "You and your family are also being protected by this god. When I saw time reverse, I at last understood. I knew, by instinct, Saura was involved in some manner. And I knew… I could no longer touch you, for I fear divine vengeance."

Adiel stood to his full height.

"Be at peace, Saurlee; you and your family. Know that I, or any of the Master's forces, will no longer seek to harm you from this day forward. I am going to forgive the debt which your father owes to me, and I will forget the deal was ever set in place. Then, I'm going to send you home, and I will leave you there, where you and your family will rest peacefully for generations to come."

"But…" the little Bulbasaur gasped, "But what about Saura?"

"What about him?" Adiel returned. "There are times when a father may not know a son, nor a son a father. Yet, deep within the heart, you shall always know who your brothers are. Tell me, little Saurlee, do you love Saura? Do you look up to him and count him among your family?"

"Yes!" she replied without hesitating.

"Then he is your brother," Adiel said with a gleam in his eye. "And never let anyone else tell you otherwise."

"So… you're…"

"I'm going to stop hunting him too, yes," Adiel said. "I will simply inform the Master that Saura is beyond our reach, and not by anyone's fault. Besides, there is another Pokémon I must begin hunting very soon, or he may get away from me, too. So, I must say farewell to you, Saurlee. I enjoyed our talk. Hurry and catch up with your family."

At that, the mighty Scizor and the tiny Bulbasaur left the cave together. They joined with the rest, and began the long, long journey back to the Tiny Meadow.


"She still will not be happy about this," Hunter told the Scizor as they led the procession. "She may very well be furious."

"She will understand," Adiel reassured the Flareon. "Besides, as fortunate as we would be to have the Call in our possession, removing Adron from the picture is far more important. Which reminds me; report to me on his current whereabouts."

"He has not been sighted around the Great Plateau, nor Iron Town, as of late," Hunter told him. "It makes sense, considering that we know him to be vacationing to the northern lands at the moment. Although, curiously, Cepheus's team tells us that he has caught glimpses of him, on multiple occasions, around Basin Canyon."

"This does not make any sense," Adiel said flatly. "There has been no report that he has returned from his flight to the northern lands. And furthermore, no report that he has returned from his trek to the arctic lands beyond that."

"Maybe he's just in three places at once," the Flareon shrugged, his tone oozing sarcasm. "I wouldn't put it past him…"

Maybe he is, Adiel thought to himself. Brother… how can you be in three places at once? How do you pull it off?

I have not been paying close enough attention to you, Adiel determined. But that will change this very day. Beware, Adron. It is time we met face-to-face again. We have much to discuss.

This time, I will win our little game.

I will find you… Wherever you might be hiding, I will find you…

End of Season III

*Chapter 71*: Chapter 51: Poisonous Allies

Season IV: Ember


Chapter 51

… … …

"I don't like this."

Two enormous figures stood before a backdrop of swirling celestial colors.

They were dragons. One studded with sapphire, the other adorned with various shades of lavender.

"Do you think he will make it?"

Dialga and Palkia.

Dialga glanced in Char's direction.

"He'll come through," Dialga said, nodding confidently. "The soul is strong enough. And he's smart enough to know not to give up."

For the first time in a very long while, Char became aware of himself. He remembered that he was not just a disembodied ghost witnessing the conversation between the legendary dragons; he remembered that he had an identity. Though, at the very moment, it was difficult to remember what, exactly, that identity entailed.

He could not seem to cry out to them. His arms and legs were as stiff as cement. His lungs only gave heavy breaths when he tried to produce sound.

But it seemed that he was already the topic of conversation.

"Then what don't you like about it?" the spatial dragon wondered, turning to glance at Char as well.

"Well," the great diamond dragon told his companion, "I honestly do not know what else I can do for him. Every day, it's always 'Help Char! Bring Char back!' Char this, Char that. Even the orders coming down from superiors are all, 'Char is your highest priority.'"

"I suppose I agree; it may set something of a false precedent," Palkia replied. "Celebrities will always be the highest of our priorities whether or not they deserve it. Just because everyone's heart goes out to them. You fail them, you fail everyone. And all the poor nobodies we've got in back who need our help more than Char does are going to get neglected."

Char felt confused. He had no idea what the dragons were talking about. They almost didn't seem to acknowledge his attention even though they were both glaring directly at him.

"Not that, so much," Dialga replied. "What I mean is, I, well, there is only so much we can do. We can only pave the road on which he walks. When he comes through, it will be him, not us." The temporal dragon looked inquisitive, peering close to Char with his gleaming red eyes.

"And there is no way to tell them," Palkia affirmed. "At least, no way which they will easily accept. It was the same with Aether such many years ago. Ahh… She couldn't—"

"Quickly, the chesto, please," Dialga suddenly barked, interrupting the spatial dragon's thoughts. "His fire has flared, and his breathing seems to have escalated. It seems as though Char might be coming back to us. His battle has been won, it seems."

"Yes, here."

"Good! Good… now… the only thing standing between poor Char and the world is… his beauty sleep."

A blur of vivid colors opened before Char's eyes. The dragons continued to stare at him expectantly. He attempted to move, and perceived that he had come to a mild success; with enough struggling, his arms and legs gave way.

"Char?"

The colors faded to darkness, returning to full force just moments later.

In a brief flash of clarity, Char thought that Dialga had possessed two sets of eyes.

"There he is. Awakening at last. Char… what a fright you've given all of us."

"Indeed; you've been asleep for fifteen days. The Division will be happy to see you animated again."

"Not to mention your friends."

Char stirred. He was intoxicated with weariness, but not uncomfortably so; the sacred fire pulsed with health from inside his chest, and he was pleasantly warm. The biting cold of ice and wind, the deep gashes from battle – they had vanished somewhere, fallen into a forgotten abyss of memories, as though they had happened in another life entirely.

"Where…" Char tried, annoyed that he couldn't keep his eyes opened for more than a split-second.

"You're upon a bed in the intensive care unit at the Gold Division base, under the caring eyes of Dr. Orde, and also my own. You are safe."

Safe…

That one word rang true to his heart, causing his fire to leap with gladness. Safety was not something he was used to feeling in a very long time. Yet… somewhere, deep within his soul, he knew everything would turn out alright.

Though it didn't make sense, he felt as though something had told him not to worry.

Char succeeded in prying his own eyelids open and adjusting to the light of the room. The odd visage of Dialga and Palkia turned into the faces of a Hypno and a Slowking. They each stared upon him with satisfaction and relief. Even the Shellder upon the doctor's head seemed to acknowledge and share his gladness.

"Saura…" Char uttered, testing his tongue again. "And Ray. Are they okay?"

"They're perfect," Hypno replied, "if not endlessly worried about you. When you arrived here in our care, your bodies were flooded with a type of ruthless poison and an overdose of sleep-seed, which made you very sick but kept you so deeply asleep that you were shielded from your own misery. Saura was not affected by the poison, naturally, so he was the first to awaken after the sleep-seeds wore off, and later, Raichu recovered from the poison and joined him. They are in perfect health and we released them back into the Division just two days ago, although they have spent most of their time here at your bedside waiting for you to show signs of life."

We made it, Char realized. We're alive. We survived. Against all odds...

"Can I go see them?" Char struggled to say, rolling to his side and watching as the infirmary room turned sideways around him.

"If you think you can move, do whatever you think you are capable of doing! I sent them out to the waiting-room while we examined you. They should be there," the Slowking replied cheerily, turning to do something at a table next to Char's bed-side. "Ah! Good day, happy day, to have Team Ember reunited at last."

Feeling a surge of joyful strength welling in his limbs, Char gave a thrust with his muscles and sat himself up. Blinking several times more, he examined the skin of his orange limbs and his white belly. There were no cuts or bruises, no aches or pains. There were only a few faint scars from his battle wounds. With a sudden compulsion, he reached behind his back and gathered his tail into his claw to gaze upon his flame. It, too, was perfect, burning vividly and smoothly like a well-oiled lantern, flickering slightly as he jerked it around. It was a deep orange color, signifying that the Watchers had subsided just hours before. It was morning.

Char grinned, feeling a wave of exuberance fast approaching. He did it. They did it. They had braved the merciless northern savage-lands of Ambera, got mixed up in political and legendary affairs, died and returned to life…

…And through it all, they were still standing. They were given another chance at life, at being the team they always wanted to be. He remembered all the promises he had made to Saura and Ray as they trekked hopelessly through the snowstorm, all the resolutions and changes he would make if they lived. How they would stop being helpless and start being self-reliant. How he would strive to be a better leader, and live up to the high standards held by the Gold Division and all of its members who treated him as some kind of prodigious celebrity.

He knew now, as he stared into his tail-flame, that each and every one of those resolutions would be kept. All he needed, now, was to meet his dear friends face-to-face.

After stretching and yawning, Char leaped from the flame-proof bedding and landed on the warm, tiled floor. Before he escaped from the room, he sent a questioning glance to the caretakers who had helped him pull through.

"Um… do I need to pay?" Char asked awkwardly.

"You pay us with your dedication to the Division," Hypno replied. "Remember, the good doctor here is one-fourth of High Intelligence itself; he already receives a steady tax from every team here. There is no need to pay him extra for his medicinal practice."

"Yes, yes! Now go, get out there!" the doctor shouted proudly, almost melodramatically. "Keep up the good work and mess the Master up! Get out into the world, and NEVER COME BACK! …Well, what I mean to say is, never come back to this particular wing of the base, because that would mean that you are sick and injured again, and I do not wish that upon you! … Good luck and fortune to you, at any rate!"

Char earnestly thanked the doctor and his assistant for their services before dropping to all fours and scampering away.

… … …

The white-tiled floors and brown walls swept past Char as he sprinted through the hospital and dodged the startled passersby he met in the corridors. He was driven by a fiery longing and thought about nothing else: he just wanted to see his friends. He wanted proof they were still alive, like him.

He followed the paths and hoped they would eventually converge on the exit. At one point, he faintly recognized the admissions room from a tour he had taken long ago and knew he was on the right track.

A few seconds before he burst into the main waiting room, he heard their voices.

"Should we go back in? They've been away a long time."

"Maybe they got him to wake up!"

"Maybe. Should we go see?"

A few moments too late, Char saw Saura's forehead peeking through the doorframe as though intending to venture inside but hesitating.

*SMASH*

Char ploughed into Saura head-on, and they both tumbled back into the waiting room floor. But they made no move to separate, and the collision soon turned into a tight embrace.

"CHAAAAR! Char, it's YOU!" Saura cried happily, squeezing his vines around the Charmander and not caring that one of them had caught on fire.

Ray eagerly gathered his friends up from the floor, holding them dearly and putting out the tiny flame that sparkled upon Saura's vine. They stood, united, for an entire minute, unable to hold back their gasps of amazement or their hearty laughter.

"Char, you're back!" Ray screamed in glee. "We're all back! We're all in one piece! Can you believe it? Haaaaa-yeaaah!"

"I can't believe it," Char gasped, almost so happy he could cry. "This is probably the happiest day of my life. Too many times, I thought all was lost. Just too many times… and now… Now, we're here."

"They said once there was a slight chance you wouldn't make it," Saura admitted, his voice profusely wavering. "So we promised that we would stay here in the hospital until we knew for sure… Ahh, Char, thank you for staying alive. It means so much to us."

"I couldn't have done it without you," Char told his friends, his arms quickly growing sore from holding his friends so tightly. "Thank you for everything. I owe everything to both of you."

"Aww, look. The peanut-brains are finally awake."

A sneering, arrogant voice broke through the heartwarming moment. Char turned to see a Seviper and a Croagunk standing beside them in the waiting room.

In just that single moment, the profound happiness had turned into sheer terror.

"Could you guys try to cut it with the mushy-gushy friendship stuff for once?" the Seviper said nonchalantly in the moment of shock, its red fangs glistening in the orange torchlight. "You're making us both sick."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Saura panicked. Instantly hyperventilating, he leaped back from his friends and drew both of his vines into the air, though he seemed too afraid of attacking anything with them.

"TEAM X IS IN THE BASE!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "TEAM X! IS IN! THE BASE! Team X… in… the base… WAAAHHH! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?! HOW! AUGHH!"

Char's blood was searing with adrenaline, his tail-flame flaring into a beacon of strength. He was at full health and in the company of his friends; he knew he could put up a good fight. He dropped to all fours, but hesitated in pouncing. Instead, he glared at the foes, his mind still not seeming to comprehend that the villainous duo had indeed penetrated the defenses of the Gold Division to its very core and stood within its confines, all of its deepest secrets laid out before their prying eyes.

Feeling the instinct to act as the leader of the team, Char stepped out from his friends and approached the poisonous ones.

"How did you come here?" Char demanded, a growl escaping from his throat.

The Croagunk matched his hostile stance, holding his fists in front of him and saying "Well, maybe if you'd put a gag on your friend and let us have a word in, we might be inclined to tell you!"

"Hss. Don't bother," the Seviper sighed. "They wouldn't believe us if we told them. Their simple little minds just wouldn't accept the truth."

Stepping up to the Croagunk, Char rose again to his full height. He glared into the eye of his foe.

"Try us," he challenged.

The Croagunk smirked. "For your information, pipweeds, we were invited. By none other than your Scyther friend."

Char tried to resist the urge to stagger, but his face paled as the suggestion sank in and he stumbled backwards. Saura and Ray wore horrified expressions.

"Scyther? You know, big green insect?" Seviper goaded sarcastically, whipping his bladed tail around to display it before the flustered Team Ember. "Has blades for arms, they look like this? You've hung around him for long enough, surprised you don't know who I'm talking about."

"Scythe…" Ray hissed to himself, looking very confused. "Why…? Why did he let you in?"

"It's simple," Croagunk explained, crossing his arms. "We made a deal. We wanted to get into the base; he needed to babysit you because he was afraid you'd get pneumonia and die. So he struck a deal with us: he said that if we'd be his fallback and brought the three of you back to Iron Town alive, there'd be an operative there from the Division that would let us into the base. So, we did it."

"You're thieves," Char growled. "We can't trust you because you're thieves. When we first met you, you had a whole hideout full of stolen goods…"

"Aww, bwaaaah, that's the best reason you've got?!" Croagunk scoffed. "Every single member of this base is a thief and a criminal, and you know it. Not like a resistance force are criminals or anything? Not like Kecleon is an evil criminal with his shop full of stolen goods? Heh heh, we're good at what we do. We fit in here."

"But… you're…" Saura squeaked. "You're… Master… the Master… you work for him… why would Scythe… why would he…? Why would he trust you?"

"…Excuse me for a moment," Croagunk uttered as brushed the Charmander aside and walked past, coming to stand over the frightened and cowering little Bulbasaur. Before Char could react, Croagunk lost his temper.

"BECAUSE WE'RE GOOD GUYS!" the Croagunk blasted down at the Bulbasaur's face. "GOOD. GUYS! Arceus ABOVE, We've been TRYING to TELL YOU THIS since almost the BEGINNING, and you JUST. DON'T. LISTEN! Do you have any idea how FRUSTRATING this was trying to get in here?! Being good guys and have nobody BELIEVE US?! Gods almighty, Team Peanuts, would you stop and consider JUST ONCE, maybe JUST ONCE, that we MIGHT be telling the truth, huh?! EVER CONSIDER THAT?!"

"Is it because we're poison-kin? Is that the reason why you can't bring yourself to trust us?" the Seviper added, slithering closer to Char. "If that's the case, Char, I want you to take a deep breath, turn about eighty degrees to your right, and take a good, close look at the Pokémon you're standing next to. You might find that they're just as untrustworthy as we are, by those standards."

Char turned as instructed, facing Saura. Saura looked up at him with tearful, uncertain eyes.

"He's even a frog!" Croagunk furthermore blasted. "Legends forbid a poisonous frog could ever be a good guy, right? *CROAK*"

Silence fell over the group. Char thought to scan the waiting room for the presence of other Pokémon and spotted only a meager Taillow clinging to the rim of a chair in the far corner of the room, looking absolutely breathless as it watched the scene unfold.

Mustering his courage, Saura spoke back to the Croagunk. "I… don't… believe you," he forced out. "I'm… I'm sorry. I just… you work for the Master."

Croagunk emitted a gurgling sigh, slapping his own forehead with a fist.

"Okay, look," he said, surprisingly lowering his tone. "I'm only going to say this one more time, and I don't care if you believe me, but you'd better listen. So yeah, maybe we work for the Master, or maybe we don't. Don't matter. Either way, revealing the location of this base and getting it blown up isn't going to help anybody, and it sure as the blazes isn't going to help us. Not now, not ever. See, we have a foe we want to take down, and she works for the Master, and so the only way we're going to defeat her is if we stick with the resistance. And that makes us a resistance team just like you. We both want the same thing. We're both fighting the empire. So we belong here. So quit getting in our way!"

"I'm surprised you don't see the blatantly obvious writings on the wall," the serpent added. "If your Scyther buddy trusted us enough to make the offer in the first place, not to mention arranging us travel so we could secretly tail you into Zerferia, and your High Intelligence trusted us enough to let us stay in here, and your registrar let us become an official resistance team… you still suspect you know better than all of them? Can you truly claim that? Pray tell, what do you know that they don't?"

Char was silent. He only clenched his fists tightly, feeling the tingle of his inner ember as it flared with disgust and lingering suspicion.

"I warned you they wouldn't believe us," Seviper hissed. "It was pointless to come down here and check on them. We're done here; we've got more important things to do than to argue with children."

"Yeah," Croagunk spat, looking disdainfully at the Charmander. "Hey, twirps, we've got missions to run. When you're ready to, y'know, actually thank us for saving your lives – which, by the way, wasn't easy – catch us around."

And they just left, a speechless and bewildered Team Ember standing in their wake.

Char instinctively turned to look at the Taillow's reaction. The little bird returned a blank stare of confusion and a shrug.

"Well," Char said, finally breaking the silence, "I think… we should at least go and see if our rooms are still in one piece. We can have some privacy to think about this a bit more."

"I second that," Ray sighed, looking uncomfortable. "I guess we could lock ourselves in there if the base suddenly went on high alert. I think I'd feel safer."

… … …

Making their way back to their team headquarters was a challenge. The Gold Division was bustling with activity as the morning rush was in full force, and trying to walk against the flow of a Pokémon crowd was never pleasant. Char was always afraid that someone's spikes or poisoned barbs would unexpectedly skewer him. He and his friends made a few attempts to push their way to the staircase, but they were always forced back to the entryway of the hospital wing. Eventually, they decided to give up and wait for the crowd to subside, at least enough to make it to the elevator.

Char watched all the Pokémon of the Gold Division marching past, yapping and clamoring with a hundred strange and interesting voices. Some of them seemed happy and excited, others seemed stoic and strong, and others visibly wore contempt for the missions they were assigned. But one thing was prevalent among the troops of the Gold Division: there was energy, so much energy and hope and vibrancy in the room that Char couldn't help feeling a bit uplifted at the sight. It was nothing like the Emerald Division he'd spent a few nights in, where the Pokémon needed to remain hardened and emotionless lest the sting of bitterness destroy them from the inside. These Pokémon were always alive and active and focused, like the whole Gold Division was a place on fire.

Char realized how much he missed this place. This was his home, or the closest place to home he knew as a Pokémon.

For a few moments, he oddly considered to himself that none of the Pokémon paid him much mind. None of them knew what he'd gone through. None of them knew the dangers he'd faced, the legendary Pokémon he'd spoken with, or the disasters he'd escaped from. There they were, all of them on their way to whatever daily missions they had undertaken, their minds absorbed with exploration strategies or route-planning or money-making or politics or whatever else they were doing; none of them knew what Temporal Tower truly looked like on the inside, or what heart-speak was, or what it felt like to die and be reincarnated, or how Dialga's demeanor truly sounded like.

Some caught sight of the little Charmander and let a gaze linger for a few moments, others waved to him, but most kept their eyes upon the road ahead or upon their teammates, leaving the famous and prodigious Char neglected in the corner of the chamber. Most probably didn't even realize Team Ember had taken a vacation at all.

"They don't know the Call is useless," Char realized, speaking quietly to Ray and Saura. "Do you think we should tell them? The Call was always one of their greatest hopes…"

"Nah, let's wait a while," Ray replied, a hint of melancholy creeping into his voice. "No need to tell them if it's just gonna make everyone depressed… We can keep it as our little secret."

Char nodded. He knew that was the right thing to do. There was no need to take away the hope these hardworking Pokémon had if it meant giving them nothing in return.

"Whoa, hey!" Saura shouted, gazing with surprise into the crowd. "I thought I saw someone familiar in there…"

"Hmm? Who?" Char responded, scanning the crowd for anyone he recognized.

"I don't know… it was just a face," Saura replied. "Someone I saw at the Emerald Division, maybe. Or maybe I could just be seeing things…"

"You think someone followed us here from up north?" Ray wondered. "It's possible! We were asleep for two weeks, right? That's enough time for someone to fly down here."

Char was suddenly reminded of Team X, who were no doubt somewhere in that loud procession. No one would ever know they were actually servants of the Master, and indeed, the entire Division might have been enjoying its final day of freedom before the duo would bring back legions of forces from the Master to siege the base. The fire in his stomach turned sour just thinking about it.

"We'll keep an eye out," Char decided. "If someone's here from the Emerald Division, I think we'll run into them soon. Let's just go to our rooms now, alright? There's a break in the crowd. Quick!"

Forcing their way through the steam, Team Ember stumbled into the elevator cart and waited impatiently to be taken to their long-missed rooms.

… … …

Everything was just as they had left it.

The plaque above the door reading "EMBER" in Char's native human language hadn't moved, nor had the four ornate ghost-torches which framed it. Holding his breath, Char pounced toward the door, pushing it next to the frame where the locking mechanism was situated. He forced his claws against it for a moment before realizing it was still locked.

"Uh, we have to get the ghosts to open it," Ray remembered. "You can't open the doors from the outside at all if they're locked like that."

Char sighed, but before he could turn around, the door slid open, revealing a pleased-looking Alakazam.

"I figured you would be coming up here shortly," the High Intelligence officer said. "The doctor told me you had recovered, Char. I welcome you back. Come in, we have some things to discuss."

While Saura and Ray seemed delighted at the personal greeting given by the Division's leader, Char's heart sank into his gut. There was one part of his room he was most looking forward to seeing again: the real-fire torches beside his bed. His mind immediately fled to them, wondering – no, knowing – what High Intelligence had done once they discovered the illegal mechanisms commissioned within his room. Though they had been turned off for the duration of the trip, Char had no doubt that Alakazam had wandered into his room and taken or dismantled them with no further thought.

He felt as though a spike had hit him in the chest, but he focused and retained his composure as best as he could. He knew he probably couldn't have controlled the way his tail-flame was wildly dancing, so he decided to ignore it and show Alakazam the most reverence and respect he could manage.

Shaking with nervousness, Char followed the psychic Pokémon into his own hall and straight to the meeting room.

"The mission was very intense… sir," Char blurted, awkwardly trying to start a conversation. "We have a lot to tell you about."

Char took a seat at the meeting room's table, Saura and Ray filed in beside him, and Alakazam stationed himself at the opposite end of the table, several leafs of paper and scrolls set out in front of him.

"In truth, you have nothing to tell me," Alakazam spoke. "While you were asleep, I took the liberty of extracting your mission report from your memory. I know everything."

"Everything?" Char cried, stifling the incredulous tone of his voice at the very last moment. "So… you know about what happened to Scythe?"

"I do."

"And you know what happened in Temporal Tower?" Ray asked in disbelief. "You know what the Master did?"

"I do."

"And you know… about the Call, I guess," Saura said. "You know why it actually happens."

"Indeed," Alakazam sighed. "Indeed, I do. In many ways, your mission was an utter success. Your expedition has taught us many truths about this universe, many indeed that we have never glimpsed at. And it has answered many questions I have held for as long as I have remained in office here."

An awkward moment of silence presented itself. Char bit his tongue, wanting nothing more than to escape to the privacy of his room and to light his torches. If they were still there. Which they probably weren't.

"But, you see, I did not come to discuss what has happened in the past," Alakazam told the team, rearranging the papers upon the table. "Instead, I have come to discuss what is going to happen from here on out. Char… I beg of you, please pay attention to me. I sense you are not listening."

"S-sorry," Char stammered, shaking his head and gluing his eyes upon his commander. "…sir. I'm just not used to being back here… yet."

Alakazam's eyes narrowed upon him. "Understood, but you will have enough recreation time shortly; you will be relieved of missions for both today and tomorrow to help yourselves become re-acquainted with our facilities. But as of now, I require your full attention. Can you give me your full attention?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good," Alakazam spoke. "Now, then, our business: while it is unfortunate to learn the true uselessness of the Call, a force we have placed our hope in for many decades here in the resistance, and it is even more devastating to hear of Dialga's fate, I have reason to believe that our hope may still lie with you, Char."

This was the last thing Char was expecting to hear. At best, he thought Alakazam would demote him to a training team because his Call was useless.

What was still special about him?

Alakazam proceeded to answer this unspoken question. "As a former human, your past is unknown, but I have reason to believe your nature might be inextricably linked with the Master, seeing as how he was willing to destroy the very time stream in his grand attempt to destroy you. Furthermore, as I recall, when speaking to the Dialga illusion, it mentioned a divine plan which was already in place to dethrone the Master. Does this sound correct?"

"You're right…" Ray gasped, surprised at the memory. "Dialga… or, Celebi-Dialga… he did say that. It made Scythe happy. I remember."

Char remembered it, too. He didn't think much about it at the time, especially after Celebi's illusion had been revealed as fake, but it dawned upon him that Celebi's illusion had purposefully told the truth in almost everything it said. And it had said there was a divine plan against the Master.

Alakazam nodded. "In consideration of these facts, I have concluded that there is a possibility… Char, as a human, may have conceived this very plan. Because this plan might mean the downfall of the Master, I cannot turn a blind eye to its existence. No; I am forced to consider this as a true possibility."

Char's eyes lit up. He suddenly felt thankful that Alakazam had volunteered his genius to put the pieces together in ways he could not. The Division's leader was right; it was a possibility.

"Unfortunately, there are no means by which we can know for sure," Alakazam continued. "No natural means, at the least. Supernatural means, on the other hand, could provide the answers."

Alakazam slid a torn segment of a scroll in Char's direction. Peering down at it, he saw that it held an inky sketch of a strange figure. It was a long, serpentine beast with armor, spikes, and unusually-shaped wings. Its tail curled in knots at the side of the parchment; it had no visible feet.

"This is Giratina," Alakazam said. "Or, at the very least, this is how we believe Giratina's physical form appears. As I recall, Dialga's spirit ordered you to find this Pokémon with the understanding that this Pokémon would tell you everything you had once known as a human but had forgotten as a Charmander, including your true name and the nature of your plan."

As Char stared at the drawing of the underworld god, his stomach felt uneasy. This Pokémon didn't look pleasant or comforting, certainly not like the incarnations of Dialga he had witnessed. Instead, Giratina's form was disturbing, like some kind of twisted sea creature or alien demon. Its depiction on the coarse orange paper didn't make things better, as splotches of ink dripped from its outline like slime or blood.

"That's a Pokémon?" Saura remarked. "That's a weird-looking Pokémon."

"Locating this Pokémon will be your top priority, Team Ember," Alakazam ordered. "But you are not in this alone. I and my colleagues will do our best to research this legendary figure, just as we had done with Temporal Tower and Dialga, and we will compile our findings in an attempt to play a hand in reuniting you with the legendary dragons."

"Thank you," Char replied earnestly. "…sir. I'm in debt to you. I'm not sure I could have done any of this on my own."

"You lead me to my next point," Alakazam spoke, striking Char as odd. "According to Dialga, you were thrown-off course from your plan, and we must do what we can to return you to the proper course of fate, or else we risk never meeting Giratina or having any of our questions answered in the end. I have given some careful thought to this matter…" He sifted through his papers and pulled out another one, this one a clean white rectangular sheet, and set it before Char.

Char blinked at the text. It was written in Unown. He could understand it.

"This is a list of things I need you to accomplish," Alakazam spoke. "I have taken my best considerations, and asked Metagross to perform some general simulations, and here is an agenda I believe you would have accomplished had you not embarked on the Temporal Tower mission. If you follow your old course of action, it becomes more likely that you will encounter the circumstances that will eventually lead you to meeting Giratina."

Char squinted at the list, trying to make out the letters as they were rotated and connected in unusual ways. The list itself was very short, but the handwriting was large.

Char read it:

One. Learn to read and write in footprints.

Two. Install a bulletin board outside of your team base.

Three. Learn to succeed at one-star ranked missions with your team.

Confused, Char flipped the paper over to view the back. It was blank.

"That's it?" Char wondered, turning the page face-up again."Is there another page?"

"No, that's all we have determined you should do for now," Alakazam replied. "These three simple tasks should set off chains of causality which, if we are lucky, will return you more or less to where you were before you left. If there is one thing which fate teaches us, it is that a simple act is never only a simple act. Do you understand? Can you, and your team, comply with this?"

"Yes, sir," Char affirmed, setting the page down and gazing at his high commander. "Anything else?"

"Perhaps," Alakazam said, folding his hands upon the table. "I ask that you please continue to keep your usual secrets from the public at large. Confide your knowledge to your intimate friends and teammates as you see fit to trust them, but do not let the public know about the Call, or Dialga's capture, or anything which could cause mass hysteria. This should be a self-evident directive."

"Alright, sir!" Ray replied cheerily. "That won't be a problem."

"We will make announcements as we determine information becomes important for the Division to know," the psychic Pokémon reassured them. "The weight of these revelations should lie upon us, not upon you."

The Alakazam shuffled several of the papers into his hands, leaving only a few on the table for Char's team to keep. He then stood very formally and addressed the team with a solemn, sincere tone.

"That is all I intended to say to you, Team Ember. There will be no further interruptions from us, unless, of course, a breakthrough is made concerning Giratina's whereabouts or your relation to the Master. Until then… you are a resistance team. You are not a training team, and you are no longer truly children; you answer to no other team and no other Pokémon but my fellow officers and I. Your fate is ultimately in your own hands, and what you choose to do with the help I give you is your own decision. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"I do understand, your honor," Char replied with conviction. "I knew this day was coming, sir. Ever since… I mean, I always knew that things would be different if we ever made it back alive. I'm ready. We can do things on our own. We can be a resistance team."

Char turned to his friends who returned small nods of support. They understood what Char was saying.

It was finally Team Ember's time to shine.

"Then I have no further business here!" Alakazam spoke cheerfully, taking his papers with him. "Good day to you all, Team Ember. I must be off to address some new recruits in a couple of minutes. I should mention; I owe you a reasonable debt for your efforts in the northern lands and the answers you have provided me, and I intend to pay it back to you somehow. But as of now, I will simply thank you for your good work. Please do keep it up. I hope to see you out on the field on the day after tomorrow."

*TZAING*

Alakazam simply disappeared in a strange, distorted flash of light and sound. He had teleported elsewhere.

Char and his friends glanced at one another for a moment, their first true moment of peace and quiet in what seemed like years.

Then Char remembered something. He bolted out of his chair and down to the very end of the hall, the place where the team leader's room stood. He gave an energetic headbutt to the door, opening it easily. On the other side was a dark room with stagnant, dusty air.

Almost reluctant to know the truth, he ran around the edge of the room and activated all of the spiritual torches, touching each one and giving a psychic command much like the way wonder orbs were used. As the flames carved away the darkness, Char squinted into the center of the room and beheld his bed.

The giant fire-dishes were still there.

"Ha-ha-HA!" he cried happily, leaping into his bed and gazing wistfully at one of the huge empty bowls of coal-rocks beside him. They hadn't been taken away. Alakazam probably didn't even enter his room to see them; after all, he could only see through minds, not through walls and doors.

Just this one little thing, this silly little perk, seemed to make everything worth it. This was the one comfort he always seemed to remember when his mind wandered back to the Gold Division base, and now this was his reward for all those hours spent in the cold, snow, and deadly dungeons.

He spat flames into the metal dishes, sustaining his breath until the coal-rocks caught on fire. He then scampered down and around the base of the dishes, opening the oxygen-grates so the fire would gather faster. Finally, he sat upright on his bedding, marveling at his work and waiting for his teammates to catch up.

Alright, alright, enough acting childish, he said to himself, sighing contentedly. I'm finally happy. Time to put the past behind me and start acting mature. I can do this.

It's just like Saura said. I was a leader as a human, so I can be a leader as a Pokémon. It's that simple.

And it's all going to start right after… right after I relax for a while.

… … …

For the next few hours, Team Ember took their well-deserved rest. Char, Saura, and Ray curled up upon their respective bed-nests, staring at the ceiling and saying nothing save for a quiet comment every now and then.

For just this one moment, there were no missions, no crises, no one dying and no one threatening to kill them. It was absolutely heavenly. Char let the pulses of warmth from his bedside flames massage him as he tried to clear his mind of all thoughts about anything. After all, if he thought too hard, he might remember that their team was totally broke, devoid of any valuable supplies, and without their Scyther mentor they had come to rely on for so long. And when he did remember those things, he drowned them out with the blessedly warm breezes from the fire and told himself that it wouldn't matter. They could overcome anything. The Temporal Tower mission proved that.

"Hey, I've been thinking," Ray uttered absentmindedly. "What are we going to do about Team X?"

Char softly bit his tongue. This was an issue he couldn't merely avoid or ignore. This one required some thought.

"I… guess we should have asked Alakazam at the meeting earlier," Char admitted. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of that."

"You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if maybe Alakazam knows about them already," Saura mentioned. "If he collected our memories, he would have seen what happened in the Scarred Crags and he would have known they had brought us back here and came into the base. So maybe… maybe they really are trustworthy. I can't believe I'm saying this, but… maybe they really are a resistance team."

"But on the other hand, maybe they're not," Char grumbled. "I don't know, I'm just getting this foreboding feeling every time I think about them. Just… remember? Remember how they kept trying to weasel their way into this base? And remember how they said they serve the Master with all of their hearts? I just don't see how we can feel safe with them walking around the base. For all we know, they could be scheming to get their way into High Intelligence's treasury and steal their relics. That's what they do; they're thieves, after all."

"But can we trust Alakazam's judgment?" Ray wondered. "Or maybe Alakazam really doesn't know about them. Alakazam doesn't read minds all the time. He might not have read theirs. The real question is, can we trust Scythe's judgment about them?"

Char shook his head. "Before Scythe left, he tried to teach us one more thing," he recalled. "Scythe's final lesson: don't blindly trust anyone. Not even him. So… no, I'm not going to blindly trust anyone this time. If we want to trust Team X, we need something to base that trust in. Some kind of evidence. Maybe… maybe we need to see them make some sort of sacrifice."

"Well, uh, they did kinda save our lives," Saura said meekly. "Hard as I try, I can't overlook that."

"Right, yeah, but… that doesn't count, because they were willing to do anything to breach this base," Char considered. "What we need is… We need to know what kind of decisions they make, and what kind of things they say when they think nobody is watching."

"Alright, let's eavesdrop on them!" Ray said excitedly. "But wait, how are we gonna pull that off? We don't even know where they're staying or what they do around this place. This might take a lot of work."

Char didn't reply.

Something in his mind had clicked; he remembered something from a long time ago, something from before they had left the base. His eyes glazed over as he stared into the fire and contemplated a certain option that had just come to him. Perhaps there was a way to peer into the mind of the poisonous team after all…

A voice echoed in his mind.

Stay on guard, and return safely.

I'll be waiting for you.

"I know how we can tell if Team X are good guys or not," Char declared. "I know how we can find out."

"How?" Ray wondered, curious at the change in Char's tone.

"Follow me," Char instructed, dropping out of his bed and heading for the door. "There's someone we're going to meet."

… … …

*knock, knock*

Char rapped on a certain door that was a few floors below his own and on the opposite end of the complex.

"Whose hall is this one?" Ray wondered. "I don't think I ever met the team that lives here."

"That's because no team lives in here," Char told him, knocking on the door again. "It's deserted. But there's a certain Pokémon who's hiding in here… well, they could be, if they're still in there after all this time… HELLO? Anyone in there? Eva?"

"Eva?" Saura repeated quietly. "You mean, that filthy rotten Espeon… She's here?"

Char…?

Char stopped knocking when he heard the telepathy.

Char, was that your voice? Are you there?

He almost couldn't believe that Eva had managed to hold out in these deserted rooms for the entire time they were gone. Yet, there she was, her telepathic reply resonating in his head.

She had waited for him, just as she had promised.

One dedicated Pokémon right here, Char thought. Either that, or just desperate.

He waved off his friends so Eva wouldn't see them at first, and tried to force their presence off of the surface of his mind. Though part of him was relieved to meet the Espeon again, a larger part of him had a bone to pick with her. Several bones, in fact. She was going to need to answer to her past transgressions if he was to trust her with the task at hand.

The door opened by a crack, and Char spotted her deep violet eyes glimmering inside. She peered out the door, as if in terror of monsters that were hunting her.

Char! It is you! She shouted telepathically, her mind beaming with joy and relief. I heard rumors, fragments of thoughts, saying you had returned, but your room was deserted! And then I sensed Alakazam nearby, and I became terrified…

"Eva!" Char hissed, not caring about speaking telepathically since he wanted his friends to hear. "You've been hiding here this entire time?"

You had my word, Eva replied, bowing her head. I would never go back on my word to a human. I stayed here, because after all this while it remained the most effective place to hide, and a place where I could occasionally spy upon stray thoughts which Pokémon sent my way. Char, I am… overjoyed to see that you have survived the attack which Scythe was planning. The attack you asked me not to tell you about, remember? Because I would have, if only you'd have let me.

Eva opened the door a bit more, and Char got a better look at her. Her velvet fur was a mess, patchy and overgrown in places. True terror and desperation sparkled behind her eyes, as though she had been running for her life just moments ago. Through them, she gazed upon Char with the same sense of adoration and concern she had shown him months ago.

I sense bitterness and hesitation in you, Eva told him, her telepathic voice seeming so gentle and nurturing. Please, despite having lost a deal of my… dignity over these past weeks, please know that things between you and I have not changed. I still… wish to be your servant. Help me remain hidden from High Intelligence, and I promise you, Char: every mind in this Division will be opened at your command. You will know any secret they keep from you, even Xatu's or Alakazam's if that's what you desire.

Char scowled. "Alright, Eva. That's fair," he told her. "But could we maybe start with… yours?"

Char motioned for his friends to step into view, and Eva balked upon seeing them, giving an audible eeep and quickly retreating back into the darkness of the room. She tried to close the door with telekinesis, but Char kept it from closing with his foot.

Char! You… brought your… team, Eva stammered as Char forced his way into the dark room. I am in… no condition to… entertain visitors! Char… why?

Char glanced around the room. It was dusty and stank of rotten berries. Only two ghastly lanterns were lit at a far corner of the hall, presumably lighting the way to the bedroom where Eva stayed and casting a dim glow throughout the whole chamber.

The Espeon took careful steps backward as Saura and Ray filed into the room. Char held his tail forward to light the way, and in the light he saw the distress upon Eva's face. The fur on her back was standing on end.

"We have a few questions we need to ask you," Char told the frightened Espeon threateningly. "Eva… back when you tested us for the Call, why did you blackmail us?"

Char… we've been over this! Eva replied nervously. It was because…

"Speak, so we can all hear you!" Char snapped, causing the Espeon to jump back.

"Very… well," she spoke in a cracked whisper, her true voice sounding broken and ineloquent compared to her telepathy. "I told you this already, Char… I… I… after I… tested Saura for the Call and he didn't have it, I decided I… didn't want to… expend the effort to test you. So I… skipped you. I thought it was pointless. I didn't realize… because the odds were so astronomically unlikely…"

Char and Saura glanced at one another. "Tell her," Char told his friend.

"Eva," Saura said carefully, stepping closer to the unkempt Espeon as though to confront her. "I have the Call. I was tested in the Emerald Division."

Eva blinked. For a brief moment, she squinted in confusion before her expression turned to pure dread.

"You can't…" Eva coughed, her voice raspy and weeping now. "You… no. No!" she twitched nervously and glanced all around her as though searching for an escape route. "No… so what you are meaning to say is that… you, Saura, and you, Char… you are… both… Call-bearers…"

"See our problem, Eva?" Char replied. "So now we know you didn't test Saura either. You didn't actually test either of us! Instead, you just gave Saura a little pain, and you gave me blackmail. So what's your secret, Eva? Why didn't you test us?! Why did you lie?!"

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Eva whispered, beginning to break down. "How can… how… it wasn't possible, for you both to have the Call. This wasn't supposed to…"

She sat herself on the floor in defeat, her head drooping ashamedly away from those who confronted her.

"Fine," she rasped. "I'll tell you the truth. Close the door and I'll tell you."

Ray did so, and Team Ember crowded around the poor Espeon, expectantly awaiting her reply.

"I didn't test you because…" she hesitated, her shame-filled eyes turned to Char. "…because I don't know how. I don't know how to test for the Call. I never learned how."

"This is starting to make some sense now," Saura uttered. "Finally."

"But wait," Eva said, glaring disdainfully at Saura's comment. "I – I do have a talent. But this talent is not for sensing the Call. You see…"

She pawed at the ground for a moment before giving her answer.

"I am a con artist," she admitted simply, looking each of them in the eye. "My talent is… lying. I use my limited psychic abilities to feed Pokémon words they want to hear, and I gain their trust. See, my psychic potential is pathetically weak for an Espeon. It always has been this way; for whatever reason, there was a malfunction in my evolution, and I was never able to train in the ways of the psychics because my signals are inadequate. So I did what I could with the power I had, and I learned to deceive Pokémon into trusting me, and become accepted by them, and profit from them. As I did with Scythe. I convinced him that I could hear the Call by reading the responses he expected me to make. When he trusted me, he paid me to help him secretly search for the Call. And I was able to live here in the base. Now that I lost him, I thought I could make a client out of you, Char, and get out of this abandoned hall into someplace more dignified. Even if you weren't going to pay me, I just wanted somewhere to stay. With other Pokémon, I mean. As a psychic, even one so pathetic as myself, loneliness is torturous; I require the mind-waves of other Pokémon for comfort, and for… sanity."

She sighed deeply, running a paw over her head. "And that is the truth, team of Ember, and without any guile to hide it. As you requested."

Char hummed in contemplation. Though he was no psychic, he was certain the Espeon had told the truth this time. He turned to Saura, who had a mixed look of sympathy and uncertainty on his face, and at Ray, who looked as though he would cry for her.

"What now, human-turned-Char?" Eva spoke dejectedly, glaring at the floor. "I'm not even reading your mind now, I have closed off my mind. So what will become of me now, in your eyes? I will soon be banished from the Gold Division, perhaps even worse. There's a new team that will move into this hall soon. I have nowhere else to go…"

Char turned to his team, as if to soundlessly ask them a question. They shared an unspoken answer.

"Eva," Char said gently, "We have fourteen unused bedrooms in our hall. You're welcome to stay in one."

Eva shook her head. "You're insane," she sighed. "I just told you that I'm a filthy liar, by career, and you still choose to trust me? Are you even listening to yourself talk?"

"Well… to tell you the truth, we could use a filthy liar," Char told her with a small grin. "What I mean to say is… we could use your services. We've never been all that good with the division politics. You could help us with that. And maybe… if we all decide on it, maybe you could be a member of our team later on."

Eva's expression changed; Char saw a twinkle of pride in her eyes.

"I would not want to join your team," she admitted, pawing the ground again. "Not… not yet, at the least. I would not wish to associate you directly with someone who is effectively a Division outlaw such as myself. Although, in regards to the prospect of helping you… In exchange for shelter and rations, I would do anything for you. And I say that not as a liar this time, but as a beggar. And perhaps a friend, if you would permit it."

"So… it's a deal, then?" Ray said, looking quite excited at the prospect of having another friend.

Eva laughed bitterly. "As you can see, I'm not in the position to reject any offer I'm presented with," she sighed. "But it would be an honor to work with you. Not all of my respect for you was fabricated, Char. I am truly fascinated at the idea of working for a human. I will try not to let you down."

Char smiled. "Alright," he decided. "You can live with us. But to start out with, there's one condition."

"Yes?" Eva asked respectfully.

"You need to do us a favor."

… … …

Later that day, it was time for Char to put his plan into motion.

"So even if you're not such a very good psychic, can you still read secrets?" Saura wondered to the Espeon as he and Char helped to escort her quietly through the empty base halls.

Yes, mostly, Eva explained. Reading secrets requires cleverness, not force. It is trivial for any respectable psychic to read the thoughts on the very top of one's mind, and though I hesitate to call myself a respectable psychic, I am no exception. I can read secrets by striking conversation, bringing up the proper topics, and causing the secret to rise to the top of the target's mind. For instance, if I wanted to know how much money you possessed in the bank, I might come to you and say something along the lines of, 'I just purchased a mobility scarf from Kecleon,' and that would raise pangs of jealousy in your mind, as well as the particular number I wanted. It is a game of strategy, a game which happens to be my specialty. I will have no problems learning the true fidelities of Team X, as long as you ask the questions I need you to ask.

Char and Saura tried to act naturally as they conversed with the Espeon, knowing she had notoriety with some members of the base and trying to make it look as though she was simply a business partner. It was uncomfortable to imagine that Alakazam could teleport before them at any point and banish her on sight, and that wasn't to say anything of the other enemies she had apparently made which she seemed too exasperated to list. It was lucky that Scythe was not a threat at this point in time; he would have probably been the most dangerous one to meet with.

Char tried not to feel uncomfortable. With enough time, he figured, maybe she would become an accepted member of the resistance again. She had at least taken some time to groom herself so she no longer looked like the cave-rat she had become.

Ray came bounding up the nearby stairs.

"I got 'em," he announced. "They're in the base after all. Floor nine, next to cold storage. I saw them go in the room where the freezers are. I don't know what they're doing, but they're there."

Well done, Eva said to him. Now, I will need to go to floor eight. If I am in the room directly above, I will be able to read their waves. Alternately, a dark corner or a hidden room on floor nine would work, but if my only option is the freezer, I'd prefer looking at floor eight first.

"Sounds like a plan," Char said. "Alright, Ray, take her to floor eight. Saura and I will catch them and keep them busy.

… … …

I've got them, Eva announced as Char and Saura hesitated to approach Team X. I can read them at this distance. Remember, Char and Saura, you can speak to me as well. Just imagine your thoughts being broadcast upward and I'll hear them. The only disadvantage is that your friends won't hear what you say.

Right, Char replied silently.

Well? Are you going to go in? Eva said oddly. You were supposed to be there by now.

Char peered into the next room which was the freezer lobby. It was a medium-sized room with low ceiling and a brown, tiled floor. A few small metallic doors were fixed on the walls, each leading to the cold storage rooms. They were not nearly as large or heavy-duty as the ones he'd seen in the Emerald Division, but he imagined that they'd be just as cold inside and he had no interest venturing in.

Instead, Char fixated upon the only Pokémon standing in the room. Team X stood on the opposite end from the door, yammering to one another about something. It seemed like idle chatter, and a very odd place to be occupying at this time of day. Char couldn't make out anything they said, but he knew Eva had linked with their minds from the floor above and knew every word they spoke.

We'll go now, Char told the Espeon. But what should we say?

Simply making your presence known would be a good start, Eva replied. I'll let you know when they start to reveal their secrets, and what to say.

"Alright, let's do this," Char hissed to his best friend. "Let's see what Team X is hiding."

They walked into the room. Team X continued yammering to one another, not noticing their sudden company.

"I sold it to Kecleon," Croagunk said. "No sense holding onto them."

"Idiot!" the Seviper hissed. "We needed those! We're short on orbs, good sir, in case you haven't noticed."

"Heh heh, it's called liquidity, my dear friend," the frog shot back. "Just buy it back later when it's on sale. Cheap profit. Besides, we wouldn't use all six of those orbs on the same day."

"Except that any one of them could have been useful, and now we don't have them," the Seviper seethed. "Croagunk, look at me. We're never going to get anywhere in this place without supplies. Supplies get us through dungeons, not money. You have no earthly sense of –"

They turned in surprise to notice their company. Their jovial attitude turned cocky and smug, as expected.

"Peanuts," Croagunk addressed them. "What's the deal now? Need something?"

"Please, spare us a lashing, we've had plenty of them in the mystery dungeon today," Seviper said. "And we've nothing to even show for it. Croagunk here went behind my back and sold all the rewards we got for pouch-change."

"That pouch-change wasn't taxed by the Division, now was it?" the Croagunk returned. "It's called gaming the system. Learn it. But yeah, Peanuts, if you're just here to argue with us, do us all a favor and scram. We're not in the mood for it at the moment. In fact, we're about to be busy."

Char fished for words. "Actually, we, um… we wanted to apologize."

Croagunk looked surprised, but Char couldn't tell if his reaction was sarcastic or not.

"Hey, now that's something I didn't think you were capable of saying, heh heh heh," he goaded. "Go for it, kiddos. Apologize away. We're all ears!"

Their attitude was making Char's fire roil with annoyance, but he made an honest attempt at letting it slide. After all, he wasn't after their respect. He was after their motives.

Saura spoke up, piecing together a forced reply. "Yeah, uh… I'm sorry… we both are… for lashing out at you and all. Thank you for saving our lives from Zerferia. We know that was hard and you didn't have to do it. We owe you."

"Am I hearing things?" Croagunk gasped in mock-shock. "This can't be! Respect? Actual, down-to-earth respect? Are you getting this, Seviper?"

"Yeah, I'm hearing the same," Seviper returned. "Can't say I believe it, but it looks like they're saying something sensible for once. By the way, you're not welcome. We only did it to get into the base, and we have no real concern for you. But we appreciate the sentiment."

Char's flare of rage was cut off by a telepathic announcement.

I'm getting something, Eva called down. There's a train of thought building in the Seviper, and I think we can pull it out. Try saying this:

"To be fair, all those times we rejected you, we were just trying to be a good resistance team," Char repeated as instructed. "If we let you in so easily, we might as well have let an enemy in too, and then the Division would be destroyed. And you wouldn't have been able to join it."

"Yeah, we had no way of really knowing," Saura added, presumably also at Eva's instruction. "If we just took your word for it, what if you really were bad guys? We would have ruined everything."

The Seviper appeared thoughtful, swiveling his body around and coiling up his tail. "He's got you there, Croagunk," he teased. "The Peanuts make a good point."

Yes! Progress! Eva cheered. There's something coming to the surface. I think it's only a few thoughts away. Also, Ray says 'hi'. He's keeping watch.

Char couldn't restrain a smile.

"What're you laughin' at, firebreath?" Croagunk shouted at him. "You think you cornered us? Think you can just… blame it all on us, huh now?"

"I'm certain that's not what he meant," the Seviper said to him, then to Char: "You need to pardon my colleague. He has temper issues."

"I DO NOT HAVE TEMPER ISSUES!"

"Then calmly explain to us why you're yelling."

They're actually on the intelligent side, surprisingly, Eva warned them. They know what they're doing. I believe they've conditioned one another to appear clumsy and idiotic so that they would be underestimated by foes. But they're respectable fighters. Think twice before crossing them.

Croagunk took a swing at his partner, but the serpent shifted his head and dodged it. Char watched them bicker and gave an ironic chuckle at Eva's definition of "respectable".

"Whose side are you on now?" the frog demanded. "What's the problem, huh?"

"The problem is that I believe we made a mistake when we told these children that we served the Master," the Seviper said, eyeing Char sideways. "If you think about it, do you really think that would have gone over well with anyone else in this place? How do you think the gatekeepers or the registrar would have responded if we just waltzed up to them and proclaimed some kind of patriotism for the Master? We'd not have gotten this far. It only worked with the Scyther because the Scyther was nuts. Dare I say, these Peanuts might be as sane as they come."

Interesting! Eva reported. I just found a very unusual thought in the Seviper's consciousness.

What is it? Char called back. I don't know why, but I think Seviper is actually siding with us.

Seviper is under the impression that the Master is… I mean to say… They believe the Master is good, and also that the resistance is good, Eva explained. This probably indicates the other one's loyalties as well. They view the Master, and the resistance which opposes him, as… on the same side?

That's a joke, Char thought to himself. The Master tried to kill me.

What? Eva said in surprise. What do you mean?

Never mind, Char replied quickly, backpedaling. I forgot you were listening to my thoughts for a moment. But I don't get it. How could they think we're on the same side as the Master? Doesn't that defeat the point of calling ourselves, you know, the 'resistance'? That's ridiculous.

Feelings often are irrational and ridiculous, Eva said amusedly. There's nothing unusual about that. But the trick is to find the root cause of those feelings. Carry on the conversation for a bit more, and I'll have that answer for you.

"Croagunk, I believe we offer these kids an apology of our own," Seviper said. "They took the time out of their busy lives to come down and make amends with us, and we stomped on them. Perhaps they're merely looking for some respect as well."

"Well, they wouldn't have their godforsaken lives left if we hadn't pulled them out of the snow!" Croagunk shouted, stomping around and punching the air in anger. "How's that for showing respect? We don't need to show them any more than that."

"But as I said just moments ago, plain as the day, we only did that to get into the base. We meant them no respect by that. They have every right to feel threatened by us, because we've given them no reason not to."

Interrupt them, Eva instructed to Char, sounding urgent. Remember to sound as honest as you can, and say this:

Char swallowed hard; this next line took a measure of courage. But he stepped up and he shouted just what Eva wanted him to shout:

"Hey, guys. Maybe we could… start this all over?" Char called to the poisonous team, faking humility as best as he could. "Look, maybe it's because the first job request we ever took in this place was to get into your hideout. It was our job to be your enemies and that got us off on the wrong foot. Let's forget that ever happened, alright? We can start over."

"Oh? Now you want to be friends?" Croagunk spat, laughing bitterly. "Hate to break it to you, but I don't think we have the stomach for that."

"Maybe not friends," Saura said, stepping up beside Char. "But we could be allies. After all, we're in the same base, fighting on the same side, right? You said you were fighting someone that works for the Master. That's good enough for us."

Croagunk paused, as though he was genuinely surprised Char had actually listened to something he'd said. Seviper smiled, but not evilly.

Got it! Eva called down in triumph. That's precisely what's going on. Char, you and Team X have a common enemy: a Pokémon named Enigma. That's all they care about. They want to destroy a Pokémon named Enigma who is on the Master's side. Their so-called fidelity to the Master doesn't mean anything. Perhaps it is misguided, but their service to the Master has no bearing upon their actions. They mean you no harm, and they have no intention of infiltrating this base. They just want the Division's support in opposing Enigma. That's all. There are no deeper motives. They hate Enigma with the same passion that most of the resistance hates the Master.

Char blinked, processing this information.

"That's exactly what they've been saying all along," Saura hissed quietly in disbelief. "They were telling the truth."

There you have it, Eva said, proud of herself. My verdict is that they're trustworthy. That's your answer.

Char couldn't believe himself.

Perhaps he had wanted Team X to be villains all along. Perhaps it was just easier to believe.

But they weren't villains; not really. They were just fighting their own war, and they needed help.

Char and his team had always assumed they had been lying, but to prejudiced ears, the truth sounded too much like a lie.

Maybe the minds of other Pokémon were more complex than he gave them credit for.

Char had his answer. He could go about his everyday life without worrying that the poisonous team was plotting to destroy them. He could let them mind their own business. They were harmless.

"Alright, alright," Croagunk said reluctantly, but with a hint of amusement. "Okay, good idea. Let's start all over. Hi, I'm Croagunk, and this is Seviper. We're Team X. N—nice to meet you."

Char obliged. It was the least he could do. "I'm Char, this is Saura, and Ray the Raichu is somewhere else. We're Team Ember."

"The pleasure is ours, I'm sure," Seviper said half-ironically. "Now, with that out of the way, we're about to start some training, so we'd be thrilled if you'd clear out. Alright?"

"Training? Down here?" Saura said oddly. "Next to the freezers? You know, there's a dojo upstairs."

"We know about the dojo; we just enjoy training in private," Seviper said. "Until they start preparing dinner, this room is no thoroughfare."

"Fair enough," Char said, trying to escape from the awkward confrontation as fast as he could. "Alright, see you around."

He turned to flee. Saura followed.

"Hey, Peanuts!"

Char cringed. Against his better judgment, he answered to the call, facing the Croagunk once more.

"So is this it?" the frog shouted. "We just gonna go about each other's business and not meet up anymore?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Char replied. "Don't see why not."

"Well, for one, I think that'd be a real shame," Croagunk replied, nodding to his partner. "You aren't half bad a team, you know that? You went through Temporal Tower and lived to tell the tale. That's not something we can croak at."

Char felt confused. It took him a moment to realize that the Croagunk had actually given him a compliment.

With a subtle swagger, the frog approached the Charmander. "It seems to me, a promising team such as your own would be needing some rivals," he said.

"Rivals?" Saura squeaked.

"Yeah," Croagunk said, smirking. "Not enemies, just someone to… y'know, keep you on your toes? Help you get stronger? Competition breeds character and all. And if you want to know a secret, we feel a bit lonely here. We could use some friendly rivalry our own, 'cause… well, we aren't the best team in the world either. No shame in saying it."

Char didn't know what to say. Croagunk was actually showing humility.

He's not faking it, is he? Char called up to Eva.

Not in the slightest, Eva replied with a hint of laughter in her telepathic voice. Want to know what's on his mind right now? "Rivals: friends who do their best not to act like friends."

Saura nearly cracked up, and Char knew he had heard Eva's reply.

"Deal," Char said, resisting the urge to shake hands after he remembered it wasn't Pokémon tradition. "Rivals."

"Heh, heh!" Croagunk chuckled, looking pleased and giving Char a teasing punch in the side of his head. "Better start watching your back."

"You, too!" Char shouted back, deciding to join in the fun. "See you around!"

"Yeah, you can count on it," Croagunk said, "Next time you're – oh! Boss! There you are!"

Croagunk looked surprised at something above Char's head.

Char spun around and was nearly horrified to find a large ghost Pokémon looming over him. It had a large, black, zig-zagging body, two massive hands, a single red eye, and a strange metallic helmet.

"Waaah!" Saura yelped, jumping backwards from the intimidating Pokémon.

"Boo," the ghost said ironically. "Good evening, Char and Saura. I'm Dusknoir, leader of Team X. I was overseer of your rescue operation from Zerferia. It is good to see that you're finally awake."

"Wait, you have a boss?" Char said almost reflexively, the thought having never crossed his mind that Team X had more than two members.

"Well, uh, yeah, you think we'd be a team without a boss?" Croagunk said oddly. "I'd like to know how that would work."

Still trying to overcome his surprise at the large figure of the Ghost Pokémon, Char watched as the Dusknoir produced an object from inside his own body.

It was a small, round object with a circle on the front. Half was white, the other half was pink and purple.

Char's breath caught in his throat.

No.

That can't be. That can't be what I think it is. …Can it?

Before Char could say anything, the Dusknoir pitched the object across the room. The Croagunk, who had already backed up to the far wall, skillfully caught it.

"WAIT!" Char cried, panicking. "What… what is that, exactly?"

"Heh heh heh, only the most valuable object in all of Ambera," Croagunk bragged, tossing the ball from one hand to the other and judging its weight. "Master Ball. It's a human Poké Ball, but it can imprison any Pokémon you throw it at – on the first try."

"Can I see it?" Char nearly squeaked, feeling his memories and anticipations circling through his head like a whirlwind.

"Sure," Croagunk said. "Catch."

Croagunk hurled the ball at Char's face, a masterful pitch. Acting on instinct, Char reached up and caught it.

"Nice catch," Saura commented flatly. "Nice throw, too."

"Yeaah, years of practice," Croagunk said. "Careful with that thing. Just don't arm it. You'll capture yourself. That kind of thing's happened before, by the way. It's not pretty."

Char turned the small, spherical object over and over in his hands, admiring its beauty. He traced a claw over the tiny button on the front, over the strange pink bulges on the top, and over the letter "M" – an Unown letter – imprinted between them.

"How did you get this?" Saura gasped in awe, marveling at the alien object with eyes wider than they were when he saw Dialga.

"Long story," Dusknoir said. "This ball used to belong to a Pokémon. We had it reset; we can use it again."

"Humans are greedy with their Poké Balls," Seviper explained. "They designed the things to only be used once, even if they failed to catch a Pokémon. If they caught one, it would imprint with the Pokémon's DNA so the ball would be forever attached to just one Pokémon. See? That's so you'd have to buy more and more and more, and the greedy humans would get money. But with some technical knowhow, you can take off the DNA imprint after the Pokémon is released, and it can be used again."

I can't believe I'm holding this! Char thought to himself. What if…

What if this is the ball that I saw in my dream?

"How does it work?" Saura wondered. "How do Pokémon fit in there?"

"No one knoooows!" Dusknoir said spookily. "It's a human secret how it actually contains Pokémon. We'll probably never figure it out. But it has something to do with the material it's made out of. If you want to open it, gently tap that button," the ghost instructed. "Don't hold it down; that'll arm it for capture. Just tap it."

Char did so, clicking down the button on the front of the ball and releasing it again. There was a delay of about three seconds, and with a tiny ping sound, the ball snapped open.

Inside the ball, it seemed there was a hexagonal network of mirrors all meant to reflect light at one another. Char wondered if Pokémon were actually converted into light energy and endlessly reflected off the mirrors.

"That delay is because some humans like it when they toss the ball and the Pokémon bursts out in midair," Seviper said. "For showmanship, I suppose."

"Alright, you've had your turn," Croagunk said, reaching for the ball. "Give it back. I have some pitching to practice. We're going to use this to catch Enigma, and we only got one shot, so we've gotta practice."

Char barely heard anything they were saying. He stared at the ball, caressing it with his fingertips, as one singular thought took hold of him:

This isn't it.

I'm sure of it. This isn't the ball I saw in my dreams!

No… it looks different. The one Dialga and Palkia were holding… It has a different design.

This isn't the same Poké Ball.

And Dialga is still captured somewhere, obviously not in this one…

Could it be…?

Could there really be more than one Poké Ball in Ambera?


Author's note:

Welcome back! I would like to thank everybody for their understanding in my absence. I really needed that break! Unlike the forced break I took in the middle of the Temporal Tower expedition, this one was actually refreshing.

I have a few notes for returning readers.

One: As of the revision, I have divided up the existing part of the story into three "seasons," previously called "parts." The seasons are named "Gold," "Emerald," and "Temporal." This chapter begins the new Season IV. Three down, three to go!

Two: I have changed the name of "evolution stones" because they were getting confused with the game items used to evoke evolution, like fire stones. As of the revision, they are now called "feral-shards." If you're curious as to why they have that new name, don't worry; it'll be mentioned again very soon.

Three: Document 58, previously "The Inevitable Author's Note," has been updated with actual content, so go check that out if you're interested. Try to read it in the mindset of foreshadowing the climax of the previous season, because that's what I tried to make it feel like.

Four: I answer a lot of reviews you guys post, especially if you're asking me questions. So if you want an actual answer to your questions, be sure to log in rather than posting an anonymous review.

Finally: As of this writing, the revision is not yet complete. I will continue to work on it between new chapters. By the time the revision catches up to this chapter, I will have probably found errors to fix anyway.

The following season is one I have been looking forward to writing for over two years. I'm really excited, so I hope this will mark the beginning of frequent, steady updates again.

Glad to be back! See you next update.

*Chapter 72*: Chapter 52: We Meet Again

Chapter 52

Char watched Dusknoir and Croagunk play catch with the Master Ball for a few minutes, impressed at how masterfully the poisonous frog could launch the thing across the room. The priceless ball always flew straight and swift like a missile beneath the low ceiling, landing safely in Dusknoir's large hands. It was obvious that Croagunk had been practicing for a long time, and Char wondered why he even bothered to keep training; it seemed, at least to him, that the Croagunk was already the best there ever was at handling a Poké Ball. But he supposed, if he only had one shot at capturing this "Enigma," he needed to keep himself from growing rusty at the skill until the day came when he'd need to make that one perfect throw.

After a few minutes, Char got bored, exchanged a gesture of acknowledgement with his new rivals, and returned to his room with his friends. He and his team still had lots of relaxing left on the day's agenda, and now they could rest even more peacefully knowing that the Gold Division base had probably not been breached by a true enemy.

… … …

Char rested between his two wonderful fires and sighed contently. He knew it was late in the afternoon; there was still plenty of time to slack off and enjoy the peace of the moment. Tomorrow, although there was no mission that needed to be run, he knew there was much to be done: he had to read the news, collect the new job listings, find out what risk level the base was at, look through whatever supplies were left in the closet that weren't lost on the Temporal Tower mission… but that was all for tomorrow. Today, he would rest.

"Urk…"

A small, pained noise escaped from the Bulbasaur's throat. Saura was pawing at his forehead, cringing.

"Saura, are you alright?" Char asked with concern.

Saura shook his head. "Ah, it's nothing," he muttered. "My head feels a little strange."

Oh… Char realized, his heart dropping. It's been so long, I almost forgot that Saura was hurt by a Watcher… Ahh, this felt so much like our old times together that I forgot that something had changed.

"Oh… your headaches aren't coming back, are they?" Char asked worriedly.

"Ahh, I'll be fine," Saura reaffirmed, shrugging.

"Maybe we can get Eva to try helping you," Ray suggested. "She has to be able to do something to help. Maybe just kill the pain again like Gardevoir did."

"Nah, I don't think I'm ready to let her into my mind again," Saura said frankly. "Besides, Gardevoir said he couldn't help me, and he was good at being psychic. Eva's not a good psychic, so what do you think she could do? I'm just going to… have to live with it. Uhn…"

Saura cringed again, rubbing his forehead against the rim of his bedding. Char pitied him; he knew what getting touched by one of the wayward newborns felt like, and though he had the great fortune of being revived from the curse, he could still vividly remember the sickening feeling and the bad dreams it had given him. He didn't want to believe that Saura would be stuck with those for the rest of his life.

He wondered if evolution would do anything to help Saura someday. Until then, perhaps he would just need to learn to cope with the pain. Maybe.

Are you doing alright, Eva? Char called, sending his thoughts to the newest resident of his hall.

I am comfortable, Eva reported from the room she occupied. Thank you. I am indebted to you for letting me stay here. I promise not to be a bother; I'll stay out of your way and fend for myself when I need to go about the base. But thank you. If you need anything, I'll be available for –

He felt a sudden questioning thought come from the Espeon.

There's something bothering you? she called. What is it?

Hey, you promised not to read our minds, Char said half-bitterly, suddenly feeling paranoid of her.

I'm not reading your minds, Eva replied calmly. Hence, I asked "What is it?" to you, instead of learning for myself. I will not break my promise. But realize, you send feelings to me with your words.

Char calmed his heart, and scorning himself for being still too quick to judge his new ally. He knew he would need to get used to giving her the benefit of the doubt.

It's Saura, he told her. Saura got caught by a Watcher on the trip, and now he has nightmares that give him headaches.

Oh, I didn't realize, Eva replied, sounding genuinely surprised. It's not as bad as Scythe, I hope? What are the symptoms?

He has a recurring nightmare about his family, Char explained to the Espeon. He keeps seeing them getting captured by the Master over and over again. It happens whenever he thinks of them. I – I'll try to convince him to let you look at him.

Watcher curses are strange beasts, Eva replied with some sadness. Though as bad as they are, any Pokémon who escapes the Watchers with their life is fortunate, as they have been known to harm their victims in many ways worse than twisting the mind. I… confess, it might not be within my power to help him, but if he will let me examine him, I will do what I can. Regardless, please keep me informed. It would be a shame to see it worsen –

Char felt a pang of surprise from the psychic Pokémon.

I think there's someone knocking on your door, she reported. I can't tell who it is; their mind is strange. It could be a dark-type.

"Someone's at the door?" Char said to his teammates. "Eva says there's someone at the door."

"SQUAAAAAAAAK!"

A very loud bird-call resounded through the team's chamber, almost startling Char enough to make him fall off his bed.

"Wait, that could be the mail-bird," Ray considered. "Sounds kind of impatient, though."

"I thought they don't usually come around this time," Saura said. "Only in the middle of night and in the morning. Unless there's something urgent."

"SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!"

"Sounds like something might be urgent," Ray said, jumping out of his bed.

"Alright, alright, we're coming!" Char groaned, dropping onto the floor and hurrying to the foyer. He sent a thought towards the Espeon: Eva, please tell them we're coming to the door! We'll be right there!

Char scampered through his team's hall, trying to imagine who could be bothering him at this time of day. He knew he was a popular Charmander among the base, at least by association with Team Remorse, but he didn't actually expect anyone to require his team's services, or to need to speak with him on a professional basis like Alakazam had. He knew his team wasn't ready for that, and he hoped whoever was screeching at his door understood this fact.

Nevertheless, he knew he needed to start acting like a team leader, and he resolved to act as professional as possible to whomever was calling upon him.

Char unlocked the door and slid it aside into the wall.

He was greeted by the sight of a single Pidgey. It had no mail to deliver and no companions. Char figured it was a messenger bird and was sent to give them news. However, it stared at Char for a moment, expectantly, making Char wonder if he was supposed to speak first.

"Hello," Char said to the bird. "Did you need something?"

The bird hopped in place for a moment as though trying to peer past Char and his teammates. Finally, it spoke.

"This is your room?"

"Yeah?" Char replied. "If you're looking for Team Ember, that's us, and this is our room. Why? What is it?"

The Pidgey hesitated for another moment, an unreadable expression in its eyes that might have been amusement. Instead of answering Char's question, it leaped, fluttered over Char's head, and landed upon the carpet in the middle of the room.

What the…? Char wondered. Is it an inspector? Is it looking for something? It's not going to find my fireplaces, is it?

The bird glanced around at the many doors and furnishings adorning the spacious main hall. Then, it hopped into one of the bedrooms and didn't come back out.

Char and his friends were stunned in surprise for a moment, leaving their front door wide open. Char didn't know the proper way to deal with this visitor. Would it be impolite to disturb him? Should he throw him out?

"Guys…" Ray uttered, having a moment of clarity. "Guys, I think… I think that was Otto."

Otto? The name sounded familiar, but it took Char a moment for the recognition to set in.

Otto. Their fourth team member. The little Pidgey they had sent to civility-school before they had left for the expedition. Char had, embarrassingly, forgotten all about him until now.

"Buh—what, wait, no!" Char rambled. "Are you sure? Otto isn't—he isn't that big! And his voice isn't like that! That can't be him!"

But even as Char listened to himself speak, he already knew it was probably true. Otto, that little Pidgey that had once been a wild, unintelligent bird… that little cute bird that Char had grown attached to at first sight, and insisted on keeping… what had become of him? He had grown in size and stature, and he had obviously matured. But how had school treated him? What was it like? What kind of a Pokémon was Otto?

Char felt an icy nervousness in his belly as he realized that it was time to find out. It was time to welcome his fourth member onto the team.

The three Pokémon eagerly burst into the room Otto had disappeared into – he had not closed his door – and began showering him with shouts of welcome and congratulation. However, they fell silent when Otto returned a look of annoyance and confusion.

"Did I choose a bad room?" Otto questioned, turning to Char.

"Uh… um…" Char tried to say. "No, this one's fine. But… wow! Otto! Is that really you? It's been so long! How are you?"

"I am tired, and I would like to rest," Otto said plainly, but not bitterly.

Char shared a confused glance with his teammates, quickly feeling his throat clench with awkwardness and hesitation. Saura gave a nod as though to say, "Let me try."

"Uh... Otto, if you want, we can push this nest into the team leader's room with the rest of us," Saura offered warmly. "It's a big room, there's enough room for all of us in there. We like to talk about things at night, like missions and things. We're not a mean team. We aren't strict or anything. We're just friends, really! You can be our friend if you want. We don't bite."

Otto blinked as though not understanding. "Is that a team requirement?"

"Not really," Saura replied oddly, not expecting this response. "I mean, Char never ordered us to stay in his room… we all chose to go there on our own, and he let us."

"I prefer to stay here," Otto said. "I don't like to be kept awake at night. I prefer to be briefed at the team meeting. When is the team meeting held?"

That's when the sad realization struck Char.

He's –

He's still partially feral.

He doesn't understand things. His responses are all simple-minded. He… he might not be all that intelligent.

Char's heart sank, the icy rush of excitement in his chest melting away. Wonder and awe turned to disappointment and dread as he began asking himself how he was going to cope with having a half-feral on the team. What would he do? Would the little bird be able to come on missions? Could he at least fight? He began to regret his impulsive decision to let Otto join the team…

"Um, we usually hold the team meeting right about now!" Ray blurted, speaking up with great cheer. "Just before bedtime. In fact, we can hold it early today so you can get to sleep, Otto! And we can have it right here!"

Otto nodded. "Yes, very well," he replied. "Please show me how a team meeting is held."

Otto glanced at Char, the Pidgey's eyes sparkling in the firelight. Char realized that he needed to begin this impromptu meeting himself. He was the leader, after all. This was his job.

But he'd never held an actual, formal meeting before. He needed to think of something to satisfy the little guy's expectations, and he needed to think fast.

Mustering his pride and confidence, Char stood tall and cleared his throat.

"Fine. We can begin the team meeting," Char spoke, trying to emulate Scythe's style of addressing his teammates. "Since this is a very special occasion, having a new team member and all, let's go around and introduce ourselves! I'm Char, leader of Team Ember. I have trained under Team Remorse and Team Flamewheel. I… I am famous for having the Call. That's supposed to be a secret, but the whole team knows, so you get to know too."

Shifting in awkwardness, Char turned to Saura, motioning for him to speak next.

"I'm Saura, I trained under Team Remorse, too," Saura said. "And I also have the Call. And that's an even bigger secret than Char's, so make sure not to tell anyone about that, alright? Anyway, I joined the resistance earlier this year with Char when the Master tried to kidnap me. I – "

Saura grit his teeth. Char knew he was fighting the headache. He seemed to prevail after a few moments and continued speaking.

"Well, Scythe saved us both and brought us here, and he trained us to explore dungeons. We've been on a lot of missions and we've had many victories. So we're doing well, I think. On this team, I guess I'm the 'idea guy,' I think. Sometimes I see little things that my teammates don't see, so I use that to help them out. Char runs most of his ideas by me to make sure they make sense, and we try to agree on things."

"Good," Char said, motioning his arm the way Scythe would always motion his blades. "Ray? Your turn."

"Hi, little guy," Ray said cheerfully. "I'm Raikouun. But you can call me 'Ray,' since it's easier. Everyone does that. And I'm the odd one out on this team; unlike my friends, I don't have the Call. I guess I finally have some company now? Hah, hah! Anyway, hmm. I've trained under Team Stripes and Team Remorse. I've been here for a long time, really. Few years. How many years? Ah, I always forget; I'd have to check the calendar. The years just seem to blur by."

The little Pidgey showed no emotional reaction, but that didn't faze Ray.

"Anyway. I'm this team's official bag-carrier and equipment expert," Ray continued. "Nice to meet you! I'm also here to keep everyone motivated. I usually wake everyone up in the morning and speak the official team motto."

Ray smiled, but the Pidgey didn't. Not that it was surprising just because Otto was a Pidgey; Char had seen birds smile before, or at least display a lightened expression with their eyes, their cheeks, and their posture. But Otto showed none of these traits as he patiently and stoically waited for his teammates to stop talking.

"Now it is your turn, Otto!" Char spoke to his new team member in a hopeful tone. "Tell us about yourself!"

Char, Ray, and Saura eagerly awaited the bird's reply. The bird blinked.

"I'm Otto," it replied.

It paused, as though to think for a moment.

"I am of species Pidgey. I was discovered in the Wanderer's Meadow by Char of Team Ember as a wild, and trained by Syr and Karow of Team Silverwing for sixty-eight days. I have been extensively trained in reconnaissance missions, exploration missions, assault missions, patrol missions, and survival procedures. I have been trained in outdoor environments, including forests, badlands, and civilizations, as well as indoor environments and caves. I am adept against both land-based and flying opponents. As of my last examination, my attack power is one hundred eighty-six, my defense power is one hundred thirty, my agility is two hundred ten. I have twenty / six vision. My weight is approximately two pounds; I can carry up to one third of my weight. I can fly at eighty kilometers per hour and can remain in the air for one hundred fifty-five minutes without resting if flying distance, sixty-one minutes if battling or laden. My intelligence quotient was unable to be measured, but is estimated as eleven-and-a-half stars. My mission record is forty-four successful, three failed."

When Otto finished speaking, Char's mouth was hanging open. He didn't look, but he figured that his friends were just as speechless as he was.

Well, so much for the idea that he's not smart… or combat-capable, Char told himself.

"Wow, that's pretty great!" Ray cheered to him, breaking the intensely awkward pause in the team meeting. "Ha-ha, wow! I can't wait to go on a mission with you! You sound like a very strong addition to our team!"

Otto tilted his head, not seeming to know how to respond to the compliment. After a moment, he nodded as though to agree with Ray.

"Ah, you know you don't have to be so official with us," Saura tried to tell the Pidgey. "Like I said, we're just friends here. We're not really in this for the resistance, even! We're in this for each other. In fact, if Char wanted us to do something that went against the Gold Division's rules, we'd probably go along with it! That's how close we are."

"Of course you would," Otto replied plainly, scratching himself under his wing as he spoke. "Those are the Division's rules."

"Huh?" Saura responded, confused.

"Rule six, clause twenty-two of the Gold Division codex states: should a team leader issue a command which conflicts, directly or indirectly, with the laws of the Gold Division, the subordinate members of the team are under no obligation to disobey the order; the consequences of disobedience will fall upon the leader who issued the order, not the subordinate who carried out the order, as long as there is a witness who verifies the order was given," Otto recited. "So we must obey Char's orders even if they might contradict with Command's. I expected you might test me on Division law."

The bird hesitated for a moment, appearing confused. "May we continue with the meeting? What is the first item on the agenda?"

Char bit his tongue. He was feeling very uneasy now.

"Excuse me… Team Ember?" a voice spoke from the doorway of Otto's room, frightening Char. He turned to find an Espeon standing just outside the room, motioning for his attention.

"I need to discuss something with you; it's urgent," Eva said, sounding anxious as she peered over her shoulder for a moment. "Come quickly."

Char nodded. Secretly relieved at the interruption to the mock "meeting," Char turned to Otto. "We'll finish this later," he told the little bird. "You can rest now. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Yeah! Sleep well!" Ray said.

Otto tilted his head. "Shouldn't I come as well? I am Team Ember as well," he said.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it!" Ray insisted, betraying some awkwardness. "You're tired. Go ahead and rest, just like Char ordered!"

Otto nodded in understanding. "Very well," he said turning around and snuggling up against the side of his bed-nest. "Please try not to be noisy."

Char left the little bird to sleep, filing out of the room alongside his friends. He followed Eva across the hallway, stopping just short of the master bedroom. Once they were far out of Otto's earshot, Eva's expression soon changed, dropping the appearance of urgency from her face and her posture.

"What was going on in there?!" Eva whispered, sounding surprised and concerned. "Ray called me over with his mind and asked me to come rescue you from the meeting. What happened?"

"It's Otto," Ray told her, fretting nervously. Char was surprised to see him acting this way; it seemed very unlike himself. "He's… ah, I don't mean to sound mean! Really, I don't. But he's weird. He talks weird, and I don't know what to say! He doesn't respond to anything."

"He seems to know a lot, but he talks like a robot!" Saura added.

"Yeah, I know he used to be wild and all, so I knew he would be a little different than other Pokémon," Ray said. "But I was hoping we'd at least be able to make a connection with him. But I don't know how."

Eva twitched her tail, looking thoughtful. "You say he was wild?" She spoke softly. "This is a common problem with wilds. When a wild is impressed, its prior memories fade into an indistinct blur. So when it opens its eyes to intelligence, it has no childhood, no knowledge, as a point of reference for its life. So a wild will tend to act strange until it learns how to adapt to civilized society."

"Oh, so this is normal?" Char said with relief. "That's good to hear. Is there a way to fix it?"

"Of course," Eva said. "Simply send it to civility-training and feed it a regiment of gummis for a few weeks. If the teachers know what they're doing, they will have its mind opened to the idea of civilized society very quickly."

"Uh, we already did that," Saura said. "Otto just got out of school. It was expensive, too. We're all broke."

Eva twitched in surprise. "How long was it schooled?" she inquired.

"Since before we left on our trip," Char said. "That should have been enough time, right?"

Eva began pacing to the opposite wall, looking down at the floor in contemplation. "I see," she muttered. "Yes, this is unusual. I do not quite understand why it would not have learned manners by now. But you say it shows intelligence?"

"Maybe he's too intelligent," Saura said ironically. "He says his I.Q. is eleven-and-a-half stars. And the star scale only goes to ten!"

"The star scale is not perfect," Eva said, shrugging. "Scythe's I.Q. was, I believe, the same when it was measured: eleven-and-a-half. Alakazam's I.Q. was estimated to be twenty-five stars. Hmm. Did Otto show any sign of disloyalty?"

"Not in the least," Char replied. "In fact he seemed so dedicated to the thought of being a soldier for our team that I couldn't even tell what his personality was like underneath."

Eva shrugged again. "It seems like you have gotten to a good start," she said, sounding much less concerned. "Your new teammate is loyal and intelligent; I see nothing wrong with that. Do you want my advice? Just take him out on missions, have him fight at your side, and develop an idea of his abilities. Develop kinship with him. Once he begins to develop kinship with you, he's bound to open up to you. Until then, you might need to accept that he won't respond in conversations the same way other Pokémon would."

Char peered over at the door to Otto's room, remembering the meeting he had just held and the way Otto had acted. The little bird had only seemed interested in the facts and the important information; he seemed oblivious to their feelings of happiness and excitement.

Maybe Eva's right, he considered. Otto just caught us off-guard. Maybe next time, I'll try to get used to the way he acts. I'll try. Maybe I should go and apologize to him right now…

Ray noticed Char's gaze. "Probably not a good idea to wake him up again," he warned. "Especially since he asked us not to. Let's try again tomorrow."

"Right," Char said with a sigh. "Alright, let's sleep. Thank you again, Eva, for helping us."

"It is what I am here for," she said with a reverent bow. "It is the least I can do for your kindness."

"Are you sure you don't want to join our team?" Ray blurted. "I think you'd be a natural."

"Well, I cannot say for certain that I would not want to join your team," Eva said as she walked back toward the doorway to her room. "But I have not battled paw-to-paw in a while; I couldn't guarantee I'd be useful in your missions. Let us save that question for another day, alright?"

At that, Eva returned to her room, and Team Ember returned to theirs.

"She might still be conning us, you know," Saura hissed to Char. "I wouldn't trust her just yet."

"I don't know why she would be conning us," Char replied. "I thought about that, but I figured: she already told us she's a professional liar, and we're freely giving her food and shelter, which was all she ever wanted from Scythe. So I don't think she has anything to gain by lying to us."

"Not now, maybe," Saura said. "But later, something could always come up. She could turn on us if she really wanted to. She's got enough of your trust to do it. Don't forget Scythe's final lesson: no blind trust."

"I know," Char replied quietly. "We'll just keep an eye on her."

As Char climbed back into his bed, he considered Saura's words. Yes, it was possible Eva could con them. But it was also possible she was another "loyal and intelligent" ally with a unique talent that could soon become useful to their growing team. As team leader, he knew that both possibilities needed to be weighed as evidence presented itself.

But that, too, was a question he'd save for another day.

… … …

The following day began when a voice pierced through Char's dreams.

"The fire will never die!"

Ray's wake-up call filled him with energy, just like it always had in the old days. He jumped to his feet, proudly proclaiming his answer as his voice joined with Saura's…

"Until the last ember fades!"

Char stretched his limbs and smiled brightly. He had forgotten all about this old life of his, and he was excited to return to it.

"Good!" Ray said. "No slacking today. We've been an exploration team for too long. Today's the day we've gotta learn how to be a resistance team again."

Char wiped the gunk from his eyes as he staggered out of his bed.

"Alright," he sighed, wandering towards the door of the room. "That's enough rest. We need to figure out what needs to be done today, I guess."

Char opened the door, intending to start the day by glancing through the contents of the storage room and seeing if there was anything left he could possibly sell to replace all the equipment they had lost on the big mission. But when he did, he was surprised to see the little brown bird standing just outside of his door, waiting expectantly for him.

"Ahh! Oh, Otto, you scared me," Char told the bird as it fluttered out of his way. "Good morning… How long have you been awake?"

"One hour, fifty-six minutes," the bird replied. "I wondered if you were testing my patience, and I hoped to pass."

Char squinted at the Pidgey. It had obviously rested well, as it seemed to hop around the floor with much more energy than it had the previous night. Char also thought it might have been smiling at him.

"No, I wasn't testing you," Char admitted to the bird, trying to say the right words and act kindly. "You give me too much credit! We were just sleeping in, really."

"Oh," the bird chirped, hopping in place with acknowledgement. "What is there to do today, Char? Should we finish the meeting from last night?"

Char froze in awkwardness again. He peered back into his bedroom, where his two friends were giving him odd looks.

"Uh… hold on a moment, Otto," Char said. "S-stay there. We'll be right out."

Char waited for a word or even a motion of acknowledgement, but Otto gave him nothing. Char swallowed hard and returned into his room, shutting his door behind him.

"What are we going to do with him?!" Char cried quietly to his friends. "What should we say?"

"Well, we should try just treating him like a team member, for starters," Saura suggested. "Like what Eva said. Let's just bring him along and see how he acts."

Char fretted nervously with his claws, thinking about it. "I guess, but… I don't know. I don't think I could bring myself to treat him like an equal so soon," he whispered. "I mean, the three of us are all equals. We understand one another. We don't hide any secrets, we all know about the Call, and about me being human, and about Scythe and everything. Otto doesn't. How can we get him to understand that's what our team is like? We're not soldiers. We don't function like Team Silverwing does!"

"Char…" Ray said calmly, looking into the Charmander's eyes, "Maybe you should talk to him. Just you."

"Me…?" Char echoed, gulping hard.

"You were the one that impressed him in the first place," Ray said. "According to his instincts, you're his true master. So maybe you should just go out there and… have a conversation with him by yourself, without us distracting you."

"You're not just trying to get rid of me, are you?" Char said with a nervous chuckle. "Are you scared of him, too?"

"Hah! Char, how well do you know me?" Ray said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm not Croagunk, you know. And yeah, I'm scared of Otto too, a little. But I honestly think it'd be the best way to break through his defenses, if he had a heart-to-heart with you. Honest!"

Char looked at the closed door behind him, biting his tongue.

"If you need us to rescue you, just knock on the door," Ray said reassuringly. "We'll come right out."

"You know… he really respects you, Char," Saura added. "That much I could tell by the way he acted last night. How bad can he really be?"

"Alright," Char decided, bowing his head and putting a claw on the door. "I'll try. Wish me luck, guys."

… … …

The door shut behind Char. In front of him, the little Pidgey stood attentively and expectantly.

Char took a deep breath. He could feel his inner fire flickering like crazy, churning with emotions of awkwardness and hesitance.

"Hello," he said gently to the Pidgey.

Char waited a moment, but Otto did not respond.

"You know, when a Pokémon tells you 'hello,' you're supposed to say 'hello' back," Char said. "So they know you're paying attention."

"You can't tell I'm paying attention?" Otto chirped oddly with a voice that was a few tones lower and stronger than it had been when Char sent him to school for the first time.

Char clenched one fist, but resisted the urge to knock on the door and summon his friends. Instead, he found the courage to reply.

"Not necessarily," Char told the Pidgey. "Sometimes, Pokémon can get… lost in thought. They might be staring straight at you, but not listening to anything you say. So no, you can't always tell if someone's paying attention just by looking."

"I understand," Otto said, giving a small bow of admission. "Hello."

He listened to me! Char said, feeling a spark of hope in his heart. That makes me feel a small bit more comfortable. Maybe Ray was right about Otto…

"How are you today?" Char tried. "Did you sleep well?"

"I am healthy and well; I have no ailments," Otto reported. "My weariness is gone. I am ready to assist with the day's mission."

"We aren't going on a mission today, Otto," Char told the Pidgey. "See, we just got back from a very long trip, and Alakazam gave us one full day to prepare for our next mission. And today is that day."

Otto seemed to understand. "No mission. What is the day's agenda?" he asked plainly.

Char sighed, clenching his fist tighter this time. The temptation to bail from the interview was strong, but he remembered that he just needed to give Otto a chance. Renewing his composure, he answered the bird's question.

"We have a few things to do today; we need to read the news, look at job opportunities, and go shopping for items, to name a few things," Char replied. "But I didn't want to talk to you about the day's agenda, Otto. I wanted to talk about something else. I wanted to talk to you about… about this team."

"I understand; you need to explain to the rules of Team Ember," Otto said. "Your team's rules do not seem to resemble those of Team Silverwing. What are your team's rules?"

Char struggled to choose his words very carefully.

"We don't have rules on this team," Char tried to say, sitting down on the floor to level his eyes with the Pidgey's. "At least, not in the way other teams have rules. Team Ember is a very… different kind of team than other teams in the Gold Division. See, we… we don't follow much of a process here. There are no strict rules and no fixed punishments for making mistakes. We are all equals here, so… it's not right for us to punish each other."

"Then who is your team leader?" Otto asked, sounding very confused. "I was told numerous times by many Pokémon that you are the leader of Team Ember."

"I am the leader," Char said, resisting the urge to raise his voice in exasperation. "But, the way we run this team, it is like… All of us are team leader. We are all equals. I'm only considered leader because they had to write someone down on the registration form."

Otto tilted his head, still plainly confused. "So you do not have the power to make a final decision? This power is split between the team? I do not understand how a team functions under the system."

"Well, yes. I still make the final decisions, so in a way, I'm still the leader, but…"

Char silenced himself, shaking his head vigorously. He breathed deeply and regained his composure, the little Pidgey's gaze never leaving him.

"I will try to explain this in a different way," Char said, making motions with his hands. "Do you know how some team leaders have partners? And usually they consort with their partners in private before consorting with the rest of the team? Like… like the partner is higher in rank than everyone else on the team? It's like… High Intelligence is. They are the leaders of the whole Division, but they are all the leaders, right? They are partners with one another."

"I understand," Otto replied. "Team Silverwing is led by Syr, and his partner is Karow."

"Team Ember is like that," Char said, hoping his meaning would be clear. "On this team, everyone is my partner. I am the leader, and both Saura and Ray are my partners. And… I want you to be my partner, too. See… this is why I had trouble holding a team meeting last night. Because I haven't held a meeting in a long time. Saura and Ray and I, we usually just… talk amongst one another, and usually we just kind of discuss everything and make decisions as a team. I don't usually dictate them."

"Everyone is your partner," Otto repeated, processing the meaning of the words.

Otto was silent for a moment, though he never took his eyes off of Char. Char held his breath.

"I understand how your team functions," Otto said kindly. "Is this why you wanted to move my nest into the other room? Is this for partnership?"

Char breathed a huge sigh of relief, almost accidentally releasing a fireball onto his new teammate. He smiled widely. "Yes, Otto. This is why."

"Then you may disregard what I said yesterday," Otto said. "If you feel it would help to conduct our team and become stronger, then you may move my nest into your room and we will converse about plans in the way you are used to."

A blaze of gladness was building inside of Char. He felt like giving the little bird a hug, though he didn't want to startle him.

"As a partner, may I make a criticism of our team, Char?" Otto addressed suddenly, his little call instantly reminding the Charmander of the days when his name was the only word he knew.

"Of course," Char said, standing back to his feet. "What is it? And by the way, don't ask for my permission to point out things that are wrong. Just say them, alright?"

"I understand," Otto replied, nodding. "There are great risks to the way you run Team Ember," the Pidgey said with surprising frankness and wisdom. "It is a strong and effective option for team structure. However, if this team grows beyond four, this option would be unreasonable. Personal communication would fail. You would need to write rules and conduct team meetings to direct a larger team. Therefore, ideally you should practice giving meetings before this team grows any larger, to acquire the skill."

Char was spellbound by the little bird's observation.

He's right, Char realized. If this team gets any bigger than it is now – especially since we have a potential fifth member already – we couldn't always rely on being personal like this. I'd need to step it up. Even Team Remorse was as close a team as they come, but they still held meetings every day…

"That is… an excellent and well-founded criticism, Otto," Char replied, feeling proud of his new friend. "Thank you for telling me. I will take your consideration to heart."

Otto gave a musical croon, as though proud of himself. He plucked a stray feather out from under his wing. "What is the first item on the agenda?" he asked again. "If you are not certain, we may discuss it as partners."

"Well, I think I already know what the first item on the agenda is," Char said with a laugh. "I'm very hungry. We're all going down to the cafeteria to have breakfast."

"I was told that teams on floor eight and above can request food to be delivered to their rooms," Otto said. "Do you not have food delivered to your room?"

Char winced. "We just got back from a very long and expensive mission, Otto, and we have little money left," he replied. "I doubt we have enough to order food."

"I was told the service was free," Otto said.

Char picked his words wisely once again. "Well, even then, it is not free; it may not cost Poké, but it costs something else: respect. If we requested food here, we may be looked down upon by the Division members. So we won't request food until we have proven our worth to the Division."

"I would not have looked down upon Team Ember for requesting food," Otto said. "But I understand the risk. Very well; let us go to the food room. I am also hungry."

Char couldn't have been prouder to knock on the door and summon his other friends. Saura admitted that they had listened to the whole exchange through the door.

At once, Char and his three companions began their journey downstairs as a unified team.

… … …

As expected, the mess hall was a mess. Two lines for breakfast went all the way out the door. Char and his team patiently took their places at the back of the line, which thankfully seemed to move fast.

Once Char was close enough to peer into the huge room, he wasn't surprised to see that it was filled wall-to-wall with the colorful creatures and that all of the tables were taken. Pokémon were not very tidy eaters, and many of the tables were left with scraps of food left behind as the teams took off to embark on the day's mission. Char glanced around the disastrous room with dread, reminded of why the elite teams chose not to attend the Division's free meals at all. He took a mental note to look into those free deliveries that Otto had mentioned.

Almost twenty minutes later, Char balanced two trays of food in his claws. One held a tray of biscuits and fruit salad for himself, and the other was a pile of plain seeds for Otto.

"Now we need to find somewhere to sit," Char said. "Otto, can you fly up to the ceiling and see if you can spot an open table?"

"Flying is not allowed in the food room," Otto said. "Do you still want me to follow the order?"

"N-no, that's fine," Char said suddenly, almost tripping over as a Pokémon bumped into his back on accident. "We'll find something. Just… just start looking around."

When Char made his way to the area with the tables, the floor was clearer and it became easier not to accidentally run into wandering Pokémon.

"Hey! That's…" Saura suddenly cried out, his vines wrapped around the corners of his tray. "Char, I must be seeing things again. I thought for sure there was someone here from the Emerald Division. Didn't Prince have a Weavile on his team?"

"Yeah, he did," Ray replied. "But we have a lot of Weavile here too. There's Team Dread. They only allow Weavile and Sneasel to be on their team."

"Oh," Saura said. "Yeah. I remember. Still… ever get the feeling that there's someone you know hidden in the crowd, but you just can't look at them fast enough to know for sure?"

"Hmm. Could be," Char replied indifferently. "C'mon, someone's gotta clear out sooner or later…"

"Team Ember! Hey! Team Ember!" Char heard a call rising above the clamor of voices in the room.

Char checked his nearby surroundings for the source of the voice. There was a team half a dozen tables away waving to him and trying to get his attention. He didn't recognize them.

"It's Team Carrier!" Ray said happily. "Looks like they've got a spot for us. C'mon, let's go."

As they took their places at the stony, rectangular table, Char recognized a Pokémon he'd seen around the base long ago: Zachel the Zangoose. Sitting at her side was a large Machoke, a Squirtle, and a Pikachu. All but the Zangoose seemed to be preoccupied by a mouthful of food; Zachel seemed bored with her tray and ate slowly.

"It's been a while," Zachel said, crossing her arms. "We were starting to think you weren't coming back. Where'd you go, by the way? We missed hearing all about your exploits in the news."

"Classified," Saura said with a mischievous smile. "Sorry! Alakazam's orders."

"Ahh," the Zangoose sighed disappointedly, looking down at her food. "That's a shame. Well, hopefully it went well."

"Well enough," Ray said, exaggerating relief. "Now that it's over, at least. It was a pretty tough mission. We're back, and we've got until tomorrow to find a new mission to take."

"Hey, hey. If you're going to take a mission, don't go north," the Squirtle warned suddenly. "There's problems up there."

"Right, you weren't here for that," Zachel spoke with a small shudder. "While you were gone, we had another lockdown. Black torches, everything."

"Whoa! What happened?!" Ray cried. "I'm glad I wasn't here for that. It wasn't Adiel again, was it?"

"Afraid so," Zachel said somberly. "Turned out that Adiel was around again. They say… they say he actually walked across the north-eastern back door to the base."

"And he had troops with him too," the Pikachu added. "Several Houndoom. Seekers. It's a good thing that the tunnel leading into the base is so long on that end. They could have smelled something."

The north-eastern entrance, Char thought. That's… that's the one on top of the Great Flatlands. That's the one Saura and I first came into the base by. That's so far out of the way of any roads… what was Adiel doing up there?!

"So yeah, keep that in mind when you pick a mission," Zachel said, skewering a berry with one of her long claws and casually examining it. "There haven't been any bans or anything this time, but some of the jobs got raised in rank, and I hear there are still troops around to the north. So if you want to play it safe, stay away."

"Right! Wow, that's scary!" Ray said. "Thanks for the warning! We still haven't read the news yet, so we didn't know about that."

Char turned his attention to his food. As always, he found that he didn't enjoy berries and bread all that much. Though they were nourishing, they were unsatisfying. Thanks to Prince, he knew now that he was a carnivore at heart, and the thought of exploring that part of his nature hung in the back of his mind, nagging him. But he knew he would have to put up with it for now; meat was expensive and rare in the Gold Division, and certainly not handed out for free on a regular basis. He would have to live with eating whatever was put in front of him.

Char turned to Otto, who hadn't even made a peep since taking a table. The little bird was pecking at the seeds, seemingly paying no attention to the conversation.

"Wow, hey, this is delicious," Saura said, swallowing a mouthful of berries. "What are these? These red things; I don't think I've ever seen these before."

"Uhm, razz-berries, I think!" the Squirtle said, examining what was on Saura's plate. "I hate those things. Too strong for me. I always pick them out of the fruit salad."

"I'll take them!" Saura laughed. "Heh, wow. I think I found a favorite new kind of berry. Char, you should try these!"

As the teams finished their breakfast, Team Carrier talked about some of the recent missions they had run, mostly just boring delivery missions that had, somehow, yielded some unexpected and rare items as rewards. Char resisted the urge to tell them all about his mission, but he knew it would be a very bad idea. Instead, he just listened to them ramble as he ate.

"Hey, I've always wondered something," Saura said to the other team once his plate was nearly empty. "Why are you guys called 'Team Carrier' anyway? What does the name mean?"

"Hah, hahah, well, let me tell you about that," Zachel said with raspy laughter, skewering another berry with her claws. "Team Carrier was one of the first teams. Twelfth on the record, existed long before the resistance split into the three divisions. We have a long, proud history of... carrying bags for other teams."

Char gave a chuckle of amusement. "Really, now?" he said.

"Yeah, we were the original training team," the Squirtle said. "The new trainees would all get thrown on Team Carrier and they'd get to carry the bags for all the Pokémon who had no arms or whatever. And they'd get to go into the dungeons and train with all the stronger teams."

"Of course, we don't do that anymore," Zachel said, eyeing the bright green berry on her claw. "Nowadays, we just—are—"

Zachel stopped in mid-sentence. Char glanced up at her, wondering what was the matter.

The Zangoose appeared to be stunned. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open; the berry fell off of her claw, rolling to end of the table and dropping to the floor. She was fixated intensely on something behind Char.

"Zachel! Oh, no… Zachel?" her Pikachu teammate called to her, noticing her expression.

"Is she okay? What's wrong?" Saura cried, looking worried.

Char turned his head to follow the Zangoose's gaze.

Several tables away from them, Char spotted Team X. They had just sat down and were beginning to devour their breakfast. They seemed content to talk with the other teams sitting at the same table, as though they were just a normal, everyday team like the rest of them.

Croagunk noticed the Charmander's gaze. The poisonous frog grinned evilly in return, taking a punctuated bite out of his biscuit. He then tapped his teammate to get his attention, and pointed Char out to him.

The Seviper gave an indifferent nod of acknowledgement… then froze solid, staring with the same unblinking glare that had taken over Zachel.

"Excuse me for a moment," Zachel said quietly, leaping onto the floor and trudging across the room in Team X's direction.

"Oh no!" the Pikachu realized, beginning to panic. "That's…"

"A Seviper," the Squirtle cried. "Oh man! Oh man! This can't be happening! Doesn't the Division have precautions to keep this from happening?"

Team Carrier looked absolutely terrified.

"What's going on?" Saura wondered, continuing to eye Zachel as she walked past the other tables.

"Seviper and Zangoose," the Squirtle gasped. "You can't let a Seviper and a Zangoose in the same room together. You… can't. You just can't. They're mortal enemies."

"Oh no… they're gonna fight…" the Pikachu said, quivering. "This whole room is about to… Oh, no! I can't watch!"

Char watched in morbid curiosity as the feline and the serpent approached one another in the isle between the tables. Their eyes were set upon one another; Char could tell that the rest of the Pokémon in the room no longer existed to them.

A few of the nearby tables noticed the confrontation. The murmuring in the general area seemed to die down momentarily as all eyes were fixed on the two Pokémon.

They paused several feet away from each other, staring one another down.

"Hey," Zachel said, beginning to rub her claws together as though to sharpen them.

"Hey," the Seviper replied, a mocking echo.

"Haven't seen you before," Zachel spoke softly, looking at her claws. "You're, uh… you're new here, aren't you?"

"Afraid so," the Seviper replied.

The silence had spread; Char was surprised to realize that the entire cafeteria was soon soundless. The crowd's noises had stopped.

"The Seviper will win," Otto whispered to Char. "It is stronger."

Char began to wonder if this confrontation was a serious problem. He wondered if he should clear out of the room as fast as possible, but part of him couldn't bear to look away.

"Zachel, Team Carrier," the Zangoose said, crossing her arms. "You?"

"No-namer, Team X," Seviper replied curtly. "Nice to meet you."

"Interesting," Zachel said, ignoring the sarcasm. "I don't remember seeing a 'Team X' in the news."

"How is that my problem?" the Seviper calmly replied.

They stared at one another for a moment, as though each expected a reply that wasn't coming. Zachel casually licked her claw.

"I'm not going to have trouble with you, am I?" she spoke.

"Not unless you want it," the Seviper replied. "I think we're both adults here."

Another tense moment of silence. Char thought he saw the Seviper subtly coiling to strike.

"Splint, go stop them!" the Pikachu hissed to the Machoke beside her, still partially covering her eyes and cowering in fright. "Oh no, oh no! I can't watch, I can't watch…"

The Machoke gave a hmph and stood up from his seat. He carefully and calmly approached Zachel from behind. The Seviper noticed him approaching but said nothing.

The hundreds of Pokémon in the room gave a collective gasp as the muscular Machoke grabbed the Zangoose under the arms and picked her up off the floor. The Zangoose did not struggle or resist, but she appeared irritated.

"Put me down, Splint," Zachel said calmly.

"You need to walk away from this," the Machoke warned.

"I promise I will walk away," Zachel replied. "The Seviper is right; we're both adults here. Now please, put me back down."

Splint did so, though not before hesitating for a few moments. With a face that cried "I'm going to regret this," he set his teammate's feet back onto the floor.

Even Croagunk had gotten up from his seat and stood behind the Seviper. He gulped hard, looking worried and powerless to act.

Zachel brushed her teammate off her back, then took a wary step towards the serpent. Her face was emotionless and resolute, but her claws were drawn to their full length.

She took another step. The Seviper recoiled slightly, preparing to strike.

When their faces were mere inches apart, she stopped. She blinked. Char held his breath, as did the rest of the cafeteria.

Zachel gave a slight bow of her head.

"Until we meet again, Seviper," she said humbly.

"Same to you," the Seviper replied, sounding sincere.

Both Pokémon turned and left one another, causing the cafeteria to erupt in applause and cheer.

Hearing the sudden noise, the Pikachu unburied her eyes from under the table and cried happily when she saw that the crisis had been averted.

Ushered by their teammates, the Seviper and the Zangoose returned to their respective tables. Splint stepped behind the Zangoose and followed her away to make sure she wouldn't suddenly pounce when her opponent's guard was down, but Zachel didn't look interested in battling anymore. The cheering from all the Division's Pokémon lasted for over a minute before dying down and returning to the normal level of clamor.

Zachel returned to her seat, her fur ruffled and her claws still fully extended. She breathed hard.

"Wow, now that's something we'll see on the news, no doubt," the Squirtle said dryly. "You okay?"

"Ahh… ah… Sorry about all that," Zachel breathed, scratching her forehead and trying to calm herself back down. "Instincts… blasted instincts…"

"I am surprised," Otto said to Char. "I thought the Zangoose would strike. But I understand now. She was testing the power of her will. And she passed."

"Wow, Zachel, you gave everyone a heart attack! You're going to make everyone end up in the medial wing today!" the Pikachu cried, rubbing her on the back. "We'll get no work done!"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," she rasped. "Didn't mean to. It's instincts. I just saw it, and… blood… filled with fire. Took over me. I'll be fine now though. I'm over it."

"Zangoose and Seviper battles are not pretty at all," Ray told Char. "You have no idea. They're brutal and… well, you wouldn't want to see one. I haven't even seen one. I've just heard terrible stories…"

Char was thankful that the two Pokémon had not started a fight, but something else about the sudden confrontation had nagged him.

"There's just one thing," Char said to the Zangoose. "You said… you didn't see Team X in the papers?"

"Yeah, why?" Zachel replied.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Char said. "Have you been reading all the news?"

"Every day," Zachel said, scratching at the table and looking at her food again. "Kinda have to. It's a team rule."

Char glanced oddly at his teammates.

… … …

"Alright, so here are all the news bulletins that were posted while we were away," Ray said, dropping a large, messy stack of papers onto the table. "Dig in."

After the surprisingly eventful breakfast, Team Ember had returned to their hall, picking up some papers from the newsroom and the registry along the way. They had acquired the current job listings and, at the nagging of Char's gut instincts, a copy of every news post they had missed.

Char sat in his planning room with the rest of his teammates. He began leafing through the stack from the top, glancing over the sheets covered in scrawled footprint symbols and rough, inky illustrations.

"Otto, can you do this?" Char asked the Pidgey. "Look though these news reports and find announcements of new teams. See if you can find one for Team X."

Otto glanced at the papers, then back to Char. "I have read every news bulletin, and have seen nothing mentioning Team X," he said. "But it is possible the bulletin was posted while I was learning to read."

Char collected the stack of papers and flipped it facedown. "Alright, then start from the bottom," he told the Pidgey. "Ray, you can go look at our supplies now. Saura and I will look at missions."

"Got it," Ray said, heading out of the room. "Though, don't get your hopes up. We took most of our best stuff on that trip."

"Anything will help," Char replied. "Even if we can sell it for something better."

As Otto awkwardly scraped the news posts off the pile with his talons and flipped them over using his beak, Char and Saura began scanning the job list. Char mainly looked at the numbers in the column which specified the mission bounties.

"I've got to learn to read," he muttered in annoyance. "If Otto can learn it so fast, maybe I can too. Anyway… how about this one? Reward: thousand Poké."

"It's north, in Skull Town," Saura said. "I'd rather not go to a ghost town if we can help it. Plus, it's a three-star mission. Probably because of the high alert up there."

Char shrugged. "Alright, so… what else is there?"

"Hmm," Saura hummed, scanning the list. "Escort Nidoran, Escort Shinx children, deliver a confidential letter, deliver food… Find a lost escape orb in a dungeon? W-why would someone want us to retrieve an escape orb they dropped in a dungeon? Those are cheap! Can't they just buy a new one?"

Char shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it has sentimental value to someone?" he considered. "Go on; what else is there?"

"Find lost reviver seed, find lost deep-sea scale… find outlaw… find missing Pokémon…"

"Hmm, what's that one like?" Char said with some interest. "A missing Pokémon should be easier to find than a missing item. Or an outlaw that wants to attack you back."

"Kablo the Bagon has not arrived to destination, has been missing for two days," Saura read. "Last seen around Augustus Park. Please send rescue team to scout the nearby mystery dungeons for his presence. Reward: two thousand Poké if found, eight hundred Poké if not, plus gifts from the client. Risk level: B."

"Wait… what?" Char said, immensely interested in this prospect. "We'll get paid even if we don't find the guy? We just have to search some dungeons?"

"That's what it looks like," Saura said. "Augustus Park… wonder where that is."

Char found an old friend of his, the Map of Jirachi, rolled up on a shelf in the back of the room. Though he had lost the portable version of the map on the mission, the larger map had always remained stashed in the study for planning missions. He fetched it and spread it out on the table and made a mental note to get his hands on another copy for traveling.

"Here," Saura said, pointing to a place just south of the Great Plateau. "It's a bit to the west of Iron Town, past the Iron Crevice. That's where we rescued Fern, remember. It's on the outskirts of this place called… Wyrii town. Nearby dungeons are… let's see. 'Shale Cave' which is another dungeon in the plateau itself, and… 'Jormungand's Garden,' which is down here, south of the town. If we want to take this mission, we'll need to look up what kind of wilds live here."

Ray appeared in the room's doorway, looking disappointed.

"Done already?" Char said to him. "Let me guess… there wasn't much to look at."

"It's not pretty, guys," Ray sighed, shaking his head. He held up a tiny object in his paw. "This is literally the best item we have on hand right now. A stun-seed. Other than that, we have a few escape orbs, a bunch of iron thorns, some bags of dried rawst-berries, and a draught-orb which is supposed to evaporate standing water in a dungeon floor. Then we have a pecha scarf, a couple of junk orbs like a hail orb and a lob orb… and yeah. That's it. The rest of our good stuff we took with us, and now it's probably lost in Temporal Tower… We don't even have anything in Morrik's storage, except for… one sitrus berry. If we wanted to sell that, that is."

"Then we shouldn't take the rescue mission," Otto said suddenly. "The minimum objective to succeed at the mission is to explore two mystery dungeons. We do not have enough equipment for even one dungeon expedition. We should take a job that does not require exploring a dungeon."

Char frowned. "I think you're right," he admitted. "Yeah… we're in no position to explore two dungeons, much less one. Maybe we could sell some of our junk and buy some apples for dungeon crawling. Still… it would have been fun to search for that Bagon, I think. Especially if we still got paid even if we didn't find him. That seems like too good of an opportunity to pass by."

Otto chirped, scraping another flyer off the pile to examine.

"I agree, it seems to be a reasonable mission," Otto said. "You could accept the mission and wait for the day after tomorrow to complete it."

"Huh?" Saura replied. "You can do that?"

"Of course," Otto said. "A team may sign up for up to eight missions at once. There are penalties for doing so, however. If the team takes too long to report a success or a failure to the mission, the registrar will add it back on the listings and hold the team responsible for paying the bounty to whatever other team completes it."

"Ouch…" Char said, considering the option. "How long does that take?"

"It is by the digression of Metagross," Otto said. "There is no discrete time limit in the rulebooks. But we can be reasonably certain that waiting one day to complete a mission will not be an issue. But we take a risk in doing so: we rely on the bounty of tomorrow's mission. We must be certain our bounty will be large enough to let us purchase what is necessary to explore two dungeons in one day. Failing tomorrow's mission would become an unpleasant prospect."

"I see," Char said, scratching his head. "So… if we want to go this route… we need a good mission for tomorrow. One that pays well."

Otto chirped once more, fluttering onto the tabletop. "I've searched all news bulletins until I began to recognize them," he reported. "Team X does not appear. May I help you look for missions now, Char?"

Interesting… and worrisome, Char thought. Was Team X lying about signing up as a team? Ah well… if Eva still says their hearts are in the right place, then that shouldn't be an issue, right? Still, I wish I knew why they weren't in the news.

"Yeah, go ahead," Char said, gesturing for him to read the list. "Any input is appreciated."

Otto glanced at the list for a few minutes, fluttering his wings as though some of the list entries were amusing to him.

"This," he said suddenly, scraping the list with a talon. "This would be the optimal mission."

"Whoa, that was fast!" Char laughed. "What's the mission?"

"Find thunderstones," Saura read, scanning the text with a paw. "Solo explorer collected three thunderstones in dungeon, but was knocked out and expelled before escaping. Retrieve as many thunderstones as possible from dungeon and return to client. Bounty: eight hundred Poké per retrieved thunderstone. Risk level: B. Location… Jormungand's Garden? Wait! That's…"

"That's the same dungeon as the other mission we wanted to take!" Ray cried in realization. "We could look for the missing Bagon in one of the two dungeons he could be lost in, and look for the thunderstones at the same time!"

"Yes," Otto said. "It is risky. We would need to prepare for a dungeon expedition today using whatever means we can. But it is a profitable and calculated risk. I recommend this."

"We could kill two birds with one stone!" Char said, grinning. "That's a good idea!"

Otto ruffled his feathers, looking confused. "Why would we want to kill birds with stones?" he squawked.

"Oh… I'm sorry," Char said awkwardly. "That's just a human saying for doing something efficiently, I guess. I didn't mean to offend."

"It is an odd phrase for efficiency, then," Otto said. "There are many more efficient ways of killing birds than with stones."

Char laughed. "I guess you're right! But yeah, good choice. Let's take both missions. Any objections?"

"Nope, looks good to me," Saura said.

"No, but let's make sure we can actually buy what we need first," Ray replied. "Let's check and see what kind of enemies live in this 'Jormungand's Garden' place. Then we'll go to Kecleon's before we officially sign up for the missions. If we can't buy what we need to survive in the dungeon, well… we'll resort to taking a mission from the training teams' lists, I guess. Just to say we did something. Or we could ask another team for help."

"Sounds good," Char said, rolling up the map and replacing it on the shelf. "Alright, we're done here! Next item on the agenda is training. Everyone ready to go?"

The team voiced their agreement.

"Good," Char said, feeling proud of the day's progress. "Oh, and Otto?"

The little bird nodded. "Yes?"

"Good work," Char said affectionately. "You've been on this team for less than a day, and you're already helping out more than we could ask for."

The bird bowed. "Thank you," he replied simply. "I have trained hard to be acceptable to your team, Char. I hope to prove worthy of serving Team Ember."

"I'm thinking we should make you the chief tactical advisor!" Char added with a smile. "You seem to know how to take risks and you know all the rules of the base and everything. You could be in charge of looking for good missions to take and helping us to figure out how and when to take them."

Otto jumped back, as though staggering in surprise. "I am not qualified," he chirped. "I was trained for combat support. I was not trained to manage. I use mere common sense to select missions."

"Well, it's more common sense than the rest of us have!" Ray laughed, gently petting Otto on the head. "No, really. Char's totally right. You're perfect for our team. Where have you been all this time, little guy? We could have used you on our team ages ago."

Otto looked even more confused. "I have been in school," he said simply. "And why do you judge me already? So far I have proven nothing to you, yet you treat me as though I have accomplished a mission. I don't understand your standards."

"But you have accomplished missions! Forty-four of them, right?" Char said with a mischievous grin. "But I'll tell you what. You say you're a combat-bird. Well, then. Show us what you can do."

… … …

When Char arrived to the dojo, he found nothing but a lone Mew using its telekinesis to arrange oran berries on the shelves. It looked bored.

"Domo! You're back!" Ray shouted as he and his team entered the circular room. "Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Oh! Visitors…" the Mew mumbled to itself, floating over to greet them. "Oh, Team Ember! Good day. Indeed, it's been too long."

"So… I heard you were chasing Registeel?" Ray inquired. "How did that go?"

The Mew drooped low in the air, visibly disappointed. "Nowhere to be found," he replied. "Searched everywhere for six weeks, and… nowhere."

Should have come on our mission, Char thought ironically. You would have seen a Regirock, and an Articuno, and Celebi, and Dialga… Wait, Mew is psychic, isn't it? I shouldn't be thinking about this, Domo might notice…

"Aww, that's a shame," Ray said sympathetically, although Char could tell he was fighting with the same ironic thoughts as he was. "But we're glad to have you back!"

"You'll be one of the first," the Mew said, landing on the ground and standing oddly upon its tiny feet. "Apparently I have been gone for so long that Pokémon have fallen out of the habit of visiting me. I have been bored, mostly; only a few students to train this week. Fortunately, that means I have plenty of time to help you! So, Team Ember, what can I do for you?"

"We got a new team member yesterday!" Char announced, indicating the Pidgey at his side. "His name's Otto. He says he's a combat bird! We want to see how well he was trained. Could you maybe examine his skills?"

The false Mew looked delighted. Wasting no time, it began a transformation. Its body glowed brightly, growing to a very great size. A mighty pair of wings spread from the amorphous mass, and soon, the form solidified into a Pidgeot, an intimidatingly large bird of prey. Char instinctively took a step away from it. Saura took two. They decided to clear off of the battle platform, giving Domo and Otto the room they needed to train.

"Croooo!" It cried. "Yes, it's been a while since I have studied my avian skills, although they were always my favorite forms to take before acquiring Mew." The Ditto flapped its huge wings for a moment, testing them. "Ahh, yes! I remember how this body works now. Yes, let us dance in the air, little Otto."

"Javelin," Otto said.

"Excuse me?" the Ditto replied oddly. "What was that?"

"Your form is Javelin, a member of Team Silverwing," Otto said. "He helped to train me. I learned to defeat him in combat training three times to every four, and in races, one time to every four."

"Really, now?" Domo said with intrigue, though Char thought he caught a subtle hint of uncertainty in the voice. "You say you are skilled against this particular form?"

"I am."

"Well then, where's the fun in that?" Domo said, shape-shifting into a majestic grey-and-white bird. "Raaaarrr! Then you will fight Staraptor, strongest and most dangerous of all birds of prey!"

"You are Syr," Otto said to the starling. "He is the leader of Team Silverwing. He also helped to train me, although I have less practice against him."

"Fine, fine!" Domo cried. "How about this, then?"

The Ditto shape-shifted again, this time becoming a strange-looking silver bird.

"Skarmory, the blade-winged bird of steel!" Domo announced proudly, spreading its red wings. "Do you have any experience against this, little Otto?"

"I have not," Otto chirped. "I do not recognize this Skarmory."

"Well, then! Let's begin already!" Domo shouted. "Can you… wait. Otto? Where'd you go?"

Char's jaw dropped as he watched Otto's aerial maneuvers. The little Pidgey had zipped through the air at startling speed, and was now hovering behind the still-grounded Skarmory, staying just within its blind spot.

Domo turned his head, searching for his opponent. Otto zipped back and forth, perfectly in rhythm with the Skarmory's glances, staying completely invisible.

"Otto?" the metallic bird cried in confusion. "I thought we were training, Otto. Did you retreat?"

*PING!*

There was a resounding metallic noise as Otto swooped and attacked the Skarmory, his beak colliding with the bird's steely armor. The attack was so forceful and unexpected that the Skarmory face-planted into the ground.

Otto turned around and swooped at his downed opponent, grasping one of its long, red wing-feathers and forcefully yanking it clean out of the wing as he flew past. It lazily floated to the floor.

"YAAAIIIE!" the Skarmory crowed in protest. "Oh, a back-handed little one, are you? I will join you in the air!"

The Skarmory took flight and tried to engage Otto in combat, but Otto seemed persistently skilled in staying out of Domo's line of sight. He deftly chased the large bird around the air, taking any opportunity to attack from behind.

*PING!* *CLAING!*

Otto mobbed the large bird, landing two hits onto its faceplate before flying away again.

Char could tell the combat trainer was already disheartened. Domo sagged in the air, making weak and floundering motions to catch the annoying little bird that always seemed to remain behind its back.

The battle ended in an explosion of flames. Out of seemingly nowhere, the little Pidgey had summoned energy for a powerful attack which wreathed its body in red and blue fire. It had aimed and attacked the Skarmory from the most unexpected direction – from below – and the collision resulted in an impressive array of colors accompanied by the sound of collapsing sheets of metal.

Domo was lying on the floor when he told finally told Otto to stop, its Skarmory form crumpled and blackened. The little bird landed at its side, gazing curiously at its downed opponent.

"You started before I was ready," Domo growled weakly.

"Your words were, 'let's begin already,'" Otto replied plainly. "I understood it to be the invitation to attack. Should I have waited for a different signal?"

"Ahh… Little Otto," Domo grumbled, transforming back into Mew. "I don't need to train you! You are combat-capable and ready for missions, there's no doubt about that. I have nothing to teach you about being a bird. Silverwing has prepared you well. But… perhaps you might have some things to teach me. Would you train with me sometime?"

"If Char allots me time to visit you, yes," Otto replied. "Although I am not qualified to train. You could consider becoming an apprentice to Team Silverwing."

"Hah, ahh," Domo laughed oddly. "Yes, perhaps. That is one option. Though I would still appreciate your help, as well."

Otto chirped in amusement. "I could battle your Mew sometime," he said. "That is one Pokémon I've never battled with."

"Oh, hahah, you would regret it!" Domo challenged, pride filling is voice again. "No one can defeat my Mew! No one. No one even dares to try! I can read your mind and predict your next move."

"Then perhaps I need to learn," Otto said. "Teach me to battle Mew."

At the side of the room, Char's eyes were nearly tearing up in pride. Otto really was a combat-bird; there was no doubt about it.

"It's almost as though he's too good for us," he uttered to his teammates, still full of amazement. "Can we handle him?"

"Maybe he was meant to be on our team," Saura said with a shrug. "Maybe you were meant to find him. Maybe that was part of your master plan, Char…"

"Yeah, maybe," Char said in consideration. "Since we found him before the Temporal Tower mission, that really is possible…"

Char felt a tingling of confidence in his heart; his team was becoming much stronger than he had imagined. The only thing left, now, was to put Team Ember to the test and see if they could reliably run missions. And the time remaining in the day was quickly ticking past…

… … …

Char gave a whimsical sigh as he and his team entered Kecleon's store. As usual, the emporium contained such an array of wonderful, magical items, but all were outside of his price range. One of the Kecleon brothers seemed preoccupied with a troublesome customer, so Char began shopping around without waiting for a greeting. He knew he needed to focus on the dirt-cheap items, just enough to get him through a reasonably-sized mystery dungeon that was home to some weak dragon and plant Pokémon.

"Char, look!" Saura cried, interrupting Char's appraisal of some whole apples. He sounded almost sad.

Char turned to find Saura playing with a piece of cloth that hung from the wall.

"It's Kecleon's mobile scarf," Saura sobbed. "He… he still hasn't sold it. We used to have one of these, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Char said sadly, coming to his side to console him. "It's Dialga's now, I guess. Or Celebi's, if she finds it."

"That was given to me by Vazidor himself," Saura remembered. "Ahh, why did we have to lose all of our stuff, Char? Everything could be perfect right now if we didn't lose all of our stuff… ahh, Char… It's going to take so long to get all that stuff back. Our mobile scarf, our goggles… we had some rare stuff."

"I know, I know," Char reassured him, feeling the texture of the mobile scarf with a claw. "But we'll get our stuff back. I don't know how, but we're going to just have to go on missions until we can buy them all again. We won't stop until we do, alright?"

"Alright," Saura grumbled, looking away from the priceless item on the hook. "Alright… Let's just get what we need, then."

Ray and Otto came bounding down the aisle between the tables of merchandise. Ray was holding a small burlap sack.

"I told Kecleon what we have, and he says he'll pay three hundred Poké for our extra items," Ray reported. "Not much, but it's more than he would have given us. I told him our predicament and he's sympathizing. So… that should be enough to buy some apples and some orbs we could use. And maybe another stun-seed. If we're still desperate, we can still sell that sitrus berry of yours."

"Sounds good," Char replied. "But let's not sell the berry. It has… sentimental value."

"That's fine," Ray said, nodding. "We can still manage. Now we just need to get our stuff. Would you mind running up to our room and getting the stuff out of our closet? You can put it in this bag and bring it back, and Kecleon will buy it."

Char took the brown sack from Ray's paws. He wanted to say "Why me?" but he knew that Ray needed to keep shopping for items, and Saura and Otto both couldn't hold a bag very well, so he begrudgingly agreed.

"Keep the stun seed, both escape orbs, two of the thorns, and the pecha scarf. Put everything else in the bag," Ray instructed. "We left the door unlocked. Hurry back, alright?"

Slinging the empty sack over his shoulder, Char left Kecleon's store to return to his room.

… … …

As promised, the door to Team Ember's lair had been left unlocked. Alone, Char entered his room.

The grandiose hall of his own team base opened before him, the vibrant red-and-yellow rug running all the way to the end of the hall and stopping just before the master bedroom. Along the walls, over a dozen doorways to side-rooms opened up, each surrounded with glossy metallic decorations ablaze with spiritual fire.

And finally, for the first time since returning to the Gold Division, Char paused to appreciate it.

The door shut behind him as he gazed at his team's very own lair, the hall which had been given to him by not just one, but two legendary warriors: Scythe, who had given him this room out of an undying respect for his secret humanity and his Call, and Prince, who had lived in this same place many decades prior before the accident that had changed his life.

It was a gift he knew he did not deserve.

But both of those warriors were gone now, and he was the only one left. It struck him that someday, maybe in the near future, these rooms would be filled with teammates. Maybe the storage room would be packed with valuable relics. And maybe he could be a good enough team leader to live up to the legacies of Prince and Scythe, the two heroes who had come before him.

As if peering into the future, Char took a moment to imagine what his hall would look like. He imagined a huge team of fifteen capable Pokémon all crowded around him, awaiting his briefing at the team meeting.

He knew Otto was right; being close partners with his teammates would only go so far. Soon, he would need to be a real team leader, able to handle the logistics of his team members and command his taskforces through difficult times. Just being friends would no longer be enough.

"Well," Char whispered quietly to himself, trying not to let the prospects overwhelm him, "First thing's first: we need a little money…"

But as Char went to enter the storage room, there was a soft rapping at his door.

Confused, Char dropped the burlap sack in the corner and warily opened the door, hoping the visitor would be someone he could deal with.

He found a familiar Infernape staring back at him.

"Somehow, I knew you would be here," Prince said with a warm smile.

*Chapter 73*: Chapter 53: Follow the Leader

Chapter 53

Char stared incredulously at the great Infernape upon his doorstep. Though the old warrior beamed with pride and health, his fire magnificent, Char was filled with guilt upon meeting the one he had so ruthlessly betrayed. He felt honored by this sudden visit, a visit the old one had certainly traveled very far to make, but he could not imagine that the Infernape held any more respect for him, not after the grave mistake he had committed at the top of Temporal Tower.

"May I… come in?" Prince suggested to the dumbstruck Charmander, gesturing with gentle eagerness toward the interior of Team Ember's lair.

"Oh… yeah, sure," Char replied, stepping out of the Infernape's way, bothering with no formalities at all.

The old warrior sighed deeply as he crossed the threshold into the room and tread upon the magnificent red carpet. He moved with reverence, his eyes widening, as he beheld the lair in which Char dwelled. His knowing gaze fell upon the polished silver candelabras, the golden mirrors and tables, and the dancing array of ghostly torches which crowned every doorframe. A sad yet beaming smile formed upon his face.

Kneeling down, the old Prince stroked the rug with a hand, feeling the embroidered silk upon his fingertips.

"So, you have been given these rooms…" Prince spoke deeply, solemnly, hanging his head and fixating upon one the fiery designs imbued into the rug. "These furnishings you see around you were the spoils of some of our more profitable exploits; the candles came from a corrupted Lord's mansion we once sacked, the carpet… the carpet I purchased with the funds we earned after selling some choice artifacts we recovered from a dungeon exploration… I had even stolen some fire-bowls in the aftermath of an annual ceremony that took place in the parks near Iron Town… I wonder if they are still around somewhere…"

Prince lifted his head and stared blankly at the doorway to what was once his bedroom, letting the light from the many glowing candles blur into his eyes.

"See, I wished to be surrounded by the imagery of fire, wherever I turned, so that I and my other fiery teammates would feel at home," he spoke. "… And that, by seeing the majesty of the fire all around us, our den would begin to reflect the beauty of the fire within our own chests. To remind us that we are fire, living fire… I and my teammates turned this dream into reality, and we furnished this room, so that we would stand here, and be encompassed by fire… all around us, like a great circle…"

He turned to look Char in the eye. "And now, I suppose, it all belongs to you…"

"Prince," Char tried to say, feeling a loss of words in his throat. "I'm sorry I… didn't trust you. I'm sorry I trusted Scythe…"

"We both did what we thought was right at the time," Prince told the little Charmander, rising back to his feet. "And that is all that can really be expected of us, isn't it? Ahh… and besides, it doesn't matter now; we are both here safe, and I finally lived to see the true purpose of the Silver Division fulfilled: we put our trust in the Call, and we carried it to the summit of time… and now we finally know that we need to search elsewhere for a new source of hope. That… is all I really asked for. An answer; a simple answer. And with that answer, I have disbanded the Silver Division officially. It has no more need to exist."

"So… what will you do now?" Char asked the Infernape quietly. "Now that you have the answer?"

The fiery warrior smiled. "I'm going to do something I should have done years ago," he said with great conviction. "I'm moving back here, with the Gold Division. This is my home. In truth… I never should have left."

Upon speaking the words, the old warrior could not contain an enthusiastic grin. He beamed with joy so bright that it warmed Char's heart. Char knew the Infernape finally felt that he understood his role in the resistance, and why everything had gone wrong the way it did. He, like Char, finally felt he had a sense of purpose in the world. After speaking with Dialga, he knew what that felt like to see things clearly.

"You're going to… move back here?" Char gasped, feeling a thrill of happiness for the Infernape's sake. "You're leaving Fort Emerald behind? Just like that?"

"Well, we really had no choice, you know," Prince chuckled. "Well, actually, it was a choice, just an unfair one. Lucario kicked us out, and this is the only place we felt we still belonged. Perhaps it was the only place all along that we belonged. But yes; it is time I finally joined forces with Team Remorse and Team Absolution again, and at their side… live up to my potential. And despite all of the disasters and misfortunes that have befallen us, I really only have one cunning human being to thank for it. So, I have come to offer you my gratitude. Thank you for coming to the top of Temporal Tower with me."

Prince crouched to Char's level again and held out his hand; an offer for a handshake. But as Char approached, Prince captured the little Charmander in his arms and picked him off the ground, embracing him against a shoulder. After momentarily catching his breath, Char held on tight, basking in the comfortable warmth of Prince's flame.

"I guess this means we have to give you your room back," Char sighed. "That's alright, I guess. You deserve it."

"No, these rooms are yours now," Prince replied warmly. "Mainly because, I think, that 'ember' plaque above the front door would be too difficult to remove. Don't worry; Alakazam had an empty room ready for us. It's one floor down from here, and about on the opposite end of the division base. I just… felt that I wanted to see this hall one last time, to give it my true farewell. After how Alakazam had so dutifully preserved it for us in case we were to return, it would be a shame not to not stop by and appreciate it just this once."

The old Pokémon set Char back onto his feet, gave an earnest bow, and turned to leave.

"I will see you around the base, Char. But now I need to go. We're about to receive another shipment of our supplies from up north. Speaking of which…"

Once Prince had stepped out of the door, he reached to the side and collected a medium-sized exploration bag, the same kind that had been used at the Emerald Division. He presented the bag to Char.

"After I safely returned from our escapade, Nameless and I took a cursory flight around the tower site and managed to find some particular things scattered around in the snow. I suppose they had been spared from the warping of Temporal Tower and had rained back down to earth; I am not sure why they were there where we found them, but fortune has smiled upon us. Please, take a look inside the bag; you might recognize some of those things."

"Thank you!" Char cried, breathless from the great honor the Infernape had shown to him. "We were all out of supplies. This is just what we needed!"

"You're welcome. And if you ever find yourself in a desperate position of any kind, don't be ashamed to come and ask me and my team for help. Or Team Remorse. Or just about any team that lives here," Prince said gladly, enjoying the Charmander's overwhelmed expression of gratitude. "See, unlike Lucario's ranks, here in the Gold Division we're all in this together."

As Prince walked away, Char unbuttoned the top of the bag and eagerly began combing through. What he found was everything he could have possibly asked for. The mobility scarves, both of them, had been miraculously recovered! And the goggles, and the x-ray specs, and even a few of the reviver seeds! Char could barely stifle his exuberance as he yanked the items from the bag, each one just as precious as the last, wondering how they had survived the disaster at Temporal Tower. The rescue emblems were here, still attached to their emerald-green scarves! At least, three of them had found their way home; the fourth had been taken by Scythe. And there was the detect band, and a pure seed, and…

Char's heart stopped when he found what sat at the bottom of the bag.

Short, gasping breaths passed through his throat. His poor little claws trembled with apprehension as he lifted out a glassy sphere – one that held, at its center, a blue, eternally-still tongue of fire.

He dropped the sphere on the floor and bolted out into the Gold Division base, catching Prince before he had gotten too far.

"Prince! Prince!" Char gasped, his voice several octaves higher than normal. "Prince, you… there was… You left your frozen flame in the bag?"

"So?" Prince chuckled with indifference. "I don't need that thing anymore. I think it's finally time that it passed hands."

"Are… are you sure?" Char squeaked.

"Char, I've been looking for a successor to hold the frozen flame for a great while now," Prince explained plainly. "It has stayed in my team for long enough that we do not rely on its protection; it has become just a minor convenience to us. I would much rather prefer that it could save someone's life in a dire time, rather than saving us a scratch on the knee every once and again. And I have seen no successor more fitting than a particular little Charmander who, while growing quite strong, is still learning how to cope with a body that is not truly his own. So… I pass the flame to you, now. Please accept it?"

Char took deep breaths, calming his frantic heart and his blazing ember. "Prince, it's too much," he said to the elderly one. "I'm not sure if I trust myself with something that valuable…!"

"I insist," Prince said kindly. "Besides, it's not all that valuable, in the end. The rescue emblems would sell for more on the market. I think… I think the only reason I held onto it for so long was because… it reminded me that I was not where I should have been. It reminded me that I had chosen to let my own flame become frozen, for… for, at the time, who knows what reason… But now, it has done its job, and it has brought me back home. Perhaps now… it could bring you back home, to your rightful place at the side of Giratina, Dialga, Arceus, or wherever you had come from."

The Infernape shrugged, the beaming smile never leaving his face. "I really need go now, Char. Canniah will be impatient."

"Thank you…" Char said, a half-whisper, one final time.

Then, he and the great Infernape parted ways.

Char retired to his room to spend nearly an hour staring with awed fascination at the motionless white flame within the transparent glass orb, as though its tiny shape held all the secrets to life, or all the memories of the past which it had witnessed. So captivated, he was, that he completely forgot his own teammates had been waiting for him down in Kecleon's store.


Route 325

At the dawn of the next day, as the Amberan countryside still glowed orange and red from the magnificent sunrise, Team Ember embarked on their first mission in a very long time.

The weather was so gorgeous; sunny, but not sweltering. There was no snow, no ice, no stinging wind to push them back. After spending so many days and nights in Zerferia and the surrounding lands, Char had nearly forgotten that the sun's rays were warm, and that the outdoors were not actually a treacherous realm where the gods of coldness would torture their poor hapless victims. Full of vibrancy and proud to be leading three teammates toward a mission where they had a very high chance of success, Char realized that he could not remember the last time he had felt as happy as he did now; not when he sat in the cradle of Dialga's embrace, not when he woke in the hospital to find Saura and Ray waiting for him, and not even when he basked between the towering fires at the sides of his bed and took his respite with his team. Now, as he marched down the road, he felt, in some small way, that the road would lead him back to Giratina, and to the conclusion of his master plan… whatever it was.

Char breathed in the sweet, dewy air and savored the tingling feeling it brought as the moisture collided with the fire in his chest. Though the majority of summer had passed on his great trip, the early autumn weather was still quite pleasant to the fire-type; the climate of mid-western Ambera around the Gold Division was always very temperate, and he knew that the thought of chilly weather would not even cross his mind until the worst of the winter months.

This day was perfect. Everything was perfect.

After taking inventory of the equipment that Prince had brought them, Team Ember found that money was no longer such an immediate issue; they had more than enough items to make the day's simple mission work. Ray had dutifully packed the bag, taking one reviver seed – just in case – and they had soon embarked out into the streets of Iron Town and down the paths through the countryside. Otto had remained terribly quiet for the duration of the morning, but Char figured it was just his nature. Once outside, the little bird took to the air and kept watch over Team Ember from high above.

Char remembered this particular road; Route 325 was a route taken to several missions before. A mile ahead and somewhere off to the right of the beaten path was the opening to the Iron Crevice dungeon, the place Char had defeated the Steelix. Today, they'd need to journey a bit farther down the road to reach the dragon's garden where the client waited, but Char felt his mind continually drifting back to that cave. He fondly remembered his encounter with the Steelix and the rescuing of Fern the Furret as an example of luck's blessing, but had no intention of relying on such a twist of fate again; today, if he was to accomplish a victory, he and his team would make it happen by their own hands.

Even Saura seemed cheerful and full of energy. Char wondered if his headaches were starting to come under control. He always feared broaching the topic with his friend, as doing so would often cause the pain to return in full force, but he knew he would need to help Saura in some way when the time came. He wondered if he could trust Eva to delve into Saura's mind, but even if not, he knew there was no shortage of skilled psychics living in the Gold Division. Perhaps Hypno or Dr. Orde would be willing to examine him. But as of now, Saura was his old self again, insightful and supportive as ever, and Char couldn't ask for any other Pokémon to walk by his side.

Somewhere behind them, Ray was scampering down the road, singing some kind of exploration carol to pass the time.

Over the mountains and under the sea,
Endless adventures, they're waiting for me.
Marvelous nature, I search for your grandeur,
It's calling to me!

Deadliest monsters will flee from our might,
Dangerous dungeons we'll crawl with delight!
Pose us a question, we'll search for the answers,
from day until night!
'Till the darkness is filled with light!

And the heights, no, they don't scare me,
They're such a sight to see.
And the dark, it cannot harm me
in friendly company!

Nature, you cannot keep us
from witnessing what you hide!
Now nothing you throw into our path
will hold us back, try as you might!

"It's a shame Eva didn't want to come today," Saura mentioned, sighing happily. "I bet she'd like to get some fresh air for once. She would have liked the weather. Char… Char?"

Char didn't hear the song that Ray sang, or the words Saura had said; instead, he had become occupied by staring into the frozen flame, mentally detailing all of the fascinating intricacies of the petrified fire. When Ray had offered to hold onto the priceless heirloom in the team bag, Char had declined; he wanted to try keeping it in a satchel tied to his waist just like Prince had. But it proved to be a bit too bulky for his diminutive form and the twine kept coming off, so Char had just decided to carry the satchel over his shoulder… although the frozen flame was soon spending more time just sitting in his claw, holding his gaze captive.

Saura chuckled, seeing the Charmander so mesmerized by the object. "I still can't believe Prince gave that to you," he said.

"Yeah…" Char replied, absentmindedly.

"Heh, Char, if you don't want to lose it, you should probably keep it in the bag," the Bulbasaur suggested. "You should just give it to Ray. It'll still affect you as long as you're nearby."

But the immunity to rocks isn't the point, Char wanted to say, not tearing his gaze from the orb. In fact, I don't think I'd mind if it didn't have an effect at all. The flame just looks… so wonderful.

But… yeah, I need to lead the team. I can't be distracted by this forever, Char decided, reluctantly dropping the orb back into the leather pouch. He finally let himself entrust it to Ray, who buried it safely in the bag of supplies.

"Cheee-cheea!" Otto called from up above.

Char turned his attention to the Pidgey, finding that it had flown a bit off-course from the road. As the route was now passing through the Iron Outskirts, Char figured the bird was just exploring the nearby area, checking behind the rocks for any prey, or whatever it was that Pidgey searched for. He didn't worry for the little guy; he figured he knew what he was doing.

"Cheee-cheea!" Otto sang again, a bit louder this time.

Just as Char was wondering if Otto was trying to send a message of some kind, he turned to witness a familiar team jump out from behind a nearby rock, blocking the road forward.

"BOO!" Croagunk shouted, followed closely by a Dusknoir and a Seviper.

"Waaaah!" Saura yelped. "Auugh, no! Not you again! Stop doing that!"

Char's body jolted in surprise, but he caught his balance before he tumbled backwards, rolling his eyes at the rival team.

"Bwah-hah-hah-hah, gotcha again!" Croagunk laughed, waving his arms. "Heh, heh, heh! That never gets old!"

"Alright, seriously, do you need to keep doing that?!" Saura groaned at the poisonous team. "You already got into the base, do you need to keep jumping out at us?!"

"Why, of course we do," Seviper said in a mocking, silky voice. "We'd never want to fall out of practice at one of our favorite pastimes, would we, Croagunk?"

"Nope. It's just what we do," the frog replied cockily. "Besides, when we saw you guys headed the same way as us, we couldn't help it. Where're ya headed today, Peanuts?"

"Jormungand's Garden dungeon!" Char replied, speaking the dungeon's name as though it was a deadly and impressive feat to be attempting. "What about you?"

"Actually, I don't know, we're just following boss," Croagunk replied. "Eh, boss? Where're we headed to, anyway?"

"Stabwound Bog," Dusknoir replied. "We're out to find an outlaw. Marshtomp."

"Outlaw hunt, eh?" Croagunk laughed. "And to think, it seems like just yesterday that we were considered the outlaws around here..."

"As it turns out, an outlaw is defined only by the one placing the bounty on their capture," Seviper added.

"Right," Croagunk said. "How hard is it? One-star rank?"

"Three stars," Dusknoir corrected. "This particular Marshtomp is said to have quite the… twisted mind. Though I am quite interested to see if it can match mine."

"Hah! Three-star mission," Croagunk goaded, punching Char lightly in the shoulder. "Can you beat that, Peanuts?"

"Not just yet, but we're kinda broke right now," Ray told the rival. "As soon as we collect some money to get some better supplies, we'll be doing the starred missions! Just you wait!"

"Pffffft, supplies," Seviper hissed. "How adorable. Croagunk, go show them the contents of our bag. Let them chew on that for a bit."

A mean smile formed on the Croagunk's face. He walked around the rock from which he had ambushed Char, reappearing with a bulky, bulging backpack strapped across his shoulders. He slung it to the ground before Char, unbuttoning the pouch and letting the pocket sag down to reveal an impressive collection of gray chunks of gravel.

"Rocks?" Char said. "That's it? Just rocks?"

"About forty of them," Croagunk boasted, buttoning it back up and sliding the straps back around his arms.

"Isn't that… a bit heavy?" Saura said in confusion.

"Uh, yeah," Croagunk replied. "Gotta keep my muscles in shape. Pitching is all in the shoulders and the back."

"But… what can you do with a bag full of rocks?" Char wondered.

"Better question to ask is, what can't you do with a bag full of rocks? Heh, heh, heh…" Croagunk chuckled evilly. "Just watch. Boss? Gimmie a target."

The Dusknoir briefly glanced around, wasting no time in giving an answer. "Sapling, forty degrees to the right, beside the stone."

*Thwack!* The sapling snapped apart as a rock was hurled into its stem. Croagunk reached into his backpack to grab another.

"Too easy," Croagunk scoffed. "What now?"

"Small rock, ten degrees to the right, forty feet down path," Dusknoir instructed.

*click!* The sound of the collision was soft, the thrown rock breaking in two as it fell upon the stone jutting from the ground.

"C'mon boss, there's got to be something harder!" the frog arrogantly begged. "Gimmie a challenge."

"There isn't much around here, until we get to the bog," the Dusknoir responded. "But fine. You want to impress Team Ember? Fine. Try this: Pidgey, sixty degrees to the right, forty-five feet above ground…"

Uh-oh… Char realized.

Acting quickly, Char leaped in front of the stone just as it left the Croagunk's hand.

*Thump.* The stone bounced off Char's belly and fell to the ground.

"Whoaaa, What'yre doin' ?!" Croagunk cried in a panic. "Char, 'ya nuts?! That musta left my hand at two hundred knits! That coulda killed!"

It was Char's turn to put on a mischievous grin. "Really, I didn't even feel anything," he said. "That was a pathetic throw. It felt like a raindrop."

"That is an odd metaphor for a Charmander to use, seeing that a sufficiently large and well-placed raindrop could knock your daylights out," Seviper said coolly. "For the moment, I'll just pretend you said something more fitting."

"Buwwwh! Waah!?" Croagunk stuttered incomprehensibly, wondering why his rock hadn't left a bruise upon Char's skin. "But… but how?! How did…?"

"Are you sure that wasn't one of those foam rocks?" Saura added, joining in the fun. "Try again. Maybe you'll hit a bit better."

"Yeah, go on!" Char goaded to the baffled Croagunk. "Throw one. Point-blank. I won't even move."

"You sure?" Croagunk said, almost in disbelief.

"Yeah, throw it as hard as you can!" Char challenged. "I dare you!"

"Ooooooh, the dare has been uttered," Seviper teased interestedly. "Now there's no going back. Croagunk, you've got to splatter him now. You've got no choice."

"Ehh, if you say so!" Croagunk tried to say, his guise of cockiness wavering as his hesitation mounted. "Alright, Char. Don't be surprised if this kills you! I'm not joking!"

Croagunk drew another jagged, oversized pebble from his backpack and clutched it in his fist. Seviper and Dusknoir watched in fascination, Saura and Ray watched in amusement. There was uncertainty in the frog's eyes, but he soon decided to just get it over with, and he flung the projectile into the side of Char's belly as though to run a hole through him.

*CHRACH!* The rock shattered into four pieces upon contact, leaving Char unharmed.

"Uhh!" Croagunk gasped, staggering back. "Char, how… how?! How are you doin' that?!"

"Heh, well, it looks like he finally found something a bag of rocks can't do," Saura remarked with a grin. "Too bad. He really sounded like he knew what he was talking about."

"Auuuuughh!" Croagunk cried, kicking one of the shattered shards across road in bewilderment. "Alright, alright, Peanuts, You win this time! We got more important things to do than to play games. Mark my words, we'll get you! We'll figure you out!"

"Riiight," Saura said playfully. "Good luck with it. We'll be waiting."

Dusknoir bid the team farewell in a bit more polite of terms than his underling, and the team took off down the road with surprising haste, with Croagunk muttering to himself.

"Did you see that?" Char said to his friends, watching the rivals curiously as they disappeared into the distance. "Croagunk didn't want to throw the rock. He didn't want to hit me."

"You're right!" Saura realized. "He didn't! And you know, I don't even think he threw it as hard as he could the second time. He was worried he'd hurt you."

Char scratched his chin. He gathered one of the stone shards from the ground, grasping it in his claw and staring inquisitively.

"Interesting," Char said, turning the stone over. "I think we might need to keep an eye on these guys after all… We might just need their help sometime."

With a shrug, he waved for his team to follow and they continued down the road.


Augustus Park

With a couple of hours yet to pass before noon, Team Ember arrived at a peculiar patch of wilderness where the grass and the trees were turquoise-colored and the bushes had been trimmed to appear like rows of overlapping scales.

Through their research, Team Ember had learned that Augustus Park bordered on two significant dragon-type habitats and acted as the common ground between them. Char had looked forward to meeting some Bagon or Gabite or whatever lived in these places to gain a sense of a dragon Pokémon's culture, but sadly, Augustus Park seemed deserted so early in the day. Not even a wild bird or rodent could be found, leaving the blue-grassed reservation eerily silent.

"Alright, so our client is supposed to meet us here… somewhere… at noon," Saura mentioned, looking around the lonely park. "At some kind of pillar?"

"You mean that?" Ray wondered, pointing at something in the distance.

They approached a strange sort of gazebo made of pearl-white marble. Beneath the shelter it provided was a small and muddy patch where no grass grew. On the roof, however, there stood a sizable ridged pillar that extended almost past the tops of the nearby trees. Char was surprised when Otto came fluttering down to rest upon the top of the pillar; he had forgotten the little bird had been tailing him in the air for the duration of the morning.

"Alright, so at least we found it," Ray said, peering into the shadowy shelter. "Should we wait for Hariyama or should we try to go into the dungeon now?"

"Let's go to the dungeon," Char decided after a brief moment of consideration. "Ray, you can leave Hariyama a note in case he gets here before we're back. No sense in wasting time. The dungeon is only five sectors long, but we need to get home early so we can research that other dungeon we're doing tomorrow."

"Alright, let's do it," Ray said, pulling out a roll of paper to write the note on. "Let's see. The dungeon is about a forty-minute walk from here… I'd say we'd be back in about four hours or less. Sound right?"

"Depends on how tough the dungeon is," Saura said. "I guess we won't know until we get there. We also aren't very equipped to fight dragons."

"Don't worry, there aren't any strong dragons living in there," Ray told him, scrawling some footprint symbols onto the parchment with a small stick of drawing-coal. "Everything else we can take out. Besides, if we do run into a Salamence or something, we can just paralyze it! Okay, there," the Raichu said, sticking the note to the ground with a rock. "Done. Let's hit the dungeon!"


Jormungand's Garden S1

Team Ember stood at the entrance to the dungeon – or three of the members, at least, as Otto had flown up high to keep watch from the air.

It appeared tame enough, and bore striking similarities to the park they had first visited. Apparently, according to the records, Jormungand's Garden previously served the purpose that Augustus Park had, being a recreational field for the Salamence and Flygon clan that lived nearby. However, once the dungeon curse sprung up, the park was moved closer to the rival clan, and as the clans mingled and spoke with one another in the park, their rivalry faded and they came to find peace among themselves. It was an odd story of a mystery dungeon leading to good fortune rather than discord.

Char tugged upon the emerald-green scarf around his neck, making sure it was secure. The priceless emblem, the trinket that would save his life from a failure in the dungeon, was pinned close to the corner. He stroked it with a claw, hoping that the pin was holding fast. Ray and Saura wore identical scarves and trinkets. Since they could not be lost, even in failing a dungeon exploration, Char decided that they would be taken on every dungeon exploration from here on out. He merely had to make sure they never came off.

"Alright, so what's our mission again?" Char barked at his teammates. "Find some thunderstones, right?"

"Yeah, three of them," Ray confirmed. "But we don't need to find all three. Worst case, we'd only need to find one and we'd get to report a success. That's what the job description said!"

"But we need to go through the whole dungeon, remember?" Saura reminded him. "We're looking for that missing Bagon, too. So if we find all three… we'd need to explore the whole place. That is, unless we want to come back here again tomorrow."

"Good point," Char said, absentmindedly playing with the knot of his scarf as he thought about things. "Alright, so… what kind of enemies are we up against?"

"Wild Bagon, wild Trapinch, possibility of some Salamence, but that's unlikely," Ray recited. "Those are the dragons. There's also the usual, Rattata and various birds, but those are everywhere, you know… Also, there were supposed to be wild Eevee, Mothim, and Shroomish. Although, if we're looking for a missing Bagon, I wonder how we're supposed to tell it's not a wild?"

"See if it answers when we talk to us," Saura said with a shrug.

"Nothing we can't really handle," Char said confidently, clutching his fists and standing proud. "Alright, team. Let's scour this sector. Stick together, watch out for wilds, and let's get this done."

The team fell into a simple formation with Char at the lead, and they began to comb the stubby turquoise grasslands for the missing stones. They paced between trees, back and forth across fields, and peered into dried creek beds, ever vigilant for anything that sparkled in the early-afternoon sunlight. Char found the whole mission to be relaxing so far; the weather was pleasant and there was no sign of any wild Pokémon.

In fact, after the first hour, the walk had started to border on boring. The sector was quite large, and the team made slow progress as they checked each and every nook in the ground that was large enough to contain a thunderstone.

"Cheee-cheea!" Otto shouted, Char nearly mistaking his cry for a wild bird's.

Char looked up to check on him, and found that he had soared quite off-course. He wondered if the bird had become distracted with something.

"Kiiiiiiiiiieeh!" Otto called, sounding like he was trying to get the attention of some animal.

"Oh, Otto, what are you doing?" Char chuckled. "Wonder if he's trying to call us over. Should we go see?"

Before any of his teammates could answer, a wild Pokémon roared in protest.

Char turned to find a peculiar fox scampering across the grass, hastily heading for their position. Though diminutive, the Eevee looked very angry with its teeth bared and its ears cupped back against its head.

"Riiewwww!" the Eevee shouted as it prepared to strike. It made Char hesitate; the little thing was almost too adorable to attack.

"Whoa, watch it!" Saura warned, noticing the wild. He blasted a flurry of seeds at the foe. Only one of them bounced off the ground and struck the target in the leg, tripping up the fox for a moment but not helping to slow it down.

Seeing that the Eevee was about to pounce upon Saura, Char found it within himself to ready his fire and take aim at the little fox, hoping to intercept it before it could clench its fangs down onto Saura's side.

But he never had to. After an explosive brown blur and a pained "yiiip," the Eevee was laying on its side several feet away with red streaks across its flank. Atop the wild stood Otto, who had shot out of the sky without warning to defend his team. The Eevee squealed in defeat; its eyes remained open, but it seemed uninterested in trying to attack again.

The little bird hopped atop the downed fox, pecking at its fur in places. Char wondered if Otto was a bird of prey and was deciding where he wished to begin tearing the little fox apart. But instead, Otto fluttered down from the foe and came to rest near the team.

"You do not know the standard avian signals," he said plainly.

"Standard avian signals? No, I guess we don't!" Ray replied ashamedly. "They didn't teach us those in Team Stripes. Maybe you could teach us?"

"It would take a very long time; there are seventy-one," Otto said.

"Well, maybe just the important ones, then?" Char suggested. "Which signals are you most likely to use in a simple mission like this one?"

Otto fluttered over the team and landed on the other side, as though continuing to check for nearby threats even while talking. "A single short call indicates that I have nothing to report, only that I am maintaining visual confirmation of your location and that I continue to remain attentive," Otto began to explain, turning his gaze toward the team. "Two short calls indicate that I have spotted something of interest which might require investigation at your digression. If the calls are followed by a third call, search in the direction of the call; otherwise, search in the opposite direction of the call. A long mobbing cry indicates I have spotted a hostile enemy and I am prepared to attack or hold at your signal. If you give no signal, I will by default attack only when you are in immediate harm. A long cry followed by a short cry means that I have been separated from you and that I am searching for your location again."

"Hah, that's awesome," Ray laughed happily. "We've never had a bird on our team before, so we don't know what it's like having someone keep watch from the sky! This is amazing. So there are really seventy-one of these signals?"

"Yes, for the many ways in which avian units must communicate with other avian units, or with ground units," Otto said.

"I see!" Ray replied. "So… all these different patterns must mean something, I guess! So what does it mean… when there's a short cry followed by a long cry?"

Otto ruffled his feathers and appeared confused. "That is not one of the standard signals," Otto said plainly. "Its meaning varies between species; in my case, it would indicate I am searching for a prospective mate."

Ray burst into happy laughter, dropping to his side.

"Hah hah hah hah! Right, well, then! Good work, soldier!" He cheered to the little bird, unable to take the ridiculous grin off of his face. "Carry on, then! Keep up the good work!"

Char cracked a smile himself. In truth, the more he learned about Otto, the more he felt privileged to have him as a teammate. He couldn't begin to imagine all of the ways that having surveillance from the sky would make missions faster and easier.

"Hey, speaking of keeping up the work, we need to get going if we want to finish searching this sector," Saura reminded the team. "We're only halfway through…"

"We should proceed directly to the next sector now," Otto said. "I have seen the whole sector with my eyes. There are no Bagon and no thunderstones. There are minimal hostile Pokémon. The locations I could not examine from the air have already been examined by you. We should proceed."

Char didn't have to be asked twice; after seeing the dark-blue grasslands reel past for over an hour, he was already starting to hunger for a change of scenery.

"Alright, you heard him!" Char declared. "Onward. Time for sector two!"


Jormungand's Garden S2

The second zone of the dungeon appeared similar to the first, but a few more bushes and trees had sprouted upon the terrain than last time. This meant that there were more places for objects and Pokémon to hide.

"Alright, let's make this go a little faster," Char instructed, testing his instincts as a leader. "Otto's going to search from above. Let's split up, but don't go far enough that we can't see one another. Saura, you go that way, check the area between those trees. Ray, you go the other way, and look in that field in the ditches. I'll go straight. If you don't find anything, we meet up… at that white thing all the way down there, near the hill. Alright?"

"Got it," Saura said. "And if there's an enemy?"

"If you can't beat it, keep it busy," Char said confidently. "Otto will help, and the rest of us will be right there when we hear the mobbing call."

After a round of confirmations, the team broke apart to comb the terrain more efficiently. Char scampered forward through the grass, stopping to check thoroughly beneath every tree and thicket. He began to encounter a few wicked-looking weeds with leaves and flowers covered in prickles; those which were too thick to examine from the outside he gleefully torched with a hearty stream of fire and examined the ashes for a payload.

Char kept an eye on his friends, but he didn't worry about them; he knew that Otto was watching them much more closely than he could.

Still no dragons, Char thought to himself, secretly hoping they would see at least one. Wonder if there are any actually in here. Maybe they're all hibernating or something. I know they hate the cold just as much as I do, but it's barely even autumn!

Char came to a cluster of large, bushy evergreen trees at the side of his chosen path. The pine needles were bright blue, almost blending in with the afternoon sky as he peered up into the branches of the first tree.

Can Otto see into these trees? Char wondered. Hmm, should I search up there? A thunderstone wouldn't be in a tree, would it?

Tentatively extending his claws, Char approached the magnificent black trunk of the first tree and craned his neck to judge its tallness. He pressed a paw against the rough bark and felt his sharp claws sink into the sappy membrane of the tree.

Well, I guess this is a mystery dungeon, Char decided. Anything can happen, like a stone appearing in a tree. Guess I just gotta make sure my tail doesn't catch anything; I could start a forest fire.

Char began his shaky ascent up the tree, learning to trust his claws to hold him in place.

When he was a little more than a foot up the trunk, a bird's cry resounded very loudly from somewhere up above.

"Caww-Caww! Caww-Caww!"

A crow? Char wondered, tensing his muscles so he wouldn't fall, though the ground was relatively close. Is there a Murkrow here? Wait… no. That was Otto. Otto made that sound! He must be calling us…

Char sighed, wondering awkwardly how he was supposed to get down, and realizing he didn't think his plan through too well. He tried to descend slowly, but he couldn't quite hook the claws in his feet into the bark the same way he had when climbing up. He couldn't quite find his footing. For a moment, he felt like a cat, trapped hopelessly mere feet above the ground, outsmarted by a tree.

With a prolonged sigh and a passing thought of wishing he were a Charizard, Char retracted all of his claws at once from the surface of the tree and landed to the ground with a thump. Strings of goopy sap trailed down on top of him, smearing his hands and feet. The spicy smell of smoke rose into the air as a pad of pine needles caught fire upon contact with his flame.

Wasting no more time, Char ran off in the direction of Otto's call. Otto was perched atop a fallen tree at the edge of a dried creek bed. Not surprisingly, the remainder of the team had already congregated there.

"I didn't know you could caw like a crow," Char said oddly to the bird as he approached. "For a moment, I didn't know it was you."

"It is called mocking," Otto replied simply. "Chatot are the most skilled, however, nearly all birds are capable of intimidating the natural calls of other birds. Learning to mock is a requirement to learning all the standard avian signals."

"Alright, so what was the call for?" Ray wondered eagerly. "I don't remember you saying anything about a caw signal. Did you find something?"

"Yes," Otto reported, turning to gaze into the creek bed. "Look."

Char peered down into the tiny creek basin. It was not entirely dry; in fact, a small trickle of water still worked its way through the gravel. Char scanned the gravel and soon found that one of the rocks was different than all the others.

"Whoa!" Ray shouted, leaping down into the creek bed. "You found a thunderstone! We found one already! Nice!"

Ray gathered the shard into his paws to admire it. It was like a translucent chunk of gemstone, comprised of a green, glassy mineral. In the center, there was an odd shape like a bright yellow streak; it very roughly resembled a lightning bolt. Char knew, from reading about evolution stones, that it was just a vein of concentrated mystical substances that had been trapped inside of the glassy shell, giving the stone its power.

And he knew the power of this stone was a much-desired one; it would allow certain types of Pokémon to permanently mutate into stronger forms. It could allow, for example, the Pikachu on Team Carrier to become a Raichu.

That is, of course, if accompanied by a feral-shard.

That was the great curse of being a civilized, intelligent Pokémon in Ambera; evolution was not possible through normal means. When a Pokémon became impressed by a fellow civilized one, imprinted so that the mind could learn things such as language and mathematics and architecture and foresight, the evolution instinct would simply become disabled. It made a slight bit of sense, in a way; with intelligence (indeed, a level of mindpower beyond those which standard trained Pokémon generally attained), the subconscious mind assumed that power was no longer a dire necessity, since any problem could be solved through enough wit and knowledge.

Thus, if a non-wild Pokémon in Ambera wished to break the barrier and evolve into a stronger form, they needed the assistance of the exceedingly rare, coveted treasures known as feral-shards. Said to be pieces of an ancient meteor, the feral-shards held a frightening power: they could temporarily disable a Pokémon's higher levels of thought, effectively reverting them into a feral Pokémon for a few moments. With the mind's guard down, the evolution could finally take place, if all the proper conditions were met.

Yet, even with the scarcity of feral-shards in the Amberan economy, evolution stones such as this thunderstone were still highly sought-after, becoming priceless family heirlooms or selling for impressive riches on the open market. It was no surprise that the explorer who had lost it dearly wanted it back.

"I remember when I had to use one of these," Ray said darkly, squinting at the stone. "Ahh…"

"Not very fun, I take it?" Saura asked, noticing Ray's change of tone. "Evolution hurts, doesn't it?"

"Well… it's like… evolving with a thunderstone is like… it lulls you down, it fills you with energy and it feels so good," Ray reminisced with a hint of bitterness, "but then… it just hits you with the most awful… gaaahh," he groaned, shuddering and dropping the artifact into the bag. "I think it's like… it's like how it feels to not be an electric Pokémon, and to get struck by lightning from a thunderstorm. That's what it felt like. I got to feel that once."

"…Oh," Saura said, sympathizing with him. "Well, at least you only had to do it once!"

"Yeah," Ray said. "But… wow, that was so long ago. You know, I… I evolved at a very young age. Sometimes you can evolve, but you'll still be a hatchling on the inside. It's weird. You know, with humans, apparently you can look at them and tell exactly how old they are. You know. Beard and wrinkles and stuff? It means they're old, right? But with Pokémon… you can't always tell. Sometimes you can see a grown-up Pokémon like me, all flashy with power in the Raichu body and calling down lightning on my foes like I've been doing it for seventy years… and I might be only six."

A solemn, forlorn look passed across the Raichu's eyes.

"How old are you now?" Char asked him carefully, a question he never considered asking his friend before now.

Ray shrugged suddenly, as though hesitant to answer the question but realizing there wasn't any real reason not to.

"Twenty-five years old," Ray replied, his grin returning to his face, as though proud of his age.

Char sighed uneasily.

"Ray…" Char said, worried for the first time, "How long… have you been a Raichu?"

Ray's smile disappeared as fast as it had come. He tried to hold it, but failed; instead, a sad, faraway look flashed in his eyes again.

"I don't remember, Char," he answered honestly. "I didn't write down my evolution-date anywhere. I don't really care about that, you know? But all I remember is…"

He looked at the ground.

"I was a Pikachu for only about… two months, maybe?" he sighed. "And I think I may have liked being a Pikachu… but… I knew that a Pikachu doesn't really fit on the Resistance, where you're supposed to be as strong as possible… And I really wanted to impress Scythe… so…"

He trailed off, losing track of what he wanted to say.

"Well, you know what? I am what I am!" he cheered, his smile returning as though it had never left. "Where to next, Char? Should we split up again and search the rest of this sector?"

"…Yeah, do that," Char said distractedly, still wondering about Ray's childhood. "Good work, guys. That means we at least succeed the mission today. Now let's find the other two thunderstones. And maybe the Bagon."

"I will return to the patrol path at the point I had deviated," Otto reported, fluttering up and out of sight.

Ray cast a warm, genuine smile at his team leader. Hefting the backpack firmly onto his shoulders, he approached Char and gave him a gentle pat on the back.

"Don't worry," he said quietly. "I don't regret what I am. I am what I am. I just… wonder what it was like to be a Pikachu. I feel like I just skipped over that part of my life too quickly, and I don't really remember what it was like. Don't you wonder what it was like being a human, sometimes?"

"…Yeah," Char replied. "I do."

"But you don't regret being a Charmander," Ray playfully goaded. "You love it. That much, I do know."

"Yeah, I do," Char said again.

"And I love being a Raichu," he laughed. "I love the power. I wouldn't go back if you gave me the Master's throne for it. That's just… what I feel like sometimes. I just wonder what I might have missed growing up. That's all. Sorry I made you worry."

"I understand," Char replied, sighing in acceptance. "Thanks for your help, Ray. You do good work."

"Thank you," Ray said happily. "Coming from my human trainer, that means a lot."

They shared a small smile for a fleeting moment before Ray continued walking.

"Now, C'mon, let's get on with this," he suggested. "Let's get this done with!"

The team split up and continued to scout the turquoise landscape with surprising efficiency.


Jormungand's Garden S4

Though it seemed like it had just begun, it soon dawned on Char that his mission was nearly over with.

The sectors seemed to reel on by, bearing nothing of much interest for Team Ember. They had engaged in battle with several Shroomish, but they had been no challenge to defeat, especially with the help of Char's fiery breath. One of them had managed to land a spore-attack on Saura, but the Bulbasaur was immune, and retaliated with a spirited lashing with his vine. Char continued to wonder where the dragons were.

There had been many less trees in the third sector, allowing Otto to perform a cursory sweep over most of the terrain to confirm that there were no Bagon or thunderstones to be seen. Near the end, Otto came down to rest his wings and the team took a break to nibble on food and relax in the wonderful weather.

At the fourth sector of the dungeon, the trees and flora vanished entirely, leaving only a landscape of fuzzy blue hills. The hills were quite steep, presenting a challenge of perseverance walking uphill and a challenge of balance walking down. They rippled across the land like the waves of a disturbed pond frozen in time.

Char and his team figured they only needed to trek across the terrain and arrive to the final sector, with Otto looking out for anything critical. But halfway through, as the team ascended a particularly steep hill, a shrill cry rang from the air:

"Kiiieeeeeeyyah!"

Char tensed. It was the mobbing cry. There was an enemy nearby.

"Down!" Char commanded, dropping to all fours and clinging to the side of the inclined terrain much in the same way that he had clung to the pine tree. "Wait. See if it comes to us."

"Otto sounds far away," Saura mentioned. "What if we went to the top of the hill? We could at least see what it is."

"Good idea," Char decided. "Ray, go see if you can spot the enemy."

"Kiiiehhh! Kiiieeh!"

Otto's mobbing cry sounded more desperate now. And closer. Much closer. Hurrying, Ray scampered to the top of the hill and peered over. When he reached the top, Char saw his ears fold back against his head in surprise, and his mouth hang open.

"Whoa...!" Ray cried, not ducking back down.

"What? What?!" Char begged. "What is it, a dragon?"

"No, it's…," Ray tried to say. "It's fast! Lookout! Scatter!"

Char didn't have time to twitch; a large yellow figure bounded through the air over the top of the hill, sailing directly towards him.

Char reacted in the only way he could think of at the time: ducking. The four-legged enemy sailed over him, right where his head had been, and with a pained yip, immediately lost its footing on the slanted slope. Its legs became tied in knots, its body twisting head-over-tail as it awkwardly tumbled down the hill and into the gully.

"Huh. Jolteon," Saura said in an impressed tone. "Didn't hear about those guys being here."

"Fast runners, those are," Ray commented, peering down at the unfortunate foe as it struggled unsuccessfully to break its descent. "Some of the fastest land-runners there are, actually."

When the Jolteon's body finally stopped moving at the valley between two hills, its fate was sealed when Otto, his body wreathed in blue flame, shot down from the sky like a thunderbolt and struck the foe.

Otto perched atop the creature just had he had done with several other downed enemies, inspecting it closely. Fascinated, Char decided to descend the hill and look at it up close.

"I was not expecting Jolteon here," Otto said, hopping around on the electric Pokémon's flank. "It was not in the record. Perhaps the record should be updated."

"Uh, Otto, you should get down from there," Saura warned. "It'll discharge on you or something."

"I don't think it will," Otto said, pecking the creature and drawing a needle-like hair from its collar. "This Jolteon is young and inexperienced. The electricity has had no time to charge. The spikes upon its fur have not yet hardened; they are mostly soft. As a matter of fact, it seems as though this Jolteon has just recently evolved."

"Wow, how recently?" Saura wondered, looking in awe at the unconscious canine.

"If I had to judge," Otto said, hopping down onto the ground, "I would say it has been mere minutes since this Pokémon became a Jolteon. Its behavior indicates that it was testing its newfound speed for the first time by dashing around the grass."

"Oh, no," Ray gasped in an odd tone of horror. He nudged the still body of the Jolteon with his front paws, his eyes widening in realization. "He's right. This guy is really young… almost looks like an Eevee still, but with the fresh new coat of fur… That's not good…"

"What?" Char demanded. "What's wrong?"

"Guys, if this Eevee just evolved…" Ray explained, examining the creature for himself, "Well, Jolteon evolve with thunderstones… and since he's a wild, he wouldn't even need a feral-shard, so…"

Ray rolled the spiked yellow canine onto its back, as though searching for something.

"I think we may have just lost thunderstone number two," Ray reported. "I think the Eevee found it before we did."

For a moment, the team was silent as they let it sink in.

Realizing what Ray meant, Char clenched his fists and gave a grunt of frustration.

"Guess that means we don't get the maximum reward," Char said with a defeated sigh. "But we can still find the third one. Let's not give up here."

"I never assumed we would," Otto said before taking to the air again.

After Otto gave a cursory glance to the landscape, Char led his team into the final sector of the mystery dungeon.


Jormungand's Garden S5

The final sector of the dragon-haven dungeon was the strangest of them all. The most prominent obstacle wasn't a tree or a bush, but a pearly-white pillar of marble, repeated endlessly in different orientations. Sometimes it stuck out of the ground at an angle, other times it sat like a fallen tree. Yet other times, several pillars came together to form a sort of structure, reminding Char of the gazebo in the center of the park from which they had come. Combined with the stickle-bushes and the hilly landscape, Char knew it would prove a real pain to explore for that final stone. Wanting to get the search over with as fast as possible, he gave the order to split up the team.

With all the junked pillars cluttering the ground, it was difficult for Char to keep eye contact with his friends, but he trusted that Otto would do so. He turned his attention to the mess of ruins before him, carefully weaving under and over the ridged cylindrical stones for anything out of the ordinary.

At one point, Char became afraid that one of the lopsided structures would fall on him and crush him into the ground. He wondered if the frozen flame would protect him from a falling pillar of marble. As an experiment, he gave a rough headbutt to the nearest column and joyously discovered that he didn't feel a bit of pain.

I'm glad nobody saw that, he realized, backing away from the pillar. That would have looked kinda embarrassing.

As he crawled over another pillar, Char wondered just how useful the frozen flame would prove to be. Many things in the world were technically rocks; did that mean he would be free from damage from all of them? Could he survive in a collapsing building if it were made of brick? Bricks were made of clay, but so were many types of rocks. Could he survive being sliced by the blade of a Scyther, which was technically composed of the mineral iron? Apparently not, since some Scyther-blades had successfully cut through him during the Temporal Tower expedition. Was there a spirit living within the white flame which decided these things? He figured that he would need to learn, through trial and error, all the intricacies and details of which types of harm the flame protected him against, lest he someday make a terrible assumption in the heat of the moment.

Char listened as Otto shouted a single cry down to the surface. It meant that there was nothing to report, except that he retained eye contact with all three members of the team. Yet, the call sounded from far ahead, making Char wonder if he should move faster.

As Char recklessly stumbled down a hill, now unafraid of accidentally ramming into any of the fallen white chunks in his way, something glimmered in the corner of his eye.

Eagerly, he dashed underneath the shadow of a halfway-collapsed structure to examine the treasure.

It was green and shimmering: the final thunderstone!

Except that it wasn't. It was just a small chunk of marble in roughly the same size as the evolution stone; the reflection of the turquoise-colored glass against the white stone in the shadows caused it to appear green. Frustrated, he chucked it away.

Wait… but these thunderstones aren't the only thing we're searching for, are they? Char suddenly remembered. We're also supposed to be looking for this lost Bagon. We can't miss him if he's here. He might be frightened, to be lost and wandering in such a place.

He might be hiding. He might be in one of these weird structures. Or he might just have tunneled into the ground.

Char decided he should begin shouting for the Bagon.

"Bagooooon!" He called at no direction in particular. "Baggooon! Are you here? Come out if you're hiding! We're friends!"

He worked his way through the rough terrain, shouting into the air several times a minute. He wondered if his teammates would hear his cry and sound their own, drawing the missing Bagon out of hiding.

"Bagggooon?" Char shouted, leaping over the stump of a pillar and climbing a steep hill. "Baggon! Come out! We're here to rescue you!"

*Snort!*

At the top of the hill, Char found himself face-to-face with a magnificent dragon.

A Salamence was seated comfortably in the dark center of a still-standing marble gazebo. Its proud, territorial gaze fell upon Char. Its blue scales impressively matched the color of the grass.

Char's breath caught. He decided not to make any sudden movements. Instead, he stood his ground, staring at the dragon and waiting for it to do something.

But the mighty Salamence didn't move. It only stared threateningly at the little Charmander, curling its tail tightly around its body as though protecting young. It continued to snort and growl loudly at the intruder, trying to scare Char away.

Deciding not to panic, Char peered into the air. He could see the silhouette of Otto against the clouds far ahead. Though he had no idea if it would work, Char reached his front claw into the air and waved at the bird, beckoning him to come to his aid.

Surprisingly, it worked. Otto shot forward out of the sky with impressive speed, landing atop the pointed structure which housed the dragon.

"Do you need something?" Otto inquired.

"Yeah, help," Char answered, his gaze shifting between the menacing dragon and the tiny bird. "There's a Salamence right beneath you. In that thing. I think it's going to attack me."

Otto ruffled his feathers in surprise. "I can hear it breathing," the Pidgey said. "I am sorry that I did not spot it. The shadows fell in an odd way, and I assumed the structure was empty."

"That's no problem, just… can you get the others?" Char asked nervously. "I'm afraid that if I move, that thing is going to pounce…"

"At once," Otto replied, darting away into the distance.

Once again, Char was left alone with the great dragon in a moment of great tension. The dragon never lifted its gaze from the Charmander, watching its every move. Char marveled at its size; it was larger than any other dragon he'd seen before, save for the false Dialga apparition. It was even larger than the impressive Dragonite he had flew upon. There was no way he could beat it in a fair battle.

Yet, it remained still.

That's very weird, Char thought to himself. Mystery dungeons usually drive enemies to attack intruders, no matter what. Why isn't it attacking me yet? It's just staying there!

Could it be… no. That's impossible.

Is that the Bagon we were searching for? Did it evolve?

Biting his tongue and knowing he would regret it, Char carefully inched closer to the great creature.

"Hey, is that you?" Char called to it in a tiny, trembling voice. "Are you… Kablo the Bagon? Were you… trapped in here? If so… we… I mean… yeah. We… we were supposed to… help you. We can show you the way out…"

"GRRAWWWRR!" The dragon snarled powerfully, making Char leap backward in fright and nearly stumbling back down the incline. As though to punctuate its threat, the dragon stood itself up, lifting its majestic head to full height and towering over the little fire-lizard.

And Char saw it.

Beneath the weight of the dragon, there it was: the final thunderstone. The dragon wasn't moving because it was hoarding its treasure.

As though realizing it had revealed its possession, the dragon quickly sat itself down and curled itself up tightly around the evolution stone, huffing in Char's direction.

One by one, his teammates returned to his side. Otto had returned first, coming to rest on a nearby marble stump and staring intently at the massive foe as though to analyze it. Ray and Saura arrived moments later.

"Otto says you called?" Saura said to Char, climbing the hill. "Did you need – wow."

"Yeah…" Char said, indicating the dragon. "It has the last thunderstone. We need to figure out how to get it to move. It's sitting on the thing.

"I could zap it!" Ray suggested. "It flies. Flying creatures hate lightning."

"But it is also a dragon," Otto corrected. "The effectiveness of your lightning would be negated."

"Oh, right," Ray said ashamedly, scratching his head. "What do we do, then?"

Char backed himself down the hill until the treasure-hoarding Salamence could no longer see him. The rest of his team followed, and for a moment, they mulled over possibilities.

"Any ideas, Otto?" Char tried. "How would we get it to move?"

"I do not know," Otto admitted. "I have never battled a Salamence. It is possible it could outfly me, especially if I held a thunderstone in my talons. Without prior intelligence about its species, we should not make assumptions."

Char grinned.

"Prior intelligence, you say?" he repeated mischievously. "Well, we know it likes to hoard treasures. Otto, how far away is the dungeon exit? Have you seen it?"

"Yes," Otto replied. "It is one third of a mile to the northwest."

"Hmm, maybe we could run for it," Char said. "You know, I almost hate to suggest this, but… I have an idea."

… … …

The bothersome intruders finally gave up their attempts to harass the mother dragon and steal her treasure. It had taken quite a show of superiority, but she had finally managed to drive them away. The noise they had made, especially that pesky bird, had been unacceptable.

The Salamence rested atop her precious treasure, the treasure which sparkled green and yellow in the sunlight. In the cool shadows, she drifted back into her slumber.

As her eyes drifted shut, something new shimmered in her eyes.

Curious, she peered out from her cozy home and glanced down the hill, at the territory she ruled. There, at the bottom, was something that shined like the sun. It sparkled like pristine glass in the mid-afternoon light.

Instantly, she wanted it. She knew all the other dragons would want to get their claws on it, and she intended to have it all to herself.

Warily, she stood up from her hoarded things and tiptoed down the hill. The intruders were long-gone; she knew it since she could no longer smell them. But they had left something for her. A tribute. Something to honor her glory and magnificence.

It was a sphere of glass encapsulating a white flame. It was so pristine, so blemishless. It was the perfect treasure. Unfathomably valuable. More valuable, she knew, than the rest of her treasures put together.

Roaring with excitement, she pounced at the sphere. But as soon as she had her paws on it, it moved.

She hesitated, confused. Was it a creature? It didn't look like one. Creatures smelled of sweat and meat. This thing smelled like nothing. Yet, it moved along the ground all on its own.

Confused, she pounced at it again, and it rolled away, further up the hill.

That's when she noticed the truth. It was not alive, but something else held the possession of this treasure. Something that smelled more like poison-ivy than animal. Something that had the treasure guarded in long, green, snake-like tendrils.

"I think it saw Saura," Char said, standing at Ray's side in the gazebo. "Can you hit it from here?"

"No, I'd miss," Ray replied nervously. "I'm not Croagunk."

"Alright, then let's get it a little closer…"

With his vines snuggly wrapped around the base of the frozen flame and hidden in the fluffy grass, Saura tugged it back up the hill and towards his hiding place behind a marble stump. The dragon dashed after the sphere with fervor, pouncing and fluttering in an attempt to catch up with it. Snarls of frustration escaped its snout.

Finally, when Saura had run out of room to pull the sphere up the hill, the dragon spotted the source of the vines.

"Uh-oh…" Saura breathed, seeing the angry dragon glare down upon him and holding the frozen flame close. "Guys? Guys, now would be a very good time…"

*Snap!* Ray threw the stun-seed, which struck the dragon upon its red cranium. The Salamence lost control of its body at once, slumping to the ground and rolling halfway down the hill before the contortions of its body would not allow it to tumble any further.

"YESS!" Ray shouted, pumping his fist in delight. "Gotcha!"

"Really good throw," Saura commented, returning the frozen flame to its safe place in the bag. "But I don't think it's going to stay stunned for long. It's pretty big. We don't have any more, do we?"

"Nope, just that one," Ray replied.

Otto swooped into the confines of the shelter, and the four members of Team Ember peered down onto the dusty mound where the dragon had hoarded its treasure.

Indeed, the thunderstone was there, just where Char had noticed it. Ray snatched it up and dropped it into the bag.

"Alright, good." Ray said. "Guess we're done here. Let's get out of this place."

Char blinked. He thought his eyes were tricking him.

"Wait…" Char said suddenly, noticing strange shapes in the dirt below the thunderstone.

He pawed at the dirt, brushing the dust away. And there, underneath the dry earth, was another thunderstone.

"What?!" Saura cried in surprise. "There's another one?"

Char lifted it off the ground, causing the dust to cascade down from the evolution stone. Beneath it were two more thunderstones. Char could not believe his eyes.

"Whoa, whoa!" Ray shouted, scrambling in the dust to find more. "This dragon was hoarding lots of these things!"

"This also wasn't in the record," Otto commented, staring at the pile of precious stones. "The mission document clearly said there were three."

"Well, I'm not complaining!" Char cried happily.

Char pulled the fourth evolution stone in the pile, tilting it and and dusting it off before tossing it to Ray.

"I suggest we run," Otto said suddenly, a hint of urgency in his voice. "With a creature that large, the stunning seed would wear off about now."

"ROAAAARR!"

"Seconded!" Char yelped, dropping to all fours and darting out of the gazebo in the opposite direction of the furious rumble.


Augustus Park

And so, Team Ember emerged from the dungeon with an unexpected payload: five thunderstones. Proud of their victory and anticipating the large boost to their bank account, Char led his team back into the dragon park where their client, Hariyama, was supposed to be waiting.

Char noticed, to his amusement, the dragons had finally come out to play. He spotted a Salamence, much smaller and kinder-looking than the one whose treasures he had stolen, soaring through the sky. On a nearby hill, a Flygon conversed with a Vibrava. He wished he could speak with them, but he was on business.

"I got yer note," the Hariyama said, standing at the side of the gazebo which looked eerily similar to the one where they had found the stones. "Run into any luck?"

"Some luck," Char said wryly, a pointed understatement. "We're here to report a successful mission. Do you have the payment?"

"E'yep, ready!" said the bulky Pokémon, revealing three small satchels of coins in one of his large hands. "Got eight hundred Poké in each bag, just as promised! I tell 'ya, it was painful getting knocked out in there. Those dragons, 'ya know? They pack a punch."

"Yeah, we know!" Saura replied kindly. "One of them almost got us, but we outsmarted it!"

"I appreciate your work, kind fellows," the client laughed, its bulky form shaking with each of its chuckles. "You know, I promised my nephews these stones. We already got the feral-shards and everything. They've been waiting to be Raichu for years!"

"Heh, wow!" Ray said. "Sounds like quite a wait. Well, tell them we said hi! I'm glad we could help you out."

"So anyway, here yah are," he said, thrusting the bags of coins in Char's direction. "One for each thunderstone yah got. How many did you get, by the way?"

Char was about to make a comment about wondering if he had more than three satchels of money, when something disturbed his silent thoughts.

Team Ember, it said, a psychic calling.

Char noticed his friends twitch suddenly. They had heard it, too.

"Yah guys okay?" the Hariyama wondered, noticing their hesitation. "Uh… you guys look pretty busy, you know? Maybe we should get this over with fast."

Team Ember, the voice called again. I need to speak with you. Behind you, there is a tree behind a shroud of bushes. Before the money exchanges hands, please come here.

"Um… I need to speak with my team for a moment," Char suddenly told the client, exchanging odd glances with his teammates. "We'll be right back, alright?"

"Uh… alright, whatever ya'll say," the large Pokémon grunted. "I suppose I'll just… stay here. Hope y'all aren't trying to rip me off, or anything!"

"No," Char reassured him. "We just… remembered… something we need to discuss. We'll be right back."

Awkwardly, Char half-walked, half-dashed around to the other side of the nearby bushes. His team accompanied him.

When they arrived to the specified position, they saw nothing waiting for them. Char began to suspect an ambush or some other kind of trickery, when a soft whisper broke through the silence.

"Hey! Up here!"

Char glanced up a nearby tree to find that a familiar Espeon sat in a low branch, cleverly hiding herself behind the turquoise leaves which lined the branches.

"Wha! Eva!" Char quietly yelped, approaching the base of the tree. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored," Eva said with a dismissive shrug. "Decided a mission would be interesting after all."

"Uh, how'd you get out of the base without being seen?" Saura asked awkwardly.

"I talked another team into letting me leave with them, then used the memory-wipe to make them forget about it," Eva said cockily. "Anyway, I arrived here after you'd already left for the dungeon, so I decided to stick around and psycho-analyze your client. I have… findings to report."

The Espeon gracefully leaped out of the tree, landing perfectly on her feet. Her tail swayed in gleeful amusement as she stood before Char.

"Nearly everything he says is a lie," Eva told Char and his team. "For starters, he does not have Pikachu as nephews. I did not even need a mind-read to know that; it's impossible for Pikachu to be related to Hariyama."

"Oh, really?" Saura said interestedly, glancing at his teammates in disbelief. "So, what was he going to use the stones for…?"

"This is where things get interesting," Eva spoke, swishing her tail in pride of her work. "He's a merchant. He intends to sell the stones on the open market for exorbitant profits. In fact, he has never set foot inside of the dungeon which you visited today, and his story about getting knocked out and losing his payload has been a complete fabrication. He simply heard a rumor in the merchants' grapevine that Jormungand's Garden had, overnight, become a rich source of thunderstones, and wished to cash in."

"And he wished to acquire the stones cheaply, at eight hundred Poké a piece, to resell them at high costs," Otto said with a nod. "I understand. He is playing games."

"Correct," Eva said plainly. "He's cheating you. You would gain much more money by selling the stones to Kecleon."

"I see…" Char said, rubbing his chin. "He rigged our assignment. But if we don't give him the stones, we take a mark of failure on our mission. What do we do?"

"Simple," Otto said. "Give him one stone and keep the other four. Sell them to Kecleon. That is how we can maximize our profits while increasing our team's rank and not taking a failure on our record."

"You're right!" Char said, almost too loudly, grinning in glee. "We win the mission even if we give him only one. It said so on the assignment! Otto, you're a genius. And Eva… thank you for your help again."

"You're welcome," she said, bowing regally. "I'm finding that it's fun to stretch my legs and travel every now and again. I have missed seeing the sun far more than I realized."

Char stood with his teammates and the Espeon, smiling proudly and savoring the day's victory. In the end, everything had fallen into place. His friends smiled back, realizing what had just transpired.

"We did it," Saura said, realizing the truth. "We actually did it. Nothing went wrong today. We did everything on our own. We planned it all and pulled it off. And it all worked."

"We sure did," Ray said happily. "Maybe we can be a resistance team again after all. Good job, guys! Good job, Otto! Good job, Char! Great leadership skills today. We couldn't have done it without you."

Team Ember exchanged a small cheer, and Eva sat back to admire it. Inside, she was reconsidering Char's offer; maybe life on a team would be best for her after all.


Division Base

The rest of the day had gone very smoothly. Char lied and told the Hariyama that they had only succeeded in retrieving one thunderstone. The Hariyama was furious, claiming he knew he should have hired a more credible team. He accepted the thunderstone and chucked their payment at them, dashing away in anger.

The satchel was filled with plain seeds. Otto happily began pecking at them.

Back at the base, Ray dumped out a bag full of thunderstones before a flabbergasted Kecleon, who generously purchased them all for forty-two hundred Poké. Char's heart leaped in his chest, and his fire sparkled with blue when he realized his team was no longer financially insecure; they could now afford reasonable merchandise from Kecleon for their day-to-day missions. Ray's eyes widened in marvel at all of the things he could now purchase.

Finally, Team Ember retired to their room for the rest of the evening where they had a hearty dinner catered straight to their door. Eva joined in the celebration, sharing the food and listening to the team's story of how they had outsmarted the Salamence. Saura munched down razz-berries like there was no tomorrow, and Otto finished the seeds which the swindling Hariyama had given them as payment.

With his stomach stuffed, Char collapsed onto the floor happily, feeling the soft red rug underneath his back.

For once, everything had gone perfectly. It was a good day for his fledgling resistance team. A very good day.

There was a rapping at the team's front door. Eva scurried away into her room, and Saura answered. At the door was an excitable Treecko.

"Taka!" Saura gasped in surprise. "It's been a while! What's up?"

"There's… it's…" Taka panted, gasping for air as though she had dashed up the stairs in a panic. "I just thought… that… you might like to know… Scythe's back!"

Stunned, Char jumped to attention.

"Scythe?" he repeated in disbelief. "When? When did he come back?"

"Just a few minutes ago!" Taka reported. "Literally, he just got here through the north-east entrance. He was asking how you were, too!"

He made it… Char realized. Scythe… whatever he was doing, he survived…

Unanimously, the four members of Team Ember rushed out the door to find and greet their old mentor.


Ray's song is sung to "Random Dungeon Theme 3" from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

*Chapter 74*: Chapter 54: Dark Star

Chapter 54

Canyon Junction

In the darkness of night, a lone Umbreon dashed through the shadows.

Cursing at himself for agreeing to travel alone at such an hour, the darkling fox swiftly and silently bolted beneath the cover of dense foliage, hoping it would provide enough shelter for the swarm of demon ghosts to disregard his presence. He paused to catch his breath and survey his surroundings, watching in wait for another opening in the cloud of Watchers, an opportunity to advance further towards his destination.

The small yet strong Pokémon scanned the sky with his ruby eyes, watching the tide of the ghosts with all the disdain his heart could offer. He loved the night. He loved everything about it: the peace, the silence, the rush of energy as he would pounce from the shadows upon his unknowing prey, and most of all, the beauty of the moonlight and the stars. The darkness was his element; night was the only time he felt truly alive. He remembered the day that he had evolved, the day that the night had chosen him to be a child of the shadows, and he had so willingly accepted the offer, joyously sprinting through the gloomy forests and across the glistening hills in his restless new body…

And he remembered how the Watchers had taken the night away from him.

Slowly, through the years, they had emerged into the skies, multiplying somehow, until the visage of the stars became tainted by legions of terrible, unnatural figures after only some decades had passed. The night, which had once held him in its loving embrace, now sought to purge him.

Indeed, the Umbreon knew he could still dash through the night as fast as his paws would carry him, but it had become a joyless thing, something he did only because he needed to. It was, after all, the reason he served Scythe; his talent was to blend in with the shadows, to spy upon the oblivious, and to outrun the Watchers all on his own, making him a natural asset to his team. But on every occasion he could catch but a glimpse of the stars behind the veil of abominations which claimed the darkness from him, he remembered the reason he fought, and vowed to defy the Watchers until not one of them was left to stand between the night and the creatures it rightfully belonged to.

Steeling himself against these melancholy thoughts, the Umbreon caught notice of an invisible wind which swept the Watchers high above the treetops. Judging it was good enough, he tensed his muscles and bolted from his hiding place.

Imagining he was a Rapidash, or maybe a frightened Rattata running from a swooping raptor, the red-eyed fox sped across the road, watching the dusty ground reel past him. He knew he would be safely home in the Gold Division base within only a few hours if he kept a reasonable pace, and he longed for a good day's rest after a week of digging tunnels and hunting for wilds in the caverns of the canyon.

He already had his thoughts set on his next shelter point when he scaled a steep hill and nearly ran into the most horrendous swarm of Watchers he had witnessed in his life.

In a panic, the Umbreon scrambled his limbs to a stop and beheld the spectacle. A squall numbering in the thousands spanned the landscape, cutting off the road less than half a kilometer from where he stood. Captivated by the terrifying beauty of the swarm, the fox gave a quiet yowl, as though begging Arceus to tell him that what he saw was not real. He sat on the open road for a moment, his ears hanging at his sides and his eyes opened wide, before he wrestled control back from his heart.

"Alright, then, I guess we're taking the long way tonight," the fox muttered to himself, dashing back the way he came.

There was indeed another route back home, one which Team Remorse often took when they needed to pass through a small place called Ingrain Village. Unbeknownst to the Master or many of the surrounding towns, Ingrain Village was home to a secret greenhouse in which the highly-illegal invisify seeds were cultivated. Of course, being as illegal as they were, the resistance teams made frequent use of them for covert missions… those, at least, who could afford them. When Scythe discovered the hidden farm, he was quick to make a deal with its owners, freely doing favors for the family in return for great discounts on their priceless harvests…

The Umbreon soon plotted his course around the countryside and through Ingrain Village, knowing it would take several more hours to arrive back to the base, even at his maximum speed. He knew he would probably witness the dawn. But it was too late to turn back and spend the night at the canyon, so he grit his teeth and prepared for the long run ahead of him.

To his surprise, the Watchers left him alone for the next few hours, allowing him free reign to cover many miles without stopping to hide. He wondered if some arcane energy of Giratina's was drawing them into the great cloud he nearly ran into, but he did not complain. The sooner he could make it to Ingrain Village, the safer he would feel. He knew that the residents of the village lit a sol-rock torch on some nights in the town's square; he looked forward to stopping for shelter there, and perhaps staying the night if his muscles chose to collapse along the way.

When the village came into view, the Umbreon could tell the torch was lit. His magnificent night-vision told him so, picking out the gleam of the light's rainbow even at the edge of the horizon and upon the backdrop of the stars. He doubled his efforts, happy at the prospect of a respite from the frustration of the night's journey…

But as he grew closer, the Umbreon sensed something else stemming from the village: voices.

At first, he figured it was merely a group of Pokémon holding a conversation in the light of the sol-rock flame. But it soon became clear to the shadow-fox that there were many voices at once. Too many.

His instincts flared in his heart, warning him against running head-long into this congregation of Pokémon. He knew it wasn't natural for so many Pokémon to be gathering at this time of night.

And he knew that he needed to do what an Umbreon does best: wait in the shadows, unseen and undetected, and watch.

Focusing his mind, the Umbreon calmed himself, dimming the neon light from his own body until his rings became nearly as black as his fur, and his eyes darkened like a dying lantern. When he knew he was ready, he became one with the shadows and crept closer to the village. Silent as the wind, the Umbreon fell in line with the trees and trenches along the way, ensuring that not a single glint of light from the sol-rock would fall upon his form.

Drawing his claws, the fox sidled against the first building on the edge of town and carefully crept up the wall, holding himself steady on the nooks and crevices of the stone. Once on the roof, he found where the center cross-beam was hidden and gracefully straddled himself to the peak, the platform making not a single creak in protest of his weight.

Then, he cupped his ears to his head and narrowed his eyes, watching the Pokémon down below.

From the moment he focused on the crowd, he knew it had to be the entire population of the tiny village. Perhaps about fifty Pokémon in total, all speaking over one another, stood in orderly ranks by the light of the torch. Though he could not make out any words, the Umbreon figured they spoke in protest. He sensed fear in their voices; obviously fear of the Watchers above.

Squinting, he recognized several residents of the village, especially the Servine who tended the secret garden.

"This… this isn't natural," he muttered to himself, knowing the voices of the villagers would overpower any words he might speak into the wind. "What's the occasion, Ingrain Town? Why do you hold a night festival at this time of year?"

Then, he saw a Pokémon exit a nearby house, and the crowd went silent.

The Umbreon's blood ran cold. He held his breath hard, resisting the urge to howl in surprise. He felt a small tremor upon the shingles of the roof, and he knew it was his own trembling which caused it.

The Pokémon was a Nidoking. It stood tall and mighty, robed with eloquent plates of armor across his torso and shoulders. Strapped to his back was a massive weapon, a stone-colored battle-hammer, which he carried upon his person as though it weighed of feathers.

The Nidoking's eyes gleamed blood-red in the firelight.

"No…" the Umbreon gasped. "It was you…"

The terrified fox felt a convulsion in his rear legs, the instinct to flee and never look back. It nearly caused him to lose his balance and tumble from the roof. He pressed his claws deeply into the wooden shingles and tensed, holding every muscle still.

He couldn't deny that which he watched down below: the Pokémon that would surely be his undoing, and perhaps the undoing of an entire people. The great warlord strode around the townspeople as though assigning them orders, speaking with a deep, mellifluous voice.

"It was… it was you all along," the Umbreon hissed into the wind, contempt mounting in his heart greater than any he held for the corrupted ghosts. "You're behind all this…"

It was worse than he could have feared. And with Scythe still missing, he wondered if the canyon and all of the sacred feral-shards within would be lost forever to the Master.

He knew they had to know. He needed to return to the Gold Division alive and give his report, a report of something he knew he should have never been allowed to witness.

"Well, then," the Umbreon snarled quietly, scorning the figure of his great enemy. "Wait 'till the others hear this. You may have hidden from us for this long, but Remorse will not fall so easily, poison scum. Now we will see who you are in the dark, Starborn…"


Division Base

After hearing the news that his mentor had returned alive, Char wasn't sure how to feel.

Something went wrong, he told himself as he hurried upstairs with his friends. I just know something went wrong. He wasn't supposed to come back this soon. Or was he? Did he defeat Adiel? Was it really that easy? No, it couldn't be... Something had to have gone wrong!

Char almost didn't want to see. He kept imagining Scythe limping back into the base covered with cuts and bruises, or with chips in his blades, or worse: having been touched by another Watcher, turned into a crazed, demonic lunatic…

When he ascended the final flight of stairs and dashed toward the entrance lobby, he found a small congregation of eager Pokémon waiting to welcome the old hero back from the field. Shander and a few members of Team Remorse were there. Legend and several Team Flamewheel members were there. Joining them were some kids from Team Stripes, Seviper from Team X, and a few Pokémon he didn't recognize.

All of these Pokémon, about a dozen and a half in the welcoming committee, crowded around a Scyther who appeared quite cheerful, energetic, and unhurt.

Blinking in surprise, Char took his place at the back of the congregation – he didn't want to force his way through – and watched as the Scyther happily greeted the Gold Division's associates.

"Rumors of your demise were, as usual, quite exaggerated," Daemon spoke, hiding his relief behind a mask of gruff formality. "You always seem to fly off at the times of greatest inconvenience, and though at times I've strongly considered burning your wings off to make you stay put, I've learned better than to worry when you leave on your own. You have your reasons. It is a shame we cannot always know about them in a timely manner."

Scythe cast a burning glare at his partner, but it soon melted away into a chuckle. "Forgive me, Daemon. I can't always plan for these things to happen," he replied. "Please spare my wings; I think they still have a bit of use left in them."

"Scythe… we just got worried when Team Ember came back and you weren't with them," Shander said, fretting his claws together. "You didn't tell us of any plans you had, you sent us no news…"

"I know, and I would have, if I had the chance," Scythe replied, looking his best friend in the eye. "I did not have a pair of hands with which to compose a message, and I couldn't risk trusting a stranger and giving away my position. I am quite happy to have my hands back again." He broke his gaze with the Sandslash, glancing around at the crowd. "Speaking of Team Ember, are they here yet? Taka? Did you get them?"

"We're—We're here!" Ray cried, jumping into the air. "Right here! Scythe!"

The crowd parted, giving the Scyther a clear view of Char and his companions. Scythe appeared very pleased, wearing a gleaming grin as he stepped forward and closed the distance between them. Beaming with pride, he knelt to their eye level.

"It was you I was the most worried about, in the end," Scythe said with gentleness. "After we separated, I did not know what would become of you. I cannot express how overjoyed I am to see you all standing here. Ahh, and I see your Otto has finally been released from training! You must be running missions by yourself! Are you all doing well?"

"We're doing fine; how are you?!" Saura cried incredulously. "How did it go? Did your plan work?"

A different expression flashed across the Scyther's eyes, momentarily breaking his high spirit. "In truth, I do not know if it has worked," he replied, lowering his voice. "Like most plans, it was not something which could be over and done with in an instant. I have merely planted seeds. Now it is time for me to withdraw and watch in wait, to see if my seeds bear fruit. But!" He stood up, a smile gleaming upon face again, "For now, I am just happy to have avoided death yet again. Let me enjoy that, at the very least!"

Char didn't know what to say. He merely gaped at the Scyther as he smiled and laughed along with all the Pokémon.

This, truly, was the old Scythe. The one which he knew from his first days. The one which had died on that night in the hall when Alakazam had given him the news of Temporal Tower. Whatever it was, be it the pressure not to fail or the reemergence of Adron the Terrible, it was completely gone, leaving the Scyther a happy and free-spirited Pokémon.

Char couldn't help but smile at the Scyther's good fortune.

He fell back, allowing Scythe's other acquaintances to flood into his place, letting them have their opportunities to speak with the hero. After exchanging a few more glad words with them, the crowd parted and allowed a different Pokémon, one of much notability and stature, to approach him.

"Scythe, we at last meet again," an Infernape said in a deep voice, genuflecting in reverence and placing his hand on his heart.

Scythe blinked, wearing a stunned expression for a moment. Prince smiled wryly as he stood back up, though he kept his head slightly tilted downward in honor.

"Prince…" Scythe mouthed, wincing in surprise. "This is… the last place I expected to see you. What brings you so far south?"

"Did you miss me?" Prince said, motioning his hand to indicate Legend and Kabir, his teammates, standing at his side. "I and my associates have returned here, to the division where we truly belong, never to leave again. Though it might be a bit late in coming, I… once again stand by your side, old friend."

"Prince…" Scythe repeated, failing to restrain another burst of laughter. "Prince! Well met, indeed! We… we have so much to discuss… I—I only regret that I have handed over your old base to another team. Has Alakazam accommodated you well? Do you have everything you need?"

"I and my team are perfectly happy, Scythe," Prince said kindly. "We have everything Lucario never allowed us: an endless supply of resources, a short walk to the base's facilities, good company, and gorgeous, sunny weather up above the surface… In truth, all I was missing was you."

Char watched the heartfelt reunion unfold. Scythe almost looked like he wanted to cry joyous tears for once, but he dutifully held them back.

"Prince is an old friend, I assume?" Otto remarked quietly from Char's side. "I have heard of him, but never assumed he was a significant figure."

"Yeah, Prince and Scythe are old friends," Saura replied. "It's… a long story. A very long story. We'll… tell you sometime."

"Maybe we won't have to," Char mentioned. "Legend is here now. Maybe he'll tell the story sometime."

Char glanced at the Ninetales with the fiery eyes who was clearly honored to witness the momentous reunion. When Scythe's attention fell upon the golden fox, he returned a fierce, fang-filled smile and poured out eloquent words of adoration and welcome, half of which Char couldn't even understand.

Then something else caught Char's eye. At the other end of the crowd, behind where Legend had been standing, there was another Pokémon. One that he recognized.

A Bayleef.

She was clearly in high spirits, perhaps happy to see her lifelong guardian reunited with his old friend. She smiled and laughed with the rest of the party, and even exchanged a few words with Scythe.

Then, her gaze met with Char's, and her smile vanished.

It lasted just a few seconds, Char's heart pounding in dread as the Bayleef's gaze burned into him, an emotion of displeasure welling behind her eyes. Their gazes were mercifully broken when Kain, the large Luxray who lead Team Absolution, strutted between them.

"Eiiaah!" Char emitted, wincing back. "Lily's here…"

"Lily?" Saura yelped, the same look of fear overcoming his own face, his gaze darting around. "Where? Oh… oh, right! She lives here now…" The Bulbasaur's breath left him as the revelation set in.

"Lily… is an old enemy, I assume?" Otto said, tilting his head as he observed the strange reactions his teammates were giving.

"Something like that, yeah," Ray said, pointing back at the stairs. "Hey, look, there are more Pokémon coming. Heh… so many Pokémon had heard Scythe died or something, now they want to see him again. This place is getting pretty crowded. We should head back, we're probably not going to get to talk with him again."

"Yeah!" Saura and Char replied without hesitation. "We can talk to him tomorrow! Let's go!"

With that, Team Ember bolted back for the staircase, with Otto fluttering behind oddly, wondering what had suddenly gotten into his companions.

… … …

"We're going to have to talk to her eventually," Saura said from his bed as Char paced anxiously in front of his fireplaces. "We can't just… avoid her forever, now that she's in the Division with us. Though I wish we could."

"I don't understand," Otto said, sitting in his own nest-bed next to Saura's. "How do you come to be enemies with a Bayleef? You could easily defeat her in battle. You have many advantages, not just in numbers but with type affinities."

"Long, long, long story," Ray sighed, rubbing his own head and playing with some webs of static that leaped from the tips of his ears. "Short version of the long story: we used to be friends, but then we turned on her and knocked her out. This was on the Temporal Tower mission, mind you."

"You betrayed her," Otto said, wide-eyed. "You poisoned your alliance with her. This makes sense to me now."

"Not—not really!" Char cried defensively. "We didn't betray her! She betrayed us… We were just… defending against her."

"I wouldn't say that, actually," Saura said sadly. "Scythe betrayed Prince, and she sided with Prince… so yeah, we did kinda betray her, technically. Ahh… I don't know what we're gonna do."

"Do you fear that she will strike back when you are not prepared?" Otto wondered.

"N—no, not really," Char answered awkwardly.

"What threat does she pose to you, then?" Otto replied, looking even more confused. "If she poses no threat, you should have no fear."

"Aiie! It's not that easy, Otto!" Char burst out in frustration, his flaring tail whipping through the air as he turned. "It's not just about threat assessments and type advantages and –"

He stopped himself in mid-outburst, clamping his mouth shut. Otto gazed at him with a blank, perfectly baffled expression.

"Alright, the thing is, I've… never really had an enemy before," Char tried to explain. "At least, not one who used to be a friend. I just don't know how to act toward her now. Everything I think of, it feels wrong. It's like nothing I say to her is going to matter. It feels so awkward. Don't you know what awkwardness feels like, Otto?"

Otto blinked for a moment. "No, I do not," he said plainly. "I have heard the word before, but I am unable to determine what it means. Is it an important concept? Someday I might learn."

"Never mindddd," Char moaned, dropping back into his bed. Ray couldn't restrain a snicker, and Char cast him an evil glare.

As the flustered Charmander cursed quietly to himself, the flames beside him turned blue. It had gotten quite late. It reminded Char that, despite the reappearance of his old acquaintances, he still had plans for tomorrow.

"Ahh, let's get some rest," Char suggested. "We gotta go to Shale Cave tomorrow, remember… look for that Bagon."

The team tried to calm their spooked hearts and settle into rest… except for Otto, who spent a few minutes thinking about the odd enmity between his team and the Bayleef before effortlessly falling asleep.

… … …

The weary Umbreon staggered through his team's door, his journey ended at last.

In his mad sprint to return, he had spent the last of his energy from every muscle he could feel, and arrived back to the base just an hour before dawn. He stared at the ground as he tried to keep his balance on his feet, not realizing his teammate was trying to get his attention.

"What in the blazes, Raon?!" the Nidoking asked, holding the door open for him. "You were supposed to be back earlier than this! Go, get your rest!"

But the fox had no intention of sleeping just yet.

"Call… meeting…" he mumbled, walking past the doorway which led to his bed, and turning toward the war room.

Nidoroch flinched. "Call a meeting? At this hour? Raon, everyone's asleep, and we're not—"

Saying nothing, the Umbreon turned and glared at the Nidoking.

"Meeting, right," Nidoroch said, seeing the ghastly glaze upon his teammate's red eyes. "Well… just don't expect everyone to be happy about it… We haven't slept much… Though I see you're clearly worse off than we are right now, so. Right, meeting. I'll get right on it."

… … …

Within minutes, the war-room of Team Remorse was packed with grumpy and half-asleep Pokémon. Daemon stood at the head of the table with Scythe sat at his side. The Scyther appeared especially detached and inattentive, his gaze wandering across the walls of the room. Daemon knew that his leader did not often have the opportunity to sleep, and for once, he decided to take pity upon the Scyther. Clearly, his dreams still danced before his eyes.

"Raon, you called this meeting," Daemon grunted, though not with the usual edge and fervor to his voice. "I believe I speak for everyone in this room when I say that this had better be an emergency."

The Umbreon appeared forlorn, his ears drooping at his sides and his eyes downcast with despair. Reluctantly, he propped himself upon the table's surface and took a deep breath.

"It's… the Starborn," Raon confessed. "He's after us…"

There was a murmur of surprise about the room.

"Ahy, I wouldn't have believed it," Marrow growled. "Haven't seen him in action for ages. Never would've guessed…"

"Are we sure it's him?!" Craw screeched, slamming his claws upon the table. "Do we have proof?! We have suspected him for months, but we can't afford a blind assumption."

"Well, tell us what you saw," Daemon commanded. "From the beginning."

The weary fox took a deep breath, trying with all his might to remain awake. The table on which he planted his paws kept turning into the rooftop in his mind, the rooftop over which he had glimpsed at the terrible enemy.

"Last night," Raon explained, "I was returning from the canyon. As you know, I was alone. The taskforces were running short of food, and I stayed behind to hunt in the dungeons for wilds. Ah, I was lucky; the Watchers gave me enough space to flee without needing to fight. But when I reached the junction, there was a massive cloud of Watchers…, so I decided to go the long way around, through Ingrain Village…"

Staring at the grains in the table, the Umbreon clenched his teeth together and softly growled.

"…and he was there," Raon barked. "It was him. He was speaking to the villagers at Ingrain. He was commanding them."

The room erupted in surprise.

"Hard to believe!" Marrow retorted. "He would never let himself be seen! Even by night… The Starborn would never let himself be seen."

"He didn't see me," Raon sighed. "He didn't know I was there. You don't think I know how to stay unseen, Jake? He probably thought the cover of the Watchers was enough. No, but I knew those eyes the moment I saw them. No other Nidoking has those red eyes…"

"What, but this means… the invisible seeds!" the Breloom cried. "Cepheus must know about them now! If he was in the town, there's no way he doesn't know!"

"He'd have known about them longer than that, I'd take it!" the Nidoking grumbled. "Could it be that is why the Servine were always so kind to us? Could it be that he and his family were controlled by the Starborn? Were they using the seed farm to keep an eye on our travels to and from the canyon?! We must cut off our ties with the Servine immediately."

"No, we shouldn't," Shander noted. "That will just let the Starborn know that we are onto his plan. We must continue to purchase seeds from him as normal. Perhaps in the process we can begin to feed him lies about our tactics."

"SILENCE!"

The room fell silent at Daemon's roar.

"Is that all?" The hound asked, turning his attention again to the Umbreon.

Raon growled once more, lifting his gaze to his teammates. "That's all of it, from the beginning," he sighed. "It's Cepheus. He's the one we're up against at the canyon. Not Adiel."

There was a ghastly look upon Daemon's face. "It is true, then," he spoke. "We were wrong. All of us were wrong. Even you, Scythe."

"Yes, I can see this," Scythe grunted, staring at the floor deep in his thoughts. "The question now is… what must change? What can we do about this?"

"For starters, we will need more than just Absolution's help," Daemon decided. "We have been duped, and it's far too late to correct our mistakes on our own. We will need more help. Perhaps Team Membrane would accept an offer, if we were to persuade them… or perhaps… Mercenaries from Nincadia. Shander, find a list of all the idle teams, and the high-ranking mercenaries who are in town at the moment, and… find everything you can. And we will weigh our options. Who else can we ask? Team Dread, perhaps? Perhaps…"

"Team Flamewheel," Scythe suddenly blurted.

There was a sudden quiet in the room as soon as the Scyther spoke up. He was still staring at the floor, contemplating things. Either that, or he was still half asleep.

"Prince? Really?" Raptor, the Gabite, gasped. "You think he'll be willing to put his team on the line so soon after settling here?"

"He seemed willing enough when I met with him last night," Scythe replied, his eyes now closed. "I doubt he will turn down an opportunity to work with us again."

"It is an option worth exploring, yes," Daemon decided, looking pleased. "Good, Scythe. When you're good and awake, talk to Prince and explain our situation to him."

The dark hound paced around the floor, his fire churning with unease. So many changes in plans had to be made, now that the true enemy had revealed itself. An enemy which he might not have the strength to defeat in the end.

"This raises many issues," Daemon said loudly, pacing around the table. "I suppose the first one we should resolve is that of Ember. Intelligence has trusted us with their safety; since their return, Alakazam continues to reiterate to me, almost on a daily basis, that they are our highest priority. It raises my suspicions about what you learned in the northern lands…"

"Classified," Scythe said simply. "I will tell you only when I am allowed to."

"I have figured," Daemon replied coldly. "But the fact remains, with such a notorious enemy loose in the wild so close to here, I regret to say, we cannot allow Ember to function as a self-contained team until further notice. Though I was proud to see them beginning to break our ties with us, they cannot carry on missions by themselves at the moment. Scythe… you have always been the one to accompany them. What are your thoughts?"

"Hmm, I think it's someone else's turn," Scythe said wearily, slouched in his chair with his eyes closed tightly. "Anyone volunteer to take my place, and run missions with Char?"

Team Remorse was quick to hush themselves. Daemon peered around the table, wondering who would be the new guide and mentor for the small team. Wondering if anyone cared to speak up.

"Aye, it'll be me, then," Marrow said. "I'll take Team Ember duties. It'd be fun."

"Very well, you've got them for the week," Daemon grunted. "Sign yourself as a mentor on their mission reports, and you'll be allowed to accompany their four-member team on missions without breaking the group limits."

"I know," Marrow replied. "I've been a tagalong plenty of times before. I know how it works."

"Then go, have your fun with the kids," Daemon said. "Keep them alive, and I suppose the rest of us will need to begin thinking about how to proof the canyon against… the falling star."

In a huff, Daemon walked out the door, concluding the meeting. "As for the rest of you, we have twenty minutes until the torches turn," he called. "Get your sleep."

… … …

In the morning, Char and his team were awake bright and early, making the final preparations for the Shale Cave mission. Just as Scythe had taught them, they assembled the provisions in the peace and security of their own team hallway, avoiding the mad rush that was surely just beginning downstairs at the shop and the cafeteria.

Ray traced his paw over the Map of Jirachi one last time, committing to memory the route to the dungeon, before rolling it up and sliding it into the bag. Char sorted through some seeds and spare food from the closet, tossing a dried apricot to Otto, who swallowed it whole as though it had been a worm. After making his selections, he gathered them along with the satchel which held the frozen flame to Ray, who fitted them into the empty pouches of the bag.

"Alright, Shale Cave's not that far, and it's not a hard dungeon," Char reminded the team as they fitted into their emerald scarves. "We shouldn't even need the rescue emblems."

"Ah, let's not get too cocky," Ray said. "Let's take 'em anyway. Arceus knows what might happen."

"It should be easy, yes," Otto said as Ray tightened a zinc-band around his leg for him. "The dungeon is six floors, with no powerful Pokémon, and a relay point between floors three and four. The frozen flame should allow Char to confront the rock-Pokémon with no oppression."

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

There was a pounding at Team Ember's door, giving everyone in the room a terrible start. Char froze in fight, bracing himself in case the intruder would break the door down.

"What…?" Saura croaked, lowering his voice. "Who could that be? This early?"

Char shook his head. Hey, Eva? he tried, sending his thoughts into the nearby chamber with the closed door. Eva, are you awake, by chance?

I am now, she replied with grumpy telepathy. What's the matter?

Who's at the door? Char asked her. Can you tell?

Char, you keep asking this. Perhaps you should invest in a peep-hole, Eva replied bitterly. Ahh, and besides, I can't tell. It's a member of Team Remorse… that's all I can garner. Just don't let them see me here, please.

Thank you… and sorry, it won't happen again, Char sent back to the Espeon. Under his breath, he repeated the revelation. "Team Remorse," he mouthed, contemplating. "It can't be Scythe… can it?"

*BAM! BAM!*

"Team Emberrr!" an unexpected voice sang from behind the door. "Are you awake?"

"That's not Scythe," Ray said, crawling up to the door. "Hold on, I'll just answer it."

Ray slid the door open, revealing a brown Pokémon with a wicked-looking skull covering its head. It wielded a bludgeon-sided bone, which it had clearly been bashing against the door.

"Oh, so you're already awake and ready? Good going," the brown reptile said. "Honestly I wasn't expecting you to be so responsible on your own. No, no! I didn't mean it like that. Really, you're doing a good job."

"Marrow! What's up?" Ray replied oddly, as soon as he had the opportunity to get a word in.

"What's up is that… well, Remorse has had something of an emergency," Marrow said politely. "And I was wondering if you'd let me tag along on your mission today. And… for the rest of the week, if it wouldn't be too much of a bother."

Team Ember collectively froze in silence for a moment.

"I – uh," Char tried to say, baffled at the offer. "What's the matter?"

"The matter is that there's been trouble," Marrow explained. "Scythe and Daemon don't want you running your own missions right now, so they sent someone. And that someone is me. Actually, I volunteered! I was itching to do something other than just running to Red Haven every week."

Char paused, not quite knowing how to respond. While he wasn't exactly displeased at the offer, he was plainly confused.

"Hmm," Saura tried to say. "But Alakazam told us we were on our own from now on."

"Well, I'm gonna go ahead and side with Scythe on this one," Marrow said, sighing a little and leaning on his bone like a crutch. "He insists you guys still need your training, so… well, yeah. To be honest, I believe ya, I bet you're fine all by yourselves, really, I do. But Scythe and Daemon just don't want to take any risks right now..."

"Guys… maybe Scythe's right," Ray said, putting the bag back on the floor momentarily. "Maybe Scythe knows something. Maybe Adiel's gonna be after our guts now. So maybe he needs to keep an eye on us…"

"Like the Etcher Ravine mission!" Saura gasped, the terrible memories flooding back to him. "Yeah… You know, when you put it that way…"

There was another pause. Char groaned in his indignation, remembering very well what happened at the ravine.

"Alright, that's fine," Char decided, shrugging. "Marrow can come."

"At your service," Marrow said, twirling his bone at his side and slinging it over his shoulder. "Let's be off. Where're we headed today, Char?"

"Shale Cave, for a rescue mission," Char explained. "We don't even have to find the missing Pokémon, and we'll get our reward anyway as long as we look through the whole dungeon. Should be a piece of cake."

Ray looked surprisingly excited. "Oh, wow. So this means we get you for a whole week?" he beamed. "Marrow the Fearless? Thanks for offering to help us. Thank you so much… I've always wanted to run a mission with you!"

"Don't thank me yet, we haven't done anything!" Marrow laughed. "We can start by getting out of here, right? Let's hit the road. Daylight's wastin'."

And so, Char embarked from his base with a full, strong team following his lead.

Well, this is just a spectacularly fortunate turn of events, Eva said with heavy sarcasm just as Char was walking out of range of her thoughts.

Char cringed; the telepathy from Eva was intensely bitter, moreso than he had ever heard from her before. Through it, he thought he could feel the Espeon angrily gouging her claws into the stone.

I suppose this means I won't be assisting on your missions for some time, Eva growled. Not if Scythe is going to be sending his assistants with you every day. Indeed, I sure do enjoy being locked up in dark rooms for weeks upon end. Letting my mind rot in the dark with no sun, no mind-waves… Cresselia will have my most sincere regards!

Eva… We'll figure something out, Char called back to her as they marched through the Division halls. I promise. We'll think of something. If I have anything to do with it, we'll think of something.


Route 325

The early autumn morning was just as pleasant as ever as the oversized team left the city limits of Iron Town. Small clouds speckled the sky, threatening to drop no more than perhaps a dribble of rain across the flatlands later in the afternoon.

"Lovely day," Marrow said, his club slung over his shoulder. "Good day for some good old-fashioned dungeon crawling. Sometimes I really miss these simple missions, y'know. Ahh, the days when missions lasted one day, the stakes were small, and the only politics I had to learn was the most polite way to bash in a feral's head. Then I joined Scythe's team. Thought, 'Hey, time to move up to bigger missions, longer dungeons, stronger teams.' Nnn-ope. Learned the hard way that when you play at Scythe's league, the game changes into something else completely. Ya really learn the difference between just running around finding spare change for your team and striking real blows against the Master. This is a war, and when you're on the front line, you push forward and gain ground. Everyone else is just support, really, running behind you."

Char trailed behind the bone-collector Pokémon, barely listening to his rambling. Though he was happy about having a strong team at his side, his mind was absorbed with worry. What would he say to Lily? What would he do about Eva? And perhaps most importantly, what was bothering Team Remorse?

"'Course, you being who you are, Char, you'll probably never end up on the front lines, really," Marrow continued, eyeing Char through the large holes in his skull helmet. "Alakazam gave us direct orders to keep you safe. So, you'll probably be stuck doing these simple dungeon missions 'till the end of your days. Pity… Or really, it's kind of a blessing, if you think of it that way."

No problem there, Char thought to himself. After Temporal Tower, I don't want to think about huge missions for a while. Simple daily missions are fine by me. At least for now.

"So uh, Marrow, what's going on with your team?!" Ray said curiously. "What's the big emergency? What's going on at the canyon? Are you going to be alright?"

"Don't think it'd be my place to tell you right now," Marrow said, peering at the eager mouse. "Classified. Sorry, Rai. But I guess I can say this much: the arena of war has changed for us, and we're tryin' to figure out how to adapt with what little time we've got left."

"…Oh," Ray replied. "Well, I'm sure you'll do fine! Especially now that Scythe's back! You'll figure it out."

"I wouldn't be all that certain," Marrow said, his voice suddenly foreboding. "But I appreciate the thoughts."

Once the morning sun had freed itself from the horizon, Iron Town was far behind. All that lay ahead was the flat, featureless wasteland known as the Iron Outskirts and the road which ran through it.

"How 'bout we pick up the pace around here, Ember?" Marrow said. "At this rate, the walk's about to take longer than the dungeon."

"Nah, honestly, this is fine," Saura said, grinning back to him. "The weather's too nice. I want to enjoy it for a little while."

"Ah, right, you were up north," Marrow said with a knowing nod. "So, are you gonna tell me what it was like? Everyone's dying to know what you found out, you know that, right?"

Saura cast a worried glance at Char. "Uh, we're not sure what we're supposed to say just yet," Char replied. "Alakazam wanted us to keep quiet about most of these things."

"Right, right…" Marrow said, pretending for a moment to understand. "Well, are you still gonna tell us? Alakazam doesn't need to know…" His voice was bursting with sarcastic enthusiasm.

Char sighed. "Why don't you ask Scythe to tell you?" he said with a hint of incredulousness. "Scythe never has problems spilling his secrets to you guys."

The Marowak glanced at the ground. "Well, Scythe's been all, uh… he hasn't talked at us much, but he's been mum about everything that happened up there, too," Marrow admitted. "He says the same thing: 'Can't tell yah because Alakazam doesn't want it. Classified, classified,' and to be frank, that's not really like him. Scythe always speaks his mind. So all I can garner is that something real, real big happened up there…"

The Marowak wore a mischievous grin. "Honestly, we were hoping that you would be easier to break, Char," he said. "Me an' the whole team are dying to know what's goin' on."

Char grinned. "Alright, I'll make you a deal," he said, reveling his in own brilliant idea. "You tell me what's going on with Team Remorse, and I'll tell you a little bit about what happened up north. Fair?"

"Hmm! Very tempting," the Marowak hummed, peering at Char with his yellow eyes. "Alright, I give. Let's start with you, then. First thing: why in the blazes is Prince back? Can you at least tell me that? Not to say that's a bad thing; we're happy to see him again, of course. It was just a crazy surprise."

"He's back because Lucario kicked him out of the Emerald Division," Ray said, answering for Char. "It was terrible. The Call went off, and it called all the Watchers into the base, and Lucario just said, 'Lily's leaving, you can leave with her or not,' and…"

"And what?" Marrow cried, stopping in his tracks. "Well, don't stop there! You were just getting to the good part!"

The Marowak turned around to find that all of Team Ember had frozen, their faces contorted into the most ridiculous expressions of awkwardness he had ever seen.

Char was the first to snap out of it. "Ah, sorry, it just reminded me of something," he admitted. "We're kinda enemies with Lily now. And since she lives in the Gold Division, it's not very good news for us."

"Enemies? With that sweet little Bayleef? How in the world…?" Marrow gawked.

"We, uh, kind of knocked her out of the dungeon," Ray admitted. "We ganged up on her and we got her expelled from the dungeon. Char even… set her on fire."

"Oooh… well that's fascinating," Marrow hummed, setting the end of his bone onto the road, and leaning onto it in fascination. "What in the world would have prompted you to do that? Wait, don't tell me… The dungeon brainwashed her and turned her evil? Confusion attack? Wait, no. That wouldn't make sense. She would have understood. Hmm… curious. Alright, alright. You don't need to tell me if you're not ready. But… any plans to talk to her about it? Any plans to apologize? She's a real rational one, if I'm recalling correctly…"

Team Ember didn't reply. Char, Saura, and Ray hung their heads in shame.

"You're real afraid, aren't you?" Marrow said in a lower voice. "Well… go on, admit it. First step to overcoming fear is to admit you're afraid."

Char sighed and nodded his head. "Alright, yeah. I admit it. I'm afraid of Lily a little bit. Happy? Alright, your turn, Marrow. Tell us what the big emergency was."

The Marowak eyed the sky, noticing only the Pidgey who hovered in lazy circles below the crowds.

"I've noticed you've gotten yourself a bird on your team now," the Marowak said, eyeing the sky. "Bet he's real helpful, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah, you bet!" Ray beamed. "Never believed we made it without him to begin with."

"'Course, You know why there's no bird on our team, right?" Marrow said wryly. "Birds are easy to spot. Your eye-in-the-sky there has got a real hard task, flying around in feral patterns and making sure it doesn't look like he's following anyone. If Scythe ever wants a bird for a job, he hires a temporary helper from Silverwing. Otherwise… you wouldn't believe the kinds of jobs that had been ruined because the enemy spotted the bird. Scythe finds it's just best not to bother."

Char gulped, realizing he had never thought of it that way. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if letting Otto fly perimeter was a good idea after all, especially on a day when Team Remorse was in panic from some new, unseen threats.

Reluctantly, he signaled the little Pidgey down from the sky.

"Do you need something?" Otto inquired, pulling out of his dive and leveling into a glide beside the team.

"Yeah," Char told him. "Stay down here for now."

"Fine," Otto replied, gliding forward and perching on the back of the large bone club which Marrow held over his shoulder. "You told me to watch for Team X; have you decided they are no longer a threat?"

"Hah, no," Char said. "I don't care about Team X. Although, I still need to talk to those guys. Remind me later, alright?"

"Noted," Otto said.

Char waited, but Marrow didn't say anything more. He figured the Marowak was avoiding his question.

"Well…?" Ray prodded. "You were going to say something too, weren't you?"

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you a bit," Marrow said reluctantly, tilting his club to give Otto better balance. "The truth of it is, a new enemy has appeared. Looks like we're going against Cepheus, an old Nidoking friend of Scythe's. And when I say 'friend,' I mean someone who was nearly his undoing on many occasions. He's a deadly one. Hard to say what the fate of the canyon will be after this."

"Cepheus…?" Ray repeated. "I feel like I've heard that name before… Well, I'm sure you'll do fine! If you can send Adiel running, you can defeat Cepheus, I'm sure!"

"Well, uh, in many ways, Cepheus is much worse than even Adiel," Marrow said. "Adiel's a commander and general of the Master's army, and he's good at what he does, sure. But Cepheus has the advantage of being the emperor of his own little part of Ambera over in the far east, and so he has a bit more skill when it comes to knowing how to lead people. Honestly, he could probably take the Master's throne and do a decent job of running the country. He doesn't just know how to lead a military; he knows how to lead a whole nation. And that's part of what makes him frightening."

"You're not really afraid of him, are you?" Ray said, trying to be encouraging. "Marrow the Fearless isn't afraid of anyone!"

"Hah, hah-hah. Nah, Rai, trust me. I'm afraid, just like everyone else," the Marowak said plainly and unashamedly. "The whole 'fearless' thing is… well, you might say that it's a mask I wear. It helps me to overcome my fears to imagine myself as a knight in ivory armor. But really… We're afraid of Cepheus like nothing else. See… the last time we butted heads with Cepheus… that was when your brother disappeared."

Ray froze. His smile vanished, and his eyes gazed vacantly at the horizon.

"Brother…?" he repeated quietly, looking dazed.

"Yeah, and the bad part is, we don't even know how it happened," Marrow continued, pausing in the middle of the road. "We were tasked with building a resistance outpost west of the Master's castle, really far west by the sea, close to Great Crystal City if you know where that is. That was our job, and we knew we were up against Cepheus, one of Scythe's old acquaintances. So we started our work, and we thought, 'Alright, let's see how our enemy operates, to get an idea of what kind of resistance we need to put up,' but… we didn't see anything. We kept out our sentries, our spies, our eyes in the sky… no one spotted any enemy movements. It was as though Cepheus didn't exist. And then, just as our task was nearly finished and the new base was nearly fortified… he showed up with ten thousand soldiers and destroyed it all right before our very eyes. Somehow, he knew our position, our vulnerabilities, the combination to every lock, the layout of our defense, the map of the base itself… No one knows why it happened. He just knew."

The Marowak sighed sadly. "And when we picked up the pieces and went home, we never saw Rautzen again," he said. "What a great Pokémon he was… just vanished into thin air. We think he fell in battle, but there's no way of knowing for sure."

"And… that's when Daemon came to get me," Ray realized, his voice heavy and sad. "That's when I joined the Gold Division…"

"I believe so, yes," Marrow replied. "But yeah, you want your answer to what's bothering us? That's your answer. We still don't know what went wrong back then. Baffles us even to this day. Adiel, at least we can figure him out sometimes… Adiel likes to make you fear. He just loves to just show bits and pieces of himself and make you squirm. He's always spying on you, and he wants you to know that, so you'll be paranoid and at every turn. That's how he works. He weakens you with fear, then he strikes. But Cepheus is a bit different. He works by… knowing exactly what you're going to do, when you're going to do it, how you're going to do it, without you ever knowing he's there. Then he just storms in and catches you at your most vulnerable moment, and… it's all over. And the scary thing is, we don't even know how he knows. He just knows. And now, if we want Basin Canyon back to get feral-shards into the economy again, we're up against him."

Ray looked at the ground, lost in his own world. Char wondered if he would begin crying. He wanted to help his teammate somehow, to give him words of encouragement, but he didn't want to broach the topic of Ray's brother. He knew it was sensitive to him. It was the second time in recent memory that something had caused pain to the Raichu; Char was becoming worried for him.

"Y'see, these are the reasons I don't like talking about my secrets!" Marrow said with a bitter laugh. "Because it just causes tears, y'know?"

"Marrow," Ray said softly, "Is there anything I can do to help? Help against this Cepheus, I mean? If he killed my brother… I want to help you fight him."

"Well, little Rai, you could do what your brother would always do for us," the Marowak said kindly. "Help us keep a smile on our faces! Help us remind Scythe that he's the best resistance team leader ever, help remind me that I'm a fearless knight, that sort of thing! You know, that was your brother's secret. That's why Scythe and the rest of us loved having him around all the time. They might be lies… but some lies become true if say them enough, y'know?"

Ray just smiled. "I know," he simply replied.

Char watched as the Raichu's smile returned, and he knew his teammate would be alright. But it gave him something else to think about: that there was a foe on the loose, perhaps worse than Adiel, who was adept at espionage. Though he knew this Cepheus character didn't have any personal vendetta against him, he wondered what it would mean for Scythe's team, and for the resistance as a whole, if Basin Canyon were to fall.

And besides, he was really starting to look forward to getting his hands on the fabled feral-shards that the canyon held. He knew his own evolution was far overdue.

Well, if this Cepheus hasn't brought down the Gold Division yet, then he obviously has his limitations, Char decided. There's got to be reasons this Cepheus guy is so smart. Team Remorse will find his weaknesses, and when they do, they'll win. Just like they always do. I shouldn't worry about it. I really shouldn't.

After the awkward talk, the team continued down the road towards the cave where they would search for the Bagon. Char thought about asking the Marowak something else, or bringing up another topic of conversation, when suddenly the bone-knight decided to diverge from the team and step off the road.

"Well, this seems like far enough," he noted to himself, standing tall and peering toward the shadow of the plateau. "Comin', guys? We've got a dungeon to find."

"We're not even close to the dungeon," Saura said in confusion, looking at his surroundings. "It's still another few miles before Augustus Park. We can't leave the road yet!"

"Well, I figure we can take a shortcut," Marrow said with a gleam in his eye. "I promised we'd have some fun today, and I think this is the perfect place. C'mon with me, if you're not scared, that is. Maybe I can teach you a thing or two."

Next thing he knew, Char was following the Marowak across the muddy wilderness of the Iron Outskirts, with not a clue in the world of where he was going.

*Chapter 75*: Chapter 55: What's There to Fear

o

Chapter 55

Iron Outskirts

Team Ember followed their Marowak guide, crossing the lackluster brown land and approaching the shadow of the great plateau. Char weaved around the mud puddles which must have been left by a recent rainfall, and wondered where exactly Marrow was taking him. It didn't seem quite like a shortcut.

"All fear is rooted in the same thing," Marrow said. "The unknown. Fear is the anticipation. You don't know what'll happen. Or you know what'll happen, but you don't know whether or not you'll survive. Once you realize where the fear is coming from, you don't need to let it distract you so much."

"Uh, Marrow… what are we doing here?" Saura wondered. "I'm not really afraid of the Iron Outskirts. We've been here before."

The Marowak scratched the back of his neck with his bone club, surveying the dreary expanse of land. There wasn't much to look at, only the muddy puddles dotting the ground and the long, never-ending heap of boulders which had fallen from the crust of the plateau and lined its great wall.

Marrow eye gleamed. "Well, why not make a game of it?" he said fiendishly. "There's a certain familiarity with walking the beaten path. Can't face your fears if you never know you had them."

"What does this have to do with Lily?" Saura wondered. "Or does this have anything to do with that at all?"

"Fear is fear," Marrow said again. "That's a secret: since all fears are founded in uncertainty, if you face one fear, you're really facing them all. If you conquer a fear you have, it's gonna help you face all the rest of them. Even those that don't seem like they have anything to do with one another. And that's really all there is to my biggest secret! That's why they call me 'Marrow the Fearless'. Because I made a hobby of findin' things I was afraid of and beatin' them until the fear went away."

Once the road was far behind, Marrow turned to the members of Team Ember, brandishing his club.

"Alright, we're gonna play a little game," he announced. "I'm going to give you guys some dares. Whoever loses a dare first… Daemon set me up with cleaning duties tomorrow, and you're going to do it for me. But if you all can do the dares I give you, then I guess I'm gonna have to take the shift all by my lonesome self. Also, I'll give you a really nice item from our team's storage. No idea what it'll be at the moment, but I'll find something we can part with."

"Uhh… what kind of dares?" Saura asked worriedly. "Nothing dangerous, I hope…"

"Maybe a little dangerous," Marrow said evilly. "No fear without some danger. But I've got faith you'll make it. So? You guys all in? I promise the item will be worth your while."

Char agreed to the terms. His team followed his lead, though Otto had to ask him for permission to respond to Marrow's challenge.

I'm really not sure what Marrow can dare me with, Char thought to himself. He doesn't know what I saw in Temporal Tower. Having Dialga roaring at you and threatening to put your fire out, there's really not much that can top that.

Go ahead, Marrow. Try me. I don't see how you can scare me.

"Alright, Char, since you're the leader, yours comes first," Marrow said. "I've got a real easy one for yah. I dare you to dip your tail into one of these puddles!"

Char jumped back. "—What?" he shouted, horrified at the very idea. "W-why?! What's the big deal?! Couldn't you give me something else?!"

"Nah, the idea was to give you something that'd make you squirm," Marrow said with an evil laugh. "Dunk your tail, or it's cleaning duty for you. Those are the rules!"

Char huffed in frustration. He felt like Marrow had tricked him. He gathered his tail into his hands and saw that the flame was already half his size. He nodded to his teammates for support; Ray and Saura returned glances of worry.

"Char already did that once," Saura replied, shuddering at the memory. "It took him an hour to recover…"

"Oh, lovely! Then I guess it won't be so bad the second time," Marrow chirped. "Well, Char? You give up? Gonna be our lucky housemaid of the day?"

"N-no! Not… wait," Char stammered, eyeing his flame and caressing the sensitive nerves around the fire-spouts. "J-just don't be surprised if I yell. It's… really not fun to do, Marrow. It's really not."

"Oh, I know, but I also don't believe it's all that bad," Marrow said. "See, I know this, 'cus we had a Char on Remorse before. Really dependable teammate, I really missed him. And you wanna know why Scythe hired him? Because our old Char, he dedicated his life to overcoming his mental weaknesses. Every day he was a Charmeleon, he dipped his tail into a bucket of water, flame an' all. And held it there for a whole minute. Cried his eyes out, but he did it, every day. And you wanna know what he did as a Charizard?"

"…What?" Char asked suspiciously.

"He could swim," Marrow replied. "As in, dive under the water. He was so used to the pain that he could put up with it for minutes at a time, and he could survive the water for a bit without throwing a tantrum! Scythe came along and said, 'whoa, a Charizard who can swim! The Master will never see this one coming! I need him!' and he was on our team."

"That's insane!" Char cried, gazing incredulously at his own tail.

"Yeah, it was, no doubt about it," Marrow replied. "He was a really heavy-hitter against water enemies, too. Wasn't afraid of them a bit. You shoulda seen some of the looks on the faces of the Master's Blastoise when he just ran straight up against the water jets and popped 'em in the chin. It was so priceless it even makes me laugh unto this day, heh, heh. Ahhh… sure do miss that guy. Anyway! Your move, Char."

"Char… you don't have to do it," Ray offered meekly. "I'll help you with cleaning duties…"

Char shook his head. "Naah, if there's a such thing as a Charziard that can swim, I can splash my tail for half a second," he decided, letting go of his flame. "I just thought it would kill me, or something. But I guess if your Char could do it… Alright, Marrow, I'll do it."

"Atta boy, Char," Marrow laughed. "Anytime you're ready. Guys, better brace yourselves, just in case he shoots fire…"

Grumbling, Char sat down by a deep pool of water and gazed into it. It was a muddy abyss, hiding even his reflection in the murkiness. He tried to hold back the vivid memories of the last time he voluntarily submerged his flame. He remembered how he had vowed never to do it again.

"Just get it over with, Char!" Marrow encouraged him. "Remember! Fear is all in the anticipation. The longer you wait, the worse you're making it!"

With a deep breath and a rush of resolve, Char sat himself down in the shore of the puddle, letting his tail slip beneath his surface. Hearing the hiss of the steam escaping into the air, he cringed and braced himself for that special flavor of stinging pain which had haunted his nightmares since his tail's first encounter with the water.

Instead, he felt a pinprick of pain. After a few moments passed, the pinprick grew to the intensity of a single nail piercing his skin, but leveled out into a dull, unsettling throb. Plainly confused, Char looked over his shoulder to check and see if his flame had missed the pool entirely, but it had not; the tip of his tail had clearly descended at least four inches under the surface, spouting a trail of sizzling vapor as the flame continually tried and failed to spring back to life.

"Char…?" Saura said softly. "Doesn't… that… hurt?"

But as soon as the strangeness of the situation hit him, so did the intensity of the pain, and the Charmander sprung into the air like a popped cork, wailing in torment the whole way. When he came to his senses again, he found himself curled in a tight ball nursing his tail, taking sharp, deep breaths as though to billow the fire inside of him.

"Hey, hey!" Marrow cheered, setting his club down to give the brave Charmander applause, much to the annoyance of Char's friends. "Well, then! You've done it. No cleaning duty for you! So, then, what was it like this time? Wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Ah… ahhh…" Char replied, squeezing the tip of his tail so tightly in his claw as though cutting the blood circulation would make the pain subside faster. He felt like angrily snapping at the Marowak, and the words he would use began to rise from the back of his throat. But just before he burst, the odd truth occurred to him that, no, it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time, and he chose to respond truthfully.

"It wasn't…" the panting Charmander decided to say, already feeling the pain fading. "That wasn't… it wasn't so bad. Wasn't so bad. Why—why wasn't it so bad?"

"Hmm?" Marrow hummed. "Surprised that you're more resilient to pain than you were at some point in the past? Really, now?"

Char could vaguely understand what Marrow was saying as he mentally chased away the stinging sensations. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he noticed Ray standing beside him, offering to help him back to his feet.

"You alright, Char?" Ray whispered. "Easy, there. Can you stand?"

"Yeah, I'll… I'll be fine," Char grumbled, testing his legs. In truth, he was honestly surprised at how well he fared with the pain this time around, and remembered that he had felt much worse. The few moments of discomfort were nothing compared to the cold, or the disgusting experience of losing an arm. Already, he felt whole and stable again.

"Wow! I didn't think you'd get over it that fast," Saura said with a nervous laugh and a smile. "I was afraid you'd have a repeat of last time."

"Ah, but there's no time to celebrate just yet," Marrow warned him, hefting his bone to his shoulders and motioning for the team to follow. "Char's free of cleaning duties, but you're up next. And I think I know just what to do to you. I just need to find… just the right place."


Marrow wandered in semicircles with the wayward team in tow, drawing closer to the great wall of the mesa, until he seemed satisfied with a patch of dirt underfoot.

"Hmm, here!" he announced, stamping the ground with a paw. "Seems perfect. Not too wet, not too tough… Ready for your dare, Saura?"

"Uh… I guess?" Saura replied meekly. "But shouldn't we be trying to rescue the Bagon already? Isn't this just a waste of time?"

"Hah, you act as though this'll take time," Marrow chuckled. "Not unless you're going to be a scaredy-cat about it. Besides, Scythe told me to train you, so this is how I'm going to do it. Now, hold a moment for me…!"

Tossing aside his club, the Marowak took a headfirst dive, disappearing beneath the surface of the earth as though it were water. No evidence of his existence remained, save for a small, neatly-formed vortex of dust that crumbled at the point of his disappearance.

"Whoa…" Saura said. "I didn't know he could do that…"

"What, dig?" Ray replied. "Oh yeah, Marrow digs! Of course he can dig!"

Before Ray could further embellish the talents of the gallant Marowak, the vortex exploded, spraying loose chunks of dirt into the eyes of the onlookers. When the dust cleared, the brown lizard reappeared at the bottom of a sizable ditch, kicking entire fountains of dirt up to the surface with each stroke of his paws.

"Ah, that should be enough," the Marowak announced, balancing himself on the shifting landslides and appraising his work. "Now, then. Here's your dare, Saura! I'm going to bury you alive. Get down in here and I'll cover you back up in dirt, and just stay there until I let you go. Think you can do it?"

Saura grimaced. "That's pretty far down… How, uh… how am I supposed to breathe?"

"You can't!" Marrow laughed. "You'll just have to hold your breath. So, are you up for it? Or you plannin' on letting Char down after all the trouble he went through, putting his tail in the water like that?"

"I didn't… I mean, I never… I haven't held my breath for very long before, Marrow," Saura squeaked. "I don't think I can. I'm going to gasp for breath and swallow all that dirt…"

"Alright, if you really need to come up for air, send a vine up to the surface and I'll get'cha out," Marrow told him. "But that'll still count as losing. I'm going to leave you down there for at least a few minutes. Sound fair?"

Saura frowned hard, clearly bothered by the suddenness of such an unpleasant assignment. He glanced at his friends, as though to ask them for advice, but made his decision quickly. "I'm really not sure about this," Saura admitted. "But… If you'll get me out early if I need it, then… I guess there's no harm in trying."

Less than a minute later, Saura was buried four meters below, and Marrow patted the dirt flat as though the hole was never there. Char and Ray gulped in nervousness as they watched the patch of land, wondering when Saura would send his signal for help. Marrow, however, didn't seem the least bit bothered.

"Some of the Master's goons call me the 'grave digger,'" the Marowak boasted, dusting the soot from his claws. "Suppose it's no exaggeration. Though I was amused to find they thought so highly of me. Very special honor, it is, to have your foes make up their own name for you."

No one responded to the Marowak. Char only fretted with his claws, and Ray nibbled nervously on the end of his tail.

"I don't know what the lung capacity of a young Bulbasaur is," Otto said, landing upon Saura's makeshift grave, "But it won't be more than seventy seconds before he needs air."

"Aww, why all the long faces, now?" Marrow goaded. "C'mon now, why not relax for a bit? C'mon, I'll tell you a story."

"It does not seem the time for a story," Otto replied, "you will be interrupted in less than a minute."

"Nonsense, it's the perfect time for a story!" the masked lizard laughed, patting the ground. "C'mon, sit now. Listen. I insist."

Char begrudgingly sat down next to the Marowak, but paid him no notice, keeping his eyes peeled on the spot where Saura's vines would sprout from the soil. Otto didn't budge from the place stood, watching in fascination to see if his estimation would come true.

"Now here's the story of how we stopped one of the Master's patrols dead in their tracks," the Marowak began. "See there's a town way, way out to the west of here called Slicker Lake, and it was an underwater lake for certain types of swimmers. Well, a while back, Team Remorse thought to set up outpost down there in the water, using those waterfall stones that let you breathe underwater, you know? But in order to do that we had to make it look like the town was above the water, so the Master wouldn't notice anything going on below, y'know? Kinda like what we did to the Cliffside Academy! Well, as it just so happened, when we were just about done with the façade, we noticed movement on the roads. One of the patrols was getting way too close, and we needed to delay them. So—"

Thwick! A vine popped out of the ground just in front of Char, and a second one came soon afterward. They waved around like cattails in the breeze.

"Oh, would you look at that! Odd little plants growing there," Marrow laughed. "Aaaanyhow, as I was saying. We really needed to delay those troops so we could finish the building. And you're going to love the plan we came up with."

"Marrow!" Char shouted, fed up at the Marowak's attitude. "You have to save Saura from suffocating, remember? You promised."

"Oh, of course I will," Marrow replied with indifference. "But I wasn't going to start the countdown until he shot the vines up. I think I'll get him out in about two minutes."

"MARROW!"

Char stood up to face the Marowak with a fearsome glare, but was thwacked on the head by a bone club just as he did.

"Hey, Char! Calm down a bit!" Marrow snapped back. "Dont'cha see what I'm trying to get at, here? If you'd just let me finish, I'm sure you'll see."

Char only scowled.

"Fine, fine, have it your way. I'll cut to the punchline," Marrow sighed, rubbing the outside of his helmet as though to soothe a headache. "Ah, alright. Hey, Otto. You seem like a smart one. Tell me, what causes someone to suffocate?"

Otto hopped around the ends of Saura's wigging vines, looking as though he might mistake them for worms and yank them out. "Most animals cannot survive without oxygen from the air," Otto replied plainly. "The time a creature can spend without oxygen depends on the creature's lung capacity and body mass. If the oxygen is deprived for too long, the creature's blood might become stale, which causes fainting and death."

"Yes," Marrow said knowingly. "But where does oxygen come from? How does it get into the air?"

"Simple," Otto chirped. "It comes from… … …plants."

Char blinked for a moment, beginning to piece the puzzle together. Even Otto had needed an extra moment for the thought to sink in.

"Right, now I think you're starting to get it, Char!" Marrow goaded, patting him on the head.

"So, wait! Saura doesn't need to breathe?!" Ray cried in disbelief. "Because he has a plant on him that breathes for him?"

"That cannot be true," Otto noted. "Plants cannot create oxygen without photosynthesis, which requires sunlight. Since no sunlight is touching Saura, the bulb has no energy with which to create the oxygen, and he would still suffocate."

"Ahy, but what if you're forgetting something else?" Marrow teased. "What about all the sunlight he has stored in that great big battery on his back? Think that'll help him at all?"

Otto jumped in surprise. "I did not consider that," he admitted, tilting his head at the still-wiggling vines.

"You bet. Since plant Pokémon are both plants and animals at the same time, they can keep trading their plant for air as long as they've stored the sunlight for it," Marrow explained. "How do I know this? Well, it's something scientists noticed happens in grass Pokémon when they have to spend too much time without sunlight. It's called 'respiration recycling' or somesuch technical term, I forget. Happens automatically."

"But a while ago we discovered it could be used in covert ops. See, when you want to plant a Pokémon beneath the ground, so far down that their scent can't be tracked by the hounds on the surface, generally you'd use a ghost Pokémon or a rock Pokémon who don't need to breathe at all, or a gounder like me. But that's such a common tactic nowadays that the enemies are prepared for it. It's too predictable. So when we had to defend that lake, Kyria had the brilliant idea to plant a grass Pokémon instead, nobody would suspect that. I mean, so what if you detect a plant under the ground? Could just be a root, after all! Well, we gave it a try, and she saved up enough sunlight to survive under the ground for a whole day and a half with no air at all, and sprung a trap as soon as they passed over her. Put 'em all to sleep!"

"As for Saura, in just the time it's taken to walk this far, I'm sure he's saved up enough sunlight to hold his breath for at least two minutes. Isn't that right, Saura?"

At that, Marrow clutched Saura's vines and forcefully snapped them over his shoulders. Through an explosive burst of dust, Saura was flung into the air, emitting a pained yelp as he landed upside-down on his bulb just in front of Marrow's amused gaze.

"See now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Marrow laughed, letting go of the vines.

After hacking up a few mouthfuls of dirt, Saura scrambled to tilt himself upright, and growled scornfully in Marrow's direction. "You… said you would…"

"Ut! Ut-ut-ut, answer the question!" The Marowak insisted, waving the bone club at him. "Answer truthfully!"

"Urrk…" Saura moaned, casting his gaze downward and stifling his disdain. "Alright, alright… it… wasn't that bad."

"Lovely! Then you're officially free of chores, then!" Marrow cheered to him.

Saura awkwardly tried to paw the dirt out from the folds of his scarf. "But… how am I still alive…?" he mumbled. "How come I didn't suffocate…? I don't understand."

"Well, maybe your friends can explain it to you a bit later," said the gravedigger, hefting his bone and taking lead of the party again. "But we've really got to be moving on, dont'cha think? Very well, moving on, then!"


Though it seemed as though it may have been afternoon already, morning had yet to pass. The sun's light slanted downward at a steep angle from the east, allowing the giant cliff of the plateau to block off the morning light and hold a large slice of the land inside a prolonged nighttime.

After having followed the cliff wall for several minutes more, Marrow approached close to the lingering shade, glancing across the surface of the ridiculous pile of gravel which had avalanched from somewhere up on the cliff's face. The rocks came in many sizes, some larger than Marrow himself. In the closest proximity to the plateau, the rubble formed a long, shallow ramp up to the wall, although the footing was fiercely unstable and would clearly shift at the slightest pressure.

"Alright, Rai, I think I've got a little something for you to do," Marrow spoke as soon as the team had completely crossed into the darkness. "Ready for your dare?"

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Ray whined, gazing apprehensively at the mound of rocks. "Alright, Marrow. What do you want me to do?"

"Run up and touch the side of the plateau," Marrow instructed, shrugging. "If you can do that without any help, you're done. I'll even help you come back if you need. Think you can do that?"

Ray warily crawled to the foot of the mound. He pawed at the first small rock he could reach, and jumped back when the rock shifted and let loose a small rockslide in his direction.

"You are not heavy," Otto offered. "You will make it if you run quickly enough. Do not let the rocks trap you."

"Shame you're not a fire-type," Char joked. "That way, at least if you fell into the rocks, it wouldn't hurt."

Ray eyed the cliff wall. It wasn't so far away, just a forty-foot climb across the rocks. "Alright," Ray decided, his look of dread changing into a fearsome smirk. "I've got this. Just watch!"

Eager to get it over with, Ray dropped the bag of supplies at his side and jumped onto the first foot-hold. Though the rocks collapsed underfoot, the Raichu kept his balance and pushed off, finding a flat stone to stabilize himself.

"Wow, this is actually kind of hard," he laughed awkwardly, feeling the flat rock teetering beneath him as he clung to the edges with his claws.

"Don't stop," Marrow warned him. "If you stop, you'll fall. You've got to just run for it, as fast as you can. You can run, can't you?"

"Of course I can run, are you kidding?" Ray boasted, wobbling around and afraid to take another step. "Alright, watch!"

Gritting his teeth and crouching low, Ray coiled himself, then pounced up several more of the rocks, feeling them fall away whenever he would push off. After covering about half the distance to the wall, he found that he needed to pause again atop a large and flat platform, waiting for the earthquakes he had created to subside.

As he tried to balance himself on the teetering shard of shale, it occurred to him that the earthquake was somehow getting worse.

But as Ray contemplated just making another run for it, a monstrous Onix burst out of the rocks just in front of the Raichu's face, roaring with agitation and lashing out at the intruder who had disturbed its sleep. It was a frightfully magnificent snake, revealing that many of the rocks which Ray had stepped on likely belonged to its body. The snake's body stirred under the gravel pile, causing such an upheaval of balance that Ray was thrown backwards, tumbling all the way down the pile until he landed on solid ground.

"Aww, c'mon, don't tell me you didn't see that one coming!" Marrow laughed. "Didn't you see her horn sticking out from the pile! Aww, what a lovely lady. Wasn't expecting such a big one! Well, Rai, you gonna give it another shot?"

"Uhhgh," Ray moaned, rolling himself off from a sharp pebble he had landed on. "Oh, wow…"

Righting himself upon his four paws, Ray gazed up at the majestic snake, admiring its size as well as its immunity to his element. He wondered if he should try attacking with his tail, or just doubling his efforts and making a run for it. The snake continued to watch him scornfully, swiveling her head to keep constant eye contact with the mouse, disregarding the Marowak and the other Pokémon who stood behind him.

"Hey," Ray shouted back to the Marowak. "Can't I just run down the way a bit? You said I just had to touch the wall, you didn't say where."

"Sure, if you want!" Marrow replied with an unseen grin. "Might be worth a try."

"You would wake up more Onix," Otto warned loudly. "There is another sleeping Onix to the right, and at least three to your left."

"Okay, never mind, then!" Ray shouted, digesting the news. "Alright, I think I've got it now! Here it goes!"

Ray dashed fearlessly at the beast, ignoring the falling rocks underfoot as he propelled himself across them. The Onix lowered her head as he grew close, ready to snap up the rodent in her stony jaws the moment he came within range. To Char, it looked as though Ray was trying to lure her head down to attack, but he didn't see what kind of damage he could do all by himself. He bit his lip, hoping Ray would make it out unharmed.

The Onix struck, lurching her head forward to gobble up the little rodent in a single bite. But just as her mouth struck the rock, the Raichu was gone.

Zip! In a flash of light, Ray was suddenly farther up the pile. Char couldn't quite tell how he had gotten there.

The guardian snake stirred, unwinding itself from its rocky blankets and angrily glancing around for the little pest. As Ray was trying not to fall backward from his new foothold, the snake spotted him and leaped out from the rocks, completely revealing its long, stony form as it struck at him.

Zip! Once again, the Raichu had vanished from sight just mere moments before the snake struck, re-appearing even closer to the great wall. Ray shook his head and clawed at his cheeks, as though trying to overcome a headache, before noticing that the wall was only just a few more leaps away.

"Ah! So he does know the quick-attack," Marrow said. "I'm impressed! Good, I was hoping he would. Makes this whole ordeal much easier for him. Looks like he's got this in the bag."

"Oh, you mean how he uses lightning to move faster?" Saura said. "Oh, yeah, he's done that before. But he says it's really hard to aim."

Marrow shrugged. "Well, he should learn, then! One of an electric's biggest strengths! If I were an electric Pokémon, I'd sure want to learn that one first thing."

Wasting not another moment, Ray bounded up the few remaining rocks, overcoming their efforts to slide him back down. At last, he spun around to face the arduous slope he had climbed, whipping the wall with the end of his tail.

"Alright, that's it, he's got it!" Marrow announced. "Time to give him a little help."

With his club held out behind him, the Marowak charged forward with speed that nearly rivaled Ray's. When he reached the edge of the rocks, he sprung into the air, flying much higher than Char thought could be possible. At the peak of his jump, he twisted his body and flung his club away. The throw missed the snake by a hair.

The Onix, who had just discovered for herself how far the Raichu had encroached into her territory, failed to notice the new attacker flying like a missile at the back of her head.

Just as Marrow landed on the neck of the beast, his bone club somehow came back to him after having changed directions in mid-air. It struck the opposite side of the Onix's neck, just between snake's first two body segments. Marrow caught both ends of the bone and leveraged it like a hand-hold, trapping the Onix between his arms.

The great snake flailed and panicked, flinging the Marowak around, but his grip on the bone stayed steady and he skillfully wrangled with the beast. A moment or so later, the Onix simply passed out, its huge body flopping down upon the gravel and becoming part of the rockslide had created. Marrow stood victoriously upon the beast's head as he rode it down the pile until it stopped moving.

"Marrow! How did you do that?" Ray cried in awe, scampering back down to the safety of the flat ground.

"Oh, no big effort, really," Marrow said with a shrug, stepping off of the defeated beast. "Onix have a pressure point between the head and the first body joint. If you can squeeze it hard enough, puts them out like a candle."

"No… no, not that," Ray said, panting. "How did… you throw your bone like that? You didn't use white energy… How did you make it come back to you like that? That was amazing!"

"Oh! Ohhh, that," Marrow said knowingly. "…Cubone's Secret."

"Secret?!" Ray cried. "C'mon! How is that a secret? I bet you used white energy, didn't you? Was it in your hands?"

"Time to go," Marrow said, disregarding the Raichu's pleading and. "Looks like we're over halfway there. Should be passing Iron Crevice entrance soon, if I'm not mistaken."

"Marrooow…"

After more walking, the miles fell behind Char and his team, along with the entrance to an old mystery dungeon he had no desire to revisit. As Marrow led them alongside the gravel-piles at the base of the plateau, Char practiced spotting Onix horns in the rubble and hoped that Shale Cave wouldn't be as ruthless as the other cave-based dungeons he'd visited. He vaguely remembered the one that had been constantly filled with wind, another terrible place he had no intention of ever seeing again, and wondered what happened to make Shale Cave so special. From the documents, it seemed that it was just a boring cave: no wind, no lava, no stalactite-spikes hanging from the ceiling to fall on them, just a hole made of rocks. He hoped the dungeon would prove to be just as boring as it sounded, certainly less eventful than Marrow had made the rest of the morning with his inane dares.

Ray didn't seem to mind the gravedigger's antics, however. He seemed thrilled to be adventuring with one of this lifelong heroes, and seemed intent on digging for the rest of Marrow's secret techniques.

"Just a hint?" Ray pleaded, much to Char's chagrin. "How about a hint? Did you make a gravity wave to pull the bone back to you?"

"You know I'm just going to keep ignoring you," Marrow laughed, tapping the Raichu on the head with his club. "Secrets are secrets."

"Wait, hold on," Ray said with a gasp. "Is it a secret because you don't even know how it works?"

"You're gettin' closer, but not quite," Marrow teased. "But I guess I'll tell you this much, if you're really that interested. No, there's no white energy involved. But I can't quite do it with any bone. That's the first thing you learn as a Cub when you start diggin' graves for the first time. You can just feel that some of the bones are different than others. You've got to look for those special bones that form a connection with you. When you find just that right bone, that one that resonates with you, that's when magic happens."

"So is that your favorite bone?" Ray wondered. "Did you have to search your whole life just to find that one?"

"This one, eh… fourth-favorite, I think," Marrow estimated, looking over his shoulder at the bone he carried and at the Pidgey which sat once again at its end. "Certainly my favorite of the bludgeons. Third-favorite, I lost a while back, second- and first-favorite are in the closet back at the team base. Generally I don't like 'em this big, but I switch 'em out every once and again, to get practice with 'em all."

"Marrow," Otto chirped suddenly. "We are almost to our destination. You haven't given me a task."

"Task?" Marrow repeated. "What task?"

"You promised to given an item to us," Otto said, "but you forgot the challenge for me. Also, I would like the opportunity to avoid finishing your chores."

"…Oh, right you are," Marrow said, wobbling his bone and startling Otto into the air. "Right, right. So caught up in talking about bones, I nearly forgot the new guy. Well, then. Let's see here…"

Marrow stopped in his tracks, glancing up at the plateau wall and the late-morning sky. He hummed to himself, drumming his claws against his club as he contemplated.

"Here's one for you," he decided. "Fly up until you're higher than the plateau. Then fall back down."

"You want me to perform a dive maneuver," Otto said.

"Yep, but without the part at the end where you stop yourself from hitting the ground!" Marrow replied.

"You want me to crash-land…?" Otto chirped with a hint of unease. "And at the speed of falling from the height of the plateau…"

"Yeah, something like that!" Marrow replied evilly. "Well, go on. Here's your chance to win the item for the team. Can you do that?"

"…Yes," Otto said, nodding to Char. "I will do so."

Otto began his steep ascent, gaining altitude until he merged with the sunlight above the plateau's shade and Char had to avert his eyes.

"Um… you're just going to catch him, right?" Saura demanded. "You're not actually going to let him crash…"

"Of course I'm going to catch him," Marrow answered, dropping his club and keeping his eyes fixed on the small speck in the sky. "What do you think I am, a heartless brute? And hey, if I time it just right, I can catch him as I'm falling so he doesn't feel the impact at all. Guess that'll be my challenge. Wish me luck…"

The Marowak tiptoed back and forth, carefully lining himself up with the Pidgey in the sky. "Augh, sun's got in my eyes," Marrow hissed. "Probably should'a picked a better place for this. Or a better time. Auuuugh, this isn't any good…"

To Char's surprise, the Marowak threw himself to the ground and clutched his skull tightly as though he suffered a sudden migraine. With a forceful convulsion, he yanked his skull clean off his head, revealing the scaly, fuzzy, mouse-like face underneath, the face he knew many Pokémon could never have recognized as a familiar Pokémon. Once his face was bared, he peered back into the sky and shielded his eyes from the sunlight, stepping as far into the shade as he could without tripping over the rocks.

"Much better," he shouted, eyeing the sky. "Oh, here he comes. Eufff!"

Crouching for just a moment, the Marowak sprang straight up into the air, disappearing into the gleaming sunlight.

Three seconds later, he fell back to earth… but he was empty-handed.

Marrow looked dismayed, his surprise clear on his bare face. Wide-eyed, he looked down at his claws, as though to wonder why the Pidgey wasn't there.

"You… missed…?!" Char cried in panic, gasping in unison with his friends. He looked to the sky, trying to spot the falling bird in hopes he could catch Otto himself.

But Otto was in no danger. Char soon found him hovering in place, not so far above Marrow's head.

"No, I didn't miss," Marrow grumbled, fitting his helmet back on. "He backed out."

It took Char a moment to understand what it meant. He was about to demand an answer, but the truth hit him shortly enough.

Otto fluttered to the ground, landing before his friends. "I failed," he reported, a hint of shame in his downcast face.

"Aye, you did," Marrow said flatly, adjusting his skull one last time. "What do you think went wrong?"

"I was not strong enough to defy my instinct," Otto said plainly. "I am trained to control my fall. When I realized the challenge required defiance of the training, it was too late to plan for it. I was weak."

"Aww, does… this mean… we don't get the item…?" Ray said with a soft whimper. "All that… for nothing?"

"Yep, 'fraid not," Marrow said grimly. "That was the agreement. No item for you. And Otto gets to clean the closet tonight. But that doesn't mean it wasn't all for nothing… you got something more valuable than an item, wouldn't you say? You've learned about yourself, and how fear works. Just like a dungeon mission that goes wrong. You might not get the prize, but you find weaknesses in your character and patch them up for next time. Now, enough dawdling for us. There's still at least one prize left for you to get, right? Time to hit Shale Cave and find that runaway."

As Marrow lead off the last span of their walk, and Saura and Ray nagged and complained to Marrow about what item they might have gotten, Otto approached Char carefully with his head in defeat. Char could tell the little Pidgey was dismayed at his performance, but was trying to hide it behind his usual stoic mask.

"I am sorry, Char," Otto said softly. "I assumed I could pass the test. I did not know I would fail."

"It's alright," Char told him, though admittedly he was perhaps just as surprised as well. "It happens to all of us."

"I will not disappoint you anymore, Char," Otto chirped, his eye gleaming with the same innocence Char remembered from his visits at the daycare center. "I hoped to have a perfect record on your team. I have no excuse to fail. I am certain I am strong enough to avoid further failure. Please don't disband me from the team."

"Wha-? I'm not disbanding you," Char insisted, flabbergasted that he had even suggested such a punishment. "And I'm not even disappointed. Maybe if this were a real mission, but… I honestly don't see any mission that would require you to dive-bomb the ground like that stupid dare he gave you."

"So you will not hold this against me as a team partner…?" Otto wondered, hopping along the ground next to Char. "I am still equal in rank to you?"

Char bit his tongue, feeling a bit of the frustration return from the first day the Pidgey joined the team. But he remembered to explain things to the Pidgey in a language he would understand, and to be gentle with him.

"Otto…" Char sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Do you really think Saura and Ray have never made mistakes before? If I didn't kick them off the team after making a mistake, what makes you think I'd do that to you?"

"I assumed it was possible they never disappointed you," Otto replied. "But I see how that is unlikely."

"Look, Otto, we can talk about this later," Char sighed. "If you want to make up for a mistake, help us finish this mission. Go in the air and see if you can help us spot the entrance to Shale Cave."

"At once," Otto chirped, zipping into the air and leveling out to drift on the thermals far overhead.

Char shook his head at the strange bird, wondering how he would get through to him. Then, he dropped to all fours and scampered to catch up with the team.

Though it had ended in disappointment, Char wondered if Marrow the Fearless had truly taught the team something important about the nature of fear with his silly game. Maybe, he thought, Marrow really had mastered the art of courage and held much wisdom to demonstrate to him and his team.

Well, we have him for the rest of the week, so I really hope so, Char said to himself. Just hope it doesn't involve any more of those dumb dares…


Shale Cave B1F

The cave was just as drab as Char had hoped. The floor and ceiling were composed of a light-brown stone, smooth and flat, not too different than paper. The surfaces were shiny, seeming to amplify the light from Char's tail so far around the team that it seemed like they were walking through one of the brightly-lit hallways at the Gold Division base. Around them stood various sizes of pillars where stalagmites and stalactites had merged, but not enough to keep the dungeon floor from feeling like one large open room.

As Char took his first steps at the front of the team, holding his flame forward, he noticed that the floor was a bit slippery. He made a mental note to dig into the floor with his claws with each step.

"Looks comfy," Marrow noted. "Now that we're here, what are we up against? Anyone? Anyone know the dungeon stats?"

"Five floors," Ray recited. "I think. And there were… Geodude line, Onix, Zubat and Golbat, of course… typical cave-dwellers."

"Kabutops live in here," Otto added. "They pose the most threat."

"Hmm, any Bagon?" Marrow asked.

"No, but Bagon is the client we're looking for," Saura said. "I don't think they live in this cave naturally like they did in Jormungand's Garden."

"Hmm, that's funny," the Marowak said, "because there's one standing right over there."

"What?!" Char yipped, turning the direction Marrow was looking.

It was true. Far across the large room, past many of the sparkling pillars, there stood a small, blue, wingless dragon. It stared back at them as though Char and his team were predators about to converge on him, and for a moment only stood stunned in indecision.

"Kablo?!" Char called out to the dragon, running toward it. "Kablo, is that you?"

But the dragon didn't show any interest in Char. Instead, he leaped into the shadows like a scared rat, and soon was out of sight.

"Wha? He's running from us…?" Char cried in confusion. "Follow him!"

Char broke into a sprint after the lost dragon, careful not to slide astray on the slick floor. Otto swiftly zoomed over his head into the shadows much faster than he could run. By the time Char was about to reach the point he had seen the Bagon, Otto returned into Char's sphere of light, bearing bad news.

"The Bagon escaped down the stairs," Otto reported. "He is deeper in the dungeon. I would have followed, but I would have been separated."

"Smart move," Marrow said. "Hmm, curious. So this client of yours seems to not want to be rescued. I'll dare say, that doesn't happen very often from my experience. Any idea what's gotten into him? Did it say anything in the mission papers about prior circumstances, or any some such?"

"It is possible Kablo is a feral, as I once was," Otto speculated, landing to rest on the floor. "Perhaps it is a pet and it has run away from its master. Or perhaps it is a very young hatchling."

"Crazy Bagon," Char uttered, mostly to himself. "That Bagon could die in here, especially since the Kabutops live down deeper. Well, I guess we'll drag it kicking and screaming back to the dragon reserves if we need. And if this dungeon is only five floors, it shouldn't take too long to corner it…"

The confused team followed Otto to the stairs and continued their search for the Bagon. Char humorously considered that he would need to switch to outlaw-hunting strategies if the chase were to continue on long enough.


Shale Cave B2F

As Char descended the staircase, he had the oddest thought that perhaps he recognized the shape and the size of the stairs. They reminded him of the stairs in Temporal Tower: the long, circular flights that wrapped the outer side of the tower between floors. He wondered if maybe all the staircases in all of the mystery dungeons were somehow bleeding over from Temporal Tower itself, which would explain the odd existence of staircases in such strange and obscure places.

On the second floor, the ceiling seemed lower than before, making Otto visibly irritated at the lack of room to hover. The rock-pillars were far more numerous, turning the room into a confusing web of branching paths. Yet there were still no foes in sight, so Char considered himself lucky.

"Alright, let's split up," Char decided. "Otto, you can see in the dark fairly well. You go that way. Ray, you can use one of the luminous orbs, and go that way."

"Eh, might want to rethink that order," Marrow warned him. "You don't want to separate from the main team, especially in a cave dungeon."

"…How come?" Char wondered. "I think we're all strong enough to handle a battle on our own, or at least run from it."

The Marowak shook his head. "Yes, but if you split up in a mystery dungeon, the dungeon gets weirder," he said. "You mean Scythe didn't tell you that? That's the whole reason for the buddy rule in the first place! Proven fact: if you don't stick together in a dungeon, the dungeon has a greater chance of playing mind games on you. Like changing its own layout or other weird things. You know, things that happen in the really deep and unstable dungeons. Always, always have an ally at your side in a dungeon, unless there's a very good reason not to."

"We have split up before," Otto mentioned, "and nothing bad has happened. Such as yesterday in Jormungand's Garden."

"Well, if you split up, you need to stay within eyeshot of one another," Marrow explained. "That's basically the rule: stay close enough that you can see one another. Because if you lose your teammate, then you're the dungeon's plaything. We don't know why it happens, but that's just how dungeons act. Just being alone makes the dungeon more severe."

Char suddenly found himself faced with an unpleasant memory. He recalled the moment in Temporal Tower, after Scythe had run away, that he'd chosen to run ahead of his friends. He recalled watching the mystery dungeon go completely berserk. It was such a terrifying moment, it had been the subject of at least one of his nightmares since then.

"Alright, then instead of splitting up, how about this," Char decided. "Ray, do we have the X-ray glasses today?"

"Sure do," Ray reported, setting the bag on the floor to search for them. "Thought they'd be useful for a rescue mission."

"Good, put them on," Char ordered. "We can see Kablo through the walls that way. Otto, you can fly around the pillars, but not too far. That way Ray will still have eye contact with you."

"Hmm, these are weird," Ray said, trying out the glasses. "I can see through walls fine, but the light from your tail doesn't pass through the solid things. So it looks like—"

"EEEYYYAAAAHHH!"

As the team was strategizing, a sudden shriek of terror resounded from deeper in the cave. The call was high-pitched, enough to sound like the Bagon might have made it, or that the Bagon had dealt a painful blow to a feral. With the glasses strapped to his face, Ray grabbed the bag and hurriedly followed his teammates in the direction of the sound.

Turning a corner, Char met with the Bagon again, and the foe which had landed the blow: a typical bully Graveler. It stood above the fallen dragon, waiting for it to make the next move, as the dragon clutched a bleeding knee.

"Hold on, we can help!" Char called to the dragon. "Don't move!"

"N-no!" cried the Bagon, squirming with all his might and climbing back to his feet. "No! Get away! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

At that, with a hobble in its step, the Bagon slipped right by the Graveler and into the dark again. Char found himself facing off with the Graveler, who now seemed more interested in him than the little blue creature it had just injured.

"Well, at least we know it's intelligent," Saura offered. "That's… really weird."

"Ray, get a stun seed," Char ordered. "Saura, get r–"

"Nah, don't bother wasting your stuff on it," Marrow scoffed. "Hey Rai, you want to see what I can really do with white energy? Watch this."

Stepping in front of Char, Marrow brandished his club in both hands, wielding it like an oversized sword. He pointed it in the Graveler's direction, taunting the feral beast, as its surface became covered with the silvery sheen of a charged attack. With a spirited grunt, he spun the club around and thrust it straight into the ground.

The shale split cleanly around the end of the bone, letting it pass deeply into the ground. The impact shook the whole chamber, rattling chunks of gravel loose from the ceiling. The fissure widened, growing longer with zig-zagging cracks, until it honed in on the Graveler, who only watched curiously.

The moment the fissure struck the rock beast in the foot, the creature's entire body burst open in a gruesome explosion of chunks and black, oily blood.

Team ember stood gaping at the sight. Char decided not to look too closely at the remains of what could barely even be called a corpse.

"Most polite way to do it," Marrow noted, setting his club back atop his shoulder. "Get it over with before they feel any pain. Now, any of you see which way the Bagon kid went?"

"You cannot strike me with that attack, correct?" Otto chirped, betraying much fear of the powerful display he witnessed.

"No, of course not. Can't hit anything in the air. The rest of your friends aren't so lucky. Now, do you know which way he went?"

"To the right," Otto replied, fluttering over to the messy pile of rocks and perching upon what used to be one of the beast's arms. "I did not know of this technique before…"

"Woww…" Ray gasped, fretting with the end of his tail again. "Marrow… I'll remember never to make you angry."

"Well, you keep ignoring me and let the Bagon get away again, maybe you'll just do it," Marrow grunted. "Come on, let's not draw this out for all five floors if absolutely necessary. Follow him!"


Shale Cave B3F

After rushing down the stairs, the team found that they were hot on the Bagon's tail again. The Bagon looked as though he had just finished hobbling down the stairs and was taking his first steps in the next floor when he spotted his pursuers.

"No, no, no!" The wayward dragon screamed, dragging itself as far away from the Pokémon as possible and doing so with surprising speed. "GET AWAY FROM ME! PLEASE! GET AWAY!"

The third floor of the cave was even more cramped than the last, as the ceiling was almost too low for Marrow to walk standing upright. The pillars had also fused together to create discrete rooms, one of which the team found themselves standing within, the Bagon having escaped through the narrow passage and into the darkness beyond.

"Aye, I've had enough of this!" Marrow cried, running after the Bagon. "C'mon, let's corner it."

"WAIT!"

Saura shouted from near the corner of the room, getting everyone's attention.

"I found something," Saura reported. "Look."

Indeed, Saura had found something interesting: the stairs to the next floor. They had been right there, just next to the entry point, and very easy for an unobservant eye to miss.

"Oh, hmm! What a turn of events," Marrow hummed, sitting down next to the staircase to contemplate. "Happens sometimes. You go down stairs, and poof. The next stairs are right there next to you. Real shame when you don't notice it, and you explore the rest of the floor without realizing where the exit was."

"Just like the Bagon's doing right now," Char considered. "Wait… this means he's cornered. If we guard the stairs here, he can't escape."

"Good point," Marrow said. "So, what do you think we should do?"

"Ray," Char ordered. "You stay behind. Guard the stairs. Dungeon can't play tricks on you if you don't move a muscle, right? And if something happens, just use a roll-call orb and we'll give you a hand. Give us an escape orb so that we can get us all out of here as soon as we catch him. Otto, I need your speed, and Saura, I need your strength against rock monsters. Let's get this done."

"Hmm, seems reasonable, though risky for poor Rai," Marrow considered. "A'ight, I'm with it. Go for it. I'll just follow behind."

"Good luck," Ray said as he tossed Char the requested orb. "I'll just light up a luminous orb if I get too scared. Don't worry about me!"

And with that, the whole team, minus Ray, ventured down the dark, cramped hallways for the fugitive Bagon.

Char reflected, as his mission came to a close, how strange the day had been. It seemed to have passed very quickly, and with no terrible hiccups save for the fact that the Bagon they sought was actively trying not to be rescued. Their team proved strong and competent enough to make decisions, even without Marrow's presence, and he felt proud of that. He hoped that it was at least in part due to his leadership skills and not the random twists of fate which had defined his adventures back in the earlier days.

But fate still had one more twist to play on Char's team that day.

Though the dungeon's corridors were so densely cramped, there was not enough room for many branching paths; there was largely only one way the Bagon could have gone, and it was just a matter of time before they would meet. Char held his tail forward, eyeing the darkness and the small side-corridors for any speck of blue or white which would give away the fugitive's position.

"No!" the Bagon cried from somewhere. "NONO! NO! NOO! AIIIIGIGUGUGHHH!"

Char jerked to attention, his flame growing very large and bright in his hand. The cry had been a primal, anguished one, as though the last words of a dying soul. Char feared the Bagon had gotten sliced open by a Kabutops, and scurried down the hall in the direction the sound had come.

"AIIIIGHHH! NO! NO, NO!"

Another scream sounded, just as heartbroken and pitiful as the first. Char doubled his speed and hurried to the dragon's rescue.

"Otto!" he shouted. "Go help him!"

At the command, Otto darted down the long, narrow hall like a thrown rock.

"STOP!" yelled the desperate voice. "STOPP! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!"

At the end of the hallway where he would turn a corner, Otto stopped and hovered in air, as though following the orders of the voice.

Char caught up, turned the corner, and found the Bagon, utterly trapped at a dead-end, flattening himself up against the wall. Though there were no enemies or dangers around, a fiery terror shined in the Bagon's eyes, as though Char and his team were truly demon-spawn straight from the underworld.

"Kablo!" Char called. "What are you yelling at?!"

"AT YOU!" the dragon cried. "Stop, STOP. Just STOP! PLEASE! Don't-don't come any closer!"

"Kid, if we don't come any closer, will you tell us what's gotten into you?!" Marrow blasted at it. "There are Pokémon worried about you. They hired us to find you here."

"I'm… I'm… I'm… tainted," the Bagon growled, a raspy tone that sent a shiver through Char. "I can't… I can't go out… can't spread it…"

"Spread what, little guy?" Saura pleaded. "Are you sick? We can take you to a doctor. We know a lot of good doctors around here…"

And then, Char glanced back and noticed the glazed look on Marrow's face.

His body had staggered, frozen in place. His eyes stared at the Bagon unblinkingly.

"Marrow?" Char said. "Marrow, are you alright?"

That's when Char recognized the look in Marrow's eyes. It matched the look in the Bagon's eyes.

Pure, sheer terror. It was the moment he knew from so many moments of experience where nothing can be felt, and nothing can be thought. And it was happening to Marrow the Fearless.

The gravedigger tossed his club behind himself. In a blink, Marrow dove back around the corner as though to dodge a cannonball, clutching Char's tail in one hand and Saura's leg in the other. They hit the ground in a confused tangle, Char almost dropping the orb he held.

"Use the orb," Marrow instructed, his voice skittish and raspy in a way Char had never heard before. "Char. Use the orb. We need to get out of here."

"But…"

"By the gods, if you never listen to another thing I say, Char, use the orb."

"Fine, I will," Char decided, feeling Marrow's fear rub off on him. "Alright, alright. But at least let me talk to the Bagon one more time."

"DON'T—go near him," Marrow barked ravenously, reaching for his club. "Stay… here. Do not let him touch you, do not let him threaten to touch you…"

Char carefully stepped around the corner, holding his tail forward and meeting the spooked Bagon's eye.

"Kablo," he said quietly. "It looks like we're going to leave you alone now. I don't know why, but we're going away. I guess I just… wanted to know if you're going to be alright down here."

"I'm fine," Kablo replied. "Got a stash of food down on floor five. Berries appear here all the time."

"Are you ever coming out?" Char asked of him. "We got a letter to come rescue you. That's why we're here. Your friends are worried."

"I'll come out when I'm not contagious anymore," Kablo replied. "When you leave… would you… would you go and make sure those letters are destroyed? So nobody else comes to find me…?"

"I'll see what we can do," Char replied. "Good luck, Kablo. Whatever's wrong, good luck."

"Yeah, luck, like that helps any," the Bagon spat. "Luck is a joke… Just go, Charmander. Forget me."

And with that, Char returned to Ray and the team activated the escape orb together… but not before leaving some oran berries for the poor Bagon to find.


Gold Division Medical Wing

After the strange ending to the mission, Marrow had dragged the team back to the base in silence, insisting that nobody say a word to anyone. Once inside, they headed straight for the hospital wing. Refusing to stay in the waiting room, Marrow had burst through the doors and found Dr. Orde himself, and whispered something in his ear. Whatever he had said startled the doctor so profoundly that he dropped a glass on the floor and shoved the whole team into a clean, white room with lights so bright it hurt the eyes. He then immediately took skin samples from the flustered Pokémon (and a feather in Otto's case) before bolting back out the door.

"So uh, why are we here again?" Saura wondered as the team sat in the white-tiled room.

"Taint outbreak," Marrow said solemnly. "That is, if that Bagon had been telling the truth. He might have been crazy. But if there was just the slightest chance he wasn't… I wasn't going to risk anyone catching it."

"We have not failed the mission yet," Otto noted. "The mission requirements said that we merely had to search for the Bagon in two dungeons. If we lie and say that we did not find the Bagon, we take another victory to our record and acquire the lesser bounty."

"Hah, that's twice in a row we did that," Ray laughed. "This whole 'abusing the loopholes' thing really works well, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, 'course it does," Marrow laughed in reply. "As you do more work, you'll come to find that abusing the loopholes is more like the rule rather than the exception. There's this whole art to it, and you'll learn that in time."

"Marrow…" Saura said softly. "What's the taint?"

Marrow paused for a second, as though reluctant to answer the question, but finally put his hand on his face and admitted the truth.

"It's a virus," Marrow explained. "Virus created by humans, oddly enough, to make Pokémon get stronger. Some call it Pokérus. See, the virus itself isn't what harms you, but the way your body reacts to it, and… the immunity you build up. What it does, is it accelerates the cells or something, effectively making you grow stronger in half the time. But humans, in all their cleverness, apparently didn't stop to realize the consequence of such a virus…"

"Consequence…" Ray repeated, sounding worried.

"Yeah, you bet there's a consequence," Marrow said, shuddering in disgust. "Turns out, when you grow stronger in half the time… you also die in half the time."

The room fell silent as it sank in.

"So, that Bagon…," Saura started.

"If he has it, he's in for a short life, yeah," Marrow replied. "And any Pokémon who touch him while he's contagious. And the tragic part is… he can never get rid of it. Not even after the virus dies. Because that's what it does… it changes you. Makes you stronger, but at what expense…?"

"Ouch…" Saura said sadly. "Eesh, I can't imagine what would have happened if that virus got in here… The whole Division might have been tainted…"

"Some people say that the Master willingly makes his soldiers tainted," Marrow added. "So they can hit harder in war, but once the war is over, he doesn't care—"

The door flung open to reveal Dr. Orde with a paper in his hand.

"Results, results, they're here," the Slowking said. "Alright, here they are. Bulbasaur… you're clean. Marowak, you're clean… … … Pidgey…"

The Slowking's face grew somber. His gaze fell to the floor, and he fumbled with the paper, not even looking at it anymore.

"Pidgey's clean. Charmander's clean."

He paused, reluctant to say anything else, holding the room in a nervous tension. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Raichu," he said slowly. "I'm so, so, so sorry…"

"Wait, what?!" Ray cried in fright, jumping to his feet. "I-I-I didn't even… I didn't… even… touch the Bagon! I didn't even get close to him! THEY LEFT ME BEHIND!"

"Ray, you… don't have the virus," the doctor explained. "However… you have had it once in the past, and therefore… yes, yes. I'm… sorry."

Ray's eyes widened. "How…?" he mouthed, staring at his own paws. "How… how… is this…? When did I have it?"

"I suppose now's the best time to tell you of another Pokémon who was caught with Pokérus," the doctor sighed. "…Your brother. It is likely he gave it to you in your youth, before you ever came here in the base."

Ray's expression turned blank. He only stared at the doctor forlornly, his paws hanging at his side.

Quietly, the Raichu mouthed to himself:

"Is this…"

"…why I grew up so fast?"

*Chapter 76*: Chapter 56: The Mind Game, Part 1

o

Chapter 56

After the Pokémon had been released from the medical wing, Ray said he needed some time alone and went to wander off somewhere. Char and the rest of his friends made no attempt to follow. Instead, they resigned themselves to helping Otto finish the chores Marrow had saddled him with for failing the bet.

Team Remorse's planning room was trashed, presumably after a difficult night of researching what to do about their powerful new foe. Team Ember set themselves to the task of sorting the crumpled papers and collecting the items, intermittently broaching the glum topic about what they should do to help their Raichu friend feel better.

Or, at least, two of them were glum.

"We accomplished the mission," Otto remarked between preening his wing-feathers. "Our plan to accomplish two missions at once was a success and we have collected our payment. But we are acting as though we failed. I do not understand."

"Because we found out that Ray has an illness that cut his life in half, alright?" Char replied with a measure of irritation, glaring at the papers covered in footprint lettering. "It's not easy to learn something like that. Not even for the rest of us."

"But his illness existed since long before now," Otto said plainly. "It has never affected his behavior before. It is not as though the Bagon gave him the illness. Why then does he need to mourn today?"

"Because Ray has feelings," Saura said bitterly as he dusted the war-room table, also growing angered with the little bird's stubbornness. "He loves his brother and he never imagined his brother would have done something like this to him. He just needs to think about it for a while and come to accept it."

Otto shrugged. "Slowking implies, the taint was not designed as an illness, but as a weapon," he rambled. "Even with the repercussion of a shortened life span, some Pokémon truly have more need of the present than they have of the future. Then it is beneficial for them to sacrifice time in the far future in exchange for additional strength at present. This is especially true for the resistance as we are fighting a war for the sake of others who will enjoy the peace. It is understood that resistance members might fall in battle any day. Do you disagree?"

"N-no," Saura admitted. "Yeah, fighting the Master is a dangerous job. But I'm still not sure it's fair to have something that takes away half your life without you even knowing about it…"

"Ray is the strongest member of our team," Otto said, a strangely frank remark. "He overshadows the rest of us in strength, ingenuity, and perseverance. Perhaps it is so because of the taint. Without his strength, Team Ember would fail to assist the Resistance in their endeavors against the Master. It seems to me, the taint was effective in empowering him, but only until he learned of its existence. In mourning the loss of half of his life, he is wasting the power he has gained in the other half. This seems irrational to me."

"TEAM EMBER!" Daemon suddenly barked, walking past the doorway. "Remember! I need those mission papers in reverse phalangeal order!"

Char bit his tongue for a moment, shuffling through the incomprehensible papers and unable to think of an effective reply to the Pidgey's assessment. Failing to conjure an argument, he finally said, "Alright, fine. Maybe you're right. But, good luck telling that to Ray. You won't make Ray feel better just by telling him that. Now, do you have any ideas about how we can help Ray feel better, or are you just going to stand there and keep complaining about how he shouldn't be feeling bad that he has no old age to look forward to?"

Otto blinked. "No, I have no ideas," he confessed. "I am not skilled in manipulating irrationality, except in battle."

"Maybe… we shouldn't," Saura sighed, balancing on the edge of the table and checking for spots he missed. "There just… doesn't seem like there's anything right to say. We can't just tell him not to worry about it… it just seems selfish. And we have no reason to judge his brother. And we can't offer him any advice because we aren't tainted ourselves."

"So… we shouldn't do anything?" Char wondered.

"That's what I think," Saura said. "Let's just… wait for him to come back, and be there to listen if he wants to talk to us. That's how I always made you feel better, Char. I just let you tell me whatever you wanted, and listened. But I didn't try to force you to feel a certain way. I knew you could always figure it out yourself if I let you. And I think you always did the same thing to me even if you didn't realize it was happening."

Char nodded thoughtfully. "Fine, then," he decided. "Then we'll be there to listen to him. Guess we're going to go back to our old days of staying awake at night for our teammates."

"Is that a team rule?" Otto wondered.

"More like a tradition," Char told him firmly. "In the days when we first formed our team, if one of us couldn't sleep, then we'd all stay awake with them."

"That does not sound very effective," Otto squawked. "If one team member cannot sleep, it should follow that the others should be sure to rest well, to compensate for the poor performance of the one who has not rested well."

Char glared at him, pointedly slamming the stack of papers in a haphazard pile on the corner of the table.

"You told me I did not need to ask permission before criticizing your team's rules," Otto reminded him, noticing his frustration.

"Yeah, I said that," Char said, giving up on the papers entirely. "But I don't think you understand something, Otto. Sometimes, the strength in the mind is more important than the strength in the body."

"I do not believe that is true," Otto replied back. "Mental weakness is most certainly a symptom of physical weakness. If you plan intelligently and avoid failure, there is no cause to mourn, and mental weakness is not a problem."

"Yeah, well, we're staying up for Ray whether you think it's a good idea or not," Char decided, turning away from the Pidgey. "You can sleep if you want. Saura and I will be there for him if he stays awake. Because that's important."

But it turned out that Ray wasn't the one to keep the team awake that night.

After Saura sorted through all the papers and Char packed the maps back into their proper places on the shelves, Team Ember returned to their rooms and settled down to rest for the night with one less team member, leaving the doors unlocked to welcome him back.

Before the torches became blue, the Raichu entered the room quite candidly. Char thought he did not look upset anymore, and if he was, he did a great job of hiding it.

"Hey," he said softly, as though afraid to wake up any sleeping teammates.

Char jumped out of his bed at the sound of his voice, and Saura snapped to attention as well. Otto simply slumbered away, oblivious to the Raichu's return.

"Ray, we were worried about you," Char said to his teammate, approaching him at the door. "Are you… okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, I… I just wanted to pray a little, heh," Ray admitted with a hint of embarrassment. "I know my brother might not be dead, and if he isn't then he wouldn't have even heard me. But if he could hear me, I just wanted to… thank him."

Reaching out, Ray caught the Charmander and the Bulbasaur in a soft embrace.

"He did this for me. This is his… it was his gift to me, I realized," Ray said plainly. "He wanted me to be here in the resistance. He was worried I wouldn't be strong enough to take it and they'd kick me out. That's what he always told me when I was little. He was always worried I wouldn't be strong, couldn't grow as strong as him. So I think, maybe, he gave me this… as his gift, so I could carry on fighting in the resistance like he did, after… after he wasn't there to help me anymore. But yeah, here I am… I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry. I'm right here… where I'm supposed to be."

"Ah, Ray, you don't have to be here," Saura replied profusely. "Your time is more valuable than ours now. You don't have to waste it on this team! You should go and… appreciate the time you have left."

"But I already appreciate every moment I have," Ray said, almost with a laugh. "I always have. I savor every moment of this life. There's nothing new for me to learn about that. Right now, I'm here to get you to Giratina. After that… I guess I can figure that out when I get there."

"There's no way we can repay you for what you've done," Char said. "You are irreplaceable. All we can do is thank you for being here."

"And I'm going to be here for as long as I can be, don't you worry," Ray promised them both. "You are the gift that my brother gave me. There's nowhere else I'd rather be but here."

After parting from the embrace, the three Pokémon took their places upon their beds and settled down for a night of rest. Char took one last look at the slumbering Pidgey, wondering what he could ever do to demonstrate that emotions and morale were important, sometimes moreso than strategy and analysis. He hoped an opportunity would present itself.

Because, deep down, part of him worried that maybe the Pidgey had a point.


"IIAAAAAHHHHHH!"

A blood-curdling scream caused Char to jump out of his bed.

He was surrounded by blue fire. It was very late at night, and he could easily tell that his sleep had been interrupted at a tremendously deep moment.

But it was another moment before he could place the sound of the voice.

"IAAARR-AAAAAHHH!"

It was Saura.

He wailed in pain, stretching his vocal cords far enough that they no longer sounded like himself. Char dashed across the room to his side in an instant, finding that his head had slipped off the bed and was planted onto the floor, and that tears flooded from the sides of his closed eyes.

"That is very noisy," Otto commented as he flew over. "Are we being attacked?"

"Saura! No, wake him up!" Ray cried, scrambling to help him down from the bed. "Char, help me wake him up! It's his nightmare!"

"You do it! Shock him!"

Pzzat.

With a gentle shock, Saura's eyes opened wide, his pupils widened farther than Char had ever seen them. He continued panting like a frantic dog.

"Saura!" Char gasped at him, holding his front paw. "Saura, it's just us! You were having a nightmare."

"I- I- I know," Saura finally said. "I… ah, my head, what's wrong with my head?! It's going to explode… ahh…"

"Ray," Char ordered firmly. "Get Eva. Right now."

"No… no, please," Saura insisted. "I don't need her. No, no… I'll be… I'll be fine. It's going away."

Hesitating for far longer than perhaps was needed, Char shook his head at the Raichu, retracting his order. "Saura… I've never heard you scream that bad. Not even when the Watchers hit you. Is it getting worse?"

"I… uh… Ah, maybe… maybe it is," Saura gasped.

The door to the bedroom room swung open; Char remembered then that he had forgotten to lock it after Ray had come home. The Espeon he had wanted to call upon earlier barged in.

"What is going on in here…?" Eva hissed in concern, joining the circle around the Bulbasaur. "Saura, I was woken by your mind-wave. It was so overbearing, it may have rivaled the Call. Something is deeply wrong with you. Char… when you spoke of a problem with Saura's mind, you didn't suggest it was this bad."

"This bad?" Char croaked. "Um, this is the worst it's been for a while. Usually he just has a headache. It's never been this bad."

"Char… his mind is destroying itself," Eva snapped at him. "You do not understand the simple cry for help I felt from him just now. If this curse remains unchecked, he could become feral, or worse, psychotic. Or dead."

Stunned at the thought, Char caught his breath. Eva turned to the Bulbasaur and said, in desperation, "Saura, this is important. You must tell me what the Watcher did to you. Tell me precisely where the pain is coming from."

"Well, um… it's complicated," Saura tried to say. "I was attacked by a Watcher. It put something in my head and made one of my memories painful. It was the memory I had… of my family…" he paused for a moment in a terrible cringe, struggling to not cry out again. "Now, whenever something reminds me of my family, it… hurts… so bad… it was the memory of the time they got captured, and… and… and killed!"

"Hmm, yes, I believe I see," Eva said solemnly. "And I suppose you rejected the obvious treatment, that is, severing the affected memory from the neural network?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ray told her. "Gardevoir wanted to erase his memories of his family to stop the pain. But Saura didn't want to forget his family, so he just pretended to have his memories erased for a while to trick Scythe."

"Understandable," Eva said, narrowing her eyes upon Saura's forehead. "Show me the affected memory. I know it will hurt. I will try to dull the pain for you, but I need you to replay the memory for me so I can watch."

"Eva… I don't trust you in my head," Saura said bitterly. "The last time I let you in my head, you gave me a headache."

"Not as deadly as the one you are having now," Eva replied coldly. "I won't do anything to your mind, Saura, not without your consent. I promise this. I just wish to watch the memory which is causing you pain. Depending on the contents of the memory, I might have additional help to offer to you, but there is no way of knowing unless you let me see."

Saura looked her briefly in the eyes as though judging her, but was soon satisfied with what he saw. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, beginning to play the memory for the Espeon. The Espeon's ruby ignited with light as she touched it against Saura's forehead.

And for several moments, Char and Ray waited in terrified silence, and Otto merely watched in curiosity.

When the moments were done, Saura hissed in pain once again, and Eva withdrew her attention from his mind. She blinked in confusion and sat down before Saura's bed.

"…Well?" Ray shouted. "What did you see?"

"It was not the type of memory I was expecting," Eva reported. "It plays like this: from a disembodied point of view, Saura watches an elder brother and a younger sister walk a path. The brother tells the sister some white lie, that they are vacationing, in an attempt to avoid explaining to her the reality that that they are fugitives and are running from the Master's punishment for something which Saura himself did. That is, fleeing to the Gold Division, I presume. Then, a Flareon appears."

"…AND?" Char nearly shouted.

"And that is all," Eva said plainly, shifting her tail. "The memory ends there. Yet, it brings Saura great pain whenever it is recalled. It is cursed, and it cannot be destroyed directly. It is attached to so many other memories in so many twisted ways that the only means of severing it altogether is to destroy his awareness of his family. And yet… there is one thing which bothers me about this vision…"

The Espeon turned to the Bulbasaur, who reluctantly looked her back in the eye.

"Saura, how did you come to acquire this memory?" she asked carefully. "In the memory, you are a disembodied spirit, watching something which does not involve you. How did this memory come to enter your mind? Surely, it was not something you witnessed yourself, unless by supernatural means."

"I, uh… um…" Saura stammered. "The Watcher gave it to me, I think. The Watcher put that memory in my head!"

"Yes, but the Watcher could not have known this truth, either," Eva said. "The vision plainly happened during the day, meaning that this Watcher would not have been awake to witness it and transfer the vision to you. The only logical conclusion I come to, then, is that this is not a memory at all, but a work of your imagination. Unless you can tell me that you had no reason to suspect your older brother and younger sister had been destroyed by a Flareon, even before the Watcher assaulted you."

"Well…" Saura admitted, pawing at the floor. "I did meet Saurlee before I left on the trip, and she told me she was walking with Saurvor… taking a vacation… so… it was something I was worried about, I think…"

"That's it, then," Eva nearly shouted, in an accusatory tone. "Saura, this memory of yours is no memory. It is a guess. Your mind invented this scenario because you do not have a way of verifying the true fate of your family. For all you know, this scenario might have happened, or it might not have happened. And that is why it is painful to you. The pain comes from the anticipation of the vision's ending. Thankfully for you, this changes the nature of the Watcher's curse. I believe I know how it can be cured."

"Cured…?" Saura gasped in reply. "You can cure the curse? …How can you do it?"

"Simple," Eva said with a shrug. "We must allow the vision to play out to the logical conclusion. In your imagination, you must be forced to watch your brother and your sister burn to death."

Saura tensed, cringing back from the Espeon's presence. "W-wha?! What!? N-no! No, why would I want to do that?! Why would that help?!"

"Because it would grant you what is perhaps the most powerful defense mechanism the mind has to offer: acceptance," the Espeon said pointedly. "Saura, you hurt because you cannot accept the possibility that you indirectly caused your family to die. Your vision is a manifestation of this. If you can be forced to watch the Flareon commit the murder, it will hurt you dearly, but only for one last time. It will allow the mind to begin healing itself and gaining acceptance of the fate you so deeply fear."

Saura turned away. "I don't think I want to," he grumbled. "I don't… I can't… I can't do that. I can't. I don't want to see them die… I don't want to…"

"Which is why the vision will torment you for the rest of your days, until you allow yourself to accept it," Eva replied. "In my humble opinion, this what needs to be done. When it is over and the pain has gone, you will thank yourself."

"Eva…"

The pained Bulbasaur looked sadly at her, then to the rest of his friends. Char saw that he just wanted to forget the whole issue and go back to sleep, so he decided to make the call a bit more forcefully than his friend was.

"He'll think about it, I'm sure," Char said, answering for his friend. "But it looks like he'll be okay for now. Are you okay, Saura?"

"Yeah, it's better," Saura replied, pawing at his head and climbing back into his nest. "I can sleep, I… think."

"Fine," Eva replied curtly. "As a possible future teammate, I hope I can rely on you if we happen to work together. I would not want the nightmare to overcome you at a moment of need. You need to understand, this is killing you from the inside, Saura. I have seen my share of Watcher's curses in many minds; they are not gentle. You need to get rid of it. If the headache gets worse, and you wake me up again, I am going to pin you down and finish the dream for you myself. Do I make myself clear?"

Saura only nodded, and Eva cast a sideways glance to the rest of the team before strutting back out into the team hall and returning to her borrowed room.

"Thanks," Saura croaked, after she had gone. "I didn't think I could do it…"

"If what she says is correct, you will need to bring yourself to destroy the curse as soon as possible," Otto remarked sleepily. "You should not have to die from this, if it can be cured."

"Well, uh… maybe… later, but not now," Saura rambled. "Just not now. That already hurt enough, I couldn't… do something else, I just… couldn't."

Char wondered for a moment if Saura wanted a hug, but the Bulbasaur had fallen fast asleep again, so he hobbled back to his bed between the giant blue torches and tried to get himself back to sleep. The others did the same.


*takky-takky-tak! Takky-tak-tak!*

The next morning came much sooner than it had any right to, and it came with the sound of Marrow noisily rapping on the front door, apparently with a much smaller bone club this time.

"I'll get it!" Saura shouted, apparently feeling better from the night's rest, as he tumbled from his bed and went to meet their temporary mentor.

"Wait," Otto shouted from in his bed. "There is a possible problem."

"What?" Saura asked.

"We did not pick a mission for the day," Otto said. "It is possible we will need to visit the public job boards downstairs to pick one. Marrow will not be pleased."

Char's mouth went dry when he realized it was true. He had been so distracted with chores and personal dilemmas that he had forgotten to make his team function. He knew he needed to think of something fast, and the incessant rapping at the door Marrow continued to make wasn't helping.

"Another fine day, Team Ember!"called Marrow's muffled voice from far out in the hall. "I thought you were better than this. Don't make me knock the door down!"

Saura and Ray stood at the door, silent as rocks, casting uncertain glances back at Char.

"Otto!" Char called. "Do we have the job listings at all? In the war room, maybe?"

"No, it is out of date," Otto replied. "Team Remorse had a newer copy."

"Do you remember any of the missions on their list?!"

"I only remember an eight-star mission involving assistance at Basin Canyon. I believe they submitted the listing themselves."

Sighing in shame, Char crept up to the door and decided to open it anyway. Marrow stood there, energetic as ever, with a very long, thin bone in his hand that was at least four feet long.

"You were askin' me what my favorite club was, weren't'cha?" Marrow said, letting Char say nothing. "This one, right here. Bisharp's leg-bone. Long for range. Steel-reinforced. Light as a feather, hits like a tree trunk to the face. Used it so much, feels like an extension of the arm. Can't wait to take it for another spin."

Char only nodded.

"So, where we headed today, Ember?" Marrow said jovially. "What's the mission?"

"Oh, uh… w-w-well," Char stammered out. "We were thinking that maybe you could take the day off."

"Nonsense!" Marrow shouted. "Scythe's orders. I've still got some tricks to show you before I – "

Suddenly, he stopped shouting. Char could see the knowing gleam in his eye from behind the skull.

"You forgot to take a mission, did you?" He chuckled, raising his club. "You whiners turned in early and forgot to check for another job!"

"I-ahhhh, n-no wait, don't hit me!" Char pleaded, backing away from the ridiculously long range of the Marowak's weapon. "Wait, no! No, we have a job for today. But we have a different mentor than you so… we don't need you!"

Saura and Ray cast odd glances at one another.

"Ah, really now," Marrow said disbelievingly. "Really, you're gonna make me walk all the way back upstairs after I came all the way here. Really, now."

"We'll go with you tomorrow, promise," Char assured him. "Just today, we were going with another team. Serious. We really are."

Marrow set his bone down to the floor, bringing Char a huge sigh of relief. "Ah, and here I was lookin' forward to runnin' off with you four again, and, y'know, not having to chase after Cepheus with the rest of 'em," he grumbled. "This isn't really fun."

"Oh? How's the hunt for Cepheus going?" Ray asked warily.

"Typical," The Marowak replied dejectedly. "Real typical of how you'd expect a search for Cepheus to go. Let's just say if we had a map of the constellations in the sky, there'd be one that'd manage to erase itself from every map ever drawn. In short, he's nowhere. And, perhaps, everywhere."

"Oh, that bad?" Saura moaned in sympathy.

"Yeah, that bad," Marrow continued. "What's even worse is that all the critters down at Ingrain Town are all pretending they've never seen him before when we know for a fact they have. Now we're going to have to spend all of our money on invisify seeds and then we can't use any of them for the big settlement, because Cepheus probably knows we're using 'em and he'll have all his troops outfitted with those ghost-watching goggles and be all ready for us. So now we've got to find a way to do something Cepheus isn't expecting. But who knows, he might be expecting everything. It's… a nightmare, believe me. Some days I want nothin' to do with it. Almost feel like diggin' my own grave. Yearn for the free days of earning a hundred Poké a day for climbin' down four floors in a dungeon cave."

"He has you trapped," Otto said. "And you are trying to diffuse the trap."

"Not quite," Marrow said. "Ah, didn't Scythe ever teach you this, how to deal with it when you know the enemy's gonna spring a trap? Basic rule is: let them. Let 'em spring the trap. Walk right into it and let the cage fall on top of you."

"Why would you do that?" Otto wondered. "That does not seem productive."

"Ah, but'cha see, traps work both ways," Marrow said cleverly. "In that moment, that one moment when the trap springs, that's your golden moment. That's the moment when the enemy will be watching and waiting to see if the trap works. They won't take any notice of what's goin' on behind 'em. That's your chance to strike. Cepheus isn't immune to it. We just need to figure out what kind of trap he's setting, and what to do in that one golden moment. It's really the only chance we've got now."

The Marowak gazed wistfully back down the hall. "Guess I'll be seein' you the day of next, Ember," he said. "Have a good day with whatever you're doin' today. And I sure hope you're doin' something and not just givin' me the run-around. Gotta pay the fees to Intelligence if you take time off, y'know."

"Yeah, we know," Char replied. "That's why we're running a mission today. Good luck…"

"Myeh, you sound like Daemon now," the Marowak grumbled, walking away. "But perhaps luck is what we truly need now. Yeah, luck…"

When the Marowak was gone, Char's teammates turned to him to congratulate him on avoiding the painful smack to the head.

"Eh, he'll still give you a smack on the head when he hears you lied to him," Saura said oddly. "Though hopefully it'll be with a different bone than his all-time favorite."

Char grinned wide. "Actually… I didn't lie," he said, fretting his claws together. "I really do have a plan for today. I thought of it at the very last minute. This is gonna sound really weird, but… there's something I've been meaning to do all week. There's someone I really need to talk to."


After Otto conducted a very brief search of the upstairs facilities upon his swift wings, Char found the Pokémon he was looking for at the dojo. Though the Ditto master was absent for the time being, it didn't prevent these Pokémon from using the high-roofed, circular room for their own ends, especially since the majority of the Division was rushing out the door for the morning in pursuit of their missions. Char led his team through the door to find the Pokémon having a friendly sparring match.

Rather, the Croagunk had managed to tie his Seviper companion into somewhat of a knot, holding him to the ground by the strength of his foot.

"Give up?! Say it. Say you give up," the Croagunk laughed, twisting the serpent tighter. "Alright, how about now?"

"Sunghzz," moaned the snake. "You cheater."

"No such thing as cheating," Croagunk goaded. "Ain't that right, boss?"

"No, no! I told you to you practice projectile attacks, not physical!" the Dusknoir yelled at them, waving his arms. "Get off him. Off, off! We're not going until I'm happy with what I see. Not after the disaster yesterday."

"We'd be here all day, at this rate," the viper hissed. "Never seen Croagunk follow a single rule in all his miserable life… oh, would you look what just stepped in the door."

"Alright, we found them," Saura hissed to Char. "Now what? I don't want to spend any more time with these guys than we need."

"I want answers," Char replied under his breath. "I need to figure out why they weren't registered like a normal team. And if they're actually spies. And, well… there's an old human saying: 'To make a friend out of an enemy, ask them a favor.' But I don't actually remember if it works… I guess we'll see. Just follow along."

The two Poison Pokémon, still locked in the death grip, stopped struggling as they noticed the entirety of Team Ember entering the dojo. Char confidently led his baffled team towards their professed rivals, feeling a tickle of mischievousness within his inner fire.

"Greetings," Seviper said to them, his face turning colors from lack of air. "Pardon us, just having a morning stretch… some of us stretched a bit farther than others."

"Yeh, and we aren't done yet, so scram," Croagunk added. "Unless… you up for a double-battle, peanuts? Might have more of a chance when I'm not throwing sleeper-seeds at you. Maybe."

"No, they are not up for a battle," the Dusknoir firmly admonished from the side of the battle platform. "Excuse me, team Ember. They are practicing projectile attacks before we leave for our mission today. And if I have anything to do with it, the floor will be cleared away and ready for you to use in minutes."

The startled Poison Pokémon soon untangled themselves and stood at attention before their boss.

"Actually, I was looking for you," Char told his rivals. "I needed to ask you something."

"Answer's no, unless you're giving us something," Croagunk grunted. "Hah, that was easy. Nah, just messin'. What's the question?"

"Well, we got up this morning, and, uh, we realized that we forgot to pick a mission for today," Char explained. "I was wondering if… you'd let us help on your mission today. Let us tag along."

Croagunk couldn't conceal his bewilderment at the question. Seviper did a bit of a better job.

"That is indeed a very backward question," the snake spoke, eyeing Char. "What business would a perfectly capable and wealthy team such as yours have tagging along with the lowest-ranked team in the facility?"

"Well," Char replied deviously, folding his claws together and eyeing the Croagunk. "The other day when we met you on the road, you were tackling a three-star mission with nothing but a sack of rocks," he said. "That's impressive. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. I was wondering if… you could show me how it's done."

"Heh. Heh, heh," Croagunk chuckled oddly. "Threw you for a real loop, I bet. Somehow we knew it would. Oh, by the way, peanuts. We figured out how you survived the rock I threw at you. You were using an item, weren't you? Probably somethin' that makes fire mons invulnerable to rocks. Like a globe. Was it a globe?"

"Actually, that was exactly it!" Ray interjected, much to his leader's chargain. "Good guess. I bet that threw you for a loop, too."

"Indeed," the snake said. "I puzzled about it all day. I swore, up and down every scale on my body, there didn't exist such a globe which granted immunity to rocks to a fire-type. Yet, one scroll I once read implied there was a possibility they could exist, and so it became my best guess."

"So, let me get this straight," Croagunk said, looking oddly proud of the challenge Char had given him. "You want us to demonstrate to you how to run a mission with a pile of gravel in a bag? What, do you not believe us? Callin' us liars?"

"I believe they wish to learn some of our wisdom," Seviper said keenly. "Namely, the nature of the mind game, which is at the forefront of the battle when not using weapons."

"Why would we teach our best tricks to our rivals?" Croagunk croaked. "What's the good in that?"

"So they become better rivals and thus a stronger challenge to us, perhaps?" Seviper said with a grin. "I for one hold no objection to this idea. Boss, what do you think of this?"

The giant ghost almost keeled over in laughter. "What do I think?! Good. Do it. Char, you've no idea how long I've waited for an excuse to take a break from these idiots. Take them off my hands for the day. Please. By all means."

Char smiled and clenched his claws. His plan was working.

"Uh, right, we can't all go," Croagunk noted. "Team of… what, seven? Nah, that won't fly past the ghosts at the doors. We'll need to take this down to four. So what's it gonna be? Me, Seviper… Char, since you're the one whose idea this all was, and… hmm, let's see. The birdie. Never used a birdie before."

Then, something very odd began to happen with no warning.

Char was preparing to accept the Croagunk's conditions for the mission. He was preparing to turn around and tell two of his teammates that they'd get the day off, and that they could shop for items and maybe look into getting that bulletin board posted in front of their team hall.

But he couldn't.

Char felt a weakness overcome his body. He keeled over in place, nearly slamming his forehead onto the side of the dojo platform. He could barely perceive the Pokémon around him rushing to his aid, but he couldn't seem to hear their voices anymore, and he couldn't seem to speak.

And the awful truth hit him.

No… No, not now.

Not now. Not after all this time.

His vision began fading away, replaced with strange colors. A soft humming sounded from the center of his head.

No… I'm…

I'm having another episode of…

of the Call…

He wanted to thrash. He wanted to cry out in protest. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs to Celebi, or at least the past-Celebi, telling her to stop, telling her that trying to locate Dialga like this was pointless. But he knew better by now; the Call had completely sapped his ability to control his body, leaving him like a limp carcass upon the floor just as it always had.

And that terrible humming kept escalating, and the rainbows of colors rushed past his mind's eye, drowning everything else from existence. All he could do was wait for it to burst…

Wait for it… to make his mind explode…

Wait for that powerful, inescapable voice…

Calling…

Char! Char! Is that you? Can you hear me?

But something was different about this time.

The humming leveled out into a gentle, hypnotizing roar. It did not continue to escalate as it normally did. It simply… restrained itself.

And there was a voice.

CHAR! Char, oh my goodness. Char, I've got you!

Oh my, Char, you can't believe how happy I am I finally got you!

Wait, do I have it? Yes, YES! YES! I HAVE YOU!

Char knew this voice from somewhere.

Char, it's me, Celebi. I'm sending you this message from Temporal Tower.

Celebi…?

Don't panic. Nothing bad is going to happen this time. And don't try to reply to me because I can't hear you.

But oh my goodness, this is exciting… I finally did it… okay, listen to me!

Char, ever since you came here and told me about your quest to find out what the Call was and use it… I was heartbroken! I couldn't believe you came that far just to have me disappoint you with my own silly foolishness…

But then I was sitting and thinking for eons. Days for you, eons for me. If that makes any sense. And I realized something! The Call is something I created, all on my own! All my life I've been sitting around watching Lord Dialga create things and… I never got to be a creator of anything myself.

Well, now I am. I created the Call all on my own. And it's not useless, Char! Not anymore at least! Now it can be a weapon, just like you wanted!

Ahh, and you just don't know how hard it is to call you Char. I wish I could say your real name. Really wish. But no. I've been working on my aim. In different timelines, that is. Branches with no souls so nobody's hurt. And I figured out how to sound the Call just where I want!

Finally, I'm going to do something important. I'm going to help you win the war against the Master. And here's the weapon you're going to use!

Alright, here's how to use it. Every day at around this time… this is the morning for you, isn't it? Well, I'm aiming for more like noon. Working on it! Anyway, I'm going to give you a tiny pulse from the tower. Just like this except maybe quieter than this. It won't be as loud as it was when I was calling for Lord Dialga, so it won't affect whole cities hopefully. Whatever happens, I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen at night so it won't draw the Newborns in.

I'll try to send you a warning before it happens so you can get ready! Then when you hear the Call, that's your chance. Say what you want to say with your heart-speak and the Pokémon around you should listen to it and do exactly what you say.

Ah, I hope I didn't interrupt anything! Please forgive me if I did, I don't know… And I won't make any more messages this long ever again. Promise. I just really hope this works for you. I really hope this answers the prayers you had and all the Pokémon you brought with you to visit me.

Say hello to Scythe and Prince and Ray and Saura and Lily for me, too, okay? I miss them too. An eon never passes when I don't remember you all.

Ah, hah, hah! I can't believe it! I'm actually answering a prayer for once! Me, little Celebi, a god who can answer prayers! Wait until Lord Dialga hears this…

To victory, Char!

And then Char woke up from the odd dream. All he saw was Croagunk's face.

"Char…?" the frog said, betraying quite a bit of worry. "Whoa, Char. You weren't supposed to pass out yet! I didn't even hit you yet!"

"Char…? What happened?" Saura cried in panic, shoving the bigger frog out of the way. "Don't tell me… don't tell me that was what I think it was. Char, can you move? Can you get up?"

"I… don't know," Char groaned, trying to do so. He found the edges of the dojo platform with his claws and attempted to straighten himself out, but soon found himself too dizzy to stand on anything but all fours. He dipped his head toward the ground.

"Char, I'm not quite confident in taking you with us if you're going to be passing out with no provocation," the Seviper said. "Did you eat something which disagreed with you? …Too much water, perhaps?"

"No, I…" Char tried. "I think I'm…"

ALRIGHT, CHAR!

The voice came back suddenly, shattering his thoughts and his attempts to speak.

I'm sending a pulse now! Ready?

When I say go, try telling another Pokémon to do something! With your mind, I mean. Then watch and see if it works!

Okay… GO!

And Char felt a humming sensation in the depths of his soul. It was soft and easy, nothing like the Call explosions he had felt before.

Not only that, but he could perceive the world in both sight and sound as the humming persisted. No longer was his vision wracked with rainbows of light, or his ears drowned in haunting ethereal noises.

As the humming continued, he stood up to his full height and swiveled his head around, glancing at all the Pokémon who encircled him.

Croagunk. Otto. Dusknoir. Ray.

Seviper. Saura.

His head seemed to float upward, though he knew he was not moving. The room felt as though it was completely underwater, and every twitch of his limbs a swimming stroke.

Try… telling another Pokémon to do something, Char remembered, hearing Celebi's distorted voice repeating in his memory. Um… okay.

He looked at Ray.

Ray, Char ordered telepathically. Bring me an apple. …Please?

The humming stopped. The odd fluidity in the air drained out of the room along with it, leaving Char in the center of a very odd situation where he was the center of attention and had no idea what to say about it.

He stared intently at Ray.

"Um… hi?" Ray tried. "Can you hear me, Char?"

"…Yes," Char replied. "Yeah, I'm… I think I'm better."

"HE'S BETTER!" Dusknoir shouted unexpectedly, giving Char a ringing, metallic round of applause with his hands. "Good for you, Char. Here I was starting to wonder if you'd had a heart attack. I'd have to start searching for your soul. And I really wasn't in the mood for it. Still willing to take my stooges off my hands for the day? They're all yours."

"Excuse me, but they're all ours," Seviper corrected. "They are the tag-alongs, not us. Croagunk will be their team leader."

Char continued to stare at Ray, but the Raichu did nothing but oddly return his gaze.

He's not doing anything, Char noticed, his pounding heart calming down with disappointment. Hmm… Celebi might not have perfected the signal yet. I'll wait until tomorrow and see if anything happens next time.

"Char, you didn't just… have a… you know…?" Saura whispered to him the first moment they were out of earshot from Team X.

"I'm not too sure what happened," Char half-lied. "It was like the Call, but weaker. I guess nobody heard it. Maybe the Call is broken."

"Thank goodness for that, I guess," Ray said. "For a second I thought we were about to have the whole Division crowding into the dojo. Hey, maybe Celebi figured out what was happening and she tried to shield you."

"Yeah, maybe," Char said dismissively, still peering at him and wondering what exactly the signal might have done to his mind.

In truth, Char was still lost in a world of his own, and it would take a minute before he would snap back to reality and remember that he had just agreed to run a mission with Team X. He knew his tail was flaring to great heights, but hoped it would be disregarded as a reaction to the fact that he had just fainted for seemingly no reason. He could not stop his mind from spinning out of control and thinking of the path which fate was setting out ahead of him.

Because if what Celebi had said was true, he could not even begin to fathom the repercussions.

The ability to control the Call, even just once a day, would become such a terrible power and a huge responsibility that it scared him. He began to see how he always took comfort in the knowledge that he was just a regular Charmander with no special power, and even took relief in the revelation that the Call was entirely outside his domain.

Now, he almost hoped Celebi had been mistaken in her message. He hoped that her signals would remain broken for the foreseeable future, at least until he could come to terms with the new power and not on such short notice.

I've grown stronger since I first came here, Char realized, looking down at his own claws. But I'm still a coward. I don't want power. At least, not that kind of power…!

I just don't know what to do with power like that.

I never wanted to be the one who would change the world myself. I wanted Dialga to do it for me. Or Giratina. Not me…

But more than his own cowardice, which he had been partially aware of for a long time, there was something else which bothered him even more deeply. Char found that he held a certain reservation in his heart. It told him not to tell anyone about Celebi's message, not even Saura and Ray.

But I've always told them everything, Char reminded himself. Every little thing. They know me better than I know myself. How is this different?

We'll go to sit in our room tonight and I'll tell them all about it. I need advice with this. I need their input. I can't… handle this on my own.

Should I tell Scythe about it? Even though he's going to just start using me as a weapon again? Should I use it for my own means?

Should I try to take over the Division and destroy the Master myself?

I can't answer these things on my own. I need to trust someone. I'm going to do it. I'm going to tell my teammates at least. They deserve to know.

But the instinct was resolute. It insisted that nobody else, even those he trusted the most, should know about his new secret. There were no reasons behind his instinct. No convincing evidence. There was only a bottomless sense of dread that something would go terribly wrong if just one of them were to know.

Before he knew it, he was standing with his team at the South-east entrance to the base, ready to depart. He hoped the day's mission would help to clear his mind and untangle his insecurities.

"Bag of rocks, check!" Croagunk reported, slinging the large, uncomfortable-looking sack over his shoulder. "And that's it. You in, Char?"

"Well, I guess I'll hold down the base today," Ray said. "Good luck with those guys. Are you sure you're going to be okay? Sure you don't need rest?"

"Ah… as long as the Call didn't do anything, I'm fine, yeah," Char said, eyeing him suspiciously one more time. "As long as it didn't do anything… I'll be fine."


Route 325

It was a picture he never thought he'd see: Char was heading out of Iron Town on his favorite road, led by two of his least-favorite Pokémon in the world, and his only teammate was the one he felt least comfortable talking to. And even then, the Pidgey left him to keep watch from high in the air, leaving him alone with the poisonous duo who had saved his life from the icy northern lands.

Before his sudden contact with Celebi, Char had felt moderately confident that he could act like a tough guy and play mind games with Team X, at least enough to work with them as a team and learn more about them. Now, it was a taller challenge to keep his mind off the potential repercussions of Celebi's pulses from the tower, leaving him open to teasing and ridicule from those he hoped to stand up to. His mind kept simulating the surreal moment the Call had happened, hoping it had not done any unforeseen damage, and grimly anticipating the moment it would likely happen the next day.

"Char, for having begged for our company so vehemently, you certainly aren't paying much attention," Seviper commented. "Have you listened to anything we've been saying?"

"Um… yeah, I have!" Char lied, snapping to attention.

"Funny, because we haven't said anything yet," Seviper goaded. "Are you still perhaps asleep? Do you need a chesto?"

"If you've got one, sure," Char said ashamedly. "Guess I didn't get enough sleep – OW!"

A small stone thunked Char on the side of the head, landing in his claws.

"There's your chesto!" Croagunk laughed, pulling the string on the bag shut again. "Meh heheh, or wait, was that a rock? We don't have any chesto today, do we?"

"No, because someone insisted we take only rocks," Seviper said with an evil grin. "I wonder who could have given that order?"

"Also, looks like you don't have that pesky globe on you today," Croagunk teased, eyeing Char as he rubbed his forehead. "Stay outta the way of flying rocks. Probably be the smartest thing."

Thunk.

"Oww!" Char whined, flailing with his arms after a second rock clunked him in the chin.

"That means knowing how to dodge when you see one flying at your face," Croagunk said with a grin. "Yeesh, why did we take this useless guy with us again?"

"Because we're teaching him how to be less useless," the viper said, slithering alongside Char.

"Heh heh, then I guess I should stop poking holes in him," Croagunk said. "But really, why come with us at all, Char? I'm not buying this story that you just forgot a mission. You've got some sort of motive. Are you comin' out with it, or should I try using some more of these rocks?"

Char shook his head, deciding to stop taking the abuse laying down. He knew he needed to get the Call out of his head if he wanted to focus on getting answers from the team, so he clenched his fists and made an attempt to push back.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Char demanded, pointedly sidestepping the question. "What's the mission?"

"To raid a thief hideout," Seviper replied. "Sound familiar to you, Char? Bring back old memories? But you don't have to worry, the thief is already down and out. We took him out two days ago. It was a Marshtomp who set up a hideout in Stabwound Bog. Croagunk pelted him with so many rocks that he begged to be taken into the authorities. But the day after he was captured, they got a tip that he had a hidden cache of stolen merchandise somewhere in the bog. So that's where we're going now. We're cleaning up."

"And that's just what we're in the market for, more stuff!" Croagunk boasted. "That's why we're takin' rocks with us most of these days. Can't afford to use our good stuff. Savin' up for the real tough shots."

"So if there's no thief, do we even need the rocks at all?" Char wondered.

Croagunk tried to pelt Char with another rock to the gut, but Char finally had the sense to jump out of the way.

"For keeping you on your toes!" Croagunk laughed, not even bothering to glance back at the Charmander. "Bet you're starting to wish you had that globe with you again!"

Thwack.

To Croagunk's surprise, Char had grabbed the rock back from the ground and pelted it at the back of his head. The poisonous frog gave a startled croak as he recoiled, eyeing Char knowingly, then cast a glare at his teammate.

"Yeowch! Hey!" he commented, though remaining mostly unfazed. "Hey! How come you didn't warn me he was fightin' back?"

"Honestly, you deserved it," Seviper replied coyly. "About time someone knocked you on the head. Well-aimed shot, Char."


By the afternoon, the awkward team of three found the beginning of the side-road which would lead down south and toward Stabwound Bog, their destination. It was near the very same place Team X had ambushed Char on their way to the dragon reserve. Char even recognized the rock which the poisonous team had hidden behind on that day.

The sun bore down from a cloudless sky, roasting the dry land to obnoxious temperatures even in the early days of autumn. Char had no reason to complain about the heat, but he sensed that the Croagunk was feeling uncomfortable. He knew that he frog had particularly dry skin that became sensitive in such situations.

Despite the constant bullying, Char was starting to have fun with these strange Pokémon. Through playing their games and teasing them back, he thought he was beginning to sense a bit of true respect they had for him, as though they would readily fight on the same side of a battle in a moment of dire need.

It was progress. Char hoped this respect could be used to his advantage, and that he would win some of the answers he sought from them. Maybe then, he thought, they would finally be worthy of winning his trust.

As they neared the turn-off where Route three thirty-four began, the Croagunk swiftly reached into his bag of rocks, making Char tense up and prepare to dodge. But instead of pelting Char with another cheap shot, the frog tossed the stone high and easy, and it landed almost perfectly in Char's arms. Char eyed the chunk of gravel, turning it over in his hands. It was very lightweight, reminding Char of the exact weight of the Master Ball. Char wondered if the Croagunk specifically searched for rocks which matched the size and mass of the Poké Ball he practiced with.

"So, how are you at throwing?" Croagunk wondered. "See if you can't hit that signpost from here."

Char clutched the stone, peering over its surface at the tiny wooden post which marked the intersection between routes three twenty-five and three thirty-four. It was tall and thick, surely not a difficult target. But when he heaved his body to toss the rock, a motion which took both of his arms, the rock made a pathetic arc and stopped well short of the target.

"That was terrible!" Croagunk said, drawing another stone. "If you're gonna help me throw rocks around, you've gotta be better than that. Alright, look. First thing's first: I don't care what species you are, or how good your eyes are. The target is always farther than it looks. You've gotta know how the eyes trick you. Things that are farther away look smaller, right? So distances look smaller, too. So look at the distance between you and the sign. Pretend it's farther away than how it looks, got it?"

Tossing another stone to the Charmander, Croagunk stepped forward and stood between him and the signpost. Char squinted, trying to imagine the correct perspective he was supposed to see, questioning the information his eyes showed him. He clutched the stone in one claw, sure that he could make a better shot the second time.

"Also," the frog said from several feet away. "When you throw overhanded, don't aim at the target, right? Instead aim at the halfway point between the target and you. Because you don't have any control over what the rock does after it hits the peak of the toss. Everything after that's just gravity and momentum. So try to find where the peak is, and aim for that. Eh… looks like for you… it's right here. There, Char! Here's the moment you've been waiting for. Aim right at my face!"

Char didn't have to be asked twice. He grinned, clutched the rock in his right claw, and flung it right at the frog's head. The frog ducked out of the way, letting the rock sail harmlessly past and strike the signpost very near the base. The signpost wobbled with a satisfying rattle. Char was admittedly impressed it had worked.

"That's the way it's done," Croagunk said smugly. "Now you've got the basics."

"So… that's how you throw things so well?" Char asked. "You just look for the peak of the toss? That's all it is?"

"Heh, not even close. Especially when there's wind, moving targets, all kinds of things. It's a whole science," Croagunk chuckled. "But for point-blank, you've got it."

Char smirked. He chose his next words carefully.

"So… is that all you're good at?" Char asked, pretending to sound honest. "Just throwing stuff? That's your talent?"

"For your information, our team has a much more important role to play to your Division," Seviper cut in, sensing Char's true meaning. "Hmm, Croagunk? Should we tell him our big secret?"

"Big secret? Whaa…?" Croagunk replied. "Oh, oh. Right, the peanuts don't even know that yet. Fine, go ahead. Let's see the look on his face."

"We're spies," Seviper told him pointedly. "We are double-agents. Not for the enemy, mind you. For the resistance. Mostly it's boss who's in charge of the operation. We're just here for support. Boss is the one who has ties with Adiel."

"…Adiel?!" Char gasped. "You're spying on Adiel?"

"Yep. And Adiel thinks boss works for him!" Croagunk said. "Of course, the two of us are just idiots who don't know any better than to tag along with boss… if you catch our drift."

Char's eyes widened. Team X was finally starting to make sense.

"This is how we will get close enough to Enigma to have our shot at capturing her in the Master Ball," Seviper explained. "Adiel is going to give us the opportunity, whether or not he suspects it."

"W-wait," Char stammered, nearly choking on his tongue trying to swallow the news. "You talk with Adiel…? Does Scythe know about this?!"

"Of course," said the viper. "How do you think we convinced him to let us in? How do you think we won the favor of your High Intelligence? Although, it has been a long time since boss has made contact with Adiel. Last we knew, he was still after your Bulbasaur friend. We're not too sure what happened to him after that. Boss says he's nowhere to be found, and we're growing worried, to be frank."

"Okay, okay," Char said, gripping his temples. "So… let me get this straight. Dusknoir is a master spy getting information from Adiel, and Croagunk, you're the one training to catch Enigma in the Master Ball… so what are you doing here, Seviper?"

Seviper slithered into a pose, flashing Char a fang-filled grin as he boasted about himself. "I am what you might call a witness," the viper explained. "I commit everything I witness to memory, and I rarely forget anything. How do you think I managed to remember such a tiny detail as your team name, when you first encountered us?"

"Yeah, except when he forgets boss's orders," the frog shot back. "You remember everything fine, except when boss says 'whatever you do, don't forget to—' and you draw a blank! That's what happened yesterday. He forgot the one item we needed for the job and it ended in a wreck. Long-toss band. That's all we needed. Instead, we got our first failed mission."

"I was distracted," Seviper hissed ashamedly. "That was different."

"By what?" Croagunk snorted. "…the Zangoose?"

The Seviper paused in silence for a moment, turning away.

"…Yes," he finally admitted. "She is pranking me. Yesterday she sneezed into my defense scarf. When I put it on, my scales were slathered in her mucus."

"Bah. But you can't prove it was her," Croagunk scoffed. "How do you know I didn't do that?"

"Because you know I can freely retaliate! If I retaliated against the Zangoose I would be thrown into the dungeons for mutiny. Thanks to prejudice, I cannot lay a scale on the Zangoose without sparking an outburst of terror from the whole Division. There is no other explanation. It must have been her."

"Yeah, yeah, blame everything on the Zangoose," Croagunk said, shaking his head. "Typical of you. Better learn to control those instincts of yours, or the base will be in shambles before you know it! Heh, just the way Char thought we'd destroy the base, I bet, when he saw us in there."

And it was like that for the rest of the trail down south. Char listened to the two of them banter, rarely finding an opportunity to say anything. But somehow, he didn't quite mind. In just that one walk, he'd gained a new respect for his so-called rivals, realizing that they were much more skillful than he first gave them credit for—even after learning they had so stealthily trailed them to the north to save their lives.

Though he hadn't gotten all his answers, he couldn't help but trust the two in some small way. He knew he had some things left to learn from them.


Stabwound Bog

Stabwound Bog was a disgusting place, and Char wondered how any sane Pokémon could stand spending any length of time there, much less setting up a hideout in the place. But the poison Pokémon looked happy as could be to have arrived, leading Char off the path and into the dense, humid wilderness.

As soon as Char's foot stepped off the road, it sank into a wet, mucky pile of mud. It soon became clear that the reeds and undergrowth he stepped on were merely a false cover for a never-ending puddle of muck which covered the entire swamp's floor, except in the places where the ground fell away into a thick pool of standing water, so foul and stagnant with ooze that it resembled mucus. He soon began to expect that every step would involve his feet soaking entire inches down below the surface of the earth, slurping and squealing with gross noises as bubbles of air escaped from beneath them. He dreaded the prospect of getting down on all fours to battle, hoping he could bear to stand on two legs the entire way.

The air itself was intensely humid with steam trapped beneath the dark canopy of the swamp's willows and ferns overhead. Every single piece of vegetation was nearly black in color and sagging low, as though trying to wilt and put themselves out of their grimy, polluted misery. Beads of dew, like sweat, lined the edges of the leaves.

"This way," Croagunk ordered. "This is the way we came yesterday. Urf, this bag is getting heavy. Yesterday I did more target practice by this point."

"Is it very far?" Char couldn't help but ask, yanking his foot out of a shallow puddle of quicksand. "This place smells terrible."

"Smells fine to me," Seviper commented, slithering deftly through the heaps of mud. "Though, that might be because I smell my own poison every day of my life. I can imagine how torturous this must be for you. Try not to trip and fall in the water, at the least."

"Yeh, it's not a nice place, don't matter who you are," Croagunk muttered, shaking the goop from his foot. "That's why the crooks hid their stuff here. Just not worth it to come get 'em. Unless you're broke and desperate like us. Nah, not too far if you know where to look. At least this is no Zerferia… Alright, so the paper said the goods are farther west of where the hideout was yesterday…"

Char shortly became skilled in finding ridges of dry dirt and standing rocks, balancing on fallen logs, and other methods of taking respite from the murky floor of the bog. As he followed the lead of his odd companions, he noticed that there were very little signs of wildlife coming from the area, which did not seem natural. He knew bogs were normally a haven for wildlife, especially amphibious creatures and birds, yet he failed to spot anything that could possibly be alive besides himself and his two rivals. It almost reminded him of the Jaded Woods, the first mystery dungeon he had ever explored as leader of a team.

At least this place isn't a dungeon, he remembered, balancing on a rock. Glad nothing is around to attack us.

Then, a sound came from the sky.

"Cheee-cheea!"

Char tensed, and so did Team X.

"That was Char's bird," Croagunk realized. "It sees something."

Char craned his neck, but couldn't spot his Pidgey teammate above the sagging treetops.

"Yes, I know," Seviper replied, coiling around a tree for a better view of the distance. "He signals there is danger ahead."

"Danger? What danger…?" Croagunk said. "There's nobody here. The Marshtomp goon is in jail. You don't think someone else got to the goods before we did…?"

"Improbable," the Seviper said. "The tip about the hideout was given exclusively to the Gold Division, and we took the job before any other team. Thus, unless another Pokémon knew about it, we should be alone."

"Cheee-cheea!" Otto called again.

"No, you idiot, that wasn't the danger signal," Croagunk grunted, hefting his bag of rocks higher onto his back. "That was the 'hey, come check this out' signal. You're also terrible at remembering your bird signals, you know that? Some witness you are. Maybe he found the entrance."

"Very well, then follow him," the viper decided, slithering back to the ground.

But they didn't trek very long in the direction of Otto's call before it became clear something was very wrong.

There were other Pokémon there in the bog swarming the place. Many were types of Pokémon Char didn't recognize: some resembled turtles, others were like walking fish. The thing which worried him the most, however, was that they were all blue-skinned creatures: water-type Pokémon.

Great, just what I needed, Char said to himself, digging his claws into the dirt. Fighting against water attacks that'll probably blast me into the swamp water. Though, makes sense they'd be the Pokémon to put up with this place…

"Gettdown!" Croagunk hissed, yanking Char by his tail down behind a mound of mud. "Ugh… Char, we're in trouble. Wasn't expecting opposition, and all we have is a pile of rocks."

"What do we do?" Char wondered. "Do you have a plan?"

"Well, only one thing we really can do at this point," Croagunk said, reaching into his sack.

Clutching one of the rocks from his bag, he peered over the peak of the mud pile. He squinted, reeled back his hand, and let the rock loose. It sailed in a long arc over the swampland, touching against some low-hanging willow branches above, then sank firmly down onto the forehead of a seal-like creature. It collapsed at once.

"Walrein!" cried a nearby Pokémon. "Walrein! What happened?"

"He got hit by a rock. That blasted Croagunk from the other day must be back."

"They're here. Search the area!"

Char scowled at the frog.

"Well, it was worth a try," Croagunk said, shrugging. "Up for a battle, Char?"

"He's clearly out of his element," Seviper noted. "Let's not have him get knocked out by some water. He can stay back if he wants. Let's finish this."

"Fine," Croagunk said, lifting the bag of rocks. "Alright Char, watch and learn. And try not to die. Bad Pokémon come your way? Dodge and run. Leave the rest to us."

Then, Team X bolted forward into the open, leaving Char alone to watch the events unfold.

The enemy Pokémon converged upon them as soon they were spotted, yet Team X did not seem to care that they were outnumbered. Croagunk lurched forward in pouncing leaps and launched volleys of rocks at the oncoming foes, each one striking a Pokémon in the forehead or the chest. Seviper slunk low through the undergrowth, striking at an attacking Quagsire and coiling around the foe until it became motionless.

"Kurrrrreeeii!" Otto called from above, a signal Char didn't recognize.

Though they demonstrated skill with their assault, Char couldn't possibly see how Team X stood a chance against the attackers, or even what they intended to accomplish just rushing out into the open the way they did. Char kept his head low and his tail lower, not caring that half his body was now coated in the oily mud.

But to Char's surprise, the action stopped. The enemies were called away by some shouting among the ranks, and Team X came to a halt themselves. Char squinted to see that a Pokémon had come out of the mob, approaching the attackers.

It was a Swampert. A very powerful, very large Swampert.

"Who might you be?" Seviper demanded.

"I am Koladius." the huge beast proclaimed. "This is my land. What do you think you're doing here?"

"Nah, can't be," Croagunk shot back. "We arrested Koladius two days ago. He's in jail. You're just a crummy look-alike, that's what you are! Tryin' to take his place?"

"Am I, now?" the Swampert said, crossing his arms. "Or maybe the Marshtomp you arrested the other day was a decoy, someone I planted to make it appear as though I was no longer here? Maybe that Marshtomp was my own son?"

"Your son," Seviper echoed. "You planted your son to get arrested in your place. Impressive, I'll say. Your twisted mind seems to live up to your reputation."

"Humph, that was a twist," Croagunk croaked. "Well-played. We walked right into it."

Char cringed at the sight of the encounter. He still couldn't see how the poisonous duo could succeed against this foe, even if he fought alone and with none of his minions. It struck him that if Team X were to fall, he'd need to navigate the bog by himself to make it back to the road, a task that could become truly fearsome if the darkness fell and threatened to release the Watchers…

Yet, he could only watch and see what would happen.

"Seems as though someone ratted out my plan," Koladius roared. "But that's fine. I will find them and deal with them. Now, you can turn around and leave, or I'll deal with you the same way I'll deal with the rat. Your pick."

"Nah, you're a real good guy, I can tell," Croagunk said with false politeness. "We can't just turn around and leave without at least showin' you a fair fight. It just wouldn't be right! You deserve more than that."

"Indeed, the famous Koladius deserves more than that," Seviper added, nodding to his teammate. "Now, how shall we begin? Ahh, perhaps like this."

Croagunk held up his arm, as though stretching out a cramp from carrying the bulging bag. A moment later, a blue-flamed missile pierced the canopy. It was Otto, performing his favorite combat technique which involved surrounding himself in blue energy and dive-bombing the foe, something he had seen the little bird perform in nearly every battle. Croagunk had signaled the attack. Char gripped the dirt in suspense as the Pidgey descended upon the foe, reveling in excitement as the tip of its beak and the focal point of the energy striking the Swampert on the back of the neck.

"Way to go, Otto," Char said to himself. "Can you help them win?"

What followed next was a violent battle, that much was for certain, although he could barely see most of the action behind the saplings and branches which had gotten in the way. Croagunk kept a distance and flung rock after rock at the large water-beast, and Seviper seemed content to just lure the attention of the foe without attacking, although at one point he had slashed at the Swampert's back with the blade of his tail, presumably in an attempt to infect him with poison. The Swampert was enraged, retaliating with impressive displays of power, attempting to strike the duo with supercharged water or shards of energy. Though as hard as the Swampert fought, Otto never once intervened again, and neither did the servants of Koladius who all stood behind the trees and watched the fight in nervous anticipation much in the same way that Char did.

After the battle had gone on for several minutes, Koladius could take no more, and roared to the heavens with rage. Char noticed that the standing puddles of water around him were rippling. Char found it odd that a roar could be so powerful as to shake the ground.

What was even odder was how the puddles continued to ripple even after the Swampert's roar was over. And the earthquake became worse.

Char peered back at the battle and found that it had come to a complete standstill. Seviper and Croagunk stood together, frozen in place, and the Swampert knelt down into the mud, clutching his forehead in pain.

Then Char noticed the droplets of water hovering in the air.

They were everywhere, like rain suspended in time. All around him, small drops of dew and mud-water rolled up leaves and into the air, or simply leaped out of the puddles, ascending back into the heavens from which they had come. Even the slimy patches of mud released moisture, letting whole strands of water flow upward with some kind of reversed gravity, until the air all around Char was speckled tiny glimmering orbs.

The earthquake intensified, causing Char's teeth to jitter. He couldn't tell if the ground itself was shaking, or if he was feeling something huge moving across the ground in the distance…

Croagunk and Seviper directly toward his hiding place, fearful for their lives.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Seviper cried, frantically slithering past him.

"What?! What's wrong?" Char cried, though got on all fours and made an attempt to keep up with them.

"Char… If you wanna live, just run!" Croagunk called, leaping and hobbling through the mud. "Surf's up!"

Crash. A pillar of water shot straight out of a nearby pond to Char's right, as mighty as a volcano's eruption, rising into the treetops.

Crash. A second explosion from a pond on Char's left.

Char began to fear for his life. Forgetting about staying out of the mud, Char labored on his four legs to keep up with the Poison Pokémon, trying not to think about what was happening to the swamp water all around him, or why the ground kept shaking as violently as he did. Until, that is, he made the mistake of looking over his shoulder.

A giant wall of water washed through the bog straight for him, tearing down any trees in its path. A tidal wave.

"Char! Here!" Croagunk called, stopping in his tracks for a moment.

When Char ran to him, panicked beyond all reason, the frog snagged the middle of the Charmadner's tail and whipped him upward into the treetops. Char didn't realize he was flying until he noticed a limb about to strike him in the face, and he clung to the branch with all of his claws.

The surf-water crashed through the marsh floor, turning the bog into a raging ocean for just a moment. Trees sagged and leaned against the water's pressure, and Char held on for dear life, curling his tail upward as he felt the loose spray stinging his flame.

The branch cracked a little, and the tree buckled under the force, but luckily for Char it remained standing.

And just as soon as the storm had started, it was over. And Stabwound Bog didn't look much different than it had before. It was still soaked in muddy water and watery mud, covered in fallen and decaying trees, and still damp with dewdrops.

Seviper untied himself from the base of the tree, and Croagunk unburied his head from a pit of quicksand. The bag of rocks still sat next to him, too heavy to be washed away, and the frog picked it up and watched the water dribble out of the stitches on the bottom.

"I suppose high tide came a bit early today," Seviper said. "Wasn't expecting that, really."

"Guess I was in the mood for a bath after all," the mud-covered Croagunk groaned, hefting the bag one more time. "Guess we're done for the day…"


Route 334

With a solemn silence hanging over the three filthy Pokémon, they left the bog the same way they had entered, found the road, and headed back the way they had come.

Char scowled as he eyed Croagunk's bag of rocks. He was admittedly more than a bit disappointed to learn that Team X couldn't work miracles with them as they had implied. Another part of him wondered if maybe the failure had been his own fault; the poison team hadn't planned for Char to leech onto his mission the way he had did, after all.

"Sorry," Char said meekly, breaking the silence. "Bet you could have finished if you had Dusknoir with you."

"Heh," Croagunk said. "Heh, heh, heh."

"Kahaha," Seviper replied. "Ka-ha-hahaha!"

"Heh heh heh heh! Heh heh heh heh!"

"Hahahahahah!"

"Heh heh heh! Heh heh heh heh heh!"

"Kyaahhahahah! Kyaahaha! Hahah!"

Team X had fallen to the ground, rolling in laughter. Char crossed his arms, heavily tempted to light one or both of them on fire.

"Seviper," the mud-covered frog said, climbing back to his feet. "Watch. Just watch this. Just watch the look on Char's face."

"I will. I wouldn't miss this for anything."

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Croagunk set the bag of rocks onto the ground and loosened the string which held it shut. The opening slumped downward, allowing the bag's contents to spill out.

Gold things. Metal things. Some orbs and some jewely.

Treasures.

"Bu-buh, But how! How!" Char stammered in utter disbelief, grabbing a silver coin from the bag to make sure it was real. "How did… how could y- how?! You never left my sight! I was watching you the whole time! You never could have gone into the hideout to get this stuff!"

"You make a faulty assumption," Seviper said, slithering in a circle around the bewildered Charmander. "You assume we were truthful when we said that we only brought the bag full of rocks. In reality, it was a bag full of rocks, plus one useful object. A particularly rare object. One known as a 'trawl orb'."

"Your birdie found the entrance for us," Croagunk explained, yanking the coin out of Char's hand and gathering the loose treasures back into the sack. "We got his signals. Then it was just a question of getting enough rocks out of the bag to make room for the stuff. That's what we started the battle for."

"And since we defeated Koladius's son using only rocks, they assumed – just as you did – that was all we had in the bag," the viper slyly said. "Once there was enough room in the bag, Croagunk stood near the underground hideout was used the orb, which warped most of the treasures into the bag, or at the very least, those which would fit. It is enough to satisfy the conditions of the mission description."

Char was speechless. He glanced up into the sky and saw the silhouette of Otto still trailing them silently, and realized just how much the little bird had done for the mission's cause without uttering one word. He had done everything with signals. He made a mental note that he would need to learn the signals himself inside and out, seeing now what kinds of remarkable strategies could be built upon them.

"So yeah, thanks for being completely useless, Char!" Croagunk teased, gently slapping Char on the head as he walked by. "Though, your birdie did help tons, so I guess we'll give you some of the spoils after all."

"I, for one, am most impressed by the ploy Koladius demonstrated," Seviper mentioned. "I couldn't have seen that one coming – Koladius still guarding his hideout even while in jail. After he appeared, I was certain our mission was doomed. Char's bird is the one who saved us. He is the hero of the day."

The Seviper slithered close to Char with a gleam in his eye. "Are you starting to see, now, the nature of the mind game?" he said. "You won't get anywhere unless you learn how to lie, and how to cause your foes to draw assumptions upon demand. Just the way we incorrectly assumed the bog would be unguarded… and the way you incorrectly assumed our bag had only rocks in it. You control others not by what they don't know, but by what they believe they know."

"I see," Char simply said, still contemplating the events of the day and watching his Pidgey hover in circles overhead. "I think I'm starting to learn something…"

And I think I'm about to find the last answer I'm looking for, he added with a devious grin. But I'm not going to tell you this was all an evil plan of mine from the start, now am I? That would take the fun out of it…


Division Base

After taking a dip in the hot springs near Iron Town to make themselves presentable, the victorious team returned safely to the base with their satchel full of riches. They stood in front of the registration office and got in line behind a long trail of weary Pokémon to report the completion of the job.

"Are you going to just turn all that stuff in?" Char asked them, indicating the bag. "Did it say in the job description it has to go back?"

"Unspecified," Seviper said with an evil grin. "We'll see what they demand of us when the mission is reported as a success. If we need to give it back… well, let us just say that they probably will not be getting it all back, kyeheh…"

"I see," Char replied. "Reminds me of something we did to a client a few days ago…"

"You ripped off a client? Bah, somehow that just doesn't seem like you!" Croagunk teased.

"Yeah… well, they were trying to rip us off first," Char explained. "They were giving us seeds instead of money for finishing the job! But anyway… I guess we're done for the day?"

"Yes," Seviper said, nodding. "We are. Now is when we part ways."

Char didn't budge. There was an awkward silence, even amidst the noisy room of Pokémon.

"It's been good having you. Maybe catch us again sometime when, y'know, you're ready to not be so helpless," Croagunk said.

Char stayed put. He wore a smug grin and tried to exchange it with the Pidgey, but Otto only returned a blank, unknowing stare.

"Char, Y'know I can put you on the mission, even though you were useless," Croagunk said, beginning to show some worry. "I'm not gonna shaft you or anything. You'll get credit."

"I don't know what," Char challenged. "You have no reason to put me on the mission. So I'm going to stay here and make sure they know I helped."

"Char, I understand you may still think we're the scum of the earth or whatnot, but it is truly not necessary," Seviper said, betraying some worry. "You do not need to be here."

"Yeah, scram," Croagunk shot suddenly. "Go away. We got this. No really, scram. Get out of here."

"NEXT…"

At the sound that they were next in line, Croagunk hung his head in defeat.

He grimly shuffled to the Chansey who took notes on the other side of the room.

"I'd, uh… I'd uh… like to… report a… mission success, yeah," Croagunk muttered almost under his breath.

"Wonderful! Congratulations!" the Chansey cheered. "Mission number or description?"

"Stabwound Bog, that was the location, there should only be one," Seviper spoke.

"Great, yes, I see it," the Chansey said. "And what team?"

"It was a uh… joint… effort…" Croagunk mumbled, his voice becoming incomprehensible. "Team Ember and… uh… um… Team… blundabundah…"

"Team what now?" the Chansey said. "Sorry, I couldn't quite hear that."

"TEAM BLOndabunda…"

"Oh… Oh, Team Blockheads!" the Chansey said, instantly recognizing it. "Alright, all marked down. Says here there are no clients to remit to, so you're good! You can keep whatever you got. Congratulations on the victory!"

Char could barely believe his ears. He started to chuckle, and couldn't stop, grabbing his tail into his hands and wringing it tight.

"HEY!" Croagunk shouted, his voice ringing clear even above all the murmuring of the room, causing everyone to fall silent. "QUIET! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

He shot a finger at the Charmander. "YOU SHUT UP! YOU SHUT UP! SHUT UP! DON'T SAY A WORD! I'M SERIOUS! I'M…"

And then Croagunk stormed out. Seconds after he was gone, the murmuring of the room started up again, and the line of waiting Pokémon shoved Char out of the way to get to the mission desk.

"Team… Block… heads?" Char echoed in disbelief to the Seviper, failing to hold back convulsions of laughter.

"We tried to register the name 'Team X', but the team registry would not allow single-letter names," Seviper explained plainly. "The registrar, a particularly menacing Granbull, instead chose the name for us before we could object. I believe… I now see where Team Peanuts originally came from."

"You know you can change your team name, right?" Char told him, still grinning.

"Oh, of course I do," the viper said with a swagger. "But Croagunk hasn't figured that out yet. In the meantime, I am finding this very entertaining, as I'm sure you are now, too."

With that, the Seviper slithered away, leaving Char with the last of the answers he wanted.


"TEAM BLOCKHEADS?!" Saura and Ray shouted, nearly in laughter.

"Apparently so!" Char said, his friends welcoming him back to the team hall from the day's mission. "Now we know why we didn't notice their team mentioned in the news!"

"Yes, I remember Team Blockheads," Otto noted. "It is a memorable name. They were in a paper. But there was no description and no picture. Only the announcement of the team name."

"Yeah, that was my evil plan," Char explained, stretching his arms in celebration of his victory. "I figured they had some other name, it was the only possible explanation. So I thought, go on a mission with them, find out if they're actually doing legitimate work, and at the end of the day I'd see what their team is actually called. And it worked!"

"Brilliant," Ray cried, pounding the floor with his foot. "Char, that's amazing. Now, what? We know they're a real team, they fight the Master…"

"And they're spying on Adiel for us, too," Char said. "Or at least Dusknoir is. And I think he's telling everything he knows to Team Remorse. So, yep! They're all good. No reason to worry about them, as far as I can tell. I think they've finally earned our trust."

Char laughed again, clawing at the skin on his head. "Yeah, other than getting covered in mud, it was a fun day," he said happily. "Hey, let's order some food up here. I feel like celebrating."

"I'll do it!" Saura shouted, running out the door. "I'm starving. Be right back! Ray, go tell Eva we're going to have dinner soon."

"Okay!" Ray said happily. "Oh, and that reminds me. Here, Char."

Ray opened the team closet and withdrew a huge red apple. He handed the apple to Char.

Char blinked. "Um, what's this for…?"

"Oh, I just remembered you asked for an apple earlier!" Ray said. "I said we didn't have one, so I'd have one for you after your mission was over."

Char's heart stopped.

He felt the blood run out of his face. He clenched the apple in his claws until the skin broke and the juices flowed forth.

"You never said that," Char said, all of his joy gone, as he cast a burning glare into the Raichu's eyes.

"Yeah… yeah I did!" Ray replied, looking worried. "Remember? After you passed out this morning in the dojo. You said, 'Ray! I have the weirdest craving for an apple right now!' Those were your exact words. I said, 'We don't have any apples, but I'll buy one for you and give it to you after the mission today,' and you said 'Sure, that's fine.' I wasn't really sure why you wanted an apple just then, but it didn't really matter to me!"

Char shook his head in horror, looking down at the apple he held. It was nearly in shreds.

"No," he whispered breathlessly. "No, I didn't say any of that. And neither did you."

"Char… are you… are you okay?" Ray gasped, gawking at the mutilated apple in Char's hands. "I know you fainted or something this morning but… you didn't block out that whole conversation, did you? You're not… you're not having more amnesia, are you?"

And Char panicked.

He flung the apple to the ground, dashed through his bedroom door, and shut it behind him.

And he locked it.

"Char!" Ray's muffled voice shouted from somewhere outside. "Char? Char, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

But Char ignored him. He only curled behind his bed and cowered, staring at the flame on his tail.

The Call… he realized. It…

It's not just mind-control. It…

It's worse than that. It's more powerful.

It doesn't just give orders.

It changes minds. It re-writes memories.

It changes who you are.

Char endured a deathly shiver. Though he felt the pluses of warmth from his perpetual torches, and heard his friend shouting his name from the other side of the door, he had never, in all his time as a Charmander, felt so cold and so alone.

This is the power I have, he realized.

This is the power Celebi is giving me.

This…

This is the power I'm going to use to defeat the Master.

This is how I'm going to change the world.

*Chapter 77*: Chapter 57: The Mind Game, Part 2

o

Chapter 57

"Char, are you going to come out?"

"You're making us worry! You've been in there all evening!"

"Char, the food's here! Aren't you hungry at all?"

"We haven't picked a job for tomorrow yet..."

"We're going to have to sleep soon!"

He heard their voices from outside his bedroom door. He heard them knocking all night, several times every hour.

But he ignored them. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had done, and what he now had the power to do. He sat on the floor behind the bed, as if hiding from someone's sight, and stared into the fire.

I should tell them, Char thought. I really should. They care about me. They could help me work this out. Just like they have always helped me with everything.

But what if this is different?

It was like Marrow said. I'm having fun with the simple missions we're doing every day. I want to keep doing this! I don't want to get on the front lines of the war and be the deciding factor…

Our everyday missions were starting to get challenging. I was starting to learn how to be a leader. We're winning! We're growing in rank! I…

But that's not anything special. We're not strong. We're still just a weak team doing weak pointless missions. But that's the reality I wanted to believe. That it was all just a silly game and we were starting to come out on top.

I guess I took comfort in the fact that I was weak. I like being weak! Not too weak, just weak enough to not have huge responsibilities. I understand that now. I have always liked leaving the difficulty to Scythe's team and High Intelligence, and just being the novice who doesn't do anything risky on his own. I don't want to become their weapon again, and have them order me around all over the place because I'm the only true hope of winning the war.

But I'm not weak anymore, it seems. Oh, no. Now I can mind-control other Pokémon. And they'll even make up memories to cover up the fact that I mind-controlled them.

I can do anything now. Absolutely anything.

And if I don't feel comfortable with this power, Saura and Ray definitely won't either. They won't be able to handle the news. It'll ruin my team. They might even start to distrust me. They might start to accuse me of changing their minds with the Call when we have disagreements.

And even I can't promise myself I won't actually do that. Maybe sometime I will give into the temptation and change them… change my best friends to make them agree with me…

What if I do that? What if I lose control and I do something terrible?

I can't do this alone. I can't handle this alone. I need someone to talk to about it.

Staring blankly at the air in front of him, Char crawled around the fireplaces beside his bed. Even with such small movements, he felt sick and dizzy, as though he was moving someone else's body.

He crawled to the door separating him from his concerned friends. He sighed and knocked.

"Hey, is that you, Char?" Saura said. "You're scaring us. Are you okay in there? What's going on?"

"Char, I'm really sorry about the apple!" Ray said. "Maybe I misheard you! I thought for sure that's what I heard you say. Don't worry about it, okay? Just say you're okay."

Char leaned against the door. "I'm alright, I think," he said, tasting his lie. "I was wondering… is Otto there?"

"Otto? Yeah, he's here," Ray said. "Otto? Char wants to see you."

"Yes, Char?"

"Otto, can you come in?" Char said meekly, hoping his other friends wouldn't take offense. "I'd like to have a talk with you. In private."

When Char unlocked the door and cracked it open for the Pidgey to enter, he saw his friends peering inside trying to get a good glimpse of him. He averted his gaze, not wanting to look them in the eye.

Once Otto hopped inside, Char locked the door again and directed his friend to the opposite end of the fire-torches, where their conversation would be masked by the roaring flames.

"Why do you need me?" Otto asked, looking a little worried and distrusting of his leader.

"Otto, I need that mind of yours. That wonderful analytical mind," Char said. "But first I need you to promise that you can keep a secret. Even from Saura and Ray."

"I will keep a secret," Otto replied. "But I will admit that it seems unusual that you would ask me to keep a secret from Team Ember. I was beginning to understand the way you treated your partners. You do not keep secrets."

"Yes, I… well… this is really the first time I'm keeping a secret from them," Char confessed, feeling resent. "But maybe I don't need to. That's why you're here. I need to talk to you about this and I need you to be my tactical advisor and tell me what I need to do about it."

"Fine, I will," Otto said, ruffling his feathers. "But I cannot promise to keep it from the Espeon. She might read my mind at close proximity, although I will try to keep it below the surface of my mind to make it more difficult for her."

Char sighed, anticipating the relief he would soon feel of carrying the burden with a friend. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, trying to think of a good way to explain the matter.

"First, I will tell you something about what we learned on the trip to the Emerald Division," Char stated. "This is something we were told to keep a secret. Only High Intelligence and Scythe and Prince know this, none of the rest of the Gold Division does."

"Are you invoking rule six clause twenty-two of the Gold Division code?" Otto asked.

"Oh… … no, I'm not disobeying anyone," Char said after thinking about it for a moment. "Alakazam told me that I could tell my team members. So this is a secret only to us…"

"On the trip, we learned about a power called heart-speak. It's something that every Pokémon has, and I think every human has it too, but Celebi wasn't too clear when she was explaining that. It's telepathy that's always coming from you very quietly and you can't ever turn it off. And it speaks thoughts and feelings and sometimes words. So other Pokémon who spend lots of time around you will grow closer to you over time and start understanding the way you think."

"Arceus made heart-speak because Pokémon and humans were having trouble understanding one another at the beginning. It wasn't easy for them to communicate, so Arceus just gave them this telepathy to help them. Nobody's noticed it before because it's so quiet and weak and… it's too easy to explain that other things did it, like how friends normally just grow closer. But there is a way to make it stronger: if a Pokémon spends time with humans, that Pokémon's heart-speak will get louder."

"That is an impressive discovery," Otto commented. "Does it perhaps have practical applications? Can it be used to turn foes into allies?"

"Yeah, I'm getting to that," Char said, feeling the fire in his stomach roiling again. "On the trip, we also learned what the Call is. The Call happens when Temporal Tower sends a message to someone with strong heart-speak, like Saura or me. And somehow, we catch that message and blast it out all around us, and it affects all the Pokémon that are around. So what happens is that for just a moment, we send a heart-speak message that's much louder than heart-speak was ever meant to be. And… it makes it so that changes that are supposed to happen over a lifetime, like friends bonding with one another or whatever, it happens immediately. And that's what the Call is."

"So the Call cannot be controlled at will?" Otto wondered. "If it depends on a message from Temporal Tower, which is unexpected, it cannot be used except by random chance?"

"That's the thing," Char said quietly. "And here's the secret I want you to keep. I… for me… it's not so random anymore. I've learned how to use the Call. Once a day. And I can use it to send any message I want. And it mind-controls other Pokémon and they do what I ask without even realizing anything's wrong. You know how I said that heart-speak is too easy to mistake for other things? I think that's just something heart-speak does to keep its existence a secret. Ray's mind even made up a memory that never happened when I tried it on him."

"You used the Call on Ray?" Otto chirped in surprise. "Is this why he gave you the apple? Is this what you are ashamed of?"

"Yes," Char admitted, looking into the bird's eyes.

"And you are afraid of telling him," Otto said. "You do not believe he will forgive you?"

"Not just that, I… kinda don't trust myself with this power," Char said weakly. "I'm afraid I'm going to use it somehow and do something wrong. And I don't want High Intelligence to find out about this at all. Then I'll probably be taken away from Team Ember and I'll have to appoint someone else as leader because they'll be too busy using me to destroy the Master."

"But isn't the purpose of Team Ember to destroy the Master?" Otto said oddly. "If you used the power to destroy the Master, it is possible that it would no longer be necessary for Team Ember to exist, or the Resistance."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Char sighed bitterly, clawing at his head. "But that's kinda what I'm afraid of. I'm supposed to be looking for Giratina. I can't do that if they start taking me away and forcing me to brainwash enemy Pokémon all the time. But I don't know what to do. You're pretty smart, can you help me figure out what to do with this power?"

Otto tilted his head and paused to think for a moment.

"Why do you fear the superiors forcing you to use the Call, when you could instead use the Call against them?" Otto asked plainly. "They would obey you. They would perhaps even obey you if you explained the nature of your power and threatened to use it against them. The mere threat of controlling their minds might be just as powerful as controlling their minds. It seems to me that you will never need to use the Call for any reasons except for those you determine on your own."

"I didn't think of it like that," Char admitted, blinking. "You're right. No one can make me use it if I don't want to. But… I still don't know what I should do with the power. I need help determining the reasons on my own, you know? Otherwise I might just use it for whatever I feel like at the moment, and… well… I don't make a lot of good decisions in the heat of the moment. I don't trust the fire-type in me when it's angry. Right now I feel like I'm sitting on the Master's throne but I don't know what to tell all of the Pokémon in Ambera to do!"

"You use the power to further your goals," Otto said. "I do not understand the difficulty of the question."

"Well, uh… What should my goals be?" Char tried to ask him. "Can you help me figure out what my goals should be?"

Otto looked at him oddly. "You do not know what your goals are? Why are you the leader of Team Ember if you do not understand your goals? Perhaps I have no further purpose on Team Ember and I must leave."

Ouch, Char thought, grimacing at the statement. That's harsh, but it could be true.

"I have goals," Char reassured him firmly. "My goals are: find Giratina and get my memories back. Help Team Ember become stronger and try to get good at one-star missions like Alakazam told me. And keep my teammates alive."

"The Call can help you with all of those goals," the Pidgey told him. "For instance, you can use the Call to accomplish missions by disabling the enemy. You might also use the Call to express thoughts and opinions to others when words might fail, if you can harness it in this manner without damaging the mind."

"True," Char said, mulling about the idea.

"Saura has informed me about your memory loss," Otto said. "There are still many things you have not told me about yourself, but I understand that you are looking for the underworld god Giratina to grant your memories back to you. If it is your priority to find Giratina, but not to defeat the Master, that is acceptable. It would make sense, then, to keep your power from Team Remorse or High Intelligence until the situation calls for it."

"Yeah, that's a problem, I guess," Char considered. "I don't know whether or not I'm here to defeat the Master. If that's my purpose here, I guess I need to do it in some specific way. I don't know what I'm doing until Giratina tells me. So… yeah, I guess that's right. I guess I have to try to stay out of the war as much as possible. The real war, that is. All that stuff that Team Remorse is dealing with right now with Cepheus… I'll just hide here and keep completing missions until news pops up about how to get to Giratina."

"It seems to be the best course of action for your goals," Otto said. "However, I have one question."

"Yes?"

"Do you understand how this power works?" Otto inquired with keen interest. "I have no memory of you asking Ray for an apple when he claims you spoke to him. When Ray claimed you asked him for an apple, I assumed I was not paying attention and did not hear your words, but I understand now that you asked him with your mind. But Ray's alibi will be destroyed if others like Saura and I can analyze what we witnessed at the time. If you wish to use this power effectively, you will need to carefully consider which thoughts you communicate to those you influence, so that others cannot easily find the contradictions in the flawed memories you planted. Or, you might learn how to influence many Pokémon at once with the same thoughts, as the Call is already known to do."

Char thought for a moment before sighing in relief. "So wait, you didn't hear me ask for an apple?" he said.

"I did not," the little bird replied. "In my perspective, you were silent after opening your eyes."

That almost makes me feel better, Char thought inwardly. I thought I might have mind-controlled everyone in the room. Maybe the Call only touched Ray. Maybe I directed the Call to him and nobody else. If that's true, then Otto's right: if I ever want to use this power to re-write memories, I've got to make sure the memories are believable to the witnesses. Or maybe make sure there are no witnesses.

Or maybe… learn to blast it to everyone like the Call usually does.

Char shivered in fright again, imagining himself as the focal point of such a terrible power.

"Do you have any more questions?" Otto asked. "We are losing time to choose a job for tomorrow. I have selected some choices and I am waiting for you to review them."

"There was one more question," Char admitted, quickly feeling discomfort in his stomach again. "In your opinion… should I tell Saura and Ray about all this?"

Otto thought for a moment. "It depends on whether you plan on using the power on them in the future. Telling them about your power will cause them to fear you and perhaps distrust you. If they fear the effects of your power, they would conspire and tell the secret to the authorities in an attempt to protect themselves from you. If you intend to use it against them, it will be advantageous to keep the secret from them. Of course, I assume you cannot simply use the power to make them trust you unconditionally. But if you do not plan on using the power against them, I see no reason why you should keep the secret. The emotional burden it places on you will help to keep their trust and refrain from using the power."

Ah, so it is just as I feared, Char realized. If they fear getting hit with the Call, they will tell Scythe and Alakazam about it… and I don't think I would blame them. Even I couldn't trust someone who could change my mind at will. Trust that unconditional just doesn't exist…

"I am mostly speculating, but this is how I believe they would act, if you told them," Otto said, glancing at the closed door. "I believe they would continue trusting you for a time, but if you lose your temper, their trust may fail, and they would begin to be dishonest with you. However, I am not very knowledgeable about emotions, as I choose to keep my own emotions from affecting my actions."

"…Why?" Char said suddenly, taken off-guard by the statement. "Why do you do that? If I might ask."

"When I was a wild, I knew nothing except for emotion," Otto explained. "Instinctual emotion controlled every aspect of my life and I could not defy it. Emotion told me what to eat and where to fly. It told me which creatures to fear and how to react to the fear, whether by attacking or flying away. Sometimes I questioned the instincts and wondered if they made me strong or weak, but I was powerless to disobey them. I followed you and began to eat the gummy candy, I found that the candy gave me the power to disobey my emotions, and instead act upon knowledge and rationality. In ignoring emotion, I became more powerful than I expected. I choose not to factor emotion into my actions and judgment, except in anticipating the reactions of others, because I do not intend to return to the weakness I knew as a wild. In doing so, I have forgotten about emotion's nature, but it is a drawback I accept for the power I now have to act with reason instead of impulse."

Char contemplated the Pidgey's words, wondering whether to simply accept them or to argue against them. Char knew what it was like to be free from the pull of strong emotions, if only for the duration of time he had spent smoldering, and he knew there were certain advantages to it. But he found that he had no more words to argue with, and couldn't think of a way to make a point.

In the end, he decided not to stall his team any longer. They had jobs to do, after all. He was the leader, and he had goals he needed to accomplish with his team.

"Thank you," he told the Pidgey. "I think I know what to do now."


Char opened his door to find Ray, Saura, and Eva sitting awkwardly at attention. They had been mumbling to themselves, but fell into expectant silence the moment the door had cracked open.

Once Otto had left the room, Char stood in the doorway and stared blankly at them, searching for words with which to address them. He saw how they had no smiles on their faces and were plainly tense and worried; it was now his turn to say something that would reaffirm their trust in him, to convince them he had not gone crazy and was not trapped in the realm of insanity.

"Look," he said. "I…"

But he paused. There was something holding him back, some mental block that made him question the act of spilling his secret.

Tell them! His heart cried. Tell them everything! Let them carry this burden with you! They'll trust you! They won't let you down!

Look at Saura! He'd be you friend even if you said you were joining the Master. He'd follow you anywhere! If you told him you wanted to be a bad guy, he'd say "let's be the best bad guys we can be!" That's just his nature.

Look at Ray! Do you know how happy it would make him to know you have this power? He would be amazed! He loves it when legendary things happen. Nothing would make him happier than to know he's witnessing history being changed.

Tell them! They'll help you! You have nothing to lose!

Why is this even a question? You know what to do! Tell them!

But he couldn't shake the feeling that he was lying to himself. Every word he told himself seemed wrong somehow, like he was searching for excuses to pretend things were not the way they truly were.

The Call was not just another thing to gossip about. The Call was a terrible burden.

He knew what the Resistance went through to utilize the Call. He knew what Lily had gone through, how her mere existence had indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds of Emerald Division warriors. He saw how desperate the Resistance was to use her for their own means even until the end.

And he saw the same in Scythe. He remembered how fervidly Scythe had placed his hope in the Temporal Tower mission, forcing Char through its terrors and challenges until they had reached the top, even at the risk of letting Adiel gain an advantage over him.

Char knew that wasn't the role he wanted to play in the Pokémon world.

"Eva," Char said sternly, regaining control of his tongue. "I have a secret I want to keep for the time being. I know I can't stop you from reading my mind and finding out what it is. But I warn you: if you do that, you might make your own life a lot more complicated. You shouldn't bother."

"Understood," Eva replied, perhaps a bit bitterly. "As I have told you many times before, I do not intrude upon your mind without your express consent, a courtesy I extend to no one else in the Division but the Pokémon standing here in this room. But it perhaps hurts me to know I have not earned enough of your trust that it goes without saying."

"Then extend me another courtesy, and leave the room while I tell the secret to my team," Char told her flatly, staring her in the eye.

With an offended huff, Eva turned tail and left through the front door, shutting the door rather forcefully with her telekinesis.

And Char was faced only with his team, again finding it difficult to just blurt the truth to them.

Why is this so hard?! Char yelled at himself inside of his own mind. TELL THEM. OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND TELL THEM.

Say, "Ray, I used the Call on you." That's all you need to do. That's all you need to say. They'll take the rest from there. They'll ask questions and you'll answer them. And they won't think any less of you for it. You're their friend. You're also their human.

Char felt his flame rising and listened to the quiet sound of his flame searing through the air somewhere close behind his head. His claws dug into the doorframe.

And for just a moment, he thought he had the strength to say what he wanted. He seized the strength and gave into the moment, closing his eyes and preparing himself to reveal the truth: that he was now the most powerful Pokémon in all of Ambera.

But he saw something terrible on the back of his eyelids.

There were bright, twisting colors. Sickening swirls of rainbow light faded out of the darkness and fell upon him.

No, that can't be, Char said, tensing in panic. No, that's not possible

The colors intensified, and soon became accompanied by a hypnotic humming sound, one which Char knew was only occurring within his own mind.

Celebi… why? Char lamented, wanting to cry. Why now…?

Char succeeded in staying on his feet as the colors burst, opening the channel of communication from Temporal Tower a second time in the same day. Char thought the pulse felt somehow gentler than last time.

Hey, Char! It's me again. I think I'm hitting a little early here, but oh well! I can't back out now. Get ready!

Here's the Call!

And the brunt of the pulse came, filling Char's head with the breath of an unspoken voice.

Char opened his eyes again. His friends were still there, watching him with growing confusion, but he viewed them as though the room was filled with water, with reality shifting back and forth by some unseen tide. He also felt that time might have been moving more slowly, as the odd lethargy he felt was very similar to the sensation of wearing a speed brace.

He took a moment to marvel at Celebi's handiwork in fine-tuning the signal to become easier to digest. The dizzying sensation easily reminded him of the times when he would be hit by the full brunt of Celebi's desperate calling for her lord, but this pulse wasn't fully debilitating as it had been in the past. Though the Call flowed through him, he could still stand on his feet and process thoughts to a degree.

All while having full control of the minds of the Pokémon around him. So efficient, yet so disgusting…

Yet Char, his concentration and mental strength shattered to pieces by the force of Celebi's pulse, felt the sensation of having his mind reduced to the awareness of an infant, yearning and pleading only for those few things he truly wanted.

These were the simple and pure emotions he conveyed telepathically to his friends.

Trust me, he pleaded to them, looking Saura right in the eye. Please don't stop trusting me.

It was not meant to be an order, only a childlike plea in a desperate moment.

The Call then ended, making Char feel like his head had surfaced from submersion in a warm bath, and only then did it strike him that he might have sent another unspoken message. He held his breath and felt his blood run cold, gripping the doorframe with all the strength in his claw as he waited to see what would happen.

He thought that Saura and Ray didn't appear so worried anymore.

"Feel any better?" Saura asked cheerfully. "You missed dinner. Want me to get something out of the closet? How's your back?"

"My… back?" Char repeated flatly, feeling his stomach drop. "What… about my back?"

"You said you sprained it on your mission with Team X, right?" Ray said. "That's why you took a nap, right?"

"Yeah, you've been in there for hours!" Saura added. "You missed all the food and everything. We were even starting to look at jobs for tomorrow without you."

It… affected both of them this time, Char realized. I sent it to both of them…?

Char felt the panic mounting fast. He struggled to stay standing and took controlled breaths.

"You don't look very good," Ray said, drawing closer. "You sure you don't want an oran? We can spare some if it'll make you feel better."

"O-Otto," Char suddenly said, taking a step back from Ray and nearly falling over. "This… is what it does. It happened again. See?"

"What do you mean?" Otto replied.

"What we were just talking about!" Char nearly shouted to him, indicating his plainly baffled Raichu friend. "This is the effect it has!"

"You were in the bedroom all evening," Otto said blankly. "You have not spoken in hours. Perhaps you experienced a vivid dream?"

Char tried to say something in response, but words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

He staggered backward again, gaping at the Pidgey.

"You—you didn't enter my room? At all?" Char tried desperately.

"I was sent to check on you," Otto said. "But only once, and you were sleeping."

"No," Char breathed, backing away further. "No, no, no. I, uh… I… my back. Sorry, my back still hurts a bit."

Ray became concerned again. In his face, Char saw the same look he'd had just a few minutes before while he waited for an explanation of why he hid himself in his room all night. It was the very look of worry Char had apparently erased from the Raichu through a telepathic spell – it had come back just as quickly. Saura stood behind, looking similarly baffled.

"Char… are you alright?" Ray said, growing serious. "Is it really that bad? Should we take you to the doctor?"

"No… No, I'll be fine, I think, I'm sure," Char stammered, backing into his room and toward his bed. "Tell you what, guys. You pick the job for tomorrow, and you can run it with Marrow. I'll take the day off."

"Really?" Saura croaked. "I guess that's okay, since we stayed behind today anyway. But are you sure?"

"Yeah, I… I just need some rest, is all," Char gasped. "Sorry, I…"

And Char dropped and sprinted into his bed-nest, where he curled his tail around his body, pointing his wide-opened eyes away from his unknowing friends. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping that night, not as long as the gravity of the situation kept looping through his mind.

It erased an entire conversation from Otto's memory, Char realized, clutching his tail and shuddering. It might have erased the whole apple incident from all of them, too.

I have to stop doing this. I can't do this to them. Maybe to other Pokémon, but not to them. Not to my partners.

I'll figure this out. I'll learn how to work with this power. Just… as long as they're as far as possible away from me the next time it happens again…


When Char finally got to sleep that night, his mind greeted him with unsettling fever-dreams. One involved Ray forgetting his own name, another had Saura thinking he was a Charmander and lighting himself on fire.

The next afternoon, he was rescued from the morbid hallucinations by Eva, who perched at the front of his bed and used telekinesis to lift his body a few hairs upward before letting him drop. Char woke with a start and scowled at the Espeon, demanding an explanation.

"Someone is at the door," she reported. "I do not know how deeply you were sleeping to have not noticed the knocking, but I'm sure they would appreciate not having to walk up all those stairs to return later."

*Knock-knock!* *Knock-knock!*

Grumbling and shaking off the bad memories of the dreams, he stretched and sprinted out to answer the door. When he opened it, he found a Pidgeotto and a Medicham waiting for him. The Medicham held a torn scrap of parchment.

"Char?" the large bird said, indicating a large, flat slab of wood covered in splinters which leaned against a wall. "We are here because your team yesterday requested a bulletin board be installed on the wall outside your living quarters. The approval has been granted and the board is ready to be installed. Should we begin?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Char said groggily.

"The last thing we need is the signature of the team leader," the Medicham said, handing him the oddly-shaped document.

Taking the paper, Char squinted at the indecipherable footprints which covered it and searched for the space to sign. After finding the most likely place, he realized he had no pen or ink with which to write his name, and awkwardly glanced around himself as though searching for one laying on the floor. Finally, he had the brilliant idea of just setting the paper on the floor and stamping it with his paw, leaving his own footprint among the rest.

After stretching and yawning, he stood in the hall and watched the installation of the board. It was impressively large, about twice his body height and over three times his arm span. He saw how the Medicham lifted the board with its telekinesis and leveled it against the wall, where an unusual Pokémon with sharp metallic claws bolted the plank straight to the stone wall.

Seeing there was no threat, Eva came to join Char in watching the board go up. "Very… ambitious of you to request a board," Eva said, almost as a complement. "Are you certain you are up to the task?"

"Task?" Char repeated, looking at her warily. "What task? I didn't have anything to do with requesting the board… Ray and Saura must have done it yesterday while I was away."

"Teams with bulletin boards outside their halls take jobs from other teams," Eva explained. "Now, any team in the entire Division can bypass the job listings and come nail their job onto your board. With the expectation that you will complete their request in a timely manner, of course."

"…Oh," Char said, gulping. "I had no idea. But… what if we get too many jobs to complete?"

"You might turn the extras in to the registry to be placed on the official list," Eva said, shrugging. "But it should be something to avoid. It does not reflect well upon your team. It gravely hurts your reputation to let your clients down, especially after they went through the trouble of requesting your help specifically."

Char watched the squadron of workers as they sank the last nail into the board. He knew it was too late to withdraw his request, and besides, he knew Alakazam would be pleased to see one of his three objectives having been met.

"We'll make it," Char said, reassuring himself mostly. "I don't know how, but we'll just see what happens. We've got enough equipment and experience to tackle S-rank jobs, at the least."

"Speaking of which, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you go with your team?" Eva inquired, her tail twitching with curiosity. "They could have used you. I heard they were venturing into a dark-typed habitat."

"Well, um, my back," Char tried to say, grimacing at the sudden question. "Yesterday, I sprained my back. Fell out of a tree."

"Yes, that is what Saura told me as well," Eva said pointedly, tilting her head. "You are not a skilled liar, Char. Besides, even you should have spent enough time in the Pokémon world to know that a sprained back can be healed in minutes with the proper medicine. What is the real reason you stayed behind? If, of course, you do not mind me inquiring."

Char clenched his fists, angry at himself for thinking he could outwit a professional liar so easily.

He smiled. "Well, you're right. That wasn't all of it," he said to her cleverly. "There are some Pokémon I really need to have a word with. And just me, not the others. I've been putting it off for too long, and today I decided I needed to just face them and get it done."

"I see," Eva said, clearly unsatisfied. "And I suppose bringing a hidden assistant to reveal their unspoken thoughts to you will be of no help?"

"Not… this time. Sorry," Char said awkwardly, itching to get away from the psychic. "I've got to go, actually. I hope I didn't miss them. They should still be downstairs by now, hopefully. Uh, see you later! Hold down the base!"

And Char scrammed with no shame or tact, leaving the displeased and lonely Espeon standing in the hall. He hoped to Arceus that she abided by her agreement not to peer into his mind. He did, however, think of some Pokémon he truly needed to speak with, especially with the growing worry that Eva would somehow catch a stray memory and learn his secret.


Char always enjoyed paying a visit to Domo and watching all the magnificent and unexpected forms the Ditto could become. But in recent times, it seemed that the combat-trainer was enjoying their encounters less and less. Each time he saw the Ditto, even in his favorite Mew form, it was clear that he was growing more exhausted with each passing day.

Entering the dojo room, Char saw the poor false Mew worse than he had ever seen before. The little psychic kitten was slumped facedown at the side of the battle platform, his eyes opened wide and bloodshot. Char almost thought to turn around and leave Domo to his rest, but wondered if he could use some company.

"Ahh, Char…" Domo sighed, righting himself and sitting on the floor. "It is good to see you, but… I'm not certain we can battle today. At least not unless you can run down to Kecleon's and buy me about seven bottles of elixir."

"Domo… what's wrong?" Char cried, sitting down next to him. "You look awful!"

"It's… ahh… this whole business of chasing legendary Pokémon," Domo explained, rubbing his head. "Didn't want to say anything when your Otto was here, but that's why I wasn't really giving it my all in that battle. As thankful as I am that Mew left me with this blessing, sometimes I feel like it's more of a curse than anything. Yeah, yesterday I caught a report of Suicune galloping across the top of the Plateau. Of course, no word of which direction it was going, so I spent a whole day searching the entire top of the Plateau—which isn't small, at that—and I've come back empty-handed… Ahh, I knew I'd have no chance. Suicune's running speed is marvelous, and I hear they can jump entire mountains in a bound."

"Don't worry about it. I bet being a Suicune is still not as fun as being a Mew," Char said to him. "You don't really need a Suicune transformation! Don't you have any legendary transformations already?"

"…Some," Domo said, crawling to a nearby shelf, making the strange display of a Mew walking on hands and feet rather than floating. "I know Shaymin, if that counts. Then there's Virizion and Cobalion… although, those aren't so rare, and some of them are even civil. Ah, and Articuno. Met one up north some eighty years ago… Hate transforming into it, though. It always feels too warm around here."

"I don't know what most of those are, but that sounds great!" Char said encouragingly. "You have five legendary transformations. No other Pokémon can say that! Why do you need more?"

"That's my goal in life. It's to acquire all of the Pokémon in the world as transformations," Domo said, sagging in the air as he drifted upward to take a berry from the shelf. "But so far, all of my legendary forms are from civil Pokémon I've met in my travels. I've had conversations with them! It's the wild ones I can never seem to find. I always have to go on these trips and I always hope maybe once, just once, I'll find one. But I never do. Honestly, I don't know how long Ditto live. Maybe I'm immortal. Maybe I'll still be alive long after this hole in the ground caves in. I need a goal to keep me sane. And sometimes I suppose I get down on myself, and I think, 'if you can't find the legendaries, then what's the point?'"

"Well, I'm sorry about that," Char said meekly, regretting not taking the Ditto on his quest to Dialga after all. "But still, you can turn into a Mew! I don't think you know how awesome this is. If you joined the war, I'm sure you could do some serious damage."

Landing back on the ground, the weary Mew cast Char a deathly glare.

"I suppose I can battle you in a moment," Domo said, preparing to devour the chesto berry he held. "Just let me wait for this berry to take effect."

"W-wait, I'm not here to battle you, actually," Char said quickly. "Actually, I just needed to ask your advice about something."

"Oh. Well, that's much less of a strain," Domo said, breathing a sigh of relief and tossing the berry over his shoulder. "What's on your mind?"

"I have a pretty big secret," Char explained. "But one of my friends is an Espeon, and I'm not so sure I trust her just yet. I'm worried she'll see the secret in my mind. So, since you're a Mew all the time and you know what psychics are like, do you have any advice about keeping my secrets safe from her?"

Domo shrugged, suddenly looking much more lively than before. He drifted through the air and sat on the end of the battle platform. "Oh. A good question! There are really only two things you can do. First thing is to keep your distance as much as possible. Psychic powers get weaker the farther from the target they are. Just like how it gets harder to hear someone talking at a distance. Same principle. Second thing is to be forgetful! And by that, I mean just try not to think about your secret when the psychics are around. Get a song stuck in your head or something! Or recite a poem over and over. Anything to take your mind off of it. Hey, this just what I've been planning to teach your Otto once he has the chance to come see me again, since he asked to learn how to battle Mew. In battle, you can confuse psychics by being indecisive! When you go in for the attack, just start thinking to yourself, 'left! No, right! No, left! No right!' and that'll get the psychic so frustrated that they'll stop trying to read your mind at all."

Char smiled. "So, as long as you know your mind is being read, and you keep your distance, you can defend yourself?"

"That's the gist," Domo said, crossing his arms and swiveling his long tail above his head. "Some Pokémon train themselves to constantly ramble with their thoughts whenever they're out in the field so as to foil psychics they might not even know are watching! And the Resistance Creed you recite to get into the base? That's to confuse psychics, too! Since you can't keep the whole thing at the top of your memories at once. Is this helping you at all?"

"Yeah… I think it is," Char said with a confident grin. "I'll just learn another poem or something and recite that whenever I'm around the Espeon. Thanks!"

"Glad I could help you in some way," Domo sighed, collapsing onto the platform. "Honestly, I'm too exhausted for any battle training nowadays… and worst part, I don't know when some exploration team is going to report another legendary sighting. They've been ambitious lately. Any day now, it's going to be, 'Domo! Regirock down south! Domo! Heatran is in Red Haven! Domo! Jirachi found at the bottom of Basin Canyon!' Ahh, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up…"

"Well," Char started to say, wondering whether or not to speak, "Scythe said I shouldn't tell you this, but… if you really want a legendary Pokémon, we met a Regirock on our travels up north."

The Mew lifted itself back up, eyes widened. He blinked.

"…Really?" Domo said in fascination. "You're not just making this up?"

"No! You can ask Scythe, he saw it, too. Actually, on second thought, don't ask Scythe, he'll get mad at me for telling you. Ask Prince. We met it in the Scarred Crags, really far northwest of Fort Emerald. It didn't really look like it was moving anywhere, so if you can go to Prince and get the path we took through Zerferia, I'm sure you can–"

"The Scarred Crags! I know of that place! I was there once!" Domo squealed, spinning around in the air. "That's where I earned my Articuno form! Ah! Yes, sounds like I may be finally finding a use for that cumbersome bird after all! This is wonderful news! Thank you for this news, Char! Ahh!"

"Um… You're welcome, I think," Char groaned, not having expected such an enthused response.

Char left the dojo, happy that he had at least made someone's day. He knew that the next Pokémon he needed to speak to probably wouldn't react as favorably.


Team Flamewheel had taken residence one floor below Char's lair, and at the opposite end of the large, curving hallway which characterized the upper floors of the base. It was the very place Eva had locked herself while she hid among the Division. Upon learning as much, Char understood now why she was so eager to find a new home. It didn't make him very comfortable knowing that she hadn't merely moved into his hall out of kindness, and even though he saw her every day now, he still wasn't sure how much of his trust she truly deserved.

But Eva was the least of his problem at this point.

When Char knocked on the team's door, he was greeted by Flamewheel's Weavile, a Pokémon he didn't remember the name of, but had met on the worst night of his life when the Watchers attacked Fort Emerald.

"Ahy, it's you," the Weavile said amusedly. "Come on in."

Warily, Char did so. He tiptoed into the hall of Team Flamewheel, finding it to be surprisingly deserted. In the proper light, he saw that the rooms were decent for a team of Prince's size, and had only two less bedrooms than Char did. It did not, however, have all of the furnishings and decorations which adorned Char's walls, decorations he knew rightfully belonged to Prince's team. Instead, Team Flameweel seemed to accept the décor of bare gray walls and floor, with not even a mirror, carpet, or shelf to be seen anywhere. The only furnishing was a medium-sized item chest blocking the doorway of the supply closet, the place where all the items were normally stashed in his own base.

A Shuckle dug into the chest, placing various pieces of equipment on the floor with its strange long tentacles.

"I can't find it," the Shuckle whined. "It's not here."

"Look. HARDER," the Weavile growled in reply. "We have a slammer brace. If you can't find it then it's your fault for losing it. Anyway, what brings you here, Char?"

"Uh… where is everyone?" Char wondered, disturbed by the eerie silence of the halls.

"Everyone's heading to Basin Canyon," the Weavile said dismissively. "Getting a real jump-start on things."

"…Basin Canyon? Isn't that where Scythe's working?" Char said.

"Oooh, you must not have heard," said the Weavile. "Alright, get this. Prince goes through all the trouble of moving us here, and we get all settled in, and what's our first job? Turns out Scythe made some kind of a huge mistake at Basin Canyon with underestimating the enemy or something, and it's taking like four teams to help fix it, and we're one of these teams. He came in yesterday asking Prince personally for help. So… there you have it, we're risking our lives again, right off the blow, just like old times. Figures I'm the only one here who actually enjoyed it back up in the cold. Here I'm plain out of my element."

"Heh, wow," Char said, genuinely shocked. "What about Lily? Did she go to Basin Canyon too?"

"Aheh, nah! Prince says Lily won't have anything to do with Basin Canyon. Forbids her from going. Guess she's just going to collab with other teams while we do our work. And not get killed. Though today, I think she's still sleeping."

The Weavile pointed at the master bedroom door, the one which mirrored Char's room in his base. Char peered at it with newfound dread, feeling things fluttering in his stomach.

No reason to be afraid anymore, Char figured, taking slow steps toward the door. She can't do anything to me. Really, she can't. And I have bigger things to feel worried about. So alright. Let's get this over with.

Char just wanted to do one thing: apologize to Lily for burning her halfway to death. It was the very least he could do for making such an awful call at the top of Temporal Tower and burning the wrong Pokémon. Though he knew an apology in hindsight wouldn't impress her so much, he still needed to say it, at the very least to maintain his honor and deal with the fear he had of talking to her, a fear which had become genuinely distracting.

He pushed open the door to the master bedroom and peered inside. There were no giant torches, and no furnishings whatsoever, save for the standard ghost-torches upon the walls and three of the Division's standard bedding nests. One was obviously for Prince, the leader of the team. Another was for his closest partner, Kabir the one-armed Smeargle. Char remembered the night he had lost his arm, and found he didn't like dwelling on the memory.

The final bed held a very peaceful, sleeping Bayleef.

Ah, she's not supposed to be sleeping this late! Char sighed. Now if I wake her up, she's going to get all annoyed that I barged in. Maybe it's best if I didn't wake her. Maybe I should come back—

A terrible yet familiar pulse washed over Char's body, causing him to stagger.

It was a feeling he was beginning to know so well, yet it brought such strange sensations that it could have been different each time.

And then there came the rainbow colors before his eyes, removing all doubt as to what was happening.

No, no! Char realized, gritting his teeth and tensing in place. No, this was supposed to have already happened! Celebi, I thought you made this one too early! Ugh, you tried again, didn't you?

As the Call's volume increased and the humming filled his heart, Char suddenly had a devilish idea.

What if… what if it's actually useful this time? Char considered, hating himself for even thinking such a thought. I could use the Call on her. I could…

I could make her forgive me. I could make her my friend again. That might actually be a good idea!

No, no, no. Wait. No, that's a terrible idea. I respect her more than that.

But I've got to test this power somehow, right? I've got to learn how it works so I can use it when it counts.

Yeah, but not on Lily! Go use it on Team X or something. Not on Lily! She doesn't deserve that!

Except… I'm now the most powerful Pokémon in the world. I can do whatever I want to everyone's minds, and there are no consequences. Why shouldn't I just change her mind a little? Just… remove some friction between us?

It would be so easy! Yeah, I'll do it. It's… like a shortcut. Yeah, a shortcut to what we'd already be doing.

Alright… Celebi, give me the Call.

Char stood in the doorway, waiting for Celebi's mark and watching the Bayleef sleep so soundly. He wondered if he was about to defile her dreams, plant some deceptive imagery within her mind that would cause her to wake up with a new view… and a new opinion of him.

Celebi's voice burst into his head. There! I got it right this time! I'm going to do this every day for you, now, right at about this time! Ready? Here it goes!

And when Char felt the Call become active, the pulses of heart-speak radiating from himself, he glared at Lily and gave her a solemn command.

Lily…

I want you to…

Ignore this! Don't listen to this message!

Panicking, Char let his conscience get the better of him, ordering Lily to ignore his Call.

It had been a stroke of genius for Char's mind to stumble upon such wording. For the first time, he realized he could control the Call by sending no command at all, in effect, cancelling the effect when it would be badly timed. He knew that the signals would be received by his targets, whose minds and memories would react the same way they normally would to the Call, and invent reasons why the stray telepathic radiation entering their consciousness is inconsequential and should be disregarded.

Char figured Lily was probably now having a strange dream, one where she visualized the humming and colors characteristic of the Call, yet she would wake up with no memories of them, because she was instructed to ignore them.

And when the pulse faded, Char watched her sleep for a minute more, deciding that it would indeed be best not to wake her. He would attempt to apologize another day.


Char returned to the base with a lightened spirit, glad to have found a way to cancel the Call's power. It was an enormous burden taken off of him, and he would feel much more comfortable in the company of his friends in the afternoon when the Call was scheduled to be sent. Of course, there still was the issue of telling them about it, and of using it on unknowing targets to test its effects further, but he didn't have to worry about that for the rest of the day. After having unwittingly revised their memories of the apple incident, none of them had any reason to worry or distrust him for the time being. He could take as long as he wanted to decide what to say.

After wandering out into the hall, Char felt his stomach protesting that he had skipped both dinner and breakfast, and decided his next top priority would be to find food. But on the way downstairs, he ran into a Pokémon he really wasn't expecting to see.

A Scyther, one he knew well, marched up the stairs with a bag strapped to his back between his wings. He wore a beaming smile and had a spring in his step that lightened Char's mood just to see. Char couldn't remember how long it had been since Scythe appeared this happy; he wondered some new breakthrough had been made about his enemies.

"Good afternoon, Char!" he called, pausing for a moment. "Are your missions going well? Learning anything from Marrow?"

"Um… Yeah! The rest of the team is out today, I stayed back to run base errands," Char said quickly. "How about you? You look really happy! Did you figure out what Cepheus is doing yet?"

"Oh, no! Not at all," he laughed. "But! I did get some help. Team Flamewheel's on board with us now, and I'm quite happy about that! In fact, I'm going to go have a little talk with Prince now!"

"Prince? I don't think he's here," Char told him. "I was just at their base. I think Prince went to Basin Canyon!"

"Oh, he did?" Scythe said, looking suddenly disappointed. "Hmm, I will just see him later this week, then! Well, I've got to get going now. Keep doing well on your missions! I'm sure you'll be at our league in no time!"

Scythe gave him another huge grin and continued on his way.

Well, he looks happy enough, Char jokingly said to himself. Guess there's no reason to tell him I'm secretly the answer to all of his problems now. Then again… if it really comes to that, I wonder if I should help him out…


Char found it hard to keep himself busy for the remainder of the day. After having a light lunch in the deserted cafeteria, he considered beginning his quest to learn footprint runes. Going upstairs to the Cliffside Academy building, he found the Division's research library and asked the bookkeeper about tutorials for learning the written language. The librarian, a butterfly-like creature with vivid wings, showed him some materials, but they were all written in footprint runes already. Baffled, Char asked what the point was of a textbook that was already written in the language it intended to teach. The butterfly replied, "It has instructions for teaching the language to hatchlings and impressed ferals. I thought that's what you wanted! We don't have much else."

Frustrated that the library had no textbooks written in Unown, or at the very least with pictures, he went back downstairs to the base and once more found himself bored.

Char spent the rest of the afternoon in his planning room staring at the Map of Jirachi. He scanned the map for known locations and tried to see if he could decipher the footprints based on the names he knew, like "Iron Town" and "Great Plateau," but he could not find any noticeable patterns in the texts which corresponded to the way the words sounded. Even the few words he already knew in the language, like his own name, didn't make any discernable sense to him. They were all just vague representations of Pokémon footprints, some of which he could have sworn were not real, turned in random orientations.

"This'll take a miracle to learn," Char grumbled, squinting at the tiny words upon the map. "Alakazam, I hope you realize how hard this is. Hardest of the three tasks, easily."

Finally, after a few hours, there was a tapping at his door. He recognized Marrow's style of knocking, and quickly rolled up the map to welcome his friends back from the mission.

"Hi, guys," Char said, sliding open the door. "I was just—"

*WHACK.*

As soon as he opened the door, Char was clubbed in the face with Marrow's bone, hard enough that he flew a bit across the room before landing on his stomach. He yelped in pain, knowing without having to ask that it had been Marrow's favorite bone. The pain had just been too perfect.

"Well, now!" a very angry Marowak called from the front door. "Had me under the impression you're runnin' a functioning team. Had me fooled, Char!"

Feeling a bump already forming on his head, Char rolled over and saw Marrow, his scowl so powerful that it was almost visible straight through his mask. Behind him stood two very dismayed teammates who had cringed at the sight of the blow to the head Char took.

They walked past him and into the room, saying nothing. Ray cast him an ashamed glance, Saura averted his gaze and walked to the bedroom.

"What… what happened?" Char said.

"Couldn't finish the mission," Marrow said. "We had a chance, but then your friend over there had one of his 'nightmare episodes' or whatever you're callin' it. We had to escape orb outta there."

"It was really bad," Ray said sadly, helping Char up. "Even after we got out of the dungeon, he wasn't waking up. It took ten minutes before he opened his eyes again… It was awful…"

Char glanced back in time to see the Bulbasaur vanish into the master bedroom.

"Yeah, well, sorry doesn't cut it," Marrow growled. "Now you're down on cash and your good bird's got his first failure on his record with you. Blasted shame, he's the only one who carried his weight today. Hope you're happy. Very good call, stayin' behind at the base today, Char. Very good call."

Before Char could retort, he turned to leave. "Be back tomorrow," he grunted. "Next time, you'd better be ready to lead your team, Char. I won't have any more of this, being treated like I'm a babysitter. I'm supposed to be teaching you."

The Marowak cast a resentful glare at Char, then walked out of the room and slammed the door shut with his bone club.

Char sat in dumbfounded silence with Ray for a minute. Otto joined them, tilting his head in wait for Char to respond. But Char wasn't going to reprimand them; the mission's failure was the least of their worries, really.

"I guess it's time," Char sighed, his gaze falling to the floor. "We can't let this keep happening to Saura. If this is just going to keep getting worse… We have to heal him."

"Yeah," Ray said, nodding sadly. "I'll go tell Eva…"


They waited until late that night, when the torches turned blue. They waited until the rest of the day's chores had been done. It had been a somber evening, with the team barely sharing a word with one another to break the grim silence. But when it was over, and Team Ember had retired to their rooms for the night, Saura's teammates gathered at his bedside. Eva joined them, entering the room in silence and approaching Saura slowly. Char thought her demeanor was different this night; she seemed calm and respectful, and even perhaps motherly, as she gazed down at the cowering Bulbasaur and anticipated what was about to happen.

Saura shared a defeated, tearful gaze with his best friend. Nothing needed to be said; he knew what needed to be done.

"Okay," Saura whispered, staring Char in the eye. "Okay… I'll do it."

And he extended his vines to Char and Ray, who took them and gasped them close, letting Saura know he would not be alone.

"Are you ready?" Eva spoke, lowering her forehead close to his.

"Okay, alright," Saura sighed, nodding and closing his eyes. "Alright… Will they be able to see, too?"

"Yes, I will let them see what you see," Eva said gently. "They will be with you through everything. Now, whenever you're ready, show me the memory once more…"


Char saw, for the first time, Saura's family within his memory.

There was a gentle Ivysaur meandering down a beautiful country path, and a little Bulbasaur leaping circles around it. The sun shined so brightly upon the path. The cool autumn winds had made the trees turn pretty colors. The tiny little Bulbasaur seemed so full of energy and glee.

At first, it seemed like such a happy memory. But Char could feel something else, something darker, beneath the surface of this vision.

"Didn't you have fun?" the Ivysaur asked of his sister. "Nincadia was amazing, wasn't it? Didn't you like the hot springs?

"They were alright," the little Bulbasaur replied, coming to walk beside her brother. "But what I really want to do is go back home."

"Why go home when we have so much more of the world to see?" the Ivysaur laughed. "I'm thinking we could go to Great Crystal City! It'll take us half a month, but it'll be worth it! I hear there's a huge crystal in the center of the city that's so big, it's bigger than any building made by humans!"

"Wow," the little Bulbasaur said. "That does sounds amazing."

"Or maybe, we could even try crossing the ocean…" the Ivysaur considered. "We could go meet the humans! I'm sure they'd be our friends! Wouldn't you want to do that?"

"Hey, Saurvor…?"

"Yeah?"

"I know we're having fun walking around the world! But can't we go home one last time? Can't we see Saura again?"

Ugh… Saurlee… Saurlee, no…

The pain has begun. Hold the course, Saura. You only need to watch this once.

I don't want to see it happen… I don't…

Saura, nothing you see here is real. Nothing actually happened.

But what if it did…?

That is something you must come to terms with. Do not fear, Saura. Your friends are right here with you. Can't you still feel them holding onto you?

"Well, I don't think we should," Saurvor said, glancing to the horizon. "Wherever Saura is right now, I think he's happy. We shouldn't worry about him."

The little Bulbasaur sighed again, coming to rest at the side of the road.

"But what about mommy?" she whined. "I want to see mommy again, too!"

"Hey, we're grownup Pokémon now!" Saurvor said gently. "Pokémon don't spend all their lives with their parents, you know? Eventually there comes a day when they need to go and live life on their own!"

"But… brother, I didn't even get to say goodbye," the little Bulbasaur cried. "Why didn't I get to say goodbye?"

Because of me, Saurlee. It's because of me. Augghh… It hurts…

Because I did this to you…

"And hey, Saurlee… whatever happens… you've still got me. I'm not going to go anywhere."

"I love you, Saurvor."

"I love you too, Saurlee."

Eva… no, I don't want to watch this. I can't.

The only reason you're resisting is because the Watcher's curse is making you. You need to overcome it.

I don't care. I don't want to watch this! Let me go, Eva. Please, let me go!

I will not. I need to force you to watch. For your own health.

NO! LET ME GO!

And there it was, peering out from behind the trees. The Pokémon which had tracked the two travelers for weeks.

The Flareon. It was there, watching them, waiting to pounce.

And this time, nothing would stop it.

NO! NO! SAURLEE! RUN! PLEASE RUN! SAURVOR, NO!

NO! I CAN'T WATCH!

Flareon was so close. There was very little chance of escape.

Then… the Flareon lifted its head… and his eyes locked with Saurvor's…

NO! STOP SHOWING ME THIS! STOP!

Arceus… please…


To Char's surprise, and perhaps also to his relief, Saura's player was answered and the vision was cut short. Char blinked and remembered he was standing in his own bedroom with his closest friends gathered around, the blue light from the fire casting a ghastly tint upon everyone.

Saura's eyes blinked open, still streaming with tears. Eva twitched.

"Uh… what happened?" Ray wondered, still clutching tightly to Saura's vine. "Was that the end?"

"No, I was distracted," Eva answered. "Someone is knocking at the door."

"What?! At this hour?!" Char cried, letting go of Saura and dashing out of the bedroom. "Why now of all times?! Ugh!"

He heard it again as he ran to answer: it was a peculiar kind of knocking, one he thought he recognized from earlier that day.

"That almost sounds like Marrow," Char muttered to Ray, who had dashed alongside him. "But no, can't be…"

Char slid the door open, and sure enough, the Marowak stood at their front door, the blue light from the torches glinting spectacularly from his skull helmet.

"Hey, uh, sorry to bother you, but I was on my way upstairs for the night, and I passed by your room, and I noticed you had a message on your bulletin board already," he said, holding up the parchment with the nail still sticking out of it. "And uh… well, just read."

Char took the paper and glanced at it for a few moments, flabbergasted at the footprint symbols which covered it.

"Oh, right, you still can't read," Marrow grumbled, taking it back and handing it to the Raichu. "There. Read it."

Ray squinted to read the paper in the blue light. "It's a mission request," he said. "'My friend Venusaur is very hungry and wants an apple. Please bring one to him tomorrow. Location: Purevine Village, East of Tiny Plains… Restrictions: bring Bulbasaur. Client…'"

Ray stopped for a moment, tripping over his tongue.

"Client is… Scizor."

"Yeah, weird, huh?" Marrow said, yanking the paper back. "I'm pretty certain this was written by Adiel."

"Adiel?!" Char gasped, the truth dawning on him. "How did Adiel post on our job board…? Wait… Adiel is still after Saura! He's trying to lure him home to see his family…! This is a trap!"

"Yep, clearly," Marrow said. "And you know about Remorse's policy in dealin' with traps: we walk right into 'em. Char, looks like your Bulbasaur friend is about to be headed for a trip back home."

*Chapter 78*: Chapter 58: Bright Side

o

Chapter 58

Marrow slapped the job request paper onto the table.

"Alright, boys," he shouted, glaring at the meeting's few participants. "We've got a mystery on our hands and a deadline to solve it. And since everyone important in this entire blasted place seems to have deserted us for the canyon, looks like it's up to us."

The fearless Marowak glanced around the room, taking a silent roll-call of the attendants. Char's team was all there, as was Kyria the Breloom and Nidoroch the Nidoking from his own team. He'd also roped in the straggling members of Team Flamewheel, namely the Weavile named Alastair, the Shuckle named Sandstone, and a very nervous-looking bird with black and red feathers called a Talonflame.

"I hope you understand I haven't been a member of Flamewheel for more than twenty-four hours," the bird cried, shifting her head. "I transferred from the Black Division only eight days ago and Prince recruited me just yesterday!"

"Don't care if you're two days old. If you know how to follow orders, we need you," Marrow said firmly. "Ahh, what the lovely bunch of ragtag misfits we are! Don't see how Arceus expects us to outwit Adiel when all of our best and brightest have gone off. Though, if there's one guy in the world I'd trust to put this together in some sensible order, it's Scythe. Thankfully we still have him. Wish he'd get here already."

Char peered over the table at the war-room doorway, and at the wayward assembly of Pokémon who awaited direction. But he didn't feel worried in the slightest; not today, not when his best friend had been brought so much happiness. He reached over and gave his Bulbasaur companion a giant hug. Saura's eyes still leaked with tears of joy.

Before Char could say an encouraging word, a frustrated Scyther barged into the room.

"Alright, alright, what's the trouble?" the Scyther sighed, fidgeting his blades together. "Make this quick. I have somewhere to be."

"'Fraid you've got to put your plans aside for today," the Nidoking said, holding the mysterious mission paper for him to see. "Adiel's getting weird again. Look, he's hijacked the mail stream to send us something."

Nidoroch set the paper back upon the surface. Scythe held it down with the tip of a blade and squinted at the lettering.

"Adiel wants Saura to go see his family," Marrow explained. "Question is, why? Why would he do something so blatantly… well, obvious? What does this mean? And what should we do about it?"

Scythe stood in consideration for a minute. The Pokémon of the group held their breaths, waiting for the renowned tactician to start barking out ideas and orders, and get the operation moving. Surely, thought Char, the world's leading expert on Adiel's mind games could shed some light on the very odd and unexpected move the Scizor was attempting.

But for some baffling reason, it was not to be.

The Scyther flicked the paper away and gave a curt chuckle. "Seems simple enough, bring a Bulbasaur home!" he said. "I've got faith you're more than capable of this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really need to be going. Need to be at the canyon by dusk!"

"Scythe, cut it out, you're scaring us," Marrow squeaked, flailing to grasp at the paper again. "The canyon can wait. Half the base is already in that godforsaken place. I'm sure it's well-defended enough! And the settlement date isn't by nightfall tonight." The frantic Marowak pointed at the lettering indicating the job needed to be done that day.

"Well, you'll have to move quickly, then, won't you?" Scythe said cheerily. "Just like me! Oh, here's an idea: why not make this an exercise for Char?"

Scythe smiled wide, supposedly reveling in the brilliance of his own idea, but the rest of the Pokémon at the table only returned shocked stares.

"…What." Marrow said.

"Yes, that'd be perfect! Marrow, as Team Ember's tutor for the week, you should be helping them learn how we do things on a higher-level team! He's a smart Charmander, why not see if he has any ideas!"

Char couldn't make his mouth work. "Scythe… I'm… I can't…"

"C'mon, Scythe, I'm real tired of this," Marrow said in a flat voice. "Be serious. You're the only one who knows how Adiel runs."

"I am serious!" Scythe replied. "Trust me! Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

Marrow blankly stared for a moment. "Uh… no," he managed to say. "I'm not saying I don't trust you, Scythe, it's just… I'm not seein' why you trust us."

"You'll be fine!" Scythe insisted, waving his arm. "Now, I really must fly. Tell me how it goes. Char, pay attention! You might be tested on this later!"

And the Scyther was gone, leaving a speechless and dismayed mish-mash of different teams with a gargantuan task: beat the notorious Scizor at his own game. Char shared a gaze of absolute dread with his teammates, seeing how even Otto was shocked witless.

"Did he just… abandon us?" the Talonflame squawked, fluttering her wings.

After gaping for a few moments, Marrow eventually just shrugged. "Scythe's just being Scythe," he grumbled. "Spend enough time around him and you'll get used to this. He makes the strangest calls, but there's always some reason for it. Shame we don't have Daemon around to choke it out of him and make him explain himself. Now on that reassuring note, since I've done the most research on this, I guess I'll be the stand-in leader…"

Marrow clutched the paper and walked around to the front of the table, the place where he had assumed Scythe would stand. He stood up straight, addressing the Pokémon in the room.

"I've stayed up all night to try and find where this thing came from," he explained. "I raided the post office in Iron Town, which you probably know the Division has some inside connections with, and I've found that this letter has made quite the impressive journey just to make it here. It was routed through at least three senders. Records say it came from the post in Sigil City, and before that, somewhere I've never even heard of called Shuca Town. Before that, it's anyone's guess. Unless we spend all week digging up the dirt, it's not possible to find where it really came from."

"Uh… so how did Adiel know where to send it?" Ray tried asking. "How did he know to send it to Team Ember? Does he have spies?"

"Well, I was gettin' to that," Marrow said in exasperation. "I have somethin' of a theory on how it got here. Adiel already knows that Saura likely spends his time around the Iron Town area. Remember the time when he tried to catch Saura by jailing all the Bulbasaur in the city? And we went and confirmed his suspicions by busting them all out again, instead of just turning the blind eye? And I'm sure he knows we have a strong presence in Iron Town. Probably he just submitted a mail-in job request to the rescue teams like any old citizen can, and by making sure it landed in Iron Town, it'd get filtered into the Division's mail. And since Saura's the only Bulbasaur in the base…at least, I think he is, last time I checked… that's how it wound up on Team Ember's board. So it's easy to see how it got here even assuming Adiel doesn't have spies in our base."

"If the letter took so long to arrive here, it couldn't have been done in a day," the Shuckle considered, tilting her head. "How would the sender figure we'd get the letter today? How could they be so sure we'd be carrying out the job today?"

"Hrmm, very good point," Marrow said, grumbling in thought, setting his hands down on the table. "Maybe too good of a point. Maybe Adiel's trying to measure the speed it takes for a letter to make it to the resistance, and if we show up in Purevine village today it'll give him his answer."

"Or maybe the Venusaur has been waiting in Purevine village all season," Nidoroch suggested. "Maybe the Venusaur is only impatient."

"What, for an apple?" Alastair scoffed. "You honestly think he'd wait a whole season for an apple?"

"No," Nidoroch shot back. "For Saura. Someone misses their kid."

"So, wait!" Saura shouted abruptly, surprising everyone in the room. "Is my father alive? Does this mean they're all alive?"

Char could see how Marrow hesitated to answer.

"Well, uh, Saura, we still haven't a clue," Marrow told him, rubbing the outside of his skull as though to ease a headache. "But something tells me, before this day's done, we'll know for sure. Rocky, you might be onto somethin' with your theory. How long ago was the lockdown? Thirty days, now? Yeah, if anyone's unaware, about thirty days ago Adiel came across the top of the Plateau and we had our latest lockdown when he stepped on the trapdoor up there. I don't know, I wasn't around the base when it happened, but they say he was headed to the south-west… right toward the Tiny Plains, Saura's home. I heard Houndoom were with him, but don't know what other forces he had. Imagine no one wanted to watch him too closely at that point. So we can assume he's in or around Purevine, and may have been there for quite a bit of time. Waiting for us."

There was another sudden span of silence, and Char thought he could feel a shudder pass through the room as everyone remembered they would probably be walking straight into Adiel's trap.

"Well, Jake, that's all and good, but what are we doing about Adiel?" the Nidoking said. "Unless you really think this will all just amount to the kid bringing his folks an apple."

"Don't know yet, still got to think on it," he replied, pacing to the other end of the room. "Facilities just opened, and the lower floors are just now waking up for the day. We've got a solid two-thirds of a day to find our answers. So while I try to draw up a proposal…"

Marrow collected a messy set of papers from the shelf and spread them out on the table. They were blank. He took a charcoal-stick and started scribbling a list onto one.

"Char, I want you to find Dusknoir. Likely you know the Dusknoir I'm talking about," Marrow ordered, giving Char a sideways glance. "Show him the mission paper and ask him what he thinks. Without Scythe here, that's our next best way of gettin' into Adiel's mind. Think you can do that?"

"No problem," Char said, reaching for the strange job paper.

"Ray, I'm gonna need you to visit Morrik and withdraw some of our stuff," he muttered. "Then I'm gonna need you to visit Kecleon and buy a few more things. Since you're the supply guy on Char's team, I'm hoping you know how to strike a deal with Kecleon."

Ray beamed. "Yeah, I've got it," he said confidently. "Just get me a bag and I'll take care of the rest!"

"Good, good," Marrow said. "Here's a list of what I need. Alastair, you go with him and help him carry the bag; it might get heavy. Good luck with the morning crowds, you two."

He handed Ray a barely legible shopping list, and Ray seemed quite excited to take it.

"Otto, I need you and Tallie to visit Silverwing and get me… oh… four or five mailbirds," Marrow instructed, beginning to write another list. "Tell them they've gotta be fast flyers."

"Of course," Otto replied.

"Uh, no idea who Silverwing is, so I guess I'll just follow you?" the Talonflame replied to the tiny bird.

"Good. Rocky, we'll need dragons. Big, fast dragons," Marrow said. "Money is no issue. If there's one Dragonite or one Flygon staying back at the base today, they're workin' for us today. And if you can't find any, recruit them from Iron Town. I heard there are some good Noivern roosting there now."

"Understood!" the Nidoking replied, grinning and clenching his claws. "I'll be persuasive."

"Sandy, you draw up the mission report we'll give to the registry." Marrow instructed, catching his tongue and eyeing the Shuckle suspiciously. "Um… that is, assuming you can write."

Sandstone wiggled her wormy arms. "I can write, silly," she giggled. "And I bet I can write twice as neatly as anyone who has hands. Just dictate."

"Lovely. Now, that should be everyone… everyone except Saura," the Marowak said, scanning around the room. "Saura, I've got a very special task for you. I need you to stay back here with me and tell me everything you remember about your homeland and nearby areas. Can you do that?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Saura croaked, looking unsure of himself. "I'll do my best."

Marrow slammed his hands down on the table, startling everyone. "Great!" he shouted. "Get to it, you all. And meet back here in three hours, and I think I'll have a plan for everyone. Don't dally. Whatever we're doing, we've got to be outta here by yellow torches and we'll be up in the air by noon. Oh, hey, and speaking of which! Pardon my poor memory, but would one of you please remind me of something: why do we rise?"

"So that he will fall!" most of the room replied in a boisterous cheer, the loudest responses coming from Team Ember.

"Great!" Marrow shouted, slamming his hands on the table again. "Now break!"


Later that morning, Croagunk and Seviper slunk out from the front door of their puny, low-class base down in the depths of the Gold Division. Croagunk carried a supply bag upon his back and eyed a torn strip of paper which he held.

"I'm not so sure about this," Croagunk grumbled as he read. "Crater Lake? This is fifty miles away. Meh, don't know how boss expects us to make it there in one day."

"Boss was unclear about the time frame; maybe we have more than a day to get there," Seviper said. "He never said when he was coming back."

"Yeah, well at least… Whoa, hey!"

Croagunk suddenly scowled at his companion, narrowing his eyes and stepping close.

"Nice scarf," Croagunk said, eyeing a piece of red fabric loosely hanging beneath the snake's head. "That's new, isn't it? I don't remember that bein' in our pile of loot from the other day. What kind?"

"Oh, this… rag?" the Seviper said, peering awkwardly down at his neck. "It's… I believe it to be… dodge scarf, I believe. To be honest, I forgot I was even wearing it…"

The Croagunk lashed out, gripping the scarf and pulling the Seviper's head close to his own. "Yeah? Wanna tell me where you got it? Cuz if I hear you blew all of our money on a shabby little worthless item like that we could have just stolen from somewhere, I'm gonna start selling pieces of you to recoup our losses–"

Seviper thrashed and squirmed free of his teammate's hold, shirking back against the wall. "Croagunk, I don't know where I got the scarf," he admitted. "Why is this relevant to anything?"

"You don't know?!"

"Yes, I don't know," the snake said again, glancing down and hiding his twinge of shame. "I might have found it on the floor. The memories are not clear."

"What? You forgot something again?" Croagunk groaned. "How—?! Again? Really? This has been happening a lot late. You're losin' your edge, vipey."

The viper uncomfortably shifted. "I'm not sure what is causing it," he admitted. "I wish I could remember. Unfortunately it is hard to realize I have lost memories until they are called into question."

"Remind me why you're our witness again?" Croagunk growled. "How am I suppose to trust you if you can't even remember where you got a stupid scarf? This is your job, you numb-skull!"

"Regardless, I do not see why this is relevant to anything," Seviper shot back. "Perhaps I found it in the entryway hall before my memories were wiped. It is only a scarf. I am only keeping it because I am frankly not interested in getting hit by one of your stray rocks again."

The Croagunk glared. "The only reason you'd be getting hit by my rocks is because I'm aiming at you, you overgrown worm—"

"Hey! BLOCKHEADS!"

The poisonous team froze and stopped their bickering at the sound of a familiar Charmander's voice calling from across the room.

"Oh, not you," Croagunk growled as Char approached him. "We're busy. What do you want?"

"Where's Dusknoir?" Char demanded, standing up and trying his best to match the rival team's attitude. "I need to talk to him."

"Sorry, not possible," Seviper said. "The boss is on a business trip. We do not know when he's returning."

"Yeah, it's just us today," added Croagunk. "Now do you need something, or are you wasting our time?"

"Yeah, I need something!" Char growled, unrolling the mysterious mission paper and almost jamming it into the Croagunk's face. "Tell me what you think of this."

The Croagunk snatched the paper out of Char's claw and squinted at it. The viper swiveled his head and peered over his shoulder.

"Hmm. Bring Bulbasaur, yeah? Scizor? Geh-heh, well. Ain't this interesting."

"You put this on our job board, didn't you?!" Char accused, despite knowing the accusation was likely empty. "Are you trying to mess with us?"

"Actually, kid, I've never seen this before in my life," Croagunk said, waving the paper back in Char's direction. "Glad to see you'd give us credit for it, at least. But no, this ain't from us."

"It does seem suspiciously like something Adiel would bait you with," Seviper said. "Unfortunately, as we have already told you, we have been out of direct contact with Adiel for quite some time, so we could not tell you what type of trap this is. Are you planning to carry it out? It seems risky, even for you."

"Yeah, we're carrying it out," Char boasted, grabbing the paper back. "Want to join us? Scythe deserted us and you're the only two Pokémon left who know how Adiel works."

Team X glanced at one another before bursting into laughter.

"Look, we'd love to, really," Croagunk laughed, throwing a light punch at Char which he barely dodged. "Really. Sounds fun. Heh-heh. Sounds like more fun than we'd be having today at least. But Char… geh-heh, that's the worst idea you've ever had. There's, keh, there's just no polite way to put it."

"Indeed, how do you think Adiel would react when he sees that we responded to a letter he specifically targeted your Gold Division with?" Seviper said amusedly. "If we were to do that, it seems more efficient in the end to simply walk up to him and say, 'Adiel, we found the entrance to the base and we've been living there for months but we never told you!' It would have about the same effect, just with much less effort!"

Char growled, realizing they had a point. "Alright, fine," he grumped. "You win. In that case, got any tips for us, at least?"

"Tips? Hmm. Don't die," Seviper said. "Try not to get stuck in his pincers. When he squeezes your neck, it can pop your head right off."

Char rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks," he said dryly, turning to leave. "Don't die. Got it."

"But in seriousness, Char, if you happen to get captured, I suggest trying to reason with him," Seviper said. "Adiel is rational; he will avoid killing you if he thinks you are useful to him. So if things go wrong, just keep talking to him for as long as you can, and you won't die. It's something Dusknoir learned when he first recruited us."

Alright, that might be useful, Char realized. Reason with Adiel to stay alive. Ah, I hope it doesn't come to that. Hope we don't even see a glimpse of him. But just in case… Maybe if he's going to kill us, if I told Adiel I had the Call, I could buy time. That would make me useful to him.

Or maybe I could use the Call on Adiel! If only Celebi gets the timing right.

In fact, I wish I could use the Call on these blockheads right now to make them tell me more. Ah, this timing thing might be harder to use than I thought. I have to plan the day around the Call if I want it to do anything useful, and that's impossible to do when I don't even know when it's coming.

"Alright, thanks," Char said, quickly backing out of the encounter. "That didn't help much, but thanks anyway for trying. See you around."

"Yeah, have fun gettin' killed," Croagunk called to him. "Whatever you do, don't let Adiel know where we are…"

After Char was gone, Seviper and Croagunk waited and stared at the stairwell the Charmander had disappeared into.

"Hey, blockheads," the Seviper began to ramble to himself in a mocking tone. "Oh, not you. We're busy. What do you want? Where's Dusknoir? I need to talk to him. Sorry, not possible. The boss is on a business trip. We do not know when he's returning. Yeah, it's just us today. Now do you need something, or are you wasting our time? Yeah, I need something. Tell me what you think of this. Hmm. Bring Bulbasaur, yeah? Scizor. Well. Ain't this interesting. You put this on our job board, didn't you?! Are you trying to mess with us? Actually kid, I've never seen this before in my life. Glad to see you'd give us credit for it, at least. But no, this ain't from us."

The viper tilted his head and looked at the ceiling.

"My memory still functions," he muttered to his companion. "It has not been cutting out all the time. Only sometimes. I am not sure why."

"Yeah, well, fix it," Croagunk croaked. "Boss'll want to know what we did at Crater Lake. Oh, and speaking of that, we're already two minutes late. Let's beat it."


Otto flew deftly through the windows and passages of the base. Somewhere behind him, his red-feathered companion tried to keep up.

"Pidgey…! You can slow down now, please?" she shouted, frantically trying to keep an eye on him as she nearly hit a solid wall.

But the Pidgey paid her no mind, zooming and swooping even father ahead, until the trailing bird could barely catch a glimpse of him around each corner. When she folded her wings and dove through a narrow window, she found the main foyer of the Gold Division all around her, the giant central room where dozens of Pokémon continually mingled. Scanning the area, she found no traces of the fast little Pidgey, and decided to perch on the stony windowsill and resign herself to a rest.

"What is wrong?" Otto squawked, suddenly appearing from within the crowd, coming to perch beside her. "There is no time to rest. We need to request birds from Team Silverwing quickly."

"Well, maybe if you wouldn't fly so fast," the Talonflame grumbled. "What do you think you're doing? I don't know my way around this base yet. I couldn't see you!"

"Do you have an eyesight deficiency?" Otto wondered. "Do you need to visit a psychic or a doctor?"

"Awwk, no, it's called being tired, and confused," she snapped back. "I'm not exactly at the top of my game right now. Look… why do you even need me? You know where Silverwing is, why do you need me to come with you?"

"Because I alone cannot requisition them for a mission, as my rank is not high enough," Otto spoke. "You will represent Team Flamewheel, whose rank surpasses mine. They will obey our orders."

The red bird blinked, sighing in defeat.

"Look… whatever your name is, Pidgey," she said, shifting her head and staring him in the eye. "Can I be frank with you?"

The Pidgey didn't reply, instead meeting her gaze intently. She edged closer to him and lowered her voice.

"I'm terrified," she admitted. "Look, it's my first real day in the Gold Division and you're having me go up against Adiel. Excuse me if I'm a bit shaky. I expected a bit longer than this to get to know the place. And the Pokémon here. What's your name, anyway?"

"I am called Otto," the Pidgey replied. "You're Tallie, as that's what Marrow called you."

"No, that's not my name," she snapped back. "Nobody cares about my real name, and they just call me that because it's short for Talonflame, and… just… this day isn't easy for me… Look, just take me to where we're going, and try to fly slower so I can keep up, alright?"

"If you tell me your real name, I will call you by that," Otto replied. "What is your real name?"

The Talonflame only returned a deathly glare. Otto felt a sudden sting of intimidation, and averted his gaze by instinct.

"To you, I'm Tallie. Good enough?" she finally said, also looking away.

"Fine," Otto replied. "You were from the Black Division, correct?"

"Yeah, I was," she said. "So?"

"What was your role there?"

"Huh? What?"

"What role did you play on your team?" Otto asked. "What was your skill?"

Tallie held her head high. "I was good at everything," she boasted. "I was a tracker, a fighter, an arsonist… That's what it's like down there in the Black Division, you know. You're good at everything. If you can do it, they make you an expert. See, they actually know how to train Pokémon down there. None of this sink-or-swim nonsense. It's hard to get in, but if they accept you, you have to live with Team Incubator for a while and they get you at your fullest potential in no time. They even use psychics to put some of the skills into your head. They taught me everything I needed to know in two seasons."

"Then you should not be afraid," Otto said plainly. "If you are as you say an expert at so many skills, it is likely you will succeed with whatever is required of you today."

"…Though," he added, "I doubt your training was harsher than Team Silverwing. They raised me from a feral to my current level of competence in sixty-six days."

Tallie blinked, sending the little bird her fiercest glare yet.

"Yeah, well, it looks like they might not have finished the job," she replied with scorn. "Now, are you going to take me to this Silverwing, or am I going to have to show you why I'm called a Talonflame?"

"I know already why you're called a Talonflame," Otto replied. "It is because you have the power to focus fire energy with—Oh, you were speaking sarcastically," he said, blinking at the revelation. "Sometimes I can't tell the difference. Which, I suppose, may make it seem as though my psychological development was stunted. But that is no fault of Silverwing's. The education they gave me was perfect. My shortcomings with speech comprehension are those which I willingly choose to keep, for reasons I do not have time to explain."

Tallie looked ready to retort, but she shut her beak before saying anything more.

"Don't fear," Otto said. "There are times when fear is useful. But it isn't useful right now. Rely on your skills. I look forward to witnessing your skills and learning from them. Now, come."

Otto shot into the air before Tallie could replay. She hesitated for just a moment, looked down at herself, then sped after him.


"This is a disaster," Alastair hissed to Ray as they tried to force themselves into the front door of Kecleon's shop. "In the Emerald Division, you have to walk two miles to the retailers and the item cache. I'd almost prefer it to this. I mean, how do you even see your way through this mess, Raichu? You're so small!"

"We, uh… we usually don't come down here so often at this time of day," Ray replied, giving up in his mission to find a way around the Grotle in front of him. "Usually I do my shopping when everyone's on missions. Because this, uh… this is hard."

Alastair cringed as he witnessed Pokémon bumping and shoving against one another in the confines of the store, somehow miraculously not knocking merchandise off of shelves or skewering one another with bodily thorns or claws.

"It's not usually this bad, either!" Ray added, growing concerned. "Kecleon's great at serving people fast. Even when it's busy like this. I think something might be wrong."

"Wish Prince were here; he'd part the crowd just by glaring at them," Alastair grumbled.

A Poochyena headbutted the Weavile, forcing his way out of the crowded shop. Two more canines followed him. "Alright! We got it, let's bolt!" the leader barked, paying no attention to the Pokémon he had just assaulted.

"Yeah, uh, you might want to stand at the right side," Ray noted to the scowling Weavile. "That tends to happen if you stand in the middle of the walkway."

Grinding his teeth, an evil gleam flashed through the Weavile's eyes. Grinning in glee, he said, "Oh, so is that how things work? Is that how you southerners do things around here? Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"Wait, don't…"

"'Scuse me! Flamewheel's a-rollin' through!"

The Weavile lowered his head and slammed the nearest Pokémon in his way, a poor Machop, who stumbled into his neighbors and yelped in protest. Alastair ignored him, securing a significant foothold in the store.

"There! Now we're in! Much progress!" he reported, glancing back at the shocked Raichu. "Oh, look, I can even see Kecleon at the front desk! Looks like there's only one, I thought you said there were brothers!"

"If there's only one, no wonder the line's moving so slowly," Ray said, fretting his front claws together. "Which one is it? What color is he?"

"Um… the red one?"

"Red?" Ray gasped. "There isn't a red one. One's green, and… oh… oh no."

Wasting no time, the Raichu focused electricity until his body shined, then zapped himself overtop the clamoring crowd. He missed his mark a few times, landing atop the heads of some Pokémon, but disappeared before he could catch any disparaging remarks from them. Finally, he landed upon Kecleon's desk, reforming his body from a streak of lighting back into solid matter, and noticing he had landed in the midst of a transaction between a Medicham and a very red, very flustered Kecleon.

"Pardon me, Raichu, but I would very much appreciate it if you waited in line like everyone else," the Kecleon sighed, failing to hide a seething anger behind his polite demeanor.

"Yeah, and get off my stuff!" the Medicham screamed, lurching forward to snatch a box of items Ray accidentally had been leaning upon, causing him to fall over. "The nerve. It took me an hour to get through the line! If I find out you broke anything…"

"Oh! S-sorry, I didn't mean to cut in line," Ray said, stumbling back. "Honest! I, uh… I just noticed the line was moving kind of slow and I was wondering if maybe… any way I could help?"

"Yeah, by not slowing it down even more…?" the Medicham snapped in a huff.

"No, I mean… I noticed your brother wasn't here today, Kecleon, and uh… well, I know most of the stuff in your store! Here, I can help serve customers, if you want!"

The shopkeeper looked startled at the idea, and for a moment didn't respond. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you behind the counter. It's against store policy," Kecleon said plainly.

"Why? Afraid I'll steal something?" Ray replied. "Really? Do you really think I'd steal something from you? After all the times I've shopped here and all the times I plan to shop here in the future? Is that really something your favorite customer would do to you? And besides, you need help. I know it. Let me help you for just a few minutes, alright? I don't even have to get behind the counter if you want. Up here is just fine!"

"Ray, I am sorry, but it is simply out of the question!" Kecleon insisted, crossing his arms. "My brother and I have run this operation for over a decade. There is no need for you to –"

"Hey, Zeven!" Ray shouted, taking notice of someone in the crowd as though nothing was wrong. "Busy day today, huh?"

"Oh… Ray, what the blazes…!" the Sneasel shouted back. "What're you doin' up there? You should get down off the counter before Kecleon blows it!"

"Kecleon's a bit under the weather today, so I'm his assistant for now!" Ray cheered. "So, what'cha got there? Escape orb, fluster orb, pure seed…? And two bags of dried apples. And a no-sticky scarf. That'll be 300 golds. How are things going on Team Dread? Haven't heard from you in months!"

"Uh… …?" Zeven stammered, not really knowing how to reply as he got his money.

"Yeah, and throw in some extra for Kecleon, if you can. He could use some cheering up," Ray suggested. "Anything you can spare!"

"Really? You're asking me for handouts?" Zeven laughed flatly.

"Haggling is part of this job!" Ray laughed. "Just give me whatever you can! I'll, uh… I'll pay you back later somehow, okay? Alright, thanks! Have fun on your mission! Careful on the way out!"

Ray took the small pouch of money that the Sneasel had reluctantly handed to him, and set it on the counter in front of the reddened shopkeeper, who looked so fuming mad he didn't even move.

"C'mon!" Ray begged. "If we get two lines going, we'll have this place cleared in no time. C'mon, don't make me work harder than you! Ah, hey! Splint! Nice to see you! Wat'cha got there? Four pecha scarves? Hmm, going to the Briar Web today, I take it? Hmm, should grab some heal seeds while you're at it, too! Yeah, they're on special today, three-for-one! Just grab'em on the way out, I'm sure Kecleon trusts Team Carrier, one of his longest and best patrons!"

Ray tossed another pile of coins in front of Kecleon. And to his surprise, there was no longer a red lizard standing behind him, but a green one. Ray cast a gleaming smile at him, and Kecleon returned it.

And for several minutes, they both helped the impatient and noisy mob of customers get out of the store and on with their daily missions. Ray merely tossed the money on the counter in front of the shopkeeper, and those who wished to pay by Division credit or had items that Ray didn't recognize, he routed into the other line. Kecleon said nothing else in complaint, and soon the packed store had become a peaceful one, Alastair had come and gone to the front of the line, and the remaining patrons were browsing the isles and item stashes.

"Have you ever thought about hiring someone else to help serve everyone?" Ray asked the shopkeeper in the aftermath of the storm. "It seems it would be useful on the days you and your brother both can't be here."

"I have, and while I will not be ashamed to admit it is mostly a matter of pride that we keep the business family-owned, it is also not a small order to ask of anyone," Kecleon replied, sorting the coins on the counter. "We breathe and sleep our trade; you might as well give up any pretense of serving the Gold Division if you were to work for us. It's not something we would ask of any of our faithful customers, that is for certain! You have your operations to run, and we have ours. Though, I cannot tell a lie and say you have not been of tremendous help today, and it would violate my code of honor not to offer you a token of my gratitude."

Kecleon flipped a large golden coin in Ray's direction, and the Raichu eagerly snatched it out of the air with a bright smile and gleaming eyes. "…It was enough to help Alastair through the line as fast as possible! The mission we're running today is one of the most important we've ever run, I think, because it's for one of my best friends… But thank you! I'll probably end up giving this back to you next time I have to go shopping, though!"

"Then consider it a special discount for my very favorite customer!" the green Kecleon laughed. "Now, I do believe I can take things from here, brother. You should scurry along to your own work, if it's as important as you claim!"

"Yeah, I should!" Ray said, finally jumping down from the countertop. "Hope you have a good day! And, uh… oh, just one other thing I wanted to ask."

"Hmm…? What is it?"

"What got you so red this morning? …If you don't mind me asking. Are you okay? Did something happen?"

Kecleon paused and clamped his mouth shut, looking as though he might change colors again and explode at the Raichu. Instead, he gave a sigh. "It is nothing that concerns you," the shopkeeper replied. "…There is a street-rat thief who has been harassing me over the past days in Iron Town and St. Gracious City. That is all. Thieves are rarely a problem for my brother and I, you see… we catch every last thief who has ever stolen from us, and we give them a punishment so harsh, that when we finally let them go, they let the rest of the world know it's not a good idea to mess with us."

"Uh… yeah, so I've heard!" Ray said a bit uneasily. "You can't catch this one, can you?"

"This thief is demonstrating a level of skill we have rarely seen before, one which might rival our own," Kecleon explained, putting the rest of his money away. "Though it humbles us to say, they are giving us trouble. I am certain we will catch them soon, but until then, it frustrates me never knowing when they will strike and what priceless merchandise that will disappear in their wake. Until we find them, you might expect us to have… our colorful days, as it were."

"Oh… I understand! I totally do," Ray said. "Ah, I couldn't imagine constantly being infiltrated by a thief you can't catch! You should give them an extra harsh punishment when you finally catch them! Yeah, do your absolute worst! Nobody messes with the Kecleon brothers!"

"I assure you, kind Raichu, I have already determined, in excruciating detail, what we're going to do to the thief when we get our claws on them! Oh yes, they will wish they had never been born!" Kecleon said in a frighteningly cheery voice. "But that is not something we must dwell upon every minute of the day. We are professionals, after all. Now, kind Raichu, I simply must ask that you stop loitering in my store. Surely your team is waiting on you."

"Oh, you're right. Of course!" Ray said with a bright smile. "Have a good day, sir!"

"You as well. Have the most wonderful of days, and may fortune strike you upon your journey, so that you will find wonderful things to sell to me!" Kecleon called back as Ray scampered out the door.

When the next customer approached Kecleon with items to purchase, the shopkeeper almost did not notice. He was lost in thought momentarily, staring at the spot behind the counter where his brother would always stand when he was around. Unfortunately, the purple lizard was off pilfering from a shipment of goods at the seaside, rare items which had been shipped from the human lands, and would not be around for days more. He would need to continue running the shop in his brother's absence, all alone, with no assistance…

Perhaps, he thought, hiring a helper would not be out of the question, as long as he could find one which he trusted.


An hour later, the taskforce assembled in the war room again.

"Bothers me a bit that Dusknoir isn't around, but guess it can't be helped," Marrow said, shrugging to Char. "Alright, we got our stuff?"

"Everything on the list," Alastair grunted, dropping two full bags of equipment on the table.

"Good. And we got dragons?"

"A few answered my summons. Two Salamence and a Flygon," Nidoroch reported. "I know you were probably aiming for Dragonite, but I think there's only one of them in the Division, and she's at work today."

"Only three? Hmm… Well… I guess that can make it work. I'll steal someone from in town if we need. Alright, and we got mailbirds?"

"Yes," Otto reported. "Six are in the Antechamber awaiting the command of Team Remorse. They are among the fastest flyers Silverwing have to offer. They are led by Syr himself."

"Most of them were your common Pidgeot, I hope that's acceptable," Tallie added with a hint of condescension.

"Perfect. Got a lot of those working at the mail center in Iron Town anyway, which is just what we need to make our imposters look natural," Marrow said. "And don't worry about our 'common Pidgeot'. They can be fast when they want to be."

The Talonflame huffed and turned her head.

"Good. Ready to tell us what you're thinkin' about, Jake?" the Nidoking said. "You've got us all in suspense here."

"I'm getting to that! Alright, alright."

Marrow climbed up onto the table and pointed at the map.

"Here's Purevine," he explained, indicating a woody area. "This is where Saura's family is supposedly waiting for him. Our mission is to get Team Ember in and out of there as safe as we can, and make it look like they came alone, like it was just another old mission they were running. But we're also going to watch them, and if Adiel does something, we'll be there to get 'em out of the trap before they'll know what hit 'em, and hopefully we'll learn something in the process. Now, for a quick escape, I'm thinkin' we can do a pop-'n-pull. That's fooled Adiel every time, and terrain looks perfect for it. What do you think, Rocky?"

"There's a creek here," Nidoroch noted, tapping a claw upon the map. "Won't that get in the way?"

"Eh? Nah, it doesn't look too deep. Worst case, it might throw off Adiel into thinkin' we're not doing it," Marrow said with a passing chuckle. "Anyway, I was thinkin' about a fuzzy ripple, but that may not be necessary. We'll do a straight-shot instead."

"Fuzzy ripple. I haven't heard of this strategy," Otto remarked. "What is a fuzzy ripple?"

"That's when you don't want the enemy to know where you're coming from, so if you're having a strategic meeting, first you go out in all different directions and then arrive at the rendezvous from all sides, so they don't know where you really came from if they're watching," Nidoroch told him.

"Yeah, problem is, usually we need mons who know how to teleport, if we don't want that to take us five hours," Marrow said. "So what we're gonna do is a straight shot, which is in large the same thing, 'cept we all go to some random point out here, and we close in from there. Still keeps our origin point hidden, but it's much less effort."

"I see," Otto said. "And where is the point we will meet?"

"I'm gettin' to that!" Marrow cried. "Hold your feathers. Now look."

Marrow crawled down the map and indicated another point, far away from Purevine.

"Here's Sitrus City. Scythe told me you've been there before," Marrow said. "Now, first we'll have our mailbirds hop into the post office downtown in Iron Town, and they'll take over the mail route that goes through Purevine Village and into Citrus City. While they're doing that, we all hop on our dragons and fly out to Citrus City and wait for them to arrive. When they get in, they'll give the recon intel we need. They'll tell us if there's an ambush waiting for us and what kind of enemies we're up against. Got all that, Tallie? You'll be flyin' with the mail route today."

"Oh… uh, yes! I get it!" Tallie squawked, snapping to attention. "Simple."

"Right. Then after we get the status report and we have an idea of what we're headin' into, then we'll fly Team Ember out here, into the middle of nowhere, and they'll walk to Purevine," Marrow continued, dragging his bone club across the map to draw paths. "Meanwhile, Rocky and I will set up the pop-'n-pull, Tallie, you'll patrol this area for any enemy activity, and I'll put the dragons here, or maybe… here, so they'll be ready for an ambush. Alastair, can you be sneaky?"

"Can a Charmander burn things?" Alastair laughed. "C'mon, what kind of question is that? I'm born sneaky."

"Just what I wanted to hear. I'm givin' you two invisible seeds – heaven knows we have more than we can use now from the Ingrain Town debacle – and I'll drop you off here. Find somewhere to hide in the village, and stay close to Saura. If anything happens we didn't plan for, you'll be the one to cut the ropes, as it were. Keep your closest eye on Saura, since he's the one with the bounty on his head. If worse comes to shove, I'll take care of Ray and Char. Just make sure Saura's safe if this suddenly all goes downhill."

The Weavile only grunted in response, and wore a small, nasty smirk. Char thought he seemed most delighted at the notion of using an invisify seed.

"Good. Everyone understand what we need?" Marrow shouted, slapping his club on the table one last time. "Oh… and Char?"

"Yeah?" Char croaked, wondering why Marrow hadn't given him any specific orders. "Do you need me to do anything?"

"Yeah, you're the crux of this whole operation," Marrow said. "Your job, once we drop you off, is to act stupid. Pretend you didn't hear any of this meeting and you're just on a standard daily mission to give an apple to a hungry Pokémon for a bit of money. So just… do whatever you would do in that situation. That applies to you too, Saura. I know it's exciting that you might get to see your family, but the only way we can protect you is if you don't do anything unexpected."

"Yeah… I understand," Saura replied uneasily.

"Alright, looks like everything's all in place for Operation Appletree!" Marrow proclaimed, standing up tall. "Let's get in the air, fellows. This apple won't deliver itself!"


Char spent the next few hours alongside Ray on the back of a Salamence. In only the first two minutes of the trip, he already found himself having a profound new appreciation for the Dragonite fleet which had taken him to the Emerald Division; this dragon was not particularly friendly or professional, and seemed to resent the task of flying two Pokémon a few miles to the northwest. "Don't fall," it had told him outright just before taking off. "I won't catch you if you fall, so hold on."

After a particularly bumpy and stressful ride, the team landed in Sitrus City at about high noon and began the long wait for the mailbirds. They congregated at the city park, and broke into smaller groups to wander around the fields and not look too suspicious. Otto flew off to sit in the treetops, and Char walked with the rest of his team down one of the park's dirt paths, trying his best to enjoy the fresh air and calm weather while tensions were so high.

It seemed like a very long wait, especially to the young Bulbasaur, who stumbled around so awkwardly that Char wondered whether he'd accidentally ingested a whole canteen of fermented berries for breakfast.

"What's taking them?!" whined the wobbly Bulbasaur, changing from overjoyed and excitable one moment to downcast and despairing the next. "The mail should be here by now, shouldn't it, Marrow? What's taking them? Did they die?"

"Possible, I guess, but unlikely," Marrow said, peering up at the sky. "Don't know how the townsfolk down there would react to having their mail couriers captured or killed. Hey, easy! Watch where you're going, there. You'll fall over!"

"Sorry! I-I-I just… Ahh. Ahh! It's the headache, it's distracting me so much right now, I can't stop thinking about them. My family." he confessed. "I can't see straight. But… it's like it doesn't hurt, exactly. It's just distracting."

"Whoa, maybe the pain is going away?" Ray gasped. "Maybe if you meet your family, it'll go away completely!"

"Yeah! I really hope so!" Saura said. "And as soon as those mail birds get here, they can tell us whether or not they saw any Venusaur! And then I'll know they're okay!"

"Maybe. Don't get ahead of yourself," Marrow warned him. "We don't even know the Venusaur is your own family. It's not like Venusaur aren't common around these parts, after all. And besides, the Venusaur is only one of the things we're having 'em scout for. They've got to see if there's an ambush waiting for us. Maybe Adiel himself is in the village."

"Yeah, I know! But… maybe they are my family!" Saura cried, hopping about. "Maybe they are there! I just can't wait to find out… You don't know what this means to me."

"Char and I know," Ray said gingerly, patting the Bulbasaur on the head. "We saw those dreams of yours, remember?"

"Oh, I really hope they're there," Saura rambled. "I really, really hope it's all true, and they're alive… Please let them be alive…"

*Bonk*

Marrow gently thwapped the Bulbasaur with his bone. "Hey now, don't lose yourself in all this touchy-feely business. Remember what we discussed," he said. "Act like this is Team Ember's operation. Even if your family is there, don't rush into this and do something you'll regret. You've got to be a professional here, or you might ruin it for everyone."

Char was about to offer a word of encouragement to his friend when he missed a step and almost fell flat on his face.

He figured it was just a bump in the road he hadn't seen, but it happened a second time: his leg wouldn't obey his command for a moment, and he began to stumble.

Oh. This again, Char thought to himself, giving a heavy sigh as he dropped to all fours and tried to take careful steps. He knew that most of the group's attention was on Saura, and he hoped they wouldn't notice his odd behavior, at least until the Call passed.

The sensation had become all too familiar to Char now. He thought perhaps his mind was starting to adapt to the volume of the Call, and was growing to accept its role as a conduit for the massive psychic messages. He wished only that he knew what to use it for.

Ah, such terrible timing, he silently lamented. There's nobody here to use it on. Just Marrow, and my team… what would I have them do, anyway? There's not really anything…

Hello, Char!Celebi called to him. Having a good day? I hope so! But if you're not… maybe this will help you! Get ready for the Call!

Great, but what do I use it for?! Char angrily asked himself. You should have waited until I was up against Adiel, at least! But at this point, it's completely useless…

Char's thoughts were cut off when he felt the wave of energy bursting from his consciousness. He knew he only had a few moments to decide what command to give to any, or all, of the Pokémon around him, Pokémon who were still oblivious to the true nature of his hidden power.

Sighing, Char decided there was only really one thing to say.

Guys, he spoke with the powerful telepathy. Let's do our best today, alright?

When the pulse ended, Char could have sworn he witnessed Marrow's expression instantly change even through the ivory mask he wore.

"But… at the same time, don't lose that heart of yours," Marrow spoke. "Maybe you're right, after all. Maybe this won't be so bad."

"Yeah! We're going to be on our best today!" Ray cheered. "We'll put on a show Adiel won't believe! Right, Char?"

"Yeah, uh… right!" Char mumbled.

"And even if something goes wrong, we have a solid exit strategy," Marrow reminded him. "So don't you worry about any bloodshed or whatever. We're gettin' you out of there one way or another. But a nice family reunion would make this whole day just perfect, if that's what destiny's got in store."

"Yeah, we're in this for you!" Ray said. "I'll admit I'm a little scared, but if there's a chance we could make this the best day of your life, Saura, then it's worth the try!"

Char smiled. The sense of optimism was instantly contagious.

"Thanks, guys. You're going to make me cry," Saura said with an awkward laugh. "Ahh… hey, Char? Are you alright? You've been pretty quiet this whole time. Anything on your mind?"

"Oh, uh, not really," Char said quickly, standing back upright and snapping out of his daze. "Just... nervous like the rest of you, heh."

"Not what your tail says," Marrow said knowingly. "Maybe my memory isn't the best, but I remember how a Char's flame works, it'd be gettin' more fiery by now if you were afraid. But the way it's moving now, I'd say somethin' else is on your mind. You're distracted."

Char bit his lip. "Yeah, guess you're right. I'll, uh… I'll talk about it later, when there's time," he admitted, embarrassed in front of his friends and hoping everyone would forget about it before "later" ever came.

"Even so, don't let yourself get too distracted, you'll slip up on the job," Marrow said. "By the way, ever wonder why everyone can tell you're lying all the time? It ain't your face, it's the tail flame. It shrinks and flickers when you're distorting the truth. Might want to learn to control your thoughts a bit better. At least around those who've known a Char before. You're too easy to read!"

Yeah, yeah, I know! Sometimes it's too much to keep track of, Char wanted to say. How about YOU try mind-controlling everyone around you? It's not the easiest thing in the world.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Saura asked him sincerely. "Is it bad? We can talk about it now if you want to get it off your chest…"

Char almost chuckled at the idea that Saura had any concern for him on such an occasion. "Nah, forget it. I'll be fine," the Charmander said. "It's not nearly as important as what you're going through right now."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Alright, if you say so," Saura muttered, swinging his head from side to side. "Darn, almost thought you could help me take my mind off things for a bit! Ahh… I can't take the wait! I can't take it! Ple-e-ease, Arceus, I want to know soon! Can't you hear me? – AHHGAA!"

Otto swooped over their heads and landed upon the road right in front of Saura, startling him so badly that he jumped back and landed on his side.

Huh… so Bulbasaur can fall over, Char thought to himself with a little giggle. Never would have believed it.

"They're here," Otto reported, as though oblivious of what he had done to his teammate. "The recon team has arrived."

"AND?!" Char and Ray cried in unison.

"Did they see any Venusaur?" Saura begged, righting himself and brushing himself off.

"They report seeing Venusaur, two of them," Otto answered. "As well as at least one Ivysaur."

Saura's face beamed, and his mouth hung open in a gaping smile.

"What about the enemy, huh?" Marrow demanded. "What's the ambush look like?"

"They did not tell me," Otto replied. "You will have to speak with the recon team yourself. They have only minutes to remain here before they must resume the course. Follow me."

It was hard for even the airborne Pidgey to stay ahead as his teammates scrambled after his lead. As they ran, Char could hear his Bulbasaur friend saying something under his panting breaths:

"Saurvor… Saurvor is alive… Saurvor is alive…"

Though he was happy there was a glimmer of hope for him, he knew he needed to keep a watchful eye over his friend; he couldn't forget about Adiel, who probably planned for the Bulbasaur to be so emotionally compromised when walking right into the trap.

But Char decided to let himself feel some of the same optimism he had given his friends with the mind-speak.

We've got this, he said to himself. Nothing's going to go wrong. I can feel it.

We're going to do awesome. There's nothing to worry about.

*Chapter 79*: Chapter 59: A Place I Knew

o

Chapter 59

While Tallie and the flock of Pidgeot took a breather from their mail route and pecked at their lunches, Syr stood beneath the shade of a sycamore tree and awaited the presence of the taskforce to deliver his report. Char took one look at the great bird's face and figured there was good news in store; the Staraptor seemed proud and most at-ease, his face beaming with a smile.

"Aye, good to see you this afternoon," Marrow called to Silverwing's leader, stumbling along behind Team Ember. "How were the skies today?"

"I thought it would be the ground you were most interested in hearing about," Syr said with a chuckle, briefly bowing to the esteemed Marowak. "But if you must know, the upper skies were cold and dry today; you should expect an autumn shower by the end of the week. I must say, the stale air made us work for our altitude. It was a challenge to arrive here in good time."

"Ah, but nothing a good ol' mailbird like yourself isn't trained to handle," Marrow replied playfully.

"Yes, indeed. The mail must stop for nothing!" Syr replied, spreading his wings dramatically. "Which unfortunately means I must be leaving again soon, so come close and listen."

Saura didn't have to be told twice; he eagerly galloped up to the bird and planted himself front-and-center beneath the raptor's gaze.

"In plain sight, there appeared only three Pokémon of interest," the mailbird explained, subduing the volume of his voice just slightly. "There was a Venusaur at the bank of the stream, and another in the village, there was also an Ivysaur in the general vicinity of the stream. I had the formation spread wide and the far wingmen climb some extra altitude, but there were no other suspicious Pokémon visible to us. Only wilds and innocent villagers."

Saura gasped at the mention of the Venusaur, shifting uncomfortably and pawing at the grass as he awaited more news. Char sighed, perhaps in exasperation, at seeing his friend so emotionally vulnerable. Though he was eager to help bring Saura back to his family, it unsettled him just how much the Watcher's curse was controlling his heart.

"Did they appear to be waiting for anything?" Marrow questioned, pegging his club into the ground and leaning upon it. "The Venusaur, rather. Were they acting impatient?"

"Behavioral cues suggested not," Syr reported. "The first Venusaur was traversing the town, the second seemed to be sunbathing. Neither looked expectant for a visitor."

"That's… that's my dad…" Saura gasped, his whole body quaking. "Dad's really lazy… he likes sitting by the water… That's got to be him, it's got to be…"

"Easy, there, little guy," Nidoroch warned. "We're still not sure if this is all what it seems. Syr, you're sure they weren't projected illusions? Or decoys?"

"There were no apparent signs," Syr replied. "Shadows passed over them properly, they left footprints in the dirt, made sounds… there was no evidence to suggest they could have been apparitions. The Venusaur at the riverbank was still clearly visible from two thousand yards, which suggests it was not a psychic's illusion…"

"Understood. And no signs of an ambush?" Nidoroch questioned. "No enemy surveillance?"

Tallie fluttered forward, answering the question in place of the Staraptor. "We performed a four-point check for the presence of enemy recon, but everything was dry," she said gruffly. "Of course, we didn't check inside of any of the housing units, or underground, and we certainly didn't check for any spatial anomalies like teleportation users. If anything's hidden, it's hidden too well for an overhead spot-check. But civilian behavior all checked out; no one seemed disquiet or irregular. If something's hiding in the village, not even the residents know about it."

"Correct. I conclude that either there is no opposition, or the enemy has taken the most extreme precautions possible to hide themselves from us, and know full well what you are planning," Syr added with a nod.

"Perfect," the Marowak said, leaning his bone back over his shoulder and glancing into the distance. "So either this is gonna be real, real easy, or… we're about to spring a mighty impressive trap and see what they're all about."

Char crossed his arms. "Uh… I don't know if I would call that perfect," he countered. "Adiel's asking for us to come, and we don't even know whether or not he's there?! If you ask me, that's not the most reassuring news in the world!"

"What would you have preferred, that we did find enemies there?" Marrow chucked, turning to give him a knowing glance through an eye-hole in his mask. "Trust me, if there were a large-scale ambush waiting for us, there'd have been some sign. Even Adiel couldn't cover his tracks that well."

"Yeah, but I bet Cepheus could," Char mumbled bitterly under his breath, swishing his tail and insolently turning his head away. He caught sight of Ray, who seemed unhappy by the mention of the evil Nidoking, but he stubbornly wore his scowl.

"Hey, none of that negativity now. I thought we were all sunshine and smiles a few minutes ago!" Marrow said sternly, tapping the Charmander on the shoulder with his bone. "Besides, we're not out of cards to play. Which reminds me, Syr. Did the insertion go well?"

"The Weavile hid himself in the baggage," Syr reported. "When we landed, he had already activated one of the invisibility seeds and we deployed him into the post office. If there are details which we did not catch, such as a deeper conspiracy, he will know before you arrive, and he will notify you to call off the mission if necessary."

"See? Everything's accounted for, Char!" Marrow said, hooking the knot in his bone around Char's neck and forcibly turning him back around. "Ye of little faith! You're gettin' out of there alive whether you like it or not."

Char only shrugged, still not entirely convinced they weren't making a terrible mistake.

Why are we even doing this…? Char wondered, feeling his optimistic thoughts crumble under all the uncertainty. Everyone seems confident enough… Saura's gone nuts about seeing his family alive, but that's because the curse is controlling his thoughts. The rest probably came from that Call I gave everyone. Otto's playing his role like a soldier, and Ray seems happy to be here.

But… what's going on here, really?

Why'd Marrow seem so intent on dragging us into all of this? With Adiel, of all Pokémon? Why are we springing this trap? What does he think we'll learn?

"We're out of time," Tallie squawked suddenly, looking at the sky. "We need to stay the course, or it's us who are going to look suspicious. Permission to depart?"

"Permission granted," Marrow replied. "Excellent work. Have a good flight home, Silverwing. Suppose now we've got to go find those dragons again so we can drop Team Ember in the field of duty. Come-along, Char… let's go over one more time what you need to do…"

"Yeah, like it's really all that hard," Char grumbled in reply. "We walk in a straight line. What's there to go over?!"

"Well, for starters, make sure you'll be ready for the exit move," Marrow warned him, leading him away. "If you've never done a pop-'n-pull before, it could catch you off guard…"


As Marrow dragged a reluctant Char off towards the waiting fleet of dragons, and as Tallie fluttered away in the opposite direction and prepared to complete the rest of the mail route with Team Silverwing, two Pokémon remained in place under the gentle shade of the sycamore.

The great Starraptor peered thoughtfully down at the tiny Pidgey, as though deciding whether or not to ask a question. Sensing his interest, the Pidgey waited patiently, his little beady eyes meeting the hawk's wise and piercing gaze.

"You never told me goodbye when you left," Syr said, his voice deep and gentle.

Otto blinked, tilting his head. "You gave me notice of my graduation; I thought it meant I was discharged," he said plainly. "I apologize if I misunderstood."

"Heh, heh… Otto, that is just like you," the great bird said warmly. "I suppose… what I wanted from you was a sense of… closure, I suppose."

"What type of closure?" the little bird inquired.

"Well… perhaps some type of indication I had done well as your teacher," Syr sighed. "When you're as old as I am, and you've had a tough student to teach, it means much to know whether you've truly helped them…"

Otto hopped in place, instantly understanding. "My record with Team Ember is three missions successful, one failed. …And one pending." The Pidgey was clearly proud of his boast; he gazed expectantly into his old teacher's eyes, awaiting the inevitable praise.

But the Staraptor only sighed. It wasn't a bitter sigh, or a contented one, but a knowing one.

"So you are successful, yes," the old bird said. Squinting keenly at his former apprentice, he asked, "But are you happy?"

Otto fluttered his feathers at the unexpected question. "I don't know," he said plainly. "But it is not important. Success is more important than my happiness."

"…Really?" Syr replied, humming. "What makes you say that?"

"I was happy in the wild," Otto said with certainty. "And I will be happy once more if the Master is defeated, or if I know that I have helped in some significant way. Until then, the success of the goal is most important."

"Really, now?" Syr said curiously. "Is that how you define happiness? In the victory? You think it is really that simple?"

Otto looked confused. He opened his beak to say something, but could not decide what to reply with.

"You have grown to be a good bird, I can see that," Syr said, cutting him off. "I think I am satisfied with the work I have put into raising you. But before we must be separated for who knows how long, know that you are always welcome among my flock, and beneath my wing… for there are still some wisdoms and things that I, perhaps, may take to my grave, unless I pass them along to someone as capable as you. Understand, little Otto?"

"I understand," Otto chirped, meeting the elder's gaze.

"We ferals need to stick together, you know," Syr hummed, patting the Pidgey on the head with his wingtip. "Sometimes, all these civil Pokémon just start to become overwhelming, you know? Sometimes what we need most in life is one another."

Otto only blinked, uncertain of how to respond.

"Tell you what," Syr said jovially. "How about, for old time's sake, I tell you one last story."

"We do not have time for a story," Otto squawked. "We must leave immediately. Your flock is ready to leave and awaiting you."

"Nonsense! It is the perfect time for a story," Syr laughed. "And besides, it is only two sentences long: once, upon a time, there lived a Lucario who could not harness the power of aura."

He paused. A confused moment of silence passed between the two birds.

"What happened to the Lucario?" Otto inquired, tilting his head in interest.

The Staraptor stood tall and spread his wings, blocking the sun from the Pidgey's eyes. "He was the weakest, most inefficient soldier the world had ever known," he spoke, leaping into the air and flying back to his waiting flock before the Pidgey could say anything more.


Willow Woods

After three more torturous hours on the back of a Salamence who had no regard for the state of his stomach, Char couldn't have been more thankful it was finally time to land.

The landing site was a humid, misty forest with a perpetual cloud hanging over the canopy, a shroud to make it harder for any potential onlookers to tell if the dragons had landed or kept on flying in a different direction. Despite the moisture, it was quite a warm place and Char instantly felt more comfortable – at least until he remembered he was about to begin a death-march straight into Purevine Village, and that his day would likely end up with Adiel's pincers closed around his neck.

"The rest is up to you," Marrow told them gruffly. "We've got to get going and get into position. Just walk south-southeast from here. Make good time, don't dawdle, and you'll be there by evening. That'll give us plenty of time to get the job done and get home before it gets too dark."

"Purevine's on your map, check that if you get lost," Nidoroch added. "Oh, and if you get captured, don't forget to have Char light the map on fire, since it shows the location of the Gold Division."

"And you're sure we're going to get out alive?" Saura said worriedly.

"Sure! Sure I'm sure," Marrow replied. "Look, I told you this. We got Alastair in the village already. If he tells us somethin's wrong when we get there, we turn around and leave. If we don't hear from him at all, we turn around and leave. And if somethin' goes wrong while you're talkin' to your family, I'll get ya out of there before you can even say the next word on your mind. Happy? Oh, and you're forgetting the other likely possibility: that Adiel's just plain messing with our minds, and he isn't staging an attack at all. Judging from what the birds told us, that's probably what we're in for: a whole lotta nothing. Alright?"

"Let us make a secret signal," Kyria the Breloom suggested. "How about… 'I don't need your pity'. If any of you say that phrase, we'll abort the mission right then and there."

"I don't need your pity," Char repeated, imagining saying the phase defiantly to Adiel's face.

"Yep, exactly that," Kyria said. "Don't forget! We're going to be keeping a close eye on you, but depending on what happens, you might spot the danger before we do. So be on your guard!"

Then, after Team Remorse gave their last bits of advice and wishes of good luck, they took off on the dragons and left Team Ember standing all alone in the far-away forest.

The landing point was nowhere near Purevine Village; the tiny garden habitat where Saura's family waited was not even a speck on the horizon. Char knew, thanks to all the debriefing information he was forced to memorize, that the walk would take at least five hours. Though it wasn't the walk that worried him – he'd been through much worse, especially up north – it was the nagging idea that there were other things amiss. And now that he was alone with his team, he felt that he could finally discuss what was on his mind.

"So, um… does anyone else think this is completely crazy?" Char said out loud, leading his team through the tangle of stringy willow branches. "I really hope Team Remorse knows what they're doing. Because if you asked me to come up with this whole plan, I… really don't see what the point is in practically delivering Saura right to Adiel and then snatching him away again… I really don't see what good could come out of this. But apparently Team Remorse sees something. They know this whole espionage thing better than we do."

"Learning about the enemy is the most important part of war," Otto explained, riding atop Saura's back as he would usually do when Char didn't want him in the air. "If you trigger action from the enemy, you can watch how they act. Then you learn about them. By triggering Adiel's trap, Marrow wishes to learn about his motives and his methods."

"Alright, yeah, I get that," Char said oddly, "but that works both ways, doesn't it? If you were to ask me, Adiel's just using that trick on us, and he's about to learn a lot about us by watching the way we act when we show up to the place he planned… How do we know we're not just feeding him most of the information here?"

"Your complaint… is well-founded, and I do not know the answer," Otto replied, sounding stunned. "If Marrow did not consider this fact, it would imply he is incompetent."

Char stopped walking for a moment, letting the words sink in. A certain thought became stuck in his head and he froze for a moment, staring at the ground.

"Ah, Hey! Don't worry! I'm sure it will be fine," Ray said, lugging the bag on his back which held the apple they were to deliver. "Adiel's probably not even there…"

"Well, it's not just that, exactly," Char returned, almost bitterly. "Actually, there was something that really bothered me about this morning. Anyone else notice when Scythe came in this morning, he said, 'have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?'"

"…Yeah, he said that," Saura said absentmindedly. "I remember him saying that."

"I confirm," Otto chirped.

"Well, that's been nagging at me this whole time," Char said. "Scythe told us not to blindly trust anyone. That's what he said when he left us alone on top of Temporal Tower… and now, he wants his own team to blindly trust him? That just doesn't seem like something he would say."

"I wouldn't call it blind trust," Ray speculated. "He's acting just the way he always used to act. I remember the old days, Scythe would always be happy all the time. Just like this! It's just that you never got to see a lot of this side of him. Crazy things started happening as soon as you two joined the Division. That's when Adiel started appearing again and everything."

"Yeah, but even when he was happy, he was still serious in the team meetings," Char said, glaring directly into Ray's eyes. "I remember one day before you were on the team, we joined one of his team meetings. That was the day after the Call happened the first time. Scythe got really serious and he knew what to say to his team. Today… he came to the meeting and he wasn't serious at all. That bothers me."

Ray shrugged. "Well, maybe Scythe's right. It looks like we might not even have anything to worry about when we get to this village. Maybe Scythe just knew that ahead of time and didn't think it was a big deal. I know this is scary, but… maybe we should just do our best and see how this works out? If something goes wrong today, yeah… I think we should all be worried."

Char scowled and turned away.

"Why did I have to go and use the Call on you…?" he bitterly muttered. "You never needed any more positivity. Now you're just brainless."

"…What?" Ray squeaked, sounding hurt. Instantly, Char regretted his words, knowing that his teammate had at least caught wind of the "brainless" part.

The Charmander snapped. "So you're saying it doesn't bother you that none of this makes any sense?" he growled, leaning towards the Raichu's face. "You really aren't worried about this? Well, I'm the team leader here, and I say something fishy is going on. I don't think Team Remorse has any idea what they're getting into. Adiel has unlimited help and we have, what? Ten Pokémon? You really think we have a chance to get out of this if Adiel's planning something? You really think this is going to end well? You think maybe instead of blindly marching to our doom, we should sit down and talk about this?"

"Whoa, hey, Char…" Ray said concernedly, backing away from his fiery teammate. "I didn't mean it like that. You want to talk? We can talk. I thought that's what we were doing…"

"No, you were blindly following Scythe, just like you always have with all of your dumb hero-worshipping," Char shot. "Now this is just going to be Zerferia all over again. I thought maybe you would have learned something from that with the rest of us."

"No," Ray said calmly. "I'm here because I was following you. If I'm worshipping any hero, it's my team leader, alright? You want to abort the mission? That's fine by me. I was just trying to be helpful…"

"Yeah, real help now, when we're in the middle of nowhere," Char grumbled, clawing at his forehead in exasperation. "We have nowhere to go and we can't abort the mission without just going rogue. It's too late to turn back. We've got no choice but to do exactly what Adiel wants. I just… I don't understand how this happened. It was all too fast."

"SQAWRK!"

Startled by Otto's shrill cry, Char and Ray halted their argument and gave him their attention. The Pidgey still perched upon Saura's bulb, but he looked concerned.

"I do not mean to disrupt your discussion," the Pidgey said, "But Saura appears to be incapacitated by a headache again."

Before Otto had even stopped talking, Char noticed the pained cringe upon the Bulbasaur's face. The heavy regret hit him of having let himself get distracted by such petty insecurity, and his rage melted into pity as he rushed to his friend's side.

The Bulbasaur's face was buried into the ground, his forehead pressed against the wet soil of the forest. His eyes were closed so tightly, as if the sunlight was too much for him, and streams of tears traced from the corners of his eyes and dribbled down his nose. Char rushed up to him and hugged him, startling Otto away. Breathlessly, he caressed the Bulbasaur's head, reaching for any words of consolation he might have.

"No," Char gasped. "No, Saura… not now, no… You've got to get through this. You've got to fight it! C'mon, Saura… don't let it take you. You can fight it."

Saura only moaned, ignoring Char's words.

"Last time, he acted like this for a few moments," Otto said, "Then he started to scream uncontrollably."

"Saura… there's nobody here to help you this time!" Char urged his friend. "Eva's not here. And we don't have a lot of supplies… we're just in the middle of nowhere, fending for yourselves. You can't break down here, Saura. Please… we couldn't help you if you did…"

Saura sniffed loudly, his eyes blinking open.

"Char…" he croaked weakly. "Char, it's okay. It's not a headache this time…"

"…Oh…? Really?" Char said, blinking disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I'm… just… thinking about something," Saura said, his voice filled with sadness. "I was just… kinda getting scared. Realizing I'm about to see my family again. Heh… this might actually be happening and I'm not even prepared for it…"

"Yeah, your family," Char told him, refusing to let go. "It's just the Watcher's curse doing it to you… it's making you obsessed with seeing them again."

Saura laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "No… no, Char, it's not. The Watcher had nothing to do with it. This time it's all just me."

"…What?" Char said, blinking in surprise.

Saura returned the Charmander's confused gaze. "You really think I need a Watcher's curse to miss my family?" he said oddly. "I missed my family since before I met you. In fact… if I never found you and we weren't chased into that dungeon that night and I never found out the resistance even existed… I would have just gone back to them in the morning."

Char almost couldn't understand for a moment. He'd always thought the Watcher curse had been affecting his friend's thoughts and actions – he even remembered the Bulbasaur marching the wrong way into the blizzard, in one desperate final attempt to see them again. He always thought the headaches were controlling his life.

Char shut his mouth, and released the Bulbasaur from his embrace. Finding no words, he simply sat down beside him and shared an apologetic glance.

"You probably can't understand," Saura said, looking up at him, "but this is one of the hardest things I've ever done in my whole life, going back to see them… It's not even about the headaches, it's just… I'm scared of seeing my dad again. I don't know if he still loves me…"

"What?! Why wouldn't your dad love you?" Ray cried in surprise, sitting down next to Char. "Is it because you ran away?"

"My dad and I weren't very close," Saura admitted, pawing at the ground. "The rest of my family loved me so much and I loved them back. But dad was always so… I don't know, he just never seemed interested in me as much as the others. He was always angry at me like I was disappointing him with everything I did. Not anyone else… just me. For a long time I thought I was just being whiny about not getting my way. I wanted to be strong like Saurvor was. Saurvor was the first Ivysaur in our family. Everyone looked up to him, especially me. So I thought, maybe I could be strong like Saurvor, and make dad happy. But then the Flareon came one day…"

He sighed, casting his gaze down and focusing on a clump of dirt beneath his nose. A teardrop fell upon it.

"There were all kinds of things I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be an adventurer like my older brothers, and I wanted to move out of town with them and explore the world and try all the berries that exist and maybe, I dunno, find a mate and grow a forest together! But one day that Flareon came and he said, 'you've got seven days to come with me' and so I went to mom and I told her I really, really didn't want to work for the Master all my life… but she wanted me to go… and she told dad about it, and…"

With a heavy sniff, Saura closed his eyes.

"The last thing dad ever said to me, it was, 'Saura, if there's one thing you're going to do with your pathetic life, you're going to do what the Flareon tells you.' And that's when I… I just ran away. I just… ran. Everyone else was asleep and I didn't get to say goodbye. And I remember, the moon was out and I just ran into the forest and told myself I would see the whole world all by myself and I wouldn't let the Master catch me!"

"Well, you kinda… did," Ray said, trying to be positive. "You got to fulfill your dream! And the Master never did catch you, did he?"

"Yeah, but… there was always a part of me that regretted it," Saura confessed. "The feelings that the Watcher cursed were already in my head the whole time, the curse just made it worse. I remember when I got to the cave, I thought about going back and saying I'm sorry, but I found Char, and we got chased, and… all this happened… and *sniff* I realize now maybe dad was right… maybe I put the whole family in danger when I ran. Maybe I deserve to have everyone hate me… and now dad wants me to bring him an apple! He… he wants me to see him again. I want to hear what he has to say. And you know what? I guess I don't really care that much if he hates me anymore. It was my choice to turn into a fugitive… But I just want to know if everyone's okay, that's all… If they're doing okay without me… then… that's all I want to know. Ow… ow—ah—okay, the headache's back now. There it is."

The little Bulbasaur closed his eyes tightly for a moment, grinding his teeth together hard enough that Char could hear. But he overcame the pain in a hurry, and stared back at his friends with his teary eyes.

"Sorry, that probably didn't make a lot of sense," he sighed. "But… you and Ray are over there arguing about whether or not Adiel's going to be there, and all I'm worried about is my father and how he's going to react when he sees me. Char… can I ask you something…?"

"What is it?" Char replied softly.

"I went to Temporal Tower with you," Saura said meekly. "It was… the most risky, insane, and just… dangerous thing I've ever done in my life. If it wasn't for Celebi and Dialga, I know we wouldn't have survived. But I did it… because… I wanted to help you find closure about wherever you came from. Now… I know I'm not secretly a human and I'm not a personal friend to the dragon gods, and I don't have this crazy destiny to change the world like you do. But I was wondering… would you be willing to do the same thing for me in return? … Is it too much to ask?"

Char looked into the Bulbasaur's broken, confused gaze. He saw his closest, dearest friend, the one who'd given him everything he had out of the kindness of his heart, opened every door, given him every opportunity in this strange world of Pokémon…

It had finally come time for him to ask for repayment. It was something, Char knew in the depths of his Ember, the Bulbasaur truly deserved.

Char stood back up, feeling all of the weakness and insecurity suddenly gone. Just moments before, he had felt powerless, like some puppet of Team Remorse without a say in the matter. Now, as he stared down at Saura, and at his other two friends who silently awaited his words, he remembered what he truly was all along: the team leader.

"Of course we're going," Char decided, his voice firm. "Okay, yeah, you're right. I know this plan is stupid and risky, but I forgot the real reason we were going in the first place. Saura… I don't care if we have to go through Adiel and Cepheus. They can stack the odds against us all they want. Doesn't matter. I'm going to make sure you get your word with your father. It's the least I can do in return for you."

Even through his misery, Saura cracked a grateful smile.

"T-thanks," Saura said bashfully. "This means a lot to me. If I never ask you for anything else in my whole life, I'll be happy with this, at least..."

"Hey," Char said sternly. "I told Otto we're all equals on this team, and I'm sticking to that. We all have to be separated from our families, so it's only fair. This is the only family we've got."

Char stood up, looking at the team he would lead to the south. He could see that his resolutions had brought more happiness to the three other Pokémon than his Call could have done. Ray looked touched, and even Otto seemed to revere the words somehow.

"Now, I'm going to walk to Purevine, and I'm not going to stop until my Ember fades. Worst case, we all die and I finally get to visit Giratina, I guess, right? Well, then. Let's go. We're running late."

Char turned forward and began a determined march into a bush of cattails.

"Um, Char?" Ray called quickly. "I don't think…"

There was an audible Sploosh as the Charmander tripped and fell face-first into the shallow bank of a peaceful lake.

Before he had time to fidget and wonder how to escape from the muddy quicksand without submerging his tail, a pair of vines wrapped around underneath his shoulders and gently lifted him out.

As he hung in the air on Saura's vines, having no idea how much of his front was now covered in mud, Char gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I guess I'm not much of a team leader if I don't watch where I'm going," he said bashfully. "But… seriously, this place is really cloudy… it's so hard to see! How was I supposed to know where the ground ended?!"

"Cattails only grow in water," Otto said blankly. "Avoid them the same way you would avoid Rayquaza's Eye and Poison Orchid."

"Alright, alright! Sorry," Char rambled as his feet touched the ground again. "I'll actually look where I'm going this time."

Saura glanced jokingly at his teammates before unwrapping the Charmander. "What do you think? Does he deserve another chance?" Saura laughed. "Alright, alright, I guess you've earned it. One more chance. How long until you learn to use those legs of yours? You've been tripping over things since the first day you transformed into a Charmander. Maybe as a human you were just bad at walking!"

"Says the Bulbasaur who managed to trip over your own legs earlier today," Char teased. "How does that even happen? Isn't your belly touching the ground all the time?"

With a thwip, Saura snapped a vine under Char's legs and Char was face-down on the ground again. "You mean like that?" he called.

The filthy Charmander glared at his friend through a mask of dripping mud, but the glare faded into a warm smile, one which was returned by the Bulbasaur. In that moment, something reminded him there was no other place in the world he needed to be.

I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Char told himself. I promise.


Ion Plains

When the team found their way out of the misty cloud and left the magnificent willow trees behind, a great golden savannah opened before them. The plains appeared to be flat and barren at first, with only the occasional lopsided tree or flat boulder littered about, but Char saw how the earth was covered in a rich field of grass. Ambergrass, it was called, a type of stalk which grew tall and took the appearance of dead and dry wheat, even as it was flourishing and healthy. It was a type of grass he had seen in his travels several times before, like on the first night he and Saura escaped from their first mystery dungeon while running from Scythe and Shander. He was beginning to form a strong suspicion that Ambera had been given its name in part due to the abundance of this crisp and golden weed which sprung up all over the temperate regions surrounding the plateau.

The ambergrass varied in height; in some places it formed quaint patches of fluff which barely reached Char's ankles, and at other times it became towering stalks which swallowed Char and his friends completely, extending far over their heads. When it became so thick that they could not see, Char sent Otto into the sky as a lookout, the fear of stepping into a sudden creek bed still fresh in his mind. He held his tail close to his chest, careful not to start a field fire, although he suspected the grass was somehow flame-resilient despite its fragile appearance.

At one point when the stalks were tall enough to almost block the sunlight, Char began to giggle.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Ray begged.

"Nothing, just… had a funny thought," Char said, snickering. "We're… the Pokémon in tall grass."

"Huh…?" Ray said. "I don't get it."

"It's an old human joke," Char explained, shrugging. "Children would always ask the adults where they could find Pokémon, and the adults would always say, 'Oh, just go look in the tall grass, I'm sure you'll find something.' And… ah, never mind, I don't even remember why."

"Makes sense to me," Ray said, sniffing at the ground between the blades of grass. "The wilds always love hiding in the grass. Keeps them hidden from predators. Especially this ambergrass, which is the same color as most electric-types—"

Char grew annoyed as he waited for Ray to complete his thought. But the Raichu had forgotten all about what he was trying to explain; he stood onto his hind legs like an alerted squirrel, peering around himself.

"Thought I felt something," he said quietly. "Wait, wait… hold on. Where is this place, exactly?"

"It is called Ion Plains," Otto reported, fluttering back down from the sky. "I remember reading from the map. You should veer your course to the left; the grass becomes thinner and visibility will improve."

"Ion Plains," Ray mouthed, staring at the sky. "With a name like that, I wonder…"

Ray darted away, disappearing farther into the weeds.

"…That is not the way I suggested," Otto sighed, almost looking exasperated.

"...Ray! Wait, Ray! Where are you going!?" Char shouted, beginning to chase after him.

"Don't worry, guys!" the Raichu called loudly from somewhere far away. "I need to see something! Ha-HA, yes! Awesome!"

Rolling his eyes, Char motioned for Otto to follow the runaway rodent. He kept a close eye on the bird as he and Saura barreled through the prairie, but the thick weeds didn't make it easy. Char didn't bother trying to keep his flame from touching the grass as he ran; he was too distracted with thoughts of throttling the Raichu for wasting time.

After several minutes, the stalks finally thinned out, revealing the Raichu standing in the center of a clearing on his tiptoes, his eyes closed and his arms spread wide to the heavens. The bag he had carried lay in the dirt a few feet away. His long tail curved and pointed straight at the sky like a lightning rod beckoning to an invisible storm.

"Ray, what's the matter?!" Char demanded, stomping up to the rodent in a huff.

"…Don't you feel that?" Ray said happily.

"Feel what?" Saura wondered, tilting his head.

"I guess you can't feel it, but the air has a strong negative charge here," Ray explained happily. "It's an electric-type habitat. This whole savannah is!"

Char sighed as his teammate dropped to the ground and scampered away in no particular direction.

"Ah, it just feels really good to be here," the Raichu said as Char caught up to him again. It always feels nice in a thunderstorm, I mean, but in a place like this it feels good all the time, even without storms… Kind of like how you fire-types feel when you have lots of fire around. Or when a plant Pokémon is in a forest, I guess"

"Actually, we prefer the open plains more than forests," Saura noted, slightly annoyed. "Forests block the sunlight too much… Ray, you know we can't spend all afternoon here…"

"Oh, I know!" Ray replied absently, darting back and forth and leaving a lightning-shaped trail through the grass. "But you've gotta give me a second. Just a second! I'm looking for… hmm, just the right place… like here!"

Pausing upon an arbitrary patch of grass, Ray stood once again on his hind legs, holding his front paws high and raising his tail far above his head. A sinister smirk formed on his face.

The next thing Char knew, his ears rang from the sound of a terrible explosion. Before his eyes, he had barely recognized several streaks of lightning which popped from the ground and arched upward, converging onto the Raichu's body. The air sizzled with power and caught on fire as a mighty bolt descended from the cloudless sky, striking Ray on the tip of his tail.

Char gave a startled yelp as he threw himself to the ground, but couldn't remember hearing it over the protest of his ears.

As he tried to blink away the burns left upon his eyes, he watched the Raichu tense his body and clutch his paws close to his chest, wrangling with the bolt he had just collected, focusing all his effort just to swallow and control it. At last, he seemed to sigh happily as he prevailed over the electric charge, containing it steadily within himself. Ray looked quite different after the experience; though it was sunny, his fur clearly radiated yellow light. Char had never seen his friend swallow so much electricity before, and wondered if his bioluminescence could cast enough light to explore a dark cave on his own.

"…Wow, that was strong…" Ray said dizzily as he rejoined his team. "That was a good one. Now I've got enough power to fry Adiel if I need to!"

"I did not know lightning could fall from a clear sky," a terrified Otto squeaked, swooping down to rest upon the Bulbasaur's back once more. "I had always assumed lightning originates from clouds."

"Nah… lightning can come from anywhere that's got an electric charge!" Ray said, pointing at the sky. "Especially in a place like this. There are charges all over the place! And the real good ones are up where the clouds usually are, but you have to stand in just the right place to call them down. My brother taught me how to hunt for them a long time ago. He'd take me to a flat place just like this and he taught me what it feels like when a lightning bolt is up there."

"Well, I'm glad someone feels happy," Char groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Good that you got some energy now, but we probably shouldn't wander too far off course. Otto, which way do we go now?"

Char expected the bird to quip his answer at once, there was no immediate reply. He turned to see the little bird perched on Saura's bulb, staring agape at the sky with the most humbled and fearful eyes he had ever seen the little guy wear.

"Let us… not spend more time than necessary in this field," he replied, not exactly answering Char's question. "I should remain out of the air until we are gone."

"Good idea," Char said absently, scanning the horizon and trying to regain a sense of direction. "I think we were going—"

Char stopped in mid-sentenced when he realized his Raichu companion had run off again. In a blink, he had dashed many yards away, perhaps to search for yet another bolt of lightning. He sighed.

"Ray, what are you doing?" Char spoke to nobody, clawing at his forehead. "I don't want to chase you across the whole field…"

"Then don't!" Saura suggested, carrying the petrified Pidgey on his back. "Just let him run around for a while. He obviously likes this place. We're supposed to be acting natural anyway, right? If there's anyone watching, we're supposed to be acting like we're on our own today. I'm sure he'll catch up when he's ready."

"Yeah, I guess," Char said reluctantly. "Alright, fine. But we still need to get moving if we want to get to the village before sundown. Even if just for Otto's sake. Otto, are you going to be alright?"

"I do not fear many things," Otto said, shuddering awkwardly as he kept his balance upon Saura, "but lightning is one of my great fears. I believe I may have been struck by lightning once before I became civilized, or I may have perched in a tree which was struck, I do not remember. I do not fly well through a storm, and I do not perform well against electric-type Pokémon in battle…"

"Understandable. I'm not the best at swimming, personally," Char said with a shrug. "Alright, we'll let Ray run and play for a while. But if he takes too long, we'll have to go on without him…"


Char and his friends slowed their pace and meandered through Ion Plains, letting their rodent friend run ahead and go where he pleased. Though the prairie seemed peaceful and relaxing, and Saura appeared happy enough to gather sunlight for himself, Char had gotten a bit bored after a time. He was unable to sense the electric charge in the air as Ray had, which he was certain made it feel quite welcoming and exciting for any electric Pokémon, but to him it was nothing more than a featureless expanse of the yellow weeds dotted sparsely with rocks and trees. Occasionally they encountered a small rodent scuttling through the grass, or a herd of Luxray lounging in the grass some distance away, but none of the wilds paid them any attention. Char almost began to wish something would pick a fight with him, just for the sake of the excitement.

Otto, at one point, had chosen to fly ahead on the lookout for the lost Raichu. Char felt lost and restless, even with his oldest and best friend at his side.

"You know what's weird to me?" Char said with a hint of frankness. "Why does a place like this even exist? An electric-type habitat? I never thought I would see a place like this."

"What do you mean?" Saura said, attempting to humor him.

"Well, it's just…" Char said, muddling with his words and trying to find the right way to phrase them, "It's like it's… well, there's so many different kinds of environments here that are perfect for every kind of Pokémon. The other day, when I went on the mission with Otto and Team X, we visited a swamp that was just perfect for poison Pokémon. And then there was the dragon habitat we visited earlier. And then there's Red Haven, that place Scythe was watching over, which is a place where fire-types live…"

"So?" Saura said, shrugging. "What's so weird about that?"

"Well, I mean, what's next? Is there a dark-type habitat where the sun never rises? Or a psychic-type habitat? It's just so weird to me, ever since I came to Ambera, that it always seems like Ambera itself is just… too perfect? It's like it has designated areas for every kind of Pokémon to live happily. It's like the land itself adapted to accommodate the creatures… usually it happens the other way around. I just find that weird. Especially when we explore and discover a whole new place like this."

"That's just the way things are, I guess," Saura replied. "There's a place for every kind of Pokémon to live. That's just how it is for us here. Is it different in the human lands?"

"Well… yeah," Char said, trying to grasp old, invisible memories. "I mean, there are forests, and lakes, and caves and everything in the human lands… water Pokémon can live in the sea and ice-types can always go up north where it's cold. But we've got nothing weird like this, like a whole field that's electrically charged… The elemental Pokémon just live where they can, and sometimes the humans catch them and take care of them. Sometimes we have to make our own habitats for them. Like Pokémon gardens and power plants. And gyms. There are these really skilled Pokémon trainers who really like a certain type of Pokémon, so they collect them and train them and build a whole building out of that element and challenge other trainers to go in, and beat them in a duel."

"I think I've heard of something like that," Saura said. "Are your memories coming back at all?"

"Nah, that's just… common knowledge stuff, I think," Char said with a sigh. "It's just the way things are back home. It just always strikes me as weird that… well, back there, it was mainly up to the humans to make those specialized environments for the Pokémon to live happy. But here in Ambera, it's like… nobody has to do that, because the land did it by itself already."

A loud squawk interrupted Char's conversation, although it didn't faze him enough to make him jump, as his ears were still ringing from the close-range lightning strike. What did surprise him, however, was the sight of his Pidgey friend hopping along in the grass and almost stumbling over himself, his feathers hanging out of his body frayed and at odd angles, as though he'd gotten into an unsuccessful scuffle.

"I have… spotted Ray," Otto reported, ready to collapse. "I kept away from wild electric-types. I notice there are not many flyers here… I assume it is because flyers are all struck by lightning and have learned to stay out of the air here."

"…And? Where is he?" Char said eagerly. "Is he alright?"

"I couldn't tell," Otto continued. "I rested for a moment in a tree. I thought I would be safe from lightning there. But the tree was home to a family of Emolga, about twelve of them. They attacked me in defense of their home. I was electrocuted by them."

"Oh… ouch," Char said in pity, rushing up to the little bird to hold him. "Ah, I think we've got something in the bag."

"I… will recover, but I would prefer to remain grounded for a while longer, if possible," Otto said wearily. "But I understand that I might need to fly again to spot Ray. He has been separated from us for over an hour now."

"Hmm, wonder what got into that guy," Saura said with concern. "When I suggested letting him run off, I had no idea he'd be gone for so long."

"We could not have stopped him," Otto noted. "He runs faster on foot than even I can fly, especially with such an electric charge he captured. He could have evaded us easily if he did not wish to be caught. At this point, we can only hope he has disregarded us for a good reason."

"I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but it had better be a good reason," Char grumbled, eyeing the afternoon sun. "This is supposed to be Saura's day. I'm not going to let him ruin it…"

"Right now, it is clear to me that the Ion Plains were calling to him," the Pidgey said. "Ray is normally very focused and dedicated to this team. I believe that this field has touched upon something primal in his nature or in his memories. It is possible that he does not have control over his actions and could not have kept himself from running away."

Yeah, I know how that feels, Char told himself, remembering the terrifying night he had spent within the illusions of Temporal Tower, where the Watchers and the sight of the starry sky beckoned to him, reminding him perhaps of trace memories from before his transformation. Well, as long as it's not the Watchers doing it this time, let's leave him be for a little while longer. Hopefully he figures out what he came for…


Nearly a mile away, the wayward Raichu fervently zigzagged through the tufts of ambergrass, stopping to inspect each one as though tracking a mysterious scent across the savannah.

"When you're hunting for lightning, you've got to reach for the sky! The storm's only going to see you if you try to stand out. So let's get away from all the trees and stand out in the open!"

"Why? I thought you said that lightning can strike anywhere…"

"Yep! Lightning can strike absolutely anywhere! But the more you stand out from other tall things, the more likely the storm will notice you. So let's move away from the trees and see how the storm notices us!"

"Okay!"

"Hah, see if you can keep up with me!"

The Raichu raced closer to the stormcloud, focusing intently on that feeling he had been taught to recognize. Actually, it wasn't quite a stormcloud yet; it was only the beginning of one. With the moisture and the temperature and the pressure flowing across the atmosphere, there was no doubt to the Raichu that a thunderhead would soon form. But that was something only some Pokémon, like the electric-types, could naturally sense…

"Lightning likes to strike the tallest thing around! So you've got to get away from everything else. If you're really good at this, you can also climb a tree and try to act as its lightning rod, but it takes a lot of practice to keep the bolt from going right through you and grounding into the tree… If you mess up, the tree could catch on fire, and we're not immune to fire! So that's got to be a lesson for another day."

The Raichu felt a pang of regret as he realized that it was a skill he never really got the chance to practice. He figured he could try it out sometime to see if he'd grown strong enough.

"Feel that?"

"What?"

"That tingle. You'll feel it in your tail first, or in your ears. Then you'll feel it all over. That's how you tell where the charges are coming from. It's like a compass! You have to follow them fast, they move around a lot. This way!"

"Waiit!"

Dash this way, leap that way… yes, he could feel it. The currents were just right. The conditions were just perfect. He could draw an even bigger bolt from the sky, bigger than any he'd ever caught before.

"When it strikes, you won't hear anything or see anything! The moment it strikes you, you'll go deaf and blind at the same time, because it's brighter than the sun and louder than anything else in the world."

"Even Exploud?"

"Yeah! It would take a whole room full of them to match the sound of a lightning strike! It's so intense, you'll probably slip into a dream the first time you're struck. But don't worry; you'll come to your senses again."

"Uh… h-how does it feel? Does it still just feel like static?"

"Nope! It feels crazy! Kinda like… kinda like your whole body is made out of ice and then you get dropped into a pool of lava. If the bolt is strong, it'll probably hurt a lot, too."

"Whoa… Are you sure this is safe?"

"For anyone else, nope! This is totally deadly. But we're electric Pokémon. We're made for this!"

"For anyone else…" Ray breathed to himself as he dashed. "I'd better get far away from the others. Don't want them to get struck! Wait… where are they?"

Ray halted in mid-stride and blinked as though awakening from a dream. He peered around, but there was no sign of his friends. Nothing existed around him but the soft, dazzling yellow grass of Ion Plains, and the sunny sky overhead.

Wait… Ray thought, gasping as his mind returned to reality. How… far did I run? I couldn't have gone that far, could I? I wonder what got into me?

The Raichu knew, though, just what had gotten into him: memories. They were memories of his older brother, and of the very first storm-hunting session they shared. Ray was only a Pichu at that time; he remembered how he would often trip over his own legs while trying to keep up with his lightning-fast brother, and how he could never seem to keep his static charges from jumping out and striking the Pokémon and objects around him. But despite his weakness, he hung on to every word the Raichu would say, and working hard to learn and emulate his wisdom.

It was in an electric field, just like this one, where he caught his first bolt under his brother's supervision. The storm was roaring high above, ready to pour down rain, that magical tension of imminent lightning was everywhere. The Pichu was in absolute bliss, but not because of the storm – but because he wanted to become just as strong as his brother and the mythical Team Remorse he fought for. Learning to call down lightning would, in some small way, bring him closer to his brother's power.

Even now, so many years later, he remembered just how his brother's strong, confident, gleeful voice always sounded as he rambled. He was truly a Pokémon too fast, too filled with joy and energy for the rest of the world to handle; nothing could ever hope to stop him.

"There's a lot of stuff about electricity that you'll learn later. And the electricity we store in us isn't really the same as the lightning that comes from the sky. When we collect lighting, it mixes with our white energy and becomes Pokémon electricity, which is a little bit different than raw electricity."

"Really? It's different? How?"

"It's really hard to explain. Real electricity and Pokémon electricity have a lot in common. They can both charge batteries and power machines and strike things to burn them. But they behave just a little bit different from one another. The researchers aren't even sure of the answers yet, but I'll tell you what their best theory is… they think that maybe, Pokémon electricity is alive."

"Alive? How can it be alive?"

"Well, they think that when you put electricity into your inner spark, it gets mixed with your life force. So when you use it on something, your life force controls its path a little bit. Like, your life force becomes a spirit that controls the lightning and lets it behave like normal lightning can't."

"That's really weird!"

"Yeah, I know! But don't worry, you'll learn all that stuff later. Right now I just want to teach you how to swallow a bolt on your own. That way you can learn how to defend yourself from the really big enemies!"

"Can I attack Pidgeots?"

"Sure! All those scary birds won't ever attack you again if you've got strong lightning inside of you!"

As he sat and waited for Otto to spot him from the sky, Ray couldn't help but let his memories wander back to his brother.

Rautzen had been on his mind a lot lately, especially since he learned that it was only because of the Pokérus virus that his brother had been so powerful and heroic. Deep down, he still wasn't too sure how he felt about having the virus himself, but he knew that it gave him a fighting chance in the resistance, and a future to look forward to, so it was probably a good idea for his brother to lend him his strength in this way, as risky as it might have been. But there was something that still bothered him deeply. It wasn't the prospect of letting all of his friends outlive him, or of having a shortened lifespan in general – he felt as though he had already experienced enough action for three lifetimes, and had technically died once already – but he just wondered what in the world happened to the one who cared for him before his resistance life began.

Ray had gathered his courage, once or twice, to ask about his brother's death. There didn't seem to be any records of it, and no one on Team Remorse willfully spoke of Rautzen's fate, so he lived every day not knowing if his big brother watched over him from the spirit world and heard his prayers, or if he was still very much alive somewhere, somehow…

But it didn't matter whether or not he was alive. The end was the same: he wasn't around to teach his lessons anymore. If he wanted to learn new things, he'd have to figure them out for himself. He'd have to let the legendary Scythe, the great hero whom Rautzen always spoke of in his bedtime stories, to give him direction and teach him about the art of war. He'd need Team Ember, his newfound family, to keep him company whenever he'd get lonely. And he'd need to do just what his brother told him: he'd need to be the strength of his team, the one who'd never lose his smile or the spring in his step even in the direst of straits. Because that was the greatest service he could offer to Char, his human, and his warrior companions; to bring out the best in them. It was the only way to unlock the truly great potential in a team, just as Rautzen had unlocked the potential of Scythe and his Team Remorse every day; by being the source of their hope and optimism.

At least, that's what he always told himself.

"Isn't it hard to keep all that power inside of you? What if some of it leaks out?"

"Well… there's a little trick you can use if you're having trouble! Here. Look. See that?"

"It's a rock."

"Yeah, I put that there! Actually I put a whole bunch of them around. Notice how they're all smooth on top?"

"How'd you get it here? It looks really heavy!"

"I had a friend help. Now see, look. These stone platforms are made out of a metal called 'groundstone'. It doesn't conduct any electricity. You can try zapping it if you want, but your static won't be able to enter the stone. It'll just bounce off."

"It feels like metal! But lightning can't strike it?"

"Yeah. There are a lot of things that can't let an electric charge in. That's raw electricity. Pokémon electricity can enter even more things that raw electricity can't. Like, you could make Pokémon electricity travel through rocks, or rubber, or even glass if you zapped it hard enough."

"I bet Raikou could do it!"

"Hah! Yeah, I bet he could too. But one thing he can't zap is groundstone. As far as we know, it can't take any electricity at all, no matter how big of a charge. And so… if you stand on top of it…"

"You become the tallest thing around," Ray uttered to himself, remembering his brother's words. "And the lightning can't escape once it enters you."

His eyes fixated on an object in the distance. There, embedded in the ground and surrounded by small tufts of grass, was a large hexagonal stone with a smooth, clean-cut platform on top.

He had noticed the stone almost immediately, but he had taken it for a hallucination, a part of his memories that had been leaking onto his mind's eye. But recalling his brother's words, and the mental sight of him standing atop the groundstone to demonstrate the technique, made him realize what he was seeing.

"No…" he whispered to himself. "That's…"

Stricken with awe, the Raichu scampered up to the stone, approaching almost reverently. He traced his front claws over the edges, which had become cracked and worn through the decades. He offered the stone a static charge from the lightning he had swallowed, but it wouldn't take. The stone was made of an insulating substance.

"Waait! Brooother! Where are you going now?"

"We can't stay here! We have to chase the storm!"

"But what about the stone?"

"I put a bunch of stones around here, there's more! C'mon, we came too far to let the storm get away! Hurry!"

"No, not this one…" Ray gasped. "No, it was somewhere else…"

He got on his four paws and raced through the grass in the direction his heart led him.

"Rai! You've gotta be faster than that! The storm won't wait for you!"

"I'm… I'm trying! Waiit!"

"You're never going to get lightning from a storm that you can't catch! You'll just have to learn to be faster. Use your static to help you run if you need!"

"Aiiie! I can't!"

"Yes, you can. Don't lie to yourself. You won't get pity from anyone. Especially me."

"Brother! Ahh! Ahh! I… I'm so tired!"

"Alright, here's another stone. We can rest."

"Ahh… Brother, you're so fast."

"I know. You'll be just as fast someday. You'll have to be. It's expected of us electric-types. We need to be fast. Or we're useless to those who need us. It's just the way things are."

"I'll try…"

"Remember. Never accept pity from anyone. Always give pity, never accept it. That's how you earn respect from others."

Ray remembered how he'd taken his brother's advice. He learned to be fast, very fast. His brother had told him that one day, the ones he loved and cared about would be in peril, and only he would be able to save them, but only if he was fast enough. It had certainly come true; his speed had been what saved his friend Char from freezing to death in the northern tundra. He always knew his brother was not just being mean; he was being honest. He was honest about everything.

"No, it wasn't this one either," Ray decided, crawling across the hexagon-shaped platform which sat in a pile of mud. "No, it was further, wasn't it?"

"Come on. See if you can keep up with me a bit more this time."

"Why can't we stop here at this stone?"

"Because. We need to find the stone that the storm wants us to be at. Not the one we want to be at. You've got to do what the storm wants if you want to be noticed by it. Right?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright, let's go. Trust me, it'll be worth it. Getting the storm's gift is the best feeling in the world. All your energy will just come back, just like that. And you'll feel happy. So just keep going. It'll all be worth it."

Ray quickened his pace. It was a long way until the next stone, but he remembered it so clearly. The subtle curves in the landscape, the ebb and tide of the grass, they were all things burned into his memory, things his heart would never let him forget. He knew the way.

He didn't know how many miles he ran, or how far. He didn't care. His memories had him under a perfect spell of repressed emotions, a spell of exploring this place he once knew, but had since forgotten existed.

"Brother… I just can't. I can't run anymore! It's so long!"

"I know, I know… we got a fast-moving storm. These always have the strongest bolts, but they're the hardest to catch."

"Brother, I can't make it to the next stone…"

"But you did well. You ran farther than you thought you could."

"Yeah…"

"You kept going after you thought you needed to stop. After it stopped being easy, you kept going, even when your body started lying to you and making you say 'I can't, I can't'!"

"But… I really, really can't this time…"

"…I know. But I wanted to teach you something important. That extra distance you ran, that's the key to getting stronger in anything. Everything. It's always about doing more than you want to. That's how everything gets easier. See, your brain lies to you. Tells you 'I can't' or 'I shouldn't have to' or anything just to get you to stop. But you need to see through the lie. And the only way to figure out when you really need to stop is to find that point yourself."

"So… we're not going to catch the storm?"

"Sure we are! Get on my back. I'll carry you the rest of the way."

"But… you said… never take pity."

"This isn't pity, it's teamwork. You'll learn the difference someday. Now come on, you're about to catch your first bolt! You're going to love this, I promise…"

The hazy memories came back to him. He remembered this field. It was like his backyard. He remembered the groundstones; there were twelve of them, and brother had shown him each one. He knew how to find them all. One was at the top of the hill, the other was near the briars…

And then there was his favorite one, the one in the gravel patch just to the west. It was the one where he'd caught his first bolt.

Knowing the way by heart, the Raichu darted over the surface of the plains. He knew, if he was fast enough, he could catch another one, maybe even in that very same place.

"This is perfect. We're here."

"This one?"

"Yeah! The storm is right overtop us."

"We're getting so wet! I can barely see anything."

"Don't mind that! It's just a little water. Now come on, climb on top… Here! Get on my shoulders!"

"The rain is so cold. Can't we just wait for the next storm…?"

"No, I'm going to be gone next time. I'll be out on a trip with Scythe and Daemon. I have to teach you how to do this so that you can do it yourself while I'm away."

There it was, right where it always had been. The old gravelly rocks had disbursed and become dust, but the great darkened hexagon, its surface like tarnished silver, was still right where he knew it would be. Overcome with joy, Ray bounced atop the platform, and raised his hands to the sky…

"Wave at the sky! You have to make it see you!"

"Heeey! Storm! Give me a lightning, please?"

"No, bro. The storm can't hear your voice. It only cares about the electric charges in you! So put your paws up as far as they can go… and your tail, too! There's a lots of charges in the tip of your tail, the storm might notice that…"

"Ahh… brother, I can't breathe… I feel weak… everything tingles."

"You felt it? There it is! That means the storm noticed you!"

"It did?"

"Yeah! Now there's a current running through you straight from the clouds up there! Any moment now! Get ready! This is going to be amazing!"

"I'm kinda scared…"

"Don't be scared. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I'm not going to die, am I?"

"You won't die! I promise! This is what electric Pokémon live for!"

Ray closed his eyes tightly, pretending he stood tall on his brother's shoulders. He pointed at the sky with his tail, his paws, and the tips of his ears, beckoning the atmosphere for another blissful burst of energy…

But none came.

It took a while for Ray to accept it. The charges in the sky had gone away, and he wasn't quite fast enough to catch up with them. But he stood on the stone stump for many more moments, reveling in the memories it brought him.

When he finally opened his eyes again and accepted his failure to collect a second bolt, he glanced around the plains, admiring the peace it brought to him and any electric Pokémon who must have lived there. Otto was still nowhere to be seen in the sky, but Ray had faith that his friend would spot him before long. He vaguely regretted pulling the day's mission off course so far, but he couldn't help it; the sight of the prairie had made so many memories return, memories that had faded into obscurity and irrelevance as he worked for the Gold Division. The things he had witnessed from the newborn eyes of a Pichu were like distant dreams, things that didn't matter anymore. But now that it felt he had lived too many lifetimes, he knew in his heart he wanted to remember. He wanted to have one last chance to appreciate them, and to remember his brother, who had been the only family he had. He wanted to go back.

"See? That wasn't so bad!"

"Bad? Are you kidding, that was AWESOME! Can we catch more?"

"I don't think you're ready to catch more, silly little Rai. You're exhausted. You can't even walk on your own."

"No! Let me down, I'll catch another one!"

"Next time, little bro. Next time. Now it's time to go home and sleep."

Home.

Ray's heart nearly stopped as he stared at the horizon, realizing the grave truth:

He knew how to get home from here.

He only had vague, dark memories of that hole in the ground where he'd spent his infant days. He remembered nothing about it except for the way it smelled, the damp feel of the ground underneath his paws when he would go to his room, and the pile of food that his brother had stashed in the back corner. He remembered that there were multiple rooms that his brother had dug out, each propped up with rocks and logs to prevent cave-ins. He remembered there was a light, some kind of machine that his brother put electricity into every time he touched it. Perhaps most of all, he remembered the sense of warmth and security he felt when hiding down there, knowing that the hawks and lions couldn't get in, and that his brother was nearby… it was the way he'd learned to feel about the whole Gold Division, and so he had taken that feeling with him all throughout life. But he'd forgotten where that feeling had come from in the first place, and who had originally taught him to feel it.

Ray felt himself shaking, and it wasn't from the lightning bolt that still stabbed around inside of him. Part of him feared returning to that place and finding it not the way he remembered. He knew it was probably filled with bugs and snakes, or caved in, but that's not what his heart demanded. He wanted that old electric lamp to still be there, he wanted the caves and rocks to be the same shape, with the same cracks in the floor and the same roots hanging from the ceiling, and he wanted to find his brother there, back from his long journey with Scythe and Daemon, to tell him all about how strong he had gotten and how much he practiced collecting lightning from the sky.

It was more than another mile, but his heart gave him no choice. He had to see his old home again, just this once.


Harvesting Town

Ray's old home was on the very south outskirt of a small, humble village known as Harvesting Town. Why it was called that, Ray had no idea. The place hadn't left much of an impression on him; his brother had taught him not to go into town alone under any circumstances, and only rarely got to visit the Pokémon who lived there when it was time to buy necessities with the money Rautzen had earned from Team Remorse. As Ray strolled between the haphazard collection of wooden buildings, he certainly couldn't tell if it had anything to do with farming or harvesting. It seemed there were no Pokemon about the town. Presumably they were all shut away in the buildings, cabins that looked like they were made entirely out of fenceposts. But none of that mattered to the Raichu; he only wanted to find one particular den.

The electric aura of Ion Plains still lingered, although it was now far too faded to be of any use. It only served to rouse even deeper memories in the Raichu's mind; it was this exact feeling in the air, this precise climate and current, that meant he was home.

The den was right where it was supposed to be, at the end of something like a dirt path with a mailbox next to it, although it didn't look the way he expected. The trees and plants were understandably not in the same place they used to be two decades prior, but he den entrance was small. Ray swore to himself that it had been much bigger in the past.

Ray approached the tiny opening in the ground with humble giddiness, wondering how he and his brother ever squeezed between the big flat slab of stone and the ground beneath. He shoved the ceiling with all his might, wondering if it was designed to move, but it was sturdy enough to withstand his force. He thought to call into the darkness beneath, but presumed that the place was abandoned; there was no real evidence of inhabitants, at least any which were large enough to pose a threat. Against his judgment, he sucked in a breath and decided to try forcing himself into the crevice headfirst. Finding himself stuck at the neck, he drew his claws and dug at the tough soil until it began to budge, letting releasing him to tumble into his old home.

Clack! Clang!

"AHHHH!"

"What is that?!"

"Get it! Don't let it move!"

After falling onto a pile of metal things, Ray barely had a chance to yelp in surprise as a pair of Pokémon jumped from the shadows and ensnared him. Struggling did him no good, as he was soon covered from head to toe in large sticky ropes, and felt the legs of the home's new owners pinning him down.

"H-hey, wait," Ray tried to say, forcing his mouth away from the substance which held him in place. "Wait, I'm not a bad guy."

"Who are you?!" one of the den's inhabitants angrily demanded. "We weren't expecting any visitors."

"I'm just… I used to live here, that's all," Ray said. "I wanted to visit my old home! I thought it was abandoned, honest!"

"Well, you could have tried knocking on the door, instead of forcing your way through our sunroof," one of the Pokémon said flatly.

"Sorry…" Ray said meekly as the Pokémon released him from their hold. "It's been so long, I… I guess I forgot there was another door… I feel really bad right now…"

He rolled and turned himself right side up, eyeing the Pokémon who stood over him as their forms were revealed in the ray of sunlight. One was a small rodent, something that looked much like him but had a different, more rounded shape and a tail like a long thread. The other was a large spider covered in yellow tufts of fur. Ray could tell they weren't amused.

"So, uh… you found this place? You live here?" Ray said awkwardly, trying to unstick himself from the webbing that clung to the static of his fur.

"Found it…? We bought it," the Dedenne said. "Well, my father did, at least."

"And I don't even live here," the Galvantula added.

Heh… Scythe must have made some extra money by selling this place, Ray imagined. That's kind of smart, now that I think about it.

As Ray was nearly about to give up trying to escape the webbing, the spider lurched forward with its fangs and slashed the knots apart, letting him free. He rose to his hind feet, peeling the substance off of his body and wincing as many clumps of fur came off with it.

"So… it's just you? You live here? And your father?" Ray said meekly to the Dedenne.

"And my mother, and my three siblings," she replied blankly. "You should probably leave before they get back. What are you even doing here?!"

"Well, uh, I just… I wanted to visit just one more time," Ray said, squinting and trying to see the rest of the chamber through the shadows. "I don't remember it very well. I just wanted to see it again, that's all."

"Be quick about it," the rodent shot, turning to scamper back into the dark.

With a flash of light, the shadows were gone, and in their place a cozy, well-furnished room surrounded the Raichu. The floor was garnished with white fur mats, the walls rich with heirlooms and shelves, and the corridors perfectly carved from hardened clay. Ray stood for a moment with his mouth gaping, unable to tell if the den truly belonged to him in the past, except for one little detail: in the center of the room, flooding the place wall-to-wall with soft yellow light, was the same electric lamp he remembered belonging to his brother. He instantly recognized its long, triangular bulb and brick-like battery. Once it held a sufficient charge, the Dedenne detached her tail from the knob and approached the Raichu again.

"Legs, go outside and fix the window," she ordered to the spider, stepping forward to collect the metal jars that Ray had knocked all over the floor. "I'll keep an eye on this guy. Make it quick, Raichu. I don't know how long you have, and there's no way I'm going to explain to father that I let a boy in through the window."

Ray nodded in solemn understanding before gazing in appreciation at what his house had become. Though the same basic shape and structure remained, with the doorways and the corners in places Ray seemed to remember, it was apparent that the new family had given it so much more maintenance and care than when it belonged to his brother. The floor and surfaces were pristine, the fur-skin rugs prestigious, and the possessions were perfectly organized. Ray began to strongly suspect that interior design, or even neatness, had not been one of his brother's skills. Even the persistent smell of decayed leaves, which he vividly remembered from every moment of his childhood, was gone now.

It all seemed like some kind of hazy dream, like some memory from his childhood that wasn't quite right, or something that shouldn't have existed, seeing so many changes to a place that his heart still thought belonged to him. Ray realized that he had indeed dreamed about this place many times, but didn't quite understand its significance until now. No matter how many nights he had spent in the chambers of Team Stripes, or in Char's room, his dreams always had him waking up in a dark, comforting place where he felt safe, but couldn't explain why. He knew now that the place was here.

The den had three other rooms, all arranged in the shape of a cross, as well as the hall which led to the front door. He remembered that one of the rooms had been used as a closet to keep his brother's supplies, and the other two were the places he and his brother had respectively slept. Thanks to his dreams, he remembered exactly which one was which. But it wasn't his own room that interested him the most to see, it was his brother's…

"Don't ever go into my room without me," Rautzen would sometimes remind him. "There's something in there that's deadly. It could seriously kill you if you're not careful. And the last thing I want is to come home and find my brother dead."

Ray never did enter his brother's room, and only ever peered inside from the main room to see what it looked like. There was a bed, a few shelves, and a small cupboard where he kept his magical scarves and things. Ray always suspected there was a monster sleeping in there, or perhaps a ghost, guarding his brother's most prized possessions. Maybe there were traps or explosives set. Whatever the case, he heeded his brother's advice and never succumbed to curiosity.

Now the room was hidden behind a large hinged door. He carefully forced it open with a creak. Surely, he figured, now that the den was owned by new tenants, the danger his brother always spoke of must have been long gone. Or maybe the danger was imaginary! That was a possibility as well. Maybe his brother was just using a mind trick to keep him from snooping around when he was away. Whatever the case, he knew it was finally his chance to know the truth.

"You probably shouldn't go in there," the Dedenne warned. "That's mother's and father's room."

"I just want to look," Ray insisted, vaguely aware of his lie.

The new room was just as well-fitted as the rest of the place, complete with cozy fabric draped across the walls and ornate furnishings lining the corners. It was almost enough to make him jealous, until he remembered that Team Ember's hall held far more wealth than this bedroom could hope to match. As if drawn by a siren's call, Ray crept into the room and instantly focused his attention onto a particular corner, pawing at the drapes hanging from the wall.

"Aaaay!" Hey! Don't touch that, what are you doing?!" the Dedenne yelped in protest, rushing over to pull the crazed Raichu away. "Look, my family are all neat freaks, don't you dare put a wrinkle in the wall, they'll notice it!"

"But… there's something behind it," Ray said meekly. "There's a little cabinet in the wall. It has to be behind here."

"There is? No there's not!" the other rodent insisted. "See? I'll prove it."

With a huff, the smaller mouse looped her tail under the bottom of the curtain and lifted it, revealing a blank clay wall. She snorted in disgust at the Raichu.

"B-but, wait." Ray stammered. "It has to be there. That's where bro would keep his… scarf."

"What scarf?"

"It was… one of those scarves that did something magic," Ray explained, surprised at himself at the hints of memory which trickled back to him. "I didn't know what it did. But it was one of his favorite things and he always kept it in a little hidden cabinet, right here! I'm serious!"

"Well, I don't see anything," the Dedenne said indignantly. "We've lived here for over ten years, you don't think we know our own house?! We would have—HEY!"

Ray began pawing at the wall. "I wonder," he muttered. "I don't think the walls were this color…"

To the little girl's horror, Ray drew his claws and began scraping them into the wall, testing how much it resisted pressure.

"Look… whoever you are, Raichu, you're starting to scare me," she said. "There's nothing there—"

"—I'll pay for it," Ray said, his eyes focused intently upon the place his paws touched. "I'll pay to fix everything. The window. The wall. Everything. I can get the money and I'll repay it. I promise. There's just something I really have to know right now…"

CRACK! With a glimmer of white energy, Ray's fist collided with the wall, causing the weak, solidified putty to collapse. The pieces folded and fell into a sizable dark crevice.

"Oh great Ar-ceus!" the Dedenne yelped, backing away from the wall.

"I lived in this place for a very long time, too," Ray said blankly. "I know it just as well as you do."

"W-what's in there?" the smaller rodent shrieked. "Anything?"

Ray held his breath as he forced his head into the moldy, musty void he had created. Not surprisingly, his brother's belongings were all gone, and his favorite scarf was nowhere to be seen.

But there was something.

"A scroll," Ray reported, reaching his paw inside. "My brother had an important job. He had to write mail to send off to other Pokémon sometimes. Just like this scroll."

He removed the object in question from the wall, presenting it to the startled witness: a very tiny rolled-up note, tied tight with a blue ribbon.

"Well? What does it say?" the Dedenne cried in suspense, gripping her tail. "Unroll it! Do it!"

Without fanfare, and without even a hint of a smile upon his face, the stunned Raichu slit the ribbon with his claw and carefully unrolled the note, his wide eyes scanning the footprints which covered the surface.

"I can't read very well," the Dedenne admitted. "Read it to me?"

But the Raichu did not utter a word as he solemnly gazed upon the text. With every line he digested, his limbs grew heavier, and a sensation like a hot claw began tearing through his gut.

Raikouun:

I will never see you again. But I need you to know that I love you.

I don't know if you'll ever read this but it was the only place I could think of to hide it that you would look. I can't be too specific in case someone else finds this but I want to tell you about what happened to me.

I made a big mistake. I sold Team Remorse's secrets to an evil one named Cepheus. The whole mission failed and some Pokémon died. Scythe found out what I did and he was going to execute me for treason. But Daemon got to me first and warned me and gave me a chance to run away. So I'm leaving Ambera and I'm never coming back. I'll go live with the humans, maybe I can even be on someone's team. Don't worry about me.

Never forget, little brother: you are going to be a better Raichu than I was. You have everything you need to be better than me. I made sure you have everything I had plus much more. You're going to be taken into the base. You're going to be strong. You're going to stand out and be noticed. You're going to make very many Pokémon happy. The only thing you won't have anymore is a brother, but maybe you can find someone else even better.

Whatever you do, don't you dare feel like you're living in my shadow. In the end I'm the one who will be living in yours.

I wish I could have been there to see you evolve. But I chose to be evil and now I can't live in Ambera anymore. Please be better than me. Look at all the Pokémon in the base. They all need you. They are just going through their lives waiting for a Pokémon to appear and make them happy. That Pokémon can be you.

-Your brother Rautzen

P.S.: The reason I told you to stay out of my room is because I had something in the closet that was contaminated by a deadly virus. Don't worry, it's gone now.

When Ray got to the end of the letter, he didn't stop. His eyes returned to the top of the scroll and he started over.

"Helloooo? Raichu? Hello? Are you still alive?"

He was unaware of the Dedenne prodding him, yelling things into his ear. He was unaware of the way he had slumped into the corner, and the way his claws were tearing into the scroll paper. He only read the scroll over again, and again, imagining his brother speaking every word, and muttering quietly to himself…

A torrent of tears soon fell onto the surface of the paper, smearing the ink.


Sometime later, the Dedenne was scared out of her mind as she heard a rapping at the door. She regretfully and hesitantly opened it, peering through the crack. To her utter relief, she saw three young strangers standing at her doorstep: a very weary-looking Bulbasaur, a winded Pidgey, and a Charmander with a very large flame, looking quite unhappy.

"Oh…. Oh, hi!" the mouse quipped, opening the door to them. "Sorry, I thought you were my parents. Uh… come in?"

"We don't need to enter," the Pidgey quipped blankly. "A teammate of ours is in there. He is a Raichu. We followed his pawprints here. Please send him out."

The Dedenne awkwardly glanced at the floor. "Uh… yeah, he's in here. But I don't know if he wants to leave yet."

"And why is that?" the Charmander sternly asked. "We kind of need him."

"Well, uh… he's crying," the mouse replied, her ears drooping.

"…Crying?" Saura gasped. "Really? I've never seen Ray cry before. Well, unless it's in happiness."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure these aren't happy tears," the mouse said. "Yeah… he uh, he's really bawling his eyes out in here… It's depressing, I've never seen someone cry that hard. Doesn't look like he wants company, but you can try if you—"

"…No, no, it's okay," said a gentle voice from behind the door. "I'm here."

The wayward Raichu appeared in the doorway, hanging his head in acceptance. Though Ray tried hard to hide his emotions from his friends, Char couldn't ignore his red, bloodshot eyes, his fur matted from so many tears, and his blank, moping face. Ray rarely ever stopped smiling for more than a few moments; seeing him so forlorn was something Char felt he was unprepared to handle.

"Ray… are you alright?" Char asked, knowing it was likely the worst possible question he could have asked.

"Want to talk?" Saura also offered.

But Ray didn't respond to either question. Instead, he stepped outside and thrust a piece of paper into Char's face. Baffled by the footprints, Char showed it to Otto and Saura.

"What is this?" Char asked in reflex. "What's it say?"

"These are directions," Ray explained. "My brother was very rich. Before he went away, he took everything he owned and hid it for me to find, and those are directions to everything. Guys… if we went looking for this and we found it… it's worth more than three million golds. We wouldn't ever have to worry about money ever again."

*Chapter 80*: Chapter 60: Stop Hiding

o

Chapter 60

Route 560

On the way out of Harvesting, the treasure was the last thing on Char's mind.

He certainly didn't want to nag about it, even though the notion of putting three million gold into the team's account was too interesting to ignore. Team Ember could buy half the merchandise in Kecleon's shop for that amount, or better yet, maybe learn how to barter and bribe their way to victories like the advanced teams often did. Perhaps they could even think about buying some property outside of the Gold Division; a secret base out in the countryside away from the jurisdiction of Alakazam didn't seem like such a bad idea.

But as promising as it sounded, Char didn't want the money to come at the expense of his teammate's trust. He couldn't imagine what had happened in the den, and didn't want to say anything that would make things worse. Once the team was back on course for Purevine, Char decided he only had one question to ask of him:

"Do you need a rest?"

It was a question which needed to be asked; Team Ember still had an apple to deliver, and perhaps even a battle to fight. Char needed to know as soon as possible if Ray would be too discouraged to function as part of the team, and whether he would need to take precautions to ensure the victory of the mission without his help.

The Raichu kept his eyes focused on the contents of the note, as though wanting to ignore the question entirely. "I, uh..." he mumbled, crumpling sides of the paper in his claws. "Ahh… it's nothing, Char… I'll be okay. Just thinking about how we're going to get this treasure, is all. This would be amazing. I guess I just… I can't believe my brother thought that highly of me, to leave me his money like this. I can't believe he had so much faith in me."

"Ah, well, we'll just have to make a good plan," Char said kindly, knowing Ray was probably lying but letting it slide. "I think we can make that our next priority after this mission's done. I promise if we get in and out of this alive, we'll do everything in our power to help you find it."

Ray wore a sort of crooked smile as he continued to stare at the paper, hoping Char wouldn't see.

"It says that in order to get the treasure, we need a teleport compass," Ray explained, reading from the note and trying to distract himself. "I actually have no idea what that is. What's a teleport compass?"

"I do not know either," Otto replied, landing upon Saura's back. "We should ask that of a teleportation user. But I assume it is an object that helps teleportation users warp to their destination."

"Alright, we can do that," Char said calmly. "But there's a problem. Who knows how to teleport? All I can think of is Alakazam—"

"No! We can't ask him," Ray said quickly, cutting Char off. "This is like black market money… we can't let anyone know about it, especially him. We'd have to find someone else we can trust."

Char blinked. "B-but, we are the black market, aren't we?" he said, a bit confused. "That's what the resistance is – Alright, alright. Fine. But I'm saying, who do we know that can teleport? I can't think of anyone."

"Teleporters are mostly psychics, although few others are capable," Otto said. "But you are correct; there are not many Pokémon capable of the skill, and among them, not many who are skilled at accurately teleporting over significant distance."

"We'll find someone, I'm sure," Char said again. "After this is over, we can make it our next priority. Just make sure you keep those scrolls safe."

"Actually, about that…" Ray said, rolling the scroll.

Ray fell in line behind Char for a moment. Char assumed he was packing Rautzen's scrolls into the bag, until he felt a tickle on the end of his tail. Jumping back in surprise, Char found that Ray had lit the end of the scroll on fire with Char's flame.

"Waah! Why are you doing that?!" Saura cried. "Don't we need those?"

"Nah, I memorized the instructions," Ray said, lighting the second scroll aflame with the first. "We can't let anyone else see them. Especially Adiel, or… Cepheus. So it's better if I just remember it. It said that the teleport compass we need is in safe holding in Iron Town. It said I have to tell them I'm Rautzen's brother and answer some personal questions, then they'll give it to me. After that, I need to 'stand on the stone where I stood on his shoulders.' That's easy, I know where that is. It's a big rock in Ion Plains I was just at earlier today. And then, we use the compass and we'll teleport to a city that's not on the map, and we'll find a treasure hunter who lives there. He'll give us Rautzen's treasures."

"Ugh, that's a lot of steps," Saura groaned. "Why couldn't he have just put it in the bank at the Gold Division base? That's got to be one of the most secure banks on the whole continent."

Ray hesitated before answering. He swallowed hard and looked at the ground.

"Because he couldn't go back into the base," Ray said solemnly, trying his hardest to keep the sadness from showing. "When he was leaving his treasure for me, he had to stay away from Team Remorse and High Intelligence. He had to hide it somewhere they couldn't find."

"W-why?" Saura wondered in surprise. "Why did he have to stay away from his own team?"

Ray didn't respond right away, again pretending not to hear the question. Instead, he seemed focused on the burning scrolls he still clutched. Once the flames had seeped close enough to his paws, he dropped them onto the road and crushed the ashes apart with his foot.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Char said quickly. "You don't have to talk about it if—"

"No, no… No, I should tell you," Ray said with a defeated sigh, giving the ashes one last kick. "We're not supposed to keep secrets, so I'll just tell you."

This time, it was Char's turn to wear a false smile, remembering that he still hadn't told his teammates his deepest secret yet about the Call. He almost cut Ray's words short out of a pure sense of shame and dishonor, knowing he didn't truly deserve to hear his friends' personal secrets anymore if he could not tell his own. But in the end, he decided it would be better for Ray to clear his mind of the burden, and he let him continue.

"Remember when Marrow was talking about that base next to Great Crystal City that Cepheus destroyed?" Ray said meekly, the excited spark in his voice long-gone. "Remember how he said that they still don't know how Cepheus found out about it? Well… Rautzen knew how. Because…"

Ray fell silent, holding his tongue for one last moment.

"Because Rautzen was the traitor," Otto said for him.

Even Char was surprised at the conclusion. He stopped walking and glanced back at the Raichu, who stood still and stared at the ground looking very hurt.

"Hey! You could have let me say it myself, you know," Ray growled, glancing away from his team and scowling at the confused bird. "How did you know, anyway…?"

"I was able to see the contents of the second scroll before you burned it," Otto replied, landing on the ground. "I could see the script from the air."

Ray looked like he was about to yell at the Pidgey, but closed his mouth.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to just say it like that!" Ray grumbled, slumping onto the road.

Carefully, Char approached his discouraged friend, not wanting to draw too close. He gave up trying to search for words to encourage his friend, as there were none he had any right to offer. Instead, he offered only the momentary silence of his company. And the three of them stood quietly, waiting patiently for the Raichu to say something.

"So, yeah… that's how it happened," Ray sighed, not looking his friends in the eye. "Now you know. It was all my brother's fault Cepheus destroyed the base. And that's why he's not around anymore. I guess I have my answers now. I don't know what to feel about this."

"Ray…" Char said carefully and gently. "Whatever your brother did, it doesn't make us think any less of you."

"Yeah, we can keep this between just us, you know?" Saura offered. "No one else has to know about this."

But Ray didn't seem to listen; though he turned his head away quickly, Char spotted the tear that was forming in the corner of his eye. He knew Ray was trying to hide it. He knew Ray had forced himself to stop crying when he heard the voices of his friends in the den, and thought he could keep hiding it just like he always did. But it wasn't possible anymore; the energetic Raichu was, at last, out of strength.

"Usually it's so easy, you know?" Ray said, with a voice Char had never heard coming from him before. "When you know what you're supposed to feel. If you know you need to feel happy or sad or afraid or whatever. It's so easy. Because… because if you can pretend to feel something, you can feel it for real sometimes. As long as you know what you're supposed to feel. But now, I… think about everything Rautzen told me and everything he did, and I feel all blank. I know I'm crying right now but I really feel blank! I haven't felt like this for a long time and I'm scared… I can't feel anything."

Ray wiped the tear out of his eye and glanced at his companions over his shoulder.

Char took a deep breath and approached Ray closely, touching him on the shoulder.

"Ray… I know exactly how you feel," Char said with genuine pity. "I'm serious. I really do. We Charmanders do this thing called 'smoldering' that happens sometimes if it gets too cold. My fire is the same as my feelings. So sometimes it gets so cold that the fire looks like it disappears on the outside, and the feelings go away with it. And I feel just blank and I really don't feel anything at all. That's what's happening to you right now. You're smoldering."

Ray sighed, not acknowledging much of Char's words. "Yeah, I think I see now why Team Stripes had the rules they have," he said. "If you want to join Team Stripes you need to have a personal reason to fight in the resistance when you join. I think I understand why they have that rule now."

"What was your reason to fight?" Saura said, approaching Ray from the other side.

"That I lost my brother," Ray said plainly. "And that I… wanted to be like him. Everything he ever told me about Team Remorse and the work he did, I went my whole life thinking he was the greatest Raichu in the world and I wanted to be him. I wanted to be the one to replace him. I wasn't sad he was gone because… because I thought that if I could replace him and do everything that he did, it wouldn't matter that he's gone anymore. And I was really happy… I was so happy every time I would get closer to being on Team Remorse, or just being a good teammate for you guys. I knew I was being closer to the kind of Pokémon Rautzen was. I was happy because I knew that's the only thing in the world I wanted to do. Daemon said something to me once: 'We need strong leaders. But more than that, we need strong followers.' And he was completely right. I'm not leader material. I'm a follower. And I can be a really good follower. And I'm really proud of that. But now…"

Ray shrugged, looking at the ground again.

"Maybe I don't want to be like Rautzen anymore," Ray admitted. "I'm thinking about everything he said in the note, and… He did too many things I wouldn't have ever wanted to do. I can't look up to him anymore. I don't even think I like him anymore."

Char was surprised at the hint of bitterness Ray betrayed in his words.

"But… you know what? That doesn't matter right now," Ray sighed, smiling sadly and rising to his feet. "I have no right to be a crybaby when there's someone here who's exactly like me. Saura, you had an older brother you really looked up to and you wanted to be just like him. And you know what it's like to lose your family and go without knowing whether they're still alive or dead. And it wasn't even so bad for me! You had a curse in your head that caused you pain every time you thought about it. At least I could block it out when I had to. You couldn't even do that."

Touched by the thought, Saura bashfully glanced away and stared in the direction of his home. Ray reached out and gingerly touched his forehead, and soon their gazes met again.

"Hey, I know I won't get to see my brother ever again, and I don't know who my mother and father even are," Ray said. "And right now I have a lot of things I need to think about now. But I'll save it for later. Right now I think I still have a personal reason to fight. I'm going to make sure you can have the chance to see them again that I never had."

"Aww, Ray, I…" Saura hesitantly said, his voice cracking. "I don't know, I… I admit I'm still really scared of actually seeing them again. Part of me keeps wishing we'll never arrive, because I'm afraid it won't go very well. If father still hates me, I think… it's going to hurt just as bad as if I had to finish watching that stupid vision Eva was going to show me. But thank you. This is something I need to do."

"Don't be afraid," Char said. "We're not going to let anything happen to you. It doesn't matter what goes wrong. If this is a trap, we'll fight. We'll get you out of there without a scratch."

"Yeah, and even if they don't want you as a part of their family anymore, well, you know you still have one, right?" Ray added. "Not just us. The whole Gold Division is our family now. And they're a really good family."

"I know, I know," Saura said, sighing and fidgeting uncomfortably. "Alright, let's just get this over with, I guess. You're right. I just need to know the answer. Not knowing the answer is going to hurt more than whatever could go wrong."

Char noticed the Bulbasaur wincing as he fought away the headache again, and knew just what his friend was talking about. The alternative was to keep facing his headache, every day, or to let Eva back into his mind to replay that terrible hallucination until the very end. This was the only way out that had any chance of a happy ending.

"We are wasting time," Otto squawked, snapping Char back to the moment. "We have approximately eight hours until the Watchers rise. Regardless of your emotional state, this mission will not end in success if we do not keep walking."

"Ah, you're right," Char said, jumping back to his feet. "We've got ground to cover, guys. Let's get moving."

Through the early afternoon, Team Ember made excellent progress down the road to the south, although the mood had turned somber among the teammates and their conversations became limited to awkward smalltalk about the weather and the occasional mention of Rautzen's treasure. Char felt afraid of bringing back topics which would hurt, and he knew the others felt the same. But the words they shared were not important to him; their company was what he valued the most, and what gave him the strength he would need to see the dark mission to the end.

At least, that's what he was thinking about until Ray quietly approached his side and spoke under his breath.

"I'll be fine," Ray said quietly. "So don't worry about me. But there's something that's been nagging at me ever since I saw that note."

"Yeah?" Char replied, matching his hushed tone. "What is it?"

"Well, I spent all my life trying to find the answer I found today," Ray said, "And now that I have the answer, I think… maybe I would have been better off not knowing. I mean… I was thinking back to when I joined Team Stripes. I was so happy and motivated all the time. And now that I have closure, it was like all of that got taken away. I have no answer to find anymore. So I wonder if it would have been better just not to know. Maybe I could have spent my life looking for the answer and never finding it, and that would have been better. That… sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"

Char knew there was truth to the idea. He imagined what it would be like if he did not constantly yearn to know his own true name and his purpose in Ambera; without such a burning goal, he would not push himself forward every day to keep fighting. He knew he would be happy as a Charmander and leave well enough alone with all of the world's problems. For all purposes, he would be useless.

Ray has a point, Char knew. Closure is a double-edged blade. If you have it, there's no motivation, no aspiration. There is only complacency, and acceptance. It's like how there's no point in a story if all the questions are answered. Once justice has been served and questions have been answered, the fire dies, the last ember fades, and the heart is at peace. And a heart at peace hardly has a place in a war.

"Actually, no," Char replied as he trailed off into his own thoughts. "I don't think that sounds ridiculous at all."

"Well, yeah, but here's the problem," Ray said, lowering his voice further. "I'm worried about Saura. This whole thing… Maybe it'll go well. But what if it doesn't? He's the youngest of us… I mean, even you're older than you look because you were a human once and you got your new body. Saura's the only one here who's actually still just a child. And I know how this has been eating at him for months. Ever since he was touched by that Watcher. Actually, he said that it's been on his mind since he met you apparently. I'm getting the impression that Saura's personal reason to fight was to impress his father. To make up for the fact that he ran away."

Char paused for a moment, beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

"You might be right," Char said quietly, eyeing the Bulbasaur several steps ahead of him on the road. "To be honest, I wondered about it myself sometimes. Saura… he seems so dedicated to me and this team, and everything. But… you know, he doesn't usually talk about himself. He always just talks about me, and my problems, and my feelings, and it's always about me. He always cared so much about helping me and I never really did the same for him in return. I guess I've just been selfish. But then when the Watcher touched him… he changed. He started showing a side of himself that I guess he'd been hiding from me all along, and that's something I can't help him with. He really loves his family and he misses them. And it hurts him to think that they might be broken because of him. Maybe you're right. Maybe he's fighting in memory of them. Maybe the whole reason he's here with us… is for them."

"Yeah, that's the same thing I thought," Ray replied. "Now he's about to get his closure. Do you think Saura will know what to do when he gets the answer he's been looking for?"

Char watched the Bulbasaur who followed the Pidgey's lead several dozen steps ahead of him, oblivious to the conversation he shared with Ray. He couldn't ignore the feeling of rocks forming in the pit of his fire, knowing they were about to start causing him more pain than he wanted to think about. He didn't want to think about the implications, but he knew Ray was right. Maybe closure was going to be painful.

And maybe it would be more painful for him than it would be for Saura.

"I don't know," Char said heavily, understanding how high the odds were that something wouldn't go according to plan. "I guess we just have to see what happens, and… whatever happens, help him through it however we can."


Purevine Plains

After hours of more walking, afternoon faded to early evening. From the air, Otto had located a landmark they had searched for: a small, unnamed creek which might have been disregarded as a ditch if it weren't for the Pidgey's keen eye. Though it appeared only as a trickle of water running through a crack in the ground, the Map of Jirachi told them it would be fed by several more underground springs until it would become the deep, serene river which ran through Purevine Village. Together, the team left the lonely road behind them, walking upon the creek's bank which would lead them to their destination.

Saura grew visibly nervous. His pace slowed, as though he revered every step he took, and his attention jumped to every little uninteresting thing in the landscape. He spoke tersely whenever he had something to say.

"I don't recognize this place, but smells like home," he said with a shudder. "The pollen from the leaves in the fall, it smells different wherever you are because there are different kinds of trees…"

Ray held the map open, careful not to trip on the broken ground and fall into the creek bed. "Yeah, looks like we're really almost there," he reported. "Might be there in about an hour if we run. We don't have to run, though."

"Ahh, this is really happening, isn't it?" Saura said, pausing to stare into the stream. "Ahh… Ray, can I see the map?"

"Uh, yeah," Ray said, pinning the rolled sides onto the grass with his paws as Saura approached. "We're here, just north of Purevine Village along the creek. See it?"

"…Yeah," the Bulbasaur said. "I see it. Ah… yeah, we're really close…"

With a paw, he pointed to a nearby location on the map.

"Here, that's the place I grew up, I think," Saura said awkwardly. "Tiny Plains, that little area surrounded by the forest where the trees didn't grow. That's where our family's den is. And here's Shamble Forest. That's where I ran away from them… And there's Gravelerock Tunnel. It's not too far away, actually… Ahh…"

"The Shamble Forest is plainly visible from the sky," Otto noted, landing a large rock in the creek. "From the ground, your view is blocked by hills. As for Purevine Village, you will see it very soon on the horizon. We are nearly there."

Saura jumped away from the map and stood on the edge of the riverbank. He stared into the crystalline water as it gently flowed past, and took breath after deep breath.

"Alright, alright. I'm ready for this. I'm ready," he said to himself, closing his eyes. "But I already feel so… tired."

"THERE YOU ARE."

A raspy, disembodied voice came from nowhere, giving Saura such a start that he reeled for a few moments just to keep from falling into the water. Char jumped and frantically searched for the threat, though a corner of his mind recognized the voice.

"Hey, hey…" the voice said quietly, its whispers barely audible over the trickle of the stream. "Don't worry, I'm just a friendly invisible Weavile. I won't bite. Just pretend you don't hear me. Keep walking."

"Alastair," Char remembered, awkwardly trying to pinpoint the source of the voice so he would know what direction to speak. "You almost gave us a heart attack. What's the matter?"

"To be blunt, nothing's the matter," he replied calmly. "Except that this is my last invisible seed and it's going to run out in an hour from now. But just comin' to let you know that everything's on course. I'll go let the big boys know it's time to get into position. You're free to proceed to the village anytime you want."

"…Hey, sorry we were so late," Ray said, quickly packing the map back into the bag. "Hope nobody's angry at us."

"Oh? Nonsense, you're not late. You're actually right on time," the invisible Weavile replied, his voice ominously circling around Char. "We figured you'd take your time. Planned for it. That's why we sent you out alone. Made for a more… natural performance. But you'll need to head right in or we might not have enough daylight left to get you home. No more distractions now, got it?"

"So… wait, nothing's wrong?" Saura asked one more time. "No ambush?"

"I checked everywhere I could, except some of the houses were locked. Nothing seemed off," Alastair replied. "Surrounding area's fine. There's nowhere to really hide. All points suggest you're good to go."

"…And my father? Is he still there?" Saura begged suddenly.

"Your father?" Alastair replied.

"…The Venusaur," Saura said nervously. "They said there was a Venusaur there already."

"There's one, but how'm I supposed to know he's your father?" Alastair replied.

Saura bit his lip. "Uh… his real name is Grayleaf," he told the invisible Pokémon sheepishly, almost ashamed of saying the word. "Do you know if that's him?"

Alastair didn't reply for a moment, causing Saura to grit his teeth with intense anticipation.

"Ah, yeah, now that you mention it, I do think I heard him talking with someone," Alastair said. "Yeah, they called him Grayleaf. And there's an Ivysaur too. His name's Saurvor."

Saura closed his eyes, breathing a deep sigh.

"Hey, wouldn't it be funny if Adiel didn't even show?" Alastair added, trying to lighten the mood. "The stage is all set, you're free for the taking, and as far as we know he's not even here. And we've got birds in the skies all around you, they'll be the first to know if anyone tries to move in. So we've got you covered. The rest is up to you."

The Weavile left them shortly, saying that he had to make it back to Marrow before his invisible seed would lose effect, and Team Ember found themselves alone and staring down the final stretch of the journey.

Char smiled sadly at his distraught Bulbasaur friend, knowing that the moment of truth was nearing. There was no more hiding, no more stalling. Whatever was going to happen in Purevine Village would come to pass before they would know it.

"Alright, I can do this," Saura said with heavy breaths. "I can do this. I'm almost there. I can do this."

"Yeah… and just remember, you're not alone," Char quietly told him, kneeling by his side and hugging him around the neck. "We're all here, too. Whatever happens to you is going to happen to all of us. Nothing's going to change that. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Thank you," Saura whispered, cracking a smile. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess…"


Purevine Village

The long journey of Team Ember would end at a place that didn't look so different than the surrounding wilderness. At first glance, Purevine Village existed only as a collection of odd structures standing upon the bank of the stream as it wound its way into the distance. The houses themselves were scarce, built from a lumpy kind of putty which looked like clay mixed with pebbles. There were no roads to be seen; the stream itself was presumably the village's main street, its shores shallow and trodden, devoid of any grass.

Char wasn't exactly sure where the village began, or what could be considered its boundaries; he only knew that the air felt different. The river and everything around it felt clean and serene, as though many Pokémon had crafted every detail of the landscape with heart and purpose over the course of many years. The water moved by like liquid glass, the trickle of its current barely rivaling the sound of the breeze. The dirt underfoot was soft yet firm and didn't track anywhere, and the reeds and cattails which sprouted from the shallow water were well-kempt, as though they were grown deliberately for decoration. The buildings, though strange in color and texture as they were, looked very sturdy and well-designed. Char knew at once that this small expanse of land was home to Pokémon who cared deeply about it, and he felt a great sense of respect for their work, almost feeling guilty for trespassing upon their property.

At one point, a Wooper jumped out from a hole in the ground and screamed at Char and his friends for walking through its garden. Char panicked and froze in place, not being able to see the difference in the plain brown soil, but Saura spotted a series of tiny mushrooms all lined neatly in a row, and he guided Char safely past them. After offering the creature some words of apology, Char inquired about how to find the rest of the village, and the Wooper instructed them to just keep following the stream.

"This is a nice place, actually," Char said as he crossed a wooden bridge to the other bank, where there stood a larger cluster of buildings. He touched his claw against the rungs of the guardrail in appreciation of its architecture. "It's like we're walking through a painting," he mused. "It's so… natural. It's like the villagers wanted to live here, but they didn't want to ruin the natural scenery that was already here. Humans don't build this way… they change the way the world looks when they build, and they make huge things like the buildings in Iron Town. I'm always surprised to see all the ways that Pokémon try to build things like humans, and they build a lot of weird stuff that I've never seen before. But this place is how I always imagined Pokémon should live."

"Heh, yeah, it's alright I guess," Saura said with a nervous laugh, "but my home looked twice as good as this. Ah, we kept that place so clean… dad would cut down the tall grass, and we'd grow berry bushes by the river and we'd keep the gardens all neat and tidy even in the colder months. And we made sure all the trees and bushes all grew just where we wanted. Dad always told us that the whole meadow was our home, not just our den. So we always did our chores and make the whole meadow look nice for any guests. If this place looks like a painting to you, Char, you should see my meadow sometime. But… ah, it's probably all in disarray now, if the family's been away from home for so long…"

"Don't worry about it! I bet your family could fix it all up in a few weeks!" Ray offered quickly. "Nobody's a better gardener or a landscaper than a Venusaur. That's what you're made for. Only a Shaymin could beat you!"

"Ah… not me, though," Saura replied sadly. "I didn't learn much from mom and dad about gardening. After that time I got caught in the mystery dungeon, I stopped caring about that stuff. Guess I was more interested in learning how to fight and defend myself, because I was always afraid it would happen again. Though… I guess that's one of the reasons I got on dad's bad side. I did kind of slack on my chores, and sometimes I didn't come back home on time because I liked exploring Shamble Forest too much… Now that I think about it, maybe I really was a brat… And then I had to go and run away for good! Maybe dad was right about me all along…"

"Saura, stop," Char said sternly, watching his friend wince in pain. "Don't beat yourself up. You're just going to make things worse."

"Ah, yeah, sorry," he said, shaking the pain away. "You're right. It's just hard… I'm so nervous."

"Well, on the bright side, no Adiel anywhere… yet," Char noted, glancing downstream. "He could have ambushed us by now if he wanted to. Guess we might just be safe… maybe."

The bridge didn't emit the slightest creak as Char and his friends descended the arc and stepped onto the other side of the riverbank. The reverse side of the stream was somehow even more picturesque, striking Char with the image of a perfectly-trimmed line of ambergrass adorning a field of tilled soil. Various kinds and colors of rocks had been sunken into the ground, and they were all evenly carved so that their surfaces were flat with the dirt, not a trace blemish upon any of them. On the opposite end, the riverbank was as cleanly-cut as could be, lined with polished boulders and flat slabs of granite as places to perch for Pokémon to go fishing or just to admire the water. The ground looked as though it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a cobblestone path or a rock garden, but it was an unusual and marvelous sight, and Char became regretful for leaving footprints in such an artistic display.

After tiptoeing between the stones, Char came upon a cluster of buildings, about six of them. He paused behind the wall of the largest home, as though to hide from view one final time before revealing his presence to the townspeople. He knew that Saura's father, or any of his siblings, could be standing behind any of the buildings; but so could the enemy, ready to pounce from nowhere and take Saura away. He pressed his claws against the gravelly wall and took a deep breath, listening to the quiet commotion of the village's inhabitants not so far away.

He looked up at the distant clouds, and saw how they had become tinted with yellow and orange as the day passed. Evening was upon them, and time had run out. It was time to put the plan into motion.

"Alright, whatever happens, be ready for anything," Char told his teammates quietly, looking into their eyes. "Saura, you'll have to go in front. We'll watch your back."

At last, after giving one final sigh, Char waved at the sky, and a minute later Otto fluttered down and landed at his side.

"What do you see?" Char hissed to the bird. "Any sign of danger?"

"No danger," Otto reported. "I see only villagers, including Mudkip and Bibarel. I have also contacted the other birds overlooking this mission, and they have sent no signals of distress. If there is danger, it is very well-disguised. However, there is a Venusaur nearby."

"How close?" Char asked, noticing the tension which struck Saura at the news.

"It sits at the river bank," Otto said. "From here, it is hidden by the next structure. It is alone, and appears to be keeping watch."

"Alright," Char said in reply. "Good work, Otto. Go back up and keep watch. Ah, Saura… it's time to meet your father."

Saura was plainly frozen, his paws rooted to the ground and his mouth hanging open. He looked blankly at the wall with wide and pitiful eyes.

"I just now realized… I don't know what to say to him," Saura said, his voice quaking. "Here I am, and… all this time, I don't know what to say. I never… took the time to think about it."

"Just tell him you love him," Ray offered. "And tell him you're sorry."

"Want to hold hands?" Char asked, offering his claw as he always would in times of stress.

Saura turned away from his companions and lowered his head, ready to march out from the shadow of the wall and into the light. "Nah," he said tersely. "I can do this... I'll do it. I've got to be the one to face him. It's just… He's my father, I can't hide behind you this time. I can do it."

"So, um… not to rush you or anything, but are you just going to spend all day talking about it?" said the disembodied voice of Alastair.

Saura broke out of his daze and screeched, but quickly muffled himself to prevent giving away their position. Char nearly fell over again, and screamed in a whisper, "Hey, what are you doing here?! I thought you said your invisible seed was going to run out!"

"Peh, Marrow had some more he didn't tell me about, " he replied from somewhere in front of Char's face. "He was gonna use them on himself but plans changed. See, the way looks clear, but there were some last-minute problems. The Remorse boys decided they wanted me to join you on the floor. So I'd appreciate it if you'd move it right along, or else you'll wear out all of these seeds too."

"Uh… what kind of problems?" Ray hissed in reply.

"Well, um… apparently, besides the 'saur family you're here to see, there's someone in this village that, um… doesn't usually live here. At least that's what one of the villagers said."

Char dug his claws into his forehead, stifling a groan. "Oh, that's great news," he growled bitterly, not knowing where to direct his snarl. "We get all this way, and now you're telling us you found something wrong? Is there an ambush, or not?!"

"Well, no, it's just a report of one Pokémon. One extra Pokémon who wasn't supposed to be here," Alastair replied. "We don't even know what kind it is. All we heard about it is that it's living somewhere upstream. And… it's red."

Char was about ready to snap. "Of course, it's got to be Adiel," he seethed. "Adiel really is here. Of course he'd be here! He sent the message! Ahh, and it took you this long just to find out? Are you guys just really bad at reconnaissance? It took you this long to realize we're walking into his trap? Oh, right. That was the plan all along, wasn't it? You were just hiding that information from us all along, just so we wouldn't back out of the mission! Weren't you?!"

"Ah, easy there, Charmander. Easy, easy," Alastair said in a mocking tone which circled around Char from one ear to the other. "Yeah, I can tell I'm real lucky to be invisible right now. But hey, before you try to blast me with fire, listen. You're an idiot if you think that Adiel's not the first one we suspected. But it really doesn't seem like him. Adiel almost never travels alone, and we're really not getting the impression that this red Pokémon is someone of any significance. So the Remorse guys thought, hey: they've got a spare Pokémon we didn't see coming, so let's give you a spare Pokémon, too. And that's gonna be me. So just go on in and act natural, and I'll pounce on in if there's trouble. Nothing's got to change."

Char sighed deeply, holding his head in his heads and letting his fire simmer for a moment. "Alright, fine. Fine," he finally said. "Let's go spring the trap, I guess. But I'm doing this for Saura. I just hope you know what you're doing…"

"Whelp, it looks like Saura's got the right idea," the invisible Pokémon said with a laugh. "Better go catch him."

Char snapped back to attention to find that Saura was gone. He had left the group behind, marching headlong around the building and into the tiny town square all by himself. Char nearly called out to him, but found himself at a loss for words.

"'Atta boy, Saura!" goaded Alastair. "See? He knows what he's doing. Go on after him, just pretend like I'm not even here."

Swallowing hard, the Charmander motioned for Ray to follow his lead, dropping to all fours and creeping slowly around the corner.


Saura couldn't help but notice how pretty the village was.

There wasn't much to the village. It wasn't very much like a town; it was only a handful of gardens, fields, and structures lining the stream as it flowed down the countryside. But the little Bulbasaur knew it was an outdoor home. He had grown up in an outdoor home himself, a territory he and his family revered as their own little haven, and he knew the love and effort which had been crafted into the natural surroundings when he laid eyes upon it. He saw how the ditches had been carved just right, the leaves collected up into bushy piles, the rocks placed in pleasant little clusters around trees. In a strange way, it reminded him of the meadow where he grew up.

His father told him once that the world was beautiful a long time ago. Pokémon everywhere lived outdoors, and cared for their forests and fields and swamps meticulously – especially the plant Pokémon – grooming and trimming the foliage, planting elegant bushes and trees with artistic vision. He said that Ambera was heavenly, once upon a time. He said that there was a golden age, something he had only seen in the earliest days of his youth, when the world was a perfect haven for Pokémon of each and every kind. He explained that the human-like buildings and structures were not so abundant outside of the grand capitals and royal castles, not until the Watchers came and created a need for them. As the Watchers grew numerous and plagued the night, the land grew wild, and the vines and trees becoming twisted and frayed because no one would tend to them. The world had lost the beauty he had once seen, a beauty he always wanted to remember in at least one corner of the world, the place where he raised his mate and his children. He wanted his seedlings to grow in the same world he had when he was so young.

At least, that's what his father had said. It sounded like a fairy tale, something he didn't quite take seriously. But there was a beauty he recognized in Purevine Village, the same beauty which he had taken for granted in his lovely little meadow. It was a beauty he had perhaps learned to resent as he performed the chores he was always forced to do with his siblings, collecting sticks and watering flowers so many times during the summer when he would have preferred to run away and see the rest of the world.

Now that he had seen the world, the little Bulbasaur knew, beyond a doubt, that his meadow and his family had been precious. There was something about his land, in the way his father cared for it, that not even Dialga could match in the divine architecture of Temporal Tower. There was a security he felt, deep in his memories of cuddling in his den, that the Gold Division could not replace.

He knew that he had begun to regret ever running away. He knew he had no choice; a lifetime of servitude to the Master, someone who would almost certainly abuse him for his Call ability, was a terrible fate. But it didn't mean that it wasn't painful to lose his home, his family, and the favor of his father; he thought about them every day, longing to see them safe and sound again. The pain he felt for them was real, shooting through his head like a bullet seed, each time he remembered his own betrayal of them. His dreams were plagued with worry for them, and he both dreaded and yearned to hear his father's words to him should he ever return. They were words he would soon hear, yet he wasn't sure if he would ever be ready for them.

Saura glanced at the ground as he took a step, noticing that the color of the dirt had changed underfoot. He gasped as he realized there was a design in the ground, huge and swirling and weaving, created with different colors of hardened clay and blooming all the way to each and every house in the little cluster. He pawed at the clay, awed at how smooth and pearly it was, and at how symmetrical the designs were crafted, almost as intricate as the red embroidered rug he crossed every day in Team Ember's base. His new home. The only place he could call home anymore.

There were some nearby villagers, a Bibarel and a Linoone speaking to one another. They cast him a passing glance, but disregarded him as a guest. There was a Pokémon he did not recognize, a water-type one, sitting by the stream motionless as though in deep meditation. Sighing nervously, Saura kept his eyes peeled for other Pokémon, whether enemy, or those he would recognize. He knew exactly where his father waited, thanks to Otto; he knew that he only needed to walk a little farther and peek around the side of the next house, the one which sat closest to the river bank, and his father would be waiting right there.

Panic mounted in his heart as he neared the house, and part of him didn't want to look. He thought to walk straight past house as though an oblivious wanderer, and perhaps he would stop to peer over his shoulder once he had gained enough distance. His willpower surged, and he passed right by the house in a proud march. But his blub grew heavy upon his back and his legs wobbled under its pressure, and he had not even taken six steps before his strength had drained from him, and he gave into the temptation to look at the riverside.

There he was. A mighty Venusaur, motionless in all but his deep breaths, lounged at the waterside. He gazed far away into the distance as though waiting for something.

Saura's breath caught in his throat as he was overcome with denial, and appraised the creature, noting the markings on his hide and the color of his petals. He hoped to find something which would prove this creature was not Grayleaf, his father and the father of his nine siblings. But he was as an image from his deepest dreams, burned into his mind's eye from the many sleepless nights he suffered. This Venusaur was indeed the one he had hoped, and feared, to meet.

Sheepishly, Saura crept closer to him, trying to make not the slightest sound with his footsteps. But there were only so many steps he could make before his knees locked completely, and he could only stare in distant apprehension.

Finally, he sighed one last time, glancing at the ground beneath him as though for support, and he croaked one tiny word, almost a whisper.

"Dad…?"

When Saura glanced back up, the behemoth Venusaur stirred. Gently shuffling his feet beneath his great body, he turned himself around and stared, silently, at the little Bubasaur. The Venusaur returned a gaze filled with so many different emotions, from shame, to relief, to resentment, and to pride; Saura could only stand helpless before his father's deep red eyes, and he felt his heart reduced to the depths of humility, far surpassing those he had felt in the presence of any legendary beast.

And they stared quietly at one another, their gazes locked in a soundless standstill.

For what must have been an entire hour, Saura's little mind spun in circles, struggling to find something to say to his long-lost father. As the sun descended and grew redder, he fished for anything that could have been even slightly appropriate, or expressive of his feelings, but only silence seemed fitting.

As if in reflex, the little Bulbasaur broke his gaze with his father and glanced behind him, noticing that his Charmander and Raichu friends were nearby, and had been watching from afar, waiting in eager anticipation of whatever words he would share with the Venusaur.

Saura remembered something.

"Dad, I…" Saura croaked, his voice broken. "I uh… I brought you something."

Saura sent an expectant gaze at his Raichu friend, who immediately snapped to attention.

"Oh! Oh, right. Almost forgot," Ray said, stuttering and scrambling to take off his backpack.

He fished around for a moment, revealing the apple that had been requested; a red and juicy one from Iron Town's produce market, and quickly dashed forward to deliver it. Saura saw that Ray had done a very good job not bumping it around, and it had no bruises or blemishes, and its skin remained as perfect and shiny as could be. Saura awkwardly drew his vines and swiveled them around the fruit, lifting it from Ray's grasp. He took small and careful steps toward the Venusaur, careful not to drop it.

"Here," Saura said, his voice small and fearful, as he lifted the apple above his head, presenting it to the vast Pokémon who stood only several steps before him.

Grayleaf drew his mighty vine and whipped at the apple, striking it from Saura's grasp. It splashed gently into the river. Before Saura could react, the mighty Venusaur leaned close and wrapped him in a warm and loving embrace, closing his eyes and touching his snout to Saura's forehead.

The little Bulbasaur couldn't hold back a sharp sob as he pressed himself against his father's warmth, letting go of his anxiety and his tension. His body trembled as his own vines squeezed tightly around the great Venusaur's head, his many tears all coming out at once.

"Dad… I'm sorry…" Saura could only say between his tearful gasps. "I… I love you…"

"I love you too, Saura," the great Grayleaf said in his strong, grumbly voice. "And I have hurt you in ways that you should never forgive me for. It's because… there were times when I had forgotten who you are. I had forgotten… that you are my son."

The sun sank even deeper toward the horizon as the reunited Pokémon held one another. They did not speak many words, but Char knew they did not need to; he had shared many similar moments with the Bulbasaur, and knew that words were not the best language of the deepest heartfelt emotions. Only through silence and gentle company could one convey such powerful things as love and acceptance. So, though the sunlight waned, Char didn't bother telling the Bulbasaur that Alastair was nearly about to become visible, or that they needed to hurry if they wanted to get back to the base on time. He just said nothing, and admired his best friend's happiness from afar, content with knowing Saura had no more need to be ashamed in the presence of his father.

Saura and the vast Grayleaf might have remained wordless until the darkness fell, but their silence was only interrupted with the loud click, the sound of a latch unbolted nearby. The door to the cottage burst open at the forceful push of an Ivysaur, who leapt out into the yard and yelled, "Dad, mom says you need to— Wait, Saura?!"

His voice was soon joined with the symphony of many young children, all yammering Saura's name in surprise and pouring out from the shadows of the house all around the Ivysaur. They crowded around their long-lost brother, shouting things to him incessantly. Char realized they were not unlike the Buneary children he had cared for so long ago.

"Saura! It's you! You're back!"

"Are you okay?"

"Did you work for the Master?"

"Are you rich?"

"Did you get to see the castle?"

Saura quickly unwrapped himself from his father's vines and turned his attention to his siblings, attempting to answer each of their endless questions. "Saurlee, it's so good to see you!" he shouted, nuzzling his sister. "You've grown so much! Ah, Saurden, I actually didn't meet the Master at all, I'm sorry! I don't think a lot of Pokémon ever have. Nah, I'm not rich. Well, maybe I am now, it's hard to tell. I have you back, that's all that matters! Ah yeah, Sauril, I got to see a castle, but it wasn't the Master's…"

"Heh, such silly names they all have," Char commented quietly to Ray.

Ray shrugged and said, "It's not too weird. Most of the time a big group of the same kind of Pokémon has names like that. I mean, it's better than calling them all 'Bulbasaur', right?"

Char chuckled. "Yeah, I guess," he said with a smile. "So, how long are we going to let them catch up with one another?"

"Ey, well, to be honest it shouldn't be hard to find shelter 'round here," Alastair said quietly. "We can fly back to the base like a bullet since we don't need to be as secretive on the return trip as we were coming here, but… we could stay the night, somehow, if it came to that."

"Good, I was thinking we'd need to stay. It got late all of a sudden," Char said. "Ah, this went well, don't you think?"

"Yeah, as good as could be expected," Alastair replied. "See, we were all getting worked up over–"

An unexpected voice, arrogant and brash, shouted loudly above the yammering of the Bulbasaur family.

"Hah. So you actually came."

Silence fell instantly upon the loving family as they turned their attention to the newcomer. It was a red fox with bushy orange fur: a Flareon. It strode confidently towards the family, sneering at them as though it knew it could defeat Grayleaf and all of his children effortlessly if it so chose.

The family reacted with stunned silence, all except for Saura, who instantly panicked and hid behind the Venusaur.

"I… I… I DON'T… need… your PITY!" Saura cried as loudly as he could. "I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY!"

"Funny," the Flareon sneered as it stepped closer. "I don't remember offering it."

The Flareon drew closer to the family, causing all the children to disperse and keep their distance. Grayleaf stood his guard, though he made no move to attack the fox. He simply stared at the newcomer with solemn understanding as Saura buried his head under his father's belly, trembling uncontrollably.

"W…why isn't Marrow rescuing us?" Char said in a baffled moment.

"Could be he's not in position, for whatever odd reason," Alastair hissed back. "Or could be he doesn't think this Flareon's a threat. Hey… back off for a moment, let's just watch and see what happens."

"No!" Char hissed in anger. "No, I'm protecting him! Ray, let's take down this guy! We need to protect Saura!"

But before Char could drop to his battle stance and charge after the Flareon, he felt a sudden, ice-cold claw clamping down on his right arm. He pulled against it, and he growled, "No! I know who that is! I've seen that Flareon before! That's… that's the one from Saura's nightmares! We need to help him!"

"I said, back off," Alastair repeated, tightening his grip. "This Flareon's not going to hurt him. He has no equipment, no army to back him up, alright? Ambushes don't work this way, kid. This Flareon's only here to talk. If we're going to attack, you attack on my mark. But for now let's just calm down and back off, and let's see what he has to say."

"You let go of me," Char seethed, pulling again against the invisible claw. "I can burn you if I want. Let go of me or I'll hold my breath and burn you with my skin."

He felt a twitch from the Weavile's arm.

"Pah… fine," the Weavile said, releasing his grasp. "Be that way. See if I care. But if you do anything stupid, it's on you."

Free of the Weavile's hold, Char decided to give the Flareon a chance to explain itself. However, he made a very subtle hand motion, signaling Otto to prepare for an attack.

The fox stepped around the great Venusaur and peered at the cowering one. "Look me in the eye when I speak to you," he barked. "You are the one I came for."

With a frightened yelp, the small Bulbasaur complied. He sprang to attention and shirked back against his father, and he found himself face-to-face with his deepest nightmare.

Saura realized, in that moment, that it was never his father he truly feared encountering. It was this Flareon, this single Pokémon, who became the focal point of his dread. It was the Flareon who had taken everything away from him, demanding his compliance to the Master. It was the Flareon who, in his fevered dreams, had tracked his brother and his sister and burned them to ashes. And it was this Flareon who now stood above him with a smug grin, his muzzle only inches in front of his face. He could feel the creature's heat pulsing in waves across his skin, warmth much stronger than any he had felt from Char.

"If I knew that simply sending you a letter would have brought you out of hiding, I would have done so much sooner," the Flareon said. "But I suppose it is too late now. Sadly, it is all over."

Char clenched his claw in rage. It was difficult to watch Saura's spirit so thoroughly broken, his face so filled with dread and despair.

He couldn't take it. Saura needed him. This was the moment Saura needed him most of all.

"Don't do anything stupid," the Weavile warned one last time. "Remember, that Flareon is immune to your fire."

"But he's not immune to lightning," Char shot back. "Ray… you still have that lightning you caught from earlier. Can't you paralyze him?"

"You bet," Ray replied. "Just say when."

Char took a single, courageous step forward.

"Stop."

The earth rumbled at the sound of Grayleaf's command, and Char stood stunned, seeing the great Venusaur glaring directly at him, his fearsome red eyes now filled with belligerence. Char staggered and could only do as the Venusaur commanded.

"You will not hurt the Flareon," Grayleaf boomed, drawing a vine and pointing it threateningly. "He is here under my agreement. Stand still, or you will not be welcome here any longer."

Saura quaked in disbelief, his tears having been spent long ago. "You brought him here?!" he shrieked. "Dad? You brought him back here?! Why?"

Char stood tall, letting the fire from his tail flare high over his head. "And you won't hurt Saura," he threatened back. "If you hurt him… We'll take him away from you again… and… Y-you'll never see him again."

The red fox gave an unsettling chuckle. "Hurt him?" he laughed, shaking his head sadly. "Why ever would I want to hurt him? I couldn't hurt him if I wanted to. I would be shackled to a dungeon wall and be left to rot for the rest of my days. I assure you, I am not so careless."

The Flareon turned his attention back to the pitiful little Bulbasaur at his feet, and said, "Saura, though we've met before, I do not believe I have ever properly introduced myself. I am called Hunter. That is not my name, but my profession; you see, my expertise lies in the business of finding Pokémon who do not wish to be found. You, little Bulbasaur, have been my latest assignment, and I have spent the year scouring Ambera for hints of your whereabouts."

"Y-you sent the letter, didn't you?" Saura said accusingly. "What about Adiel? The letter said it was from a Scizor!"

"Yes, the request was mine," the Flareon admitted. "Adiel only signed it. Pokémon who are not gifted with hands, or dexterous vines, as it were, often need assistance with the most mundane of tasks. Besides, I was not in the mood to ink my claw; it doesn't wash out very well. And do you wish to know why I summoned you here? Do you want to know why I went through the trouble of baiting you with your own family, and risking a paper trail which would circulate into your… shadow organization? It is because I wanted to congratulate you."

"What…? What are you talking about?" Saura cried, his baffled and distraught expression unchanging.

"You see," Hunter said, "In my time, I have been given nine assignments. They were all very challenging, I assure you. Pokémon who change their names, fake their deaths, hire impersonators of themselves, surround themselves with powerful allies, or just run off and hide themselves among the most savage of environments, just for a bit of privacy. But with the right methods, be it kidnapping, blackmail, mind-reading, or just learning to think like the enemy… they have all turned up, eventually, whether alive or dead, and I have broken that privacy, denied them of their greatest aspiration: the dream of simply becoming lost and forgotten. All except for one. See… though I have spent my life searching for nine Pokémon, of them, I have only found… eight. You, little seedling, were the one who got away. And for that, I wanted to congratulate you. You are the first black mark on my perfect record. Well done."

"So… you're not going to take me to Adiel?" Saura said, confused. "But I'm right here… You found me. What are you talking about?"

"Ah, yes, I found you, but it is a bit too late," Hunter said, finally turning and pacing farther away from the Venusaur and his family. "You see, you have been placed on the Master's list of… untouchable Pokémon. You and your family, that is. As long as you stay out of the Master's affairs and mind your own business, the Master and everyone who serves him cannot harass you under penalty of a life's imprisonment in his dungeon. You are lucky; not many Pokémon have been granted this luxury in the history of Ambera. Generally they are princes, kings, or elders of some kind, placed on the list for political reasons. You are on the list for a far more exceptional reason: the Master has been led to believe that Arceus and his omnipotent dragons have taken an interest in keeping you alive, and has ordered us all not to bother you, for fear of bringing divine wrath upon the empire."

Saura's mouth hung open as he tried to understand. The cocky Flareon only watched in amusement as the news broke to him, savoring his reaction.

"So I'm… untouchable," Saura replied, tasting the words. "I'm…"

"Safe," Hunter said for him. "You'll never again need to fear that Adiel will descend upon you to take you away. You are among the Master's favorites now, and your meadow will become a preserve so that you will never need to see fighting again. You might find that it brings a certain piece of mind that nothing else can match, knowing that you are no longer caught in this silly war. Just ask Grayleaf over here, he can tell you. Can't you, Grayleaf?"

"…Dad?" Saura said, peering up into his father's eyes. "Dad, what does he mean?"

The Venusaur sighed, hanging his head as though ashamed of himself. "Because," he said, "as long as you have been my son, I have also been untouchable. Adiel came to me many years ago, and told me that you were to serve him, and so that's the way I raised you. I raised you, knowing you would one day leave me whenever they requested you. In return, the Master agreed to mark your mother and I, and all of our family, as untouchables. I agreed with their demands… because it meant that my family would be safe."

"…Oh," Saura said, stunned. "You… wanted to… sell me into slavery… to keep the Master away…?"

"Consequently, when you ran away, your family's status was revoked," Hunter explained. "They suddenly found that they needed to run for their lives. And I chased them, because I thought to kidnap them and use them to blackmail you. After all, you were my target, and I would stop at nothing in tracking you down. But when I finally caught up to them, something strange happened: it was the act of a god which Adiel witnessed, and that moment is what eventually led to your reinstatement on the list."

Saura glared up at his father, his eyes filled with awe as he finally understood. Vaguely, he heard the voices of his brothers and sisters around him, gasping in wonder as they too heard of the Flareon's admissions. Saura's heart could not decide whether it felt betrayed or sympathetic to his father's decisions; after all, he knew just what it was like to obsess over the safety of his family, knowing the raw fear and worry that his loved ones could be taken at any moment, while he stood far away and helpless.

"Dad…" Saura croaked.

"Saura, you are right to resent me," Grayleaf said sincerely, bowing his head. "I had made a decision for you that only you would ever have the capacity to make. But I will never again make this mistake. Not as long as I live."

"Ah, but that's all in the past, now!" Hunter proclaimed mockingly. "My contract with Adiel has been terminated, and you're all one big happy family again. So run along home and get out of my sight. Congratulations on being my very first failure. Take pride in knowing that you, a little seedling, will hold forever hold a special place in my heart, and you have my undying and begrudging respect. At least until I meet another client who proves even more challenging than you."

The Flareon turned his tail and began to walk away, forever to leave the little Bulbasaur and his family at peace. He glowered at Char as he passed by, saying "Perhaps you and I will meet again someday. You should pray that we don't, because it would mean that someone has paid me handsomely just to find you. Oh, and if I should ever need to hunt you down, you might put up a bit more of a challenge if you were to remember that a canine relies more on the sense of smell than on eyesight."

He then turned to glare into the empty air beside Ray, and said, "Weavile, tell your superiors they would be wasting their time in following me. I don't work for Adiel anymore, so my destination is of no consequence to you."

"Hah!" Alastair laughed, causing the fox to jerk uncomfortably. "Actually, I'm standing over here! Might want to get that nose of yours checked, doggie."

Hunter gave one last snort of amusement, then galloped away down the shore of the stream. He was soon gone from sight.

As Saura's teammates finally rushed to his side to console him, and as his family cuddled around their long-lost Bulbasaur, Saura was only left staring at the horizon where the Flareon had disappeared. Hunter had left, taking all of the fears, the nightmares, and the headaches away with him. No longer would his family be destroyed. No longer would his brothers and sisters be in constant danger because of him.

Saura knew it was finally over.


As the day wound to a close, Grayleaf invited Team Ember into the cottage to spend the night. Alastair went away to report to Team Remorse, and Char accompanied his friends into the humble little place, which was much more spacious than it appeared on the outside. After lighting the fireplace, the room and everyone within it became bathed in a warm orange light, and Char was touched at seeing Saura's family resting so safe and cozily together. Saura's mother was there, although she did not look well; she lounged drearily in the corner, appearing as though she suffered from an illness. But when Saura asked her if she was okay, she replied that she was fine, and revealed that she was warming an egg she had recently laid, and that Saura would soon have another brother or sister. His exclamation of surprise filled the room.

Grayleaf offered a meal to his family, and extended invitations to Char, Ray, and Otto. He laid out for them many berries and leaves he had collected from the fields outdoors, and lastly produced a great golden apple which he had saved specifically for the occasion of Saura's return. Char's mouth watered when he laid eyes upon it, and he resolved not to let his slice disappear so fast like the last one he had eaten.

"By the way, Saura, did you like what we all did with the village?" Grayleaf asked warmly as the family savored their meal.

"What do you mean?" Saura replied, apple juice dripping from the sides of his mouth. "Oh! All of… All of that?! You did all of that? The swirls in the ground and all the rocks and… the river bank? Really?"

"When Hunter brought us here, the place was nothing but a slimy pile of compost," the great Venusaur snorted in disgust. "I knew I would be waiting for you for a while, so we occupied our time with gardening. It took twenty-nine days to get the village looking like this. I hoped you would appreciate the effort."

"Yeah! I did the swirly clay!" one of Saura's little brothers shouted. "It was a lot of work! Did you like it? Dad told me that you'd get to see it!"

"Oh, Saurden! That was amazing!" Saura laughed, offering a nuzzle to him. "Good job! You know, something told me it was you guys who all did this. I don't know how I knew it, but I knew. It reminded me of home."

For the rest of the evening, Saura told many stories of his great adventures, of snow-covered mountains and majestic legendary birds, of dreadful brushes with deadly ghosts, of magic orbs and visions of Dialga, and of the heroic Scyther and Infernape who had guided them. Char and Ray joined in, offering details in the places where Saura had forgotten, and together they sat in front of the fire and impressed Grayleaf and his whole family with their tales. Team Ember took turns rambling on and on, until at last all of Saura's siblings had fallen asleep, and only Grayleaf himself remained awake.

"Saura," he finally said as he prepared himself to rest for the night, "I want you to know that I intend to make up to you the wrong I have done. To think you were even favored by the gods… It shames me to know that I could not see the same value in you that they did. Somehow, I will come to deserve your forgiveness. I will find a way. I promise."

But Saura sighed, and said, "Dad… I already forgive you. Look, I… if I had known that I would have let all of you be safe forever just by joining the Master, I probably would have done it. I mean, maybe not back then when I ran away, but… I'm stronger now. I'm different, I fought battles and I learned all kinds of secrets and stuff that goes on in the war. So I understand why you wanted to protect everyone. But look… I don't care about any of that, dad. I'm just happy to see you again. I'm happy to see everyone here… I'm just so happy to see that everyone's safe."

Grayleaf smiled warmly at the Bulbasaur he called his son, and was touched by his words. "Whatever you choose to do, with your life, do not let me dictate it for you. I've done enough of that. Just know that you are always welcome among my family," he said. "I love you."

Saura cuddled with his family as he drifted off to sleep in the dying light of the fire. Char and Ray watched from the other side of the room, Otto having long ago fallen asleep standing in the corner.

"Seeing him makes me keep thinking of all the things I'd tell brother if I ever saw him again," Ray whispered as they watched over the peaceful family. "I wonder if I would forgive him… I don't know. Maybe I'd be just so happy to see him that I wouldn't even care. Maybe it doesn't matter. But I'm happy for Saura. I'm glad he got the happy ending I didn't get. I think maybe that's good enough for me."

But Char's heart was not at peace.

He felt shards of glass stabbing at his insides, his ember wavering and burning sour. A thought was stuck in his mind, something his heart couldn't let go. He knew, as he watched the sleeping Bulbasaur, that it was this thought which would likely keep him awake for the rest of the night. He let the inner turmoil take over him, ideas struggling for dominance and justification, as he rested his back against the bumpy wall of the odd little cottage and resigned himself to weariness.


Char wasn't sure if he'd even slept; his thoughts had been drifting in and out of coherence all night, and had become indistinguishable from dreams. Eventually, the morning was heralded by a knock at the door.

"It's me," a familiar voice said. "You in there, Char? Ray?"

Grumbling, Char opened the door, and the house was flooded with the late morning sunlight. Scratching at his eyes, he perceived the figure of a Weavile standing in the doorway.

"Char, Remorse is back in position," he reported. "We're ready to take you home."

"Right," Char groaned. "I'll get everyone."

After rousing Ray and Otto from their rest, Char tiptoed through the mess of sleeping Bulbasaur, grasping his tail steady so he wouldn't set any of them on fire. He found the Bulbasaur he most recognized nuzzled against his father's side, and whispered into his ear:

"The fire will never die."

Saura's eyes fluttered open, but he instantly sensed that he was not in the team's base, and he hesitated before responding to the wakeup call.

"Oh, time to go?" Saura said, realizing what was happening. "Alright… Ugh, I'm coming."

Saura gazed longingly at his family as he quietly left the house. He groaned and blinked his eyes as the yellow sunlight crept across his face, and he sighed peacefully as he joined his team.

"Sleep well?" Ray asked him.

"Yeah," Saura responded. "No nightmares. None at all. I think… the curse might be gone. I can't feel the headaches anymore."

Char knew he should have felt happy for the Bulbasaur. Everything had turned out fine for him. But his inner fire burned brighter than ever before, and a conviction filled him, never faltering even as he tried to fight it away.

"So uh… what do we do?" Saura wondered. "How do we leave?"

"Marrow and Nidoroch are positioned to perform a maneuver called a 'pop and pull,'" Otto explained. "Using the maneuver, it will be difficult for spies to discern which direction we retreat. To comply, you must simply walk into the field, and announce that you are ready. I will return to the Division on my own, and I will meet you when you arrive."

"Sounds good," Ray said. "I hear this 'pop-and-pull' thing is kinda fun, I wonder what it's like. Well, I guess we'll see you back at the base, Otto—"

"Wait."

Char sighed sadly, holding his arm to halt his team from continuing forward. He closed his eyes tightly, a sensation like a painless migraine tearing through his skull and his heart.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Ray said, checking the bag he held. "Did we forget something?"

"No, I just…" Char struggled to say. "Do you guys… Do you think I could have a word alone with Saura?"

Ray blinked. "Um… sure, go ahead," he said awkwardly, glancing back at the cottage from where they came. "Fine by me. Just… come get me when you're done, alright?"


Purevine Plains

After convincing Ray and Otto to give them a private moment, Char walked with a very confused Saura out into the field, far away from the buildings of Purevine Village. It was a very beautiful morning, quite warm even for autumn. Many birds sung their songs in the nearby trees, and more still flew in formation across the sky, migrating to the golden lands where it was warmer. The ambergrass grew in tall and fuzzy patches, and the serene breeze rustled through them. Char closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of nature, and breathed long and deeply, hoping they would bring him the peace he needed.

At last, when he felt he was ready, the Charmander turned to his best friend, and said, "Saura, I think I want you to stay with your family."

The Bulbasaur's eyes grew wide in revelation, and he stepped back in apprehension. "Char… What… What do you…"

But Saura failed to find a coherent sentence to say, and instead just stared blankly at his team leader. Char returned a sad, knowing gaze.

"This is what you wanted," Char told him. "Saura, I remember watching you try to run through the blizzard, calling out to your family. I will always see that every time I close my eyes. It's burned into my mind. Even though I was smoldering at the time, it cut me deep enough to make me see why you're fighting. Saura, I know this is what you wanted. This is why you tried to find them in the snow, and why you dreamed about them so many times. You wanted them back."

"Char, w-wait," Saura stammered, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm happy to see them alive… and I think my headaches went away for good… but Char… we're a team. Aren't we?"

"We're a team because I made a promise not to let anything happen to you," Char replied, his confidence swelling with every word he spoke. "That's what I told you in the cave when I found you. And now I can keep you safe forever if I let you stay here with your family. That's how I'm going to fulfill that promise to you forever. Look, you're untouchable now. The Master doesn't want you anymore! Saura… if I made you come back to the base with me, I would be just as thoughtless as your father was when he tried to sell you to Adiel for his own safety. I can't do that, Saura. I have to do what's best for you. This is your chance! Go teach Saurlee how to explore the forest! Go on vacations with Saurvor and see the rest of the world! Forget about this war and be free! You have the Call, keep it away from everyone who wants to use it as a weapon, keep it secret!"

Though Char gave Saura so many reasons to leave the war, the greatest reason of all was the one he kept silent: he didn't want Saura to ever fall victim to his mind-control. He couldn't bear the thought that one day, his fire might blaze out of control, clouding his judgment with rage and arrogance, and that he would twist and bend the mind of his best friend with his unrelenting psychic power, turning him into a shell of his former self.

He wanted to protect Saura from the Master, but most of all he wanted to protect Saura from the Call.

Saura shuddered and fidgeted uncomfortably at each of Char's statements as they overwhelmed him, and he grasped feebly at objections. "Char, I just don't know!" he cried. "What about you? Y-you're a human… you still haven't figured out what you're doing here! You don't know why you changed into a Charmander! I-I never helped you figure that out!"

"You helped a lot," Char returned sternly. "You gave your whole heart to help me. I can't ask you for anything more. This is your reward for everything you've done for me. You deserve to rest. I'll go on and find the rest of the answers myself. The others will help me. Maybe I'll even have more team members soon! Saura… Dialga told me something when we left the tower. He told me to do whatever I believed in, and that would bring me closer to my goal. And this is what I believe in."

Saura once again had no words. He idly pawed at the ground, every word catching in his throat as his mouth hung open.

"Char…" he said sadly, looking back in the direction of the cottage. "I just… I just don't know."

Char felt something. There was a sensation in his head, loud and strong. The hum of a musical note, rapidly growing into a full-blown roar. And from the roar, a cheerful telepathic voice came to him, telling him that it was time to use the Call, to bend the minds of the Pokémon around him to his will.

Char had hoped in the back of his mind that it would happen. He had come to understand what time if day it tended to come, and for once he had gambled, and planned for it. And as he watched over the Bulbasaur he so loved, he knew just what words to speak with the Call's power. He opened his mouth and spoke his words carefully, professing his command with his mind at the same time as his voice, a gentle and comforting whisper:

"Saura, I know I can't tell you what to do. If you want to come back with me, you can. But I want you to be honest with me this time. Stop hiding your feelings. Look me in the eyes, and tell me the truth: do you really want to stay here with your family?"

Saura did just as the Call instructed, glancing back to the Charmander and staring straight into his eyes. Char watched as fragments of a sentence formed upon his friend's throat, the Bulbasaur's expression turning from confusion, to sadness, to acceptance, and finally to shame.

"Yes," Saura replied, immediately averting his gaze and staring at the nearest stalk of ambergrass. "I do… I want to stay here. That's the truth. Char… part of the reason I had the headaches wasn't just because I felt guilty for ruining my family. There was always a part of me that… blamed it on you."

Char's heart clenched in his chest. He had always suspected Saura was hiding some of his deepest feelings from him, and now he felt the brunt of regret for asking.

Saura stamped away in shame, shouting at the ground. "I'm sorry! I know! I know it doesn't make any sense! But you wanted the truth. That's the truth. That's why there was always that Flareon in the dream. That's why Hunter was there, and he would always burn them with fire, Char. Because… Because of you. The fire was you."

Char only sighed, knowing he couldn't fight the pain any longer. His fire boiled sour and stabbed him from the inside.

"I see," he simply replied, crossing his arms. "I see."

"But Char, look, I don't hate you. I don't," Saura pleaded, turning back around to face his friend. "The curse made me feel that way. It didn't mean anything!"

Char approached him, kneeling down his level and wrapping his arms around his friend's head. It was finally Char's turn to cry, and though he had tried to hold it back, he couldn't keep some of his tears from falling upon the Bulbasaur's cheek.

"It means something," Char said in a quiet, broken voice. "It means that you love your family, and you'd be happier if you stayed here. So… can you do that for me? Can you stay here?"

"Yeah," Saura replied softly, leaning into the embrace. "Yeah, Char. Okay. I'll stay here."

They held one another closely, perhaps for the last time, as the remnants of the morning seemed to slip away around them.


Purevine Village

When they were ready and their hearts were at peace, Char and Saura returned to the pebbled cottage, and gave their news to the remaining teammates. Ray was surprised, but he took it well, agreeing that it was probably for the best. Otto only nodded in understanding, and Char couldn't tell how he felt.

"Take care of him," Saura ordered to the stunned Raichu and the Pidgey. "He's a very important human, and he has a destiny you guys need to help him with. Something big is going to happen because of him. He doesn't know what it is yet, but you need to help him get there. Can I trust you?"

"You can count on us," Ray replied solemnly, giving Saura a powerful hug. "Don't worry about a thing. Char's in good hands. And you know how to find us if you ever need us, alright?"

"Top priority is to find Giratina," Otto affirmed. "It will supersede all other priorities."

Char thanked the Bulbasaur for everything he had done, all the hardships and joys he had shared, and all of his help in making Team Ember what it had become. He promised to drop everything and come running if Saura ever needed his help.

Though they tried to prolong the conversation forever, the four Pokémon soon ran out of things to say, and there was nothing left to do but to wave goodbye.

Shortly later, Saura watched as Otto ascended high into the sky, and as Char and Ray stepped out into the field. A Nidoking and a Marowak burst from beneath the soil and grabbed them, pulling them down into the dark tunnels below.


Shamble Forest

In the shade of the canopy, a Scizor stood in contemplative silence.

"They left him…?" he said again, grinding the flat of a pincer against his forehead.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either, commander, but that's exactly what happened," a Dusknoir replied. "They left him there."

"So they had an invisible Weavile," he recounted, pacing in circles upon the forest floor, "And some Pokémon underground. But otherwise… they just showed up… and left him there."

The Dusknoir winced nervously, not knowing whether the Scizor was asking for confirmation yet again. He only watched as the Scizor became visibly distraught, coming to rest his forehead against a nearby tree.

"Did Hunter get away, at the very least?" Adiel finally asked.

"Yes, commander, he's far away," Dusknoir confirmed. "Why, do you want him to come back?"

"No, I told Hunter he could leave as soon as he was done talking to Saura," Adiel explained. "I'm done with him. I don't need him anymore. Let him go where he wants."

Adiel stopped walking for a moment, standing in silence. Then, he released a sudden burst of frustration, slamming the side of his steely pincer against the tree trunk and leaving a sizable dent.

"This 'plan' of theirs… the way they approached a mission which was clearly a baited trap, with nothing… absolutely nothing… but an invisible Weavile, some burrowers, and a few birds… It baffles me," he said, hanging his head low and examining the roots of the tree he had assaulted. "If I didn't know any better, I would think that Scythe had nothing to do with this plan… at all."

The Scizor knelt low to the ground in silent reflection.

"Dusknoir, if I would tell you something, would you keep it a secret?" Adiel said quietly, turning to his ghost companion.

"Of course, commander," the ghost replied with an awkward bow. "It's what I'm here for."

With a heavy sigh, the Scizor said, "Between you and I… Right now, as of this moment, I have no earthly idea what's going on."

The steeled commander rose to his feet again, glancing between the trees of the forest. "I think I will need to disappear for a length of time," he decided. "Perhaps I will only see the full picture if I step back and view things as a whole. I believe this is the last you will see of me for the foreseeable future."

"Very well, then," Dusknoir said. "What would you have me do?"

"Let me see it," Scizor said. "Let me see it one more time."

Dusknoir produced from his ghostly body the small purple sphere, just as he often would for his boss. He tossed it into the air, and Adiel caught the small object in his pincer, looking it over keenly as though to check for dents or blemishes.

"You are at ease, for now," Adiel told him, tossing back the master ball. "I will contact you if I need. Keep looking for the entrance to the resistance base. I will disappear into the woodwork; I only hope the efforts of Cepheus and his team are more productive than mine. The stage is set for him, now; I leave the basin in his capable claws."

The two Pokémon parted ways, each disappearing into the shadows.


Division Base

It was a very odd feeling as Char, Ray, and Otto returned to their rooms. Char knew that something, perhaps the heart and soul, was missing from the team, something which no other Pokémon would be able to provide. But he knew that the Pokémon who had provided it was now in a better place, safe from the dangers of the fight against the Master. And, more importantly, safe from the influence of the Call. The Charmander held his head high, secure in the knowledge that he had done the right thing. He had finally repaid Saura's selflessness with his own.

As Ray stashed the spare items into the closet as he always would, Char opened the door to his bedroom and stared at Saura's nest, wondering whether or not it should be left in place.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Char rushed to the front of the hall to greet the guest as Ray pushed the door open. It was Eva.

"Good afternoon," she said politely. "You were gone for longer than I expected. How are Saura's headaches?"

"His headaches are healed," Char told her flatly. "Also, he quit the team."

The Espeon reeled in surprise. "What?! He quit? And you let him?!" Eva cried. "Why did this happen?!"

"I think he's fought hard enough," Char told him. "He'll be happier living with his family. I'll…"

"What?" Eva replied oddly.

The Espeon tilted her head, unsure of why Char had stopped speaking, or why Team Ember collectively stared at her in disbelief. It was not until Char blankly pointed above her head that she noticed the strong aura of another Pokémon encroaching upon her mind, and hesitantly peered over her shoulder.

She found Scythe staring back at her.

Instantly, she shrieked in fear, her fur standing on end as she pounced through the door and backed away from the Scyther. But Scythe only smiled wryly and waved at her.

"Hah! Gotcha!" he called to her cheerfully. "Ah, I haven't seen you in a while, Eva! How've you been doing?"

The Espeon clamped her mouth shut, stifling the cries and insults she was nearly about to unleash onto him. Instead she only blinked and replied, "Hmm… I have been keeping busy, I suppose."

"Good!" Scythe answered. "I just came down to check on Team Ember. I heard they came back from quite the interesting little escapade. Learn much of anything, guys?"

Char and Ray were left baffled, trying to remember what, if anything, they had picked up from the mission.

"We learned… much, I assure you," Otto said, speaking up for his team members. "I learned how to guide land-walkers on a long journey. Char and Ray learned much as well, such as how to carefully approach a potential trap. Perhaps they will explain it in detail later."

"Uh… yeah!" Char repeated awkwardly. "Right now we are very busy!"

Scythe nodded in understanding. "I heard about what happened to Saura," he said. "You'll have a lot of work to do if you want to pick up the slack he left. But it makes sense what you did for him. It was an honorable decision."

"Yeah, we'll work very hard, as always!" Ray cheered, joining in to help usher the Scyther along as soon as possible.

Scythe turned to leave. "Ah, now I suppose I must return to the team, and let them ramble my ears off about all the problems we're having at the canyon," he grumbled. "Anyway, Marrow will be back tomorrow, as always, so be sure to have your next mission planned out for him. As for me, I'll be seeing you!"

When Scythe was gone, Char slammed the door shut and Eva breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"That was… odd," she said, laying herself down on the rug. "Honestly, I did not expect him to treat me so acceptingly…"

Char shrugged. "Huh, maybe he forgave you," he offered. "Maybe it's been so long that he doesn't mind."

"Yeah, and maybe he just forgot," Ray suggested, closing the closet door. "You've kept hidden from him for a long time now. And he has a lot of things on his mind nowadays."

"I doubt it," Eva sneered, shrugging. "I think he was pretending. I noticed deceit in his stature and his face. But I suppose I can always probe his mind later, granted I can get close enough to him, to find the answer myself."

"Either way, I guess we have to do what he says, and get another mission," Ray said, moving toward the door of the planning room. "I guess I'll give the list a quick go-over, and see if I can find anything reasonable."

But when Ray opened the door to the planning room, a tall figure stood behind it.

Eva winced, and was overtaken with dread once more. She jumped to her feet and attempted to run and hide, but it was too late; the large yellow figure bolted from the door and attacked her, engulfing her with a powerful spell of telekinesis. Char yelped in surprise, and realized who he was looking at: a very, very angry Alakazam, his eyes glowing deep red and his hands glowing with psychic force.

Eva squealed in protest as the master psychic pinned her against the wall until she was nearly motionless. The High Intelligence leader effortlessly lifted his hand, dragging her higher up the wall and rotating her until she hung helplessly upside-down.

"I should have known you were hiding with Char," he boomed. "I had eliminated all other possibilities. That you would dare to take advantage of him."

"Wait!" Char pleaded. "Wait, Alakazam! What are you doing? What's wrong?!"

"This Espeon is an outlaw of the Division," Alakazam explained plainly. "She serves no team, and instead only tells lies so that she may leech the conveniences of the teams who perform our work. I have since attempted to detain her, but she has always eluded me until now. Sinister Espeon, Hereby I banish you from the Gold Division—"

"WAIT!" Char cried again. "Wait! I… I… Stop!"

Surprisingly to Char, he had won Alakazam's attention.

"She is on a team!" Char pleaded. "She's on my team! She's my teammate!"

"Not officially," Alakazam replied. "It is her way. She only lives in the quarters of other teams, beseeching their hospitality…"

"Well… she is now!" Char proclaimed. "Eva! You're on the team! I'll register you right now! Just… put her down, please!"

Alakazam hesitated, glaring resentfully at the helpless Espeon. He hummed to himself for a moment in contemplation.

"Do you comply with this?" he demanded calmly. "Do you agree to be placed under the command and responsibility of Char, and to adhere to the Division rules from this day forward?"

Though she still quivered in panic, Eva's eyes widened at the notion, and she stared disbelievingly, almost humbly at Char.

You trust me? She quietly asked him.

I don't know, Char returned. All I know is that you need a place to stay, and we have an opening on the team. I left Saura behind so that he wouldn't have to be a fugitive anymore. Now it's your turn. Stop running away from everyone because you're afraid of being banished. I don't want to see you get banished, Eva. I think we could be partners. Stop running and let us help you.

Staring straight into Char's eye, Eva gave the slightest, most hesitant nod.

Alakazam dropped his hands to his sides.

With a thump, the Espeon hit the floor. Alakazam turned indifferently to Char and said, "Don't bother visiting the registrar. If that's what you truly wish, Char, then I'll register her to your team myself. I only pray to Arceus you can control her better than I."

At that, Alakazam teleported away, leaving a very weary and tattered Eva laying on her side against the wall, her eyes wide and filled with awe.

"I am touched you would consider me so valuable, or even trustworthy," she gasped as Char rushed forward to help her up. "I do not know what to say… human. Thank you."

"Of course, you don't have to help us if you don't want," Char replied. "I just didn't want to never see you again. I already lost a friend today. I didn't want to lose another one."

"I admit, I have been considering your offer for a long time," she said softly, climbing to her feet. "Of course, I had nothing better to do with my time. You are right; it is exhausting and boring to hide in the shadows every day. It is foolish of me to tell myself I enjoy this life of an outcast, if I can never see the sun, or even feel the mind-waves of other Pokémon. I will serve your team, human. I will be honored in doing so, knowing that you were willing to trust me, even after I had revealed to you my true nature. It is a kindness no other Pokémon has shown to me in a very long time. Please accept my thanks. My services are yours."

"Well, that settles it!" Ray laughed happily. "We're back to four! Welcome to Team Ember, Eva! We've got a lot of work to do, and a lot of secrets to tell you! You'd better be ready to give it your all!"

"I have been on a team before, I understand what it is like," she said, cracking a smile. "It was a very, very long time ago… Perhaps one day I will tell you."


Later that day, Char relaxed in his bed to think about the day's events, and he found himself surrounded by a very strange team indeed.

Saura's bed remained in place. However, Eva had moved in as well, and had filled the room to its maximum capacity: two beds on the left of Char, and two on his right. It was very clear to him, now, that he could accept no more team members while still expecting to run the team in a casual and non-professional manner. The days were ending when Eva, Ray, and Otto could not merely be his friends. Soon, they would be primarily his partners, and his followers; he would need to learn how to instruct them, to manage them, and sometimes to offend them. Such was the responsibility of a true team leader. Like Eva, he had hidden from his true responsibilities for far too long, and it was now time to apply everything he had learned, regardless of the difficulty or pain. It was the only way to move himself, and his team, forward.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Ray wondered absently, staring at the wall.

"He's welcome to, if he wants," Char replied, watching one of his fires dance. "He's always welcome back. I just don't know if he will."

"I suppose we won't be striking him from the registry just yet," Eva noted. "We'll have to support a ghost member until we decide to drop him for good. That means we'll have to pay higher taxes and take harder jobs. But it's ultimately your call, Char."

"I know," Char said, holding his tail and playing with the flame on the end. "I guess we'll see."

Char soon realized the hardest part of letting Saura go: there would be nobody around to speak with at night, nobody to share his feelings and ideas with… or at least nobody who he could trust as closely. Char knew he would have to start holding many of those feelings inside of himself. It was the only way he would keep himself going. Perhaps, he thought, they would fuel his fire and give him more power. Or perhaps they would break him like the small, vulnerable candle he still was on the inside.

But after everything he had done, and all the times he convinced himself over and over that he would be alright without his closest companion, he wasn't sure of much. All he knew was that things would soon be very, very different for Team Ember, but something told him they'd be up to the task.

*Chapter 81*: Special Episode: Overseer

o

"Overseer"

He suspects me.

He suspects I know something.

She followed a dark stony corridor in silence. She hung her head contemplatively, keeping her wings folded close to her.

She had always kept her mind well-guarded.

Even those whom she trusted would peer into her mind at times.

She would always show them what they expected to see, keeping hidden the secrets which she held.

She tried to ignore the darkness; it was always something which distracted her.

She focused on her innermost thoughts.

What has caused him to suspect me?

She took every step slowly and deliberately, each followed by a thought.

What mistake have I made?

What has he inferred?

Her memories returned to an earlier moment that day. She reexamined it carefully, keeping watch for the moment when she might have lost control.


Alakazam hummed, casting a troubled gaze onto the war-room table and the great map of Ambera which covered its surface.

"I understand that it will be difficult to accept," he said sternly, "but we must be prepared for the possibility that Basin Canyon is a lost cause. If the calculations of Metagross are correct, there are forces in place which we have not accounted for. Our foes have outsmarted us. If I am to be honest, I will say that I fear for the lives of Team Remorse, and the lives of all those who now assist them."

At the opposite end of the table, a green bird shook her head, standing resolute.

"In every battle, there are always factors which we cannot account for," Xatu replied, narrowing her eyes. "Our knights on the field are the first to learn about them. Need I remind you how many times our teams have proven that victory is possible, even when Metagross would leave them for dead? Need I remind you of Wraith Falls? Or of the Hercules project?"

Alakazam sighed, hunching over the table and staring his teammate in the eye. "It is not our purpose to rely on chance, or to foresee the ironic curvatures of fate," he grumbled. "It is not our purpose to admit we know nothing. It is our purpose to use our resources to determine the statistical best course of victory, and then to follow that course. As of now, our resources are telling us that the enemy is three steps ahead, and that Team Remorse and all of the Pokémon whom they hired as assistance are in danger."

"He does have a point there, miss," Slowking quipped, leaning onto the tabletop. "Team Remorse only just now found out they were up against Cepheus the whole time, not Adiel. To me, that says mountains about what sort of effort Enigma is making just to keep the feral-shards out of our hands. I apologize, but I'm siding with Alakazam here. If you ask me, it looks like they're in over their heads."

Xatu stood silent. Though she felt a great many things in just one moment, from resentment to acceptance to blind faith, she showed no emotion in her gaze. She only remained stoic and still, gazing into the ghostly blue firelight which hung suspended by a silver bowl over the planning table.

"Still, we should not underestimate their chances of survival," Xatu finally said. "They have worked at this endeavor far longer than Cepheus has. Scythe has kept close contact with the Sandslash in preparation ever since the canyon was lost in the first place, and their plan is very solid."

"Yes, but where's your evidence that Cepheus hasn't been at it for just as long, hmm?" the doctor returned. "For all we know, Cepheus was behind the scenes since the canyon fell. For all we know, he could be ripping Scythe limb from limb right now and we wouldn't have even seen it coming."

Xatu fell silent again, contemplating an answer.

"As I said, I am not here to insult or undermine the ingenuity of Team Remorse in adapting to new challenges," Akalazam continued, standing up straight. "We must only begin to consider the possibility that we should pull out of the canyon before irreversible damage comes to this entire resistance division. I understand that we have been starved of feral-shards for too long; our newcomers and trainees are especially feeling the sting of weakness. But if worse truly does come to worse, we might import a shipment or two from the Black Division. As I hear, the Kecleon brothers are already in negotiation to acquire some of their own."

"Oh! And might I also mention, how long has it been since we gave Team Remorse orders to take Red Haven?" the Slowking added. "It was at least five years, and they've not done nearly a thing! If we remove the distraction of Basin Canyon, maybe they'll finish the job."

"No," said Xatu in the same calm and steady voice. "We shouldn't attempt to import so many feral-shards. Any attempt to transport that many at once would lure an attack, or in the case it safely arrives, it would give away our position. We need to take the canyon, and we need to take it soon, or we will enter into a war of attrition which we might not survive. While I understand the need to consider a losing scenario, let it not distract us to the point that we gravitate toward it and disregard our chance of victory."

Alakazam grinned. "I disagree with you wholeheartedly," he spoke with a hint of lightheartedness. "But I also know that you are never wrong when you become so stubborn. What do you suppose we should do about Cepheus, then?"

"Nothing," Xatu said simply. "We do nothing. We let our teams do the work for us. They are quite capable."


There.

It must have been there. The smile on his face… he tempted me.

He caught me in a moment of weakness.

There was a sudden sound of shuffling feet.

She knew that she had been too absorbed in her thoughts.

She had not sensed the mind of another, carefully following her.

A voice broke her concentration.

"Xatu?"

She stopped walking.

She stood still, betraying no emotion on her face.

"Doctor," she replied.

The Slowking then spoke awkwardly, expressing his concern.

"There was something I wanted to ask you," he said. "Miss Xatu… is perhaps there something bothering you? I mean to say, you have not seemed quite yourself for some time."

She stood quietly, staring away.

She could not look him in the eyes.

"Who told you that I was not myself?" she questioned plainly. "Is it something Alakazam told you?"

"Well, yes, but… But I agree with him."

She quietly sighed.

The Slowking could not see the scowl which formed on her face.

"Listen, miss. If you should need a day of rest, I am sure there would be no issue, none at all—"

"At this moment, rest is the very opposite of what I need," the Xatu said coldly. "I need to be alone with my thoughts. There are many issues I must meditate about, and time is growing short to find the answers I need…"

"Is this about the canyon?" the doctor nearly blurted out. "Miss Xatu, I'm certain that Alakazam is willing to side with you on the matter… He is never one to ignore you when you put your foot down!"

She closed her eyes.

Ever-so-slightly, she bowed her head in exhaustion.

"Oh, how I wish that were true," she said somberly. "I wish you a good night, Doctor."

She took another step.

When she opened her eyes, she found the Slowking standing in front of her.

She paused without a start, and looked into his eyes.

He returned her gaze. His eyes were filled with genuine concern.

"Miss, I guess what I wish to say, is… If you feel you need someone to share your thoughts with… I know Alakazam and Metagross are always willing to listen as long as it's something related to work, but if there are other things on your mind, I am always available. And if it so happens that I'm not someone you find agreeable, I will find somebody else… Mew knows I don't nearly do enough around here to help."

She stared at him oddly.

"You save a dozen lives each day, and yet you still say that you are not doing enough to help?"

He replied, "And yet, you save more. Today, the Master didn't break down our doors and raid our halls. And the day before that. Meaning, you've saved the lives of everyone in this Division every passing day. I suppose the only true difference is that the lives I save are those which lay in front of me on the slab, whereas yours are often never around to say 'thank you.'"

He paused for a moment, as if to gauge her reaction.

She gave him none.

"I cannot claim to imagine the burden that rests on you, miss Xatu," he continued, "but all I can tell you is, if… if your thoughts are too burdensome, there is no reason you should ever need to be truly alone with them."

She looked at him in silence.

She smiled.

"I wish you a good night, Doctor," she said again, walking past him.

"And one to you as well, m'lady," the Slowking returned with a bow.


She entered into her own private room, the place she knew that no one else in the base would bother her.

She called it the "sun chamber."

The crank turned a reel of chain, and the heavy wooden door fell shut, sealing her inside with the purest kind of darkness.

She paced half the length of the room, knowing the way by heart. She glanced at the air into the heart of the shadows.

She spread her wings.

There was a spark, and a tiny flame was brought to life.

The flame multiplied, spreading upward upon a round surface. From the bottom, it consumed a great sphere of stone fifty times her own size which hung suspended in the center of the chamber.

The fire was immune to the effects of the color-changing spell. Instead, it burned every color at once, casting a dazzling radiance as white-hot as the sun.

She watched as the flame engulfed the great sphere. When the flames met at the top and closed upon the final piece of the sol-rock's surface, she smiled to herself.

Much better.

Perhaps now I can focus.

She approached her personal workspace, a tiny station of shelves and surfaces littered with papers and loose feathers.

With a gesture of her wing, a force of wind blew the papers away. They drifted together and formed a tidy stack upon a nearby shelf.

A small, hard-bound book dropped from a pile near the ceiling. It fell onto the desk before her, opened to a blank page.

A quill fell loose from her wing. It drifted on a current of air into the mouth of a nearby inkwell. It then rose again and settled on the blank page, where it began to write words.

Alakazam has become a greater threat than I had expected.

Time grows short, and I know not how much longer remains before he might interfere with the Basin Canyon mission.

He is beginning to believe I am withholding secrets from him. He hungers for information which will guide his commands, he suspects I hold information he does not. He tried to enter my mind today. I blocked him, but I have reason to believe he glimpsed at something. He must have tempted me into a moment of weakness, then seized the moment. I sensed his reaction. I felt his condescension. The seeds of distrust have been conceived in him.

The objectives are very close to completion, yet so many mysteries and riddles still remain. Perhaps I need to intervene again. I must find a way to intervene with fate in a way which Alakazam will accept, something which furthers his cause as well as mine.

I must think quickly. By the end of tonight, I must know my next action.

But it is uncomfortable to me. Metagross and Alakazam think quickly. I do not. I think slowly. The greatest of the answers can only come to me in peaceful reflection.

But my meditation is no longer peaceful. How can it be, when so many burdens weigh on me and the decisions I make? How am I expected to reliably contribute to causes which started hundreds of years ago and transcend my understanding and comprehension?

With each passing day, I feel my wings growing weaker. They can no longer support the weight of my burdens. I no longer feel peace from solitude. Instead, I have returned to a state which is more unsettling and distracting than even darkness.

It is loneliness.

She stopped writing.

She glared into the miniature sun at the center of the room, watching the rainbow shimmer of the white flames as they danced across the surface of the sphere.

She let the patterns of the fire mesmerize her. She let them decode her thoughts, speaking their answers to her.

A thought came to her.

It was not a thought she had been looking for. It was not one which answered any of her questions. Yet, she could not let it out of her mind. She could not stop considering it.

With a gentle sigh, she smiled.


The Slowking had reached the end of the long hallway outside High Intelligence's chamber doors. He thought fondly of resting for the night in his own room. He began to climb the long staircase which would lead him back to the hospital wing.

Doctor.

Startled at the voice, the Slowking yelped and tumbled backward from the two stairs he had climbed.

He glanced back to find the Xatu standing over him. He scrambled to his feet.

Miss! Oh, my poor nerves. What are you doing, scaring me like that?

She bowed her head.

I've changed my mind, she replied.

Before he could respond, he stepped closer to him and spoke with quiet telepathy.

Before I tell anything to you, I need to know something: how skilled are you at keeping Alakazam from prying into your mind?

The Slowking was baffled for a moment. Oh, you mean to say, there really is something on your mind? Ah, I knew it. I wasn't crowned yesterday, after all!

Answer the question, she said with a glare.

It's nothing I've ever had to worry about, Doctor Orde said smugly. He tapped the Shellder on his head. He can try all he wants, but if he wants to get into my mind without my permission, he's be needing to get through the crown first.

She nodded, as though to acknowledge the Shellder's presence.

And if he wants to try, I wish him all the luck in the world. Try it yourself if you don't believe me, the doctor said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. I bet you I won't even feel a raindrop.

She was quiet for a moment.

She stared at him, judging him. She appraised her trust in him.

Follow me, she said finally, quickly walking away.


She had soon led the doctor back to the sun chamber, closing the door behind the two of them.

The Doctor was overcome with awkwardness and awe, never having been invited into the personal chambers of either of his colleagues before.

"Ayeh, how do you focus with something so bright?!" he yelped, shielding his eyes from the miniature sun.

"Don't look directly at it, then," she said plainly, leading him toward her desk in the corner of the room. "It is not only for light. This sol-rock sphere powers a machine at its center. As long as the sphere is ignited, this whole room is soundproof, teleport-proof, and most importantly, mind wave-proof."

"Oh, so it's like a miniature version of the one at the Black Division, hmm?" the Doctor said, averting his eyes and stumbling along behind the Xatu. "The one that Downfall keeps up?"

"Yes, it was based on that same spell," she said, quickly closing her diary and returning it to the shelf.

She turned to him. Her smile faded, and she folded her wings somberly.

She looked him in the eyes.

"I suppose I must begin somewhere," she said. "Sixty-one years ago, I was contacted by a human."

"A… human," the doctor repeated, touching his chin. "Thought Ambera was human-proof. Did you travel across the sea?"

"No. The human contacted me in a dream," Xatu explained. "I found myself trapped in a trance-like state from which I could not willfully escape. The human appeared to me, saying that he was enacting a plan to change fate, and that he needed Pokémon to help him. He said nothing about the plan, only that it would be beneficial to all the inhabitants of Ambera. He asked me for assistance in carrying out his plan. He gave me no promise or incentive except that I would temporarily acquire a great power which was needed for carrying out my assigned role. I agreed to comply."

She stepped closer to her desk.

"He then gave me a litany of orders to complete. In following these orders, I was able to assume this position of command here in this very resistance division, which I assume is the power he promised to me. Once I assumed this power, I was to wait and observe for actors and events which have been foretold by the human's plans, and to provide assistance to them."

"Whoa, miss… this sounds crazy, if I am to be honest," the Slowking said nervously. "How did you know that the dream was real? Anyone could have given you that dream! A ghost, another psychic, or… maybe even a bad headache."

"For a time, I questioned the validity of the dream and the human's words," Xatu continued. "That was, until I was given the scriptures."

"…Scriptures?" the Doctor echoed.

Rather than answering, Xatu turned her attention to her bookshelf. She gave a tiny nod, and the bookshelf erupted in a burst of papers, scrolls and tablets, all which came falling and floating down onto the surface of her table, lining themselves neatly in a row upon its surface.

The Slowking gazed upon the mess of notes and literature. There were paragraphs of verse, each written in what looked to be a different kind of handwriting. There were scrolls filled with runes, some crossed out, others written hastily in the margins.

"As it happens, I am the third in a line of overseers of the human's plan," she explained. "Two Pokémon came before me, each of which who served on the High Intelligence team of this division. The second of which was Galahad, the Gallade who assisted Alakazam's predecessor. He gave these writings to me before he died. In turn, he received them from Katrina, the Smeargle who served as a scribe for High Intelligence when the Gold Division was first founded. In fact, these writings are hers; she recorded nearly everything the human said to her so that she might pass them to future overseers. They have accurately predicted many events which happened in the past, as well as events which came to pass during my service to Metagross. They were all the proof I required to conclude that the human's plan was not something I only imagined."

The Slowking nudged one of the papers with his paw. He squinted to read the text.

"What do they say?" he wondered. "Whatever could be so important to know that it would take all of this to write it?"

"That is part of the problem," Xatu explained. "Most of them are riddles. They are cryptic and symbolic, most likely to prevent anyone but a highly intelligent Pokémon from knowing their secrets. For instance, here is one I have puzzled upon for months. Tell me what you make of it."

A tattered sheet of paper flipped itself upright on the table in front of the Doctor's eyes. He read the words it contained.

Beyond the fall
once all is lost
and no hope remains

Only six eternal truths
remain eternal

First, a tree
which will eternally grow

Second, a blade
which will eternally clash

Third, a thorn
which will eternally sleep

Fourth, a flower
which will eternally drift

Fifth, a storm
which will eternally rage

Sixth, a mystery
which will eternally remain

Beyond the fall
Once all is lost
and no memories remain

Only six eternal truths
remain eternal
until the end
of eternity

"Hmm, this is quite puzzling, indeed," the Slowking said, touching his chin. "Hmn, it seems apparent to me that each of these so-called 'eternal truths' represents something. Perhaps they represent legendary weapons? Or perhaps even Pokémon who are destined to change history? Perhaps they are Pokémon who will survive an upcoming massacre of some sort."

"I have pondered long about that," Xatu said, gazing into the sunlight. "My greatest guess is that the eternal truths are Pokémon. But what could make them eternal, I wonder? What traits should I look for if I wish to pick them out from present-day Ambera? Additionally, I suspect that the first truth refers to the Lifeblood Tree, which isn't a Pokémon, and so my entire hypothesis is cast into doubt."

"Curious," the Doctor said. "These riddles seem even worse than elixir recipes, and even those often are enough to separate my mind into tatters."

"Here is another," Xatu said as a scroll suspended itself in the air and unraveled itself before the Slowking. "It is something you may recognize."

Freedom, peace, and war,
Our fathers lived through once before,
Freedom, peace of mind,
One dream to live for all mankind.

Our lives sing the song, destiny goes on,
Light for the ones astray,
Those who have lost the way.
Our lives come to be, truth and mystery,
Fools that we now believe,
And lies we were meant to see…

The doctor clutched the scroll in his own claws, marveling in disbelief. "This! This is the creed, obviously!" he cried.

"Yes, and the original manuscript of the creed," Xatu said. "The stone tablets were carved based on the text in this scroll. With this, I can safely assume that the Resistance Creed was indeed written by the human himself."

"Marvelous! And I thought all these years this script was nonsense!" the Slowking cried, his eyes tracing the many verses of runes on the scroll. "What do you suppose it means, then? Surely, this is something important! What is the meaning?"

"It is very important," she explained, shuffling the papers. "However, another note has made something very clear to me regarding the creed: it is not something which I am meant to understand. I am only to protect the creed and to keep it secret until the time it is to be made useful by someone else."

"Well, you've done a splendid job of keeping it a secret, m'lady!" he cried bluntly. "The whole base knows about it! In fact, we've all got it memorized from top to bottom!"

"Yes. This was by design," Xatu said. "Katrina was instructed by the human to teach the creed to every member of the Gold Division. She accomplished this by inventing the password system. As a password, nobody will suspect its true purpose. Only the human will understand its meaning."

The Slowking stuttered as he read the scroll, already knowing every word written upon it.

His gaze returned to the Xatu. His mouth hung in disbelief.

"This is inconceivable." the doctor said, dropping the scroll back onto the table. "So you mean to tell me, miss, all this time you were involved with some manner of… supernatural conspiracy which spans all of the Gold Division's history? And you're managing all of this… alone?!"

"Not entirely alone," she replied. "Even besides the overseers, there exist several other Pokémon who have been contacted by the human through various stages of history and were assigned roles. I know not how many there are, but I have learned of the existence of at least two others."

The Slowking was presented with a small tablet of stone. Etched on its surface were three symbols. First, there was the symbol of a guillotine. Below it was a pronged circle of some sort, almost resembling a gear. Beside the two of them, there was an unsettling eye.

"There is one who is known as 'The Redeemer,' and another as 'The Executioner,'" she explained. "The latter of which, I have already located and met in person. They play roles both within and without the resistance force. The scriptures collectively refer to us, those who were contacted directly by the human, as the 'guardians' of the plan. I cannot presume to understand the roles of the other guardians, but I am ready to assist them should they reveal themselves to me."

The Slowking stuttered again, trying to force out his words.

"M-miss, I…" he tried to say. "I suppose, there is just one question I have about all of this…"

"Yes?"

"Why not tell Alakazam?" he inquired, spreading the papers around nervously. "This is exactly the type of puzzle he loves. He and Metagross could solve these puzzles so easily… why do you keep this hidden?"

She sighed.

"Alakazam cares about nothing but the effectiveness of this Division," she replied solemnly. "He is a militant leader. His goal is set on the destruction of the empire and nothing more. If he were to find that I have been distracted by matters unrelated to the success of the resistance force, he would consider it a betrayal of his trust. I know him more closely than any other Pokémon in this division knows him; I have seen the way his mind works. It would pain him, but he would erase most of my memories and banish me from the Gold Division if he were to ever find that I was a guardian of the human's plan."

"Are you sure about that?" the Slowking replied. "Maybe he would understand! Maybe…?"

"There is another reason why I cannot tell him," she said, her gaze downcast. "For the past five months, I have been… how to say… mind-controlling him. Indirectly."

"What?!" the doctor shouted, jumping backwards. "You… how?! Why would you do something like this?! And even besides that, how do would you even get past his defenses?!"

"As I said, it was more of an indirect control, than it was a brainwashing," Xatu said. "I discovered his weakness: it is Metagross. He trusts Metagross unconditionally. He believes the answers Metagross gives can never be wrong, because they represent the statistical most likely answers to his questions. Unfortunately for him, Metagross itself is easily influenced if you understand how to decode its thoughts, and which parts of its mind are purely mechanical and lacking in sentience. I have been planting various thoughts into Metagross's mind, and those thoughts have become accepted by Alakazam as undeniable truth, and he has made many decisions based upon them."

Orde found he could do nothing but tremble as he stared in disbelief at his colleague.

"Xatu, I… don't know what to tell you," he finally said. "To deceive Alakazam like this… you are setting yourself up for tragedy. You know this, right? You… you know he will discover. He's going to realize what you're up to."

"Yes, I know," she replied, nodding.

"In fact, I'd hate to say this to you, but I'm sorry I even asked if I could help you…" the doctor said, eyeing the door. "I don't feel as though I'll be safe with this information… I won't be able to look Alakazam in the eye. Because you know that's why he started suspecting you. He didn't look in your mind. It was something he saw in your eyes."

"Ah, I suppose… that makes the most sense," Xatu said, as the papers shuffled themselves away. "I should have known he didn't see anything in my mind. I was anxious. He intimidated me, and I wasn't thinking straight."

"Xatu, you know this will only get worse from here!" he shouted. "What is your end-game? How long do you plan to keep this up? You don't even know what this human's plans truly are, yet you're following along with it?"

She eyed him suspiciously.

"There is… one last element to this story I which haven't told you yet," she said calmly. "Perhaps this might make a few more things clear to you."

A very long, thin scroll unrolled itself before the Slowking. It was a list written in very tiny runes. Many of the entries were crossed out.

"As the overseer, I was given the task of ensuring every item on this list came to pass," she said. "There were twenty-nine commandments on this list. Katrina accomplished many of the items on this list before she passed away, as did Galahad. And now it is my responsibility to ensure that the remaining items on this list are completed. You might notice there are only two remaining."

The Slowking searched the list for the items which hadn't been crossed out, straining his eyes to read the very tiny text. He soon found the two entries: they were both near the bottom of the list.

XXVI. I shall become fluent in the written language of your people.

XXVIII. My followers and I shall surpass the newcomers in rank.

"This… this doesn't make sense to me," Orde muttered. "'Rank'? What could this human mean by 'rank'? Is the human a follower of the Master?! Unless… Unless… unless this means to imply… the human is here? In this very base?"

Xatu smiled.

A sketched picture drifted over top the list of instructions. It was a messy drawing covered in green and orange colors.

"This is my one and only contribution to the scriptures of the overseers," she said. "This drawing is my own work. Tell me, do you recognize this?"

The Slowking examined the drawing for a few moments. He began to notice the shapes which they depicted. A pair of figures stood side-by-side.

The drawing depicted a Charmander and a Bulbasaur.

"It's Char," Orde gasped. "Char… I cared for him in the hospital just recently. He had come back from the northern lands badly poisoned…"

"The scriptures have spoken of the early appearance of the Call, the reemergence of Adiel, the fight for the canyon, and many other things which have taken place recently. Using everything I have garnered from the scriptures, I can conclude with near-absolute certainty that the Charmander who leads Team Ember is the same human who contacted me sixty-one years ago, as well as the same human who contacted the other guardians, and the original author of the creed. This brings me also to understand why he requires guardians to assist in his plan; he no longer has direct control over the plan, for he has been transformed from a human into a Charmander, and the memories of his plan have been taken from him. In this state, he has left all of the responsibility upon me, as well as upon the other guardians. He has nothing but us, and his own nature, to guide him."

"So this… this is why you were pressuring me to heal him so quickly," the Slowking said, breathless. "We knew that he was a transformed human after what happened to him up north, but you never told us any of this…"

"Yes, and I was lucky that I was able to persuade Alakazam to assist me in some of the endeavors," she said. "Using Metagross as my tool to manipulate him, I succeeded in convincing him that Char was the ultimate weapon with which we could destroy the empire. The revelations at Temporal Tower and his contact with Dialga and Celebi further reinforced this. It is how I convinced him to dedicate so much time and attention to Char, because I knew there were some things which I could not accomplish under my own power. But I am still not entirely sure what Char is doing here; I have come to suspect that the ultimate goal of his plan is not to destroy the empire. He might be here to do something else entirely, which is a scenario Alakazam would certainly not accept. And this leads me to the endgame…"

A quill drifted from elsewhere on the tabletop and pointed at a single line of text, one which was separate from the lengthy list of instructions. It was written sideways near the end of the paper:

Succeed, and the Sandslash will return home safely.

"W… what…? It's… it refers to Basin Canyon…" he muttered. "On top of everything else, you also have to make sure the Basin Canyon effort succeeds?"

"No. Quite the opposite, actually," Xatu said, taking the paper and the quill away. "Victory at the canyon is not one of the instructions. It is a sign. According to the scriptures, the success of the Basin Canyon effort is the indicator that I, and the other overseers, have accomplished our roles properly. If any one of these twenty-nine conditions are not met, or if perhaps one or more of them were crossed out in error, then the canyon will be lost to Cepheus, and we will lose dozens of our most skilled warriors to the massacre. If instead the canyon is won, it will mean that my role as the overseer is finished, and that I play no more part in Char's plan. The rest will be left up to the other guardians, and to him."

"So that's why you're so stubborn about the canyon mission going through!" the Slowking realized. "If we order Scythe to back out…"

"…I will never know whether or not I accomplished my goal," Xatu said. "That is correct."

"And in the meantime, the clock is running. You need to finish these last two instructions on the list somehow, before the fight breaks out at the canyon."

"That is right. Would you have any advice to offer me?"

"Hmm," the Slowking said, pacing in front of the table and staring at the cobblestones in the floor. "Char still doesn't know how to read runes… he only knows the human's written language, correct?"

"Correct."

"That will be difficult. Aside from a painful psychological infusion, there's no way to quickly teach someone the whole language," he said, scratching his chin. "It's a brutally complex language. And there doesn't exist a TM which contains the knowledge. There can't be one. It would need to be four times the size of a standard TM disc. I don't see how this is going to happen… what about the other objective? The one which states he will rise in rank?"

"Yes, I have taken this to mean that he will accomplish tasks of one-star rank or more," Xatu said. "Teams who are not able to reliably complete one-star tasks are often thought of as newcomers."

"Seems simple enough," the doctor said. "Merely assign him a one-star rank mission, right?"

"I cannot, not without Alakazam's approval," Xatu said. "Alakazam has already determined that Char cannot operate independently from Team Remorse, due to the emergence of Cepheus. They are required now to be supervised by a member of Team Remorse every day. He would certainly not allow them a mission of such responsibility and risk. And it is all thanks to Alakazam's obsession over Char and his supposed destiny to destroy the empire. He does not want to risk losing Char. Which, in hindsight, I suppose is my own fault. So I do not know how I will accomplish it."

"So?" the doctor retorted. "Give them the job anyway. Team Remorse will help them, right? So then go behind Alakazam's back and tell Team Remorse not to help them."

Xatu blinked.

"This might work," she said, surprised. "I would need to choose a proper job for them. One which will not truly risk their lives, but something which will prove their worth. I will look through our records and find something suitable for them."

"Ah, but what about that other one?" Orde said worriedly. "The conflict at the canyon could be sparked any day now! How are you going to make sure Char learns footprints… and fluently at that? You would need to force him to take a training course… every day… for fourteen hours a day… for the forty-eight days!"

"Perhaps… the final objective is one I must simply leave up to fate," she said, sighing. "That is something the human said to me in the dream: fate can surprise you. It can surprise anyone…"

Xatu cleared off her desk and turned to address her colleague.

She bowed to him.

"Thank you," she said to him. "Thank you most dearly, Doctor. I have appreciated our talk. Merely having somebody else to speak with has cleared my mind in a way that silence and sunlight could not. My thoughts are in order, and you've helped me to form a plan for now. I believe I know how I will continue from here."

"It is an honor to have assisted you, lady Xatu," the Slowking said, bowing in return. "I will admit, I was not ready for everything you have said to me. But if you have garnered some help from my company, that is good enough for me. I wish you the best of luck in your responsibilities. If you have anything else you wish to tell me, let me know…"

She smiled sadly.

"Unfortunately, doctor, I will not be speaking to you of these matters anymore," she said plainly. "In fact, before you leave… I will need to erase your memories of this conversation, while they are still malleable and new."

"W-what?" the doctor said, balking. "But—I could… You just… I'm sure I can find more ways to help you, Xatu! Honest! Now that I know all of this… I'm certain I will be an asset to you!"

"You could do nothing more to help me," she said. "And I cannot risk Alakazam learning my secrets any sooner than he already will. I thank you for your assistance… but now… I hope you understand. I wish you a good night, doctor."


The Slowking stood in front of her in the dark hallway.

His eyes glimmered with genuine concern.

"Miss, I guess what I wish to say, is… If you feel you need someone to share your thoughts with… I am always available. I know that Alakazam and Metagross only ever want to hear about work, but… if there are other things bothering you … if your thoughts are too burdensome, there is no reason you should ever need to be truly alone with them."

She looked at him in silence.

She smiled.

"I wish you a good night, Doctor," she said again, walking past him.

"And one to you as well, m'lady," the Slowking returned with a bow.

They parted ways. He approached the staircase at the far end of the hall which would lead back to the public floors of the base, and to the hospital wing where he would spend his night. She returned to her chamber just as the white flames were peeling from the orb of stone, and the blinding sunlight was dying down.

It is good that he voluntarily let me destroy his memories.

He understood me. He is a good Pokémon.

Perhaps I will regret not letting him continue to help me.

It was good not to be alone, even for only one moment.

Of course, I am never truly alone.

The human is counting on me.

As are the other guardians, whoever they are.

I cannot give in to despair.

I cannot break focus.

I am the Overseer. I will stay the course until the bitter end.

The door slammed shut behind her, sealing her in with the darkness.


End of Season IV

*Chapter 82*: Chapter 61: Red Letter Day

Author's Note:

For the next arc in this story, I'm going to try something a bit different: shorter chapters, more frequently. I'm getting annoyed at all of the 4-month-long waits just as much as you are, so hopefully this will make the story just a little bit more fast-paced. That's not to say that I'm going to cut any of the planned content, I'm just going to split the chapters smaller. (They always get split anyway, so I'll just start preemptively planning for it.)

Well, let's see how far I can get before the end of the summer!


Season V: Guardian


Chapter 61

The morning calls of the songbirds woke the Bulbasaur from his sleep.

It felt strange to awaken in someplace so different. It was somewhere dark and cozy, somewhere that smelled of fresh moss and morning dew. The deep red glow of the sunrise washed over the walls.

He felt the warmth of his father beside him.

Many of his dreams had started in this way. He learned to relish them, but also hate them, knowing they would end too soon. He learned to fear the nightmares which would come to disrupt his happy memories and turn them into something terrible. This time, he felt none of the fear. Somehow he knew that the nightmares were gone.

He sat still and wondered whether he was still dreaming, or if he had just awoken from the dream. Perhaps, he imagined, the Charmander had come to him in a dream, and the dream had finally come to an end, leaving him just where he had started. Perhaps he had never run away, or made his father ashamed of him. Perhaps all of that had only been imagined. Or perhaps the light from the sun was only the glow of the torches through his closed eyelids, and someone would soon wake him, calling him to his daily duty.

The discipline of many months made him restless, and he found he could not close his eyes again. He yawned and snuggled closer to his father, but his muscles only filled with energy, and his leaves thirsted for sunlight. He carefully left his father's side and tiptoed around him, exiting the den and squinting as the maroon rays of sunlight grew sharper.

The prairie had fallen into great disarray. Weeds had sprouted in patches, trees were downed near the forest's edge, and the gardens had sprawled and lost their symmetry. But the dewdrops covered every leaf and flower petal and spiderweb, and the crimson sunlight made everything sparkle. The Bulbasaur stood on a fallen log and admired it all. For just the moment, everything looked perfect.

"Why am I here?"

The thought had come to him idly as he watched the sunrise. It was an uncomfortable thought. His instincts always made him feel that he should be going somewhere and doing something important, and they could not comprehend true peace and contentment. A small part of him felt lost, as though he was somewhere far away from where he should have been.

Hearing some leaves rustling behind him, he turned and expected to see some rodent scurrying into the shrubs. Instead, he found an Ivysaur pushing through the saplings and staring back at him. The Ivysaur had strapped a small wooden dish to his back in front of his flower, and filled it with fruit and leaves. In his vine he held a large yellow berry, and was about to bite into it when the two of them locked eyes.

"Huh, Saura! I didn't even see you there. You're awake early," the Ivysaur said.

"Yeah, I guess," Saura replied indifferently. "I guess I just wanted to see what the meadow looked like in the morning again."

The Ivysaur snapped his vine and tossed the berry to his younger brother, who caught it in his mouth and began to gnaw on the tough skin. "Me, too," he said, drawing another piece of fruit from his basket. "The rest of us haven't been back here for a while either, you know. We've been on the road."

The Bulbasaur averted his gaze shamefully, swallowing the bite of sour fruit.

"I looked around. I won't lie, the place looks bad," Saurvor said, glancing up at the nearby trees. "Down on the south end, there are more dandelions and clovers than blades of grass. And to the west there's a huge patch of thistle bushes. I could barely get to the berries."

Saura shuddered. "Ack… I hate thistles," he said. "Those are going to take forever for us to get out. I bet dad is going to want us back to work as soon as we're all awake."

"Yeah, all you little seedlings have got your work ahead of you," Saurvor said. "I'd stay and help, but I've got places I need to be. Need to see if my guild still wants me back after all the time I've been away."

Saura felt disheartened at the news. "Aww… you're abandoning us already?" he whined. "I missed you…"

Saurvor unstrapped the basket of fruit, setting it down in front of the entrance to the burrow. "Well, Saura, my life isn't confined to this meadow anymore. I'm not a Bulbasaur anymore. I can't just stay here all the time… there are Pokémon out there who need me."

But he sighed with a sad smile, and added, "Though, I guess staying for an extra day wouldn't hurt. You're right, my family is important, too. I'll head out tomorrow morning. Besides… There's something I think you should see. Come with me."

Saura walked with his older brother alongside the forest edge. He saw how the meadow was not at all like he remembered. It had fallen into such disrepair over the summer that it looked no different than the rest of the wilderness. He heard the dried leaves and sticks always crunching underneath him, and felt the uneven stalks of grass brushing past his face. He kept a sharp eye out for the thistles; though they were pretty, the thorns would always get lodged under his scales and hurt for weeks.

"So… I guess I should ask how you feel about being home," Saurvor said candidly. "Do you miss your friends?"

Saura shrugged. "Yeah, I miss them a lot, actually," he confessed, hanging his head. "I was on a team, and… they needed me. I feel like I should still be back there with them. The only reason I wanted to come back home was because… I knew that I put all of you in danger when I ran away from Hunter and Adiel. I couldn't live with that… it bothered me all the time. I had nightmares about it."

"Yeah, well… I admit it wasn't so fun having to keep Saurlee in the dark all the time," Saurvor admitted. "It wasn't so fun always wondering how long we could keep running. But that's all over now. And now we even have the Master's protection, so… no harm done."

"Yeah… it's hard to believe it's all over," Saura replied. "I spent so long learning how to fight… And now I finally feel like everything's okay. There's nothing to worry about anymore. I guess this is what it feels like to win the battle for once. I feel really happy."

"Do you think you'll ever go back?" Saurvor suddenly asked, not turning to look at him.

The question caught Saura off-guard, even though he figured it was coming eventually. He sighed.

"I know what it's like to have a life outside of this meadow," Saurvor said. "If you feel like you have friends counting on you, I know what that's like. Or maybe it's a whole guild. And you know… you could probably go back if you wanted. Dad is going to let you do whatever it is that you want. So what do you think?"

"I… haven't really decided yet," the Bulbasaur replied. "Maybe someday. But… well, my team leader kind of ordered me to stay here… because he thought I'd be happiest here. And I think he might have been right. So I don't really know right now. I'll keep thinking about it."

"Here," the Ivysaur said suddenly, dashing forward. "You've got to see this."

Saura followed, leaping through a rough patch of grass which had grown far above his head. When he emerged, he couldn't believe his eyes.

A tiny corner of the meadow was somehow perfectly preserved, even though nobody had been around to tend to it for months. Three small circles of copper-colored stones sparkled in the sunlight, each enclosing a soft patch of soil. From the soil there grew several patterns of delicate flowers. In the center between the circles, there grew a colorful bush shaped almost perfectly like a sphere, sprouting little round beads of immature berries.

It was such a simple work of landscaping, but Saura marveled at how immaculate it had remained, even though the surrounding meadow had become nothing short of disastrous. Barely a stray leaf or an unwanted weed was anywhere to be seen in the formation, and the bush still appeared perfectly trimmed.

"If I'm not mistaken, Saurlee made this garden," Saurvor said as his younger brother tiptoed reverently beside the stones. "It was her first garden she made all on her own. Just look at this… she used annuals, so they're still blooming even though it's halfway through autumn. And I think she might have put clay under the flowers so that the grass roots wouldn't get in."

"This… she must have trimmed the branches just before she left," Saura said, pawing at the fluffy leaves of the shrub in the center.

"I never realized how much work she put into it," Saurvor said. "And this is only her first one. I think she's got some natural talent. She might even be better than dad."

Saura smiled as he continued to admire the simple design, the handiwork of his little sister. He began to imagine restoring the whole meadow to its full glory, and how beautiful it would look in the springtime when everything would be in bloom again, a perfect place for the Pokémon he loved most in the world, a place where they would be safe from all the wars and struggles between the Master and the resistance forces. A place where he could sunbathe in the summer, hunt for berries in the autumn, explore the forest in the spring, and cuddle in the burrow on the coldest days of winter. A place he could live and grow with his brothers and sisters, teaching them everything he had learned and hearing their stories in return.

He began to remember why he loved his home.

"So, Saura," the Ivysaur said with a grin, "you say that you learned how to fight?"

"Yeah," Saura replied, turning to him. "I can defend myself now. You won't have to rescue me from mystery dungeons any more. If I get stuck in one, I can get out all on my own!"

"Glad to hear that," Saurvor replied proudly. "What do you say, after breakfast we take a walk in the forest and you show me some of the things you've learned? I might still have a few things I could teach you."

Saura smiled. "Of course I will. Besides… it's not like there's anywhere else I need to go today…"


Division Base

Char stood tall, addressing his three teammates.

"Meeting is now in session," he announced, pacing across the floor. "Starting today, I'm going to run this team a bit differently. For one, we will have a meeting every morning. I don't know how long we'll last before we need to start hiring even more members, and we will need to learn how to use these meetings to keep up communication with the team. As you might have noticed, we can't fit any more beds in the master bedroom than we already have, and that means additional members will need to be assigned to the smaller bedrooms and they won't be able to share in our evening discussions."

Char glanced at his audience, scrutinizing them. Otto and Ray looked perfectly attentive and energetic. Eva, on the other hand, seemed groggy and lethargic. She loudly stretched and yawned, sending terrible ruffles across her fur.

"Sadly, we cannot be only friends anymore," Char said, holding his hands behind his back and staring at the floor as he paced. "We have the makings of an elite team here. Ray, your talent is with handling dungeon equipment. So, you'll continue to be our inventory manager and bag carrier. I'm giving you free rein over all the team's items, and if anyone wants anything to do with items, they'll have to go through you first."

"Of course! I've got it," Ray replied. "I'll give it nothing less than my best, as always."

"Otto, I couldn't have asked for a better bird," Char said, smiling at him. "You'll continue to be my chief tactical advisor. You'll be in charge of reviewing our mission options each day and choosing those which best suit us. You'll also help us plan our strategies for our missions using whatever resources are available to us."

"You make me sound as though I am Metagross," Otto said. "But seeing as though my analyses have rarely led the team to failures, I accept the role. Though I did not understand it before, I see now that it is a wise decision to assign this role to me."

"Uh… thanks," Char said. "...And anyway, Eva. Welcome to the team. Somehow, you've kept hidden from High Intelligence and Team Remorse for a very long time. I can't imagine that was easy. So I think I am going to designate you as our team spy."

Eva's eyes were droopy and her gaze was distant; she didn't give any response that indicated to Char that she had heard. She soon noticed his stern glare and snapped to attention.

"I apologize… I am not used to being awake at this hour," she sighed.

"Well, you're going to have to learn," Char said bluntly. "We'll be up this early every morning, every day of the year, no exceptions. I don't care if you have an assignment or not, you're going to come to every team meeting if you're in the same base with us."

"Very well, but I cannot guarantee I will be very attentive, at least for the first month," the grumpy Espeon said, laying back down. "It is not so easy to adjust."

Char crossed his arms. "I think it will be easy," he said wryly. "You see, here on Team Ember, we have a special way of making sure our teammates are awake when they are supposed to be awake."

Char gave the signal.

The room flashed as Ray touched a paw to Eva's flank, shocking her awake with an impressive static charge. Eva's hair stood on end, and she jumped nearly a foot in the air, landing on all fours.

"Fine! I get the point!" Eva growled. "I am awake. I am listening."

"As I was saying, you're going to be our spy. You'll be in charge of infiltrating other organizations and extracting information we need from our targets, so that Otto can use the information to help plan our operations. You'll also be the first one we go to if we ever need to commit fraud."

Eva sat down and swished her tail, looking content. "It's simple," she said. "I tell lies about just as well as I breathe. And infiltration is much easier than it might seem to someone like you. It is a simple matter. I have even broken into Alakazam's chamber and read from his private library on occasions; he has never suspected."

"Good, just what I need," Char said without breaking a smile. "I'm not happy that we'll have to be dishonest, but it's just something we're going to learn to deal with if we want to be an elite team."

"Correct. It is the nature of the world," Eva said plainly. "When corruption cannot be put in check by the threat of force, it can only be opposed with further corruption. I'm impressed that you would acknowledge it so easily, it makes you a wise leader."

"Well, yeah, as we humans like to say, 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em,'" Char said.

"Indeed," Eva replied. "With matters of espionage, I promise that I will not fail you… Where I will fail you, in the end, is in matters of physical confrontation. Fighting is something I have not done in over a decade. I have become frail and out of practice. You might say there is a good reason I have learned to keep myself hidden."

"Maybe we can schedule some time you can spend with Domo," Ray offered cheerily. "You know, just in case. I know we probably won't need you to fight most of the time, but you never know when you might need to fight."

"Yes, perhaps," Eva said tersely. "I suppose there would be no harm in regaining some of my long-lost skill. There was a time in the past that I could fight, and I'm sure I could learn again."

Char eyed the torch, wondering how much time he had left to set out on the day's mission.

"Alright, so let's talk about the day's agenda," Char said, standing straight again. "Otto, yesterday you chose a mission for us…?"

"Today, we are traveling to the Anvil Quarry mystery dungeon to retrieve a 'valiant scarf,'" Otto said, beginning the briefing. "The scarf was lost two days ago by Team Carrier during a successful rescue mission, and they did not realize the item had been left behind until taking inventory after the completion of the mission. The Anvil Quarry dungeon is very close to the northeastern entrance, we can arrive there in less than an hour. They estimate that the scarf was left somewhere on the fifth floor."

"Char, before we go any further, there is something I would like to make known," Eva said awkwardly, cutting off Otto's next word. "This may seem sudden, but I didn't realize were you were planning to go today. Char, I… deeply despise the mystery dungeons, and I would appreciate if you… would consider leaving me out of them. I suppose I should have told you this earlier, before accepting me onto your team. But… I would do anything else for you without protest."

"Aww, don't be afraid! Everybody's afraid the first few times they go into a dungeon," Ray said. "With us around, you don't have to be afraid. We've gotten good at exploring dungeons. It's one of our specialties!"

"It's not that I'm afraid," Eva said, shifting uncomfortably and staring at the floor. "It is just that I… do not like them. They are unnatural and alien, the laws of physics do not make sense, and… and I simply have no interest in them. I have decided a long time ago that I would stay out of any mystery dungeon unless absolutely necessary. I would simply like for you to respect that."

"I do not see how that's different than being afraid," Otto replied. "Your hesitance resembles the fear of every newcomer, including myself. With practice and experience, you can overcome the fear."

Eva shot him a scowl in return. "I said, I'm not afraid," she hissed. "But I have… personal reasons for detesting mystery dungeons, which I do not feel the need to explain at this moment. They are perhaps my greatest enemy in the world, and I am not interested in confronting them. Please understand, Char?"

Char thought for a moment, scrutinizing his new teammate and deciding what to say. "Duly noted," he said, "But I'm not going to make any promises that you'll never have to go on a dungeon mission. Like it or not, we're a dungeon-crawling team. That's how we make a lot of our money here. So you're going to have to learn to work with us whether you like it or not. I'll take your request into account, but I'm still going to expect you to follow orders. Understood?"

For a moment, the Espeon looked ready to loudly object, but she bashfully bowed her head after a small pause. "That is fine, and fair," she replied quietly. "You're the leader."

"Good. In that case, you're going with us today," Char decided. "But after that, I promise that we'll leave you out of the next dungeon exploration, at least. I'm sorry, but until I get used to Saura not being here, I'm going to need all the help I can get."

Eva didn't look too happy, but Char ignored her and turned his attention again to Otto. "Anyway, as you were saying… Anvil Quarry, five floors. What kind of resistance?"

"Standard fare for a cave. Expect rock-types and the Zubat family," Otto recited. "But it is also possible that we could encounter various grass Pokémon, such as the Turtwig family and the Snivy family. It is possible that there will be colonies of Joltik. I recommend we take a moderate supply of healing seeds to counteract possible poison and paralysis."

"Thinking the same thing," Ray said. "Also, probably should take the Frozen Flame this time. That'll protect at least one of us from the rock-types. Let's see… how may reviver seeds should we take? I think we've got six."

"Let's take two, it shouldn't be too hard of a mission," Char replied. "The emblems should help us if something goes wrong."

"Right. And I might want to take some of the iron thorns for the Onix and Graveler, unless everyone's good with their steel skills?"

"I can turn my wings and talons to steel with white energy," Otto said, nodding. "I will suffice."

"I think I'll be alright," Char said, looking at his hands. "I haven't tried using iron claws in a while, but might as well try to remember. What about you, Eva? Do you know any steel skills?"

When Char glanced at the Espeon, she returned a sour, unamused frown.

"Meeting is adjourned," Char said flatly, not taking his eyes from his newest teammate. "Let's start packing."

He continued to stare at her as the Raichu and the Pidgey wandered off in the direction of the supply closet, ready to pack the bag.

Eva, could you try to at least pretend that you're taking this seriously? Char asked her telepathically, crossing his arms. For being so thankful that you're on the team, you aren't trying very hard.

I have made myself clear, human, that I can't fight, and that I would rather bathe in a pond of mucus than set foot in a mystery dungeon, Eva replied. Perhaps if you were to give me espionage work, as apparently I am now the team spy, I assure you that I would perform my duties well beyond your expectations. But now I find myself taken far out of my element on the first day of work. Pardon me for my lack of enthusiasm, but tell me, who is it that is failing to take whom seriously?

Char remained firm, and replied, Look… maybe I have to see how you handle a dungeon mission before I can start making decisions about how you can help the team. Maybe I think you're underestimating yourself. Maybe I think you're not as bad as you say you are. After today, we can compromise about it. I'm alright with compromising. But we chose this dungeon mission yesterday and we can't back out now. Come with us. You can consider it a test of our trust.

Fine, then, she said with a snort, cocking her head flippantly as she turned to walk away. I will do your will, master.

Eva approached Ray and demanded to know which scarf she was supposed to wear, and Char continued to watch her, shaking his head.

I hope I have enough strength to handle you, Char said to himself, scratching his forehead. You're already draining me…

Despite being clearly unhappy with her assignment, Eva protested no more as the team packed the bags and delegated the equipment. Char decided to give Eva his rescue emblem, ensuring that she wouldn't be accidentally trapped in the dungeon, and she seemed pleased by the thoughtful gesture.

Just when Ray was tying the last straps and buttoning the buttons on his bag, there was a rapping at the door.

"Ah, just on time," Char commented, opening the door and letting the familiar Marowak in. "Good morning, Marrow! I think we're all ready to go."

"Certainly looks like it! I'm quite impressed," Marrow said, glancing at the team. "Ah, took me a second to remember Saura's not here anymore. I'm so used to seeing him."

"Believe us, we know," Char said. "I've been trying to get used to it all morning."

"Ah, but I see you've hired a replacement," Marrow said, eyeing the Espeon suspiciously. "Eva, if I'm not mistaken? Last I heard of you, Scythe was thinkin' about putting a bounty on your head. Hope you're not planning anything funny with Team Ember. They're smarter'n they look."

"If they were not smarter than they look, I would not have joined them," Eva retorted.

"Right. You might say that, I bet you would've joined any old team to get out of gettin' caught," Marrow joked, tapping her on the head with his club.

Char cringed as the Espeon recoiled in disgust.

"Don't touch me," Eva hissed back at him.

"Sorry, but I happen to be Char's designated teacher," Marrow replied jovially, ignoring her threat and walking away. "Means I can bop you on the head whenever I want. But you're always free to dodge."

Don't mind Marrow, he's always like this, Char advised silently. He's given us all bruises in turn.

Yes, but I don't have to like him, Eva returned. Also, just now, he dropped his guard for a moment and I was able to see inside of his mind. He fancies himself difficult to break, and indeed his memories show that he does not easily bend to intimidation, but I have some ideas about how to break him if necessary.

With a wry grin sent to Char, she added, Perhaps it will never come to use, but it's just the kind of information I prefer to collect about everyone I meet… just in case.

Once the five Pokémon had left the room and Ray had shut the door behind everyone, Char glanced at the bulletin board. There were already a few notes pinned to it, either notes sent through the division's mail system or posted directly by other division members. Char knew they were all surely job requests for mundane things, and he was not very excited about cutting time out from his schedule to get them all done, but he knew he could not simply ignore them and disappoint the other teams who looked up to Team Ember and specifically sought out their help. He determined they would look through the notes later that day after returning from the mission, and start to decide how to handle them.

He also had a passing thought about another task he would need to investigate in the near future, that of Ray's brother and the hidden treasure which could only be found after teleporting to a specific place. He knew it would be difficult to find someone who not only knew how to teleport, but also would agree to keep the secret from High Intelligence. It was another item to add to the long list of things which needed to be done.

I have to keep a level head, Char said as he counted the seven notes on the board. My plate's filling up fast, but if I take things one day at a time, I'll be fine. Today, we'll focus on Team Carrier and get that done, then afterwards we can plan our next move.

We'll be fine.

Char found comfort and reassurance in his thoughts… which lasted for all of six seconds, until Marrow eyed something suspicious on the board and stepped aside to take a look.

"Hmm, now what is this?" he hummed, reaching for one of the notes. "This isn't what I think it is, is it?"

As soon as he unpinned it, Char realized that the note was, in fact, a large envelope. Marrow sliced it open with the tip of a claw and withdrew the document from within.

It was quite a large, formal-looking sheet of paper; it was tinted a rosy color and had a prominent seal near the bottom.

"Oh my, oh my," Marrow said, reading the paper. "Char, it looks like you've officially gotten your first red note."

The sound of Marrow's voice didn't sound too assuring, and Char felt a tingle of fear spread across his back. "What's a red note?" he asked warily.

"A mission sent straight from High Intelligence!" he described, holding the paper up to show him. "This means that they want you to drop everything you're doing and work on this job as soon as possible. See? It's even signed by Xatu herself."

Char hesitantly took the paper and pretended to read it. Yes, it did look very official, and the footprint runes were all very sharp and neatly arranged. Even though he didn't know what it said exactly, he already felt a trickle of fear seep into his fire, and his hands trembled as he clutched it.

"Ah, it was inevitable you'd get one of these, Char, "Marrow said. "Get good enough at your job, and the bosses will be sending you these all the time. Actually, my team's working on one right now. It's the Red Haven job. We haven't made progress on it for a long time thanks to all this canyon nonsense, but we got the mission in one of these red letters. We've still got to show High Intelligence we're making progress every once in a while or they'll get all mad."

"Wait, does… this mean we can't go to Anvil Quarry today?" Char inquired, his voice cracking. "We have to do this job right away?"

"Eh, nah, not if we're already set to head out," Marrow said. "We can always 'pretend' we didn't see it until we got back. But by this time tomorrow, you should definitely have a solid plan about what you're going to do about this."

"What is the assignment?" Otto cried, bouncing in place. "Show me the note."

Char flipped the note around for all to see. Otto began to read it.

"This is an urgent matter which affects the integrity of the Gold Division as a whole. Of the available candidates suited for this task, Team Ember has been selected.

Client is Kecleon. Rank is one star. Reward is one hundred-thousand gold credits and an increase in your team's rank.

The Kecleon brothers complain of harassment by a rogue thief in Iron Town. The thief has proven bothersome and difficult to catch, and threatens to compromise the services which the Kecleon offer to the Gold Division. You are to apprehend this thief by any means necessary, so that the Kecleon may continue their operations in Iron Town undisturbed.

A representative of Team Ember will need to report to Kecleon within three days for a briefing. The matter should thenceforth be resolved in a reasonably timely manner.

Signed by Mistress Xatu, one among your greatest servants."

The last line caught Char off-guard, but he remembered that High Intelligence always referred to themselves as the division's greatest servants. They weren't wrong.

There was an uncomfortable pause as the four teammates glanced at one another, letting the note sink in. It certainly sounded like a difficult task; if Kecleon couldn't apprehend a criminal, Char knew it was going to take some work. He only wondered why his team had been selected for such a task when dozens of other teams seemed more suitable. Team Dread seemed like the best fit for a thief hunt, seeing that the team was almost entirely made of thieves themselves, and they knew how thieves operated. Team Silverwing also came to mind, as they were known to be the surveillance champions of the Division, and could watch miles of landscape all at once just by putting the right birds in the right places.

Then it hit him.

"What did you say was the rank of the mission?" Char asked again, already knowing the answer.

"…One star," Otto replied.

Char grinned. It was an uneasy grin, but he felt somewhat comfortable in knowing the truth. "In that case, I know why they gave us this mission," he told his team, folding the paper again. "This will be our first one-star mission."

"Ooooh! Right!" Ray said, gawking. "I get it now! Alakazam's list!"

"Right," Char said confidently, sliding the red letter under his door. "Eva, you weren't here to see the list, but we'll explain everything later. Looks like we've got our work ahead of us. But as for now, we have a scarf to find. This is going to be a huge project and we'll have a lot to talk about, but we've got to focus on one thing at a time. Now, let's get moving!"


Anvil Quarry Road

The northward walk to the mystery dungeon was short, but rocky; the only road going to the quarry degraded in quality until it was nothing but a trail of rough, unstable gravel winding through carved-out hills. Char's feet began getting just as sore as if he'd been walking for hours.

Even as they drew close to the abandoned strip-mining site, the mission wasn't on Team Ember's minds. Try as they might, the team of adventurers just couldn't bring themselves to ignore the job request from High Intelligence. They rambled tirelessly to one in eager anticipation of the great endeavor, and Marrow only stood back in amusement of their enthusiasm.

"Unlike this… petty errand we are running today, I for one am quite interested in catching a thief," Eva said as she tried not to stumble through the loose gravel. "Granted I somehow survive walking through a mystery dungeon and keep my sanity intact, I'm ready to begin work immediately. We should try to get into the thief's mind. Does he strike at high noon, or twilight, or perhaps at night? What kind of loot does he prefer? What are his strategies of attack? Does he have a motive? If we could only create a psychological profile for this thief, we could catch him easily."

"Well, I think the first thing we should do is talk to Kecleon," Ray said. "I know he's been really angry at this thief for a long time. I had no idea it was so bad he needed to submit a job request for help! I'll talk to him first thing tomorrow after the morning rush, see how much information we can get on this thief. I know he'll be happy to see that we're on the case! Maybe he'll even give us some free stuff to help us."

"I'm thinking, without any shadow of a doubt, we'll need to bait this thief," Eva said with a sneer. "Perhaps with the assistance of Kecleon, we can arrange to have an object of value stored out in the open, free for the taking, and then once he takes the bait, we should close off the escape route. Simple! I don't know of any better way to catch a thief."

Char walked at her side. "Maybe, yeah, but I don't think we should underestimate him!" he said. "This is Kecleon we're talking about. You'd think that Kecleon would have tried that. But this is the first thief that Kecleon hasn't caught yet! That means everything he's tried so far hasn't worked. If we're going to set a trap for the thief, It's gonna have to be a really good one!"

"Do not worry about the trap," Eva said with a hint of evil glee. "I can craft a perfect trap for any Pokémon, as long as I have an accurate idea of how their mind works. In fact, I bet that I could finish the mission all by myself. All I would need from the rest of you are the resources and the hands to carry them."

"Ah-hem," a stern Marowak grunted from behind the Espeon. "I don't recall Char making you the team leader, newbie. I think you're about halfway to another tap on the head."

"And I am not hearing any objections from Char," Eva replied haughtily. "I am merely trying to be a helpful and productive teammate."

"Yeah, well, just keep something in mind," the masked Pokémon said sternly, eyeing her through the skull's sockets. "I've seen a lot of death and destruction in my day, but I don't think I've ever seen something nearly as destructive as an oversized ego with some rambunctious ideas. Some days I wonder if all the problems we face are just 'cause one day somebody just happened to be a little too proud and overconfident for their own good. Wouldn't surprise me."

Surprisingly, Marrow's words seemed to resonate strongly with the Espeon; her eyes widened for a moment, and she fell silent.

Char squinted into the distance, wondering how much farther was left. The quarry was plainly visible, as the earth's surface opened into a great abyss at the end of the road. Surrounding the pit, he saw evidence that many Pokémon had once congregated at this place, like broken stone buildings and large objects that were probably defunct machines. There were many rivets in the ground suggesting that huge worker Pokémon had beaten the path, or perhaps that large objects had been pulled around.

"So, what happened to this place?" Char wondered out loud. "Why'd they abandon it? I guess they mined it dry?"

"Nah, same thing that happens to everything else in Ambera," Marrow said with a sigh. "Mystery dungeon took over, and the miners couldn't work anymore without getting lost. I was actually alive long enough to see this place active. Lotta Iron Town's buildings came from the steel that came from here. This place made us all a lotta money. Then one day… left started going right, and up started going down, and next thing, they evacuated the whole place."

"That's really sad," Ray said, gazing at their destination. "So there's still a lot of ore down there, you think?"

"Sure there is, but good luck getting to it when any Pokémon or machinery you bring could suddenly disappear," Marrow said, shrugging. "Sadly, it seems like that's the only certainty in our lives nowadays: if there's any good in the world, either the Master's gonna destroy it, or a mystery dungeon's gonna swallow it. The Master at least we can push back if we try hard enough. But the dungeons… well, they just keep gettin' worse, and there's nothin' we can figure to do. Last I heard, the scientists at the Black Division found a way to make them spread faster, but nobody knows how to reverse them. Just the cruel reality of life, I suppose."

"And I'd have nothing to do with them, if I had any choice in the matter," Eva grumbled. "Unfortunately it seems that they are becoming unavoidable. I would cut off two of my legs if it meant that I could make them all disappear, no questions asked."

"Have you considered moving to the human lands?" Otto said suddenly, descending to speaking distance.

The Espeon seemed revolted at the suggestion, sending him a sour gaze. "Why in the world would I want to move to the human lands?" she said oddly. "No offense to the humans, of course," she added, giving Char a sideways glance.

"Because no mystery dungeons have ever been reported from the human lands," Otto replied. "Pokémon who have gone to the human lands and have returned to Ambera have confirmed it. The humans have never heard of them. If you desire a life apart from the dungeons, it is something for you to consider."

Eva fell quiet again and didn't respond. Char eyed her again, trying to inconspicuously glimpse at her face. He could tell she looked unsettled, but he couldn't quite read her. All he could tell was that there were many things on her mind, things that she perhaps had no interest in sharing.


Anvil Quarry Surface

The quarry was much larger than it had appeared from a distance. It consisted of one giant road which looped around in a great oval, digging deeper into the earth with every revolution. At the very center there was only blackness, which seemed to indicate the entrance to the treacherous spatial anomaly. Char peered over the edge and could hear the wind howling down in the depths of the artificial canyon.

"Walking around the whole road would probably be safest… unless we could just climb down," Char considered, backing away.

"I don't know, that's an awfully long way down," Ray said. "I didn't bring any rock-climbing gear. If only we had someone with retractable vines…"

"Eva, you claim that infiltration is effortless," Otto said. "If that is true, infiltrate this quarry."

She turned her back to him. "I do not appreciate your sarcasm," she said. "Have the Marowak do it, he is the ground-type."

"What, you want me to burrow you all down there? All the way down there?" he laughed. "That's an awful lot of work, even for me. When I got you folks out of Purevine Village, Rocky and I had to dig those tunnels an hour in advance. Plus, they weren't through solid rock." He tapped his bone on the shale underfoot.

Char sighed. "Alright, I guess we're taking a walk," he decided, turning to follow the road as it descended into the pit.

In reality, Char didn't mind taking a longer walk. The sky was solid overcast, but it didn't feel like it would rain, and the air was only slightly chilly. He even looked forward to exploring all of the interesting industrial remnants which still lay scattered across the winding road. His only worry, with so much extra travelling time, was that the Call would strike before they would have a chance to return to the base. He realized he had to start thinking about what he'd use the Call for, if anything at all.

For a tiny moment, he thought about asking his friends for advice on the matter. He knew they could offer him insight and support with his power. Otto already had, once, even though he didn't remember it. But the thought didn't last long before he convinced himself that it was inappropriate, and he determined to keep suffering quietly, bearing the Call as his own burden.

Besides, the one Pokémon who he felt he could trust enough with such a huge secret wasn't there anymore. He had lost the chance to tell him, and now he simply had to live with it.


Basin Canyon

Within the walls of the canyon, over a kilometer beneath the surface, an elite team of Pokémon scrambled through a series of torch-lit tunnels preparing for a great event.

Among the deepest tunnels, there was Jahzara's lair, a chamber where the ruling family of the Sandslash congregated. Accompanied by the leaders from several elite teams, they stood over a grand map of the canyon's network and tersely discussed plans for the impending battle.

Spirits were low and nerves were high as the warriors discussed the uncertainties involved with having underestimated the enemy. The entire plan had been cast into doubt, as it was unknown how much Cepheus knew about the time and circumstances when the great Sandslash tribe would return to their deserted home. Jahzara's eldest son blamed Team Remorse for the mistake, as Scythe was the one who had wrongly anticipated resistance from Adiel. But even under the heat of contempt, Scythe's confidence did not waver. It seemed as though he was the only Pokémon among them who did not seem worried.

There was a loud explosion as the stone doors to the chamber crashed open, one of them flying from its hinges. In the doorway stood Ursa with his powerful fist drawn.

"Ursa, we were speaking!" Daemon roared in rage at his underling. "This had better be good."

"Oh, believe me, it is good," he called back, approaching the table. "Guys, we did it. We found him. You all can take a moment to breathe a huge sigh of relief, because we did it. We found the Starborn."

*Chapter 83*: Chapter 62: Walking Right Into It

o

Chapter 62

Basin Canyon

The Pokémon crowded closer to the table as Ursa set down a small map of Ambera and explained.

"Cepheus was spotted by Syr himself. Right around this area. Near Sitrus City."

"I wonder, what was Syr doing there? He never flies his own missions anymore," said Shander.

"Well, I was told he was doing something with Marrow and Team Ember. Something about trying to foil one of Adiel's traps and get Saura to see his dad again. But they were sent out to carry the mail through here and here, and scouted ahead for trouble. Turns out they found him right where the mail route ended. Right in eastern Sitrus City itself."

Scythe wore a beaming smile and said, "Hah, I knew he'd turn up eventually. Remind me to give that old bird a word of thanks next time I see him. Anything else? Do we know what he's doing over there?"

"Well, yes," Ursa continued. "Team Silverwing spied on him a bit, and he seems to be quite the active Nidoking. He was running around everywhere… and we think he might have been spying on Saura when he went to visit his home. Given everything we know, we believe that his base of operations is somewhere around Sitrus City. It must be very well-hidden, because we couldn't figure out where he kept going. Sometimes, he just seemed to disappear."

"This doesn't make sense. Sitrus City is nowhere near here." Daemon grumbled. "What business does he have there? If he's orchestrating the downfall of this canyon, I don't see how it would be of any use to be running around up there. Last I checked, Sitrus City's economy is based on its orchards, not for its blacksmithing or spellweaving, or anything that could be used to siege this canyon!"

"Well, that leads me to the puzzling thing," Ursa said hesitantly. "Silverwing was watching him for a bit, and they concluded… either he's multitasking and he's working two assignments at once, or… Um, well, how do I put this…? There's no reason to believe he cares about the canyon at all."

The room was silent for a moment. Daemon scowled.

"Let me see if I understand," the dark hound seethed, looking as though he'd cast fire from his nostrils and light the map on fire. "If what you are saying is true… If Adiel is gone off duty, and Cepheus has no business with us... then the implications are… that we are settling here in this canyon completely uncontested?!"

A murmur rose from the group as the Houndoom locked eyes with the Umbreon at the other end of the table.

"W-wait! No, are you saying you don't believe me? I saw Cepheus in Ingrain Town! Daemon, you have to listen to me!" the Umbreon cried. "We can't afford to walk right into his trap."

"Could it be that he needed the invisible seeds from Ingrain Town to use them elsewhere? That might explain his presence there," Kyria offered.

"Wait! Wait, hold on!" the Umbreon shouted over the muttering voices. "Are you sure it was Cepheus? Are you sure that's who Syr saw?"

"Well, yeah, he was sure," Ursa replied. "Didn't have to get too close to figure it out. His armor gave it away. The chestplate he was wearing… Amaranthine is the only place on earth where they make that, and only for the royalty. He's the Starborn, all right."

Raon's mind flashed back to the night he'd spied on the villainous Nidoking in Ingrain town. He was indeed clad in silvery, royal armor that seemed too bulky for a Nidoking to even wear… But more than the armor, he remembered the red eyes that glinted in the light of the sol-rock flames…

Daemon closed his eyes and sighed. "If we find out that all these preparations were for nothing… If I find out that we could have moved into this canyon years ago…"

"Daemon, listen to me!" Raon urged, fear in his eyes. "Scythe… Daemon… Please, don't trust him. This is exactly what he wants us to think. Remember what happened last time when we thought Cepheus wouldn't be a problem? Don't you remember when we lost Rautzen? We-we can't have that happen all over again. We're better than that. Maybe he knew we were watching him so he tried not to act suspicious."

The Umbreon's words seemed to reach Daemon, and he grit his teeth in acceptance. "It is true, there are still too many unknowns," he said. "Scythe, this one's going to be your call."

Scythe turned from his teammates and spent a moment of silence staring at a nearby wall. He bowed his head in thought as his subordinates awaited his word.

"Keep an eye on him," Scythe said after the hesitation. "The closer we get to getting the Sandslash clan back here, the more likely the Starborn will make a move. Besides, after we get all the tunnels done and the entrances blocked up, he's not getting in anyway."

"At least not without a good fight, that's for sure," Craw added.

"Fine, then," Daemon said, pushing the tiny map of Ambera off from the table. "Keep surveillance on the Starborn. In the meantime, we need to—"

"I'm sorry if I'm late," a voice said from the room's entrance.

Daemon and the rest of the warrior Pokémon turned to see the figure of a tall Pokémon standing in the doorway.

It was a Scyther.

"I had a lapse of memory, and walked down the wrong tunnel," the Scyther said, entering the room. "Now… what's this about finding the Starborn?"

"Ah… good to see you," Scythe said with a pleased smile. "We were waiting for you. We have much to discuss."


Shamble Forest

A chilly breeze shifted through the forest treetops and rustled the leaves. The sky was darkened with long streaks of clouds high in the atmosphere, and the temperature had dropped just low enough to silence the songbirds and cast the forest into an eerie but peaceful quiet.

One particular Bulbasaur was anything but quiet.

"…And I found out that if you get buried, you can actually survive under the ground for a little while without breathing."

"You're kidding, how's that work?"

"It's just something that plant Pokémon can do naturally. As long as we make sure to store up some good sunlight in the seed, it can breathe for you when there's no air!"

"Somehow, I don't really believe that."

"But it's true, brother! I did it myself! You just have to resist the urge not to panic and breathe in the dirt. Try it yourself if you don't believe me."

"No thanks, I think I'll pass…"

Though a bit overwhelmed at his enthusiasm, Saurvor felt very proud of his little brother as he explained all the things he learned from his mysterious former team. Many of the things Saura rambled about were things even he didn't know.

"And if I get enough sunlight, I can concentrate it all into the seed, and blast it out like a huge sun beam," Saura explained proudly. "It takes standing in the sun a very long time, though. But if I can store it up and use it in a cave or something where there usually isn't sunlight, it's really strong against all the Pokémon who live in the dark and hate sunlight."

"Wow, Saura. How many of these tricks do you know, anyway?"

"I don't know, twenty?"

For a moment, the Ivysaur disbelievingly gaped at his brother, wondering how so many skills could even fit inside such a small Pokémon.

"Twenty? Saura, most Pokémon don't learn that many fighting moves in a lifetime!" he cried. "What did they do to you on your team?"

Saura shrugged. "We went into a lot of mystery dungeons, fought all kinds of wilds. Eventually you just learn these things because you want to be able to defend yourself in all kinds of situations. But you know, after a while, you start forgetting about all the separate moves and tricks you know… they just, I guess, blend together, so it all just becomes one skill. It's just… battle. Defending yourself. You got to know how to react to more and more situations, and you start forgetting about what all the tricks are called, and you just… use them when you feel like you need to use them."

The Ivysaur nodded, grinning at his little brother. "Sounds like you learned a lot," he said. "…But did you learn this?"

While Saura wasn't looking, the Ivysaur had run a vine through the grass and slung it over the branch of a nearby tree. When he snapped his vine, a lasso tightened around Saura's hind leg and the Bulbasaur suddenly found himself lifted into the air.

"AAH! Hey!" he yelped in surprise, flailing with his paws as he watched the ground spin in circles beneath him. "Alright, alright! Very funny, brother. Are you going to let me down? I can slice your vine, you know. I know how to make the razor leaves."

"Heh! Fine," the Ivysaur sighed, loosening the knot around Saura's paw and watching him thump forehead-first onto the ground.

Saura scrambled back to his feet and shook his head, then smiled at his brother. "That was pretty good," he said. "I didn't even see that coming. How'd you do it?"

"That's a trick we like to call the grass knot," the Ivysaur said proudly. "You just make a little slip-knot with your vine. It takes some practice learning how to tie a knot fast enough that someone else can't see it. Then you can camouflage it in the grass and wait for someone to step in it. Then… yank. Most of the time it'll trip up the bad guy and make them fall on their face."

"Whoa. You've got to teach me how to do that," Saura said with a beaming smile. "That sounds really useful!"

"Heh, sure. But remember, it's better against enemies that are bigger. It didn't really hurt you because you're pretty small – no offense. But the bigger the enemy is, the more it'll hurt when they fall on their face."

Saura laughed awkwardly to himself. I wish I would have known this earlier, he thought. It might have been useful to know at Temporal Tower. It might not be so handy anymore now that, well, I'm not really a warrior anymore.

"See? Your big brother knows a few things, too," Saurvor goaded, nudging Saura's forehead. "Maybe I know some more. Maybe we could find something to use as target practice—"

The Ivysaur stopped in his tracks, looking as shocked as though he had just stepped on a nail. He paused for a moment, sniffing the air, before he stood up on his hind legs and peered around like a rodent.

Saura blinked. "Brother, what's—"

"Shh!" his brother hissed, turning his head all around with his ears perked. Then, in a quieter voice, he said, "Saura… do you ever get the weird feeling that you're… being watched?"

Saura suddenly felt nervous. In truth, there were many times he'd felt that way, and they were not pleasant memories.

"Yeah…? Sometimes. Why? What is it?"

"Nothing that I can see," Saurvor whispered. "Just a weird feeling I got. You know how they say that every Pokémon has at least some small ability to sense the aura of other living things? So… sometimes, if you feel like you're being watched, it could be more than just a feeling."

"Yeah? You know what else they say? When you're being watched, you should act normal," Saura hissed in reply, almost frustrated. "Don't let them know that you saw them. Well, it's too late now. If someone's watching us, they already know."

"Yeah, you're right," Saurvor said uneasily, dropping back to all fours. "Sorry… we just spent a long time on the road looking over our shoulders. It's just going to take me a while to adjust to not being hunted by that Flareon and the Scizor anymore. C'mon, let's find a wild Rhyhorn or something to fight."

Saura continued to follow his brother deeper into the woods, but now he didn't feel so comfortable. He couldn't deny the feeling in the air that Saurvor had noticed. Maybe it was the weird silence of the crisp autumn morning, with no birds or insects singing in the trees. Or maybe it was a weird scent in the wind, something just barely subtle enough not to draw attention to itself.

Then again, maybe it was nothing.


Anvil Quarry, B3F

"Deeper, deeper, down into the chasm! Deeper, deeper, down we go!"

"Terror, horror, wait at every corner! How much farther? We don't know."

"Daylight is waning, and darkness consuming! There's no escaping a labyrinth so confusing! Everyone will—"

"Raichu! Do you mind?!" the Espeon shouted. "We could very well get trapped forever down here, is it quite necessary to break our focus?"

"Aww, what?" the Raichu pouted. "I always sing things when we're on a tough mission, it lightens the mood!"

"Then do you really need to sing about how awful and hopeless our plight is?!"

"But I'm celebrating the challenge! Isn't it awesome how we can go into such mysterious and deadly places, and then brush them off like they're nothing? That's the thrill of being an explorer! That's the best part!"

Char shook his head as he listened to the two bicker, but he was admittedly a bit concerned about his new teammate. Eva was a complete wreck, and that was putting it lightly; her fur was clearly standing on end, her drawn claws clacked on the stone floor with every step she took, and every word she spoke suggested that her self-control was draining quickly. But he knew there wasn't nearly as much risk involved as Ray's song might have suggested, seeing that she walked alongside a worthy team of well-equipped Pokémon, and even wore a rescue emblem that would grant her safe passage back to the entrance. He hoped that in showing her how simple and painless a basic dungeon mission could be, he could inspire some confidence and courage into her, but so far, things only seemed to be getting worse.

The dungeon itself had fascinating differences to others Char had visited, as most dungeons tended to have. The Anvil Quarry dungeon was made of wide, tall tunnels of stone that were always perfectly rectangular and intersected at sharp right angles, making it something like a true labyrinth. Though there was no apparent light source, Char could see quite far down each tunnel only by the light of his tail, as the perfect corners of the caves somehow stood out to him through the darkness. At regular points in the walls, there stood metal support beams, or rather, the same metal support beam copied numerous times in different places. It made Char wonder how small this cave truly was without the mystery dungeon obscuring it, and how far the workers of the quarry had gone carving their neat and rectangular tunnel before being forced to evacuate.

There was something else that Ray pointed out which was very fascinating – not about the quarry dungeon, but the stairwells which separated the floors. Most mystery dungeons had staircases, notably those in caves which would descend deeper with each level. When they found the first staircase in Anvil Quarry, Ray mentioned that the staircase design didn't resemble the rest of the dungeon at all, and that it actually more reminded him of the staircases in a certain tower they had visited – he didn't mention Temporal Tower directly, because Marrow was listening, but Char understood. The staircases did not come from Temporal Tower, clearly, but looked like they might have been designed for some other type of tower, perhaps one of a similar nature. It made him start wondering more about the true nature of the dungeons – was there some other divine tower, similar to Temporal Tower, which existed somewhere? And were they visiting a tiny part of that tower every time they found a dungeon staircase?

To make up for the short trek to the site, the mission required a lot of walking. Char and his team had to scour every corner of the quarry cave in search of the lost scarf. Though they had not met any enemies on the first two floors, Char knew he still needed to search efficiently; he still remembered the fateful sound of the mysterious wind and what it had done to the dungeon in Temporal Tower, and he had no intention of ever wanting to see it again.

About halfway down the large tunnel, a few side passageways opened. The dungeon was getting more complex the deeper Char went, opening more alternate routes to explore.

"Looks like a crossroads," Marrow said, standing back. "What's your call here, Char?"

Char signaled to Otto who took off down the nearest passage. He returned in seconds, only to disappear down the other hallway for another few moments.

"To your left, there is a corner followed by a dead-end," Otto reported after returning. "There is a Joltik nest at the end of the hallway, but nothing else of note. To the right, the tunnel continues and more branches open. The tunnels also appear to shrink in size."

"And the straight-away?" Char asked.

"I could see no objects on the floor. From here, it appears to be a dead-end."

Char nodded. "Looks like we're headed that way," he said, pointing to the right and directing his team to follow.

"In caves such as this one, we cannot exchange signals while I am separated from you, so I could not fly very far," Otto noted. "With the cooperation of a psychic, it is possible to relay my findings back to you with more efficiency, but Eva was not cooperative."

"Excuse me for not listening to your tiny mind without advance warning," Eva hissed, looking like she wanted to rake her claws through the little bird. "I couldn't hear your thoughts above my own."

Char rubbed his head. Eva, I don't know what's going on with you, but this is ridiculous, he said to himself, making sure his thoughts were not shouted loud enough for her to hear. I need to make you see that you're not under any danger, and I need to do it fast. Otherwise, I don't know if you'll make it out of here without going crazy…

The opportunity came soon enough; after a short walk down the next path, the team encountered the first unavoidable enemy: a tiny Joltik.

Just as Otto had noted, the side tunnel had funneled down into a smaller size. Although the little spider Pokémon didn't notice the team barging through the abandoned mining tunnel just yet, there was no way around it. It was going to notice them in a few steps through the vibrations in the ground alone. There was going to be a fight.

"Aww, it's so cute," Ray said. "I almost don't want to fight it. Aww, can we make it like us? We should recruit it… it can be another Otto!"

"Highly unlikely," Otto quipped. After an awkward pause, he added, "…Besides, I was planning to eat it."

Ray looked shocked. "Aww, Otto! He's just a little guy! Don't eat him!"

"I eat bugs often. There are thousands of others, each with an equal chance of befriending us."

"C'mon, Otto… can't you give this one a break? I can't just watch you eat a brother electric Pokémon. Pleease?"

"Doesn't matter whether or not it gets eaten, someone's gotta beat it up first," Marrow said. "They're tiny, but they can be naggy little things if you're not careful. They jump around fast and they'll latch onto your back in a place you can't reach, and good luck gettin' them off. Who's up for the challenge?"

"I volunteer Eva," Char said smugly, before anyone else could answer.

In unison, the party hushed themselves and turned to the Espeon. She snapped to attention and took a wary step backwards. She trembled on her hind legs when she stepped, as though the little tick was a creature out of her worst nightmares.

"Me…? I… I can't fight it," Eva gasped in a horrified yelp. "Why not the Marowak? He's immune to that thing's attacks…"

"Nice try, but I'm mostly just here to watch, and correct Char when he makes a mistake," Marrow said in amusement, stepping back and leaning against a wall. "'Sides, they have more ways of attacking than just using electricity, you know. I wouldn't be immune to all of 'em."

"Well, why do we even have to attack in the first place?!" Eva shot back to nobody in particular. "We are obviously stronger, won't it just run away from us?"

"Nope, wild Pokémon in dungeons always attack civil Pokémon, no matter how strong or weak they are," Marrow said. "When it sees us, it'll attack. Those are just the rules."

Eva locked her legs in place and looked frozen stiff, as though she couldn't decide whether the fuzzy little spider was more terrifying than fleeing into the darkness by herself.

"I… I hate spiders," she pleaded. "Y-you don't understand!"

Char sighed, crossing his arms. "Eva… I just want to see how you fight, alright? And this is the most harmless opponent you could ask for. Just give it a try, alright? We'll help you out if you get stuck."

At first, it seemed like the Espeon hadn't heard a word that Char said. But after a short starting contest between herself and her team leader, she finally relented. Scowling, she took a reluctant step forward, keeping her eyes pinned to the tiny opponent.

You… you just don't understand, Char, she whispered silently to him. You just don't understand.

If you want me to understand, you need to show me, Char said to himself, hoping she wouldn't hear his thoughts.

The team backed out of Eva's way as she tiptoed towards the oblivious yellow bug. She crouched low to the ground and folded her ears, looking as though she would pounce, but she only became more filled with terror. Char saw her legs quaking, failing to support the weight of her body.

You can do it, Char hoped. There's nothing to be afraid of, Eva…

Eva twitched for a brief moment as though she wanted to attack, but decided against it at the last moment. She instead backpedaled by her own momentum, scraping her claws on the stone floor and finally drawing the Joltik's attention.

The little bug twitched and turned to face its opponent, and there was a brief standoff as it stared the intruder, a mess of an Espeon who looked like she would sooner hyperventilate than strike a blow.

Char…

Her telepathic voice echoed in Char's head.

Char responded, what is it?

Promise me something, she said, her fear and regret flowing through her telepathy. Promise me…

Before she could finish her thought, the little bug bounced in her direction, latching onto her forehead. Releasing a shrill scream into the depths of the quarry's caverns, she collapsed onto her side, completely helpless.

Eva…? Char tried contacting her telepathically, startled at the sudden attack. He had hoped she was still conscious. When he tried to listen to her mind, he was surprised at what he found.

There was only a single repeating thought in her mind, distorted and wrought with terror: Can't move, can't move, can't move, can't move.

Char clawed at his forehead. "She's paralyzed," he groaned. "Ray?"

"I'm on it!"

Ray rushed to help her, plucking the little tick from her head and hurling it away down the hall. He produced a heal seed from the bag and forcefully slammed it onto her side. It made a loud snapping sound, and Eva jumped straight into the air, screeching like an alarmed cat.

And then she ran for it. Giving no thought to the rest of the team, she bounded down the hallway in the direction they had come, nearly tripping over her own legs and tail.

"Gods…!" Char growled angrily. "Ray…?"

"I'm on it…" he sighed.

The Raichu bolted after his fleeing teammate, releasing a thick field of static in her direction. Caught up in the web of tiny static charges, she slumped to the ground, once again motionless.

Soon she found herself staring at a very annoyed team leader.

Eva, what is your problem?! Char yelled into her mind, standing over her. What are you doing?!

Char… promise me something, she said again. Promise me you'll get me out of here alive.

Eva, I promised you that before we even left, Char said. Now I'd appreciate it if you'd stop making this feel like an escort mission.

You just don't understand! she pleaded, still completely motionless.

I understand that you're being completely useless, Char said. I understand that you're not giving me any reason to trust you. If you want to be on this team, you'll need to be able to do things much harder than fighting against a tiny bug. How do I know that you'll be able to do anything harder if you can't even do that?!

Eva's eyes were full of spite. I told you, Char, but you're just not listening; I'm perfectly capable of swatting a bug. It's this dungeon that is destroying my focus. These dungeons destroy me from the inside; I cannot stand becoming a prisoner to a dungeon.

I thought Espeon was supposed to be the most intelligent of your kind,Char shot.

Char felt a moment of satisfaction when Eva halted her complaining, her telepathic thoughts taking insult. He pressed further.

You're certainly not showing it, he said. Because if you were using your brain right now, you'd know that you're not in any danger. That's why we brought all these magic orbs and emblems into the dungeon. They're going to save us if something goes wrong. Now I understand there's some reason you really don't like dungeons, but you need to stop letting your fear control you. That's why Pokémon have brains; it's so that we can disobey our feelings when they're being irrational and not making any sense. I need you to stop acting irrational and use your brain.

Your patronizing makes me sick, Eva blasted.

Yeah, well I wouldn't have to be patronizing if you weren't being a liability to this team. Maybe I could remind you that you're being just as bad as Saura was with his nightmares? Remember when you said he couldn't be trusted as a teammate when he kept having headaches all the time? Well, what does that say about you and the way you're acting right now?

Char felt it when Eva finally admitted defeat. When she realized she had no comeback for the argument, he felt a painful twinge of humility hit her, and her fear and her rage were tempered.

I will cooperate, she finally said, as long as you make me a promise. Human… promise me that you will never leave me in a mystery dungeon. If you were to only keep one promise to me, at least promise me that.

Char smiled and crossed his arms. You're part of my team now, Eva. I've never left a teammate stranded in a dungeon before, why would you be any different? I'll never willfully leave you. And if something goes wrong, I'll come back for you. That's a promise.

At Char's signal, Ray threw another healing seed, and Eva was cured of her paralysis again. She climbed back onto her feet and they stood eye-to-eye for a moment.

If I can trust you to uphold that promise, then perhaps I can find it within myself to overcome my fear, she said calmly. Pardon my behavior, then. I suppose it could be said that we all need to have our temper tantrums every now and again… even the best of us.

After taking a moment to shake the dust out of her fur, Eva sighed and walked past Char into the darkness of the hallway. Char was about to ask where she was going, until he noticed that the little spider which Ray had thrown down the hallway was trying to make its way back. Again, it stood at a standoff with the Espeon, but this time the Espeon did not look so cowardly and frail.

The little bug let out a squeak of surprise as it rose into the air, powerless to escape an invisible force. There was a sickening crunch as its body imploded, and it fell back to the ground as an unrecognizable heap of matter.

Eva glanced back at Char with a smug but unamused expression. "Happy?" she muttered.

"Well… it's a start," Char replied.


Anvil Quarry, B4F

Farther down into the quarry, the hallways kept their same rectangular shape, but grew smaller and more numerous. There were many more caves to check for the lost scarf, and more enemies guarding the tunnels to avoid.

It also became clear to Char that he'd greatly underestimated Eva's helpfulness. Once she agreed to act as a telepathic relay for Otto, the team found that they didn't even need to explore most of the floor themselves; Otto's speed and sense of orientation made him a good scout, even in such a dark cave.

"Another dead end… pile of rotten fruit," Eva reported. "Second hall on the right… dead end. Third hall… Servine guarding a seed. He doesn't know what kind. Then… oh, dear."

"What?! What is it?" Ray gasped.

She was silent, staring into space.

"…He engaged a Golbat in battle… defeated it," she eventually said. "I can't see through his eyes, so I can only wait until he tells me what he sees."

Char sighed in relief, and Marrow leaned against the wall of the chamber looking amused. "Ah, the joys of getting paid for doing nothing! Never seems to happen so much anymore. Though, think I'm gettin' a bit hungry, Char. Care to ration off some food?"

"Yeah, I guess it's about time for a snack break," Char said with a shrug. "Might as well. How are we on food?"

"We've covered more ground than planned! We have plenty of food," Ray said, settling down in the corner and digging into the bag. "Let's see… we have pecha slices, nuts…"

As there didn't seem to be any enemies in the area, Char felt comfortable with taking a rest. In trying to deal with Eva, he had hardly noticed his own growing hunger, and food sounded quite good to him at the moment. He readily accepted some rations from Ray.

Once the team had settled down, Char saw Eva's ears perking up. "Otto asks a question," she said oddly. "Do we have any… recall orbs?"

"Huh? You mean roll-call orbs? Yeah, I brought one," Ray said, his mouth full of fruit. "How come?"

"He says he wants you to use one… as soon as possible," Eva said.

Ray's eyes went wide, and he nearly dumped out the entire bag in search of the orb. After diving in headfirst, he found the one he was looking for, and Otto suddenly appeared out of thin air directly next to Char, his wings hopelessly tangled in a massive, static-ridden tangle of web. He slumped to the ground, completely motionless – he was paralyzed.

"Huh. Must have hit a Garvantula nest," Marrow said. "Looks like he's going to be okay, though. Give him a moment to rest. You won't even have to use another seed if you let the paralysis wear off."

Though Char was a bit disturbed at the sight of the Pidgey in such a mess of tangled feathers and silk, he knew Marrow was right. Once the static charge on the webbing would wear off, Char could help the Pidgey escape the snare and he'd be fine.

Eva, however, seemed both amazed and petrified at the sight of the bird. She sat over him, her pupils widened as though she'd just seen a miracle.

"What is it?" Char asked her. "Something wrong?"

She touched his wing gently. The static charges caused her tiny hairs to stand on end.

"He teleported" she said simply. "He was caught in a spiderweb. He was doomed… but he teleported, and he's saved."

"Yeah!" Ray said between bites of his apple. "We used the orb on him."

"…But Pidgey can't teleport," Eva said, as though not listening. "Pidgey can't… teleport. But you made him teleport here… how?"

"The roll-call orb," Char said. "That's why we bring all these magical things into the dungeons with us. They help us deal with the dangers in these places."

"…I've never heard of an orb that can… allow teleportation," Eva said calmly. "I've handled many orbs in my time, but why haven't I heard of this before?"

"…Well, maybe because some orbs can only work inside of a dungeon?" Ray offered. "If you hate dungeons so much… maybe you've never needed them before?"

"Yeah, and that's not even mentioning the reviver seeds," Marrow said. "Maybe I'd demonstrate one of those for you, but those are about as valuable as a living Pokémon, so they're not worth wasting for that sake. Those are best demonstrated entirely on accident."

"So… these are orbs… that allow teleportation," Eva said, as though it was something truly profound. "Inside of a dungeon… they allow teleportation."

The gemstone on Eva's forehead glimmered, and the Pidgey gently rose into the air before her. Carefully and gracefully, she rotated his body, using telekinesis to scrape the webbing from his feathers.

"So, we are truly safe," Eva muttered quietly, as though speaking to herself, as she helped Otto become free. "I see now… if we have the power of teleportation even within a dungeon… we are safe. I did not believe you, Char, but you were not exaggerating. As long as we have these powers, we are safe here. Even though the dungeon might have the power to trap us forever, we are safe."

Char couldn't imagine why Eva thought it was such an amazing feat of magic to use orbs in a dungeon. To him, it was one of the first things an explorer learns: you bring equipment into a dungeon, and that equipment makes you safer and less likely to fail the mission. But Eva just kept repeating it, as though she was struggling to understand and accept the concept.

Maybe it's just because she's new to this, he thought. I remember when I was learning about dungeons for the first time, I had a lot of questions about them. Maybe she just spent so long staying away from the dungeons, she had some misconceptions…

Though still more than a little ruffled, Otto was soon free. He levitated slowly down onto his two legs, where Eva released him from her hold, and he was able to stand upright. His head twitched slightly as he struggled to rein control of his muscles from the paralysis.

"Otto thanks you for rescuing him," Eva said plainly. "He says he flew into the web blindly, and the Garvantula was approaching him when you used the orb. He says he is relieved."

"The thanks would go to you, actually," Marrow corrected. "See, Char… when you're able to relay messages telepathically in a cave like this, it completely changes the game. But psychics have got their disadvantages, too. Just like birds do. So you need to learn to use them when you need them."

"Yeah, I think I understand that now," Char said, as he leaned back and let his stomach settle. "Thank you, Eva."

"You are welcome," Eva said, simply and sincerely. "I am glad to be of service."

She sat herself down to rest before hesitantly continuing her thought. "I… I suppose I can tell you something I know about mystery dungeons, which not many Pokémon are aware of…"

"Oh? Somethin' about why they give you the creeps?" Marrow asked jovially.

"You might say it is… related to the reasons," Eva replied. "When I was… younger, before I discovered the existence of the Gold Division, I… learned of some disturbing qualities which dungeons have, and I have spent a great majority of my life trying to stay away from them. For instance, do you know of the mysterious wind which will strike if you remain in one place for too long, and expel you from the dungeon?"

"Yes! We do!" Char cried, feeling a shiver run through him merely thinking about it. "We've heard it before. Some of us have even… had it come for us. Why? Do you know something about it?"

"I do," Eva said plainly. "When I was younger, I was vaguely acquainted with a team of ghost Pokémon who would rescue others who were trapped in dungeons, and I heard them mention the wind on more than one occasion. So one day I asked them, 'why do you need to rescue Pokémon from dungeons, if the wind will just blow them to freedom anyway?' and they told me the reason. It is because… the dungeon is alive, and self-aware. It is able to distinguish between those which are prisoners, and those which are intruders."

"Hmm… that's a tall claim, miss, if I might say so," Marrow said, scratching his chin. "We've had our top minds studying dungeons for decades. From what I've heard, we've never found anything that suggests they're alive. They play off your fears, but that's just your own consciousness doing that to you. The dungeons themselves don't have thoughts or feelings."

Eva swished her tail and looked sternly into the eyes of the Marowak's skull. "If you do not believe me, then tell me, how do you think the dungeon is able to distinguish between a wild Pokémon and a civil one? Earlier, you explained to me that ferals will always attack civils with no exceptions. Why do you think that is, if the dungeon is not somehow intelligent enough to tell them apart? Hmm?"

"Running theory has it that the dungeon does something to the brain," Marrow replied, shrugging. "Some sort of corruption. But the civil Pokémon are just strong enough resist it, and the ferals aren't."

"Yes, but can you explain to me, using this model of thought, why ferals do not get blown away by the wind, but sentient explorers do?" Eva pressed further. "And why do some explorers become trapped in the dungeon, while others do not? What is the running theory for that?"

That's actually a good question, Char realized. Never thought of that before. That Bagon who had the taint didn't get expelled from the dungeon. Neither did Fern, so long ago. We had to find them ourselves. So…

So why do we have to run from the wind and not them?

"Uhh… no idea, honestly," Marrow said. "Always just assumed mystery dungeons are full of unexplained things. Hence the name."

"In that case, let me shed some light for you on another one of those mysteries," Eva said arrogantly. "Mystery dungeons read your mind. This dungeon is reading all of our minds right now. It knows who we are, why we're here, and everything we are thinking. And it has plans for each one of us. It desires only to absorb us into itself and use us as instruments of its will, so that we will become part of the dungeon, like the ferals we see infesting this quarry. That's what the wind truly is. The dungeon decides whether to expel you, or to assimilate you. And when you become assimilated, you lose your sanity. You lose your self-awareness. You begin to become like the ferals which the dungeon keeps as pets, or worse… you begin to forget you are living in a dungeon at all, and lose your desire to leave. The dungeon could mutilate you, or kill you, or manipulate you in whatever way it wishes, and you would never know that it is happening. It is the same as being trapped in a nightmare, where the laws of the world are always changing, but you don't notice because you cannot think rationally while dreaming. The ferals only attack us because the dungeon knows that we are a threat. That is the fate of being trapped in a dungeon. And every time we enter one, we're walking right into it."

"Pardon me if I'm still skeptical, but tell me again how you know this?" Marrow challenged.

"Someone told me, once," Eva replied curtly.

"And I'm to assume this person who told you, they had all of this on good authority?"

"Precisely."

Marrow stood up and stretched his arms. "Not convinced," he said, turning away from her. "Sorry; to me, all that sounds like paranoid drivel. Sure, you bring up a handful of interesting points, but I've read up on the inner workings of dungeons, mind you, and I have to say that none of that matches with anything I've ever seen to be true. Mystery dungeons happen wherever space and time unravel. They've been known to play on your fears, but nothing has proven they have rational thought. That's all. And besides…"

He turned to her once more, a gleam in his eye from behind his mask.

"I have it on good authority that you're quite a good liar."

Eva turned her head away in a huff. "Fine, then. If you must know, your good authority is absolutely correct," she chirped. "And yes, perhaps most of that was my own delusional speculation based on what only a few have told me… but nonetheless, I stand by it."

"And I stand by the fact that none of that hardly matters if we get in 'n' out before the wind catches us in the first place," Marrow said flatly. "We're equipped to handle the job, we're nearly done, so what if the dungeon reads our minds the whole way? Fine by me, I've got nothin' to hide. What good does that do it? Why even bother tryin' to make it more scary than it deserves to be if the effects are just the same?"

"I concur," Otto said suddenly, speaking up. "The longer we stay here, the longer we risk hearing the wind. Now that I can move my wings again, let us leave this place."

In an effort to diffuse the awkwardness, Char agreed that it was a good idea to get moving again, so he told Ray to pack up the bag and everyone else to finish what they were eating while they walked. Once they were ready to go, Char eyed Eva suspiciously.

Wait, so, were you lying or not? he asked her. Was any of that true?

I was mainly trying to play with Marrow's mind, she admitted. He calls himself fearless, so I wanted to see if I could worm some fear into his mind. Seems he didn't fall for the bait. That's good; it means you're right to trust him.

But was it really true? Char said again.

Depends on your definition of truth, Eva said. Dungeons indeed differentiate between who is a victim and who is an intruder, just as they differentiate between ferals and civils. That much is true undeniably. But to what effect, and by what means… I can't tell you, because I don't know. I can only speculate… and exaggerate. My claims are true only as far as you trust me and my personal account of experiences.

And is that why you hate dungeons? Char asked.

No… it's not, Eva replied. As I said before, it's related to the reason, but the reason is quite different. Perhaps that is a topic for another day. But for now, I don't wish to talk about it.

After apologizing again for nearly using a reviver seed, and promising not to fly into any more spider webs, Otto found the stairs quite nearby and the team continued even deeper into the abandoned quarry.


Anvil Quarry B5F

The mysterious light which filled the quarry chambers was diminishing, and Char found that he had to rely on his tail flame – and his trust in Otto's eyes – to see what appeared in the darkness.

"Fifth floor. The job description said the scarf would be on this floor," Otto reported, riding atop Marrow's bone club. "Should I scout ahead?"

"Nah, stay here for now," Char decided. "I want to see Eva fight something else. Something more challenging. And she can't do that if she's listening to your reports."

"That is fair," Otto said, noting the annoyed glare that Eva shot at Char. "But keep in mind that we might need to progress further. Team Carrier reported that they lost the scarf on this floor, but it was only a speculation. If we do not find it, we must continue further until at least the seventh floor, as that is the condition of the job request."

"How deep does this dungeon go?" Ray wondered.

"This dungeon is twenty-five floors deep," Otto responded. "On the twenty-fourth floor, the hallways become so small that only some tiny Pokémon have been capable of exploring them, such as intelligent Joltik, Pichu, and Rattata. It is unknown if the twenty-fifth floor has a staircase."

"Ack. Let's hope the scarf is here, and hasn't been warped around the dungeon yet," Char said.

The dungeon was very labyrinthine now. The hallways had been cut into a third of the size they had been on the top few floors, and every few steps Char spotted another side path branching off from the hallway. It began to frighten him a bit, but he decided not to show it; he needed to be trustworthy for Eva, and he wanted to impress Marrow as well, so he held his chest high and his tail as far in front of him as it would go, lighting the way for everyone.

Char didn't have to wait long to meet an enemy Pokémon, however; a Raticate scurried out of a side passage and instantly saw them, cowering back into the shadows as it planned its attack.

"I take it you want me to defeat that rodent," Eva said, walking in front of Char. "I suppose I could certainly try. But if I do, would you mind letting Otto fly his scouting path again so we can get this over as soon as possible?"

"A fair proposal," Char said, smiling. "Fine. Show me what you can do."

Eva stepped forward, skirting the edge of the light bubble which Char's tail cast onto the floor, and sending a long, ghostly shadow into the darkness. She glanced around for signs of the wild rodent, her ears perked and her legs coiled, ready to pounce.

After a few moments, it appeared as though she gave up entirely. She stood upright and casually began walking back in Char's direction with her usual smug grin.

Char was about to ask her what was wrong, when he spotted the Raticate bounding after her, attempting to pounce at her from behind.

"Look out!" Char warned, his gasp joining with Ray's.

But Eva didn't seem bothered with the rabid rodent who was about to leap at her neck. Instead, she only paused and waited for it to approach…

Right when the rat would have pounced for the kill, it took a sharp turn to the right and headbutted directly into a protruding corner where the hall met a side-passage. The impact was so gruesome that it sent the rodent into shock, and it keeled over, its forehead split open and bleeding profusely.

"Hah!" Marrow said, clapping once in surprise. "Well done. Confusion attack, am I right?"

"I only lied to it," Eva said, shrugging. "Some ferals are so suggestable. I only told it I was over there, and not here. And it believed me."

"Impressive," Otto said. "You defeated it without touching it, just like the Joltik."

"Well, yes, I prefer not to stain my claws," she said. "Anyway, now that I have demonstrated my battle prowess to your liking, would you mind if we found the scarf and left this place so we can begin preparations for the thief mission?"

"Don't mind at all," Char said, waving a signal to Otto. "I'm satisfied. Now, let's get this over with…"

There was a rumbling underfoot. The team froze in fright as pebbles rained from the ceiling and tumbled down the walls.

Char winced as a particularly hefty rock conked him on the head. He waited a moment for the wave of pain, but remembered it wouldn't come. He realized that being trapped after a cave-in, immunity or not, wasn't a pleasant prospect for him or the rest of his team.

Even Marrow tensed in wary anticipation, waiting for the tremor to end. "Sounded like something big," he said, holding his club defensively. "Don't suppose there are bigger monsters down here than just rats?"

"There were no large monsters on the dungeon description, besides perhaps Servine. But I do not see how Servine could survive this far underground without sunlight."

"Alright. Move faster," Char decided, eyeing the ceiling not so far above his head. "Let's not find out what's down here if we don't need to."

*Chapter 84*: Chapter 63: Ring of Fire

o

Chapter 63

Anvil Quarry B5F… Still

"Otto… are you sure this is the right way?"

"Yes."

"Didn't we already go this way?"

"No."

"They all look the same, how do you know for sure?"

Char groaned as he trudged down the dozenth side path. The rectangular corridors of the grid-like quarry were proving to be a greater enemy than the occasional Graveler or Zubat; there were so many paths, all with the same shape and the same-sized hallways, that the trek began to feel like a repeating fever dream. Without a noteworthy landmark in sight, there was nothing to do but trust Otto's sense of direction… though not without repeatedly asking him if he knew what he was doing.

"I imagine a view of the floor from the sky," Otto said, hopping alongside him. "I am used to viewing the land from the sky. I understand the connections between the sky perspective and the ground perspective. I can visualize the sky perspective even when I cannot see it for myself."

"If that is true, then why are we walking past our own footprints?" Eva grumbled, squinting at the ground as she walked.

"You must be mistaken," Otto insisted. "You cannot be seeing your own footprints here. We were never here."

"I think I know what my own pawprints look like, thank you," Eva retorted.

"Your pawprints are similar to that of a Raticate," Otto said dismissively. "It was probably one of those."

Eva frowned, and her expression grew dark. "Tell me again that I look like a rat, I dare you."

Char feared he would soon be collecting pieces of his chief tactician from the floor. But the entire group stopped, in unison, as they wandered across something curious sitting in their way: a bloody, unconscious Raticate laying collapsed next to a side path. They had only approached it from a different direction.

"I stand corrected," Otto said. "I am sorry. I must have misremembered the shape of a hallway. Perhaps it was because you distracted me when you kept asking me if I knew the way."

Marrow laughed a hearty chuckle, stepping in front of the team to examine the Raticate's body. "Hah! No harm done, though. No sense in feelin' ashamed of going in circles, Sometimes it's just a bad guess. Means you're making progress as long as you explored everything."

"Yeah! And we found some stuff, too," Ray said. "No scarf yet, but a few loose coins and some orbs. That helps. So don't feel bad, Otto! You're doing good!"

"I don't feel bad, but I wonder what mistake I made," Otto said, turning his head at the surrounding caves.

"Hmm, well, if I might be so bold as to offer a suggestion," Marrow said, wandering out in front of the team, "Pokémon who burrow, like myself, need to learn a very similar type of directional sense, just like you get when ya fly and see everything from up above. Except it's less of a visual sense, and more of a feel. You just sorta feel when you're farther north or south or east of the place ya started. And thanks to that, we're good at finding our ways through places like this where it's complete darkness."

"You want me to learn this skill of yours?" Otto inquired.

Marrow shrugged. "Nah, sorry. It's an instinctual thing to us ground-types, can't really teach it, I think. Mainly, I was just gonna suggest you try goin' that way." Marrow pointed his club in the direction where the staircase had been. "Because I seem to remember at least two or three doors we all walked right past."

"…Oh. That's right, I forgot," Otto said plainly. "Thank you. It was because Char forbid me from scouting ahead when we first arrived to this floor. It makes sense now."

Eva glared at him. "Right, so I see you've picked up a very valuable skill, of blaming your mistakes on everyone else," she quipped.

Otto blinked. "I do not blame my mistakes on others; as I recall, I clearly admitted that I forgot about those passageways," he said with a hint of annoyance. "I only identified the reason for my forgetfulness."

"And the reason was Char, apparently," Eva sneered. "You are not fooling anyone with your oblivious guise, you know that, right? You're more aware of yourself than you look. You're just playing ignorant and trying your best not to look bad in front of Char."

"I know the game you're playing, as well," Otto chirped, not looking at her. "By admitting to your claims, I indict myself. By denying your claims, I will sound defensive and my arguments become weak from denial. Therefore there is no winning scenario regardless of how I respond, so by default you win the argument."

"…Hey. Break it up, you two," Marrow said sternly. "Save it for outside of the dungeon, alright? Last thing we need is a –"

A tremor shook the quarry again, stronger than the last. Char was thrown from his feet and tumbled to the stony floor as dust clouded the room. He winced as tiny rocks bounced from his skin, and eyed this teammates to see them cowering in fright.

Using his club for support, Marrow turned a wary eye to the ceiling. "Aye, it's like the floors above us are caving in," he said. "Ray? Suggest you get that escape orb ready, just in case. Otherwise, I suggest we get to the stairs, pronto."

Nobody voiced any objections, and Char quickly led the team backtracking to the entrance of the dungeon floor. All around, it had been an eventful and productive floor; there were at least seven battles with weak Pokémon, and Ray had collected some useful things. There had even been a trawl orb just sitting in a corner, supposedly left by a previous exploration team, and Ray had every intention of using it on the seventh floor to skip the search entirely. There was just one last floor to walk through before the mission's conditions would be met.

Despite this, Char found his confidence tainted by a growing worry that things might not go according to plan. They hadn't found many scarves, and none on floor where Team Carrier apparently lost it, and the next few floors were slated to be even more complex and dangerous. And it didn't help that nobody knew what was causing the tremors, even Marrow; there weren't supposed to be any Pokémon in the quarry who were capable of causing earthquakes of such a magnitude.

But the dungeon, as dungeons usually do, had a twist in store for Char and his team.

Upon returning to the staircase room, Char ordered Otto to scout down one hallway while he took the rest of the Pokémon down the other. Hopefully, he figured, one of them would find the next staircase, unless Otto had missed even more passageways somewhere else.

After a short walk down a straight and simple path, Char found himself staring down the stairwell to the sixth floor of the quarry.

"Ah-ha! Glad to see my sense of direction still works," Marrow said proudly. "Two floors left. Guess we just gotta wait for your bird to come back."

"Yeah, hopefully he didn't fly into another web," Ray said nervously. "Eva? Any news?"

Eva didn't respond for a minute. She stared blankly at the floor, as though in an intense telepathic conversation.

Char's heart skipped a beat.

"Eva? Is he alright?" Char asked warily.

She nodded. "Yes, he's fine. Very much fine," she assured him. "But there seems to be a different problem."

"…Yes?" Char said, growing worried.

Eva tilted her head in confusion. "Otto… claims that he has also found the staircase."

"Oh, well, then," Marrow said in a huff. "Did you inform him that he's gone crazy?"

"Yes, I tried," Eva returned. "But he insists he is standing in front of it right this moment, and he seems certain of himself. He wants you to come and see."

Char dropped to the ground and carefully brushed the first step of the staircase with his claw, wondering if it was an illusion. He decided that it felt very real, and turned to Ray in confusion.

"Two staircases?" he wondered. "Ray? Marrow? Has that ever happened before? Do you know?"

"Uh… no, not that I know of," Ray said. "I've been in a few dungeons before and there's always been just one staircase."

"Dungeon theory says that there's always a clean path straight through the dungeon, or the dungeon can't exist," Marrow said. "I've heard that a branching path is theoretically possible as long as the two paths eventually meet up again. It's just never been observed before."

"Hmm. Well, that's a tough one," Char said, scratching his forehead. "If there are two staircases, how are we supposed to know which one Team Carrier took? If they dropped the scarf in one path and we go down the other path, we're just wasting our time."

"What's the verdict, then, Char?" Marrow asked him. "Split up?"

"No, no. No way I'm splitting up the team between different floors. No way," Char said tersely. "We're staying together. Guess I'll just gamble on one of these staircases…"

"Otto insists you come," Eva said again with some urgency. "Also… he claims that he is beginning to hear the wind howling."

A sharp chill went straight through Char's belly. "Fine. Tell him to come back here and take us to the other stairs. And tell him to hurry."

The walk wasn't very far. Within minutes, Otto had reunited with the team and led them down the alternate path. What Char saw at the end of the other tunnel truly baffled him.

It was a staircase, all right. That much was certain. But Char grasped his tail in his hand and held it forward, and saw that something was very different about this one. It was a very different color of staircase, a gleaming yellow, almost as though it was made entirely out of gold.

"This is a dungeon anomaly I do not know about," Otto explained. "It is a golden staircase. I have never heard of such an anomaly before. I strongly suggest we pioneer this path and report our findings to the Gold Division."

"…Well, I'll be. There really are two staircases," Marrow said, leaning against the wall. "Huh. Fascinating."

"I should also note that it was not visible at first," Otto said. "It only appeared before my eyes when I flew near to it."

The team, except for perhaps Eva, decided that the golden staircase was too exciting to ignore. Together they descended it, careful not to slip and fall on the unnaturally smooth surfaces and tumble to the darkness below.


Anvil Quarry B6F?

The next floor was nothing like the rest of the quarry. It was huge.

Char felt vertigo as he stepped into the enormous chamber and tried to digest what he was seeing. Like the rest of the quarry, it was perfectly rectangular, but extended so far into the distance that it might have rivaled the size of the Gold Division's meeting hall. The walls had a golden shine to them, and looked like they might have been built with bricks, each the size of a small building. Char could see it all easily; the magical light which hung in the dungeon's air was exceptionally bright in this place, almost as though sunlight was coming through somehow.

But that wasn't the most impressive part of the room. The floor was littered with boulders and piles of rubble, and in the very center of it all stood a large mechanical device with treaded wheels and wicked-looking weapons protruding from the front. Char knew instantly that it must have been a machine used for mining, although it was of wildly strange Pokémon architecture, and he couldn't decide if the machine was primarily a bulldozer or a mole-digger. But it appeared to be in perfect condition; even the tiny cabin where the driver sat was wholly intact, without even a scratch or a fleck of rust to be seen.

Marrow seemed the most impressed with the discovery. "Well! This is certainly something!" he cried. "I believe that's a terraformer machine. Quite an old thing. Doesn't look a day old, though. I'm betting it's been frozen in time here."

"Can't you just hire ground-type Pokémon to dig, though?" Char wondered. "Why build machines?"

"Ah, well, you see, ground-types like to make a real mess of things when they burrow," he explained, somewhat bashfully. "Especially the lesser-skilled diggers. One wrong move and the whole place caves in. These things, though. They're built for precision and they keep the damage real clean. If I didn't know any better, I'd say these machines carved all the tunnels we've been walking through this whole time. That's the kind of work they're capable of."

"Perhaps we shouldn't speak so loud," Eva hissed. "There are wilds here in this room. They are hidden among the rubble piles. I can't tell what they are, but there are enough to overwhelm us if they were to wake up."

"Noted," Char said, his eyes fixed on the magnificent digger machine. Carefully, he drew nearer. "Otto? We just need to check the floor for loose scarves, and then we can get out of here. Mind getting a view from the air?"

Before Otto could take wing, a tremor struck the strange chamber.

But as Char soon saw, it was more than just an earthquake. As the ground rattled and the explorers tried to keep their balance, a dusty pulse of energy swept through the chamber, engulfing them. From within the mysterious bubble, Char saw that the bright colors had been drained from the room. Everything had the fuzzy appearance of black ink on orange parchment, and the air danced like the vapor from a campfire.

Char turned and saw that his friends were alright. They were still beside them, their expressions frozen in amazement just like his own. They, too, had lost their colors.

"Char! Look!" Ray gasped, pointing ahead. "There are other Pokémon here now!"

Char turned to see that he was right. On the other end of the chamber, there was a whole squad of strong-looking Pokémon. Char spotted a Gurdurr, a Haxorus, a Bastiodon, and several species he'd never seen before. But they weren't dungeon inhabitants. They were shouting orders to one another, indicating that they were intelligent.

"Way's clear!" a voice shouted. "Light 'er up!"

"Outta the way!" roared another voice.

A thunderous rumble filled through the room. Char realized it was the bulldozer machine. The great mechanical beast was running, vibrating the floor by entire inches as its noisy engine roared to life. But it wasn't in the same place. It had moved, somehow, farther down the chamber near the wall.

The most agonizing noise imaginable filled the air as the drills on the machine sank into the stone. Char was forced to slam his claws onto his ears to keep the vile screech out of his head, but he could barely stay on his feet, and the sickening vibrations made him want to vomit.

Char!

Char just barely recognized Eva's telepathy in his head amidst the ear-shattering industrial machine.

Char, come this way! We need to hide!

Char turned to see that Marrow was quickly pulling the rest of his team farther back, directing them to hide in a corner behind a few large boulders. Bearing the noise, Char dropped to all fours and darted after his teammates, careful not to run into anything as the strange washed-out colors of the mysterious spell still surrounded him. He dove behind the cover and huddled close to his teammates as they watched the mysterious miners do their work, the ground still vibrating beneath them.

Just as suddenly, it was gone. Reality returned to the room, and the team stood alone in the soundless gold-colored chamber with the defunct machine looming over them.

"Alright, so… turns out, this is something I've heard of after all," Marrow said, gasping for breath and adjusting his helmet. "Echo chamber. Read about these. Never seen one myself. Alright, so what's going on is… so, you know that mystery dungeons screw up both space and time, right? In echo chambers, it's less of screwing up space and more of screwing up time. There are time waves every so often and when you're inside them… what you're seeing is real things that actually happened here sometime in the past."

"That… is very strange," Otto said, looking shocked. "Why do we need to hide?"

"Well, because… what I've heard about the echo chambers… the other Pokémon there can see us too. So if they see us, we might be changing the past. And if we change the past… well, no one can tell what'll happen then. You might go back to the base and find out that half your friends were never born and the other half haven't heard of you. Beautifly effect and whatnot. It's not something we need to get involved with if we can help it."

"What if it's just a vision?" Eva wondered, shuddering. "Surely we can't change the past just by witnessing these visions… can we?"

Char's reply was drowned out by another pulse of the gray energy. The tremors instantly returned, and the piles of rubble chattered about. Char nearly bit his tongue as he reeled for balance.

It feels pretty real to me, Char replied telepathically, staring Eva in the eyes. If this keeps up any longer, I'm about to go deaf.

Eva looked very frightened, but she nodded in understanding. You have a point, she said. This is an intense apparition. We should not interfere with the quarrymen if we can help it. However, another school of thought suggests that whatever way we might interfere with these events has already happened in the past, because these workers have already reacted to our presence and history has already been rewritten before we arrived here today. So… it is possible that we cannot change the past in this echo chamber. Still, one can never be too careful in playing with time and space.

The sound of the motor stopped, and soon after, so did the sound of the metal screeching against polished rocks. Char peered into the room to see that the vision of the past had not faded out yet, but the working Pokémon had turned the machine off just as it began to grind into the side of the chamber and enlarge the area. The driver, a primate Pokémon of some sort that Char didn't recognize, jumped out.

"Wait, how far we going again?" it grunted.

"Six more tons," something replied.

"Right, just be ready to pick this stuff apart when we're through, we haven't got all day," the strange monkey said.

The driver poised to jump back into the cockpit of the machine, and Char poised to hold his ears closed again, but there was some commotion among the workers.

A strange creature cried, "Stop! Stop!"

The Pokémon, looking like a black and orange lizard of some sort, darted into the room. It came so close to Char that he and his team needed to duck further behind the pile of rocks to keep from being seen.

"We've gone too far! We've gone too far! Stop! Stop!" it cried in an irritating, honking voice as it pushed through the workers to the driver of the vehicle.

"What are ya talking about?" the driver grunted in reply, halfway ignoring it. "We're not even close to where the mystery dungeon starts."

"It's not the dungeon! We dug up a monster, a monster! We need to evacuate!"

One of the muscular Pokémon picked up the lizard by the tail. "What are you talking about?! Get out of the way, we can take the monster."

"No! You don't understand! This isn't something we're equipped to handle… we can't take it!" it honked, dangling upside down.

There was another tremor, but it wasn't caused by the machine. The ground shook like a true earthquake, and the nearby wall exploded outward, leaving arching trails of dust in the air.

Char watched as every Pokémon in the room panicked, crying in all of their various sounds and dialects in a hectic stampede for the exit. For a moment he saw something moving behind the dust, something as huge, perhaps even huger, than the earth-moving machine…

Char cowered as the worker Pokémon flooded out of the room, tripping over each other in an absolute frenzy. He looked again and saw something dark and terrifying emerging from the shroud, but without the colors, he couldn't understand the figure of the creature.

One heartbeat later, everything was gone again. The vision of the past blinked away, leaving the empty golden chamber in peace. There was a moment of silence between Team Ember as they caught their breaths and came to realize that the shadows of the past had ended.

"Well, that was certainly something," Marrow said as he returned to his feet. "Guess it shows what happened to get the quarry shut down. Wonder why we were to first ones to find this echo chamber in the first place."

"Because the dungeon wanted us to find it," Eva said solemnly, almost talking to herself. "It was waiting for us to come here, into this very room, so it could put on display for us this precise slice of the past… It's all part of the plan it has to destroy us."

Char realized that Eva wasn't just saying it to scare Marrow this time. She was speaking what she truly believed. He paused to consider if it was really true that the dungeon had a mind, and that it was tracking them constantly; it would explain several of the phenomena he'd encountered in dungeons before. The only problem was, perhaps like Marrow, he didn't want for it to be true. It would be just too unsettling, knowing that the dungeons weren't destinations for treasure and jolly adventure, but the dream of an incorporeal being, twisting and shifting to ensnare and to torture its intruders…

"Well, we still don't know that for sure," Char said, accidentally speaking out loud.

"Yep. Char's right. But go ahead and believe what you want to believe," Marrow said in exasperation. "Sentient dungeon or not, it's going to take more than that to break us. We've got some tricks of our own. Char? Getting us out of here, or what?"

"Uh, yeah," Char said snapping back to attention. "Otto. Fly around, try to find anything. Uh… if the time echo comes back, it shouldn't be a problem because all the workers are gone now."

"Understood, but I will not waste time," Otto replied, zipping off.

Char took a deep breath to calm his flame. "Right. And Ray, you brought a pure seed, right?"

"Yep! But it's the only one we've got, and they're expensive," Ray warned. "If you wanted, we could finish the mission right now. Have the seed take us to the stairs, go down to floor seven, then use the trawl orb, then escape."

"Yeah, but we still have to check this floor… and maybe we don't have to use that seed," Char muttered. "We'll see what Otto says when he comes back."

Otto returned soon, though he appeared particularly uneasy as he came to land upon the mound of rocks. "Many items here. No scarves. Many diamonds and shards of iron, might be worth something. Few berries. Staircase is at the other end of the room."

"Good work," Char said. "Any enemies?"

"Yes… yes, enemies," Otto said, fluttering to the ground in exhaustion. "One. One particular enemy. Very large. It hides behind the machine. It sleeps. I… I don't know what it is. I am… I am nearly certain that it is a dragon."

"A dragon? Down here? Now?" Marrow jeered. "Yeesh! Well, then! Today is apparently the day for unlikely adventures, isn't it? Ah, I love it! Wish all my days were like this. What do you say we take a look?"

Otto almost jerked back in surprise at the thought. "The creature is larger than the machine. We could not defeat it in a fight, unless we strategize. I recommend that we use the pure seed."

"Char… do you think it's the same thing that burst through the wall?" Ray wondered.

Char shrugged. "I'd be surprised, that vision seemed like it happened decades ago. But there doesn't seem to be any other explanation for how something like that could have gotten in here. Ray, get the seed out, but don't use it. We can at least try to sneak past it. It's worth a try."

The room was quite large, but all the wild Pokémon remained asleep. Somehow they had not been disturbed by the time waves, however noisy they were. Eva and Otto worked together to help the team maneuver around the piles of rubble without waking any of the sleeping Geodude or Lairon. When he turned the last corner, Char and his friends beheld the behemoth of a creature.

It was a great red lizard of some kind. Though it was wingless, it certainly had the fearsome appearance of a dragon, covered in rust-red scales and endowed with a jaw that could fit Char and all of his friends in a single chomp. It slept soundly, nestled at the side of the mechanical monster as if cuddling with its mate. It was clearly far too large to have fit through any of the quarry's entrances.

"Well I'll be… that's not a creature I've ever seen before," Marrow whispered, gazing at the magnificent beast. "Wouldn't want to be on its bad side. Wonder if this is the real reason the quarry was decommissioned. Maybe the dungeon came later."

"I… believe I know what this is," Eva said in disbelief, stepping closer to the beast and holding her breath.

"Tyrantrum," she whispered, returning to the group upon silent footsteps . "It is indeed a wingless dragon, and one of the most ancient Pokémon in recorded history… It is unknown how many Pokémon species have become extinct and forgotten, but this one has survived… it is one of the Pokémon capable of entering stasis hibernation and living for millennia, in part due to its rock-type affinity. And it appears as though it has never stopped growing."

Char gulped, knowing that the beast was probably fierce beyond description; creatures capable of living for so long usually had the means to defend themselves. Deep inside, he also admired the beast, perhaps because it reminded him that one day he'd be a proud and strong dragon, though hopefully not large enough that he'd be unable to fit through normal-sized doors.

And then the dragon's eye opened, and Char's heart went ice cold.

"It's awake…" Ray hissed. "How did we…"

"SSH! We probably just got too close," Char replied. "Maybe we can let it go back to sleep."

"Maybe, but it sees us now, so it's probably gonna want a fight. Mystery dungeon magic and all," Marrow warned. "Ray, might be a good time to use the seed…"

The great read dinosaur sprung up to its full height, bumping the mechanical monstrosity beside it with a creak and causing rocks and rubble to tumble all around it. Char backed away.

The great dragon eyed the intruders curiously.

As if by reflex, and without even a roar or a glare of disdain, the beast opened its mouth and spewed a pillar of compressed energy directly into the place Char's team stood. Char only had time to cover his eyes from the brightness and brace himself for the pain…

Though he heard a crackling magical sound and felt a shockwave from an explosion, the pain never came. He uncovered his eyes to find that a barrier of light surrounded the team. Eva's gemstone glimmered brightly, and she cringed after having withstood the impact.

The barrier flickered and disappeared, and the standoff between the great monster and the tiny little explorers had begun.

"Well, good morning to you, too!" Marrow shouted in disdain, shaking his club. "Thanks, by the way, Eva. Good work."

"I… it was by reflex," Eva stuttered. "I don't know how…"

Marrow twirled his bone in one hand, taking an offensive stance. "Well, whatever the case. Might be time to use the seed now, Ray… I mean, unless we really want to fight it… Can't see it ending well, personally, but I'm always up for a good challenge, personally. What do you say? Bet we could give 'er a few dents, at the least."

Char didn't respond. He felt a twinge in his head.

When the twinge didn't go away, Char knew that he had lost track of time. It was about noon, and he had completely forgotten.

He bore his claws into his forehead and tried to focus. He needed to decide how he wanted to use the Call, and he needed to think quickly.

Hey, Char!Celebi's ever-cheerful voice said to him. You know the deal by now, right? Ready? Count to ten, and get ready!

In those ten seconds, Char had an evil idea. It was an idea that he'd always wanted to attempt, but the timing and the circumstances were never favorable. He never had a good opportunity. But now was the time. The perfect time.

He just needed a good alibi.

"Eva," Char said, rubbing his head to hide his condition. "Eva. Try to confuse it."

"…Why?"

"Just do it. Just like you did with that Raticate," Char insisted, waving at her. "Confuse it. Tell it to run off or something."

"Fine, I'll try," Eva replied with uncertainty. "But I make no promises. Its mind is ancient; it could easily see through my attempt. But I suppose you're the leader…"

And while Eva glared into the dragon's eyes tried to perform a confusion attack, Char made an attack of his own. Focusing his thoughts, Char gave a command to the Tyrantrum:

Hey, huge dragon monster. You don't have to fight us. We're your friends. Don't attack us. How about if you defended us instead? Yeah, do that. Defend us! Don't attack anything unless it tries to attack us first.

When the Call finished, the dinosaur blinked, trying to comprehend the new paradigm which Char had forced into its head. It glanced around, searching for the source of the silent sounds it had heard. Then, it simply turned around and ignored Char and his team. Its tail waved far overhead as it meandered away.

Eva looked stunned. "I – I didn't think that would actually work," she gasped. "I thought I knew the limits of my power, but… I'm floored…"

The team applauded Eva as she stared blankly at the retreating monster, and even Marrow looked impressed. "The way I see it, you never truly know the limits of your power. If you don't keep pushin' yourself, you're not doin' it right. Well done, at any rate."

Char couldn't resist an evil smile, knowing what had really happened to the Tyrantrum. He now knew a very important piece of information: the Call could affect wild Pokémon much in the same way it affected civils. The beast even seemed to instinctually understand the details of Char's command, despite an overwhelming language barrier.

This could be very useful, Char realized. Feral Pokémon don't know they're being mind-controlled. I wouldn't need to make an alibi for them. They'd just instinctually do whatever I command, and nobody would know that I caused it. I could gather an army of feral Pokémon to do whatever I want! Maybe I could even add more teammates this way. The possibilities are endless…

Oh, if only I could use this power more than once per day, and on my own terms… I wouldn't even need to explore mystery dungeons anymore. I could retire young. I'd be omnipotent!

Ah… but I still have to keep it a secret for now. Can't abuse it too much. Eva might get suspicious. And she could look into my mind and know the truth. I don't know if I trust her that much just yet.

"Alright, after that superb call, what next, Char?" Marrow said. "Confusion wears off, y'know. Better think fast."

Char snapped back to attention. "Oh! Uh… head to the exit. Otto, lead the way," he decided. "There. Now we saved a pure seed."

But as Otto took flight, the echo chamber activated again. The time-wave spilled across the space, draining the colors into grainy black and orange. At first, Char thought nothing of it. The workers had all cleared out, and there'd be nobody to disturb their flight to the stairs. That is, until he heard a powerful roar.

With a start, he turned to see the Tyrantrum standing at the place where it had burst from the wall so many decades ago, clearly aggravated and protective of its cave. The light of Char's tail drew its attention, and it glared menacingly at the team, rearing back to charge.

Too late, Char realized that it was not the same Tyrantrum. Rather, it was the same Tyrantrum, but it was the version of the beast from the past who had not been mind-controlled. It had every intention of defending its cave.

Char's heart was jolted to life by its deepest instincts, and his fire flared in terror. He commanded his team to run, then dropped to the ground and fled, blocking everything else from his attention but the path to escape danger.

Rock-type… It's a rock-type dragon. Maybe it won't hurt me. But… but it'll hurt everyone else. We're not safe. We have to get out of here.

He heard the beast charging towards him. He felt the footsteps crashing upon the cavern floor as it drew nearer. He didn't stop to look. He couldn't. He only sped forward, around the rocks and rubble, as fast as he could move.

He only stopped when he heard the beast give a pained cry from somewhere directly beside him.

Char threw his claws into the solid stone below and came to a sharp halt just as the Tyrantrum crashed to the ground in front of him, roiling in rage and pain. But it wasn't just one Tyrantrum. There were two, nearly identical in appearance; one of them had pinned the other down in a deadlock, sinking its many fangs into the other's neck. Loose stones flew everywhere as they tumbled and clawed at one another, wrestling for dominance…

The dragon from the present was fighting with its past self. Just as Char had commanded it to do. He leapt out of the way as the dragons thrashed and roared, tumbling and gnawing at one another in a fight to the death. Char's stomach turned in terrible knots as he wondered whether history would be rewritten if the dragon would kill itself in the past, and whether he had made a terrible mistake.

The sight of Otto flying overhead broke him out of his petrified daze, and he followed his teammate in the direction of the chamber's exit.

Moments later, the team congregated in front of the stairwell as the fight between the beasts raged on. He shouted to his teammates to ask if they were all there, but he couldn't hear his own voice over the roars and rumbles of the warring dragons…

Otto was there, he realized, recognizing the Pidgey's colorless shape against the strange disturbance in the air. Ray was there as well, unable to reach his greatest speed as he kept the team's supply bag from flying away. A few steps behind him was Marrow, who stumbled to a halt and forcefully ripped his helmet from his head, gazing in wonder at the duel of the gargantuan dinosaurs.

Char's heart stopped when he realized that Eva was missing.

Eva! he called into the void. Eva! Where are you?! Are you alright?

There was no answer. Either that, or he couldn't easily understand her telepathy above the noise.

Flashes of energy sparked as the dragons spat elemental attacks at one another, and shrieks of pain followed. The dragons broke their tussle as one of them powerfully thrust the other away, giving both of them an opportunity to climb back to their feet. They hesitated for a minute, circling one another in a tense standoff. The deep scars and puncture wounds among their scales were barely distinguishable in the colorless light of the time spell.

"Guys…" Char whispered as the noise had momentarily died down. "Guys, we left Eva behind. We have to get her."

"Oh? I uh… I didn't notice," Ray said. "Was too busy running for my life."

"She's in there somewhere," Char said. "We have reviver seeds. If something happened to her, she would have been revived. She's in this chamber somewhere. We have to find her."

"Uh… maybe we should just escape…?" Ray suggested nervously.

Char thought hard about the situation. He looked at the great beasts as they circled one another, a deep and intimidating growl ceaselessly emanating from their throats. Char knew that the cease-fire wouldn't last long. He looked at the great chamber they had traversed, or at least the past version of it, and eyed the staircase they stood beside. He knew they couldn't use the pure seed; it wouldn't do anything to help Eva. She was in true danger of being left behind, unless she figured out how to use her rescue emblem, or unless Ray used the escape orb on the same floor, which would abort the mission as a failure.

Char made his decision on whispered breath: "Ray. I want you to give me your rescue emblem. Then go down to the next floor with Marrow and Otto and finish the mission. Use the trawl orb and then the escape orb and get out of here. I'll stay here and find Eva."

"You said that you would never split up the team between floors," Marrow reminded him. "You sure about this? You could really be left behind."

"Yeah, Char, you could be stuck down here," Ray said. "I don't think that's a good idea… If I go down to the next floor, the frozen flame won't protect you anymore…"

"Or the reviver seeds," Otto added.

Char never took his eyes from the great dinosaurs. He could tell the difference between them; the present Tyrantrum was much more aggressive than its past self, as the past self was neither under the influence of the Call or the mystery dungeon effects. The original beast was the cowardly one, backing up towards a wall, as the murderous one stalked it closely, obeying its programming. It crouched low, and Char knew he had seconds before it would spring for the kill.

"Do it," Char ordered, waving his hand towards the stairway. "I'll find Eva. You go complete the mission. I'll find her and I'll get her out of here. Just give me the emblem."

Ray hesitated for a moment. He glanced to the Marowak and the Pidgey, as though asking them for permission. Otto replied to him, "Char has issued a command. We should go quickly."

Reluctantly, the scarf with the priceless emblem exchanged hands, and Char tied it fast around his neck. Disregarding the rest of his team, he sprinted back towards the center of the chamber in search of the missing Espeon. He called out to her with his thoughts, but she never replied…

But then, the violent Tyrantrum lunged. With a great roar and open jaws, it sprinted and lunged at the other's neck, knowing it had no escape.

Before it could make the kill, the time echo drained from the room, and the past Tyrantrum vanished. The remaining one crashed full-forced into the wall, shaking the chamber with a terrible tremor. Many of the golden bricks shattered, bringing a storm of chunks down from the ceiling.

Seeing the wave of boulders plummeting fast, Char tried to dive for cover, but there was none. He cringed in anticipation of incredible pain, though his legs never stopped propelling him until the bitter end, and he felt the enormous pressure of the avalanche crush him against the ground.

Char opened his eyes and realized there was, again, no pain. He laughed bitterly, knowing that his teammates might have taken their time in leaving, and the frozen flame was still within enough proximity to protect him. But with a wave of dread, he realized that it couldn't have protected Eva.

The dinosaur grumbled in frustration and wandered off in search of its mysterious opponent as Char unburied himself from the blanket of gravel. He pushed a large rock out of the way, causing a smaller rock to bounce down onto his head, and a splitting headache immediately followed. He knew his teammates were finally gone.

Char began his search, calling out to his newest team member as he scampered across the uneven ground.

Eva… Eva…?

Where are you?! You're not alone yet! I'm still here!

I'm going to find you. I promised I wouldn't leave you alone. I promised I'd come back for you.

You're getting out of here alive. You're going to get out of here alive.

Please! Tell me if you're still here! I need to find you…

Char backtracked through the chamber, back beside the digger machine where he'd first found the dragon, and farther back towards the chamber's entrance where they had hidden from the Pokémon of the past. There was no sign of her, and no telepathic response. Char began to get worried, as the chamber was very large and he'd need to search for an hour if he wanted to scour all of it. But he grit his teeth and kept running, knowing that he'd taken the risk and he'd follow through with it at all costs.

The Tyrantrum emitted a curious whine.

Char paused for a moment and glanced toward it. It had stopped its patrol, and seemed very interested in something at its feet. Fearing the worst, Char took the deepest breath and shot towards it, already knowing what it might have found.

Eva was there. There was a neat circle around her where the ground was clean of any rubble, where she had projected a barrier to shield herself from the cave-in. Char breathed a sigh of relief and rushed towards her.

Drawing closer, he found that she was curled against herself tightly, as though sleeping – but her eyes were as wide as could be, staring blankly past Char and not even acknowledging his presence. He saw that her whole body trembled uncontrollably. Figuring that she was cowering from the benevolent dinosaur who had spotted her, Char opened his mind and called to her, wanting to tell her that she was in no danger. But when he did so, his mind was once again assaulted with a single, repeating thought:

Can't move… Can't move… Can't move…

Can't move… Can't move…

The distress and despair which poured out from those words surprised Char. They were such deep and tragic emotions, things he lacked the capacity to feel for himself. Eva's entire heart had been replaced with a single, terrible feeling, something traumatic and broken in ways which he couldn't describe. He felt the grief and resignation within her, and a deep, bottomless regret for all of her life and her actions.

The wave of emotions hit Char's heart so suddenly, touching his vulnerable core, and he soon felt an unbearable pressure behind his eyes, threatening to bring him to sudden tears.

"Eva…" he spoke quietly, drawing nearer.

Can't move… Can't move… Can't move…

Though he stood directly in front of her eyes, she did not notice him until he reached out to touch her head and caress the fur between her ears.

Her head moved, and she stared Char in the eye, though she remained just as tense and silent.

"Eva… you can move," Char said softly to her. "You're not paralyzed this time. You can move just fine. What's wrong?"

The Espeon seemed to suddenly understand, and she withdrew from his touch, keeping their gazes locked.

"You came back for me," she uttered quietly.

"Yeah, I promised I would," Char replied.

She looked blankly at the towering dragon above the both of them, then back at Char, as though not understanding.

"They left us alone, didn't they?" she said with a quiet whimper. "We're trapped here, aren't we?"

Char shook his head. "No, we can get out of here any time you want," he assured her. "Eva… Why didn't you follow us, anyway?! You wouldn't be here if you kept up with us…"

Eva muttered incoherently. "I thought… I thought I could… confuse the second one… like I confused the first one… But I couldn't… now we're trapped here…"

Char sighed, pointing to her neck. "We're not stuck. Look… the scarf I gave you… you still have it, right? Yeah, you do. It has an emblem on it. Just touch it and tell it that you want to leave the dungeon."

"What… what good will that do?" Eva replied, her voice distant as though sleep-talking from within a dream.

"It will teleport you out," Char said. "It's that easy."

"Oh…" Eva said, turning away. "But you can't watch."

Char shook his head in confusion. "Huh?"

"You have to look away," the dazed Eva said again. "It doesn't work if you're looking."

"What?! What are you talking about?!" Char growled. "It works just by touching it and telling it to activate. Eva… Eva! You have to snap back to reality. If you want to get out of here, you need to wake up and listen to me."

He clapped his hands directly in front of the Espeon's face and she sprang upward in a frightened jolt. "Oh… yes, yes… the emblem… alright… explain how to use it, again?"

Char clutched his forehead in his claw. "Touch it. With a paw. Then tell it you want to leave the dungeon."

Warily, in some sort of reverence and disbelief, Eva did as instructed. She bent her front leg and felt for the small bump upon her scarf. When she found it, she withdrew her paw in fright, as though the object was scalding hot.

Soon, with a quick flash of light, Eva vanished into thin air.

Overcome with relief, Char collapsed onto his back. The dragon still peered curiously down at him, guarding him from any nearby foes who would dare attack.

"Hey… thanks," Char said, knowing the beast couldn't understand him. "You're a good dragon, you know that? Thanks for finding her… I owe you."

The Tyrantrum only tilted its head.

"Hey, you… you stay here, okay?" Char told it. "There will be other explorers here… you should protect them, too. This is a dangerous place. Keep them safe from the monsters, okay? And from… that other dragon. You know…"

The two red lizards shared a moment of silence. The larger one seemed to grow bored and wandered away, its steps shaking the ground as it continued its patrol for its newfound rival. Char smiled warmly to himself as he touched his emblem, leaving behind the mysterious golden chamber of Anvil Quarry and the curious creature who dwelled within.


Division Base

Team Ember reunited, and was very happy to arrive back to the base in one piece. Ray reported that the trawl orb had dragged in a handful of different-colored scarves, all of which he stuffed into the bag before dispelling the dungeon with the escape orb. Otto, the only remaining member of the team with an emblem, had been whisked back to the dungeon entrance, while Ray and Marrow witnessed the true nature of Boulder Quarry unveiled. It was shockingly tiny, they said: it was only one hallway with a single right-angled turn. At the end, there lay only a chamber where the digger machine had been parked, and nothing more. In minutes, they had followed the path back to the surface to meet with the rest of the waiting team. Marrow explained that it made sense, since most of the minerals had been obtained by strip-mining and digging a deeper cave was largely unnecessary. It was another reminder of the creative ways which mystery dungeons could manipulate reality, crafting impressive labyrinths with barely any source material.

Once inside, and once the memory-wipe had passed, Marrow bid the team a good night's rest and parted with them, while Char and his friends continued downstairs to the lower lobby and wait near the registrar office where Team Carrier had agreed to meet them. Once there, Ray began to pull out the scarves he had found. It was truly a variety of cloth, eleven of them in total, each with colors and patterns, soaked with many varieties of sweat, oil, and bloodstains.

"How'd you fit all of those into just that side pocket?" Char asked Ray. "That's a really tiny pocket."

"Oh… didn't you know? This is one of those newer enchanted bags. It's bigger on the inside than the outside," Ray explained. "I've been using it since we got back from the Emerald Division. It even makes everything lighter, too. It's a lot better than those sacks we used to lug around."

As Char gave an intrigued chuckle and watched his equipment master and friend neatly fold all the scarves, he felt Eva's presence touch against his mind.

Char, I want to ask forgiveness for my behavior, she said privately to him. In truth, I had never completely trusted you. It took until the very end to realize that I was never in real danger. You came prepared. You need to understand, I have spent my life avoiding mystery dungeons and everything related to them. I did not know of the existence of those wonderful badges and what they were capable of. But I know now. I should have understood much earlier, but… I was stubborn and my heart was hardened. Earlier you said that this outing would be a sign of our trust, and so… I want you to know that you have earned my trust. You are an admirable team leader and you make wise decisions. I am proud to stand as a part of your team. Please accept my apology. I understand now that I belong on a team. Perhaps I never should have abandoned my old team. But that is in the past. Now, I belong on yours.

He cast a knowing glance to his Espeon companion, acknowledging her words. Before he could think of a reply, she approached him, brushing contently against his side. She lifted his claw with her forehead, and Char found himself reflexively stroking her fur as though she were a contented housecat.

It will be the last time I underestimate a human, I can assure you that, she said with a tiny smile. There are reasons you are gods in the eyes of Ambera's Pokémon. Sometimes I forget that.

I wouldn't say that I am a god, Char replied kindly. But I'm honored to have you here. As long as you're on my team, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, not while I'm calling the shots. And neither will the others. We're all here for each other.

She turned towards him with a devious gleam in her eye.

Char…

What is it?

Let us make short work of the Iron Town thief.

Char returned her smile. Agreed, he said, petting behind her ear. He doesn't stand a chance.

Their conversation was cut short when Zachel arrived. Char reflexively withdrew his hand from Eva's head, as though suddenly realizing that petting her was quite an awkward gesture.

"Hey, right on time. Had any luck?" the Zangoose said in her raspy voice, lumbering towards Char on all fours.

"Yes, there was luck," Otto said. "We explored seven floors of the Anvil Quarry dungeon, and collected all scarves on each floor. In total, we found eleven"

Zachel's face brightened up. "Hah! I knew you'd be able to do it. That place is tricky, I tell yah. Everything looks the same. So? Let's see the scarves. I'm really starting to miss it."

As instructed, Ray set out the rainbow of scarves on the floor for Zachel to inspect. They were all wrinkled and tattered, but Ray had folded them neatly into triangles and fanned them out in an eloquent row.

Char and his teammates sat expectantly as Zachel scanned the scarves, then scanned them again, then bent over and began to squint at them.

"Uh… I don't think any of these is a valiant scarf," Zachel grumbled. "The one I'm looking for is red. Red like fire."

"Uh… this one is red…?" Ray replied, pointing to a scarf in the row.

She shook her head. "Nah. That's more blood-red. Mine was fire-red."

"Uh… this one?" Ray tried, ashamedly pointing at another one.

"That one's rusty-red. Might be a dodge scarf. Ah, well. Guess it's a no-go then."

"Aww," Ray said, frowning. "I'm sorry… we really tried our best…"

The Zangoose sighed and disregarded the rest of the scarves. "I know you did. Thanks for your help and all, I'll send over your payment later tonight. Just… I really wanted that thing back, you know? Gave me that extra edge on the field. Funny thing is, I don't even know how it got lost."

"Huh…?" Char said. "What do you mean? You didn't lose it in the dungeon?"

"Well, that was my best guess," Zachel admitted. "Alls I know's that we got back from the quarry and it wasn't in the bag. The only mistakes we made were on the fifth floor, so I just assumed it was–"

She stopped short in the middle of her sentence. She blinked, sniffing the air.

A moment later, all the murmuring of the other Pokémon, from the Pokémon in line for the registrar, to the ones simply passing by, had all gone quiet. Char glanced around the room and saw that every single creature standing in the floor's lobby was staring directly at him, all trapped in a spellbound silence.

"Oh… oh no," Ray gasped quietly. "Not again…"

That's when Char noticed the problem. There, only a few paces away, Team X stood in line for the registrar, presumably to report the day's mission result. The Seviper and Croagunk had stopped gabbing as well, although several seconds later than everyone else, and peered around the room.

"What? What is it?!" Croagunk demanded to the stunned crowd. "What's everyone lookin' at?!"

Zachel turned around and locked eyes with the Seviper.

The quiet seemed to grow even more tense as the two Pokémon warily approached each other, their gazes piercing into one another.

This… is possibly a problem, Eva said in Char's head.

Char rolled his eyes, remembering what happened last time in the cafeteria. What do you mean? He said. You can't tell me they want to fight every time they see each other. If that's the case, how are you supposed to keep them from bumping into each other in the hall? Last time they just walked away.

I am sorry to say, but yes, they do want to fight each and every time they lay eyes on one another, Eva replied tersely. It is woven into their instincts. They are the object of one another's hatred, and they wish for nothing more than to engage in gruesome, bloodthirsty combat at the mere sight of the other species, with no regard for the safety of anyone caught in the crossfire. When their kinds fight, many die. I have seen it before, and I repress the memory.

Char grew nervous. Uh… what do we do, then?

Nothing left to do; it is already too late, Eva said, shaking her head. The Division's ghosts are supposed to ward them down different paths to prevent an encounter, but I suspect they have been slacking. Now we can only watch and see what happens.

The Seviper and Zangoose had drawn so close together that they breathed on one another, their gazes boring holes in one another.

"We meet again," Seviper hissed. "Is there a problem?"

"Why, yes, I would say there is a problem," she replied darkly, drawing her claws to their full length. "The problem is you."

"I apologize, my good lady, but I fail to understand what you mean," the viper sneered, rearing back and posing for a strike.

"Oh? You don't, do you?" Zachel hummed, glancing down at her claws. "For starters, why don't you tell me how you got that?"

"Got what, precisely?"

"This."

The crowd gasped as the Zangoose slashed at her rival, and the Seviper recoiled in defense. However, he was not unscathed; something had come off in Zachel's hand. Char blinked and realized that Zachel had torn the scarf clean from the Seviper's neck.

"…belongs to me," she hissed.

The snake blinked in confusion, and relaxed his stance. "…Oh. Is that so?" he said, suddenly becoming very nervous. "Ah. I… apologize. I found that thing somewhere, though I don't remember where. I only know that I put it on and it had some very nice enchants… I did not realize it belonged to you. If I had known, I—"

"Well, now you know," Zachel said, tying the scarf back on her own neck. "Do you have anything else of mine, thief?"

"If I had, I would let you know. Swear it," Seviper replied. "I mean you no trouble."

"Fine," Zachel said, turning to walk away. "Have a nice day."

"And you as well!" he called futilely, the Zangoose no longer paying him attention.

When the two parted, the room erupted in applause, just as the cafeteria did before. Eva released a held breath, and Char only looked baffled as his client returned to him.

"Now I understand," Zachel said, adjusting her scarf. "Must've dropped it in the base somewhere. I think. Doesn't make a difference now, glad to have it back. This thing heightens my senses and my reaction speed. I love it. Never want to wear any other scarf. But hey, guess that's why you can never trust… thieves."

Char laughed an awkward laugh, and his companions joined. He wondered if they had really accomplished anything, but realized it didn't really matter. Otto, at least, seemed excited to dictate a report about the mysterious golden echo chamber, and Ray seemed very thrilled at the prospect of taking all the scarves to Kecleon and having them appraised – though Eva insisted they would need to be thoroughly cleaned before she would agree to wear one. But perhaps most importantly, Char found that he finally felt somewhat comfortable around the Espeon. Though he still wasn't quite ready to let her freely read his mind, he could at least look her in the eye without feeling judged.

All things considered, it had been a good day. Char turned his thoughts to his next grand adventure, the Kecleon's job request, and wondered how Team Ember would fare against a true one-star mission. A warm glow in his chest told him he might just do well.


Shamble Forest

Saura rested in a small clearing where the sunlight fell, nibbling on some wild berries he'd found nearby. He was getting a bit weary; wild animals were surprisingly scarce that morning, and he and his brother had spent most of their time chasing after the few targets they'd luckily found. But even as he sat beside his brother and tried to calm himself, he found that it was difficult to stay seated. Something in his mind was nagging at him, telling him to keep moving.

"Shame the Ariados got away," the Ivysaur wistfully said, staring at the sun. "Would have been fun to mess around with."

"Mmm-hmm," Saura replied, slurping up his berries quickly.

"Funny, you used to hate bullying wild animals, you know?" Saurvor said with a grin, looking tenderly over his younger brother. "When you were only a season old, I tried to get you to learn to fight. But you didn't want to hurt anything."

"Yeah."

"But you know, it's natural to want to spar with wild animals. They don't mind it. Too much. It's in our blood to fight… always has been."

"Mmm-hmm."

"And besides, they say that's the only way you can get wild animals to become intelligent," he continued. "Or at least the easiest way we know of. If you knock it out, it might rattle its brain and wake it up. Then it can learn to talk and read like the rest of us."

"Yeah, I know…"

"Saura, you okay?"

The little Bulbasaur finally looked up from his food. Deep purple stains spattered the sides of his mouth.

"I mean… you seem nervous. Anything on your mind?"

Saura shrugged. "Eh, it's just… it still feels so weird to… y'know, just take a walk. On the inside I'm still used to always having somewhere to be. Always on the way to a mission, or… on the way back home, keeping an eye on the sun and making sure I get back before dark… It's hard to just relax anymore."

The Ivysaur smiled. "Well, trust me when I say that you'll adjust again," he said kindly. "It's only going to feel weird for a while. Then you'll get used to an easy life again. But you just need to be careful you don't get too lazy, now. Don't want you just burying yourself in the dirt and turning into a tree. Trees are boring. Not nearly as fun as little brothers."

"Yeah, I knooow."

Saura was about to flick a berry onto his brother's face, but the Ivysaur suddenly stood on his hind legs again and blinked, sniffing the air. He snapped a vine tightly around Saura's face, gagging him quiet.

"MMmmf?"

Saurvor looked around, pulling his younger brother closer to his side and holding him protectively.

"Shh. Okay… now I know I smelled something," he whispered.

"Mmf!"

"That just doesn't feel right. Something's definitely following us."

Saura pawed his mouth free of the constriction. "I can't smell it. What do you smell?" he whispered lowly.

The Ivysaur put his head down low to the forest floor and squinted into the foliage. "Don't know," he muttered. "Not sure it's a smell. More like a feeling. It's hard to tell."

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's get out of the forest, at least."

Unwrapping his brother, he sniffed the air again, and his expression became a horrified scowl. He pulled Saura close to him once more.

"I know that smell," he said. "I think I know what that is…"

"What?"

"Fire. That's… the smell of fire. I remember it from the times that Flareon was around. Saura… there's a fire Pokémon following us."

Saura instantly recognized the smell as well. The subtle smell of smoke was something he had grown completely accustomed to, especially around his best friend and the place where he slept. He hadn't noticed it until it had been mentioned, but indeed, there was a persistent ashen scent sweeping from upwind. Something told him it wasn't a Charmander.

He suddenly felt an unwelcome flash from his repressed nightmares.

"That's not Hunter, is it?" Saura wondered, growing afraid and clinging to his brother. "You don't think Hunter followed us here?"

"Nah, couldn't be," Saurvor said. "He's not allowed around us anymore. The fire hounds couldn't be here either. I don't know what it is. Saura… we need to get out of here."

"Alright. Maybe we can split up," Saura suggested. "I can fend for myself and hopefully the fire Pokémon can only follow one of us. If you're not followed then maybe you can double back and make a sneak attack or something."

Saurvor unwrapped his brother. "Deal. Alright… I'll take the road home, you go straight through the forest. I'll meet you there. Alright?"

"Alright."

"On three. One…"

In front of the two brothers, the nearest bunch of shrubs burst into flames.

With a horrified cry, the two of them stumbled backwards and tried to scatter, but a bush of saplings behind them was suddenly lit aflame as well, cutting off their escape route.

Saura breathed heavily, searching for somewhere to run. But he fire spread, catching on fallen logs and tree trunks until it had formed a circle around them, trapping them inside. He felt a familiar terror filling him, and thought that perhaps his headache was returning. It was his dream, the dream of walking with Saurvor only to be found and murdered by Hunter… only this time, he was not just watching it, but living it.

Saura choked on a mouthful of smoke, digging his paws into the ground as he withstood the spasms of his chest. He had a thought to rope up onto a tree branch to escape the fire, but the smoke had risen upward and hidden the forest canopy from his sight.

"Brother…" the Ivysaur gasped, backing against to him. "Stay close… don't make any sudden movements… just stay close…"

But Saura's legs were too weak; he couldn't move even if he had wanted. The nightmare had become real, but it still felt so dreamlike and bizarre; he wanted to just wake up again, and be safe and sound in his burrow, or even in Char's arms, it didn't matter to him. He wanted to hear Eva's voice helping to pull him away from the hallucination. He wanted to wake up from the nightmare just as he always had.

Before he could say another word, the fire Pokémon revealed itself, drifting through the curtain of flame.

It was an unsettling creature, a white bulbous body with several black tentacles, each with a glowing flame at the tip. It hovered calmly above the forest floor, its yellow eyes fixed upon the Bulbasaur.

"Good afternoon," it said, speaking in a ghastly, disembodied voice. "I sincerely apologize for my lack of subtlety. It has been many years since I have hunted someone. I had forgotten to follow the wind as it shifted. You are very keen for having noticed, noticed my presence, but I am afraid that I need to share a word with you, so you will not be going anywhere at this moment."

"What are you?!" Saurvor growled defiantly at it, stepping in front of the Bulbasaur. "What do you want from us? Haven't you heard? We're untouchables now. By orders of The Master. If you harm us, you're paying the price."

"I do not intend harm," the ghost Pokémon said, its soothing voice sounding eerily creepy above the roar of the fire. "As for what I am, I am a messenger. I come with a notice for the Bulbasaur."

"What notice?! Are you from the… resistance?" Saura cried, stopping himself before he said anything incriminating.

"My message does not come from the resistance, or from the Master, and I care not about either of them."

"Who does it come from, then?" Saura said with hesitation.

"It comes from the Starborn."

Saura's breath caught in his throat. He recognized that name, though it felt as though it was spoken far away in another world.

"The Starborn has requested your presence," the Chandelure spoke plainly. "I am merely here to ensure that the Starborn's will is carried out according to his plan. On the morning after next, you are to meet here, on the north-eastern side of this forest at the plateau's cliff… in front of the cave where you found the Charmander."

Saura began backing away, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Oh yeah?! Well, what if he doesn't want to follow your orders?" Saurvor shouted in his stead, standing protectively over the cowering Bulbasaur.

"If he does not come, then I shall haunt him, as well as his nightmares, for the rest of his days," the ghost said without emotion. "And furthermore, I shall place a curse upon him, even greater than the one he has only just recovered from. Whenever he would close his eyes, he will see only his darkest and most fiery nightmares, now and forever, until the day he shall die. You may… tell him that for me."

The fires roared brighter, encroaching upon the two brothers.

"Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yeah. Clear," Saurvor said, bowing his head. "Whatever you say."

"Satisfactory. And on one final note: your presence is also requested, Ivysaur. You are to join him. That is all."

With a puff of smoke, the flames vanished in an instant, as did the ghostly Pokémon. Not a single leaf from the trees had been destroyed by the fire, or a single twig blackened. The clearing was as pristine as always, with no trace that the apparition had ever occurred. The two brothers stood beside one another for a minute, deathly stunned and panting heavily.

After a while, Saura thought he heard the birds starting to sing in the trees overhead.

"…Well, then," Saurvor said with a jittery voice, "It looks like I'm not going back to the guild after all. Looks like I'm sticking around for a few more days."

"…Yeah," Saura croaked, still seeing the fire dancing in his mind's eye.


Division Base

In the most cheerful of spirits, Team Ember climbed the stairs to retire to their room and plan their next move. Eva was already rambling about the different possible strategies to bait the thief out of hiding, and Ray agreed to speak with Kecleon as soon as possible for the details. But before that, it was a time of rest and celebration, and the adventurers couldn't wait to drop off their supplies and spend the rest of the day slacking off…

However, when they turned the corner to their room, they were met with an overwhelming surprise.

It was their bulletin board. The notes stuck to it had multiplied. There were dozens, perhaps twenty or even thirty pinned to the corky surface, with some hanging in odd directions at the sides. Many kinds of handwriting were scrawled upon them in different shades of ink.

Char stopped walking and simply gaped at the spectacle for a solid minute. The whole team did.

At last, when he could muster the strength to move his jaw, he spoke a difficult truth to his team:

"Guys… I think we're going to need more team members… like, right now."

*Chapter 85*: Chapter 64: Ready or Not

o

Chapter 64

For the first time ever, the fabled Team Ember is opening its doors for interviews!
We are looking for five dedicated Pokémon to join our family of adventurers.
Are you a member of a training team looking to graduate? This could be your chance!
You'll get to train under the watchful protection of Team Remorse every day!
You'll get to meet famous figures like Scythe, Marrow, and Prince in person!
The Gold Division's finest warriors will be your personal friends!
High rank is not necessary! We are still learning about the world, so come learn with us!
If you're interested, come tell us in person on the ninth day of this week. We'll be waiting.
Everyone is welcome, but fire-types will be given special consideration!
Adventure is calling! Will you answer the call?

"That should give us the rest of today plus a full day to get ready," Ray said, drawing the last footprint punctuation mark. "How's it sound?'

Eva gave a wry grin. "Good to note that we'd like more fire-types to make use of that orb of ours. And I like how you subtly referenced the Call," she said. "After all, Char's power is known by everyone. We just aren't allowed to talk about it because it still hasn't been officially acknowledged by High Intelligence. That's quite a mischievous way to draw attention."

"Yeah! I thought so," Ray said, rolling up the paper. "Of course, we'll probably have to tell them the truth anyway, at least to whoever joins us, so I figured it would be fair to add that in. Doesn't matter how many members we get, I think we need to make sure this team is still based on trust."

Right, trust, Char said to himself, another painful reminder that he was hiding the Call from his friends. It seemed that he couldn't escape the reminders lately. He briefly entertained the thought of using the following day's Call to erase that idea from their minds, but only briefly.

Char didn't honestly know what to think about Ray's idea of just broadcasting a call for help to the whole Gold Division. He worried that the advertisement would draw too many underachievers and new recruits from the training teams applying for a chance to graduate just so they could escape the dredges of the lower floors, but then again, recruits didn't come from many places else. Teams were like families, at least in the Gold Division; it was rare to find someone willing to defect so easily and join a team with a bunch of children who were just barely starting to understand what they were doing. He'd come to the grim acceptance that their newly-added members would have to be graduates from Team Stripes.

"Hey, don't knock Team Stripes," Ray had told him. "That's where I came from, remember? Trust me, there are some great Pokémon on that team."

But Team Stripes wasn't the only training team. There was also Team Carrier, and Team Cog, which was a lesser-profile training group mainly for the ghost-types who managed the base's internal systems. There was Team Silverwing for birds, Team Chasm for rock-types and ground-types, and the daycare halls for ferals-in-training. There was Team Lexicon, the team who mainly served as the board of directors for Cliffside Academy, making sure it served as a real learning environment that new recruits and Iron Town citizens alike could attend. And that wasn't counting the rest of the newcomer teams, like Team Ember themselves, who were higher in rank than a training team but rarely stood on their own, like Team Spider who served under Team White Rain. Char still wasn't familiar with all the teams in the division, especially those who had rarely crossed paths with Team Remorse. Since he couldn't read the daily posts, many of the teams on the opposite side of the base were unknown to him even in name.

He had no idea where his new recruits would come from. They could come from anywhere. But Ray assured him that he'd still get to hand-pick the candidates and have the final say about who got in, and he reluctantly agreed. He was only dreading all the interviews he'd have to perform at such short notice, and the foreboding feeling that maybe he'd let someone onto his closely-knit team he'd end up regretting.

"Ah, I'm not ready," Char sighed. "I know we need more permanent help. I know that. But I'm still not ready for this team to change."

Ray pat him on the head. "Hey, you know you don't have to do it alone," he said gently. "That's what the rest of us are for. I'll zap everyone into shape, Eva can be our eye on the outside world, and Otto can work out all the plans. You just keep being you, and I think it'll all fall into place."

"But I feel like Saura was part of me. I can't really be myself while he's not here," Char admitted, fretting with his claws. "It's hard. And even if he was here… We can't keep going around banding together like we're the 'original four' … or, five, I guess. See, that's the problem. We can't treat these new recruits as outsiders. Whoever we let in, we're going to all be Team Ember. So the only way to move forward from here is… well… we need to stop being so personal with one another. If I can't be personal with the whole team, I can't do it with you either. It wouldn't be fair."

"That is true. Alienating our new members would be very bad for morale," Otto said. "However, it is acceptable for you to assign a second-in-command and consort closely with them. It is how most teams operate. Just as Master Karow is to Syr, or Daemon is to Scythe. It is accepted that the team leader needs a personal assistant, and perhaps more than one at times."

"And I sent my second-in-command away," Char said, rubbing his forehead. "Great… well, I guess that means I'll need a different second-in-command, doesn't it?"

Char's three teammates looked at him expectantly, as though they were all expecting his decision immediately and were all secretly hoping they could be the one to take Saura's place. Char felt his stomach sink. He knew they were all qualified to be his personal assistant in different ways, but he couldn't have all of them at once…

"I'm not choosing anyone just yet," Char said, crossing his arms. "Not until I've seen the rest of the team we're going to hire."

"In other words, you're stalling until Saura comes back," Eva said cleverly. "Understandable. We'll stop pressing the matter. But in the meantime, if you feel lonely, you know it's your own fault."

Char thought for a moment with a heavy feeling in his chest, but he shook it off. "Well, how about this," he said. "Regardless of who we hire, the thief mission is going to be ours. Just between the four of us. If we hire someone new while we're working on catching the thief, we'll give them jobs off the bulletin board. How's that? I mean, we can't expect the new teammates to be able to work on a one-star mission with us. That would be too much for them."

"That is a good point," Otto said. "Very well. Let this thief mission be our last effort as a small team. It will represent our graduation into the elite ranks. I am in agreement."

"If it is really this important to you, Char, perhaps you could consider summoning him back," Eva suggested with a tilt of her head, "if only to help with the thief mission. I'm sure he would not mind spending a week in Iron Town following your instructions. Perhaps he is sitting on a rock somewhere right now, bored out of his mind, wondering about whether he should beg you for permission to come back."

The image stuck in Char's mind for a moment too long, and he sighed. "Nah, we don't have to do that," he decided. "And besides, we've had enough last hurrahs as a team. Heh, sometimes it feels like last hurrahs are all we ever have. No, we don't need to drag Saura all the way back here. He wanted to leave, he gets to stay with his family as long as he wants. But regardless, in two days from now, we're going to have a bunch of kids running around our halls… so let's at least enjoy the time we have left."

The team spent a moment deciding what they would do with the rest of their day. It was determined that the talk with Kecleon would happen on the next afternoon following the morning supply rush. It would be the least busy time for the shopkeepers, at least according to Ray, who seemed to know more about Kecleon than everyone else. Depending on their workload, they would need to run a mission that day as well, or decide to take the day off to focus solely on their most important task. Eva kept insisting that the thief mission would not be too difficult, but Char wasn't so sure. At the very least, he wanted to hear Kecleon's thoughts on the matter before deciding how much effort it would take.

By the end of the evening, the advertisement was submitted to the publisher, and the four Pokémon ordered a meal brought to their room. Over dinner, they discussed the different types of new teammates they might hire. Otto wanted to see the team balanced with different elemental types, such as a water-type or a ghost-type, if any were available. Char hoped that at least one fire-type would apply, as the Frozen Flame was an incredible asset to the team, and he wanted to see its effects multiplied. Ray didn't seem to mind about types, but he just hoped that the new recruits would be open-minded and ready for anything. The energy and positivity was what made Team Ember who they are, he said; anyone who could have the heart to keep up with the team would surely find a place.

At the end of the evening, the team retired to their bedroom. It was an unspoken, yet painful truth that it would be the last full night Team Ember would spend together in the master bedroom, but they spoke as though it was just another night. Eva seemed more comfortable than ever in the presence of the others, and Char was starting to consider her as one of his close friends.

I think we're going to be okay, Char said thought to himself as he relaxed. Just wish you were here to tell me that, Saura. It doesn't sound the same coming from me.


One floor above, an exhausted Marowak trudged into his team's room, dragging his bone behind him. He swung the door open to the planning room, already expecting to find some of his teammates gathered around the planning table.

"Alright, alright, I read the reports," he groaned. "So we know where the Starborn is now, but…"

"Jake, forget about the reports," the Feraligatr cut him off, waving a leaf of paper up to the light. "Come look at this. Just arrived this afternoon."

The Marowak threw his club aside and joined the Feraligatr and the Exploud at the table, squinting at the handwriting upon the paper.

"Mother… always loved you best?" he read. He turned the page over to see if there was anything else written on the back. There wasn't.

"Yeah, but do you recognize this handwriting?" the lizard replied. "You've seen it before. Just earlier this week, in fact."

Marrow held his breath. He tore the paper out of the gator's hands and examined it more closely. "By the blazes, this is Adiel again, isn't it? What's he want this time?! I thought he was done toying with us after we settled that whole thing with Saura…"

"It's for Scythe," Brock grunted. "You know. Mother. You know who 'mother' is, right? It is a taunt for Scythe."

"Aye, well, Scythe isn't here to see it, and I'm not sure how I feel about that," Marrow said, setting the paper down and shifting his helmet nervously. "It's a calling card. Adiel obviously wants us to know he's still got his eye on us. Though for what reason now, I couldn't tell you."

"Distraction," said the Exploud. "Divides Scythe's attention between here and the canyon."

"A solid theory, yes. That was my first thought too," Marrow replied, pacing away. "But it's not like Adiel to do something so obvious. I mean, he hasn't been this eager to get our attention since before Team Ember went—"

He froze in mid-sentence. The thought was lodged in his throat as though he was choking on it, and he stared at the torchlight for a minute.

"What?" demanded Brock. "Speak…"

Marrow then violently shook his head, nearly hard enough to rattle his helmet loose. Then he grasped at the eyeholes in exasperation. "…Nah, that's ridiculous," he said. "The world's a strange place, but it's not that strange."

The Feraligatr frowned. "Nope, no you don't. Speak up. Whatever's goin' on in that brain of yours, it means something. Let us have it."

"Fine, but as long as you humor me," the Marowak said, propping himself up by the tabletop. "Alright, so hear me out. Adiel's been keeping a close watch on Scythe since we kidnapped Saura for the first time. Then, in the middle of it all, Scythe vanishes… right? Gets a red letter from Alakazam, goes north, takes Team Ember with him."

"I follow," replied the gator.

"Alright. Then Team Ember comes back, but something's wrong. Scythe didn't come with them. Instead, it was those Blockheads that brought him back. Adiel's sitting somewhere in Iron Town and he sees this, and he starts to panic. So he plays one of his trump cards. He taunts Saura with the promise of reuniting with his family. But there's still a problem."

Marrow's eyes glinted in the firelight as he glanced at his Feraligatr friend.

"Scythe didn't respond to his taunt. Instead, it was a pile of loose ends led by a bozo Marowak with some stupid ideas, am I right? And Adiel's left all in the dark."

Markov touched his chin. "So, what? You're saying…"

"Adiel lost Scythe," Marrow said. "Or at least, that's a very distinct possibility in my mind. Adiel doesn't know whether or not Scythe's returned back to on duty here in Iron Town. And if I had to be the judge of Scythe's actions since he came back, I'd say that Scythe knows this very well and he's doin' everything in his power to keep Adiel in the dark. That's why he's been acting all funny. He needs us all to act like he's not even here."

"Scythe would have told us," the Exploud grunted. "But you think he manipulates us."

"Maybe just upright tellin' us wouldn't have had the same effect," Marrow said, shrugging. "Maybe he thought we wouldn't act right. But I'll say this bluntly: Scythe's been nothin' but an unhelpful airhead since he came back. And we've all been on our toes thanks to it. I'm just sayin' this could all be orchestrated. If it is, he's doin' a bang-up job taking advantage of Adiel. Might throw him off long enough to get the Sandslash home in one piece."

Marrow jumped off the table and went to retrieve his bone. "But hey, that's only a theory. Scythe's at the canyon now, I'm sure someone's gonna see him there if they're paying enough attention. At least if they can tell him apart from Adarc."

"What should we do with this note?" Brock shouted at the departing Marowak, waving it in the air again.

Marrow fixed his helmet and hefted his club up onto his shoulder. "Save it, show it to Scythe, then burn it," he suggested. "Pretend it got lost in the mail."

"Hey, Jake… we miss you out at the canyon, y'know," Markov said, leaving his seat. "It's not like anyone else knows the tunnels better than you. Is your Team Ember duty almost over?"

"Almost," Marrow said dejectedly. "It looks like I got one last mission to see them through, then it's back to the caves for me. Just in time for this all to explode." He looked back at his teammates. "I won't lie, I don't feel ready to go back. I'm havin' fun with Team Ember. If I hadn't given Scythe my oath, I'd have half a mind now to move in with 'em. They're an interesting buncha kids. Though I guess that's just me wishin' I was a kid again. Simpler days, y'know? They always go away before you're ready…"

Of course, I didn't tell them the rest of what I was thinking, Marrow thought, walking away. Glad they accepted what I said, at least. Even if I'm right, I'd better not say anything just yet. Not until I can figure out what's really going on here


Char spent the night dreaming that he was talking to Saura. They weren't sad dreams. In fact, he even suspected he was dreaming the whole time. But he hoped that somehow their dreams really were linked together through the spirit realm, and that somehow it really was Saura smiling at him, telling him that everything would be fine.

He sprang out of bed the next morning, full of hope and energy. The torches were still blue. He knew that the news had already been posted to the whole base, and he had just one day left before Team Ember was open for interviews. He wanted to make it count. He wanted to stand tall, act confident, and be the leader he always wanted to be. It was the last day he could practice before the newcomers came.

He startled everyone awake with the team motto, even Ray, and shortly later they stood in the main hall for the daily team meeting.

"Our top priority today," he announced, "is to talk to Kecleon. We need to find out what kind of Pokémon we're supposed to capture and how they operate. We need to know what this thief has already stolen, how often he strikes, and what Kecleon has already tried."

"Understood," a groggy Otto replied.

"Ray, I want you to barter with Kecleon for some rare equipment," Char said, pacing the floor. "Tell him we'll give it all back once the mission's over, but if this thief is as tough as he sounds, we'll need Kecleon's help."

"Uh… yeah," Ray said, trying to smile. "Sorry, Char… it's just… really early. I mean… really early. I feel like we only slept for three hours."

"A generous estimate," Eva sighed, squinting at the wall. "I'd give it two-and-a-half, at best."

"Don't care," Char said, turning around and pacing the other way. "Now, there is another problem we face that requires our immediate attention, and I'm not just talking about that board of requests outside of our door. Ray, we also need to find the money that your brother left for you. Somehow, I think we'll be needing it soon."

Ray blinked. "Oh. I was wondering when you were going to say something about that again," he said happily. "I didn't want to pressure you."

"So, we need to schedule a point in time for you to at least find that compass," Char decided. "Sometime during all of this madness of interviewing new recruits and trying to catch the thief, we need you to visit the safe-holding bank in Iron Town and withdraw it. Then we can figure out when to go on the adventure to find it. But for now, we need the key."

This got Ray beaming. "Right! Just let me know when I'm allowed to go," he said. "I'll be ready—"

There was a rapping at the door. Team Ember was collectively stunned.

"A bit early for Marrow to be here," Char muttered, glaring at the door. "I can't imagine, unless… there's another emergency."

"Char… that's not Marrow," Eva said, her gemstone gleaming. She closed her eyes tightly, padding closer to the door. "Also, I wasn't joking when I asked you to install a peep-hole. May we put that on the agenda as well?" she added snidely.

The rapping happened again. Eva was quiet for a moment, then the shine disappeared from her forehead. She glanced back at the team with a concerned look. It is a Pokémon I've never met before in my life, she replied.

In silence, the teammates warily approached the door. Char nearly jumped to the ceiling when the knock sounded a third time, escalating in volume.

"I got it," Char announced quietly, stepping forward to slide the door open.

The four teammates stood and stared at the strange Pokémon standing outside. It was a large raptor with feathers of striking red and gray, staring back at them with a frighteningly intense glare. Char vaguely recognized this bird, but couldn't recall where he'd seen it.

"It is Tallie," Otto stated.

"Who's the team leader here?" the Talonflame demanded. "That's you, Charmander? Right?"

"Yes," Char said.

The Talonflame leaped over their heads and glided into the room. Landing again, she began to appraise her surroundings.

"I'm going to make this as simple as possible," Tallie said, glancing at the ceiling. "I want in."

"Want in… what?" Char babbled.

She turned to glare at him. "In? As in, I want to be on your team. That's what you said in the paper last night, right? You're hiring new members?"

Char found himself simply speechless, and shut his mouth in fear of just gaping at the powerful fire-bird who'd invaded his room. Thankfully, Eva stepped up for him.

"Please excuse us, but you must have misread the paper," Eva said with a false politeness that simply dripped with disdain. "It says clearly that we are holding interviews on the ninth day, and this is currently the eighth. …And to be quite honest, I'm not entirely convinced it isn't still the seventh…"

"I read the sign," The Talonflame said in annoyance, flaring her wings. "That's why I had to get to you before everyone else. Where I come from, that's called initiative."

"Some would call it disobedience," Eva shot back. "Perhaps not the best way to make a first impression on your future employer."

The glower they sent one another, even in the dark blue light from the flames, was sharp enough to kill.

"…Tallie, why are you here?" Otto suddenly said, hopping closer to her. "You are a member of Team Flamewheel, a very high-ranked team."

"Was a member, until I saw your posters. Then I quit," she stated. "I couldn't take Flamewheel anymore. I just can't stand them. Can't stand the way they run the team. It's nothing like the way it was at the Black Division. They don't know what they're doing! They don't know how to… utilize the talent they're given. Can't stand… Can't stand flying everywhere. Flying lookout. Flying messages. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth to the blasted canyon. Four times a day. Like I'm some kind of mail courier. It's not my fault that nobody has a bird on their team over here. Not my fault that nobody on Silverwing is willing to work at a decent price at such high-risk jobs. Not my fault that blasted Kabir says to me every day, 'Please understand, Tallie. Please understand. This is important work. We need to get these messages through and you're the best chance we have. Please understand. Please understand.' I'm so sick of understanding. I'm so sick of it! I'm a special agent. I can do more than fly back and forth. I am a falcon of many talents. I can do anything! I can do anything better than anyone else! I AM OVERQUALIFIED FOR EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THIS GODFORSAKEN BASE!"

The raving bird stopped to catch her breath. The feathers on her chest had become terribly ruffled.

"You promised special consideration for fire-types," she added, folding her wings in a huff. "Well? Are you going to give me special consideration?"

Char gathered his courage and stepped forward from the rest of his team. He held himself professionally, and tried to wear a friendly and welcoming expression. He hoped that the fiery falcon didn't know how to read his tail flame.

"Tallie, you're welcome to come in for an interview," he said carefully to her. "But… we're just not ready for you yet. We need more time to get things done."

The Talonflame scowled. "Last I checked, work gets done faster with more help. That's not an excuse," she squawked.

"Well, but… I can't just hire you right now," he tried. "We need to go through a whole process."

"…What kind of process?!" she demanded.

"…Well, you know, like… maybe run a mission with us, see how we get along on the field, that kind of thing," Char said.

"I already ran a mission with you!" she blasted, flaring her wings again. "I went on that stupid apple tree mission. I played as a mailbird. Didn't you notice me?"

"Tallie. Calm down."

Char was surprised the words had even escaped his throat. They seemed rude and condescending. But he was a team leader; somewhere he had mustered the confidence to say them. The falcon's beak clamped shut, and her eyes seethed with offense. But he straightened himself and tried speaking with authority.

"I'm willing to give you a chance to be on my team. But right now I think it's your ember that's doing the speaking. Now please leave my hall. Take the day off to let your fire simmer, and come back tomorrow morning when we start our interviews. I'll even give you a free pass to the front of the line. But I need to spend the day alone with my team today. I want you to leave."

"Sounds like an edict to me," Eva said to her. "If you want Char to be your team leader, you may start by demonstrating that you can follow a simple order."

Tallie cast her gaze downward in indignity, looking like she wanted to duck her head beneath a wing.

"Look, I… I'm sorry, alright?" she finally said after a long moment's hesitation. "I still don't get how things work around here. The Black Division is different. You don't get noticed unless you take initiative. That's what they're all about down there. It's all about the initiative. It's all about… speaking what's on your mind. Swooping on an opportunity as soon as you can. I mean… we're the resistance, that's what we do, right? We're mavericks. We ignore the rules and make our own. But here, it's completely different. You have to always shut up and do what you're told, and I… I guess I don't get it. But yeah, I'll leave you alone now."

She hopped towards the door, fluttering over Otto's head on the way out. Once on the other side, she glared at everyone one last time.

"Hey… I'm not on a team right now. I quit Flamewheel already. Would you… hire me as a freelance? At least until you decide whether or not to let me join? I can do anything. Honest. There isn't a skill I don't have. Just give me work to do. I don't care what it is! Just as long as it's not flying back to that canyon again."

"Please leave," Eva hissed at her. "We won't ask you again."

The fiery bird gave a protesting squawk, then flew away. Char closed the door and then slumped against it, letting himself slide to the ground. He stared at his teammates in disbelief, still jittering from the rush of nervousness.

"You stood up to her," Eva said with a smile. "Very good. I thought I was going to have to do all the talking."

"Yeah, well… what do you guys think of her?" Char said, catching his breath. "Should we give her a chance?"

For a second, nobody knew what to say. Tallie was a difficult first applicant to swallow.

Otto stared at the ground. "She has spoken to me of her accomplishments. She has great potential," he said, looking thoughtful. "But I do not understand why she would leave such a high-ranking team for this one. It confused me. Her disdain must be very strong."

"And she doesn't seem all that easy to get along with," Ray added, frowning.

"Well, it was you who said all they needed was the heart," Char said dryly. "Tallie has the heart you wanted, that's for sure…"

"But she abandoned her team. Perhaps even betrayed them, if her help was greatly needed," Otto said. "And before that, she left her position on the Black Division. She is volatile. She might be skilled, but I wonder if she is trustworthy."

"Yeah, I thought the same thing," Char said, climbing to his feet. "Well… I think I'm willing to give her a chance, but I'll need to ask her some questions first."

Though it had only felt like minutes, the encounter with the Talonflame had lasted quite a while – the flames on the torches flickered and turned orange, and Char felt resolve filling him again.

"But we'll deal with all that tomorrow," he decided. "Today, we have work to do."


The morning seemed to last far too long. The rush of Pokémon through the lower floors of the base took hours to subside, made all the more painful because Team Ember needed to wait until every last Pokémon was on their way before they dared approach Kecleon. They decided to pass the time by spending the morning at the cafeteria, eating with the recruits.

At first, it seemed like a big mistake. When Char sat down to a table, he was stormed by Team Stripes and several other groups of young Pokémon he didn't even recognize, all who had seen the morning notice.

"Hey, you're going to pick me, right?" shouted a Buizel nosing up next to Char. "I know you don't have a water-type yet."

"Yay, we might get to be teammates again, Ray!" shouted an excitable Leo. "I missed you! I've learned so much! I'm almost read to evolve!"

Luckily, Ray was able to take the pressure off Char by occupying the attentions of his former teammates, and Char found that everyone else was especially polite to him, backing off even at the slightest hint of his annoyance. After making it clear he wouldn't make any decisions until the first day of interviews, he restored peace to his table.

"So, how are the others doing?" Ray asked a Larvitar, supposedly one from his old team, who stood on the bench beside him. "Sorry I haven't been keeping in touch a lot lately. Life's been crazy."

The Larvitar rolled her eyes. "Oh. You have no idea the anarchy you caused this morning," she snorted. "Ansie couldn't keep anyone in line. Everyone was asking for permission to go to your interview. It's a wonder we even got out the door."

"Well, you tell everyone that we're gonna be extra strict about who we hire!" Ray warned. "We're not hiring anyone just because they wanna graduate. We're only looking for five, so we're only gonna hire Pokémon who are up to the challenge. So tell everyone to bring their best!"

After the surprisingly cheerful breakfast, Team Ember went back for seconds of berry cobbler. When the cafeteria was dead and the cooks were closing the kitchen, they made their way to Kecleon's shop, stopping to ensure that not a single customer was remaining in the store. The green Kecleon brother counted his money, looking quite exasperated.

"Running a bit late today, Team Ember?" he said, not looking up from his pile of coins. "My apologies if my shelves are not quite stocked at the moment. I have extras of everything in the back. How might I help you?"

Ray leaped up onto the counter, nearly knocking over the shopkeeper's carefully-stacked coin piles. "It's funny, because we were just about to ask you the same thing!"

He threw the red letter onto the countertop at his feet.

"We're here to catch your thief," Ray said.

Kecleon pointedly slammed the last coin onto a stack, then stopped to think for a long moment as though he had forgotten how to count. He turned his small, beady eyes to the note.

"…Of all Pokémon, they assigned you?" he said.

"Yeah! They said we were a perfect fit for the job!" Ray replied with a wide grin. "See, it even says right here on the note!"

Kecleon seemed to explode joyously. Char thought his scales had even turned a lighter shade of green.

"Wonderful! At last! Ah, I would hug you, but that would be most unprofessional of me!"

Char breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the shopkeeper's mood swerved sharply into happiness.

"It was you who inspired me to submit the job request," he said, forgetting all about his money and holding the note in front of him. "After considering what you said about hiring some help, I decided to submit a request into the division's system to see if I could get some assistance dealing with the thief. I see that it has been escalated and assigned directly to you. Ah, what a glorious day! You've been one of my best customers, and now I only hope that I can turn the tables and become one of your good clients. It will be the first time I have ever been a client in one of these sorts of transactions."

"We'll start work immediately," Char told the shopkeeper. "But we need to know what we're up against. I want to know everything that you know about this thief. What kind of Pokémon is it? How strong? What's it stolen so far? Where does it strike? What time of day? Tell us everything."

"Ah, of course, of course," the giddy Kecleon said, motioning to the team. "Why not come on back with me?"

He threw a switch and a hefty metal gate dropped in front of the door, locking the store down. Then he guided the four Pokémon back into his labyrinth of strange and wonderful treasures, a place that only the most privileged division members had ever witnessed.


Though Char had seen Kecleon's warehouse once before, it was still just as wondrous as the first time. The place was like a great dragon's hoard, with mounds of gold and treasure, shelves packed with arcane magical things, and entire boxes filled with wonder orbs. It made enough sense that the Gold Division was one of the most secure places in Ambera to hold the conniving burglar's valuables, and he wondered if it was actually Kecleon's main headquarters. Char knew not to touch anything, and he held his tail close with paranoia.

Unfortunately, their walk through the magical realm ended at the most boring room imaginable, a white boxy place with a tiny table in the middle.

"When I need to think about things, I don't like visual distractions," Kecleon explained, activating the torches in the room. "I cleared out this room just for these kinds of circumstances. Wait here, I'll bring everything we need."

He returned a moment later with a mound of papers and scrolls, dumping them onto the tabletop.

"Perhaps I'll begin with the most difficult issue I face, and that is, that I don't know the thief's species," Kecleon admitted, drawing a paper from the stack. "All I know is that it is less than two meters in height, and more than one, but its height seems to change. This is the only visual illustration I can offer."

The paper had an ink blot on it, and nothing else. Char thought it was some type of joke, although he began to see that the dark patch on the paper vaguely resembled an animal. But what kind it was, whether bipedal, quadrupedal, or just an amorphous blob, it was impossible to tell.

"There is a reason for this," he said. "The first time the thief struck, it stole a particular item from my brother and I. We had found a buyer for it, but the thief had tracked us and taken it during transit. This item was called a 'penumbra cape,' and its power is to cast a shadow over the wearer, so that it is impossible to tell the Pokémon's species, size, or anything in particular about it."

He slid a rough sketch of the cape overtop the other papers.

"Intelligent little weasel," Eva said. "Was this penumbra cape the only one of its kind in your possession?"

"Yes, and it is quite unfortunate that it was stolen; if the cape had been purchased, I would have had records showing who had bought it, and we could track the thief's actions more easily," he continued. "Judging from the thief's patterns, I can only conclude that the thief cannot fly. I believe it also certainly has legs, judging by the way I have seen it escape, but how many legs I could not say."

"So it's not a bird… probably," Char said, scratching his chin. "What kinds of things has it stolen?"

Kecleon went notably quiet. He grimaced as he produced a scroll from the stack of documents, then unrolled it for the team to see. It was long. Char couldn't read it, but he could hold his mouth agape as the scroll kept unrolling.

"The… total combined value of all the thief's profits have come to… just over five hundred and seventy-eight million Poké."

"Ouch," Ray said. "I can see why you turn red some days. Wow. Even golden apples. Cross bands. Invisible seeds… So many gold bars… And an amber tear? Those actually exist?!"

"Yes… No matter where I am in St. Gracious City or Iron Town, the thief is there to harass me. Every market day, every back-alley trade, every museum expedition… it is as though I have no secrets from this thief. But there might be another explanation for this … you see, I believe the thief might also be utilizing an item called 'appraisal specs,' which measure the rarity of an item's enchantment. In my line of work, I use appraisal specs quite often, especially when setting the market value of things. But the thief might be using it to pinpoint the valuables I keep on my person, which is why it will always strike me while I am in public."

"Yes, according to your list, the appraisal specs were only the fourth item that went missing," Eva noted. "This thief had a clear agenda. He knew the things he needed to begin the campaign against you. Hmm… in all your time struggling with him, have you ever engaged in battle?"

"I'm afraid not," Kecleon said, shaking his head. "Believe me, I would have liked to teach it a lesson. But it always flees the scene of the crime! It runs as fast as a Jolteon, and even working together with my brother, we cannot seem to corner it. And believe me, we have experience with catching thieves! If you do not already know, my kind is able to naturally camouflage ourselves, so we can become nearly invisible to the naked eye, but that doesn't seem to have helped. Furthermore, we have tried baiting it with exhibitions of rare items laced with traps, but it always evades the traps and gets away with the item. We once tried planting a psychic tracer in one of the treasures, but the thief chiseled the tracer off and left it outside of town. Cleaned it perfectly. No hairs, no pawprints, no anything. No tracks through the mud."

"Interesting," Eva said with an evil, fascinated grin. "This thief knows what he's doing. A real challenge we have."

"I have a question…" Otto said suddenly. "You say that the thief strikes at St. Gracious City as well as Iron Town. The distance between to St. Gracious City is over ten leagues. Does the thief strike anywhere else within a fixed radius?"

"A good question, but we have not tested this theory," Kecleon said "Neither my brother nor I have ever held a reputable business outpost in any surrounding city. They are all too… low class for our tastes, you could say. Although, should the opportunity present itself, we might stage an appearance in a nearby city, say, Nincadia perhaps, and see if the thief takes the bait."

"Another question: have you ever encountered any of the items which the thief has stolen?"

The green lizard shook his head. "No, not once, I'm afraid! I keep a close watch on the black market, I would know immediately if any of my own stolen items were to appear for sale."

"Then we can conclude something," Otto said. "The thief is putting the stolen items somewhere, just as you are collecting all of your valuable items in these back rooms. Instead of catching the thief, we might instead try to find the thief's hideout. It may exist within some fixed radius of Iron Town and St. Gracious City."

Char was impressed at the little bird's deduction, although it never surprised him anymore that Otto would reach such conclusions on his own. The shopkeeper, however, seemed thrilled.

"Yes! I like the way you think," he said, waving his arms in celebration. "A marvelous idea. I myself have never raided a hideout before, I rely on all you resistance teams to do that for me. But certainly, that seems to be a valid second option, should the thief elude our capture. I would pay dearly to have all of my valuables back! But I would still prefer to see the thief captured, or else it could just establish a different hideout and continue its work."

Though they spoke for a few minutes more, Kecleon didn't have much in the way of information to offer. According to him, the thief struck any time of day, in any weather, and always stole the most valuable of his possessions. Without knowing what kind of Pokémon it was, Char wouldn't even guess how he should attack it or try to ensnare it; even the best-laid plan could be useless if the thief had some sort of immunity to the wrong element.

"I understand it isn't much to operate with, but I trust that you will try your best," Kecleon finally said. "And I will be fully cooperative in your efforts, granted I am not busy. I will call off the rest of my engagements for the remainder of the week, and close down the store, should that be necessary. Or I can have you work with my brother. He might be just as helpful. He should be arriving back shortly. I will make sure to fill him in on the situation."

"Thank you for your help," Eva said, bowing her head. "I have already begun to devise a plan of attack, which we might begin immediately."

"Oh? And that is?"

"Obviously, we don't have enough information yet," she said. "I want to begin profiling this thief. I need to get into his mind. So, to start out with, why don't we forget about capturing it… and just let it steal something?"

"But Miss Espeon, I've already tried that, as I've stated," Kecleon replied flatly. "We have tried to bait it before. It simply does not work in our favor."

"No, not baiting," Eva replied, swiveling her tail. "No. Let us give it something free of charge, and just sit back and watch what happens. I want to see how this Pokémon reacts to… a dilemma, you might say. Every Pokémon needs a dilemma to bring out their true nature."

"Very well, then, Miss Espeon," Kecleon said, scratching his chin. "I am yours to command. What, exactly, do you have in mind?"


Tiny Plains

A very angry Ivysaur padded down the path, his forlorn brother trailing behind him.

"Saura… we can't do this," the Ivysaur growled. "Not if this Starborn thing is as bad as you say."

"We have to," Saura said simply, staring at the ground as he walked.

"No, we don't," Saurvor growled back. "I'm not letting you. If this Starborn is a murderer, he could kill you, understand? I don't care how dangerous your life was back in your guild. I'm not just going to stand around and let you die."

Saura stopped walking and nudged the dirt with his paw. "Well maybe I'd rather die than see fire in my nightmares forever," he grumbled.

Saurvor sighed, turning back to face him. "Well, what if he's trying to get you to betray your friends, huh?" the Ivysaur pleaded. "Huh? How about that? Would you really betray your friends from your old team over some curse?"

"I don't know why, but I feel like I already have," he said very quietly.

Saura looked up at his brother sadly. "I know it's dangerous, but I feel like I need to see him," he said. "Maybe… I dunno. Maybe I can betray Cepheus. Maybe I can get him to say something then go and tell my old team about it. But… I feel like… something's all wrong about this. Why does Cepheus know where I found Char? And why did that ghost say that Cepheus doesn't work for the Master? It doesn't make any sense… I feel like there's something I'm not understanding here. And I need to know."

He turned to glance down the path that led back to Shamble Forest, the path that they'd need to take on the next morning to fulfill the ghost's demand.

"Brother, the cave has a secret exit," he said. "There's a mystery dungeon in there. If… if something happens, we can run for the mystery dungeon, and we can get through it together. We can be safe. We won't die. I promise."

"Alright, well, I guess I have no choice but to go with you," the Ivysaur replied in a pained voice. "I just don't know if I'm ready to protect you against whatever's in there. Just letting you know that. But Saura, You've got to tell me something… what did you do back with your team to attract so much attention?! Why does everyone want to kidnap you? What's… so special about you, brother?"

The Bulbasaur grit his teeth.

"You really don't want to know," he replied, turning his head away.

*Chapter 86*: Chapter 65: Interview

o

Chapter 65

The plan was set, and everyone agreed that it was a deviously good one.

The idea was for Kecleon, with the help of Team Ember, to plant three particularly rare and valuable objects from his personal collection all throughout Iron Town at the same time. Though Kecleon was reluctant to willingly let any more of his possessions slip into the thief's clutches, Eva reminded him that catching the thief and locating his hideout would allow him to retrieve all of the stolen goods, an idea that the distressed shopkeeper quite liked, and so he agreed.

The items were all quite priceless, but about equal in value according to Kecleon's accounting: there was a sack full of reviver seeds, a huge diamond that was worth about twelve times that of a gold bar, and a bag with three big, beautiful golden apples.

The planted items would be unguarded and free for the taking – at least for the thief – and neither Kecleon nor Team Ember would make any effort to stop the thief or track it down after it would inevitably strike. But there was a catch: once the thief would make a choice between one of the three items, the other two would be immediately whisked out of reach. Thus, the thief would reveal to Team Ember and to Kecleon what sort of things it valued most, helping them to determine just what sort of foe they were dealing with. The thief had stolen quite a lot of mystery dungeon equipment, but was it truly a dungeon explorer? Or did it value only the prestige and the money from the stolen goods? Or would its belly be unable to resist the allure of the most perfect fruit known to all Pokémon? Answering this question, as Eva figured, would help them to dig deeper into the thief's mind and solve the puzzle it presented.

Ray wrote a draft of the message that would be posted all around Iron Town for the thief to see, then the meeting concluded and Team Ember went on their way. There was a lot to think about, but hopes were high and Char was starting to feel confident about untangling the challenge posed by this mysterious figure.

Unfortunately, the confidence only lasted until a surprise encounter with Marrow on the way back to their room.

The Marowak stood outside of the stairwell in front of the hallway leading to Team Ember's room, as though he'd been waiting there for a while. He looked almost embarrassed about something. Even through his mask, Char could tell something was bothering him.

"I don't know how to tell you this," he said hesitantly, "but I just got pulled over into the corner by Xatu, and… well, I know you're all gonna be busy with Kelceon's job this week, and well, uh… High Intelligence says they don't want me to interfere."

"What, with the mission?" Ray said. "But I thought you were our guardian! Why can't you help?"

"Well, apparently, the big bosses want to see if you can pull it together all by yourself, as a test of your skill," he said regretfully. "Xatu tells me… she wants to see you prove yourselves. So uh… I guess I'm relieved of duty with you guys. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing for the next three days. Suppose I could go back to the canyon and ask Scythe what to do, but I'd prefer not to, really… I don't want to hear him get all upset that we've got to leave you alone. If I know anything about him, he'll insist we find a way to watch you anyway…"

Char thought for a moment, trying to keep himself from dwelling upon the unpleasant notion that his team truly wouldn't have a guide to help them with their first one-star mission. "I have an idea," he said, touching his chin and peering down the hall to his door. "Tomorrow, we're holding interviews for our team. I have a feeling we're going to have a crowd up here. Want to be our host? I'm sure everyone would listen to you. That way, the four of us could focus on the interviews without having to keep the peace."

Marrow looked pleased at the suggestion. "Hah, I don't see why not," he said. "Yeah, alright. I'll keep everyone in line. Technically that's not helping you with missions, right? I don't figure so. Alright, I'll be here in the morning. But I just got a question… You're not runnin' a mission tomorrow, I take it? Focusing on the interviews?"

Char felt nervous about answering the question, knowing that Marrow probably would not approve if he admitted to taking the day off. Otto cut in quickly with an answer. "We might survey locations in Iron Town for our plan with Kecleon, but we have no plans to fulfill a job request," he answered confidently. "Our goal was to interview at least ten Pokémon."

"I see," Marrow said with a sideways glance. "Did you take a mission today, then?"

"No, why?" Char replied hesitantly.

Marrow glanced back down the hallway. "Well, uh, y'know me, I can't help but take a peek at your board every now and then, and uh, I just noticed that your board had a few less notes on it than it did the other day… I know you were meeting with Kecleon this morning and I didn't think you had time to run a mission while my back was turned, so uh, I was just wonderin' about that. Thought maybe you were working miracles or something. I'da been real impressed."

"Missing notes?" Eva asked, squinting and looking worried. "By chance, do the teams who put the job requests there in the first place have the right to take them back down, if they change their minds?"

Marrow nodded his head. "They sure do. That's probably what happened, then. Some teams revoked their requests when you didn't reply right away, gave 'em to other teams. That's why you've got to stay on top of them. At least reject the ones you don't want to take."

Nah, we won't need to reject any, Char thought, scowling. We just need our new team members. If we had enough members, we could manage all of the requests, I'm sure of it! The clients just need to be patient for another day or two…

But even so, on the way back to the room, Char tried not to make eye contact with the bulletin board.


The rest of the day passed uneventfully, aside from the Call activating when there was nothing to use it on. Char cancelled the signal by saying "ignore this," hoping once again that he wasn't accidentally brainwashing anyone with unintended orders. It seemed to have no effect on the Pokémon around him, although without psychic powers he couldn't really tell what changes he was making to his friends' minds.

Team Ember spent the rest of the night discussing how they would conduct the interviews, determining what type of questions they would ask and how they would test the potential candidates. Before they knew it, the torches turned red and Char realized they had run out of daylight to conduct their survey of Iron Town. Ray and Otto examined a map instead, looking for potential sites to put Kecleon's rare merchandise on display. The topic of teleportation was also brought up, as they'd need someone to teleport the valuable items away once the thief had made a move, and they'd also need someone to help Ray find his brother's treasure. But the discussion was half-hearted; everyone, especially Char and Ray, were on edge about all the Pokémon they'd be seeing the very next day - the Pokémon who may soon be a part of their closely-knit family.

Will it still be a closely-knit family, even with nine members? Char wondered. And more importantly, will I be able to keep them all in line? Will I have the strength to make difficult decisions? Could I fire anyone who's not performing well? Would I do that to a friend? What if I have to put up with teammates who are not my personal friends? Could I do that? Will they respect me enough?

Char wanted to pour his heart out to someone, just like he always would. He wanted to lay awake in bed and talk out his problem all through the night, just like old times…

But he couldn't do that anymore. When Char's teammates retired for the evening, they all helped one another move their nests back into the other rooms. It was only fair to the newcomers.

And that night, for the first time in many days, Char slept alone.

When his bedside torches turned blue, he turned onto his stomach and eyed Saura's nest, which remained in place at the right side of his own huge bed.

Wish me luck, Saura, he thought, curling around his tail and trying to sleep.


Shamble Forest

It was very early in the morning when the Bulbasaur and his brother set down the fateful path, the same one Saura had followed the night he had run away from his family.

The Watchers were gone for now, but the sky was still very dark – dark enough that Saura felt like he was step-for-step repeating the long-past moment in his life. He remembered how, on that night long ago, he had only wanted to be alone. He needed time to cope with the dreadful destiny that his father had forced upon him. But now, as he retraced his steps, he wasn't sure what exactly he'd find at the end of the path. He only knew that the Starborn Nidoking awaited him, no doubt to convince him to betray the resistance. No doubt to squeeze information from him that would help him defeat Team Remorse at Basin Canyon. No doubt to play with him in whatever way that the Master's generals did.

And yet he was going. He was walking right into the trap.

Nothing can happen to me, he kept telling himself. I'm untouchable. I'm not part of this war anymore.

No matter what happens, nothing is going to happen to me or to my family.

"So this is the way you went, huh?" Saurvor said in an unsettled tone, keeping a protective eye on his younger brother.

"Yeah, I guess you'll get to see where I found Char," Saura replied absently. "I thought nobody else knew about it but me. And… and a Scyther, and a Sandslash. And that one Chikorita who lived here when I was younger. She's the one who showed it to me. But… nobody should know that I found Char there. Nobody was there. We were all alone when we met. Even Scythe and Shander showed up too late to see where Char was. I don't get it! But that's what they say that Cepheus is like. He just knows things. He figures out secrets all by himself."

"Uh, and you're sure that we can get out of there if he attacks us?"

"Yeah, there's a mystery dungeon right there," Saura said. "It's an easy one. We can get through it without any supplies. He can't follow us in there. Unless…"

Saura blinked, and his legs buckled with dread.

"Unless he can unveil the dungeon. I forgot that was even possible until now…"

Saurvor frowned. "Yeah, I was going to say, this Starborn sounds like something formidable," he said. "You'd think if he has a way of knowing where you found the Charmander, he'd also know about the mystery dungeon. He wouldn't have made us go there if he didn't have a plan to deal with us if we weren't being cooperative. Just saying."

Something caught in Saura's throat. "But he can't hurt us," he forced himself to say. "He can't. We're untouchable… right?"

"Guess we're about to find out," Saurvor muttered bitterly. "Although that ghost did say that the Starborn isn't working for the Master, which would mean –"

"No, no, no, NO!" shouted a voice.

The Bulbasaur and his brother tensed. Only the shadows of Shamble Forest surrounded them, the faint glow of daybreak illuminating the branches and trunks in shades of gray.

There was no sound besides the occasional call of an insect or bird… and an odd voice that suddenly rang from behind the trees.

"This is all wrong!" it roared.

There was a crunching sound as something came running, its heavy paws crashing through fallen leaves and twigs. Saura jumped back.

There was an orange glow shining between the trees. It was approaching fast.

A Nidoking, clothed in tattered violet robes and fragments of an iron shell, stumbled out from behind a cluster of saplings and stood at the side of the road. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, leaning on a long wooden staff and looking exhausted. The fiery ghost from Saura's previous encounter followed close behind, its fires aglow with bright orange colors.

"You... weren't… supposed to be here yet," the Nidoking breathed between gasps. "You're early."

"…Huh? What do you mean?! You said the crack of dawn," Saura said dryly, staring at the Nidoking's ghost familiar. "Or at leastthat thing of yours said it, when it surrounded us with fire."

"Ah, yes, well, hmm. Generally one sets appointments expecting others to be tardy," the Nidoking said absently, glancing behind as though to reassure himself that his ghost companion was still there.

Saurvor looked astounded. He snorted at the Nidoking and said, "Right. After threatening my brother with a fate worse than death. Like eternal nightmares. You expected us to be late after that?"

The Nidoking seethed with momentary frustration. "Charon. I told you to go easy on them. No threats," he said, sounding grumpy. "We simply can't go around intimidating all of the key players."

The Chandelure only hovered in place, its flames growing still. "No, that was last time," it said. "This time, you said to be 'unapologetically ferocious.' Those were your exact words."

The Nidoking growled. "Perfect. As if anything's going right in this world anyway." He shook his head and returned his gaze to the Bulbasaur and his brother, as though just remembering they were there. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Get moving. We need to get to the cave."

"Why can't we just talk here?" Saura wondered.

"Because we'll be seen," the Nidoking said urgently. "As we speak, we are being hunted. We cannot afford to draw any attention upon ourselves. Now start walking! I've had a long morning; I don't need any more of my time wasted."

The Chandelure made a strange chuckling sound. "But we're two hours ahead of schedule, so actually our time was gained."

"Quiet, you," the odd Nidoking spat, swinging his staff at the ghost.

Saura shot a baffled glance at his brother as they marched down the road. This wasn't anything like he had expected. The Nidoking didn't carry himself like he imagined an arch-villain would, and instead looked a bit confused and exhausted. The poor state of his clothing spoke volumes about what sort of struggles he'd recently been in; the cape was nearly shredded, with gaping tears wherever his spikes jutted from his back. His armor, with pieces of bronze and silvery iron, seemed to be in good condition, although it was clearly missing pieces of the set and he only wore the chestplate.

"Uh… you are the Starborn, right?" Saura croaked, making sure he kept pace with the figure.

"Hmm," was the noncommittal reply, sounding like both a confirmation and a denial at once.

"…Are you Cepheus?" Saura tried again, speaking louder this time.

"No," the Nidoking spoke. "And I have no concern for what my raving lunatic of a father does."

Saura nearly tripped over his feet. "…Father? Cepheus is your father? Then… who's the Starborn, exactly?"

"His entire lineage is known as Starborn," Charon explained in a condescending tone. "All royal Nidoking descended from Centauri the Boundless are born with this title. They are named after constellations and stellar phenomenon; hence, Starborn. Cepheus is technically the reigning king at the moment, so the title is often attributed to him. His son is next in line."

"Hmph. As if I had any interest in that anymore," the Nidoking grumbled. "The glamour has quite lost its appeal to me."

Saura frowned. "So, if you aren't Cepheus… who are you?" he inquired. "What's your name?"

With a sudden motion, the brunt of the Nidoking's walking staff slammed down in front of Saura's nose, and he had to stub his toes to keep from running into it.

"I did not bring you here so you could bombard me with your pointless questions," the Nidoking said darkly. "Your questions hardly mean anything at this point. I will be the one choosing the topics of conversation. Understood?"

"Fine, fine!" Saura shouted, walking around the staff. "Sorry. I'll shut up."

It was a short and awkward walk to the secret hideout where Saura had first met Char. There were too many questions forming in the poor Bulbasaur's head, the worst of which was just how this eccentric Nidoking knew of the Charmander in the first place, and what he intended to do with the information. And why did he need Saurvor? What use did he have for this Ivysaur who had barely anything to do with the war?

Once inside of the cave, the Nidoking himself moved the stone to shut the entrance. As the heavy stone slid into its crevice, the Chandelure flared up, washing the room in a steady orange glow. Saura eyed the back of the cave where the small mystery dungeon began, wondering if he could outrun the Nidoking given the chance. He was certain he could make it back to the top of the plateau on his own; there were only a bunch of bats in there, and it was only four floors long. It was child's play for an experienced explorer such as himself who knew more than a few battle techniques. But he hoped it wouldn't come to it; he hoped whatever this odd Nidoking wanted from them, he'd get it and go away so he could return to his peaceful life in his protected meadow.

"Why are you alive?" the Nidoking suddenly demanded, pacing absently across the room.

Saura bit his tongue. "Uh… what?" he spat out. "Why am I alive?"

"Not you. The Ivysaur," he grunted, pointing an accusing claw at Saura's brother. "I know exactly why you're still alive. But it baffles me that the Ivysaur is still standing here. Shouldn't you have perished in a fire?"

Saurvor puffed up his leaves. "Oh, so you're working for them, are you?!" he growled. "Adiel and Hunter, right?"

"Silence," the Nidoking shouted, slamming his staff on the cave floor. "I have yet to ask you a question."

"Yes you did! You just—"

"No, that was a question I directed toward myself," the Nidoking said, disregarding the Ivysaur's frustration. "I am merely thinking out loud at the moment. Believe me, I would not have honestly expected you to know that you survived a cataclysmic shift in fate. No, no… this is something I need to figure out for myself. But here's a question I do have for you…"

The Nidoking's eye gleamed in the golden glow, and he glared sideways at the Ivysaur below him, looking deathly serious.

"What's your favorite color?" he said.

"Pff, what?!" Saurvor spat, about ready to lash out at the horned reptile. "What does that–"

"Quiet," said the Nidoking, slamming the stick down again. "This is very important. Answer the question."

Saurvor shifted awkwardly, staring down at his paws. "Uh… blue?" he tried.

The Starborn Nidoking looked stunned. He passed his staff to the other hand and pointed it at Saurvor. "See?" he called to his ghostly companion. "See? I told you! I told you it was blue. On the happiest day of his life, the day he was accepted to the Grendel guild and met with his future wife for the first time, he glanced up at the clear blue sky. And so the color blue has ever since been associated with the excitement of a bright future. Pah! And to think I could have been losing my mind. Preposterous."

"Wait, …what? Future wife…?" Saurvor choked out. "What- I didn't- What the heck are you talking about?!"

"I remembered just as clearly," the Chandelure said in protest, its flames giving a flicker. "It used to be green."

"But not now! Not under these circumstances! It would have been green, but it was overwritten by blue!" the Nidoking jeered. "You were wrong. I was right. Ah, that feels so wonderful to say."

"Oh, come on!" Saurvor shouted, stamping his feet and whipping his vines threateningly above him. "What does my favorite color have to do with anything?! What, are you going to buy me a present? Get me a bouquet? Look, I don't care who you are! Cut this out, we can't be here all day!"

"One: you will be here as long as I require you," the Nidoking said, his tone shifting and becoming grave. "Two: what I said to Saura about asking questions… also applies to you. Three…" he bent down closely to Saurvor, glaring at him. "It is more important than you know. What if you woke up one day to find that everyone around you, all your many little brothers and sisters, thought you were a Politoed, when you were clearly an Ivysaur? Hmm? How would that make you feel? That's not a rhetorical question. Go ahead and answer."

Saurvor stepped back, his eyes darting across the Nidoking's figure. "Um… that'd be annoying, I guess," he said. "I'd tell 'em, 'Look at me! I look just like you!' I don't see how they could disagree with me."

"Oh, but what if they would disagree?" the Nidoking said. "What if you'd tell them over and over again what you know to be true, but they insisted you were delusional? What if there was no way to prove something to them, something you knew to be correct?"

"That'd be kind of scary," he admitted blankly. "I wouldn't know what to say."

"You'd feel like you'd be going insane, wouldn't you? Perhaps even…losing your mind?" the figure said. "Now you know why I ask about your favorite color. I need to know that I'm remembering things correctly. I can't afford to be losing my mind. Because if I lose my mind… I've lost everything I've worked for."

He clunked the base of his staff in front of the Ivysaur's face, standing back to his full height. He eyed the cave entrance for an extended moment with a faint gleam of fear in his expression.

"Now, then. Since that's out of the way, I suppose I should get to the point," he said, shuffling across the room and beginning to pace toward the Chandelure. "But in order for you understand, I must explain a foreign concept to you. Tell me, Saura. How much do you know about a concept called 'fate'?"

Saura's eyes lit up. "Oh, uh… I know a little about fate, actually," Saura said.

"Yes, it's… Wait, what?" the Nidoking said, clamping his mouth shut.

He squinted at the Bulbasaur, appraising him for a moment as his claws clacked against the staff. Confusion stirred in his eyes.

"Are you so certain about that? Fate is not at all a straightforward concept," he said carefully.

"Uh… fate is when something is probably going to happen, but might not happen," Saura said, staring at the floor and trying to recall what he'd been told. "Is that right? You can change your fate if you want. It's hard, but you can stop it. It's easier if you can see the time stream as a whole somehow. Like if you're a Celebi and you can time travel whenever you want so you can see what happens."

The Nidoking stared blankly at him for a moment. Twice he started to say something, but decided against it. "Yes, that's correct," he finally said on the third try. "And here… I had this whole speech I was going to give to you about what it means when something is fated… Very well, then. I suppose we can skip over that part. Ah, this timeline is very strange. Nothing is behaving as it should."

Saura blinked. "Are you… a time traveler?" he tried. "Is that why you knew what Saurvor's favorite color was? Can you travel in time like Celebi?"

The Starborn shrugged, as though not surprised by the accusation.

"I suppose I've made it obvious by this point," he said. He then reached down and picked something off of his waist: it was a tiny trinket, a small blue cog dangling from a thin chain which passed through the hole in its center. "This is called a time gear," he explained. "These are objects created by Dialga to help him maintain the flow of time near a gravity well, such as the one at the center of this earth. Normally they are designed to help get time moving again after a cataclysmic disaster which halts the local flow, but this one was specifically granted to me by certain cosmic forces… Its power allows me to travel to the past."

"Whoa, really? So, what am I about to say?" Saurvor asked.

The Nidoking shook his head. "I have neither the time nor the energy for parlor tricks. Besides, there are more cosmic forces at work keeping the time streams in order than you might realize. You might say that even with the power afforded by this time gear, my power to change fate is severely limited. Which brings me to my next point! Since we can skip the lesson on fate, let me teach you about another temporal principle, something which has proven itself the bane of my existence: a principle called continuity."

Bending down, the Nidoking used a claw to etch a small circle into the gravelly cave floor. The Chandelure loomed closer to brighten the surface.

"For the sake of argument, pretend this circle is the time stream, the one in which you and I reside. Now…" He began to draw several lines branching out from the circle until it looked like a crude representation of the sun. "Here are the various branches of the timeline," he continued. "Many… possibilities created by many pivotal moments in this world, the moments which are the causes of changed fates. Now, what generally happens to a plant when it is severed from its roots?"

"Depending on the plant, it might grow new roots," Saurvor said. "Or the roots might grow into a new plant. But most of the time, the plant… dies."

The Nidoking scratched a claw across several of the lines, cutting them off from the circle. The noise gave Saura a chill.

"Such is what happens when a timeline looses its rooting," the Starborn explained, indicating the severed lines. "Continuity means that there is a logical, unbroken sequence of events which lead to further events. If that sequence is broken – when a timeline is cut away with no continuity to the original branch – it dies. That is to say, it is no longer real. The inhabitants and contents of that timeline… they become only imaginary, fleeting dreams of the gods with no souls. You and I, we exist because we have souls, unlike the infinite countless branches of possibility which did not truly happen in any sense of the word."

"What does that even mean? I might not even be real right now?" Saurvor said skeptically. "I don't understand. How could one timeline get cut off from the others? It doesn't seem possible."

"Many of the gods have a power known as 'mutation,'" the Nidoking said. "It means they can make things happen without cause. But even the gods need to take care to use the power wisely. If they misuse the power of mutation…"

Scratch. The staff severed yet another line from the circle.

"And that is why I cannot merely do anything I wish with the power which has been granted to me," he said, holding up the tiny chain with the powerful relic. "This time gear's origin is from outside of the time stream. It is a divine mutagen. If I were to mishandle its power, change the time stream in the wrong way, I might render an entire branch of the time stream discontinuous. I am not here to end the wars and stop the killing. I am here for one reason alone… A task for which I was appointed, you might say, by your Charmander friend."

"Char… what? Char hired you?" Saura stammered out, taking a step back. "Who… who are you, exactly? What do you have to do with Char?"

The Nidoking hummed. "Your friend wanted to make a change to this time stream, but without breaking its continuity," he explained, scratching out his diagram with his foot. "Despite his best efforts, Char could not plan for every random happenstance required by his great plan. Therefore, before he allowed himself to be transformed into a Charmander, he requisitioned help from several Amberan Pokémon to carve out a path for him to walk. To me, he gave the simplest, yet the most difficult task of all his guardians: I am here only to ensure he arrives at the correct place, at the correct time. Nothing more. He knew I would fail, so he gave me the time gear to allow me multiple attempts, but not without risks: with every step I take, without the foresight of Dialga or the freedom of Celebi, I risk disrupting the delicate chains of causality holding the future in place and rendering our timestream discontinuous. Even the words I speak must be carefully considered; should I tell you something that you otherwise might not have learned on your own, you and all of Ambera would suddenly cease to be real, and I would be left with no other option but to return to the moment I was given the time gear and try everything over again from the beginning.

"As for what you might call me… I am The Redeemer."

Something touched the outside of the boulder. There were voices coming from the forest.

Saurvor stiffened. "Who's there? Was someone following us?" he whispered, inching closer to his brother. "What the heck is going on?"

"…Seems like someone else is ahead of schedule as well," the Nidoking said, quickly hooking the time gear back to his belt and brandishing his staff. "Ah, I was hoping to have more time to talk with you. We need to move. Charon, please run interference. Perhaps we can finish this discussion up on the way to the surface."

The Nidoking ushered the two brothers quickly to the back of the cave while the ghost positioned itself in front of the cave's entrance, awaiting the inevitable.

"I'm serious!" one voice said. "Look, there's a hidden door here!"

"Where?"

"Here! Look at the ditch! Someone moved this rock."

"You really think he could have disappeared into here?"

"Well, can you open it?"

"Stand back…"

Just as the Starborn escaped into the mystery dungeon with his escorts, the cave was rattled with the impact of a hyper beam, shattering the boulder. Several large birds crowded around the open entrance as the dust settled.


Division Base

The torches flickered and turned yellow. Char sat beside his team at the front door, flames of anxiety licking at his innards.

The applicants had already arrived. They were there, just on the other side of the door. He wasn't sure how many had shown up, but he could hear their chit-chat and laughter only a few meters away. He knew that Marrow was only waiting for the go-ahead from Char to let them in.

Char still didn't feel ready for this.

"Don't worry about it," Ray reassured him. "We aren't hiring anyone today. We'll just talk to them. Decide who can come back for a second interview. That's how the pros do it."

"Char, if you think you're nervous, just imagine how nervous the applicants must feel," Eva added, brushing against him gently. "I can feel their minds on the other side of the wall. They respect you. They hope to impress you."

I know you'd rather hear the advice coming from Saura, she added silently, nudging him. But I hope that you will find I am just as qualified to ease your mind as he is.

Thank you, Char replied, stroking her head.

Have you given any thought to appointing a second-in-command? Eva asked, glancing at the door to keep her conversation inconspicuous. You are not the independent type. You need someone to trust, or your insecurities will get the better of you. I've seen it happen too many times before. The sooner you choose someone as your new partner, the sooner you can start to rebuild your confidence in yourself.

I'm still thinking, Char replied. It's not an easy decision.

I don't think it's as hard as you're making it out to be, she retorted, smirking at him. Perhaps I cannot speak entirely for Otto or Ray, but I can promise you that if I were chosen, I would never judge you for sharing any of your thoughts with me. Since we can communicate silently, we would never need to wait for privacy to discuss important matters. Your secrets would be kept safe, and I would tell the perfect lies to protect them if necessary. And… it would not offend me to step down from the position, should Saura re-appear.

Char looked at her with surprise, and she met his gaze. You didn't even consider that angle, did you? she goaded. You might also find that I am quite skilled with anticipating my master's needs.

Alright, alright. Point taken, Char said. You know, you're not the one I'm supposed to be interviewing today. But I'll consider your offer. I suppose my biggest reservation about you… I'm not sure I'm comfortable having a partner who won't follow me into mystery dungeons.

Let me keep one of those wonderful emblems for myself, and I'll follow you anywhere, she replied.

Char's thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of a bone rapping at the door, and Ray opened it to let Marrow in. Char noticed several Pokémon in the hall, but tried to avoid eye contact with them.

"Is there any sign of Tallie?" Otto inquired as soon as the door was shut.

"None," Marrow answered. "Y'know, you can't wait all day for her. Wait any longer and I fear you won't even get through ten interviews like you wanted."

Char grumbled, pushing himself away from Eva and rising to his feet. "Figures. We promise her a pass to the front of the line, and she doesn't even take it. I guess you guys were right; I guess she's not very reliable."

"Yes, but do not forget the promise still stands!" Otto said with surprising vigor. "You do not want to give her reason to ridicule you as a team leader who does not keep the promises he makes. You would be a hypocrite to call her unreliable."

Char eyed the Pidgey suspiciously. There had been an uncharacteristic squeak in his voice, something like the chirp of a songbird. Otto soon blinked as though recognizing an error he made. He bashfully hopped backward and seemed to willfully force a blank, expressionless face upon himself, something which resembled his typical persona.

He was looking forward to seeing her, Char realized. Maybe I was too. Although I'm not complaining that she gave us an excuse to start late. But Marrow's right; we can't wait all day. We need to get this over with.

He sighed and stood tall, imagining himself with the stature and authority of a Charizard. He swept his surging flame to the side, where it would hopefully inspire the interviewees with power and confidence.

"Everyone ready for this?" Char uttered, glancing sideways at his team. "Ray, if you could help me do most of the talking, that would be wonderful. Otto, you take mental notes and help us decide who should go on which missions with us. Eva… go ahead and read their minds, watch them for lies. Let me know if anyone's lying to our faces. Exaggerations are fine, outright lies aren't. Alright?"

"As you say," the Espeon replied with a twist of her tail.

Finally, Char bowed his head and gave the motion to Marrow. "Well, then. Let's find our new teammates," he decided.


Marrow quickly slid through the door again. "Alright, alright! We're startin'," he shouted, his voice muffled from beyond the wall. "We'll do this first-come, first serve. Form a line! Line starts down there. Leave them some room. Quiet then. You rabblerouse I'll kick ya' out. Got it?"

I wonder if there's a better way to do this, Char suddenly realized.

But there was no time to follow the thought. The first applicant stepped around the corner and appeared in the door frame. Before he knew it, Char met with quite a familiar face: a furry white figure with a smug grin and a firey red scarf around her neck. She sauntered into the room, her face flashing with uncharacteristic humility.

Char momentarily forgot the lines he had memorized to welcome the Pokémon to the interviews, and he instead wanted to laugh at the absurdity of seeing Zachel first in line.

"…What?" she said dryly. "Surprised to see me?"

"Oh! No, it's fine, it's fine!" Ray laughed. "Come on in!"

Marrow slammed the door shut to give them privacy, and Team Ember formed a close yet comfortable semicircle around the Zangoose. She bowed to Char, as if to say "at your service," and adjusted the bright scarf around her neck with her long, black claws.

"So… what brings you here?" Char said, jerking backward as he suddenly remembered that Pokémon didn't know about handshakes.

"Well, what can I say? Figured it was time to graduate," she said warmly. "I know I'm no fire-type like you wanted, but I figured it'd be worth something to get here before everyone else. Knew there would be lotsa kids wanting on Team Ember."

"We're giving everyone a shot," Char assured her, crossing his arms. "By the way, how many are in line out there, exactly?"

"Twenty or thirty, I'd say," Zachel answered. "More on the way, I'd bet. You're more popular than you might realize, Char. Everyone wants to be friends with you." She prodded Char in the chest with a claw. Char tried not to react.

She waved her hand at the door. "All those kids out there? Bet they said, 'Hey, living like a seven-star team and getting to be friends with Remorse? Sign me up!' But I'm different. I'm not here for the perks. I'm here because I think you guys could use me."

"Fair enough!" Ray said. "So, Zachel, what can you do?"

"For starters, I'll never gripe about having to carry the bag," she said with a laugh. "But I can fight, too. Claw-to-claw I can fight like a Scyther. Immune to all poison and venom, too. Comes with the species. At range, I know a few special techniques you might not expect someone like me to know. I can throw fire, I can throw ice, I can throw lightning. Trying to learn one of each type of spell so I can be versatile. Just don't tell anyone else this, alright? It's no fun when other Pokémon know what I can do. I like having the drop on them." She smiled evilly, showing off her claws.

Otto looked pleased. "You are a wildcard," he said. "Impressive. I would like to see you demonstrate your skills in a dungeon expedition."

"Hey, wait just a minute there," Char said with an awkward laugh, stepping toward her. "Zachel, we'd love to give you a tryout. You seem like you'd fit in here. But… well, there's just one thing about you that bothers me."

"…Huh?" she grunted, looking up from admiring her claws.

"Well, it's… you aren't going to freak out every time we pass that Seviper in the hall, are you?" Char said carefully. "Team X… Or, Team Blockheads as you know them… they're kind of our rivals. We'll be crossing paths with them a lot. So… would we be able to trust you not to lose control around him?"

Char noticed the Zangoose's eyes dilate at the mere mention of the Seviper. Though she tried to hide it, Zachel's confidence had been swiftly punctured. By the time Char was done talking, she looked as though she didn't know where to put her claws.

"Well uh… I haven't lost control yet, have I?" she returned, trying to sound reassuring. "Mostly… it was the audience making a scene, you know? The crowd watching us. I've had nothing but civil discussions with that snake. I'll be fine."

Ray and Otto exchanged a troubling glance.

"So… you're saying you'll be fine around Seviper? You're sure?" Char tried again. "What if we had to team up with them?"

"Look, bud. I'm a grown feline," she insisted, waving her claw as though to slice Char's neck. "I understand your concern, but I'd appreciate not being stereotyped. We're all civils here. The laws of the wild don't apply so much. Saura doesn't panic whenever he sees your tail, right? Well, I don't panic whenever I see Seviper."

Well, about that, Char wanted to say, remembering Saura's final words to him. Saura's not a great fan of fire, no.

"It's a non-issue," Zachel growled. "That Seviper means nothing to me. Got it?"

Char searched for a reply, but Eva's telepathic voice broke his focus.

Well, Char, you asked me to point out lies. And that… that is very clearly a lie.

Char squinted at the Zangoose, trying not to make eye contact with Eva. So you mean…

Yes, Zachel is emotionally compromised by the Seviper, and is trying to convince you otherwise. In fact, let me try something.

"I don't think it is going to be an issue," Eva chimed in. "Instincts will be instincts, but as she says, we are all civils here. Frequent exposure to the Seviper might even lead her to become desensitized to her instincts, rendering their rivalry less of a threat."

Zachel visibly shuddered at the mention of 'frequent exposure.'

Well, my master, it seems this one is a lost cause, Eva reported with some humor. She clearly harbors an unhealthy obsession with the Seviper. Her mind spirals with endless scenarios of encounters with him. If we hire her, we would need to take strong precautions against her… instinctual madness.

Char nodded. Though he was ashamed to admit it, he very much liked Eva calling him 'master.' He suspected she knew as much.

"I see," he said, looking her in the eyes. "Zachel, you seem like an obvious choice for us. We'd like you to come on a mission with us sometime and show off your skills. We'd like to take your word about Seviper, but if there's ever a problem–"

"There won't be," she snarled, glaring at him and pointing her claws at his face. "Look, if there's one thing I actually like about Team Carrier, it's that they don't define me by… by Seviper like everyone else does. Try this: open the Poképedia sometime and turn to Zangoose. First sentence: I hate Seviper. Second sentence: I've always hated Seviper. Third sentence: I always will hate Seviper. It's almost like I don't even have an identity without him. I mean… you know that gets old after a while, right? That you can't mention me in a sentence without him? The one thing in my life I could literally not care less about. But all the other Pokémon won't let me stop caring. I don't think it's too much to ask that my own teammates give me a chance to be my own Pokémon. But…"

She smiled and poked him in the chin, giving a mischievous flick of her tail.

"Luckily, Char, I respect you too much to hold it against you. If I have to prove myself to you, that's fine. I'll earn your trust. Look forward to picking some fights with ferals, just let me know the day. I'll be there."

The interview ended shortly after, with Zachel thanking Char for his time and marching back out the door, leaving Char with some mixed feelings.

"Thoughts?" he muttered to his team.

Ray stretched and yawned. "She sounds great. Really, she does! Let's do what she says and stop bothering her about Team X. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Perhaps I can go have a talk with the ghosts and tell them to do their job," Eva added snidely. "I don't know what's become of them. If they keep the two in separate hallways like they're supposed to be doing already, there's not going to be a problem. But yes, otherwise, I have no objections."

"A strong, multi-talented Normal-type. We need a Normal-type," Otto said fondly. "Very well. It sounds like we are unanimous. Eva, tell Marrow to send the next in line."


This isn't too hard, actually, Char said to himself. I could do a few more of these. Especially if it's with Pokémon I recognize. Yeah… anyone from Team Stripes would be nice to see. Thanks to Ray, I know almost all of his former teammates. Leo, Tyson, Taka… they'd all be welcome faces here. What I'm really afraid of is seeing someone I don't know.

The next Pokémon to enter the room was an especially tall Grovyle. It slithered through the crack in the door and towered above the four teammates, looking quite proud of itself.

"Uh… Good morning," Char said, standing up straight and holding himself like a team leader. He tried to remember the lines he wanted to recite. "Thank you for visiting us. What is your name, and what can you offer to Team Ember?"

The Grovyle chucked, folding its arms and leaning against the wall. "Oh, Char, you sound so… official," she said. "Couldn't imagine such a serious voice coming from such a diminutive lizard."

She grinned at him, expecting a response which completely eluded Char. Ray was the one to give the response she wanted.

The Raichu gasped so loud, he sounded like he would choke to death. "Ahhhhh! …Taka?!"

"It's my name, don't wear it out," the Grovyle replied, acting lackadaisical and glancing away from her former teammate.

Beaming with a huge smile, Ray scampered close to the Grovyle and stood on his hind legs, but he was still unable to match her height. "Taka…! You look so… strong! How did you get a feral-shard?!"

"Eh, by not ignoring a question-marks reward. They can be real surprises sometimes, y'know," she said. "We had this client… Tropius, we rescued her daughter. They had a feral-shard, but their kind doesn't evolve, so they had no use for it. So they made it our payment. Team took a vote and decided I should use it. Now I'm quitting Stripes, grown out of it."

Ray couldn't stop admiring her. "Wow! That's so awesome, Taka… Congratulations! Coping well?"

"Yeah, well, couldn't stop tripping over my own legs yesterday, but I'm getting' the hang of it. Love how I can jump like eight body heights now. I can practically fly, just working on sticking the landing. So uh… yeah."

"Ah, a strong grass-type with an affinity for acrobatic techniques!" Otto chirped. "This will work. We are honored to have you as an applicant."

Taka smirked. "Ah, but this is where I get to break your heart, kid. I'm not actually here to be on your team, Char. Mainly just here to show off the new evolution to Ray."

"…Oh," Ray said, his smile faltering for a split second.

"Yeah, I hate to brag, but right as soon as I walk out of here, I'm gonna sign the papers to join Team Avalanche," she said with a smug smile. "Tyson got me in. Turns out a team full of rock-types would need some rock-breakers too. So yeah. No more Stripes. Gonna be weird not waking up to Ansie every morning… But I'm sure you're used to it by now, so why can't I get used to it too? Gotta say, though, I'm still a bit jealous of you guys getting to hang out with Team Remorse all the time, but hey. Cataclysm is a hero too, in his own way. So maybe you can feel a little jealous back, huh?"

Char barely heard any of Taka's words; a familiar tingle had sparked in his forehead and moved down his face.

Oh… Oh no. Is it… is it really that late already? Char thought, trying to keep himself calm. Ahh… Celebi…

Celebi, what am I ever going to do with you?

He bit his tongue and waited for Celebi's familiar voice to enter his head, trying to hide his turmoil from Taka and especially from Eva. He knew that she would pry into his secrets the moment she figured something was wrong, so he bit down harder on his tongue and kept his eyes glued to the Grovyle in the room.

And it gave him an awful idea.

No… oh, no, I can't do that… can I?

He glared at the formidable Grovyle as he listened to Celebi encourage him the same way she always did. He mentally scolded her for being so cheerful all the time, as though she had no idea what kind of awful dilemma she imposed upon him whenever her Call sounded from her faraway tower.

This time, surprisingly, Celebi had the perfect timing to give Char an opportunity. It was an opportunity of dubious morality, and one he knew he would feel guilty with forever if he actually carried through with it, but the mere existence of the opportunity demanded not to be ignored.

And so, against his better judgement, Char rode out the wave of the Call, and at the height of the psychic reverberation, he sent a single request:

Taka… please reconsider?

When the command was uttered, Char blinked as though waking back up to the real world. He instinctively glanced over at his Espeon companion, and found that she was too busy analyzing the Grovyle's mind to have noticed anything wrong with her so-called master. He sighed in relief.

He turned his attention to Taka, who was laughing about something with Ray and Otto. Otto surprisingly seemed to enjoy her company.

"Ah, y'know what? I forgot how much I loved hanging around with you, Ray," Taka said, pushing herself away from the wall and patting the Raichu on the head. "You have this way of just… brightening everyone's day, just by being there. I miss that. I guess it's just another reason I can be jealous of you. Actually…"

She paused for a moment, as though gears were shifting in her head. Char held his breath a bit too deeply, causing his tail to flare. He already regretted abusing his power, and wished he could have it back so he could undo its effects. Awful scenarios began to flood in to his mind, making him realize that he might never be truly honest with her. "Taka, I don't know how to tell you this, but you really didn't choose to join Team Ember," he heard himself saying in the not-so-distant future. "You were going to join Team Avalanche, but you didn't… because I mind-controlled you and made you stay here."

Ugh, what have I done now?! Char silently scolded himself.

But Taka quickly shook her head. "Ah, y'know, for a moment there I was thinking of actually staying with you guys. But nah, reconsidering's done, and the answer's no. To be honest, want to know why?"

"How come?" Char said nervously.

"To be frank, it's because you let Saura go," Taka said with an accusatory sigh. "I felt some kinship with him. Felt like we could learn from one another. Be greeny friends 'n all. Now that he's not here anymore, well, there's really no point. Sorry Char, nothing personal with you. I'm sure you had a good reason to fire him."

Otto looked especially disappointed. "Actually, Saura is still a member of this team," he corrected her. "He hasn't been unregistered yet."

"You ghosted him? Lotta good that does, if he's not actually here," Taka said, shaking her head and turning towards the door. "Anyway, it was nice catching up with you guys. Have fun with your adventures. I've gotta go, Tyson's waiting for me."

"You too!" Ray called to her as she left. "Good luck on Team Avalanche!"

The mood turned grim the moment she stepped out. Ray's smile immediately came off, and he looked betrayed. Otto scratched at the floor.

"We could have used a Grass-type again," he said ruefully. "It would have opened possibilities. Specifically for cave expeditions. Saura was the only good rock-breaker we had."

"Aww, don't worry, we'll just go on to the next interview! There might be another grass-type."

"Ah, but she looked so… powerful. She looked like she could have done entire missions on her own."

Eva finally noticed her master's change of demeanor. Are you alright? she silently asked.

I'm fine, I'm fine, Char said, surprisingly not too much of a lie. It just surprised me, is all.

You're not alone, Eva said, turning up her nose. That Grovyle was a jerk. Has she always been such a jerk?

Uh… yeah, kinda, now that you mentioned it.


"Alright, not too shabby for just an hour," Marrow said, stopping in to check on the team. "You're makin' good time, I'm impressed! Get five done and I'll order you some lunch."

Yeah, well, that last one wasn't actually an interview, Char said to himself. But alright. We'll just call it that.

"Ready for number three?" Marrow said cheerfully, slinging his bone onto his shoulder and putting his hand on the door. "Go easy on this one, alright? He looks awful nervous. But if you ask me, it's the quiet ones that always have the most promise. It's the loud ones that are always speakin' over their own insecurities, y'know what I mean? Anyway, give the little fella a chance. He's even a fire-type, like you wanted."

The tone of Marrow's voice didn't give Char much confidence, but he readied an open mind. It would be more than welcome to have another teammate utilize the Frozen Flame's power with him.

Marrow stepped outside and held the door open, and slowly but surely, a small, meek little Pokémon crept around the corner and into Char's view.

It was a Vulpix.

"Uh… Hi. Can I come in?" it said.


Shamble Forest

It had taken a bit of doing for Charon to subdue the crazed birds that were mobbing him.

Squawking and scrabbling, they swooped after him endlessly. He dodged to the left, to the right, and into the ground. He sent out false copies for them to attack. Finally, he encased them in a dome of fire, or at least a few of them, and shared with them a few choice words.

"Are you quite finished?" the Chandelure sighed to the terrified birds as they coweredtogether away from the ghastly, roaring inferno. "All this exercise is certainly tiring, and I'm frankly quite bored."

"What do we do, Master Karow?" a Swellow whispered to his flock leader, a large Honchkrow. "I'm thinking a gust attack would disperse the fire enough to…"

"What do you want?" the crow demanded to the orange ghost, stepping in front of his teammates.

The Chandelure was quiet for a moment. "I would be asking the same of you," it spoke in a ghastly, reverberating monotone. "After all, you were the one who attacked me when I was only minding my own business."

"We aren't after you," Karow told it. "We're after the Starborn. You attacked us the moment we entered the cave."

"Hmmmnn," said the ghost, humming long and thoughtfully. "If it is Cepheus you are after, your trail's gone cold."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Karow squawked. "Where is the Starborn?! Where are you hiding him?! We know he's there in that cave, we just spotted him on this trail!"

"Listen to me, and listen to me closely, Silverwing," the Chandelure spoke, lowering his voice to terrifying tones. "There is indeed a Nidoking travelling with me. However, he is not Cepheus. I do not know where Cepheus is, and I strongly suggest you leave my companion alone."

"Why should we?" the Honchkrow boomed, flaring his wings. "We will track whomever we darn well please, thank you very much. And your Nidoking certainly looks suspicious to us, if I am to be blunt."

The Chandelure laughed, and the fire flared.

"Why should you?" the ghost repeated, drifting close to the crow. "If I am to be blunt… if you've truly lost track of Cepheus, then you have much greater problems than you might realize… and your time is far too precious to waste on chasing an innocent traveler around midwestern Ambera. If you've indeed lost track of Cepheus… then I suppose I do have one word of advice to offer."

"Yes…?" the crow said, grimacing.

The ghost rose into the air, ballooning in size. Long, red tendrils shot out of its body, and the dome of fire crackled loudly.

"Pray."

The next moment, the fire vanished, leaving no trace or evidence that it had ever existed. Master Karow and his wingmates stood still, gazing at each other as the cackling laughter of the ghost resounded in their ears.

*Chapter 87*: Chapter 66: The Chosen Ones

o

Chapter 66

The moment the Vulpix stepped through the door, Ray pounced and nearly tackled him.

The little fire-type winced for a moment just before impact. He didn't respond as jubilantly as the Raichu, but didn't seem to protest against the sudden and vigorous embrace.

"Zona!" Ray cried happily, scratching behind the curls of the little fox's head. "Good to see you! How have you been? Char, you remember Zona, right?"

Char thought for a moment. He did recognize the Vulpix vaguely; he knew that Zona was a member of Team Stripes. Though he had never personally run a mission with him, there was something about the little fox's eyes that had burned themselves into his mind on a long-ago day.

Ah, right… I talked to him once.

It was at that party we had for Saura. His freedom party.

Huh, a lot has changed since then…

Yeah, I remember Zona… but I barely remember anything I said to him.

Wonder what his personality is like?

"Aww, how've you been, little guy?" Ray said warmly. "Wow, you're bigger than the last time I hugged you, you know that? How's life been treating you?"

The Vulpix gave a small smile. "I have been doing well, I think," he said in a calm and collected voice. "You know how it is on Team Stripes. Nothing special ever happens to us. But what about you? I heard on the news that you went on a long mission to the north."

"Ah, yeah! Craziest mission of my life, without a doubt!" Ray said, finally letting him go. "But I'm still standing. I'm really glad I joined Team Ember when I did. They really needed me! So… you want to join Char's team? I'm sure you'll love it here! We have a lot to catch up on if we're going to be teammates again. I can't wait!"

"I feel as though I'm ready to graduate, yes," Zona said, hesitating in mid-step before deciding to stand still. "In the time since you left the team, I have gone from twenty-sixth to twelfth in line to be the senior cadet. When Taka left the team, it occurred to me that… Team Stripes is not a permanent place to stay. It is a training team. And even if I were to stay on the team, I realized that I would be making friends with my teammates, only to lose them again and again, without end… and I want to have teammates that I can keep for a long time. I knew I needed to go try out for another team."

"Aww! Yeah, that's a big step we all need to take," Ray said with a smile. "So what made you choose this team?"

Zona hesitated again, glancing back at the door. "I… well," he tried to say in a strange tone, gesturing with his front paw.

With so many pauses in his speech, Char at first thought the Vulpix was attempting some kind of dry humor, but came to realize that he was probably just stopping to carefully choose his next words. There was a certain vulnerability in the little fox that he felt he could relate to. Char figured that he was the kind of Pokémon who took great care never to say anything he would regret.

"This is the team where… I mean, many of us are here," the Vulpix said. "In the hallway. Many members of Team Stripes want to try out for this very team. For Team Ember… I counted at least ten of us in line. Although the line went around the corner and I couldn't see past it…"

Ray nodded, though he looked a bit surprised by the statistic. "Oh, so you want to stay with your friends? That's not such a bad reason, I think! If your friends make a good team with you, then you've got to stick together, sure! Hey, what about Leo? Is he wanting to quit the team, too?"

"Leo is next in line, after me," Zona reported. "He shocked me awake. So that we could both get here early."

Char wanted to bury his forehead in his claw. Why did I get the feeling all of Team Stripes would want to be here?! he silently ranted to himself, and perhaps also to Eva. I bet this is Ray's fault. He was the one who was always gushing about us before he joined. And even after he joined. Probably got the whole team riled up.

But… well, I'll give them a chance. I'll give them all a chance. The sign did say that high rank isn't necessary, so I won't fault them for trying.

I guess I just hope that we'll get at least one real strong Pokémon willing to join the team. It's a shame Tallie didn't show up. We could have used someone like her.

I wonder if Marrow would want…

Nah. That's a silly idea.

Guess I should stop worrying about it. We'll always have Team Remorse at our side.

Char blinked out of his thoughts as he noticed the Vulpix carefully, almost reverently approaching him, giving an odd little bow. He seemed eager to speak.

"Char of Team Ember, it is an honor to speak with you again," he said quietly. "Is it true that you have the Call, as the rumors say? How does it work?"

Eva swiftly cut in. "That information is classified until you are a team member," she said simply.

Zona winced for a moment, but seemed to recover well enough. "I apologize. It is not my place to pry," he admitted, not losing his confidence, however subdued it was.

He paused to consider his next words, taking note of his surroundings and the four Pokémon watching him intently. Char sat down to be at Zona's eye level, trying to make him feel less intimidated. He decided to speak up when it seemed that the Vulpix could not think of something else to say.

"Well, Zona," he tried, matching the Vuplix's gentle manner of speech. "Tell me, what can you bring to Team Ember?"

Zona's eyes seemed to light up in a mysterious, knowing way. "Your signs said you would give special consideration to fire-types. I am not the strongest Pokémon, or the fastest, and I do not know many useful moves. But I am a fire-type. I would be honored to grow stronger at the side of a fellow ember-user such as yourself, and at the side of my prior teammates… if you would accept me."

Char was intrigued. Though he said nothing flattering about himself, the Vulpix never lost his mysterious smile. Somehow, this gave him a very good feeling.

"We invited fire-types because we own an enchanted item which renders nearby fire-types immune to rock-type damage," Otto said. "Right now, it is only useful to Char. With more fire-types, it will become a more powerful asset to us. More strategies will become possible."

"That's right," Char said, trying to sound as mysterious as his new friend. "Imagine a giant rock monster, hurling a huge boulder right at your face, and having it shatter apart as soon as it strikes you. Or being stuck in a cave-in that barely feels like rain. Imagine being punched in the face by Graveler, or squeezed by an Onix tail, and not feeling any of it."

"That sounds… wonderful," the starry-eyed Vulpix said. "I am afraid of rock-types. I do not know any moves which reliably defeat them. I have always kept my distance from them and relied on teammates."

"It is still good to be afraid," Otto offered. "Even with our advantage, rock-types pose a multitude of threats besides blunt-force trauma. Sometimes they use different elemental attacks. But perhaps the fear is not so… immediate anymore."

Zona acknowledged the Pidgey. "I understand," he said. "But… I would still… if you don't mind, it would be incredible to experience this enchantment sometime."

"Sure!" Char said with an encouraging smile. "How about this. We'll give you a tryout! You can come on a mission with us so we can see how you fight. Maybe a cave mission, something with easy enemies. We'll be sure to bring the orb with us!"

Zona looked surprised. "You are considering my application?" he said, looking inwardly excited. "But… I haven't even… I mean to say, there's still something I need to tell you about myself."

He glanced at Ray for a minute, and a light seemed to go off in Ray's mind. "Oh, wow! I forgot all about… that," he gasped. "Char! This guy is incredible. I didn't learn about this until after I already joined you, Char. But I'll let him tell you. Go on, tell them what you can do!"

Zona hesitated, pawing at the ground. "I actually… I didn't think you were even going to take me seriously until I told you this. I mean, I wouldn't have taken myself seriously, in your place," he said bashfully, as though he were afraid of bragging. "But… I can chase the Watchers away."

The little fox looked up expectantly at a stunned and confused Char.

Char's first reaction was to glance at Eva. Well, it's not a lie, she reported, shrugging. But I'm not so certain what he means by it. He certainly believes it to be true.

"What do you mean?" Char asked carefully, turning his gaze back to the newcomer. "Like… do you mean you can go walking out at night whenever you want?"

"Sometimes. It depends…" Zona said, looking pleased with himself for finally broaching this topic. "The first time I did it, I didn't really know what I was doing… And then Alakazam heard about it, and he wanted me to show him my memories. So I did… and he told me that sometimes a Pokémon's soul resonates with a certain kind of elemental energy, even if… that Pokémon has no affinity with the element at all. He called it the hidden power. He says, there aren't many Pokémon left who can control a hidden power, or… even know that it exists. But I think I was given a strong power from my mother."

Char felt a grimacing thought shoot from Eva. Something about the Vulpix was beginning to make her uncomfortable.

"I may have heard something about this before," she admitted. "I know about hidden powers. I haven't seen a user in many years. Did Alakazam determine what kind of power you have?"

"Yes," Zona said with a confident nod. "It is a psychic power."

A strange, uncharacteristic jolt of insecurity resonated from Eva. She did well to outwardly hide it, but she couldn't keep from showing it through the open mind-link she shared with Char. It made him uncomfortable by proxy, although he didn't understand why.

"So what you are saying… is that you are a latent psychic?" she asked with a secret worry.

"Yes, I am, miss… Espeon," Zona replied. "Though I am sure my power is nowhere near at your natural level. It is very unnatural to me. My kind is not meant for such powers. I still lack the mental fortitude to express the power in anything but controlled bursts. But I have practiced. Depending on my mental state, I can… light the way at night. I can repel the cloud of Watchers. Perhaps I could continue to grow in power under your guidance."

Otto ruffled his feathers. "If you claim that you have psychic power, how do you repel ghosts? Ghosts are generally not threatened by psychic power."

"Light," Zona said. "It's not the power itself that repels them, but… the light. They are afraid of it. I think it's… my fire helps. The fire energy synergizes with the psychic energy. Leo says the light it makes looks like fire. I don't know why that happens, but it is useful."

"Useful!?" Otto parroted, seeming appalled that Zona would understate his own potential. "If what you are saying is true, and you can reliably defend teammates from the Watcher swarm, do you realize the possibilities this opens to us…?"

Once again, the little bird stopped himself, sheepishly calming himself back down.

"Night missions would no longer be out of the question," he added in a deliberately subdued tone. "If you can demonstrate this, I will need time to think about how this would change things."

Zona turned back to Char with a hopeful glimmer in his eye. Seeing Zona's innocent smile melted Char's heart, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to deny the little Vulpix whatever it was that he would ask next.

"I could show you how it works during the tryout," he said with a small grin.

Char couldn't help but smile himself. He remembered that the Watchers were perhaps his very greatest enemy. They had manipulated space and time just so that he would be destroyed on Temporal Tower. He knew that if the meek little fox before him was willing to share this profound power in exchange for a little companionship, there was no way he could turn him down. Part of him wanted to hire the Vulpix right then and there.

Instead, he simply said, "That… sounds wonderful."

Having made a positive impression on the Charmander, Zona turned to speak with Ray for a few minutes more. Char looked fondly at the little guy, wondering about this hidden, untapped potential that apparently glowed inside of him, just next to his inner ember.

He of all Pokémon knew what it was like to have a hidden power, after all.

What do you think? He asked Eva. You didn't seem happy with him earlier.

Oh, do not mind me, Eva said, chuckling at herself. Psychics do not like competition, that is all. But if he can chase away the Watchers like he says he can, you'd be an idiot not to hire him. I suppose I might have one, very small reservation about him.

Yeah? Char asked, wondering whatever could possibly be the matter with such a humble and innocent little fox.

The whole time he spoke, there was not a single hint of a lie, or even an embellishment, Eva described. The thought never even crossed his mind. He has an astounding sort of child-like innocence that he's managed to come this far clinging to.

So? Char replied. What's wrong with that?

Perhaps this will sound puerile coming from a career liar such as myself, but there is such a thing as being too honest, Eva said, sharing a sideways glance with Char. Zona hasn't yet realized it, or perhaps he is drowning in adamant denial… See, Char, you are one of the more honest Pokémon I've met recently, at least with those near to your heart. You share your secrets with Saura, or with me, for instance. But the only reason you feel comfortable sharing your secrets with me is because you trust me to keep those secrets… and that means you trust me to tell lies and half-truths to other Pokémon to cover them up if necessary. If in the name of honesty I told everyone's secrets to everybody I met, I would deserve the trust of nobody.

But Zona clings to a naïve belief that if he tries hard enough, he can learn to be honest with absolutely everyone, all the time. It is a puzzle to him, something he is adamant enough to solve. Perhaps it is honorable in its own way, except that… I'm not certain how safe our team's secrets will be with him.

Char nodded as he eyed the Vulpix. He understood what Eva was trying to tell him, but at the same time… there was something about the sense of innocence radiating from the little guy's personality that inspired him. There was a sort of energy coming from him that made him happy, but in a different way than Ray did. Zona's innocence wasn't exactly childlike; it was something much sturdier and stronger than that, as though there was some part of the fox's soul that was undeniably pure, some part that he'd found a way to keep untainted by the corruption and evils of the world despite having seen his share of fights and violence as a child.

More than anything, he wanted to get to know this Vulpix more closely.

Let's not give up on him right away, Char told Eva.

As you say, she replied.

Char gave his thanks to Zona, already mentally planning the mission that would serve for his tryout.

"Oh, and… Char," Zona said as he was about to leave. "Give Leo a chance, too. He's much stronger than he looks."

Char laughed, having forgotten who was next in line. "Alright, alright, send in Leo!" Char instructed, waving his hand.

When Marrow opened the door, Char watched as the little Shinx bounced around the corner. He and Zona exchanged a happy glance, one that seemed to express an entire conversation at once without a single word.

Before he knew it, he was face-to-face with the cheerful little lion cub.

"Char! Would you let me join your team?" he begged, wagging his tail like a dog. "Pleeeeeease? I wanna be with Ray and Zona!"

"We already have a strong electric-type," Otto said blankly. "Do you offer any advantages that would complement Ray?"

The Shinx responded by falling silent and pouting, casting Char the most wide, pitiful eyes Char had ever seen. He tried to retort, but the sight of the little kitten's tilted face took the words out of his mouth.

"Well," Eva said dryly, "Not even I can argue with a face like that."


Gravelerock Tunnel, 1F

Saura had tensed the moment he'd entered the dungeon, but soon found there was no point in staying on guard; the towering Nidoking seemed to be doing all the fighting for him.

The Redeemer had conjured some kind of perpetual fire magic in the hand that held his staff. The fire had spread to the top half of the staff, giving the appearance of some kind of oblong torch or flaming sword. At the first sign of opposition, he'd always fling some kind of projectile attack at the enemy, either from his horn, his mouth, or his free hand. He barely had to even look where he was attacking, and he never missed; and the Zubat and Spearow all dropped like flies in his path.

"Wait, who's chasing us?" Saura demanded, trying to keep up as the Nidoking suddenly turned around various corners of the maze, his cape billowing with his deft motions.

"That would be some old friends of yours, Team Silverwing," The Redeemer said. "The birds who trained your Pidgeotto teammate."

"The Pidgey, you mean?" Saura replied, confused.

"Pidgey? Hmm?" the Nidoking hummed. "You mean he's not evolved yet in this timeline? …Interesting."

Tzap. With another spark of static, another Zubat flopped to the ground, lifeless.

"So wait, if it's just Team Silverwing, why are we running away from them?!" Saura cried, looking back the way he came.

"Two reasons, mainly," the Starborn said. "First, because they're a terrible waste of my time. Second, the longer they spend chasing me, the less time they spend chasing my father. The longer I distract them, the more likely it becomes that my father will dominate all opposition at the Basin Canyon, leading to many of your friends getting slaughtered… including Scythe."

Saura looked mortified. "Scythe?! Scythe is going to die?"

The Nidoking seemed to shrug. "Not if I can help it, but you would be surprised to hear how many variations of the timeline end in Scythe's demise. Sometimes it seems that he's even more fragile than Char."

Thump. He kicked a nagging Rattata away from his foot.

"Therefore, I try to stay hidden from prying eyes as much as humanly possible. I prefer not to be the cause of senseless violence and death."

Without warning, the Nidoking extended his arm and produced a glowing, otherworldly beam of blue light from his claw. It collided with something at the end of the tunnel, causing it to shatter.

"WHOA! What was THAT?!" Saurvor cried in amazement, jumping back and trying to shield his brother from the blazing laser-light.

"I do believe that was a Geodude," The Redeemer said indifferently as the dust settled. "Try to keep up, please. We need to find somewhere we can talk, and quickly. I'd prefer that we make it to the surface before those blasted birds do."

He put a claw on the time gear. It was still warm. That was good.


Gravelerock Tunnel 2F

"Okay, so you're working for Char, right?" Saura said, irked at the Nidoking's length of silence. "So what do you want me to do?"

"I'm not here to tell you to do anything," the Nidoking said pointedly, looking displeased with the cramped tunnels which surrounded him. "I'm here to tell you something which, I hope, will prod you in a different direction than you were headed, and hopefully lead this timeline to a much more favorable result for everyone involved. Oh, for the love of Centauri, why did there have to be so many tunnels this time?!"

With a sudden movement, the Nidoking swung a massive fist at a nearby wall. Tremors shook the ground as an entire expanse of the wall crumbled away, revealing a larger chamber… and the staircase to the next floor.

"Ah, there we have it," The Redeemer uttered. "Now get in here, quickly. Both of you. Get beside the stairs but don't touch them."

The two brothers filed into the room as instructed, sitting down next to the out-of-place ascending staircase. The Redeemer swung his fiery staff around, scanning the nearby quarters for a threat, before narrowing his gaze at his followers.

"Now. Mainly, there are two things I must say," he started, speaking quickly. "And I need to make sure I say them in the correct order. One is something which your brother needs to hear, Saura, which is why I requested his presence, but it will help you to hear it as well."

He gripped a claw around the time gear as he spoke.

"Honestly I am surprised I've even gotten to speak with you at all, Saurvor," he said plainly. "The truth is, in the overwhelming majority of variations of the timeline I've seen, you and your family – save for Saura, of course – has perished around this time. It is rare for you to survive for even this long. Come fifteen days from now, you have always met your doom."

"Well yeah, Hunter and Adiel decided not to burn us alive, for some reason," the Ivysaur blurted awkwardly.

"No, you misunderstand," said the Redeemer quickly, clutching the time gear tightly. "What I'm trying to tell you is this: even in the timelines where you escaped from Hunter, you have still perished. Whatever is this unseen cause of your death, I suspect it is still stalking you."

The Ivysaur stamped his feet in astonishment. "What? Why? HOW? How do I die?!" he cried.

"I do not know," the Redeemer simply said. "To be honest, I could never spare the time to investigate; too many important events are happening all across Ambera in the upcoming weeks. Just know this: you and your whole family are likely in grave danger, and it may not be the Master's doing."

Saurvor ruffled his leaves, looking frightened. "Well, uh… at least tell us how much time we've got left to live?! Fifteen days, you said?!"

"Like I said, you should really be dead already," the Nidoking warned. "You are very lucky to have lived for this long, But know this: if your doom is coming, I'd suspect it's coming sooner rather than later. Fate has a way of seeping through the cracks and creeping up on you. Perhaps you will find a way to survive it this time. But I suggest you watch out for yourself. Understood?"

"Yeah…" the Ivysaur stammered. "Yeah, okay. Fine. Alright. I'm going to die. We're all going to die. Great. That's great. Great! Good to know."

There was a strange tremor in the floor. It was subtle, but the Nidoking noticed it. "Up the stairs, now," he ordered with urgency. "The wind is coming."

"The wind?! Why? We've barely been in here for five minutes..." Saura cried.

"The mystery dungeon does not like my time gear," the Nidoking grumbled. "But we can still outrun it. Up the stairs, you two. If you're going to die, it won't be by my hand, I can promise you that."


Gravelerock Tunnel 3F

The wayward Nidoking looked even more panicked than ever, and he galloped through the dungeon tunnels, sometimes dropping to all fours to slide under low ceilings. But he always kept a watchful eye over his shoulder at his travelling companions.

Saura stuck close to him as best as he could, his thoughts racing through possibilities. My family is fated to die?! he asked himself. Even after… after all they've been through, there's still danger?

What's the danger? They're in the safest place in Ambera! They're even protected by the Master…

What's going to happen to them?

Can I save them?

"Saura," sighed the Nidoking. "Saura, Saura, Saura. Oh, where do I even start with you…?" he said, sounding exhausted. He touched the wall with his claw, marking it with a broken line as he passed. "Here's a question for you to contemplate. Quickly. Contemplate. Why are you here? Why are you here, in this cave, following me right now?"

Saura opened his mouth to answer, but the Nidoking interrupted him. "And don't say that it's because I dragged you here," he snapped. "There is an entire chain of causality that led to you being here. If you stayed with Char, we never would have even had this conversation. Why haven't you stayed with Char?"

The Bulbasaur cast an ashamed glance at the passing floor. It took him a few tries to speak an answer.

"I don't know, I… I left because Char wanted me to leave," he said hesitantly. "He said he wanted to protect me."

"Ah, but that was because he asked you if you wanted to leave, and you said you did. So it can't be entirely his fault, can it?"

"I guess not," Saura sighed dejectedly. "I guess I missed my family too much, and I started blaming Char for all the danger they were put in." He took a deep breath, feeling heavy emotions pouring upon him. "I wanted to forgive him. I was going to. But when he looked at me… we were in the meadow, and he just looked at me, and asked me to be completely honest, something… something came over me, and I… I couldn't say anything…"

Saura dragged his feet, feeling the fine layer of gravel on the cave floor. It was just the way he remembered it, that one day when he walked through this same cave for the first time.

There were tears in his eyes.

"I wanted to say, 'Char. We're a team. I'm not going anywhere. It's dangerous but that's okay. That's just how our life is.' I was going to say, 'I'm happy my family is safe, but they're not really my family anymore. You're my family.' I was going to say, 'You're… just a human in a world full of Pokémon. You're going to feel lonely without me, and I want to keep you company.' I wanted to say, 'I want to be there for Ray, I want to make his life the best it can be while he's still got time to live.'"

He sniffed.

"I wanted, to say, 'Char… I forgive you. I forgive you for everything.' But when he looked at me… and told me to be honest… I just… something… I couldn't…"

Clack.

The base of the Nidoking's staff came down hard, right in front of Saura's face. Saura yelped and nearly fell over backward. He peered up to see quite a frightening face coming from the figure.

"I've had quite enough of your whining," the Nidoking said, glaring down at him. "You know what your problem is? You have no confidence in yourself. None. You're a despicable coward. First you run away from your family so that you can run to Char's side. Then you run away from Char so you can run to your family's side. I bet that's what you were muttering to yourself the whole time you were here, wasn't it? 'The Master can't touch us. We're untouchable. They can't hurt us. Nobody better hurt us.' You think this is the kind of partner Char wants? The one who's always running away to hide behind someone?"

Saura sniffled hard. "But… but I…"

Thunk. Thunk. He smacked Saura on the head with the base of the staff.

"Grow up, Bulbasaur," shouted the Starborn Nidoking, his voice ringing through the caves. "You're not a seedling anymore. You're a war hero."

"But I was touched… by a Watcher, and…"

"And so what?!" the Redeemer spoke to him in monotone. "The Watcher didn't give you anything that wasn't already part of you, and you know it. You are a weakling who is always living under someone else's protection, always in someone's shadow, always the secondary partner. Always the subservient one. Your life is governed by your fear of hurting your friends and your family. And when you get hurt, you thrive off the pity you've earned from everyone who loves you, never off of your own strength. You're always standing up for others. You've never stood up for yourself."

Saura lost it. He curled up on the floor and bawled his eyes out. His childlike sobs filled the tunnels.

"Hey, what gives?" the Ivysaur growled, glaring up at him and coming to his brother's side. "You lie. My brother has guts, you know that? He had the guts to tell the Master, 'Hey, shove it, I'm living my own life, the way I want,' right? That's why he ran away! He was standing up for himself! He's not a coward!"

"Perhaps you could say that, yes," the Nidoking said gravely. "In a way, it was a valiant effort to escape the Master as he did. But even still, there's still something he doesn't know just yet. Something he hasn't quite… puzzled out. And it's time I told him the truth."

The Nidoking bent down and waited for the Bulbasaur's tears to finish flowing. He waited with an impatient expression, reaching out to stroke Saura's forehead with a sort of forced gentleness.

Saura would have shoved his claw away, except that his touch seemed to absorb the pain from the headache the Nidoking had caused a moment earlier. He just sighed and stood in place, listening.

"You are here," he finally said, "here in this cave, right now, speaking with me… because you are under a ridiculous misconception. You think that Char was some sort of… chosen one, and that you were his fateful partner, the tagalong, the one who would follow him to the end of the earth. Am I right?"

"He was my… human," Saura choked out, looking up at him with wide, watery eyes. "That's what Pokémon do… for their humans. Isn't it?"

The Nidoking seemed surprised at the way Saura had worded the statement, and a moment of vulnerability flicked across his face.

"Perhaps. But since you consider yourself Char's partner, let me tell you about Char's other partners. The ones that… never were."

"What are you talking about?" Saura said in a cracked voice.

The Nidoking stood up and turned to glance down the hall. He brushed a claw against the time gear before continuing.

"Before Char transformed," he said, "there were… several Pokemon he deemed suitable to be his partner. He manipulated fate in such a way that would make each of them available as options. That was part of his plan. Many of the routes were fated to fail, so he needed options. You were but one of those options. Though Char was always going to be a Charmander, he selected a partner by means of when and where he entered the timeline, thus choosing whose path he crossed, and which particular Pokémon he would form his first and strongest bond with. You became his partner only because he appeared in this very cave at the precise moment he did, crossing paths with you at your most vulnerable hour. It was by design.

"Ah, let's run down the list, shall we? In most of the timelines where Char didn't select you, he selected Raikouun. Now, Raikouun, in the general sense, made a spectacular partner to him, albeit with some flaws and weaknesses that did not come to light until near the end of the journey. He made Char very happy and very inspired, but Char grew to resent him, feeling like Ray never took him completely seriously. Regrettably, Ray was always a bit too reckless, and in all of the timelines, Char witnessed his death firsthand and was thus unable to finish his journey without support from his dear partner.

"In some other timelines, the partner was Taka, the Treecko. Ah, such a strong start, those two. There was even one timeline where they fell in love. Both witty, both ambitious, both with chips on their shoulders and a certain sense of insecurity in their hearts, both willing to stand up for themselves and for one another… But there was always a point where Taka felt Char was asking too much of her, and she broke away from him. Again, Char was unable to finish the journey alone, without the partner he'd confided in since his transformation.

"There were a few with Lily the Chikorita as the partner. Oh, those were something else. Char's entry point was far in the past, back during the Emerald Division wars. Char and Lily worked together well enough when cornered, but they never saw eye-to-eye, and certainly never fell in love. In most of them, Char was always unable to save Lily in a dire hour because of his own weakness against cold. In the others, it was always Char himself who died, because Lily was never able to get close enough to Prince to form the bond that would form the source of her strength and determination. Too many times, I have seen Char smoldering to death in the cold and snow, as the Bayleef tugs and pleads for him to get up. It was one of the fates that was always the most difficult to watch.

"Shall I continue? There were many other options for Char. Evan the Eevee was one. Cirrus the Squirtle was another. Leo the Shinx was another. Then there was a certain Snivy I do believe he hasn't met yet, but might meet soon. Then there were several at the Black Division… An Axew, a Chespin, a Froakie… most of those didn't work out. All of Char's attempts to begin at the Black Division were so doomed that I barely remember them.

"But those timelines all had one trait in common: they never happened. They were all discontinued. Char's plans unraveled, and despite my greatest efforts I was unable to redeem them. To all but the legendaries and I, they are naught but an echo of a memory of an idea. In the overwhelming majority of timelines that actually went somewhere… you, Saura, you were the partner. Char will always be Char, but you were the determinant. You were the variable that—"

Clang. The Nidoking threw the time gear to the ground. It had suddenly grown unbearably cold.

He stared at it for a moment, as though it had grown fangs and was about to devour his hand. The silence was palpable, only broken by the Nidoking's sharp breaths of terror.

"…Well," he grumbled, bending to retrieve it. "I suppose I've nearly said too much. You will just have to figure that part out on your own."

The Redeemer trudged through the rest of the cave in a stunned silence, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Saura and Saurvor followed. Saura could barely focus on his steps; his mind spun with endless questions and predictions as to what the Nidoking had stopped himself from saying.


Gravelerock Tunnel 4F

The Nidoking didn't take long to regain his composure. He felt the warmth flooding back to the tiny talisman, and with it, his confidence and the hustle in his step had returned.

"Our time together is nearly at an end, it seems," he said as he climbed the final stair to the last floor. "As soon as we reach the surface, you will be on your own. Your decisions will be yours to make."

"Wait—hold on, please," Saura said, still in a tearful voice. "Why did you tell me all of that? I don't understand… Why did you tell me about the other partners? What do you want me to do?"

"Stop asking that question, for a start," he replied flippantly. "Learn to have a will of your own. Stand on your own strengths. Not only will it be good for you, but it will also make you a much better partner to Char, should you choose to return to him. Because being strong doesn't just mean being emotionally supportive. You also need to be smart. It's not enough to know what feels best. You must know what is best."

The Nidoking punched out another wall, shielding Saura from the flying rubble of the impact. He cleared out the room with a fiery pulse from his staff-hand which incinerated the wings from a dozen Zubat at once. A napping Spearow in the far corner never had the chance to awaken.

"Let me put it in some other terms, since the threads of fate disagreed with me the first time," he said, searching hurriedly for the exits to the room. "You entered this cave today believing that Char was some sort of… chosen one, and his existence here was the herald of some time-spanning quest at which he is the center. Before you leave this cave, try and understand the truth: You are the chosen one. Char was merely the one who did the choosing."

He clacked his staff against the floor, coming to a stop. Saura noticed the final staircase just down the hall before him.

"And therefore it must be said that he is not the hero of this particular timeline. It is you."

Saura staggered, nearly choking out his next breath of air. "How… How am I the hero?!" He croaked. "I know I have the Call, but the Call is useless! I-I'm not anyone special! I'm just a child… How am I supposed to be the hero?!"

The Nidoking eyed him keenly. "Funny; I distinctly remember asking a certain human the same question, but it all became clear eventually. Perhaps one day you will come to understand why you are the hero. But not unless you start acting like one. Am I understood?"

"But how am I supposed to act like a hero when—"

"Oh, for Centauri's sake, just say yes," the Redeemer said with a glower, cutting off the rambling Bulbasaur. "This is the part where you say 'yes,' and the timeline straightens itself out, and that frees me to start working on the mess with Adrel, and we both go on our own separate, merry ways. Here's a hint: you do understand me, you just can't hear yourself above all of your tenacious whining."

He bent down to the Blubasaur's eye level, but a wary glance fell down the dark hall. He felt the wind coming again.

"Now can you please humor an old, overgrown rabbit and at least pretend you've gotten something from my rambling?"

"I-uh-alright," Saura bumbled, his face still red from tears.

"Sounds good enough to me," the Redeemer said, standing back up. "Now go up those stairs. Your escorts will be arriving shortly."

Feeling another tremor in the floor, he readied an orb from one of his pockets. The tremors were so haunting, so deceptively miniscule at first, but he would never forget the way they felt.

With a swish of his cape, he turned to walk down the same hallway, taking his firelight with him.

"Wait, you're going back?" Saurvor said, startled. "You're not going to the surface?"

"Not in this timeline I'm not," the Redeemer said, raising his voice. "Fare thee well, Saura. However you should choose to make use of your time is known only to you. Fate willing, we will see one another again, just as long as Char doesn't completely botch things up this time. I suppose we'll be seeing how he does shortly enough. Oh, and Saura?"

He turned one last time, even though he felt the dungeon's wind starting to tickle his ears. The time gear was now only lukewarm to the touch, its warmth bleeding out fast.

"You… didn't leave Char by your own free will," he told Saura. "His heartspeak was affecting you too strongly. But if you were strong-minded enough, willing to be your own Pokémon and not someone else's, you could have still found the fortitude to deny his request. Remember that."

With one final swish of his cape, the Starborn turned a corner and disappeared, leaving Saura standing still and staring at the darkness.

He had too much to think about now.

Saurvor began yanking him with his vines. "C'mon, brother, let's get to the surface," he begged. "I don't want to be in this place any longer than we need to be."

"…Yeah," Saura said absentmindedly, shuffling his feet in the direction of the sunlit staircase at the end of the corridor.

Saura approached the sunlight, trying not to let his mind get sucked into the darkness of the tunnel behind him. In just a few more steps, he'd be free… and he knew he'd never need to enter another mystery dungeon again if he didn't want to.

But his thoughts had just stepped into a maze of their own.

Stand up for myself…?

I'm the hero…?

I don't know how this is supposed to help me.

Being more independent would have made me a better partner to Char? I don't get it.

Am I fated to be Char's partner, or not?

Can I decide to stay here?

Or should I go back?

I need to go back if Char can't finish his mission without a partner.

I thought I was a good partner to Char…

And yeah, I did blame him for everything, but… but I couldn't help it. Could I?

He was the fire in my nightmares. I couldn't stop myself from feeling bitter.

Could I have?

It sounds like he's doing fine with Ray, though. If Ray was destined to be Char's partner too, he's probably doing fine without me.

Alright, I need to get it together.

If I had to be completely honest with myself right now…

I wouldn't mind going back.

Just… not now. My family is here, and they need me.

If they're in danger, I need to help them.

I need to make sure they stay safe.

As they set foot on the staircase, he glanced over at his brother. Saurvor was still very shaken from the warning he received, a warning that heralded his death… anytime, anywhere…

Sorry, Char, Saura decided. I can't come back.

Not now.

Not until I make sure nothing ever happens to them again.


Division Base

It was a long and tiring day, but they did it. Team Ember had completed ten interviews.

It took much longer than Char had anticipated. Some of the Pokémon didn't want to leave without confirmation that they were being considered for the job – especially the ones who weren't very fit for it.

Char was pretty certain that he wanted Zachel and Zona on the team, and discussed the possibility of skipping the tryouts and hiring them as apprentice members. Leo seemed enthusiastic enough, even though Char barely knew what he was capable of; he seemed to get along with the team so well that Char considered hiring him alongside Zona, just because.

Then there was that Marill girl that had come after Zona. Raincloud was her name, and there was something off-putting about her. After talking for a while, it was clear to Char that she was not ready to graduate. After further questioning, she admitted that she lived in the daycare center and was a feral-in-training, and had not completed her education regiment yet. She then admitted, after some prodding by Eva, that she only wanted to be on the team so that she could get away from all the teachers constantly telling her what to do. Otto particularly seemed disgusted with her behavior and sent her away himself, advising her to eat more blue gummis and never disobey her superiors.

After that, there was Lyre, a Mawile girl who at first seemed quite competent. She'd trained on Team Chasm and claimed to be an experienced rock-breaker. Her elemental types and her skillset piqued the interest of Otto, but Char didn't quite trust the way she acted – she had a very mysterious way of speaking, as though she enjoyed leaving the end off of every sentence and was amused by watching everyone try to figure her out. When she left, Char still really didn't know what to think of her, and Eva claimed that trying to follow her thoughts around in circles was tiring.

When the team had finished lunch, Char was a bit shocked to find a Sableye applying to be on his team. She was a member of Team Cog, and claimed she was sick of never getting to leave the base – or even the solid rock walls that comprised it – and said that she would give anything to see the sunlight on a regular basis again. Though he mustered enough energy to speak with formality, Char was intimidated by her presence and didn't quite know what to think about her living gemstone eyes boring holes into his forehead. But she didn't for a moment acknowledge her strange, ghastly appearance – she seemed bored to death, as it were, and spoke in a flat monotone that seemed almost like she was following a script. Char got the impression that she severely lacked self-esteem. Nevertheless, something about the ghost caught his interest, and he invited her to a tryout.

Just when Char was starting to wonder where the other members of Team Stripes actually were, Evan the Eevee showed up to the interview. He was well-behaved enough, if not a bit cynical. When Otto asked what he intended to grow up into, Evan said that he'd rather choose whatever evolution his team most needed. Eva was quick to point out the shameless lie, informing Char that he very much hoped to become a Vaporeon and entertained near-constant dreams of deep-sea diving.

There was a sour sneer in her telepathic voice as she said so, something that Char couldn't decode – and something about it made him too scared to ask.

Then there came a Poochyena, one of the younger and newer members of Team Stripes. Otto seemed the most keenly interested and was the one to ask him the most questions about his skills. On the other hand, Eva shrugged her shoulders and scoffed bitterly, telling Char that he was on his own for this one, just like with the Sableye – she couldn't, after all, casually read a dark type's mind. His name was Asunder, and despite the fact that he seemed generally confused and couldn't spit out his words correctly, it was soon clear to Char just what kind of a person the little pup was – he was fiercely loyal, and was itching to throw himself at a new master and attach with all his heart.

If Eva wants to be my cat, he mused, Asunder would be my dog. He'd probably be one to get too jealous if Saura came back… better be careful what I say to him.

There was a fat Munchlax who acted as strange as he looked and simply would not stop talking. His name was Gregory. When asked about his skills or his favorite types of missions, he'd spin the conversation into tangents about his brothers taking him fishing to Crumpled Lake and eating all the fish he caught. In the middle of one of his dissertations about how he retook a training class three times, Char glanced over to Ray and found him stewing with a sour expression on his face. That never happened.

They finally got rid of the blathering child when Otto caught a moment to speak and simply chirped out, "You're fired, please leave." It was then that the Munchlax seemed to notice the exasperated faces which surrounded him, and he hung his head and left.

Late in the afternoon, the tenth candidate showed up. She was a Quilava named Scarlet. She was a creature of few words but obvious confidence, and spoke highly of herself despite an underlying shyness that almost made Char want to hug her to make her feel better. Having been thoroughly exhausted by the day's eventfulness, Char decided she showed enough promise and cut her interview short with a promise of a tryout. It wasn't until she left that Char noticed a gaping expression from both Ray and Eva, who both informed him that this Quilava was hopelessly enamored with Char (and Char didn't even want to know why Ray had known about it).

He had caught more than one weird vibe from Eva's mind, something like jealous devotion, a sense of obligation to protect her master from unsuitable courtship. A part of him was actually thankful for it. "I'd prefer you didn't hire anyone who is emotionally compromised by their team leader," Eva said keenly after the truth had begun to sink in. "But if you must, I strongly advise that you only hire one."

After the tenth interview, there was still plenty of time left in the day to hold more… but Char couldn't take it. Exhausted, he told Marrow to send the rest of them away, promising them they'd hold more interviews the next morning. They spent the rest of the day munching leftover salad from lunch and discussing who they could get to provide the teleportation services for the stunt they were about to pull with the thief.

Char went to bed alone for the second night. He stared at Saura's bed for an hour, wondering if he was doing anything right at all.

An hour later, he was woken up by a startling telepathic cry.

Char, there's someone at the door, Eva reported. They seem impatient. I feel like I've met them before, but I can't quite place it. Fire-type, perhaps.

Alright, I'm coming, Char replied. Thank you for letting me know.

Most welcome, master, the dazed Espeon replied.

Grumbling, Char tumbled out of his bed and crept down the hall in the dull light of the blue flames, half-expecting a confession of love from that Quilava whose name he could barely remember and wondering what he was going to do about it.

When he slid open the door, his dreary eyes landed upon Tallie, who looked wide awake as ever and carried a mailbag strapped to her belly.

"You… missed the interviews, you know," Char said blankly. In his fatigue, he couldn't think of much else to say, but he easily grew frustrated with her. "We gave you a free pass to the front of the line and you didn't take it…?"

Tallie's answer was loud, nearly enough to wake his sleeping teammates. "While you spent the day sitting around doing nothing, I was off making you money," she said, sliding the mailbag to the floor and clawing at the flap with her talon. She reached in and tossed a half-crumpled page in Char's direction.

Char climbed to his feet to unroll the note and looked at it. He pretended to read it, but he noticed the registrar's stamp of "DONE" on the bottom of the page. It was a receipt, a proof of a job completion.

"You… did a mission?" Char asked, folding the note again.

Tallie responded by kicking the mailbag. It slid towards Char, its flap falling open and several more notes pouring out.

Char collected them and paged through them. They were all similar: official notices of completed jobs.

"Nine missions. From your pinboard out here," she said with a huff. "You had your hands busy with all of those children all day, and some of your mail looked a bit urgent, so… I decided to make sure your team stayed operational while you were taking the day off."

Char was awestruck. He kept paging through the papers of different sizes and colors, trying to recognize any of the writing. He thought he spotted the symbols for "Team White Rain."

His claws began to shake.

"…Ten? Ten missions in one day… by yourself?" Char gasped to the proud bird.

"It's not like they were hard," she shrugged. "Nothing above S-rank."

"But you aren't on the team," Char said, dropping the papers to his side and staring blankly at her.

"Obviously, I told administration that you had hired my help, and these were all completed in your name," she said with a fiery glare. "I told you the first time, Char. Resistance teams are about taking initiative. I don't stand around talking about all the things I could be doing. I'm out there doing it."

Char felt the fire in his gut dancing in strange ways as he stared at the large, intimidating falcon in his doorway. He didn't know what to feel about the stunt she'd just pulled. Part of him was still angry at her for completely ignoring everything he'd told her, but the other part…

She squinted at him. "Well, am I on the team, or not?" she demanded. "I hope that I have proven my worth."

Char looked at the papers again, and knew just what he wanted to say. He took a deep breath and stood back from the doorway.

"I'm going to take a risk with you," he told her in a low voice, dropping the papers to the floor. "My team had a few concerns about you. Eva didn't like your attitude. Otto didn't like the way you quit Team Flamewheel as soon as you joined. I don't like the way you skipped out on the interview and made us wait. But… you're right. We need someone strong and experienced like you. So… Welcome to the team, I guess…"

He waved her through the door, indicating the hall.

"Take any room you want, most of them are still unoccupied…" he said, just as the Talonflame flapped over his head and landed halfway down the hall. "I guess I'll tell the others about you in the morning."

"Well, finally, took you long enough," Tallie spat. "I thought I was never going to convince you—"

"But that's not the risk I'm taking," Char added quickly, speaking before he had the chance to change his mind again. He knew he would fail to spit it out if he waited long enough. What he was about to say was rash and probably crazy, but he truly felt that the risk was worth taking. This Talonflame was a trustworthy Pokémon in her own way – she could be left alone and would figure out the best course of action by herself. She did not share the blind loyalty of the rest of his team, the conviction of following Char to the ends of the earth and never disobeying his orders. Tallie didn't put up with that. She couldn't stand it when Pokémon didn't keep up with her.

It reminded Char of someone else, almost… some grumbly dark hound that always had a bad attitude, but it was an attitude that he needed to have. That's what made him valuable to his team.

"The risk I'm taking…" Char said, his voice wavering for a moment, "I want you to be my second-in-command."

Tallie froze in mid-step, still faced away from Char.

"I know the others aren't going to like this… it's going to take some convincing. But from what I know about you… you have a strong instinct and the skills to back it up, and I want you to use that initiative," Char said, standing straight and tall, sure of every word he spoke. "Keep using it. Surprise us. Help us be a better team. But if you go too far and do something we don't agree with, you'll lose the position. Got it?"

Instead of responding, Tallie stood still for a few more moments. When he began to approach, she turned her head to him, and he could clearly see a tear welling in her deep, intimidating eye.

"Sorry. I'm… Nobody has… ever offered me a position of… authority before," she said softly, shuffling her folded wings. "I've always just… I mean… I was always the fetch-monkey. I was always the one who just did what I was told. You—you're the first one to actually appreciate the effort I put into this resistance…"

Just as quickly, her eye turned away.

"Thank you," she said. "I won't disappoint you."

Tallie hobbled into the nearest empty room and shut the door behind her, and Char sat down against the wall, feeling the ghastly blue flames dig into his eyes and contemplating the decision he had just made.

Char… why? Eva suddenly said.

Char shuddered. The Espeon's voice was broken and seething with bitterness. She felt betrayed.

After all I've… all the assistance I've given you… you let her be your partner?

I didn't realize you thought so low of me.

Char sighed, choosing his thoughts wisely before he replied.

I don't think low of you, he told her. I respect all the help you've given me. But I realized I was thinking about everything all wrong. All this time, I was trying to figure out which of you would be the best partner to me. I kept thinking, 'Who would be my best friend?' 'Who could I tell my secrets to?' 'Who could I gossip with and whine about my problems to?' And that was almost going to be you, Eva. But then… I saw Tallie. And I realized… no. I need to stop trying to pick the second officer who's good for me. I need a second officer who's good for the team. And that's Tallie. I do still need a partner, but I don't think a second officer and a partner need to be the same thing. It's like how Scythe's best friend was Shander, and he didn't have Daemon's authority. Tallie is a very strong Pokémon who's overqualified for our team. The least we can do is give her the position she deserves and let her help us the best we can. I can always figure out who gets to help me talk about my personal problems later.

As you say… human, Eva replied groggily, her thoughts ringing with hurt.

I'm sorry, Char replied, crawling back to his room. I did what I thought was best, not what I thought would make me feel good. If I don't learn how to do that… I'm never going to be a good leader, ever. But I'll tell you what. You…

He took a breath before he completed his sentence. This was also a difficult thing to say, but he needed to get used to making decisions.

You can take Saura's place for now, he decided, collapsing further down the wall as he loosened his tensed muscles. I know you don't want to be in charge of the team, I can tell that. But I know you want to be my partner. Fine then, Eva. You can be my partner. Because I do need one or I'll go insane. C'mon, you can even sleep by the fireplaces if you want. Help me think about things. There are so many things happening to me now that I just don't know what to feel about…

Eva's door slid open by the force of her telekinetic command, and she stood in her doorway across the hall from Char. She looked like she was about to cry, but she dutifully held her composure. Her gemstone cast a crystalline light against the blue torches beside her.

I shouldn't have caused a fuss, she said, her telepathic voice betraying her vulnerability where her tears would not. You are right, of course; Tallie is fit to be our leader. You are the human… I should have trusted your wisdom, just as I said I would. Just three days ago, I told you I would never again underestimate the wisdom of a human, and look at what I have become. I have become a disgrace.

Char shook his head vigorously. Nah, you're not a disgrace. You're a good friend. And I think you're lonely. You would have been jealous no matter who I picked if it wasn't you. That's fine, because I'm lonely, too. I know Otto doesn't mind being alone, and he doesn't have the emotional maturity to help me. And Ray's about to have a whole reunion with Team Stripes as soon as I hire half their members. They'll be fine. But I need a Pokémon who I can be honest with, who will help me be the leader of this crazy team. So if you're up to it… come with me and help me not to be so lonely. Alright? And I'll do the same in return.

There was always some part of Eva that Char didn't trust. There was always just some nagging nerve in the back of his conscience that warned him not to open his heart to her. He wasn't sure if it was because of the way she had told so many lies in the past about her own powers, or if it was something about her attitude that suggested she was still hiding something…

But in that moment in the blue shadows of the hallway, Char saw a smile form across her face, and knew in the depths of his heart that this smile, this one small expression of happiness, was as genuine as smiles could come. He still wasn't sure how much to tell her – he'd consider telling her about the Call again later – but in the very present moment, he knew that he'd made his new partner very happy.

Thank you, master, she said, approaching him quietly. You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say such things… master.

And she came to sit beside him, letting him stroke the fur upon her back as though she were a housecat. He wondered if it was a demeaning gesture, but she didn't seem to mind it; he felt mysterious emotions coming from her, something deep and nostalgic and almost mythical, at the experience of letting a human treat her as his pet. She snuggled close to him, leaning into his affection.

They spent the next two hours speaking telepathically about how the new members should be treated, and then Char retired to his room, letting Eva stay in Saura's bed.

*Chapter 88*: Chapter 67: What's Important

o

Chapter 67

The following morning, the talk went much more smoothly than Char had expected.

Char began the next day's meeting by announcing the new changes to the team. Otto seemed thrilled about Tallie's new role, saying that he looked forward to serving under her. Ray was shocked at Tallie's sudden reappearance, but congratulated her all the same and started asking her all kinds of questions about which foods she liked and what her greatest feats of the Black Division were. He even tried to hug her, but she jumped back and evaded him.

"I do not appreciate being pounced on! As your newly installed superior, I could set a restraining order on you!" she squawked, and Char honestly couldn't tell if she was sarcastic or serious. But Otto nudged her with his small wing and said, "He is always like that, you will get used to it over time. I recommend that you let him hug you whenever he wants. He only wants to express his cheer and to garner trust."

The Talonflame narrowed her gaze at the Raichu and said, "You're the oldest one here before me, so how come you're the most immature?" But she reached out with her huge wing and gave Ray a token pat on the head, as though to concede an apology for shirking away.

Ray pouted, crossing his arms. "Hey, hugs are not immature! They're very important," he insisted, nodding sternly at her. "Everybody needs hugs. Sometimes Pokémon just don't like to admit they want them."

But introducing Tallie as the new co-leader wasn't the part Char was worried about.

As the two birds bickered with the Raichu, Char glanced at Eva, and was met with a supportive gaze accompanied by a proud, interested flick of her tail. It seemed the days had passed when the Espeon would attend the morning meeting half-asleep and uncaring; today Char felt his fire and his confidence strengthen just by looking into her deep, attentive eyes. Though she spoke no words to him, neither with her mouth nor her mind, she communicated a clear message: I will go wherever you go, do whatever you do. I will never leave your side. I will listen to your every wish. I am yours to command, my master.

That level of support from a single Pokémon… it made Char feel really good. Really, really good. Almost uncomfortably good.

For a moment, he caught himself following a stray thought:

That was the same way Saura and I trusted one another a long time ago…

Wasn't it?

It seems so long ago that Saura and I were very close. This is the way I used to feel about him before the Watcher hit him.

What's so different about Eva, then?

But he couldn't doubt himself, not when Eva's eyes were fixed on him, radiating pure spiritual strength.

She'd promised him repeatedly, every time he expressed the slightest doubt, that she'd never get between him and Saura.

There was something in particular she had said to him the previous night, sometime before they had fallen asleep:

"When he comes back – and I know he will, I think it is inevitable – he will have his bed back. And he will have his best friend back, just the way he left you. And never will there be a nosy Eon to disturb your time together. If that is the vow I must take to earn your trust, then you have my undying word. I serve my master without reservations."

And she had said this as he leaned against her, idly stroking her fur. It had always felt so strange to treat a sentient creature like a pet. And yet… the Espeon didn't protest at all. She encouraged it even, cuddling to his side and positioning her head beneath his claw at every opportunity.

Maybe she just likes headrubs, Char figured, the way Ray likes hugs.

He wasn't going to complain. Petting Eva had a great calming effect on him. The comfort helped him to put his thoughts in order… almost as good as Saura's voice did.

Or perhaps better? It was hard to tell.

Either way, he wondered why he was feeling shaky about the announcement in the first place. He knew Eva would stand up for him. That's what partners did.

"There is something else," Char announced, cutting off the banter. "Another change to our team."

Ray blinked. "You hired Zona, didn't you?" he guessed with a sly grin. "Please tell me you hired Zona!"

"Not yet," Char said, taking a deep breath and smothering his insecurity. "I have decided that, until further notice, Eva will be filling in for Saura. That is to say… She and I will be talking a lot, and… she'll be staying in my room. At least until Saura comes back. We'll be… close friends, I guess."

Char held his breath to gauge the reaction. Otto stared blankly at him, Ray looked a bit surprised, and Tallie…

"So what?" Tallie said, sounding a bit irritable. "What makes that newsworthy?"

Char instantly felt nervous. "What do you mean?" he said, trying to straighten his face.

"Is it normal to announce changes in friendship on this team?" Tallie questioned. "Are we all assigned personal consorts here? What difference does it make who your friend is?"

"Actually, it does kind of make a difference on this team," Ray said. "Char has… well, he will tell you when he's ready, I think. There's kind of a reason he needs a personal companion."

Tallie blinked. "Oh, so I'm guessing there's some secret everyone here but me knows?" she said dryly, casting an imposing glare down to Char. "Mind filling me in, O valiant leader?"

Char gulped, trying to keep his fire still. He felt Tallie's gaze burning on his tail. He was well aware that she knew all of the flickers and dances of a fire-type's ember too intimately, and that she would know all of his secrets in due time merely by paying attention to his tail flame.

"It's kind of a personal thing," Char said meekly. "It's also kind of weird. I guess I can tell you, if you insist, but I… just don't call me crazy until you hear me out, alright?"

Tallie scoffed. "Pah, I've heard things you wouldn't believe," she said dismissively with a flit of her tail. "I'd be surprised if you could tell me something I haven't heard before. So let's have it, then. Try me."

Char glanced at Eva. She is agreeable, I think, Eva reported. Her thoughts are unpredictable, but now seems to be the best time. Go ahead and tell her.

Char nodded at her, then gave Tallie a strong glare right in the eyes. "My secret is that I'm a human transformed into a Charmander," he said confidently. "All my memories of being a human are gone. I'm here for a reason, but I don't know what it is yet. That's why I need a partner. They're here to help me fit in with Pokémon in Ambera."

Tallie's eyes widened, but only for a minute. Char blinked, and her smug expression had returned.

"Oh, so you're one of those," Tallie quipped, nodding in understanding. "You think your soul is a human? I've met your kind before. I've also met Pokémon who think they're Arceus on the inside. I've met Pokémon who think they've died a thousand years ago and got reincarnated as something else. I've met Pokémon who think they're Mew trapped in a transformation. And you know what? I've served under all of them. Thinking you're a human on the inside is relatively tame. Sorry, but you're going to have to try better than that to shock me."

"B-but wait," Char tried, choking on his tongue. "I'm not – I can – I really am…"

"Shut it," Tallie snapped, waving her wing at Char. "Look. I don't care, got it? Your soul is whatever you decide it is. I don't care. If it helps you to tell yourself that you're human, good for you. Just as long as you don't expect special treatment, and you let me treat you like the Charmander that you look like, I don't see how this has any bearing on the way you run the team. Understood?"

Despite the sour look on Eva's face, Char gulped and nodded at the Talonflame. "Yes, of course," he said, nearly stumbling over his words. He decided he wouldn't push the matter right away. If he and Eva needed to convince her, they had better ways of doing so. Hopefully.

"Well, is that it?" Tallie squawked, looking at her new teammates. "Is that the extent of the meeting? Just the new hire and the friendship drama?"

"Oh, no, we're just getting started," Char returned. "Today's a very important day, as I'm sure most of you are well aware," he said, standing tall and pacing as he addressed his teammates. "In our hunt for the Iron Town thief, we've designed an operation to help us figure out what the thief is really after. Operation 'One Bite' is to be performed tonight, at six o'clock by human timekeeping. Kecleon has his merchandise ready. By noon, we need to meet with Kecleon and agree upon the three locations for the items to be set, and have the notices printed and posted in Iron Town so that the thief will see them. Then we'll have six hours to have all the arrangements in place, and we'll get to see what the thief picks."

Tallie looked intrigued. "Now this sounds exciting," she said, twitching her tail. "Anything I can help with?"

"As a matter of fact, absolutely," Char said, nodding at her. "Our plan requires the cooperation of a Pokémon who can teleport. Tallie, you just came from Flamewheel, I know you have connections with a lot of Pokémon. If I gave you until noon to find someone to help us, could you?"

"I can do anything," she answered smugly. "In fact, I know a few teleportation users I could ask. One of them might be a bit snippy about it, but we'll see if we can bribe him. Just give me a representative of your team – I mean, one that's more easily recognizable than me, and I'll get you someone. Just tell me where to put them."

"Perfect. Otto, you go with Tallie, do whatever she needs you to do," Char said. "Ray, you go talk to Kecleon and tell him about the locations we had in mind. Now, on top of all of this, I've promised the crowd another round of interviews. So Eva and I are going to hang back here and get through some more candidates. Marrow should be by anytime, and I'd imagine the huge long line won't be far behind."

Tallie glared sternly. "As your second officer, will I get some sort of say in the recruits you hire?" she inquired.

"Yes, we are planning to hold tryouts," Eva said, cutting in. "You will have your say when you can see them in action. Char and I will conduct interviews merely to weed out the chaff."

Overassertive hothead, she added quietly to Char.

Char acknowledged and congratulated Tallie for completing ten days' worth of missions at once, and discussed with her some of the candidates he was considering. When the meeting concluded, Team Ember dispersed with the orders Char had assigned, ready to get the day started early.

When they were alone, Char cast a glance at Eva and said, "I'm not going to have trouble with you two, am I?"

"Only as much trouble as she wants to have," Eva said, sticking her nose in the air. "Pardon me for being melodramatic, but I don't believe in being so insensitive when my master opens his heart to me. The nerve of her, to disregard your humanity as a mental illness! Tonight, I will make sure she has nightmares of humans throwing Pokéballs at her."

Char sighed, almost ready to chuckle. He slid down to sit against her side, touching the fur on the back of her neck. "Nah, let's not resort to that just yet," he told her. "I like that she's cynical. Sometimes I don't mind being questioned, you know? Sometimes it helps me think if I have to explain myself."

"I do not mind her questioning either, but I do not like her attitude," Eva huffed. "She'll start wanting to run the whole team herself if we're not careful."

Char shrugged. "Well, maybe she'll be able to take over for me if something happens," he said. "Maybe that's why I feel like I can trust her."


Otto and Tallie stopped to rest on a stone windowsill overlooking one of the division's central chambers. The upper corridors of the base were quiet as the elite teams still slept. Otto peered down to the lower floor, seeing that the breakfast crowd hadn't yet formed. The base was eerily barren beneath the orange torchlight; only the earliest of the early birds were up at this hour.

A ways down the hall, Otto spotted the door to Team Flamewheel's chamber.

He turned to Tallie, noticing a flicker of reluctance in her golden eyes which she quickly hid behind a blank glare. He understood why she hesitated; there was certainly an awkward element to meeting with the team she'd just abandoned and having to negotiate with them.

"Is there a teleportation user on Team Flamewheel?" Otto inquired.

"Yes," she replied absently, twisting her head to stare at the faraway door. "He's probably the best pick for us, but he's not going to be easy to convince. I'm trying to think of what to tell him."

"Why do you keep telling Char that you can do anything?" Otto blurted, tilting his head. "I don't understand. Nobody can do anything. For instance, you can't lift a mountain with your wings."

"Not with that attitude, you can't," she said. "As far as you're concerned, maybe I can lift a mountain with my wings."

Otto nodded. It seemed that there was some danger of Team Flamewheel being unreasonable, but he felt that Tallie was someone to be trusted.

He looked at her again, admiring her stature. What a magnificent bird she was, and what perfect posture! Surely, he thought, she stood taller than even Syr, and had a larger wingspan. And with such meticulously preened feathers, indicative of a perfectionist, or someone of high self-esteem.

How proud, how assertive she was, how certain of the things she believed. She must have seen so much of the world, had experience in so many battles… and now, she was one of them, lending all of that knowledge and experience to his team. Her inferences suggested an IQ of at least eight stars. If she truly was as multi-talented as she claimed, eight and a half stars was the minimum.

Her record of successes and failures remained unknown, but if she had accomplished ten jobs in one day, it was probably much higher than he had predicted. She looked to be at least thirty years of age. If she had accomplished ten missions each day of her life (Accounting for six years as a hatchling, and six more years of training at which her daily success rate might have averaged to five missions per day)… that came to over seventy-six thousand missions she could have potentially completed. Incredible! He could be standing beside a bird with a record more breathtaking than a three-degree nosedive.

He shook out his feathers. He hadn't felt so small and childish since he'd stood in Syr's shadow. Or perhaps since that day so long ago, that day when he met Char and his intelligence sparked to life for the first time. It was the fire that had drawn him to Char's side.

How strong he must be to carry a piece of the sun upon his tail, he remembered his feral mind thinking. I want to be strong, like him. He must teach me to have my own fire.

And now, Tallie offered her companionship, carrying inside of her the same Ember that lived within Char. In a way, it was like having the best qualities of both Syr and Char, the two Pokémon he most admired, combined into one Pokémon. It was an honor to have her there, to call her a teammate.

I have so much to learn from her, he thought.

He observed her, wondering what she thought about. Perhaps she simulated conversations between herself and Prince. Perhaps her fire was bothering her; her eyes looked similar to the way Char's would when his tail flame's patterns suggested worry.

He wondered if now would be a good time to ask her an important question.

"Can you solve a riddle?" he suddenly said.

Tallie blinked. "What riddle?" she said dismissively.

"A former team leader has given me a riddle, and I have pondered it for many days, but I can't figure out its meaning," Otto explained. "I think he was trying to give me advice. If you are not too busy, of course. I understand if you are considering important thoughts."

"Well, I can try," she grumbled. "Hit me."

She is paying attention to me, he realized. This is an incredible opportunity! I must not misspeak.

He tried to remember the riddle word-for-word: "Once upon a time, there lived a Lucario who could not harness the power of aura; he was the weakest, most inefficient soldier the world had ever known."

The two birds stared at each other for a prolonged second. "…And…?" Tallie said.

"Nothing. That is the extent of the riddle," Otto said. "Although I have an intelligence quotient of over eleven stars, I fail to see its meaning."

Tallie chuckled. "It's obviously referring to the leader of the Emerald Division, sir Lucario of Team Regret," she said with a disgusted sneer. "And yes, it sounds accurate. Biggest weakling in the Lucario lineage, if you ask me. That's one boss I'd never want to have. Big baby. He rules by whining the loudest. I'd rather be boiled alive in syrup than work for the Emerald Division, personally. At least as long as he's in charge."

Otto stared blankly down at the lower hallways of the ninth floor, the orange firelight reminding him of the sunrise from his feral days. "The leader of Team Regret," he echoed, deep in thought. "But I still don't understand what message Syr tried to convey." He ruffled his wings dejectedly. "It is strange how a riddle which is only two sentences long could pose such a challenge," he sighed.

Tallie gave him a sharp glare. "That's because what Syr gave you is not a riddle," she said. "It's a fact. Lucario was born without aura and is a terrible weakling. That's statement of fact. No puzzle, no riddle. You can see that, can't you? A riddle is for entertainment's sake. Facts are there to support conclusions. What conclusion do you think Syr wanted to support?"

"I don't know," Otto chirped. "He was talking about how he trained me and he said that he still wanted to tell me things before he died. I don't see any other correlation."

The Talonflame gave an irritated sigh. "Maybe Syr was trying to say that you're so busy overanalyzing everything that you always let the rat get away, huh?" She hesitated for a moment. "…Figure of speech, not a real rat, a figurative one," she added cautiously.

"I am familiar with that figure of speech," Otto said, staring down into the lower chamber at one of the main bulletin boards. "Perhaps… he meant that I am missing something to my being. Like Lucario, perhaps there is something I am lacking, which makes me a weakling…"

When Tallie didn't reply right away, Otto turned to see that she'd flown away and was already rapping on Team Flamewheel's door.

How insolent I must seem to her, he thought, clutching the windowsill tightly with his talons. How dimwitted she must think I am. Ah, to think it was not a riddle at all? Why did I not consider it from that perspective before? Why has my mind failed me at the precise moment I could have demonstrated my intelligence and gained her respect? I will be nothing but a nestling in her eyes if I do not show her otherwise.

It is vital that I impress her somehow. I cannot let her merely be my commander. Only as a confidant will she teach me what she knows, the way Syr has.

Try harder. Do not fail. You are no longer feral. You have no excuse.

He set his thoughts aside for the moment and followed her.


"Out of the question," Kabir said. "Simply out of the question."

The fuming Talonflame flew over the one-armed Smeargle's head to cut off his exit. "Don't walk away from me," she shouted. She almost called him boss, but had to choke the word down at the last minute.

"Listen to me. This would be a one-time thing. Very simple. Char only needs four one-way teleports with fixed destinations… If you do this for him—"

"What Char needs isn't my problem," the Smeargle said, waving his hand at her. "And you aren't my problem anymore, either. We had to hire birds from Silverwing to cover for you. And on immediate notice, at that. Have you any idea what they are billing us? Hm? Prince and I trusted you. You said you would join this team for the long haul. After what you've burdened us with, I feel that it's fair to say I don't owe you any favors."

He stuck up his nose and walked around her, his long tail trailing across the floor and shifting over her talons. "The answer is no, for two reasons. One, because I am so busy that I really should be sending you an invoice for the time wasted on this conversation, and two…"

He looked at his shoulder. A scowl formed on his face.

"I am not a native user of teleportation. I haven't even attempted a jump since the one which cost me an arm. A jump that was made out of desperation, I might add. On principle, and at the risk of losing the only arm I have left – or worse, my tail – I refuse to teleport without the aid of a compass."

"Well, we can make you a compass," Tallie offered. "Easy. It can be done in four hours, maximum."

"Then let me ask you this," Kabir replied, still looking away from her, "It seems to me that I would need to carry these items with me through the void, correct? If I am holding a compass, what hand would I use to hold Kecleon's treasures, hmm? You didn't think this out too well, did you?"

He walked away, his tail snaking across the floor behind him. "Tallie, I will say the same thing to you that you told me just yesterday. Find someone else. End of discussion."

The Smeargle forcefully shut the door to his room, leaving the two bewildered birds standing in Team Flamewheel's hallway all alone.

Tallie ruffled her wings.

What a brat.

Well, at any rate, that went better than I expected. He really could have chewed me out a lot worse than he did. Pah, ex-managers, why are they never reasonable?

Otto cocked his head and stared blankly at her. "So, your plan has failed?" he inquired.

"No, no, my plan hasn't failed," she hissed, hobbling past him. "It's just… not finished yet. C'mon, let's get out of here. No reason to stick around. You've got a psychic club here in this base, right? We'll try them. There's got to be someone in this ridiculous underground fortress that can do what we want. We'll find them. I'll go straight to Alakazam if we need to."

Team Flamewheel's hall was the very last place she wanted to be. She knew there were others she could ask. Sandstone had some psychic-type friends she had considered asking about. But it wasn't worth the trouble. The climate, she felt, was just not right for her presence. She needed to be elsewhere.

Tallie was used to dealing with all sorts of teammates, and all sorts of managers. She knew how to stay on everyone's good side, and keep everyone agreeable. Usually.

That was the secret to her success, after all. It wasn't what you did, it was how you looked doing it, which determined how you were judged. It was important that no matter who would look at you, they would always see a striking, flawless, accomplished bird who was capable of meeting and exceeding all expectations.

If she lacked in a skill, she'd simply pretend she had that skill until it became real. She'd learned a lot of skills in this way. It was a very reliable mindset. Sometimes she really did feel she could do anything.

This image, this reputation, was very important. As long as she held it, opportunities would gather around beneath her like wayward rodents, free for the picking. Everyone would like her. Everyone would respect her. And in the Black Division, everyone did.

Here, not so much. It didn't seem to have worked on Team Flamewheel. They were too busy running around with their heads cut off to appreciate the overqualified bird who'd drifted in on the wind, and so she drifted out just as quickly.

It was working on Char. That was good. Char sounded like a promising partner. First to put her in real charge of something, too. A new opportunity. One she couldn't lose. She would impress him.

But this bird, this little tagalong that had been swarming him ever since the mail route mission… he was something else. Was she impressing him at all? Did he respect her? She didn't even know how to read the little guy. But she wanted to look good in front of the Pidgey. She felt it was important, somehow.

Tallie realized she'd been standing in place for a moment too long when she heard the sound of a door, and out came Canniah from her bedroom. Yes, it was the famous Arcanine who'd somehow miraculously survived the Silver Division slaughter when she was, for all purposes, supposed to be dead. It was a miracle. Nobody knew how she did it.

Of course, she'd learned that only because she'd read a history book the day before applying to transfer to Flamewheel.

Tallie watched as Otto shirked away from the giant Arcanine, who was nothing but a wall of fire-colored fur to such a little winged rodent. She smirked in amusement, seeing him so startled… but her smirk faded when Canniah shot her a look of disdain.

What do you want?! Tallie tried to say with her eyes.

Canniah averted her gaze, narrowing her eyes upon the intimidated little Otto.

"Sorry. The old dog hasn't been himself lately," she said, shooting a scowl at Kabir's door.

"Oh, I don't know about that, sounded pretty typical of him to me," Tallie shot.

"You've only known him for as long as we've been assigned to the canyon," the Arcanine said in a fake-gentle tone. "Kabir is a very thoughtful and diligent Pokémon when he's not in a state of continuous panic. But I don't expect you to listen to me. It's not like the well-being of our team is of any concern of yours anymore."

Alright, let's get out of here, Tallie decided, heading for the door.

Otto, however, didn't seem to take the hint. "Who are you?" he asked. "I do not remember seeing you before."

"Oh, that's just Canniah. She and Prince are lovebirds," Tallie said, stepping closer to the door and looking more eager than ever to get out of her former team's hall. "Now can we please get going?"

"Have you recently arrived from the canyon?" Otto guessed.

Canniah shrugged. "Prince doesn't want me involved with the canyon," she said. "Prince has gotten it into his head that he doesn't want me to die, so my job is to stay here and look after Lily. But I don't mind. I can understand why he feels that way."

"…Otto, let's go," Tallie urged again, scraping the door with her talon. "We don't have much time! We need to get moving before the whole base wakes up!"

Canniah opened her mouth, hesitated for a second, then said, "…Actually, wait a minute. There's something I think I want to tell you."

Yes, but there is nothing I would like to hear from you, Tallie wanted to say. You are one of the last Pokémon in the world who would concern me at the moment.

Instead, she only said "What is it?! We're on a very tight schedule today. Char has us doing something very important."

"I know," Canniah replied to her. "I heard everything. Listen, you may have burned your bridges, but you haven't burned Char's. I know that if Prince were here, he'd want us to spare some time to help him. So I think that's what I'll do. Come with me."

She stepped into her room and motioned for the birds to follow. Otto was quite eager, and Tallie had to choke down a pillar of flaming wrath before she hobbled in after them.

Tallie was surprised at seeing the interior of the Arcanine's room. Although it was just as small as her new room, there was something oddly mythical about all the trinkets and artifacts on the shelves. On the highest shelf, sitting on a pedestal, was some kind of stone claw that looked like it might have once belonged to a very large statue of some unknown Pokémon. She figured it was part of the Rayquaza statue that had been broken in the war. It was a symbol of the Silver Division, after all.

Yet, what use did such memorabilia serve to such a resistance team? None, that's what. Unless it was enchanted or served some functional purpose, possessions were pointless, amounting to nothing but things to lug around the world with you, slowing down your progress. Tallie decided a long time ago that she would never claim ownership of anything. It made life much more simple when you were expected never to stay in one place.

Once they were inside, Canniah pawed the door closed and pounced onto the bed. She kept her eyes fixed on the door and spoke in a hushed tone, "Now, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell this to anyone else. Nobody else knows about this besides Prince. You especially need to make sure Kabir doesn't find out. But… the truth is that I know how to teleport."

Tallie spread her wings in fury. "You? You can teleport?" she squealed, astounded. "So what are you telling me?! All that flying I did, back and forth, back and forth to the canyon… you're telling me you could have done it?! I don't believe this!"

Otto was astounded as well, it seemed. "You are not a psychic," he blurted. "How can you claim to teleport?"

"Well, it's… It's just, I don't know," Canniah said candidly, ignoring the Talonflame's outburst. "It's something I've always been able to do. I may have learned it from the egg. I've tried asking others of my kind, but nobody has ever heard of an Arcanine with the power before… or any fire-type, even. I guess I'm special."

Oh, now this was one sure-fire way to ignite her rage – hiding things that could have made a difference. Something had always rubbed her the wrong way about this Arcanine, and now she knew why. She was a filthy liar! She'd been a filthy liar the whole time. That's what that smug look had always been in her eyes. She was hiding things. She felt superior.

Good riddance. She was glad not to have Canniah as a teammate anymore. She couldn't stand for teammates to hide such huge, life-changing abilities from her, not when they could have saved so much trouble!

"That's how you survived, isn't it?" Tallie said, seething with anger. "The massacre. The famous massacre. Vallon… He—"

She shut her beak quickly, realizing the truth.

"That's the problem with telling anyone," Canniah said sadly. "Everyone here thinks Vallon died to save me. When… the truth is that I saved myself. I'd rather let Vallon be remembered as a hero. I use the power, I use it every day. But Prince and I agree that it's best if we didn't let word get out. There would be too many implications that might tear our team apart, and it's Prince's job to make sure those kinds of things don't get in the way of our work, and I can't help but to agree with him."

"What about Kabir's arm?" Tallie said pointedly. "You mean to say you could have prevented that, too?"

"I wasn't around at the time," she said distantly. "That night Char called the Watchers in on Rayquaza's Clutch, I was away on business. But if I were there… probably. I guess it's just another reason nobody should know."

After that, Tallie was torn between glaring bitterly at Canniah, or refusing to look at her. Otto did most of the talking, although she wasn't sure if Canniah even deserved to be spoken to.

What kind of scum of the torn earth hides such an incredible power from her teammates?! The nerve! Where would one even begin? How many disasters could she have averted all on her own?!

But Otto didn't even seem to care. There he was, babbling on and on as though he had no earthly idea of the implications of what had just been said!

"Are you skilled with the power?" Otto inquired. "Can you perform it reliably?"

"I haven't lost a limb yet," Canniah said. "Might have lost a few hairs every now and again. And I wouldn't dream of jumping as far as Basin Canyon all at once," Tallie didn't miss the stern glare she received on that note. "…But if it's just a trip around Iron Town that you need, that's easy. No problem at all. Just as long as you let me see where I'm jumping first. Or if you can afford to make compasses for my jumps."

"We accept your conditions," Otto said excitedly. "We may also negotiate terms of payment, but know that we cannot pay you for your service until Kecleon pays us for catching the thief."

"Fine by me," Canniah said. "Again, all I ask is that you don't tell anyone we had this conversation. Of course you can tell Char, and I'm alright with Kecleon knowing, he's a very professional Pokémon. But I hope you understand, I'm not sure if I'm ready to be the cause of our history books having to be revised. It's too much to handle, especially with all the stress we have going on right now."

"We accept that condition as well," Otto said. "I offer twenty-thousand gold for your service today."

"Whatever works best for you," she said. "Knowing Prince, he probably wouldn't tell you to even worry about the money. I know he told Char to ask for help whenever he needed it."

"I believe that it is important to Char that we pay for your assistance," Otto said. "We want to accomplish the first advanced mission of Team Ember. Accepting free help from non-teammates may compromise this ideal, that was done under our own competence. So we will promise to pay you once Kecleon pays us for the success. Is this a deal?"

"Deal," she said. "But maybe not tell Kabir. He's the accountant, and he'll get suspicious if he thinks I filled in for the job that he just turned down."

"Then it will be given to you under the table, or perhaps in the form of a gift," Otto said. "Perhaps we can manufacture a different role for you to play so the reason for the money cannot be traced."

"Again, whatever works best for you," she said with an amused chuckle.

Canniah turned to the Talonflame still stewing at end of the room.

"I sense enmity between you and Tallie," Otto said. "Will you be capable of working together?"

Canniah chuckled warmly. "Oh… don't worry about Tallie," she said. "After all, she can do anything. Isn't that right, Tallie?"

Nope.

Nope. Not gonna fall for that one.

The Talonflame took a deep breath. The fire had almost overflowed, but she forced it back down.

I will not stoop to that level.

Raptors do not stoop. They RISE.

Tallie folded her wings and put on her best smug grin. "Of course I can," she said.

She looked at Otto, the impressionable little chicklet, who seemed quite satisfied with her response. That made her happy; if she didn't look good in front of Canniah anymore, she at least wanted to look in his eyes.

And her own eyes, too, for that matter.


Tiny Meadow

Saura found he couldn't enjoy the pure, crystal-clear autumn weather.

As a soothing breath of the wind rattled the leaves of the nearby forest, Saura walked the perimeter of the meadow he'd always called home. His siblings were already hard at work rebuilding it to its former beauty. The previous day after his encounter with the mysterious Redeemer, they found all the little saurs busy gardening.

They'd trimmed the grass around Saurlee's garden. Someone had made a little path of smooth stone leading up to it.

He wanted so badly to feel at home, to finally be at peace. He wanted to become accepted as one of his own family again.

But his home, and the family who lived there, weren't something to be enjoyed. Right now, it was something which needed to be protected.

He watched the sunlight sparkle in the few crystalline dewdrops which still remained on the highest stalks of grass. He knew they would evaporate by noontime. It wouldn't be for at least six more weeks when the first frost would strike.

A frost that his family might not live to see.

He crossed the newly-grown thistle patch. Great spheres of orange-and-blue spikes cluttered the meadow floor, looking more like weapons than the flowers they were. He carefully treaded, weaving a path around them.

At the edge of the forest, a wild Rhyhorn peacefully grazed. It shared a passive glance with the Bulbasaur.

At the very west corner of the meadow, Saura encountered his youngest sister walking circles around a patch of soil. It looked like she was hard at work on a second garden. It was turning out a lot like the first one, the one which Saurvor had shown him a few days prior, but that was fine. Symmetry was an important part of art. And she was so young; if she only knew how to design things one way, it wasn't something he was going to criticize.

"Hey, brother!" she shouted, withdrawing her vines from the soil and waving them in the air. "Hey! Look at this! How do you like it so far?"

Saurlee… she looked so happy, so innocent. Such a little seedling beaming with sunlight, with so much potential.

Was she really about to die? Was she really, unbeknownst to her or to the rest of her family, living out the last days of her life?

How could that be possible?

"It looks nice," Saura said, forcing a smile. "Are you going to make it different than the other one?"

"Maybe!" she said. "I don't know yet! I'm just kind of… doing what the earth tells me."

Ah, yes. That was what dad always told them. Gardening is about doing what the earth tells you. Sometimes it gives you a plan. Other times it seems to make up the plan as you go. But if you're keen, you can always listen to the earth and let it tell you what it wants to look like. That's what dad always said.

"Hey, Saurlee…?" Saura said, without really wanting to.

"Yeah?" said the tiny Bulbasaur, nudging a pile of copper-rocks she'd collected from the ground.

He knew what he wanted to say.

Saurlee, promise me something. Promise me you won't die.

Promise me you're going to run away from the danger. Even if the danger is attacking the rest of our family, just… run away, okay?

Do you have the courage to run away from your family if you need to?

You have so much potential to be such a great Pokémon.

I want you to live.

Instead, he just said, "I love you, Saurlee."

"Aww. Love you too, big brother!" the little one said, scampering up to him and grasping him tightly into a vine hug. "Aww, you're sad. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Saura lied. He was always so good at lying. Especially that particular lie. He knew how to say it with a perfectly straight face.

Inside, his thoughts circled in panic.

How am I going to save you, Saurlee?

How am I going to save mom and dad and everyone else, too?

What's coming to kill us? If it's not the Master, then what is it?

Is there really something more dangerous and fearsome in this world than the Master?

Can I really stand in the way of something worse than the Master? Just a little Bulbasaur like me?

The tighter he held his little sister, the more his thoughts aligned.

No. Saura, you can't think like that anymore. You're going to do this. They're too precious. For once in your life you're not going to run.

You're going to save them. You're going to save all of them.

You're going to find out what's coming and stop it.

You're going to be that hero for them that the Redeemer said you were.

Because you love them.

Without knowing what was fated to happen to him, everything was an enemy. The wind, the grass, the sky… none of it could be trusted.

Would death come from the sky? Would it come from underground?

Would it chase them if they were to run?

Was it some kind of a virus? Poison-types didn't get sick. Was there some kind of a virus that was able to infect poison-types and make them sick enough to die?

Was it already killing them?

He didn't know, but he knew it didn't matter. Whatever it was, it was going to go through him before it would hurt any of the others.

"Are you going to help me with this garden?" Saurlee asked so innocently.

"Can't," he replied. "I have a lot of work I need to do. And I need to start on it right now."


Iron Outskirts

Eva watched as Kecleon set the golden apple upon the final pedestal, far outside of town.

She looked at the sky.

What a bright and shining day, she thought.

What a perfect day. I've forgotten that I could feel so happy about the simplest of things.

She watched as the Talonflame, her newest teammate, flew overhead and obscured the sun for a moment.

She could get used to having the Talonflame around. Tallie was pushy, yes, but from what she'd seen in her mind, she knew how to see things for what they were. Tallie had a superb sense of lie detection, but it didn't come from a grasp of the mind's workings, like the Espeon. It didn't come from knowing how to spot the tells of insecurity or the slip of the tongue. Rather, Tallie could spot lies only because she knew how to spot the truth; those hawk-eyes of hers saw straight through the scattered webs of politics and idealisms; they focused unwaveringly and brazenly on reality.

Not unlike Otto, she thought with some amusement, but perhaps with more heart.

She would be useful to keep around, if only because she would take so much of the burden of running Team Ember off of Char. That burden was only growing.

They'd interviewed six new candidates that day. Most were too young and clearly not fit for the task, save for just one who'd stood out… a Snivy girl who seemed to be wise beyond her years and hiding interesting thoughts just beneath the surface of her memory. They were unusually airtight secrets; Eva had tried unsuccessfully to worm her way between the cracks and uncover them, but it was too difficult at the proximity they had been standing. She would need to touch foreheads with the Snivy if she wanted to learn more, and that was always very inconvenient and difficult to keep secret.

In any case, Char promised her a tryout, and that was yet another candidate thrown into the growing pile of potential new teammates, all of which would, quite unfortunately, compete with her for Char's attention.

Yes, it wasn't the sunlight that made the day bright. It was her human! Her wonderful, wise, caring human who had chosen to trust and accept her as his closest friend. Her partner.

She didn't think this day would come, especially with all the time he'd spent around that Bulbasaur. They seemed so impossible to separate. And it didn't help that Saura had some sort of inherent distrust of her – perhaps not an undeserved distrust, but an inconvenient one nonetheless. So, it was a sudden and wonderful act of fate that he'd quit the team when he did, leaving Char in need of someone else to trust, someone with exactly her credentials.

Someone who'd served a human before. Someone who knew exactly what a human needed from his Pokémon.

Now that the day had arrived, she never wanted it to end. And if she had anything to do with it, it never would.

She couldn't stop looking at him. He was small, yes… But he was so human, so very human. She could tell by the way he walked, by the way he looked at things, by the way his eyes moved as he considered and judged his options. She could tell by his budding leadership potential, the first petals of a deep and special wisdom sprouting from his naiveté. She recognized the way he spoke assertively, as though he was just starting to realize that he owned everything he laid his eyes upon, and that the world was his to mold and shape in whatever way he liked.

There were so many things she wanted to tell him.

I would make this world bend to your will, my master.

I shall stay at your side for all times, and make sure no harm comes to you.

I will deliver to you the whole world, and we shall share it.

My master.

But that was for later. The first thing she needed to deliver to him was this renegade thief.

A teleport user had been found in one of the last places she had expected: an Arcanine, of all things. She was unaware they were capable of learning to teleport. Perhaps they harbored some sort of divinity within their embers, something which brushed against the spiritual plane in a way other fire-types could not. Even so, she found it strange that in all her years, this was the first she's heard of it.

Even after so long, she thought, Ambera keeps finding ways to surprise me.

The plan was moving in the right direction. Soon, the thief would make his move, and Eva would see through him, knowing just what sort Pokémon he aspired to be simply by revealing which treasure he found the most important.

That would be the moment the thief would hold no more secrets from her, the moment she would have enough information to design a flawless plan to trap him.

If the thief picks the apple, he is a hedonist. Those are the easiest to pick out of a crowd, and also the easiest to fool. Their minds are empty. He could be lured with another apple. We could place one in a large crowd, and I would find the thief even before he dons the shadow mask, just by singling out those who lust for its taste.

If the thief chooses the reviver seeds, I can assume that he is insecure, and fears death.

Fear of death. How very rich.

There would certainly be a number of options in that case. I might consider tricking the thief into believing that one of the treasures he's stolen has poisoned him with a rare illness, and that he must turn himself in if he wishes to be cured. I might even find someone to curse the item with a suitable annoyance.

I worry that the thief would choose the diamond. In that case, I know that I am dealing with someone intelligent and forward-thinking. Someone versatile. I could still catch him, certainly, but our trap will require more effort to construct.

Ah, how thrilling this is! How wonderful life is once again, now that I have such an immediate purpose, and someone to share it with.

I will make my master just as happy as I am.

Char was speaking to his client. The Kecleon. The thief who could not stand to be out-thieved. What a hypocrite! But that was, understandably, the business he ran. It was not a business which welcomed competition.

"Do you understand what you need to do?" Char asked the Arcanine.

"Got it," she said. "I know where the waypoints are. Given the distance, I can blink all of the things away in three seconds or less. Since I can't teleport into the base thanks to the security system, I'll drop them all in Cliffisde Academy and Kecleon can run off back into the base with them."

The waypoints had been chosen: The diamond was put on display in the busy administrative district of Iron Town, under the guise of an art exhibit with some other fake glass diamonds set up beside it. Pokémon would be passing it frequently, some stopping to admire its size and clarity.

The reviver seeds were set against the Bonsley Memorial at the center of the park. Kecleon put them in a small sack underneath a layer of plain seeds, making it look to the passerby as though someone accidentally had forgotten to take their bag of birdseed with them.

And finally, the apple was positioned outside of town, in a barren zone where it was unlikely that a wild would come along and eat it.

Ray was watching the diamond, and Otto the seeds, until Tallie would flash the signal from the top of the town's biggest structure, the Iron Spire, indicating that they were all to leave the precious items unguarded and free for the taking.

"And these waypoints must be clear of external matter, correct?" the Kecleon said. "Would it injure you to teleport where something already exists?"

The Arcanine nodded. "Well, there is a margin of error," she explained. "The space-wave can push small things out of the way, just as long as they move easily. If there's another Pokémon where I'm teleporting, they'll just get bumped aside. It's the immovable things that cause problems. If I teleport into a wall, part of my body might get petrified in there. It's like… imagine if large ship were on a collision course with an insect. It's more likely than anything else that the insect will get swept aside into its wake and not be seriously harmed. But something that's rooted to the water, like a rock or another boat, it could damage the ship."

That is not a bad analogy, Eva thought.

Given the word, Tallie lifted off into the sky to station herself at the Iron Spire, a place they had chosen where she could easily see all three of the treasures at once. Originally, the plan was for members of Team Ember to station themselves outside of each item and watch it carefully, and for Otto to patrol the sky and watch for the signal that one of them had been taken. But Tallie's eyesight was four times sharper than his; she could see from one end of Iron Town to the other if stationed at the right position. With her at their disposal, Eva adjusted her plan at the last moment.

That meant that Char, Otto, Ray, and herself had very little to do until the thief would make his choice. It was decided that they were to gather with Tallie at the top of the spire and find a way to pass the time.

Well, most of them were. Ray had an errand he wished to run, one that he had been meaning to run for many days, and Char gave him permission to do it once Tallie had given the signal to leave their stations. It was only a few blocks north of the diamond display, at any rate.

Eva felt a shiver of anticipation. She knew the thief was watching from somewhere. She could sense it! There was no other explanation for why the thief hadn't ambushed them for their priceless treasures yet, as he usually would with Kecleon. It meant the thief was playing along, playing right into her little game.

Ooh, manipulating Pokémon was so much fun! Especially at such a grand scale. Eva really couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

As they waited for Tallie's signal in the sky, Eva looked fondly at Char, wondering how he felt.

Earlier, there had been something strange about his mind. Some strange flicker of dread or uncertainty had colored his waves.

It seemed as though he was reflecting on the Call. Worried it would cause him pain or catastrophe, perhaps the way it had with Saura.

It was around noontime. "The Call, the Call," his mind kept repeating. But he was not having an episode, not as far as she could tell. He may have been merely having an involuntary reiteration of a painful memory. But it was causing him great stress, like a suppressed panic attack, and she worried for her master.

She wanted so badly to enter his mind, to link herself with all of his thoughts and sort them out into a nice, harmless order, just for him him. She so badly wanted to hear him say to her, just as he had said to Saura, "I have no secrets from you."

But… no. She couldn't simply intrude upon his mind. That wasn't right. Her master had not given permission to pry into his most intimate thoughts, and she'd even assured him time and time again that she was upholding her promise and honoring his privacy. She couldn't betray him in such a petty way, especially when one day soon they might link minds together, sharing their hearts and souls with one another, and sharing a bond much, much deeper than he'd ever shared with Saura.

It was going to happen. She was going to make it happen. She was going to convince him to open up willingly to her. But it would take many small steps, the first of which was to prove herself reliable.

That's what humans liked in their Pokémon, she knew. Reliability. Fidelity. And she knew she could be just the Pokémon he always wanted, the Pokémon he would never want to let go.

Char caught her glance, and smiled back at her. The sun seemed to shine more brightly.


Iron Town

The clock tower upon city hall chimed, indicating 6 P.M. by human standards. The evening life had started. Restaurants were flooding with business, entertainment parlors had opened, and Iron Town was bustling with chatty, hurried citizens.

Far in the distance, above Iron Town's tallest and most majestic monument, a ring of fire appeared in the air. Like a firework, it remained only for about ten seconds, then faded away.

Tallie's signal. The signal that Ray could finally leave his post.

Finally, Ray could begin on a mission that he really wanted to start on much sooner, but time just wasn't cooperating. The red letter they'd gotten from Xatu didn't help much either, nor had all the interviews. But this night, there was finally an opportunity to get away from resistance missions, and go after something much more important:

His inheritance.

Three million golds. That was mind-boggling. How'd his brother earned so much? Golds were more valuable than Poké, the currency used by most of Ambera. Golds were bought and traded only by underground societies like the resistance divisions or in the very treasuries guarded by the Master. Golds often never even changed hands, even among the division; most of them were kept locked up in a giant magical safe somewhere behind Persian and only vouchers for the golds ever traded for goods.

Three. Million. That was more than twenty million Poké, at least. What could he buy with that?

What couldn't he buy?

For starters, he could buy more than enough equipment for Zona, Leo, and all the other teammates he was soon to have. That was going to be a fun shopping spree.

But that was a question for later. He didn't have to worry about lugging around three million in gold coins. Right now, all he was after was the compass – a tiny worthless little thing, but a key to the treasures his brother had left him.

Teleport compasses, as he had learned from Canniah, were small trinkets enchanted to direct a teleport user from a specific place to a specific place. They were designed for teleport users who needed to warp somewhere they had never seen before with their eyes. Making one was a very meticulous process: it would need to be physically carried from the starting point to the ending point, then teleported back to the starting point, three times. Then it would permanently "remember" the path through space and convey that path to any teleport user who held it. As a side effect, it also prevented accidents caused by teleporting into things: if the teleport destination became blocked off, such as with an avalanched cave or a newly erected building blocking the destination, the compass would simply cease to work.

Compasses were designed before portals and, unlike portals, could be traded around and hidden like keys to secret places. Also unlike portals, they only worked one-way; if a safe round-trip was desired, two compasses would be needed. Since portals were extremely expensive to install and required several layers of deeply-woven spatial magic, teleport compasses were still commonplace to psychic-types who needed to use them on a regular basis.

But perhaps the most interesting part about the compasses was that, in order to make a successful warp, one would need to be standing near the place the compass was first enchanted. Only teleport users who knew of the correct starting location could find the destination. That's why Rautzen had left him the riddle, "Stand on the stone where you stood on my shoulders." It was a place only he would be able to identify. So even if he were to lose it, he could rest knowing that it couldn't be stolen.

He would get Canniah to take him. He would end up in some city, supposedly not on the map. That's where his brother's treasure could be found.

Three million golds.

The sparks flew in his heart every time he imagined swimming in so much money. It was like one of those dreams where he won the Iron Town raffle. He always knew he was dreaming, and looked for ways to take the money out of the dream and into real life.

Holding his bag close, he surged through the crowds on the street and found the Iron Town safekeep house, a place where Pokémon deposited their valuables to be protected by some kind of ancient magic that was impossible to break into (and apparently broke intruders into tiny microscopic particles if they tried).

One place I know the thief isn't going to try breaking into, Ray thought with a smile.

That's when he was hit with the line. There was a long, winding line of Pokémon in front of him, all wanting to get urgent business done for the evening before the Watchers would come to chase everyone off the streets.

The attendants seemed to move like Slowpokes.

Aww, c'mon! Ray cried, hopping in place. The one chance I get to finally come get my brother's compass, and all these guys in front of me? What's going on?! Why isn't the line moving? Why is that Floatzel arguing with the teller?! Why can't Pokémon take care of their problems before they get in line?

Ahh, the mission will be over by the time I get out of here… C'mon, c'mon! Move it, you guys!

He almost wished he'd been standing in Kecleon's line. Kecleon always gave him precedence if he made it look urgent enough.

After what seemed like two hours, Ray finally stood in front of the teller: a very tall, bored-looking Liepard sitting upright in a chair. And wearing glasses. A rarity among Pokémon, to see glasses. Perhaps they were magnifying-glasses, meant to read indecipherably tiny text upon paper.

"State your business…" he said.

Lightning had been bouncing from limb to limb for so long, Ray felt numb all over. "Hi! I'm… Ray. Kouun. Raikouun the Raichu. I'm uh. I need my compass."

"…Excuse me?" said the Liepard.

"Okay. Um… Ah. Sorry. Sorry. I need to, um…"

Ray looked down at his bag. The eyes of the long line of Pokémon behind him were bearing down on his back.

"Alright, so I had a brother. His name was Rautzen the Raichu. He left me something. It was a compass. It would have been a long time ago. I'm here to pick it up."

Without saying a word, the Liepard moved some things around under the desk, settling on some papers and reading them.

"It looks like the fee has already been paid by the depositor," said the teller. "I need to ask you a few questions to verify your identity."

Ray was becoming breathless. It was so close. He could feel it.

"What type of Pokémon was your childhood hero?"

"Scyther!" Ray shouted louder than he meant to.

More silence. The Liepard's eyes scanned the page.

"What was the name of your first pet?"

"Oh, uh… Wooly! It was a Mareep who kept walking by the den… It wasn't really a pet, but we named it."

A long, drawn out silence. The Liepard wrote something.

"What is your mother's name?"

Ray's heart stopped. All the spark in his veins turned ice-cold.

"I uh… uh…" he stammered.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. Did Rautzen know? Did he ever find out? Did he forget to tell me?

No… No no no no. No. No.

No. Rautzen, why… why would you…

"Answer, please?" the teller said, still in the same, unenthused voice.

"I uh… I don't know!" Ray blurted, feeling just about to break into tears.

"Good," said the teller. " 'I don't know' was the correct answer. At least, that's what was written here."

The tears came out as laughter. It was very loud laughter, but he couldn't help it. He rolled onto his belly and let it out, pounding the floor with his fist, right there in front of the blank-faced Liepard and the annoyed customers still lined up behind him.

Yep. Good ol' Rautzen. Ray knew just where he'd gotten his sense of humor from. This must have been part of the inheritance; one last, great joke to enjoy in his memory.

A very mean joke, but a great one nonetheless.

"Are you quite finished?" the teller asked.

When he could breathe again, he climbed back to his feet and pulled himself back up to the desk. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm here."

"It seems that would be all," the teller said, flipping a paper over. "Seems you are who you say you are, sir Raikouun."

"Huh?! That's all?" Ray cried. "Really? Just… just that?"

"Just that," the teller said, sliding off his seat to all fours and disappearing behind a door. "One moment, please. This might take a while."

It took a while. It took a very, very long while. Almost two hours, it seemed.

Well. It could have only been a few minutes, but it sure seemed like hours.

The Liepard returned, holding a small bag in its mouth. He slithered back into sitting position at the desk, inverted the bag, and a small ring-box fell out.

"Thank you for your business," the teller said mechanically. "NEXT!"

Ray fumbled with the little purple box, finally finding a tiny latch and opening it. Inside was something that looked like a silver coin, with the inscription of a sun-dial on both sides. That was it: a small, boring, worthless little circle of metal.

"Yessss!" Ray cheered to himself, dropping the precious compass into the bag and darting for the exit.

He couldn't believe it was that simple, but there it was: the key to three million golds. Now all he needed was a teleport user like Canniah, and he could find it.

He rushed out the front door of the keep-house, ready to race to the top of the Iron Spire and tell Char the great news…

But as soon as he stepped out of the front door, something caught his eye on the opposite side of the street.

It was like a living shadow. A dark, amorphous blob of stormclouds stood across the street from him. Townspeople passed it by as though it was nothing, but Ray's eyes lingered on it, getting the feeling that it was staring at him.

"Oh…" Ray said, stunned. "It's… it's you."

Ray didn't have much time to react before the shadow rushed at him.


Iron Spire

"Nothing?!" Eva demanded.

"Still nothing," Tallie replied. "I swear, if you say that one more time…"

"I understand, but there is a small issue of the setting sun," the Espeon said urgently.

Tallie turned her head. "…Nope. Unless there's some illusion trickery going on, all three of the things are still where they started," she said. "By the way, Espeon, might I remind you that if this plan doesn't work, it wasn't my idea in the first place. Whose idea was it, hmm?"

Eva opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sound of a screaming rodent dashing up the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him. The sound heralded the arrival of a very distraught, very panicked Ray, his eyes streaked with red.

"Char! Char! Chaaaar!" he cried, bursting onto the spire tower's roof. "Char! The thief! I saw the thief!"

Char gaped for a moment. "You did? Where?"

"HE STOLE MY COMPASSSSS!" Ray cried, collapsing onto Char and showering tears upon him. "He… he… he stole the whole bag!"

"Oh…" Char said, taken aback and trying to keep his balance as the Raichu leaned on him. "I'm… I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. But… it's alright, Ray… You know we'll just get it back when we catch the thief, right?"

The desperate Raichu sniffed loudly. "That's—that's not all," he bawled, barely able to speak. "There was… in the bag… Char… the bag… I… I forgot…"

He took a deep breath, looking at Char with deep, regretful eyes.

"The—the frozen flame was in the bag, Char… the thief stole it."

*Chapter 89*: Chapter 68: There Are Limits

o

Chapter 68

Division Base

Team Ember aborted the mission, returned all the merchandise to Kecleon, and fell back to their team hall to think things over.

Ray was devastated. Losing the frozen flame was a legitimate, honest-to-goodness mistake that was his fault, and he knew he had no excuse for it.

He was curled up on the floor, his ears pressed against his head, his face buried in his front paws. "I'm sorry," he kept saying incessantly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry."

"Ray… how do you forget to unpack the bag?" Char asked him carefully, trying to act gentle despite his inward panic. "How does this happen?"

"Pocket dimension bag," Ray sobbed. "It's… bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, remember? I've been using for a while. The only way to tell if there's anything inside is to reach in and feel around in there… and I just… I forgot. We haven't been on a mission in a few days and I just… I forgot to check! By the time I realized it, I was already standing in line at the keephouse… And there were… there were all our supplies from the Anvil Quarry mission…"

He burst into more tears. "Oh… ohhhhh, I should have never bought that bag, Char! I thought it would make things easier… since I was in charge of the items now… but oh, I should have stayed with the old bags! Then this never would have happened!"

He rocked back and forth, his eyes shut tight as his tears drenched his face. "I'm such a terrible bag carrier! I never should have let this happen!"

Tallie looked with disgust at the scene playing out before her, giving a loud snort.

"Oh, for the love of all that is holy, what kind of friends do you think you are?!" she screeched at the other Pokémon in the room, her eyes flaring sternly. "Asking him questions at a time like this?! SOMEONE GIVE THIS MOUSE A HUG for crying out loud."

Char hung his head, knowing she was right. It wasn't the time to take Ray up to task for the mistake. He wrapped his arms around the Raichu and held him tenderly. He tried to ignore the unpleasant buzzing of Ray's static, and held him for as long as he could.

Eva touched Ray's forehead with her gemstone. His breaths deepened, the spasms from his chest slowed.

Tallie, although she didn't quite understand what to do, approached close to the electric mouse and spread one of her wings, touching the back of his neck. Otto came close to him and pressed his cheek against Ray's side.

"T-thanks, guys," Ray said weakly. "I'm really, really sorry. I don't know how it happened."

"Mistakes happen," Tallie said bluntly. "One mistake doesn't mean you're bad at your job. Just between us, I make at least two mistakes a day, I just try to make sure nobody notices."

Char didn't exactly feel comfortable about this. It was quite the opposite, really. He was infuriated at the thief. He was scared of letting Prince find out what had happened. And he was a little, just a little angry at Ray.

But he wasn't going to show that in Ray's weakest moment, because that wasn't what friends were for.

"Yeah, Ray, don't worry about it," Char said coolly. "Imagine how Kecleon must feel. You saw that list of all the stuff he's stolen from Kecleon. Compared to him, we got off easy."

"Yeah," Ray said in a small voice. "Yeah, I saw it. Kecleon… heh… he turns completely red somedays, because he's so angry at the thief. I just don't understand how it happened. Why did the thief come to me?"

"If you ask me, it's plainly clear what happened," Eva said. "Kecleon mentioned that the thief has some 'appraisal specs' which it uses to select targets to steal. He mentioned that the appraisal specs measure the enchantment upon items. Leaving the frozen flame globe in the bag meant that it momentarily had the rarest enchantment of any item in downtown Iron Town, or perhaps even the entire city. The thief easily pinpointed Ray because of the presence of the globe and its enchantment. I suspect the thief spotted the globe in Ray's possession as he was preparing to steal Kecleon's diamond."

Otto spoke up quickly. "This reminds me: Ray, when the thief attacked you, did you learn anything about it?" he inquired. "Any additional information would be helpful to our cause."

"Uh… I don't know, it just looked like a moving shadow, like the clouds you see before it rains," Ray said. "It was just like Kecleon said. Kind of long, maybe like a Rapidash or a Luxray, or… oh! Actually, yeah! I did notice something!"

Ray sat up, his smile returning partially. His teammates gave him room.

"It tackled me, and I felt fur. The thief has fur!"

"Mammalian," Otto chirped with a nod. "A wingless mammalian. This narrows the possibilities. Good observation. Thank you. According to Kecleon's size estimates, and judging from the general concentration of species around Iron Town, this suggests canine, feline, equine, primate, or large rodent. If a rodent, its hideout would likely be underground due to its burrowing instincts. Did you feel extreme heat or cold while it attacked?"

"Uh… no, I don't think," Ray replied. "Just pain. It really hit hard."

"Then it is likely not a Rapidash, or any fire-type or ice-type," Otto said. "What about a scent? Was there a particularly unpleasant scent when the thief was nearby, or perhaps something pleasant?"

"It was hard to tell, there were so many Pokémon in the city, I couldn't pinpoint a single thing to smell," Ray said.

"Ah, then it is likely not a poison-type or a grass-type either. Their scent would have been clearly distinguishable as soon as it came close enough to touch you."

Tallie nodded, looking impressed. "Huh, good deductive work," she said. "Maybe get a list of all known Pokémon and scratch off the ones we know it isn't?"

"It may help, but there would still be hundreds," Eva said, pacing along the far wall. "It still isn't enough for me to begin a psychological profile. We need to know something he is, not what he isn't. Give me some time, perhaps until midday tomorrow, and I will have devised a new test."

"I'm assuming this time you won't base your test on faulty assumptions?" Tallie said.

Eva shot her a smug look. "I won't dignify that with an answer, but I will say that I don't consider our experiment today entirely a waste," she said, turning away from her and staring at the wall. "In fact, it may have given us the answer we sought in the first place. We wanted to know what the thief prioritizes. Now we know that perhaps the thief relies on the appraisal specs to a fault. I wish to test this theory. If it is true, there are a thousand ways it could be abused to his detriment."

"You said the appraisal specs measure the enchantment?" Tallie said pointedly. "So? Make a huge pile of diamonds and put an enchanted item in the middle with a complicated but useless spell. See if the thief takes the enchanted item and not any of the diamonds. There! I devised your test for you, and it only took ten seconds. You can thank me later."

"And where will we get the money for the diamonds?" Eva shot back.

"Ask Kecleon for them? He is kind of the kingpin, if you hadn't noticed," Tallie said with a flippant shrug.

"And if the thief steals all the diamonds, do we have your permission to blame you for the terrible idea?" Eva said with a sneer. "Because if you ask me, I feel as though we are beginning to play a game of bids-for-bids, and endlessly escalating our investment in hopes that we will win everything back in the end. Give me time and I will devise something a bit less… unaffordable."

"Consider that Kecleon has had many valuable items stolen which were not enchanted, and so it might be using more than one type of appraisal item to choose its targets," Otto noted.

"Yes, I know," Eva said. "But enough of this for one night. I need to rest my mind, and I suggest everyone do the same. I have a strange hunch that tomorrow might prove to be just as irritating as today."

Char agreed, but he gave Ray one last embrace before leaving.

"Hey, you're the best bag-carrier I could ask for," he said to the Raichu. "But this thief is also just a really good thief. So let's get our stuff back and show him that we're just a really good team. He'll regret he ever stole anything from us."

"Yeah, let's do it," Ray said quietly, with a weak smile. "Alright. I won't lose heart, Char. It just happened so suddenly and I didn't know what I could do. But I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning."

As Char retired to his room with Eva, he considered that group hugs really didn't feel the same when he wasn't being squeezed by vines.


Char climbed into his bed, already knowing that he wasn't about to have a good night's rest. The anxiety of an unresolved problem hung over his head – Prince had entrusted him with an important, powerful artifact – and he'd gotten it stolen. That was something he couldn't just sleep on.

But that wasn't the worst thing on Char's mind at that moment. There was something else, something potentially more devastating – and something growing closer and closer to his heart by the minute.

"Do you mind…?" Eva said, approaching the foot of his bed.

Char nodded, and Eva snuggled up next to him. He began to reflexively stroke her back and her head, listening to her sighs of contentment at his touch.

"I wouldn't mind sleeping here," she said, shifting closer to him. "Honestly, I wouldn't."

"Isn't it a bit warm, though?" Char wondered, eyeing the flames.

"I like the warmth," Eva said softly.

Eva had become a very different Pokémon since the moment the previous night when they agreed to be partners. Simply being together in the same room seemed to make her so happy, and he could feel the warmth spreading throughout her thoughts whenever she would speak telepathically.

Had it only been a day? It felt as though the Espeon already knew what she was doing, as though she'd had years of experience at Char's side, learning his personality. Speaking with her felt natural, as though it was something predestined.

It was hard to admit that at first he accepted her just out of impulse. After he'd seen how hurt she was that Tallie might have taken her role, he couldn't bear telling her 'no.' He figured he'd take the consequences in stride. Maybe she really could be the best partner for him.

But he was starting to see that she wouldn't stop there. She'd want to get even closer to him.

Everything about her – her gentle reverence, the tone of her thoughts, her insistence to sleep at his side – he wondered if there were any bounds to the closeness she wanted. Perhaps she would want something even more than partnership.

Now that was a weird thought. Could he fall in love with a Pokémon? Was that okay?

Was he already falling love with Eva, and just in denial?

Was that even part of his cosmic plan? Or would it throw complications into things, dragging a potential loved one into a fate full of hurt?

Was it a terrible idea for a team leader to fall in love with one of their teammates? Were there division codes against it?

Were you even supposed to worry about that stuff when you're in love? Or do you just speak your feelings and see what happens?

But… as strangely interesting as that line of thought was, and as much as he wanted to follow it, there was something standing in the way.

It was the same thing that he'd held back from Saura, that one thing that had ultimately driven a rift between them – and now he had to withhold the truth from a psychic-type Pokémon who was probably close enough that she could have already been browsing his thoughts at her will, and he'd never even suspect.

"Are you alright?" Eva asked, turning to him with a concerned look. "Are you worried about the orb?"

"Yeah," Char said. "That's part of it."

"I could help with that, if you would like," Eva said with a wry grin. "With your permission, I could give you a beautiful dream. A good dream will always clear the mind."

Char sighed, long and hard.

"I'll do it," Canniah had said, "But if I do, you need to agree not to tell anyone. It might destroy Flamewheel if the truth came out."

I understand what that's like, Char realized, looking down at Eva. I really do understand. The weight of this kind of responsibility…

The Espeon winced, a look of concern replacing her smile.

"Your thoughts are hurting tonight," she said. "If there's anything I might help you with—"

"I don't know if I'm ready to link minds with you," Char blurted.

"But I do not wish to see you hurt, my master," she said gently. "Not like this. If there is anything that burdens you, let me share the burden! What good am I, to be so close to your side, if I let you suffer like this? We could find a solution together. You might find that I am very good at finding solutions."

Char grit his teeth and forced himself to say, "No… I can't. Not right now. There are some things I'm not ready to show the world just yet. Even you."

Resentment flashed in her eyes.

"Fine, that is your choice," she replied, with a bit of sourness. "But you should know that there is very likely nothing you could be hiding in there that would make me think any less of you."

Again, Char sighed hard. "I'm not so sure about that," he said.

"It is true," she said in a soft, silky voice. "It doesn't matter what kind of thoughts you harbor. Everyone has secrets. Knowing yours would not make me think any less of you, and would only help me to understand you more deeply. I serve my master unconditionally."

"Yeah, well, can you accept the condition not to look into my mind?" Char replied with more of a cutting tone than he wanted.

"Char… I only want to help you. Why don't you trust me?" Eva asked sadly.

"Why don't you trust me?" Char shot back.

Eva looked hurt from the reply. It was as though nobody had ever asked her that question before. Even her telepathy seemed to emit a stunned monotone as she failed to reply.

Char clutched his forehead with his claw. "Alright, Eva, look… there's a limit I've got to set. If… I told you that certain thoughts are off-limits to look at, could you stay out of them?"

"Of course," Eva said plainly. "Depending on the topics, they should be easy to avoid. And if we are mind-linked, then it will be difficult for me to hide my guilt if I were to intrude upon your secrets. You would know the moment I have broken my promise."

"Alright. Well, I have a few secrets that I don't want anyone to know yet. And this includes you. If you can accept that, then alright… I'll let you into my head. But… it's hard. I'm really going to trust you with this. Nobody can know."

A brightness came to life behind Eva's eyes. Char felt her tail brush against his back. "I'll stay out of whatever you'd like. Just let me know."

"Ah, it's… It's the Call," he finally spat out. "Everything about the Call. What I've done with it, what I can do with it, just… just everything."

Eva shrugged. "Is that all?" she said humorously. "If I recall correctly, I've already looked through those memories of yours once before, on the very first day we met, even, and there was nothing there that was cause for any shame. And besides, I thought by now that you would be aware that everyone in the Gold Division knows of your power. I don't see any r–"

"Eva."

She immediately stopped talking, closing her mouth hard.

"I'm serious. That's my condition. Don't look at my memories of the Call. Any of them. Ever. Got it? I might tell you them someday. Maybe. But I need you to trust me that I'm only going to tell you when I'm ready."

"Yes, master," she said simply, looking away as though in shame. "Anything for you."

Char let out a sigh of relief, trying his best to hide his exasperation from her notice.

"Besides, it's only fair…" he muttered.

Eva turned to him again, a suspicious glint in her eyes. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

Char realized his mistake. He hadn't meant to say it out loud, only to think it, but he was learning that it sometimes got difficult to tell the difference when in a conversation with someone who could communicate in both the mediums of thought and spoken word.

Shrugging, he decided to elaborate.

"You've got your secrets, too," Char told her. "Like, what happened before you joined the Gold Division? And what about this team you used to be on that you keep talking about?"

A spectrum of sour emotions flashed in Eva's mind, reflecting in her eyes – shame, regret, and cowardice. Fear. Crippling reluctance.

Take me far away from here, said a sudden, clear thought from her subconscious. I want to hide.

"Well… I, um…" she said, shifting uncomfortably and hanging her head away from Char. "That is. Well, if you insist, I could tell you…"

Char pet between her ears."Don't. I know you're not ready to tell me yet. So I don't pry. You'll tell me when you're ready. I guess I'm just asking for the same thing in return. Hey… I have no problem sharing secrets with you. We're partners. But you respect my boundaries and I'll respect yours. Fair?"

She snorted, trying to hide the relief that mirrored Char's own. "I suppose I walked into that one," she sighed. "Yes, of course it's fair. Would you have expected me to say otherwise? I don't believe in being so insensitive when my master opens his heart to me."

At some moment after the conversation ended – it was hard to tell, because of the way time seems to become fuzzy when lost in thought – Char gave Eva permission to look into his mind and observe his immediate thoughts at her leisure. He found that Eva offered her own set of thoughts through the mind-link, a whole catalogue of ideas presented for his inspection.

The next thing Char knew, he was flying.

He was flying fiercely and masterfully through some mystery dungeon-like place, a cave with giant stalagmites rising out of a pit of darkness.

A pair of mighty Charizard wings supported him with little effort, taking him wherever he wished. He swooped and banked around the rocky columns at great speeds, the beautiful firelight upon his tail guiding his way. Sometimes when he performed a loop in the air, he could see the tail twisting and trailing behind him.

This was meant for me, Char knew. These wings, this strength… I was meant to have them. Someday I will. I was destined to fly.

Knowing this made his heart soar even higher.

He explored his imaginary playground for a time, that strange time-length in dreams which feels like an entire eternity which ends too soon, until he found himself swooping to land upon the top of one of the stalagmites. He climbed to its peak, his motions so effortless with the long, muscular body of a dragon. He curled his fiery tail around the rocky column and roared into the darkness, watching the flames stream from his maw and vanish into the distance.

He propelled himself from his perch, diving straight down into the abyss, until a wall of solid stone stood in his way. There was a moment of panic as he realized he would crash, but it was quelled by the roaring fire in his chest, and he held out his fist as though to punch a hole in the wall.

The stone barrier shattered like a pile of leaves, and he found himself flying around a mountainside under a clear starry sky. A full moon, four times the size it should have been and deep gold in color, bathed the land down below in an intense silvery sheen.

Thank you, Char said to his partner. Where did you learn to create dreams like this?

An old friend, a voice replied. She was much better at it than I was, but I learned a thing or two by watching her work. I cannot promise much variety, but I can offer you these dreams as often as you'd like.

Thank you, Char said again, for trusting me.

And you as well, the voice said. The feeling is mutual… my master.

Char flew faster and higher, watching the firelight of his tail streak across the sky. He laughed deeply and triumphantly, hearing the fearsome roar of a Charizard escape his throat.

He knew it was only a dream, but it was real now, and that's all that really mattered.

Perhaps a few more minutes of this, Char said, but then you should go give Ray some good dreams too. He needs them more than I do.

As you say, the voice replied, its contentment and pride spilling into the dream and painting the sky with swirls of orange and blue.


After a surprisingly good rest, Char got up to face a particularly unpleasant day.

"I've decided something," he told his team at the morning meeting. "We've got more than enough good candidates to start holding tryouts. So today's going to be the last day we'll hold interviews."

Ray looked disappointed at the news. "Aww, but there's still like thirty Pokémon left in line! They're going to be sad that they won't get a chance," he said.

Tallie nodded. "I concur with Char. If they wanted a chance, they would have been first in line."

"Yeah. We really need the extra help as soon as we can get it," Char said. "We already have enough Pokémon who might work. We need to get them on our team so they can start helping us. Although, Ray, if you have any particular recommendations from Team Stripes, I could make sure they get a chance. When Marrow gets here, you can go out into the hall and tell them they can skip the interview and just come to the tryout missions."

"Okay! I can do that!" Ray said, looking quite satisfied.

"Not too many, though! Just like three or four, alright?" said Char sternly, knowing that the Raichu would give a pass to half the line if he had things his way.

"Yeah, I understand," Ray replied, playing excitedly with the end of his tail.

Tallie gave Eva an impatient glare. "I move that we take all of your candidates so far and I'll take them out get some of those job requests done from the board," she said. "Unless we've gotten any bright ideas about what to tell Kecleon next?"

"Some thoughts are forming, yes," Eva replied. "I would like to ask some additional questions of Kecleon. But I feel as though the thief gave us the answer we sought. He had chosen the diamond as his target, and was only distracted by the contents of Ray's bag."

"But, uh… the diamond wasn't enchanted, was it?" Ray asked. "I thought it was just a plain diamond. How would the thief know where to look for it if it can only sense enchanted things?"

"Obviously," Otto said, "because we had informed the thief of the diamond's location, by writing it on the notices that we intended for it to see."

"Oh… yeah, I wrote those yesterday morning," Ray said. "I forgot. Sorry, it's hard. I'm still thinking about… y'know, getting in a fight with the thief. I just wonder what I could have done different."

"Inflicting paralysis would have been a good place to start," Eva said a bit coldly. Ray looked at the ground and didn't say anything. "But I understand. The attack happened too quickly to think about your reaction. I almost believe this thief is a thrill-seeker, and is collecting valuables purely for sport. From what I understand, it might even be biased towards the greater challenges. It is fortunate that we still have in our possession the one item it likely chose out of the three we offered – the diamond. Knowing this, it is now possible we might toy with its expectations in a way that Kecleon could not. So I'm thinking that we should return to the false diamond exhibit in the downtown district. I'm not certain what stunt we will pull, but I'm certain it will have something to do with the diamond."


Shortly later in the middle of breakfast, Marrow rapped on the door, ready to act as the host for the third and final time. Char went to greet him.

"Scythe is gonna want me back soon," Marrow warned Char when he opened the door. "Only ten days in a week, you know. Whether the line thins out or not, you've got to be wrapping this up shortly."

"Yeah, we are. Actually, this is the last day we'll have interviews," Char told him. "How's your team doing, by the way?"

Marrow shifted his gaze away. He didn't respond for a moment, then blinked as though he was waking up from a trance.

"Ah, sorry… just… things," he said. "Not all fun and games going on with Scythe right now. Huntin' for Cepheus has gotten weird. We don't even know if he's paying attention to the canyon or not anymore. We thought we had him, but we got the wrong Nidoking entirely, so we're back at zero. We lost Adiel completely. And for some strange reason, Scythe doesn't seem to be putting his whole heart into working with the Sandshash tribe anymore. I've got half a mind to say he's snapped, it's like he just expects everything to fall into place by magic." He tapped his club on the floor. "But oh well, such is the life we lead. Guess I'll be headin' back to that life in a day or two, and what will be will be. Have to keep tellin' myself Scythe's had some weirder ideas before that ended up working, and this time shouldn't be anything real different. But I'm really gonna miss workin' with you, Char, hope you understand that."

"Yeah, thanks for everything," Char said, nodding. "Actually, that reminds me…"

Char hesitated before he finished his sentence, knowing that it was going to sound ridiculous. But it was most certainly worth the try.

"I was thinking, y'know… And hey, I know this is a long shot, but, um…"

He scratched the back of his head and curled his toes into the floor, trying to force out his words. Marrow eyed his tail flame with suspicion.

"Wanna join the team?" Char finally said. "I mean, uh… it looks like you really enjoy the dungeon missions we've been doing together, so why not just help us do these for a living? Then you wouldn't have to go back to the canyon."

Marrow gave a small, kindly chuckle. "Hah, I was starting to wonder if you'd ask that," he said, leaning on his bone club. "Hey. I'm flattered and honored you'd offer, but bein' on Team Remorse isn't about what a 'mon enjoys or doesn't enjoy. It's about doing somethin' greater than yourself. If I wanted to be happy forever, I'm sure I could just retire to Crystal Bay and skip rocks for the rest of days. Or, y'know, a peaceful meadow somewhere, like a certain someone we both know. But I kinda swore an oath to Scythe that I wouldn't make my life about the petty things. An' I meant it, too. Breakin' that oath would cost me my honor."

"I understand," Char said, trying not to show his disheartenment. "Either way, thank you for being our mentor. Good luck with whatever's going on at the canyon."

"And the same to you. Good luck catching that thief," Marrow said. "I'm not sure if I'd have the mind to help you catch someone so slippery, but I know I'd be seeing fantasies about what I'd to 'em after he got caught. Now if you'll go and excuse me, I think I hear the pitter-patter of hopeful candidates comin' round the corner. Better get yourselves ready."


Char had interviewed eleven Pokémon, not counting the Pokémon that Ray had picked out of the line himself, before the morning rush was over and it was time to meet once again with Kecleon. To his surprise, there were a few candidates he was quite pleased with.

Among them was a Pidgey named Brace who claimed to be an old friend of Otto's.

"Back in the day, I was the only one who figured out how to talk to him," claimed Brace proudly. "He was a weirdling for sure. He never said anything to anyone and he loved getting into fights for no reason. I've been meaning to swoop by and see how he's been doing, but I wouldn't mind the chance to get off Silverwing for a change. Otto and I work well together."

"It is true," Otto said. "He stood up for me when I drew the disdain of the other Silverwing birds. He also once beat me in a race."

"So you're old friends, that's fantastic," Tallie said dryly. "But what good will you be to the team?"

"Well, I mean, I don't know if there's anything much special about me," Brace said. "I've got a clean record… My IQ isn't as high as Otto's but it's decent… and I guess I know a few more white aura techniques than most Pidgey. I flap up a mean twister. But hey, if you need another bird on the team, I can follow orders as well as the next bird… The thing about birds is that we work well together, you know? The more of us you've got on the team, the stronger we get. And I know that Silverwing changes a lot for their specialty services…"

"So I hear," Tallie said.

After Brace, there came another member from Team Silverwing – a Hoothoot named Glower who claimed to have experience with night missions.

"I'm not afraid of any Watchers," she claimed. "Master Karow trained us good. I can act like a feral and keep watch for days. And I can go a whole week without sleeping if I need. I make the perfect spy, day or night. I'm patient."

"I find it strange," Otto told the Hoothoot, "that you would be trained in the art of acting like an innocuous feral bird, when I joined Silverwing already with a mastery of that skill, and spent my education being trained to behave like a civil bird."

"Yeah? Well here's the thing, you aren't stupid," Glower said. "You've that eleven stars Pidgey that Karow kept talking about, aren't you? Yeah. You've never been stupid, and I don't think you could act stupid if anyone paid you to act stupid. But I can act like the most stupid feral bird you'd ever see. I can blank out my mind so well that the Master's psychics could see me up in the trees and nobody would suspect a thing."

She's quite right about that, Eva said to Char. She certainly has large, vapid spaces in her consciousness, but I'm not entirely sure that's something she should be bragging about.

Another interesting candidate a Skitty who called himself Dragonbane. Eva assured Char it was not his real name, and that his real name was something unremarkable, but Char played along.

"Someday I'm going to be the world's most famous dragon-slayer," he said. "Don't laugh. No joke! A Hydregion ate my best friend, and I've sworn revenge on all evil dragons everywhere."

"How do you expect to slay dragons when you don't oppose them elementally?" Otto asked. "I do not know of any advantages your kind would have over one."

The Skitty smiled gleefully. "Yeah, and that's why it's so brilliant!" he said. "They don't expect me to be a threat. They'll never see it coming!"

Can't argue that point, Eva said dryly.

"Hah. I like this guy," Ray said, patting him on the back. "Dragons are tough. Someone's gotta face 'em."

A few candidates later, there was a little purple Nidoran that took Char by surprise. "I'm a girl, dummy," she shouted at Otto. "Some of us have boy colors. You gotta look at the face, girls have whiskers and boys don't."

"Our most sincere apologies," Eva said to her. "I have met recessively-colored Nidoran before, but it has been a very long time, and I don't think any of us were expecting one. Can you tell us your name?"

"Name's Gemstone, of Team Chasm," she said proudly. "At your service. Oh, and you know Nidoroch? Scythe's friend? That's my dad."

"Oh wow, I had a brother on Team Remorse once…" Ray said. "That's so cool! Does he teach you a lot?"

"Oh yeah, everything," she said, striking a pose. "I'm at the top of my class. If you pick anyone from Team Chasm, you should pick me." She winked at Char. "Because I'm gonna be a powerful Nidoqueen someday and you'll really want someone like me on your team, so don't miss the opportunity! Get me while you can! I'm sure someone else would love to hire me if you don't."

Well, I like her, Eva said to Char. But if the temperature spike in the room is any indication, Tallie sure doesn't.

Finally, when it was almost lunchtime, a skittish little Nincada showed up.

"You don't have a bug on your team, do you?" he said, twitching. "You can just call me Nincada, or whatever you want, I don't care." He cast a wary glance to the large fiery bird standing at Char's side.

"Good morning!" Ray said to the little Pokémon. "What brings you to Team Ember? Think you've got what it takes to help Char out?"

The little bug looked very courageous. He turned to Char and said, "Well, can I be honest? I… hate bugs."

"Oh, really?" Tallie said, stifling laughter. "This I've got to hear. How come you hate bugs?"

"Laugh if you want. Go ahead, I don't care. I've heard it all," Nincada said, buzzing his little wings. "I hate working with bugs. I hate being surrounded by bugs. All the time! Hate Team Spider. Hate always doing bug jobs. Gathering foods and tunneling. Want to join a team with no bugs. Tired of bug culture. Tired of always being weak and frail. Tired of being creepy and annoying. Bugs know what everyone thinks about them, but you know what? They don't care that other Pokémon think that way. They embrace it. They embrace being the victim. They enjoy being the prey. They like that we're the Pokémon that win fights by annoying you to death. Tired of it. Want to grow up. Want to join a team with no bugs! Wouldn't complain if I never see another bug in my life."

"Well, there is Scythe," Ray said. "We see him all the time…"

"Scythe is my hero!" the noisy little bug said. "Know why? Because nobody even cares he's a bug. They just treat him like another Pokémon. That's what I want to be like someday. I want Pokémon to know me and respect me and not even notice that I'm a bug."

Though the Nincada was quite talkative, Char felt a strong fondness for the little thing, and decided to give him a chance.


And that was it. That was all the interviews Char wanted to see. Of the eleven, five more were added to the roster for the tryouts. But the tryouts wouldn't happen until Kecleon's job was done. Char had promised that much to his team – Tallie having been excluded from that promise, although the team seemed to be living with her well enough – and he wasn't about to give up just because the thief did what thieves do best. He had two of the smartest birds in the world, a devious con artist, and Ambera's most notoriously vengeful shopkeeper on his side. They would win, he knew. It was only a matter of time.

Char told Marrow to give the disappointing news to the Pokémon in the hall – the uproar could be heard even through the closed door – and the team soon set themselves upon the day's work. Eva and Ray made their way to Kecleon's shop to discuss the latest plan. Tallie was instructed to issue another run of notices and post them around town to taunt the thief. Char hung back in the room and tried to take inventory of the items they still had after the incident with the bag, while Otto read the daily news report in the planning room.

Guess we're down to four reviver seeds now, he realized sadly. Good thing the rescue emblems weren't stolen, either. Good thing we never put those in a bag. But all our best orbs were in there, and most of our expensive seeds…

He took out a long, red scarf which was hanging from a hook near the back of the tiny closet.

At least we still have the mobile scarves, he said, stroking the fine threads. Saura would kill me if I lost his.

Maybe I should give it back to him. Not fair that I should get to keep it when it was his gift. Maybe he could use it back home somehow.

There was a thwapping at the door. It wasn't a knocking, and it wasn't a pecking. It certainly wasn't the sound of Marrow's club. Probably some child coming to beg for a spot on the team. Char sighed and threw the mobile scarf back onto its hook. He approached the door, expecting the worst.

"Interviews are over!" he shouted. "We finished an hour ago."

"Good, because I'm not here for an interview," replied a distantly familiar voice. "Open the door."

The female voice gave him shivers of apprehension. He recognized it, but couldn't picture the face it belonged to. All he got were flashes of pain and bad memories.

"Open the door, Char," the voice said forcefully.

After putting his claws to the door, hesitating for a prolonged moment and wishing his door had a hole he could peer through, he opened it. He immediately regretted it; the face staring over him filled his body with dread.

"Oh… Lily. Hi," he said weakly. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Sure has," the Bayleef replied with an unwavering frown. "Can I come in?"

Not awaiting an answer, she pushed past Char and stood at the foyer of his team hall, glancing around at the furnishings and decorations. Her gaze lingered on the opened supply closet.

"Huh, so this is where Prince used to live before he met me," she said. "Kind of looks the same as the hall we're in now, but backwards." She looked at a candelabra next to the door to the planning room. "Wonder if Prince would ever want any of this stuff back. Maybe I should ask him."

Char was afraid to open his mouth and say anything. The Bayleef was clearly peeved, maybe at him specifically, and wore a painfully forced smile whenever she spoke. It gave him the creeps.

"Anything I, uh… can help you with?" Char forced out.

She peered at him with a look of disgust, then forced the fake smile back onto her face. "Yeah, there is," she said, then just stared at him as though imagining him having a stone tied to his tail and thrown into the ocean.

Char felt very small. "Hey, if this is about…"

"About what, something that may or may not have happened on a top-secret classified mission? Tell you what. How about we turn over a new leaf, alright? We both did what we thought was right at the time. I think it would be best for both of us if we act like it never happened. Sound fair? Because I honestly don't care at this point. Deal?"

"Uh, alright," Char said, choking on his words. "Yeah. Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to."

"Good. Now that that's out of the way…"

The Bayleef jumped close to him, sticking her nose in his face and looking like she was about to whip out her vines and strangle him. Char felt his heart clench as he stepped away from her.

"Give it back," she hissed.

Char waited for clarification that never came. Lily only stared at him, boring holes into his skull with her fiery glare.

"Give… what back?" he tried asking.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Lily said in a low voice. "The blue fire globe. I just heard from Legend that you have it now. That belongs to Prince. It does not belong to you. So give it back."

Tongues of panic were licking at the outside of his lungs.

"Lily, wait. Prince gave it to me," he tried saying.

"And you LET HIM?!" Lily roared in his face, causing him to wince back and nearly fall over. "Look. You have no idea what that thing means to him. You don't know what it means to Team Flamewheel. That little thing is their livelihood. It represents all the lives they lost in the war. You do not deserve to keep it. But hey, it's not like you'd ever know what it's like to lose a teammate, right? You're still a rookie. Not even a year of service yet. The frozen flame is for grownups who've seen what war can do to you. It isn't for rookies like you."

"Well, um… I… I tried giving it back, but Prince wouldn't let me," he said quickly. "He insisted I keep it."

"Ugh. Forget it. Give it to me and I'll give it back myself," she sighed, turning away from him and rushing at the supply cabinet. She began whipping his supplies away, tossing them haphazardly on the floor. "It's in here, right? This is where you keep your stuff?"

"Lily, wait."

"Ugh, You'd better still have it. I would have thought that you'd get it lost on the first day. Like it were just some toy."

"Lily…!"

"WHAT?!" She snapped her vine in the air, gasping in anger.

Char cringed. His mind was racing, and his teeth were chattering from the terrible surge of adrenaline. "I… you can't have it… right now. It's not here. It's in Ray's bag. We're… using it. It's our first one-star mission and we're using it right now to help Kecleon."

She jumped at the whimpering Char, this time wrapping him in her vines and pinning him against the wall. She touched her forehead to his.

"If you lose that thing…" she growled quietly, "I swear, I will never forgive you for as long as you live. Never."

Char squeaked as she held him tighter, pressing his head hard against the stone wall. He couldn't say anything. He could barely breathe.

And then the Call happened, right on time.

Char thought for a moment that he was seeing hallucinations from being unable to breathe, but he recognized Celebi's cheery, pleasant voice calling to him, and he knew just what he wanted to do.

He didn't want to mind-control her. He knew that he wouldn't forgive himself if he mind-controlled any of his friends, or even his former friends. He knew that heartspeak wasn't just a granted wish. He knew it changed you on the inside, made you a different kind of person. That kind of change wasn't supposed to happen all at once.

But in that moment of desperation, as the furious Bayleef held him responsible for the frozen flame, he knew in his heart that he wanted her to understand. He wanted her to see his side of things. So instead of words, he used the Call and sent her thoughts.

They were his thoughts and feelings from Temporal Tower. He showed her the pain and confusion of witnessing Scythe fight against Prince, and the panic and uncertainty he faced when he thought Scythe would fight him. He showed her the terrible cold of Zerferia, the numbness of smoldering, the saving warmth of Prince's body, and the hopelessness of being caught in the blizzard and not knowing where to go.

He showed her the end of the journey, the night when they thought they would parish in the valley of the Scarred Crags.

He showed her, thought after thought, image after image, impression after impression, all the feelings he could remember from the fateful mission. He showed her every indecision, every uncertainty, and every scrap of regret he felt at the mistakes he had made. Her showed her his relationship with Scythe, with Prince, and with Saura. He hoped, in desperation, he could make her see why he made the decisions he did, and make her see that he was not a bad person on the inside.

Then something very strange happened. Somehow, Lily used the Call back on him. He didn't know how; maybe she was simply reflecting the force of his powerful heart-speak back onto him. Maybe she was receiving feedback from Celebi's signal since they were at such a close proximity. Whatever the cause, she used the Call to communicate a stream of memories to Char, just as he did to her.

What he saw and what he felt terrified him.

There was a feeling that cut the heart like a sawblade, of believing in something you knew to be hopeless, but carrying on because too many others were counting on you.

There was a vision of watching a snowy valley splattered in blood as all of her friends, allies, and respected leaders died before her eyes.

Vallon. Tangrind. Heroes who deserved more than anyone else to see the future they had died trying to protect.

There was a numbing feeling of knowing that all the deaths were her own fault.

She was expected to stop killing other Pokémon but she didn't know how.

There was a feeling that crushed the heart like a boulder, of having things expected of you, things you knew you could not deliver, but still had to believe you could do them because so many others were counting on you. You just had to believe them until they became true.

There was a feeling that drained the heart of all its energy, of always being a child on the inside even as the body would grow and strengthen. There was a feeling of being trapped in a body you know is too big for you, and did not represent who you were.

There was a sensation of being surrounded by ice, and also by fire, and shivering to death even as your skin burns and peels away. There was a resentful feeling of forgetting what the green forests and grassy prairies ever looked like, and forgetting what it felt like to simply stand in the sun and soak up its rays without the entire world always trying to kill you.

There was a longing for a distant home that was quickly fading from memory.

There was a trust in Prince, much stronger than any trust Char had ever felt towards Scythe. She was truly alone in the world except for him. His fire was more important to her than the sun itself. He was the only one who had ever treated her like a creature, and not a weapon to be used, or a weapon to be feared. He was the only one to protect her from the Master, and also from the cruel resistance teams, and also from herself and the terrible effects of her own power.

There was an understanding. Prince didn't want to simply fight. He wanted to win. He fought the resistance teams who insisted on being weak. He created his own.

The burning. It stung. It was much more painful than the numbing cold he felt. Her body was coated in fire. That fire sunk down into her soul and didn't go away. The fire that had come from Char's own throat.

The hopelessness. Knowing that the one Pokémon she loved was likely dead. She was alone. Even as a godlike bird clutched her close and flew her to safety, the fires still burned upon her. He was gone. Prince was no more. He was betrayed by the Charmander. By the Scyther. She was truly alone in the world.

Char realized he would have died by the sides of his closest friends. Lily would have died utterly alone.

There was a tearful reunion, bringing more happiness and relief than Char had ever felt with Saura. There was a night spent in a warm embrace as the joyful sobbing would never end. Resolutions and promises were made. They were set in stone. Love and dedication was professed.

All of it, the victories and the tragedies, the struggles and the heartbreaks… it was encapsulated in a sphere of crystal glass, one which Prince kept close to his heart. It was the frozen flame.

The vision ended as the Call ceased its signal. Char snapped back to reality, realizing that he was probably crying. He gasped for air. He looked at Lily – her eyes were dilated and her face was astonished, as though she was coming to realize what had just happened.

"You know what the difference is between you and me…?" she said plainly. "Your hurt came from a choice you made. You got exactly what you deserved."

She dropped him hard and walked away.

"I'll be back later for the frozen flame," she said. "I hope by then you'll be done using it."

Even without Lily's vines wrapped around him, Char could still barely breathe. All of Lily's emotions and memories were all so much stronger than his own. They had overshadowed his own, enough that he could barely remember what he had felt.

He had no choice but to admit to himself: Lily had suffered worse. Words could do no justice to the things she had seen, the memories she had witnessed. The curse of the Call was far more horrifying than he ever knew.

He sat there, still cycling through the sensations Lily had given him, and then noticed Otto standing in the doorway to the planning room. He looked like he'd watched the whole confrontation.

"I have since learned what awkwardness is," Otto said, "and how it applies to Pokémon who cannot be trusted. Are you hurt?"

"Yes," Char said. "But not on the outside."

"You are bleeding internally? Broken bones?"

Char coughed out a laugh. "No. I feel shame. It's like... it's like the shame of failing a mission. You know what that feels like, right?"

"…Yes," Otto admitted. "In a way, it indeed hurts. But not in a physical way."

"Sometimes, a failure counts for a lot more than just a bad mark on your record," Char said. "Sometimes it's a black mark on you. I did something terrible to Lily that I might not ever be able to make up for. I burned her. She didn't deserve to be burned, but I burned her. And I didn't realize that the rest of the world burned her too."

Char got up and shook his head, wiping his tears away. "When we find the frozen flame, I'm giving it back to Prince," he decided. "I'll have to apologize to Tallie and Zona that they'll never get to try it. But I understand it now. That's the way it should be. So let's go. Let's get it back."


Iron Town

Eva's second attempt at testing the thief did not go as planned.

Her idea was to trick the thief into possibly revealing its type. She had collected the worthless glass diamonds from the public display in Iron Town and had a spell placed on each of them. Since she had never studied how to enchant items, she and Kecleon had taken them to a professional imbuer – Kecleon paid the hefty bill himself – and the diamonds were given a very simple enchantment that would sound a noise if touched by a certain type of Pokémon. A few hours into the evening, the enchantments were completed and they had diamonds to test for water, electric, psychic, dark, and fairy-type Pokémon. The enchantments upon the diamonds would hopefully activate the thief's appraisal specs and lure it to the trap. Eva hoped that if they could deduce the thief's type, they could make use of a number of available type-exclusive spells and items to ultimately trap it.

But the thief did not show up to the exhibition. Even after Tallie had spread fliers around town "cordially inviting" the thief to another treasure of its choosing, the thief was nowhere to be seen, and for hours into the evening Kecleon had to pretend to show off his diamond collection to citizens of Iron Town as Team Ember hid themselves around the town square and kept watch.

By the time the clock towers rang nine and the streets were clearing up for the night, the decision was made to retreat in fear of the Watchers. That's when the thief finally struck, stealing all five diamonds in rapid succession while Kecleon's back was turned for a moment. He did not even notice until a Sableye, who he'd been arguing with (it claimed that it could tell the diamonds were not real just by looking at them) noted that someone had just taken them. The thief also apparently had activated a nullifying spell which allowed it to break into the exhibit undetected, a spell which likely nullified the spells on the diamonds which Eva had spent all day setting up. Ray noted that it might have been an embargo spell, saying that's what he would have done in the thief's place, but he wasn't sure how it did not affect the penumbra cape. Otto noted that since nobody even saw the diamonds being stolen, it was possible that the thief was not even wearing the cape and simply disguised itself as a commoner until it was close enough to take the treasures and run.

Kecleon got so angry that he momentarily turned completely red and smashed the entire exhibit with his bare hands. It was a terrifying scene, and Char was thankful that he was nowhere in the vicinity as the marble stands and wooden housings were shredded and beaten into dust with only a few terrifying blows from the enraged shopkeeper. As soon as he was done taking out his anger, Kecleon reverted to his normal, friendly self and thanked Team Ember for another day's work of attempting to help him.

As the resistance team walked back to the Cliffside Academy empty-handed, Eva said, "I realize now that this thief has so many items at its disposal that it's difficult to make a scenario that it cannot counteract. It does not help that most orbs speak of their own functions, and most common bands and scarves are described in the public encyclopedias. This thief is resourceful and knows how to do his research. This thief can do anything he wants, absolutely anything. And he is dangerous because he knows this."

"Too bad the same can't be said about us," Char said under his breath, peering at the darkening sky. "I wish I could do anything just by believing hard enough."

"Nonsense! It is only a matter of time!" Kecleon said. "I feel strongly that this team right here, standing beside me, is just the team we need to bring this thief to justice. No matter how much of my merchandise will be stolen, I still have more resources than the thief would ever hope for. There are some things it simply can't take away."

"Thanks," Char said half-heartedly, watching Otto and Tallie fly overhead.

He thought of Lily. He remembered that stinging feeling she had given him, of having things expected of you that you know you can't do by sheer force of will. He remembered that empty feeling she felt all her life, the feeling of having to push forward even though you don't believe something is possible, only because others believe in you.

"This is a learning experience. Don't forget this," Eva said encouragingly, noticing his dark thoughts. "It is especially a learning experience for me. After many years, I have forgotten how to think critically. Soon, my mind will be back to top form."

Char was afraid. Afraid that Lily or Prince would find out what he'd done.

He couldn't feel the confidence his team was trying to give to him. He was against a faceless, nameless enemy who revealed nothing about itself. It was an enemy with a greater mastery over equipment than even Ray. It was practically all-powerful. At this rate, they would pour all their efforts into trying to bait and trap it, and get nothing in return.

"We know at least one new piece of information," Eva said. "He took the bait. He does not know the difference between a useless and useful enchantment. The diamonds are of no use, but he took them anyway. This confirms my theory that he might be placing too much of his trust in the appraisal specs."

"Ah, wonderful!" Kecleon said. "This is useful news. Perhaps I can continue my trading, but I will need to temporarily carry only things that are not enchanted. Such as gold and money."

CRUNCH.

Eva, Ray, and Kecleon turned in surprise to a frustrated Char who had just punched the side of the building.

He kept his fist buried in the tiny crack he had made in the stone wall, feeling the painful throbbing within his knuckles. The firelight of his tail grew and lit the dark street more brightly than the crystal lamps above them.

He clenched his teeth, stewing in the pain and the dark thoughts that followed.

"Who are you…?" he muttered, closing his eyes. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Char…? Are you okay?" Ray asked.

"Why do you steal things that you can't even use?!" Char growled to nobody, his mind spinning. "Otto says you aren't even a fire-type… What use would you have for…"

A thought struck him. He stopped leaning on the wall and stood up. He looked at the swollen knuckles of his claw. He felt the pain.

The pain.

He looked at the wall he had just punched. It was some kind of granite brick, too hard to smash the way that Kecleon had smashed the exhibit booths, even when he'd charged white power into his fist.

There was no question in his mind. The answer had come to him. He simply knew what to do.

"I know how we can catch the thief," Char said, still staring at disbelief in his claw. "I have the answer."

"Oh? You thought of a way?" Eva asked with keen interest.

"Kecleon," Char said, "Do you have any other of those enchanted globes in your storage?"

"…Yes, I do believe I have one," he replied. "Similar to your frozen flame, but effective only to a different type of Pokémon. The base enchantments on them are very quite the same, although require long and grueling conditions to imbue, and so they are most valuable and rare. I keep it in the vault."

"Alright, I'm glad," Char said. "I need you to find out exactly how big its area of effect is. Can you do that? How far away can you be before it stops working?"

"Easily," Kecleon said with a smile. "I believe I even have it written down somewhere, and if not, a volunteer would suffice to perform a test. I will have your answer by morning."

Char eyed the birds above him, who had stopped to circle around in wait for him. He saw a glint from the Talonflame's eye.

"You two," he said, knowing they could hear him, "I think I'm about to give you the strangest assignment you've ever heard."

*Chapter 90*: Chapter 69: Wings of Fire

Author's Note: Special thanks to Arbitrary Renaissance and Ankor the Raichu for their valuable input with this chapter.


Chapter 69

The Sky

What a fortunate day.

A clear sky. Perfect visibility.

The wind was warm. The thermals rising from the streets of Iron Town made flight effortless. The humidity was low, which meant no clouds to obscure vision.

The mission objectives were clear. Victory was inevitable. Char had once again demonstrated his ingenuity, defining a plan which had an overwhelming probability of success.

The freedom of the open sky… the exciting prospect of imminent success…It almost made him want to sing.

It seemed like such a long time ago that he'd spent his mornings perched on some stump or branch, singing his heart out. Of course, that wasn't necessary anymore. His new life, his service to Char, didn't require any songs except for the standard avian calls.

He distantly wondered if he even remembered how to sing at all. Not that it even mattered. He was never very good at it in the first place.

But the best part of the day? It would be spent in the company of Tallie, the most interesting bird Otto had met in recent memory. He would get to tail her all day, talking to her at his leisure, and their trust and companionship would only deepen.

What more could a bird ask for?

Otto took a moment to aim, swooping down from the sky and past the rooftops of the ten-story buildings. When the distances all converged, he opened his talon, releasing the gravelerock from his grip and letting it fall, pulling away at the last moment. A few meters below on the city streets, it conked Tallie on the head.

"Awwwk!" Tallie screeched. "Do you have to drop them so hard?!"

"Of course. You must be certain that you are feeling pain," Otto replied, dropping altitude to speak with her. "With a bird of your size and strength, it takes much force to overcome your aural mitigation and make you feel pain."

He went to collect the gravelerock. It was the perfect size for his talon, small enough to carry without much effort but large enough to inflict the necessary pain on Tallie. If he missed his mark, he'd certainly break it and have to find another from somewhere. Thankfully, he hadn't missed yet.

Char's plan seemed perfect. The frozen flame was hidden somewhere in Iron Town or St. Gracious City, or somewhere along Route 324 between the two. It was likely hidden underground; such a large stash of valuable items wouldn't easily be hidden in a building, at least one that was not so heavily guarded and enchanted as the keephouse. Thus, it could be anywhere.

The thief was evidently a collector, robbing items that it had no use for, as it had shown when it had stolen the useless glass diamonds. Therefore, it likely was unaware of what the enchantment upon the frozen flame did, only that it existed and was very strong.

Kecleon reported that the typical diameter of effect of an enchanted globe was little over three hundred meters in diameter.

Altogether, this meant that there was a radius of about one-fifty somewhere in the vicinity where Tallie would not be harmed by the gravelerock. Once found, triangulation could be used to estimate the position of the thief's hideout. If it was not found, it meant that the orb was likely kept farther underground than expected, so the test radius would be reduced and more tests would be performed the next day over the required areas.

Soon, Otto's very first one-star mission would end in success.

She likely doesn't care about a one-star victory, Otto figured, collecting his gravelerock and winging back above the rooftops. She has likely felled missions of seven stars at least. I wonder what her record is. I would need to fly to the Black Division just to see it. Perhaps I could get her to tell me.

Otto perched upon a tall building, a "sky scraper" as they were sometimes called (he did not understand why, as they certainly weren't at an altitude capable of scraping the sky the way that a bird could). He surveyed the territory. His mind drew tessellated circular regions upon the ground below, representing circumferences of area which still required testing. Fifty-nine tests were complete, and many more remained.

The rest of the team was already in St. Gracious City, having been taken there by the Arcanine and her powers of teleportation. Char and the Arcanine were busy testing for the frozen flame's influence by similar, but not nearly as efficient, means as a fire-type Pokémon who could fly.

Otto winged to the south-east, approaching the residential district. He sounded the standard avian call of position indication, and Tallie followed down below (although with less haste than she had flown an hour ago, for some reason) and then Otto swooped down to her, attacking her with the rock just as before.

Ah! Sixty direct hits. Otto thought with glee. My training has prepared me for this. My accuracy is sure to impress her.

He folded his wings and plummeted, as though diving upon a fleeing rat, and reclaimed his rock. It was still in good condition. When he neared the ground, Tallie waved her wings.

"Ah, Otto, maybe we could give it a rest? For a few minutes at least…?" she cried. "My head is starting to get sore…"

That isn't good, Otto realized. She cannot be allowed to accrue enough pain to make her lose feeling. It will compromise the mission.

"Yes, we have time for rest," Otto said, swooping to land in front of her. "We have been making good progress. Do you feel that you will need a healing berry soon?"

"No, no… not yet, just… just give me a moment, alright?" she screeched, shaking away some loose down. "Awwk. How much of the city is left, again?"

"Approximately four thousand more tests and the first sweep will be complete,"

"Wait… first sweep? There's more than one?!" Tallie cried.

"Yes, the second sweep will fill in the holes we left with the first, to maximize efficiency," Otto said. "It is possible then that the flame will not be found by that time, in which case we must conduct a third sweep with a smaller radius, assuming the orb is deeply underground. If we continue at our current speed, this will only take a few days."

Tallie shivered. "Augh, are you sure this is the best way to test for this?!" she cried.

"Yes, I am fairly certain," said Otto. "Without prehensile arms, it would not be easy for you to hit yourself with the rock at a speed which would overcome your aural mitigation. Perhaps if we found a flying Pokémon whose body were made of rock, or a rock-conjurer who could fly, such as a dragon or Aerodactyl, the pebble would not be necessary. Currently we operate with peak efficiency using the resources we have."

I must sound so intelligent to her! He thought internally. I must keep demonstrating my intelligence!

But Tallie only cast him an angry look. "Wonderful to hear," she said. "I'd like to see you take a rock to the face," she grumbled quietly, pecking a feather from under her wing.

"That would serve no purpose to the mission. I am not a fire-type," Otto quipped.

"Oh, right! How silly of me to forget that," Tallie sneered.

Otto glanced to the south. "We are nearing the residential district," he reported. "The frozen flame is most likely to be here. It would be fortunate if we were able to locate it so early."

"Tell me about it," Tallie said. But when she glanced back at where Otto had been, he'd already flown away.


Otto surveyed the residential district. At the front there were some rectangular houses made of sand-colored bricks, all quite plain. There were also some underground burrows and some lakes, and some metal houses as well, also quite plain, and somewhat small… only about twice the size of his own personal room at Char's base, he noticed. They were all aligned in neat little rows, each with a mailbox.

Thankfully this city does not offer many elemental comforts, Otto thought. It would be much more difficult to navigate.

Catching a pleasant tailwind, he drifted above an artificial pond and spotted a Gyarados sleeping at the bottom. A moment later, he realized the Gyarados was dead – it was merely a sculpture, something to decorate the home of the water-types which swam through the loops and curls in its serpentine form. The wind touched the surface of the water, disturbing the image of the fish with bright reflections of the sun.

Otto kept a conspicuous eye on the pond. A water-type thief is unlikely, he thought. Trails of water would be left wherever the thief would run. But it will be tested regardless. Perhaps the thief is using a water-resisting spell. This would prove clever, and explain why it has not been detected yet.

He began trying to calculate the foci of the tests, adjusting them so that he would not need to drop his rock under the water, or to trespass upon someone's roof. When Tallie caught up (she was flying quite slow now) he commenced with more rock drops.

Less than an hour later, the sweep of the civilian houses was complete, and came up empty.

One hundred and fifty-one direct hits, Otto counted, holding his head high as he settled next to Tallie near the lake.

"How unfortunate," Otto commented. "That area was the place most likely for the thief to live. There are not many other places in town which actually house Pokémon. Birds live in the weir against the plateau's wall, but we have already confirmed that the thief is not a bird. Perhaps the thief lives here, yet instead keeps their collection of stolen items elsewhere."

Tallie did not reply. She did not appear to be paying attention, and was only staring into the distance.

"We have made excellent time," Otto replied proudly. "Come, let's keep up the work."

The Talonflame opened her frizzled wings, showering feathers and lit embers everywhere. "Wow, you just sound so excited to keep smacking me with that thing," she screeched.

I do not understand what she means, Otto thought. I do not sound excited, I purposely keep my voice quite stoic…

"Yes, for the sake of the mission," he said after thinking carefully for the moment. "As an avian unit we are operating at first-class efficiency. I am putting my full effort into meeting the high standard that you set."

"Look, what is wrong with you?!" Tallie cried, flapping her wings at him. "Just because it's necessary for the mission for me to get hit on the head with rocks every five minutes doesn't mean it doesn't hurt! Haven't you ever gotten hit on the head with a rock before?! Don't tell me that you can't even feel pain?"

"Of course I feel pain," he said, "But I do not speak of pain. I find that it decreases my reputation when I speak of my own pain. If the mission is successful, the pain has served a valuable purpose, and can therefore be disregarded."

"And that's all that matters to you, huh?" she said. "Your mission record?"

"My record shows my worth as a resistance team member, and therefore my worth as a Pokémon," Otto said.

"Oh, really?" Tallie said dryly. "So I suppose if you quit the resistance, then your life would be meaningless?"

Otto had to think about that one for a moment. He wanted to give the Pokémon he admired an honest answer.

"I do not know, but I know that when I was a feral living in a mystery dungeon, my life was without meaning," he said. "Team Ember has freed me from the wilderness, and given me a life of meaning. I can only assume that if I were to quit the resistance, my life would have less meaning than it has now."

Tallie scowled, casting him a dangerous glare. He watched her, expecting a reply. A Tyrogue citizen momentarily walked between the two, but her gaze was unbroken.

"I don't get you," she said, stepping away from him. "You're a weird little bird, you know that? …Kind of scary, actually."

Otto opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't find the right words.

This is not how I expected her to reply, Otto thought to himself, thinking quickly and assessing the implications of her behavior. Here, I am trying to speak like the model avian service unit, reaffirming her confidence. I did not say anything explicitly disparaging. What does she disapprove of?

Tallie squinted down at Otto's bewildered face. "Hey, look… I'm sorry," she said quickly, hanging her head. "Sorry, I – I guess what I meant to say was… I think that healing berry is sounding great right about now."

Otto nodded. Ah, now this I understand, he thought. She is emotionally compromised by the pain! I wonder why she said nothing until now?

It is almost as though she was expecting me to anticipate her level of pain. Was she testing me?

No, that cannot be. There is no reason Tallie would need to test me. I would answer honestly whatever she would ask of me, and she knows this. Perhaps she simply overestimated her level of endurance. That is quite understandable; I sometimes make the same error.

Leading the way, he winged back in the direction of the central park, the origin point of their flight plans and the place they'd stashed their oran berries.

"I give Char all the credit, he was right," Tallie uttered as they flew back. "This is one of the weirdest things I've ever been asked to do."

"But not the weirdest?" Otto tried asking.

She was silent for a moment. She jerked her head to Otto and said, "Hmm, some things came close, but… I'm gonna say yeah, yeah. It is the weirdest."

"But not the longest or the hardest?" Otto tried again. "What are some of your prior missions that you are proud of?"

Tallie turned her head away. "Classified," she barked.

"Division law states that you may freely share classified information to team members you deem trustworthy," Otto stated.

"Yeah, y'know what else states that? Common sense," Tallie fired back. "Actually, common sense accounts for most of the rules in the silly codex. If you've gotta ask for permission to do what you know needs to be done, you're useless."

She veered down to the park before Otto could reply, banking for the large crate of oran berries that Kecleon had set up beneath a tall blue willow tree. Kecleon was somewhere nearby, guarding the merchandise – he was camouflaged, but thanks to the angle of the sun's rays from the sky, Otto had caught his movement, a tiny blur of light like the ripples on the pond's surface.

Tallie stumbled as she came to perch on the side of the box, then she started eating the berries four at a time.

"Don't eat too many," Otto warned. "Those need to last all day."

"I will eat as many as I please," Tallie huffed with a full mouth. "If we run out we can always just pick our own. There are some oran bushes around town."

"Those belong to civilian Pokémon."

"They won't notice if we take a few. Pidgey probably peck them off all the time and nobody can do anything about it, right?"

Otto watched the large red bird devour at least eight oran berries, tossing her head up to spill them down her throat. He felt that he needed to seize this moment somehow. He needed to say something while he had the chance, while he was not bothered by calculating test points and she wasn't in a foul mood. He needed to say something open-ended, yet something Tallie would not disagree with, based on her prior responses…

"Would you tell me something about your past?" Otto tried, forcing meekness into his voice. "Perhaps something that's not classified."

"What's up with you? What's the big deal about prying into my past?" she replied, but not with a cutting edge. Otto noticed that the tone of her voice must have reflected the pain relief which came from the berries. She could tell that her mood was much improved.

"I want to learn from you," Otto said.

"Learn what, how to fly?" Tallie said absently, pecking at another oran.

Otto shifted his feet on the wooden rim of the box and came closer to her. "If you would tell me about your prior jobs and share your wisdom with me as the Silverwing leaders had, I might learn how you became such a successful avian unit, and try to follow your ways," he said with hopefulness.

"I don't really have anything to teach you," Tallie said, shrugging. "I mean… you could watch and learn, but beyond that, I'm not someone who's good at regurgitating things I used to do. It's all the past to me."

"Are you certain there's nothing? Any story of success you're particularly proud of? Any anecdotes about mistakes you've made? Surely someone as strong and accomplished as you would hold great wisdom of the world, and I do not want to miss it. I live for greater wisdom."

Tallie groaned, hopping off of the crate and back to the ground. "Alright, pigeon, how about this. Want to tell me about your past? You said you were wild, right? What was that like? What's a day in the life of a wild, mindless bird?"

Otto blinked, trying to recall his memories.

"They are indistinct, and if I am to be frank, inconsequential," he said. "When I awoke in the morning, I would sing. After singing, I would preen. After preening, I would hunt for bugs and small rodents. After hunting, I would patrol my territory. After patrolling my territory, I would bathe. After bathing, I would sleep. Each day consisted of the routine. The only variations happened when creatures would invade my territory, in which case I would join a mob to chase it away, or when I could not find food, in which case I would settle at a different point in my patrol route and designate that point as my new home. I thought nothing, I learned nothing. Because my brain did not have the capacity to defy my wild instincts, I succumbed to routine, like the sun and the moon."

"Ho-Oh's feathers, hey! That's just what my life was like, too! So really, there's not much to explain," Tallie said. "Get up in the morning. Eat. Listen to our mission briefings. Memorize the cities, flight paths, key Pokémon. Fly out. Perform our expected duties. Come back and get paid. Sometimes we'd be back the next day. Sometimes it would take weeks. Didn't matter. All the days were the same. Maybe in the evenings I'd get the chance to talk to some Pokémon I thought were interesting, but it didn't matter, time would always be up and it'd always be time to sleep. We didn't even have the luxury of the sun. Honestly, that's all I really remember of the Black Division. Just one messy blur of work. Over and over again. Day in and day out. Nothing interesting. Actually, does that sound any different than life on Team Ember to you? Hmm?"

"It is not too different," Otto replied. "Every morning, I wake up, I eat breakfast, I hear the briefings…"

"Ohh, well whatdaya know? How about that?" Tallie shouted in fake surprise, brushing Otto's head with her wing feathers. "Go figure, huh? Hey, if your life is all just one long mindless routine, then how are you sure you aren't still a wild? How do you know that you aren't?"

Otto thought for another moment. This question made him vaguely uncomfortable, but he settled on a secure thought to reply with, and said, "I am on Char's team because I choose to be here, rather than to be subject to the rules of the wilderness. I have chosen this routine."

Tallie looked smug, like she had just won a contest. Otto didn't understand why; he had not initiated one. He had merely asked some questions and responded to some of hers.

"Alright, if you say so, chickie," Tallie said. "Point is, you have your reasons that you aren't proud of your past. I have mine. So can we leave it alone for now? Please?"

She roused herself, rapidly flapping her wings and shaking her head. "Ah, those berries go to the head fast. I feel great," she said with her feathers still puffed. "Want to go smack me on the head a few hundred more times? I think I'm up for it."

As Otto winged back to the sky, he noticed the glimmer of the hidden Kecleon dashing to inspect the remaining inventory of berries.


On their way back to the east side of town to continue their sweep, Otto thought of the perfect question.

"What's it like being a fire-type?" he asked her, drifting close overtop so she could hear.

"Oh… oh, wait, I know this one," she said eagerly. "Fire-types are weak to water, rocks, and earthen. And best at burning up bugs, plants, and metal. Am I right? Did I get it right?"

"You forgot ice," Otto said. "But that's not what I meant. How does being a fire-type change the way you are? How does it change the way you exist and how you fight? I… do not express myself well. How do you feel that being a fire-type is different than being a Pokémon of another type? From your vantage, that is."

"Uh… why not ask Char that?" Tallie said. "He's a fire-type, why wait all this time for me to come along?"

"You're a bird with fire," Otto said. "You are similar to me, but you have fire. I just wonder how that…"

"How that feels?" Tallie mused.

Otto felt wary of responding for some reason. "Yes, perhaps," he eventually replied. "I wonder how different I would be, if I… had fire."

"Well," she said, "I guess you could say it feels… warm?"

"…Warm? That's all?"

"Why do you keep asking me all these weird questions? What about you, huh? What's it like being a normie?"

"It is odd that you would ask me that," Otto said, "Since you once had the same elemental types as I have."

Tallie rolled her eyes, veering away. "Ugh, I can never get one past you, can I? Silly bird. So this is the spot, right? We're doing the warehouses?"

"This is the next most likely place the thief's hideout could be."

They both came to perch upon a white rooftop. There were several large storage houses in this district, and muscular Pokémon like Gurdurr moving piles of construction equipment. The building materials for the expansion and maintenance of Iron Town's infrastructure were kept here.

"I am interested in fire because this is what led me to having my first sentient thoughts," Otto said in a quiet, hesitant voice. "I encountered Char, and I mobbed him, as I would mob all unfamiliar creatures. I saw that he had fire on his tail. I had never seen fire before, and I thought that it had come from the sun. Char burned me and I felt fire's intensity. This is what made me realize that there existed things in the world that were hidden outside of my daily routine and my small territory. There were things in the world… like a creature with fire upon its tail, creatures… who could create fire. My transcendental thoughts began at that point. I finally saw the truth that there were things I had not seen before. I was overcome with the intention to… to follow Char… anywhere. I wanted to see the places he came from, and see how different they were from… my meaningless existence."

"Well, was it everything you thought it would be?" Tallie replied, eyeing him.

"Yes," Otto said confidently. "And more. I am very happy with my decision to follow Char. The path has led me to a deep understanding of the world, and the awareness of countless things that I still do not understand."

"And let me guess, you want to learn everything?" Tallie said flatly. "Because I'm telling you right now, nobody can learn everything. And trust me, this is coming from someone who's tried."

"Not everything," Otto replied, "but perhaps everything pertinent to aviation. I wish to become the ideal bird." He turned to Tallie, and said to her with a very odd spark in his voice and a glimmer in his eye, the likes of which the Talonflame hadn't seen from him before, "Of all the things that I've learned, would you like to know which is my favorite?"

"Sure, kiddo," she said amusedly. "What's your favorite?"

"I have learned a battle technique that is fire," he said proudly, wearing a wide grin. "It is my favorite application of white aura. While it is not true fire, it gives the appearance of fire. The technique is known as 'brave bird.' To my current knowledge, it is the closest I can come to having fire of my own."

"I've heard of 'brave bird,'" Tallie said, nodding approvingly. "Takes guts to make a direct hit. You can't always pull back in time. Too much momentum from the energy discharge."

"It is difficult, but I have trained my accuracy," Otto said with satisfaction.

"Ah! Good for you. Maybe you can show me your skill sometime. Me, I never learned that one. Too risky." She gave him a pat on the head. "Keep your little beak up, maybe you've got more fire than you realize."

"What do you mean?" He said.

"Well… maybe you have a hidden power," Tallie mused, tilting her head. "Like… like that Zona kid I keep hearing about. Apparently he has a hidden psychic power. Maybe you have a hidden power for fire."

Otto tensed, processing the possibility.

What if… what if this were true?

Could I truly command the power of fire, if nature had been so kind to hatch me with the correct genes?

His eyes sparkled in the sunlight. "Perhaps I could," he said. "Perhaps I could get tested for a hidden power. I do not know how to do that, but I could learn."

"Silly birdie," she said, patting him on the head again. "You going to just stand here all day? You've got a mission to finish, don't you?"

Otto nodded, clutched his little rock, then climbed into the air with a strange, electric vigor in his wings.

Like the Lucario who was born without aura, he thought, perhaps I too am missing an element. Perhaps fire is that element. Perhaps I am useless because I was born without fire…

and when I find the fire, I will truly become an ideal bird.

He flapped to gain altitude, then stopped to hover at the peak of his flight. Since the residential areas all seemed dry of the frozen flame, Otto took a moment to peer around town, wondering where the next most likely place could be after the warehouses were done with.

Statistically speaking, we should have found it by now, Otto thought. It has such a low likelihood of being anywhere else. I wonder if Char and Canniah have located it already…

He drifted at near the height the sky-scrapers had been and glanced around at the city. Where could it be? The downtown district? The keephouse? The merchants' isles? The greenhouses? He knew testing the greenhouses would really be scraping the riverbed, but he found that it was difficult to think like a thief – at least, like this particular one. Once the current district was over with, he would ask Tallie for her opinion.

Otto chose his testing point and sounded the call. Tallie glided to him with great haste, coming to land on a small pile of iron beams, the likes of which they probably used to assemble the sky-scrapers. Once in position, she stared expectantly at the sky, catching Otto's eye.

Otto thought she looked happy. It was probably the berries affecting her, he figured. Her blood was probably flooded with chemicals that forced her to be happy. But the happiness was contagious. Otto spread his wings and posed for her, trying to look strong and majestic against the clear sunny sky.

Indeed, a fortunate day, he thought to himself.

He tilted his wings, pitched his weight over the hilltop of air, and began his plummet.

And then he saw something in the corner of his eye.

It was dark and bubbling, like the bulges upon a cumulonimbus cloud. And it moved fast.

Its motion reminded Otto of a scurrying rat, especially those delicious-smelling ones with salty meat, fleeing from the mighty raptors overhead…

But when he turned to look, there wasn't anything to see. There had been no distinct shape, only motion, similar to the scales of the camouflaged Kecleon.

It took only the one small moment of distraction.

No! Otto realized, snapping back to attention. No, I am…

I am not a feral anymore. I am an intelligent bird. My focus should not be pulled away by frightened rats and the thrill of hunting... that is not what I am anymore.

Only then, when he turned his head back to Tallie, did he realize his gravelerock had slipped through his talons and was already halfway to the ground, plummeting to its destruction.

But his intelligent mind couldn't make immediate sense of the rapidly diminishing distance between himself and the ground. He was closer than he wanted to be. He knew he should have pulled up, but instead he tucked his wings in deeper and angled himself toward the rock in one last desperate attempt…

No!

No, I must—

I MUST NOT BREAK THE STREAK!

He plummeted fast and reached out his talons to close them around the stone, but the ground was just too close. Raw instincts took over and he gave up, tumbling and twisting until finally he had wrangled control of the air beneath his wings, saving himself just shy of slamming into the iron. But in doing so, he had spiked the stone down towards the steel beams with the incredible power of his dive.

The rock hit the beams, shattering into a dozen pieces. The largest and sharpest of those pieces flew directly at Tallie, burying itself completely into her belly. With a feral shriek, Tallie fell backward in a mess of feathers and scrabbling talons.

Otto came to land, and stood wide-eyed, watching his leader writhe in agony. She tumbled from the beams and onto the sandy ground, spilling loose down feathers and drops of blood wherever she rolled. Several construction workers stopped to stare in the direction of the noise.

"Tallie…?" Otto tried to say weakly. His voice didn't rise above Tallie's screams. "Tallie, do you… do you need a berry? Will you… will you be alright?"

And he just… watched for a moment, his mind blanked. It gave him no thoughts. It gave him no calculations. It suggested no ways to react. He watched mindlessly as his new friend rolled to her side and pierced the sky with her screech, just as the wounded raptors would always cry in their death throes after he'd mobbed them and clawed a hole in their chest. He never expected to see Tallie act like this.

You stupid, feral bird, he told himself. You weak, pathetic, useless bird. Look what you've done.

You are a failure.

Get her a berry.

Without questioning, without waiting for permission, he flapped away to the residential districts, plucked an oran from the nearest citizen's garden, and flew it in his tiny talons back to the warehouse lot.

Minutes later when he returned, Tallie was right where he'd left her, but now she was laying on her back and wasn't moving. His heart stopped, and for an eternal few seconds he wondered how he was going to inform Char that he'd killed his own teammate.

But as he drew nearer he found that her eyes were open. She caressed her open wounds with her wingtips. Embers glowed between her feathers, and the smell of smoke grew strong.

Otto dropped the oran berry at her side.

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling something inside of him heave. "I did not mean to miss."

She only glared spitefully at him.

"I was distracted in mid-air," he tried saying. "I saw something. The feral Pidgey behind my eyes thought it was something of interest, and I miscalculated the distance."

She still only glared.

"I am a failure, and no better than a feral," Otto admitted, bowing his head. "I will eternally regret this pain that I have caused you."

"Yeah, well don't," Tallie growled.

To his surprise, the red falcon climbed to her feet. Long, thick trails of tears traced from the sides of her eyes. Blood still oozed from beneath the scattered gray feathers of her belly. But she stood up on her shaky legs until they stopped shaking.

Giving a dismissive glance to the oran berry, and another one to the Pidgey, she performed another rouse, then spread her wings…

…and she simply left.

Otto didn't know what to think. Had she not seen the oran berry? Were the tears blocking her sight?

Was she leaving? Would she come back? There had been something frightening in her eyes… had it been something meaningful? Was she malicious now? Was she too emotionally compromised to be saved?

He watched her silhouette upon the sky, now far away from his position. She looked as though she was winging back in the direction of the central park.

Oh. Of course, Otto he realized. She probably needs many more than one berry, and thus is flying to Kecleon's crate again. I must not be thinking clearly today. Why am I not thinking clearly? Perhaps it is I who needs berries. I will join her. I shall apologize once she is no longer emotionally compromised.

But when he returned to the central park, Tallie wasn't there.

He checked the whole park – around the statue, down the paths through the trees and the flower gardens, around the sand pits and the fountain and the mole-holes for young rabbits and Sandshrew, but the striking red of the Talonflame's feathers was nowhere to be seen. There were only some wild Pidgey eating fallen seeds, which Otto chased away disdainfully.

After patrolling the park twice, he perched on the side of the crate, peering down into the pile and wondering if any had been taken recently. It didn't seem so.

The light from a nearby tree branch shimmered and twisted. Kecleon lounged in an overhanging branch of the blue willow. Though he was still camouflaged, he seemed engrossed in a tiny book. It appeared to hang in the air, supported by nothing.

"Ah, has there been much luck?" Kecleon's familiar, disembodied voice said from above. "Is it wise to be separated from your companion?"

"She flew away on her own," Otto said simply. "I was going to ask if you've seen her here."

"Ah, unfortunately I have not," Kecleon said, making the branch sway as he shifted positions. "It's been quite a while since you two have flown here. I was getting worried. One can only take so many rocks to the head before you need something to clear away the pain, I can imagine!"

Otto felt awkward about replying.

He nibbled on the closest berry wondering if it would make him feel any better, but it didn't seem to work on the particular type of pain he was now feeling.

He fluttered down from the crate. "Kecleon," he called up to him, "If Tallie returns, tell her to wait here for me. I will be back."

"As you say!" Kecleon shouted in reply. "Always happy to be of service! Where are you off to, all by yourself?"

"I am off to find her," Otto resolved, moments before taking to the sky.


For two hours, he did not find her. He flew to the cloudline and searched for her red silhouette somewhere above the town. He few below the rooftops and carefully retraced their flight paths from the whole day. There were no signs.

He returned to the academy and asked the gatekeepers if a Talonflame had returned to the division base. He returned to Kecleon several times, but Kecleon was always alone.

Perhaps we should have expected this, Otto thought, flying along the perimeter of Iron Town. Tallie quit her prior team in a similar fashion. Perhaps it is in her nature to flee, and to break promises.

Regardless, I must inform Char of the mistake I have made which led her to leave us. Perhaps he will be angry at me. Perhaps he will fire me, and I will need to join another team.

What other team would take me after such an outstanding failure on my record? Would I need to fly to the Black Division for resistance work? I am not even at a high enough rank to demand a transfer. Other teams would laugh at my requests. Perhaps Syr would take me back. Or perhaps…

Perhaps I would simply be a citizen of Ambera?

Or perhaps return to the wild…?

He looked to the falling sun, the source of all fire. He remembered that even as a wild Pidgey, something about the sun stirred him. He remembered the routine, but the sun determined that routine. High and mighty, strong and undefeatable, the sun determined all, and something in the bird's mind had understood it on a primal level. The sun moved on its own, and the rest of the world followed it.

It was nearing the hour of "six." The sun would soon set, and Char would be returning to central park to regroup with his team and exchange status reports. Otto knew that failing to complete less than a third of his mission would not impress Char, but he could make no further progress without Tallie. He would find her, or not find her, and give his report to Char, receive his punishment, perhaps a dishonorable discharge from the team… Somehow, the day would end with him eating, and then sleeping.

And the cycle of the days would repeat.

And as he was staring past the sun along the cliff's edge of the mighty plateau, as though wanting to watch it set and follow it down beneath the horizon line, he finally spotted her. She was perched just below the sun from his vantage, standing on the on the plateau's cliff just outside of Iron Town's boarders.

He came to perch beside her. He noticed that her wound seemed healed, though her silver plumage would require at least an hour of grooming to straighten out. She spotted him and nodded in acknowledgement, but remained quiet and still.

He felt awkward about speaking.

"Are you leaving?" Otto eventually asked. "Are you quitting the team?"

She didn't reply. She only stared out into the muddy, craggy badlands just outside of Iron Town.

"Are you going to fly away?"

She peered smugly at him. "If you're so smart, you try to figure out why I left," she shot.

Otto didn't know he could ever feel so awkward. He did not want to say anything incriminating about himself. He did not want to reveal his weaknesses. He already felt ashamed enough.

Nevertheless, he spoke the second most obvious answer he knew.

"You are quitting the team," Otto guessed.

"Nah, I'm not a weakling," she replied. "Guess again."

Otto really did not want to say what he thought Tallie wished to hear. He looked in the direction of the sun, as though beseeching it for strength. He did not want to speak these words. He'd gone so long without saying them. But now he knew he had to respond honestly.

"You were angry at me," he hesitantly said. "You were in pain. You despised me for bringing you pain. You grew weary of getting hit with a rock. You believed I didn't empathize with you. You feared I would make another mistake, and perhaps bring you more pain. You despised me for caring more about the success of the mission than your personal well-being. You did not wish to speak with me further."

Tallie huffed a short laugh. She kept staring out into the wild, where no Pokémon lived. "Sorry. That sounds so weird, coming from you. Actual empathy? Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say such things."

The Pidgey averted his gaze bashfully.

She sighed thoughtfully. "You asked what it's like being a fire-type. We fire-types have something called an 'ember.' Do you at least know what the ember is?"

Otto nodded, trying to recall his teaching. "It is a facility within each fire-type. The source of their fire. It is an undying fire which does not go out until the fire-type's life ends."

"It does a few other things," Tallie said, her distant gaze unbroken. "Having an ember means that it's very easy for us fire-types to get angry very quickly. We tend to have… very sensitive egos. Very volatile. You say the wrong thing, you hurt us, that fire's going to flare. And aural mitigation doesn't guard against words. We just pop like an Electrode."

"It must be difficult for a fire-type to act rationally with such sensitive emotion," Otto said. "It must be a struggle to defy the compulsions of the ember."

"Yeah, but that's the whole fun of being a fire-type. Alright sure, half the time you've got to watch it. You snap at a boss, say the wrong things, and you may or may not get fired. But half the time you shouldn't defy it. You go with it. Because we're stronger when we get angry. That's why the ember is there. It's there to help."

"I disagree," Otto said. "Anger disrupts rational thought and focus. Psychics have confirmed this. It should always be resisted. It will always lead to bad decisions."

Tallie closed her eyes and shook her head in amusement. "Cute. Now you know the difference between you and me. There once was a Pidgey who hatched from the egg unable to feel anger, compassion or any sense of empathy. That Pidgey felt like a complete failure. And while he was moping and stewing in his mopey little thoughts, his teammate drifted away to the edge of town and had to do all the work for him."

She pointed a wing out into the badlands.

"It's right over there," she noted. "I flew secants through the perimeter and triangulated its position and everything. Actually, I'm standing on the perimeter right now. I don't know where the entrance is, didn't look closely enough, but I found its position. Char is going to be happy."

Otto's mouth fell agape as he tried to speak a question he had not yet formulated. Several thoughts clicked together in succession.

The perimeter. The tests.

The rock. The pain.

The oran berry.

"The rock shard remained inside you, causing you constant pain," Otto concluded. "You used this to perform a comprehensive sweep across all of Iron Town with more speed and efficiency than our prior method. You stand here right now because the frozen flame is nearby and it brings you relief from the pain."

She rubbed him on the head with her wingtip. "Ah-hah! See, I knew you were smart," she laughed. "Good little chicklet."

Incredible, Otto thought, admiring the fiery falcon. She was harmed, but she only perceived it as an unexpected opportunity. I only wish I were so perceptive.

I must learn to think the way she thinks, so that I will seize such opportunities.

"Will we raid the hideout now?" Otto asked.

"What?! No, of course not," Tallie said. "That wasn't the deal. We need a plan to infiltrate it, and that's going to be up to you and Char to figure out tonight. We're not going in without a plan. Besides, if the thief's watching us and finds us poking around, it might move the hideout before we come back tomorrow. Can't have that."

"This is true," Otto said. He peered conspicuously at Tallie's mess of feathers. "The rock fragment is still inside of you?"

She nodded, touching her belly with her wingtip. "Yeah. But that's no problem for a ghost to pull out. Or just wear a mobile scarf or eat a phase seed and they'll just fall right out. Char has mobile scarves, right? I'll just use one of those."

"Won't it hurt until then?"

"Don't worry about me. This is nothing compared to when I got a spearhead lodged in my back for two days. It hurt so bad I couldn't even fly. …That's a story I could tell you someday, I guess."

"Talle…"

"What?"

"I'm very sorry for dropping the rock. I am sincerely sorry."

Tallie glared at the Pidgey in mock surprise. "Whaat?" she cried. "Even though it gave us a tactical advantage? Even though it led us to victory?"

Otto sighed. He concentrated on his words. "Yes. Even despite these things. I am sorry that I have brought you pain. It does not matter that it helped on the mission. Perhaps we could have thought of a similar effective strategy if we had been given the opportunity. But I am sorry for allowing myself to be distracted and to fail."

Tallie grinned. "Hah. Well, there might just be some empathy inside of you yet," she said. "You're forgiven, soldier. Think nothing of it."

She glanced the setting sun. "Hey, looks like we should be getting back right about now. Char's going to be waiting for us. Do you want to deliver the news, or should I?"

"You may. You deserve the credit," Otto decided. "However, before I return to Char, there is something I must do. Please return to the park and inform Char that I will arrive late to the rendezvous."

She flashed her head back to Otto, but he was already flying away.

"Where are you going?!" she cried.

He didn't answer, but internally he said to himself, I'm not asking permission to do what I know needs to be done.

Thank you for teaching me.


Shadows spread across the warehouse district as the sun sank deeper. The sound of machines and working Pokémon had diminished as the construction workers ended their shifts.

Otto eyed the shadows carefully. He was looking for a very particular shadow, or at least any traces that the shadow had existed. A thick layer of dust covered the ground, loose particles from the cutting of wood and stone, and Otto saw many clearly-defined sets of footprints leading to and from the warehouse doors. He wondered if one of those sets of tracks would give him another clue as to the identity of Char's target.

I can recognize many Pokémon footprints, Otto knew. If the footprint will determine the species of the thief, we will have an advantage in the battle tomorrow. If not, we risk falling to the element of surprise.

Or, if I were fortunate, perhaps the thief is here, and I will catch it right now.

It had to have been what I'd seen. It was here. It resembled the swift blur of the creature which had robbed Kecleon's diamonds.

The thief could be here.

But it was growing late, and the shadows encroached over the ground. The long, all-consuming wall of darkness cast from the plateau was sweeping across the entirety of the district, deepening by the minute, and soon there would be zero visibility. He knew he had to fly fast.

Returning to the workyard where the iron beams were – they were gone now, moved by the Gurdurr into nearby storage – Otto flew to the altitude where he'd gotten distracted, and dug deeply into his mind.

If I were a scared rodent fleeing from a bird of prey… where would I run?

In the shadows, obviously.

He remembered how the movement had caught his eye to his right. There were several rows of back-to-back warehouses, and between them were small, dark alleyways. He swept over the first alleyway, scattering his flight pattern to appear as a wild Pidgey and looking for footprints or any signs of oddity. He imagined a blur of motion, like a cloaked Kecleon, scurrying through the narrow space between the long, tall buildings.

It was only when he came to perch on the edge of a rooftop and stare down into the darkness below, that he realized the blur of motion was not imagined. There was something crawling through the alley, something difficult to see. He squinted, trying to fix his eyes upon it.

The blur of motion made minimal sounds. It moved in a series of short, quick bursts, like a Sentret jumping up to check for danger every few steps. Typical rodent behavior. The figure left no footprints; it seemed to sweep them away naturally, perhaps with a tail. It was very possible that the creature had a tail; from this vantage, Otto could see that the creature had a longer body than he had expected, and was probably a quadruped and not a biped. Lack of footprints also suggested something serpentine, something no-legged.

He hopped down along the rooftops, keeping an eye on the creature as it sprinted from one side of the alleyway to the other, then paused, then sprinted again.

Click. Click click.

There was a tiny scraping sound before the thief jumped to the opposite side, moving farther down the hallway and out of Otto's sight.

It's not checking for danger, Otto realized. It's checking for an opening.

It's checking locks. It's checking for an unlocked door. It wishes to rob the warehouses, or… to sleep within them for the night.

The thief has no mobile scarf…? It cannot phase through walls? How odd… With all the things it has stolen, this surprises me.

He held his breath, thankful that the thief did not seem to notice his presence. He calculated the distances. It was about eighty meters to the end of the alley. With his speed, he had a high likelihood of overtaking the thief.

I can catch it, Otto realized. I have the element of surprise. I have the speed. I can land a blow on this thief and perhaps knock it out.

I'll just need my fire.

Quietly, Otto glided just above the rooftops, keeping his eyes and ears fixed on the darkness. The penumbra shroud was difficult enough to see in the shade, and he lost sight of it after it had left his range of perception. But he knew how to detect the thief again. He perched just across from the back door to one the warehouses on the other side of the alley, held himself perfectly still, and listened.

Click. Click.

It was coming. Two doors away.

Click.

Just one now.

And there it was, the penumbra cloud, right on the doorstep, just meters from Otto's eyes.

Clack.

Otto swooped, relinquishing control to the feral raptor.

But the thief was sharp, and somehow sensed its attacker. "EEEEEEEP!" it yelled in a shrill voice, then fled down the long, dark alley.

Otto carved through the air with his tiny wings, banking hard and aligning himself with the wall. He felt the sheer of his own wind as he edged dangerously close to the iron building. After adjusting, he fixed his sight on the thief. It was fast. It had covered a lot of ground.

But he knew he could catch up. He just had to focus.

He flapped three times for speed and height, then tucked in his wings and angled himself as a missile, posed to cut off the thief's escape route.

"Nooooo!" whined the thief. "No no no no no nooooo.."

The air around him broke into a familiar sizzle, a dancing flame of color. Otto smiled. The power of his fire propelled him. He would catch the target easily. The distances all aligned perfectly. He would make it.

But he could not waver. The thief moved impossibly fast, and the margin of error was too small. The strike would need to be exact. One twitch of the tail, one tiny deviation could throw off his flight path.

He heard memories of voices in his head.

Maybe because you always let the rat get away.

No. I didn't miss. He backed out.

You can't back out. That wasn't the challenge.

Better luck next time.

The red flames burst, turning blue – pure aural energy coated his body, its focal point aimed directly at the thief's future position. His speed boosted. But it was still too close. Was the thief speeding up? Was it running faster? Would it get away?

No. You will not get away.

I WILL NOT LET YOU GET AWAY.

Twenty meters. Ten meters. Otto clenched his wings and his talons close to his body for maximum aerodynamic speed. He angled his beak, and the center of his blue energy, directly at the center of the penumbra cloud.

At the very last moment, at the end of the alleyway, the thief moved unexpectedly. The distances diverged. The calculation was thrown off. The figure slipped away, around the corner, mere talonlengths away.

A footed creature cannot turn a corner as efficiently as I.

This is my chance.

Otto flared his wings just before he hit the ground, banking around the corner and conserving his speed.

And then he saw a terrible fate before him.

I have failed.

This is how I will die.

At the lengthwise end of the warehouse, there stood, for some unfathomable reason, a solid concrete wall separating it from the next warehouse. The other buildings had spaces in the same configuration, so Otto had assumed there would have been a space here. In the last flash of the moment, he saw the thief scurry to the top of the wall and to freedom. But he but he was too low to the ground. He could not flap for altitude, he could not redirect his momentum in time. The angles and distances were all wrong, and his dive was simply too fast.

And so, Otto let his body go limp and accepted his fate.

When he hit the concrete, he felt several of his bones snap apart. He fell to the ground in a crumpled mess.

In a dreamy state, he vaguely realized that he had survived the impact. The fiery field of his 'brave bird' technique had protected him from a fatality. But there was no use in being alive anymore. Every bone in his body was shattered. He lost feeling in his legs. His wings hung limply from his shoulders. Pain-killing adrenaline flooded him.

His eyes were locked open in shock. He saw the side of the building, and the blood splattered upon the concrete wall. He saw one of his bones laying on the ground just in front of his eyes.

"Oh… oh dear!" cried a voice. "Oh my… goodness' gracious!"

He saw the penumbra-cloaked thief perched on the top of the concrete wall.

"Ooooooh…. Ohh gosh, no, this wasn't supposed to happen… I'm so sorry…" said the high-toned, child-like voice.

He was unable to move, or to react, as the penumbra thief jumped down from the wall and came up to his side. "No, I… I never wanted this…" the thief muttered incessantly. "Oohhh, look at you… I can't leave you like this…" it said. "You're a mess… you won't make it! Oh Lugia, I never wanted someone to be killed on my behalf, no, no… no! This isn't right…"

The figure started shaking and fumbling. "I have… I have something here… I'm sure I do… I have things that can heal you…"

The thief sat down, digging through some kind of personal stash.

"No, no… you need something better than berries. Something… maybe an orb? Oh, where did I put those heal-all orbs? Ohh, where are they… come on, clumsyclaws, come on, come on…"

Otto felt his consciousness fading. He clung to the sound of the thief's voice.

"oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…"

"Did I leave my healers back at the cave? Please, Lugia, tell me I didn't leave them…"

"Hold on…"

"Wait… will this work?"


"Hey!" shouted the voice of Tallie from somewhere up above.

Otto jumped back to attention. He'd lost the struggle to keep his consciousness, but it seemed that death hadn't claimed him. The thief had succeeded in healing him somehow. Now, he stood on his two feet with his head tucked into his plumage. His body felt whole, and the feeling was returned to his legs and his wings.

But he didn't feel very awake or alert. He felt extremely dizzy, and only wanted to fall back into a deep slumber.

Tallie appeared in his vision.

"Well, hello there, handsome," she said to him in a tone of voice he'd never heard from her before. "Sorry to bother you, but have you happened to see a chicklet flapping around these parts? I seem to have lost track of someone, and I think last saw him around here."

Otto opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth wasn't working right.

In fact, none of this body was working right. It wouldn't respond to his commands. Nothing made sense.

A sudden wave of nausea overcame him, and Otto slumped to the ground, passed out.

*Chapter 91*: Together in the Dark

o

"Together in the Dark"

Otto was still out cold when the stars filled the clear night sky, and when the sinister yellow eyes of the Watchers appeared among them. He rested upon a dried puddle of his own blood in the same place he had passed out. Though his body was whole and perfect, stronger and healthier than ever before in his life, his mind needed time to adjust to the added length of his wings and bulk of his muscles, and his imagination kept him occupied with amusing dreams of chasing tiny rodents across the Wanderer's Meadow.

He slept soundly, unaware that the spirits of the night sky descended upon him, drifting closer by the minute.

"Silly bird," said a voice from nearby, a figure cloaked in darkness. "What do you think you're doing, spending the night out here? C'mon now, can't have that…"

The shadowy figure gently scooped up the sleeping bird. It took a moment to admire him. What a marvel it was, the thief thought, to see a Pokémon so immaculately healthy, in the way it only could be just after an evolution. Every scar was gone, every sickness cured, every minor injury or defect erased. Every feather was newborn and aligned with perfect symmetry. By a magic as old as Arceus himself, the bird's DNA had been altered, and its body had been rebuilt from scratch with the new genetic structure. It was a complete rebirth, one that Pokémon could only know but once or twice in their whole lifetimes.

The thief balanced the bird upon its back, thanking Arceus that birds were such lightweight creatures, and crept off down the alleyway beneath the unblinking gaze of the Watchers. It slipped into the back door of a warehouse, the very door which it had misremembered earlier that day, and locked it behind.

It was a great big warehouse, stocked with dozens of tall shelves filled with iron beams. There was a vacant space near the center of the room where some terraforming equipment was parked. Some glowing blue rocks in the ceiling gave just enough light to let her see a few claws in front of her face.

The thief crept into a cozy space between two of the shelves and set the peaceful Pidgeotto down onto its side, then unloaded its burdens – a bag of stolen groceries, seeds and berries from the market, and another bag of enchanted items.

Finally, with a deep sigh, the Furret removed her cape, folding it neatly and setting it next to her hard-earned spoils. She curled around them, pouring the magical bag's contents onto the floor, eager to take account of the day's accomplishments.

She pawed at a pearl necklace. The pearls were fake, probably just polished rocks, but it had a deep enchantment upon it. She didn't understand what the enchantment did – she didn't feel anything different when she touched it or wound it around her front leg – she just knew it was there because her special glasses told her. They made things glow different colors when they were enchanted, and she could see the glow even through walls. This one glowed bright orange, one of the stronger colors. She decided she would wear it for a walk in the meadow for a day to see if it made her feel any different – not in town, because she didn't want anyone to recognize the jewelry as missing.

The Furret turned her attention to another item, a kind of golden bracelet with slots in it. The item had a very weak aura of magic – a dull brown glow. It looked like there were supposed to be gemstones set into the slots, she hadn't found any that would fit. Slipping on her appraisal specs, she noted that the slots had a higher magical resonance than the rest of the band, and wondered if the bracelet was designed to channel or magnify the power of whatever was attached to it. Slipping it onto her forepaw, she found that the brace automatically tightened itself snugly around her arm. Now that was interesting.

So many strange, wonderful new discoveries lay before her, gems and orbs she'd never seen before, things which would surely make a better thief out of her once she would learn how they worked…

But she found herself distracted, and kept glancing to the sleeping Pidgeotto. It had taken her proudest reward of the day – the feral shard she'd pilfered from the Steel Mansion basement – but she did not find it within her heart to hold resentment for the little guy. She couldn't just let the Watchers eat him after she'd given up the feral-shard for him. What a waste that would be.

"Poor thing," she muttered quietly. "I'm sorry… It's not your fault…"

She touched the "detect band" which still strangled her hind leg, the enchanted item which had allowed her to sense the bird's attack at the last moment just before it would have connected. Along with the cape, the detect band was one of her favorite items – it had protected her from capture too many times to count, especially from her sworn rivals, the Kecleon brothers. They were fast, and they could turn invisible, and they were very powerful when they got angry! But as long as she listened to the impulse from the band, she would always know which way to dodge in the heat of the moment.

But that wasn't her favorite item of all – those were the appraisal specs. There was a secret reason she never got caught, and she wondered how long it would take before the Kecleon traders would realize what mistake they were making in trying to capture her. It surprised her that they hadn't figured it out yet.

The Furret quietly played with her new toys, separating them into a pile which showed promise and a pile which might as well get recycled or given away. She was nearly through when she heard a batting of feathers and a scraping of talons, and she curled closely around her stolen belongings and fumbled for the penumbra cape, haphazardly tossing it on her back just in time.

The Pidgeotto unsuccessfully attempted to climb to its feet, instead only flailing from side to side. It flipped its body in the thief's direction and stared at her. There was an angry green glint in the bird's eyes, and the Furret felt a fearful shiver, wondering for a moment if the bird was somehow seeing past the cape's shroud.

"Oh, hello! Good morning!" the Furret tried saying. "Kind of. It's… it's not morning, really. It's… I rescued you from the Watchers, you know! It's still dark out. Probably midnight by now!"

"You are the thief," the Pidgeotto said plainly.

The Furret felt bashful. It was exciting, having someone call her the thief. "That's me," she said with a wide grin. "The Shadow Bandit of Iron Town! Wow, I've always… wanted to say that."

The bird flopped around, twisting its legs and wings, but never taking its eyes off the Furret. "Where how. Why can't. Wings. I'm not… work, cawwww! There is no sense of. Feeling. Awwwl."

"Whoa there, little guy! You've got to calm down!" the Furret urged. "You probably have evolution sickness! It'll go away by tomorrow."

The bird stopped flailing around, flopping onto its side and staring hard at the thief.

"Evolution… sickness…?" it said, moving its beak carefully to enunciate each word.

"Yeah, silly! You're a Pidgeotto now, didn't you notice?" the Furret laughed. "I remember back when I evolved, I was numb from the neck down all afternoon and I was bumping into things all week! It feels like an out-of-body experience, but you get used to it!"

The Pidgeotto's eyes widened. The Furret expected many things – gratitude, elation, wonder and awe – but she did not expect the bird to burst into a fit of panic, trying ever-unsuccessfully to climb to its own feet. The poor bird rambled as it tossed itself around. "No, I was not supposed to. Evolve yet. There are training. Regimens. Special. Therapy. Controlled. Environment. Now I cannot. I will not. Learn. Relearn. Of flying. Awwk! New body. Wingspan. Velocity. Bank pitch. Eyesight. Heartrate. Everything. It will all be. Different."

"Hey, hey! Easy, easy!" said the Furret scurrying forward. "It's okay, I promise! It's going to be okay. Evolving is supposed to make you happy, you know! Not… like this."

The flailing bird froze stiff as it watched the cloud of darkness sweep in its direction. It braced itself for an attack, but instead felt a gentle pair of paws lift it off the ground and set it upon its new, strong talons.

"…Thank you," the bird said, blinking in surprise. "But… You… do not understand. I am trained. Strictly trained. In the avian arts. We are not supposed to evolve without proper… preparation. My training does not apply to my new body. I will lose my skills."

The Furret gave him a pat on the head, then scurried away to curl around her treasures again. "Nah! I don't think so. If Pokémon lost all their skills when they evolved, I don't think Pokémon would have survived for so long, do you? You'll just have to adjust. And use a lil' intuition."

"Intuition…" Otto muttered, spreading his wings carefully, peering at the new feather patterns.

"There aren't always instructions for everything y'know, sometimes you've just got to try stuff… and see what happens." She rolled some magical wonder-orbs around in her paws, listening to them speak their soulless messages into her mind. She always looked for the wonder-orbs that didn't explain how they were meant to be used. They were always the most powerful, having been cast before the Master knew that orbs existed and began to heavily regulate the imbuers beneath his reign. "That's how I got to be such a good thief, too," she added.

Otto eyed the thief suspiciously, wondering about the secrets hidden beneath the dark cloud of fog which sat just beyond his reach.

He tried to digest the odd turn of events the day had taken. He badly wanted to panic – the urge to panic seemed much stronger now that he had to deal with the biological reactions of a much larger body – but instead he tried to do as he always did, and stop to think before he would act.

I do not lose control, Otto told himself. As a Pidgey I never lost control, and neither will I now. I need to think about this.

I am trapped in a dark room with the outlaw. What are my options?

Though his mind was fuzzy, and his muscles were very sore, and every sinew pulsed with tingles and stings, he found that his thoughts were the same way he'd left them.

If I attack… it would be a risk. I am not yet in full control of this larger form, and I do not know what the thief is truly capable of. It has already evaded my first attack. I do not want to be trapped in this building all night with an entity who could defeat me if it so decided. But perhaps there is something productive that could be learned here…

Could I learn what Eva failed to learn?

"Why are you a thief?" he asked, forcing curiosity into his warbled new voice.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" the thief said.

"What is your motive to steal?" Otto tried. "Why have you chosen to be a thief?"

"Hnnn! Because it's fun," she said. "And because I'm good at it."

"…Odd," said Otto, piecing the new information into the puzzle. "Your motive is not for wealth…?"

"…Nah, I'm already rich! Life isn't about what you have, it's about what you do," she said, tossing another amulet onto one of the piles behind the shroud. "I only steal things that help me be a better thief. Or things that I can sell away to buy what I need. You'd be surprised at what you can do when you've got the right tools. Of course, I never buy anything from the Kecleons, they're my rivals!"

"What tools do you have?" Otto tried asking.

The Furret laughed. "Not saying! The great Shadow Bandit never reveals her secrets!"

"You are not skilled at keeping secrets," Otto noted. "For instance, you just revealed to me that you are a female."

"Oh… oh? Did I? So I did," she said, shrugging. "Ah, well. I'm so clumsy sometimes. There's a lot I'm still learning about staying secret. But you still don't know what kind of Pokémon I am, do you?"

"I suspect you are a rodent," he said. "The shadow cape you wear does not hide your smell."

And the feral bird inside of me wants to eat you, Otto added quietly.

"Ah-ha! I guess you aren't good at keeping secrets, either," the thief said triumphantly. "Now I know you're working for Kecleon. He's the only one who knows that this is a cape! So here's a bit of advice, from one trainee to another: you should never tell your opponent how much you know, alright? It's just like how I thought you may have been someone sent by Kecleon to capture me, but I was trying to play dumb and not say what I was thinking. But now, I know that you know I'm a rodent, and that I'm a girl, and that I'm wearing a cape, I can figure out how to trick you—"

There was a very loud explosion, rattling the objects on the warehouse shelves.

Otto tensed and folded his wings, and the thief dropped the glass ball she was busy appraising. There was a residual reverberating sound that persisted long after it should have, like a distant, never-ending rumble of thunder.

"What—" Otto started.

"There's something here that's not supposed to be here," the thief gasped. "Quick. Hide."

It got louder. There were creaking, metallic clanks mixed with the sound of shattering and tumbling. The sound came through the nearby wall, the wall which separated this warehouse from the next. Otto deduced that a shelf had collapsed, and was spilling all of its contents onto the floor in the next warehouse, perhaps causing a chain reaction which destroyed the other shelves within close proximity.

After several minutes, the sound of the disaster subsided, but there was still something amiss. There were steady vibrations, the sounds of a giant's footsteps.

The thief scooped up all of her valuables into the bags and bolted into the shadows. Otto remained pinned in place, not knowing how to react to his sense of panic with his new legs that wouldn't seem to walk and his new wings which didn't know how to fly.

Thrum, thrum, thrum. The giant trudged, and the steel shelves teetered and trembled. Otto wondered if these shelves would also collapse, pinning him beneath a deadly avalanche of heavy construction materials.

A large claw reached out of the solid wall.

Otto could only watch in wonder as a large, thorned beast emerged through the wall using some sort of intangibility spell.

Before the beast had revealed itself fully, a pelt of fur encircled the Pidgeotto and swept him from his feet.

"Ah, guess I have to do everything for you," the thief said, carrying him off. "Bad time to have evolution sickness. You must have waited a very long time to evolve."

The thief carried him into the darkest corner of the warehouse, set him down, then flipped up the penumbra cape so that it would cover the both of them. Otto saw the thief's true form for the first time, and saw that the Furret's arms and legs were adorned with magical objects. Upon her face rested a pair of spectacles. The cape was lazily draped across her neck, and Otto's as well, and Otto deduced that anyone else looking at them from a farther distance away would only see the black cloud.

She gave him a friendly glance. "Hey… don't tell anyone, alright?" she said, before adjusting her glasses and fixing her sight on the monster emerging through the wall. "I can't just let you die. So I guess we're friends now, alright?"

Thrum, thrum. The beast took slow, deliberate steps until it fully entered the room, revealing its true form: it was a monstrous Nidoking with silvery royal armor.

"Don't… breathe…" the Furret hissed directly into Otto's ear. "Nidoking have really good hearing…"

Otto did as instructed, holding his breath. He inspected the fearsome creature who meandered across the open space at the center of the room between the dozerhammer vehicles. A cape flowed behind him with every step. He held something in his hand which appeared magical. His eyes seemed to glow bright red in the dark.

Otto felt the Furret clutch him tightly for security.

The Nidoking paused, quietly peering at his surroundings and appraising them, casting his red gaze between each isle of shelving.

A Shuppet burst into the room through the same wall through which the Nidoking had come. "Commander," it said quietly. "It appears that…"

"Yes," said the Nidoking in a strong, domineering voice, cutting off the ghost with a wave of his claw. "This is an unacceptable location. There will be a small delay in our plans."

"Understood," said the tiny ghost, "But what of…"

"Fix it," said the Nidoking. "By morning I want storehouse twenty-five looking as though nothing has changed. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander Cepheus," said the Shuppet, sounding exasperated. "Understood. Where will you go now?"

"I will continue appraising the district and return within the hour," the Nidoking said, turning tail and walking away. "I should hope this district will not be entirely useless for our purposes."

"Very well. I will alert Enigma immediately. And I will send a team of ghosts to clean up the mess; the Watcher concentration seems too high for the psychics."

The Shuppet shot away into the wall, and the Nidoking continued walking with a thrum, thrum, thrum, until crossed the length of the warehouse and vanished into the next solid wall.

The Furret released her breath, and Otto did the same.

"He worked for the Master, I just know it," the Furret said, tossing the cape to the side and disregarding any pretense of secrecy. "The Master is scary… I don't want to be captured by Kecleon, but I definitely don't want to be captured by him."

"It was Cepheus, the Starborn," Otto noted, his head reeling with the fear of almost having gotten caught. "One of the most feared of the Master's commanders. I will report –" he eyed the Furret suspiciously, stopping himself before he said anything more.

The master thief sighed and curled up, resting her head upon her tail. "Ah, yeah, I know, you probably work for some big club," she said. "Outlaw chasers, right? And that's why Kecleon hired you to find me."

"You will have to kill me now, while I am vulnerable," Otto guessed.

"Heh! Naaah, I'm not that kind of Pokémon," the Furret said with an awkward laugh. "But I know that if I let you go, you're just going to come back again and try to catch me. Right?"

"Correct," Otto admitted. "My allegiance lies with my team. We were hired to capture you. To fail would be a negative mark on our record, a decrease in our rank. We must succeed, or our reputation will be gravely harmed."

Otto was silent for a moment. He bowed his head in the thief's direction, and there was a glimmer of regret in his eye.

"I am sorry," Otto said plainly.

"Nah, I understand, you go and do what you need to do," the Furret said sadly. But then she perked up, and said assertively, "Hey, y'know what? You go ahead and try to catch me, alright? I dare you! Because if you think the Great Shadow Bandit of Iron Town will be caught easily, even after you've seen my true identity, you're still underestimating me. So, there. It'll be a challenge. For both of us. Deal?"

"What are the terms of the deal?" Otto wondered.

"Well," said the Furret, "Deal is: tonight, we can stay as friends. You stay here and I'll keep you safe from the Watchers and that scary Nidoking if he comes back. Then in the morning I'll take you back to your club or guild or whatever you came from. Then we'll both give each other a headstart and… we'll be enemies again I guess. And you'll get to try to catch me."

"I accept these terms," Otto said. "Come morning, if I am asleep or if I am still unable to fly, you will take me back to the academy campus in Iron Town, in the cliff of the plateau."

"Deal! I'll do that," said the Furret with a smile. "You do your worst, okay? Because I need to get better. I won't always have the cape. It's gonna tear or something. Or get stolen. So one day everyone will know that I'm a… boring old normie with no element powers. But by that time hopefully I'll be good enough to work without it. If I can't run from a pair of shopkeepers and a few birds, I wouldn't deserve to be called the Great Shadow Bandit anyway."

Otto nestled his beak into his new feathers and tried to rest, knowing that what he'd learned that night would likely keep him awake.

"Thank you for saving my life," he said with a kind of frankness which, for some reason, seemed to come easier with his new body. "I… regret that we can be friends for no longer than this night."

"Yeah…" said the Furret, her thoughts drifting away somewhere. "Hey, we could always be secret friends, if you wanted…? Maybe you could be my partner or something? Ever want to be a thief? You're a great flyer, we could make a great team!"

"No, that cannot happen," said Otto. "My allegiance lies with my team, and I would not create a scandal against them."

"Ah, yeah, alright, I get it," she said. "I don't blame you. It's not your fault. Just… try to rest, okay? You'll be safe here, I promise."

She draped the penumbra cape over the Pidgeotto's head, and watched as his form visibly distorted into the black void she usually hid behind.

She adjusted her spectacles and climbed up a nearby series of shelves. She peered at the warehouse wall in the direction she'd seen the Nidoking walk.

"You rest, alright?" she said again, calling to the bird. "I can see through the walls with this thing, I… I can see if the Nidoking is going to come back. He had a lot of magic items. They're very bright white. I don't see him anywhere right now, but I'll make sure he doesn't come back to get us."

"Thank you," Otto muttered.

She climbed between two large crates, nestling herself in the shadows. She felt vulnerable without the cape, so she made sure she couldn't be seen…

"I'll keep watch all night if I have to," she said under her breath, "For both our sakes."

Otto couldn't remember what had happened after that, but he was woken in the morning by the sounds of students rushing to their morning classes across the front yard of the Cliffside Academy.

*Chapter 92*: Chapter 70: What You Deserve

o

Chapter 70

Part 1

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, OTTO! You look AWESOME!"

The Raichu ran circles around the exasperated Pidgeotto. He lifted up one of the bird's wings, marveling at the perfect patchwork of feathers on the underside.

"Wow! Congratulations! You're huge! I think you're actually bigger than you're supposed to be! Have you been measured? Have you tried using powers yet?"

"I think Otto would appreciate it if you would give him some space," Eva said flatly. "It's just a hunch I'm getting from his thoughts."

Ray was the only one who seemed excited. Char felt more surprised than anything to see what had become of his missing teammate, and Tallie looked skittish, as though she wanted to fly miles away.

"Otto, how do you feel?" Ray begged, ignoring Eva. "What's it like?"

"Sore. Stiff. Hurts to open wings," he replied.

Ray immediately let go of his wing. "Oh! …Sorry. But… you're alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

"I will save the – details for – the report," Otto said, forcing the words out. "I – my new voice is – unusual."

"Naah, your voice is fine! You'll be fine! Just get some rest," Ray said. "Evolution is just weird like that. Sometimes you adjust fast, sometimes you don't! Usually if you spend a lot of time in your old body it's harder to get adjusted to the new one. Like when I became a Pikachu it was really weird, but getting to be a Raichu was easy, because I didn't spend a lot of time as a Pikachu… But oh my gosh this is so exciting! How did you get a feral-shard anyway? Or did you just spontaneously evolve like wild Pokémon do? I hear that happens sometimes with civilized ferals who haven't spent enough time in civilizaion— hey, wait…!"

With a bit of effort, Eva telekinetically picked up the Raichu and set him farther away from Otto. Ray shut his mouth and looked sad. Char approached the bird slowly, making an effort not to act as overbearing.

"Hey… Honestly, I don't care what you look like, I'm just happy to see you alive," Char said warmly, no longer having to bend down to meet the bird at eye-level. "I thought you were…" He whispered under his breath. "I thought you were dead."

Otto only stared blankly at him. Char felt bad; usually he could at least pick up on Otto's sense of excitement or interest in some topic, but now he wasn't sensing anything. The Pidgeotto looked lost, and possibly a bit afraid. He almost looked as if he didn't want the new body that fate had so kindly given to him. Char could not help but to feel pity.

"Tell you what, Otto," Char said, crossing his arms, "Eva says you have some important news for us. If you let us know what happened, I'll let you sit the rest of the mission out, alright? You can get some rest. Maybe pay a visit to Syr and ask him what you should do now that you're… not a Pidgey anymore."

"I accept," Otto said wearily. "But perhaps I will need some help extracting my thoughts. From. My mind."

"We'll get Eva to help you express yourself," Char said. "Alright. Go on in. If you'll excuse me, though, I need a private word with my second officer."

Eva and Ray ushered the wobbling bird into the planning room, leaving Char alone with the Talonflame.

A burning moment passed between the two. Tallie twitched, averting her gaze every so often, and Char only glared sternly at her.

"You said he was eaten," Char grunted.

"Okay, look, look, I know, I know what I said!" she shouted, flaring her wings. "Honestly, that's what it looked like to me, alright?"

Char just continued to glare at her.

"What else would you have assumed, huh? I saw this overgrown Pidgeotto, noticed the blood and the… the feathers and bones everywhere, so I thought, 'Oh, this guy must have caught a rat for dinner.' Then I noticed it all smelled like Otto, and the feathers were Otto's size and colors, and then I saw part of Otto's wing just laying there on the ground, and – well, what else was I supposed to assume?! I'm sorry, alright? It looked like a carcass situation to me."

She folded her wings obstinately, scoffing up a puff of smoke.

Char exhaled one of his own.

"I was going to fire you," Char admitted with a scowl. "I was just waiting until I got the others out of the room."

"FIRE ME?! For WHAT?!" Tallie squawked loudly, her voice ringing clear into the next room. "Is that how you thank me for getting my skull bashed with a rock four hundred times and finding the thief hideout like you asked?!"

"You Lost Otto!" Char roared back. "You lost him! You were supposed to watch him! You're lucky he came back."

Tallie's face turned to a harsh sneer.

"He told me to relay the message to you. He told me to tell you that he would be late," Tallie said. "Alright. Look, maybe I was wrong for trusting him. I don't deny that. I know that I was the one in command, but I'd like to think that when your chief tactical advisor makes a call, we're better off listening to him. Alright? But see, from my vantage, that's not the real issue here."

"Alright, what's the real issue, then?" Char said challengingly.

"That you really don't know how to see the value in your teammates,"Tallie said darkly, standing upright. "For instance, any bird could have made up some story on the fly. Told you I didn't see him anywhere. Told you that he flew off. Told you that we should have started some search party. I could have said anything to cover up my guilt. I could have even flown off and you'd have never seen me again. But what did I do? I had the cinders it took to come back, report what I saw, when I saw it. Because that's how teams operate. And by the blazes of this hallowed earth, I'm helping to lead this team, and that's how my team's going to operate if I have any say in the matter. I value this team enough not to abandon it the moment some tragedy happens. I wanted you to know the truth. And you want to know the punchline?"

She bent close to him and said in a low tone, "You couldn't even tell them the truth. You were stalling. How long until you think you would have spat it out?"

Char felt his arms and legs suddenly turn cold. He staggered back.

"I was… I was just… waiting for the right moment…" Char tried to say, looking sideways.

"Yeah, well, let's set the record straight, here," Tallie hissed, breathing smoke at Char's face. "Did I make a bad call? Possibly. Can you fire me for that? If you want, that's your right. But tell me again who is the lucky one that Otto came back? Hmm?"

Char clenched his claws and frowned up at the Talonflame. A small stature certainly had its disadvantages when trying to speak with authority.

He sighed deeply, calling upon his fire to give him the strength to speak.

"Thank you," Char replied, "for coming back. And for being honest about what you saw. And… for finding the hideout. You did good work yesterday. I appreciate it. And maybe we're all lucky he came back."

"And I apologize for not watching Otto closely enough," Tallie said with a subtle bow of her head. "So… am I fired or not?"

Char sighed, but the frown left his face.

"You can stay," he said. "Since Otto came back, I… I guess there was no harm done. And we need you to help us finish the job since Otto's going to be resting. So… yeah. Don't worry about it."

Tallie looked him in the eye. "Thank you. I appreciate your giving me a second chance. But having said that… If I may be so blunt, you don't have to try so hard to act all tough all the time. I can tell you're trying not to show me that you're a weakling."

Char held his breath, letting his fire flare. He stood up as tall as he could before the Talonflame, scowling at her.

"Well… I'm trying my best here, alright?!" he hissed, his tail flame licking the back of his head. "This… team leader stuff is new to me. I'm still learning."

Tallie looked smug. "Ah, see? That's what I mean! The way you stand up and puff up your plumage like that. So defensive! It's like… when fire-types are first learning to battle, we teach them the 'ego-stroke' technique to help them control the ember. That's lesson one. You're coming off to me as someone who hasn't ever moved past that stage. You're still on lesson one."

Char shut his mouth, unable to think of what to say.

"There's much more to being a fire-type than acting tough," Tallie said wryly. "Look, I've been on a lot of teams and I've left them all for a lot of different reasons. Something I've learned is that there's no one right way to lead a team. There's no simple trick. There's a hundred things that need to come together for a team to work out. But having said that, all the successful teams… do have a few things in common that I've noticed."

She leaned in close. "Take it from someone who's been fighting with her ember for twenty years: sometimes showing off your strength makes you look weak… and sometimes letting your weakness show is what takes the most strength. Think about that for a bit, why don't you?"

She began to walk away, going to join the others in the planning room.

"Tallie… wait," Char called, swallowing his fire and regaining his composure. "If you think I'm such a weak leader, why do you even stay on the team? Why don't you quit?"

Tallie turned her head, giving him a smirk. "Because you need me. And I like to be needed."

With a jump and a flutter, she turned the corner into the planning room, leaving Char with many thoughts to digest and few ideas about where to start.

Looking at the door to the next room, he decided that catching the thief was as good of a place as any.


"So the thief was a Furret," Ray said, leaning back on his seat. "Wow… It makes sense with everything we learned… Furry, no wings, no element. Yeah! And it's the right size and all. But I just really wasn't expecting that! They're a really common Pokémon. I was thinking that a master thief would be something rarer, y'know, with more powers?"

"You're a common Pokémon, you realize that?" Tallie laughed. "And your brother was a world-famous mercenary. Don't judge a Pokémon's potential by their species. I once knew a Wurmple who would give you nightmares. Granted, I ended up eating it, but if you knew the kind of infamy it had, you'd be glad I did!"

There was a brief uncomfortable silence at the table.

"Yes, well regardless, this thief's powers seem to come from her equipment," Eva said, ignoring Tallie. "What she lacks in aura, she compensates for with enchantments. We can now verify that she's indeed using the penumbra cape and the appraisal specs, which Kecleon previously described, and she has many more items in her arsenal. We know her motive, which is something I began to suspect after the results of our last experiment: she steals for sport, with little regard for monetary value. But perhaps most importantly, she's revealed something very personal about herself, and this is what is going to be her downfall…"

Eva grinned evilly, casting a glance at the exhausted Pidgeotto beside her. "The gift of the feral-shard demonstrated that she is empathic, even for her foes. Such a grave mistake to show to your opponents! This… we can use to our advantage."

"You mean we should try to take advantage of her kindness?" Char said, scratching his chin. "Have anything in mind?"

"Why yessss, I do," Eva said, sliding up onto the tabletop as her slithering tail followed her. "This is precisely the type of information I needed in the first place. Now that I have a perfect psychological profile of our target, I know just what to do from here. We're going to be needing Kecleon's cooperation just one more time. He isn't getting tired of us yet, I hope?"

"Naah! If he is, he hasn't said anything," Ray said. "He seems to think we're doing a good job. He keeps asking me if there's anything more he can do to help."

"Wonderful. Ray, call a meeting with Kecleon – with both of brothers if they happen to be around. I just have one question: is everyone ready for your first star on your record?"

"Excuse me, but some of us already have a few hundred stars on our record…" Tallie sneered.

Eva rolled her eyes and ignored her again. "Anyway. As I was saying, I have a grand plan to catch the thief… tonight."


Iron Town – Industrial District

"Whoa whoa hey. Where do you think you're going?!"

The Marowak and the Umbreon froze in their tracks, standing directly in front of the hangar door to one of the warehouses. They were fast approached by a Drapion holding a tatter of paper in one claw and a chunk of writing-coal in the other, who looked particularly suspicious. Marrow hid his surprise behind his mask; he thought there'd been nobody around, but the scorpion had appeared from one of the alleyways with no warning.

"Hey, I just counted that warehouse. If you need bricks, take them from twenty-three instead," the snippy Pokémon said. He looked down at his paper, then cast another wary glance at the awkward newcomers. "Hey, I don't recognize you two. You newbies?"

"Ehh, not so much," Marrow said, stretching his bone across his shoulders. "We're inspectors from the city. Boss sent for us. Important business."

"I am the boss, nimwits, and I ain't sent for nobody!" the Drapion hissed, waving his tail. "This whole row of storehouses is mine. Mind telling me who you are, exactly?"

Marrow shrugged. "Right, right. Look. We'll be straight with 'ya," he said, stepping forward and paying no mind to the coiled tail on the scorpion. "Truth is, our boss sent for us. We're from the rescue guild down in central town. Y'know, you mail us your help requests with lost Pokémon and outlaws and stuff."

"I'm familiar with them," the Drapion said, passing the chunk of coal to the claw on his tail. "You brought back one of my workers trapped in the old quarry back in the day. What's your business?"

Marrow relaxed a bit. "Right, well, today we're hunting an outlaw with quite the bounty," he said smoothly. "Nidoking. Very powerful. We've received a tip saying that he, uh, may have caused an accident in one of the warehouses last night after sundown."

The Drapion jumped in surprise. "An accident?! In my storehouses?" he shouted, snapping his free claw. "Can't be. I've been taking inventory all morning and I've seen nothing out of place. Save for a few bowls of cement and foundation rods gone missing. But that's not something we'd call an 'accident'. Which storehouse, exactly?"

Marrow knocked on the long, metallic hangar door with his bone, causing a booming sound. "Twenty-five, right here," he said. "We're wondering if we could just have a look-see."

"Yeah, just want to sniff around a little," said Raon. "We're hoping the Nidoking left some kind of trace that could help us find him."

"Well, folks, I got no problem with letting you in to look around, long as you don't knock over anything," the scorpion said. "But I'm tellin' you right now, I was just in there, and there wasn't anything wrong with it. Not even a single clutch of gravel missing, either. Double-checked."

The Drapion dug his legs into the dusty ground, hooked two of his claws beneath the door, then threw the door above his head, sending it reeling on its tracks and flooding the warehouse with sunlight.

There were stacks of shelves, at least thirty of them, standing at the far sides of the huge room. Each held an assortment of gears or chains, presumably for the brick-making machines. In the center was a wide, flat expanse of floor with at least forty different stacked piles of bricks, all arranged by size. Raon and Marrow cast confused glances at one another as they stepped beneath the roof. Everything looked fine.

"See? Nothing out of the ordinary, everything in order," the Drapion said. "Go ahead and look around, though, maybe find something I'd miss. I hope you catch your outlaw. Just close the door once you're done and leave out the back, I'd appreciate it. Oh, and don't try to steal anything… We keep perfect inventory, and we'd know. Good day."

Marrow and Raon gave the Drapion nods of gratitude, then plunged into the daunting expanse of space within.

The scale of the facility was intimidating, with so many shelves towering high overhead, each holding loads of heavy equipment. Marrow felt glad that he'd brought his steel-reinforced Aggron skull.

"Pardon me for asking a dumb question, but… this is the right warehouse, I hope…?" Marrow muttered as he peered upward at the shadowy shelves and the meticulously perfect arrangement of their contents.

"Seems in line with what Otto tells us," the Umbreon hissed back. "Warehouse twenty-five. It all checks out. He says he spent the night in the next one over, twenty-seven," he said, nodding in the direction of the wall.

Marrow knelt down and touched the floor, feeling the thin layer of grit on his fingers. "Suppose that our biggest evidence Cepheus was here is the lack of evidence," he grunted. "Incredible. No footprints. No lost merchandise. Nothing out of place. How does he do this? Otto told us that he banged up the place bad last night. If his goal was to make it seem like he was never here, he's succeeded. I have half a mind to call Otto delusional."

"That's what you can do when you've got access to all the records," Raon said, scanning the shadows in the corners. "Cepheus probably has top-level access to all the blueprints and the inventory reports of this whole district. Wouldn't be surprised if he paid off some of the workers here, even. Wouldn't be surprised if that Drapion was told not to say anything –"

The Umbreon's nose twitched. His pupils grew in size.

"Huh? Pick something up?" Marrow said.

"Yeah, sure did," Raon replied, showing an evil grin to his companion. "Smell a rat."

"Figures she'd be in here," Marrow said under his breath. "This was one of the last buildings we had to check. She probably came to check out the damage, just like us. Well, Char'll be happy we found her." He pat the Umbreon on the back. "Hey. I'm gonna check the top shelves. Hoping they didn't pay much attention to detail up there," he said. "You go do what you were paid to do."

The Marowak crossed to the other side of the warehouse, and the Umbreon crept into the shadows between the shelves, following his nose.

"Psst. Hey," he finally said, staring up at a shelf stacked with crates. "Hey. I know you're there. Don't worry, I'm not here to catch you. Just to tell you something."

There was no answer. Of course there wasn't. Not even a sound. But the scent didn't lie. Raon knew that his words were being heard.

"We've got a note for you. It's from the Kecleon twins," he said. "We're going to leave it in the middle of the room under the black bricks. You can read it as soon as we're gone. I suggest you do; seems like it's something that pertains to your interests."

Still, not a single hint of motion coming from the crates. The Umbreon turned tail and walked away. "Good luck," he called back. "I think you'll need it."

Raon and Marrow spent half an hour scouring the warehouse for evidence of the Starborn's meddling before giving up. As they left, Raon grinned once more at the far shelf, and thought for sure he'd seen something shift uncomfortably in the darkness.

When the door was locked and they were gone, the Furret burst out of hiding and found the small scroll wedged between the planks of the platform which supported one of the brick piles. She unrolled it with shaking claws, and read it:

To the notorious Iron Town Shadow Bandit:

We begrudgingly congratulate you on your successful campaign to undermine our business in this region.

Where our competitors have failed, you have taken a notable cut of our most valued merchandise from right under our very claws.

Your skill is to be respected and feared.

Unfortunately, your persistence has led to a decline in profitability, and a decrease in the goodwill of our clients. Since all efforts to capture you have ended in futility, we are on the brink of shutting down our operations in Midwest Ambera and moving elsewhere.

However, we will not go down without a fight. Thus, we cordially invite you, our esteemed and venerable rival, to what shall be our last stand.

Tonight, at 6 o'clock by human timekeeping, we will remove our most priceless and cherished item from our vault: an imbuing canister, a utility which allows non-magicians like yourself to infuse their own accessories with enchantments. There are only four such canisters known to exist in all of Ambera, and each is worth more than the value of Iron Town's treasury, as the spell required to enchant the canister has been lost to time.

We will teleport this item into the old Watchers' shelter beside Route 418. We will keep guard over it for exactly three hours.

We invite you to attempt to steal it.

Should you succeed, you may consider it a gift and a trophy representing a great accomplishment, an acknowledgement by the world-renowned Kecleon brothers that you are the greatest thief we have ever encountered. Having given you this gift, we shall take our leave of the region, and wish that you will find great fortune in your future conquests. You would become a hero and an idol to us; we would never forget you.

But Should we succeed in capturing you, we will have earned the opportunity to continue operations in Iron Town, one of our most profitable cities. We will then hold you accountable for all the grievance you have brought upon us, and you will not be released from our captivity until we are satisfied that you have paid the price in full – that is, of course, given that you are able to physically survive the entire duration of the punishment.

We hope to see you this evening. Bring your best; we most certainly will.

-Kabb and Kebb Kecleon

The Furret's hands were shaking as she re-read the note, images of the deadly Kecleon brothers gloating over their evil plans flashed in her mind.

"Oh, Pidgeotto…" she whispered fearfully, crumpling up the paper in her trembling claws. "You really went and did it to me, didn't you? Oh dear, oh gods, oh dear… I wasn't… I wasn't ready for this…!"

She scurried on the floor, chasing her tail as her mind spun with all the dreadful possibilities.

"No, Fern. Think. You're the Shadow Bandit of Iron Town. You can do this. You can… you can outsmart them just like always! This can be your first big challenge… you should be up to it! Right? You have enough stuff! You've got what it takes! You'll show them! If you can do this… you'll be a master thief!"

She scurried to the back and peered out the door. It was almost high noon. She knew she would only have six hours to pull off the biggest heist of her life yet.

"Whatever will I wear?" She whispered to herself.


Shelter

As evening fast approached, the old dilapidated Watcher shelter by Route 418 appeared empty to the unsuspecting eye. Having been decommissioned over fifty years prior, the underground burrow was dark, moldy, and half-collapsed. Only one of the original four entrances was still accessible, but it was strewn with mud, gravel, and large shards of cement, making it a daunting and unpleasant trek.

Within the heart of the shelter, the place where travelers once gathered to wait out the dangerous night, three invisified Pokémon laid in wait and prepared to spring their grand trap on the thief. A tiny campfire in the center of the room was the only evidence that the chamber was inhabited by anything but wild bugs and rodents.

Having been given an ample supply of the highly illegal "vanish seeds" by the shopkeeper, Char and Ray found themselves coping with invisibility for the first time. Char found it unnerving to lose the source of light which had always followed around behind him, and found that he was perhaps a bit afraid of the dark, not to mention afraid of tripping over a rowdy Raichu who seemed to enjoy dashing around the room and pretending to be a ghost.

"So, uh… Kecleon," Char said, hoping he was faced in the correct direction, "Eva never exactly told us how this is really supposed to work. What are we supposed to do?"

"Oh, it's very simple, you see!" the Kecleon replied, who was invisible simply by changing the color of his scales, "We've installed a blast door on the only entrance to this shelter, and my brother is stationed there. All we need to do is wait for the thief to come inside, then we drop the door, locking her in! If she wishes to get away with our canister, she must make it in and out of the shelter completely undetected!"

"Yeah, and there's more! They also have to make it past Tallie," Ray said from somewhere. "She's flying around outside keeping watch. If she spots the thief anywhere, she'll let the other Kecleon know… and they'll close the trap! Then we will have ourselves a prisoner!"

"Heh, wow…" Char said. "That's tough. So she's got to evade the eyesight of a Talonflame and get through all that junk by the entrance, without being spotted or making a sound? That sounds impossible! Wait… what if she had a mobile scarf? Couldn't she use that to get through the blast door?"

"Ah yes, a valid concern," Kecleon said, walking across the room with a subtle blur in the air. "If the thief knows of the existence of mobility scarves and has one and has the foresight to use it, which I add would be most wise of her in this situation, we've also added to the door an anti-ghost force field generator! Since mobility scarves are imbued with ghost-type magic, it should give the thief a giant debilitating shock if she even touches it while wearing the scarf!"

"Yeah, and if she tries to leave any other way, she'll probably get lost in the ground!" Ray said. "Mobile scarves are really dangerous when you're walking through solid walls because you're totally blind and if you don't find your way out you could die of starvation."

"Indeed, they have their risks," Kecleon said. "Even worse is the risk of falling! It is not commonly known, but when wearing a mobility scarf, your feet remain standing on the ground only because you will it. It is possible to willfully fall into the ground, but by doing so, you are most certainly doomed! Either you will fall into the center of the earth, or if you try to stop falling, you will instantly be petrified!"

"Yeah, and if you actually fall into a cave or something, you'll still hit the ground really hard and you might die from that!" Ray said. "We have to really be careful with those. I read a lot about them. They're expert-level items."

Char shrugged, even though nobody could see it. "Good to know," he said. "But wait, what if she doesn't even show up?"

"Oh, she will," Ray said with evil glee. "Eva knows she will. The Kecleons are her idols and she won't pass up the opportunity to impress them! Just like how I would have done anything to impress Scythe, you know?"

"I certainly hope," Kecleon said. "It would be most wonderful to finally put this thief in her place. You may look forward to a handsome payment if this works in our favor! Just reassure me, you have your Arcanine friend up to date with this plan?"

"Yes, we told her everything, and she knows how to teleport here without a compass," Char said. "She'll be here right on time."

"Most excellent," Kecleon said, slithering around the room invisibly. "Now we watch and wait. I will guard the treasure when it arrives. It would be most helpful if you two would guard the door. Tonight will be the night you make my dreams come true… I can taste it!"

CRUNCH.

"Sorry! …Sorry, that was me," Ray called from near the entrance. "I was just… seeing how far I could go and I kicked some rocks. Sorry. I'll stand still now."

Char sat down and peered into the darkness of the tunnel which led back to the surface. Though it was still far from dusk, the tunnel filtered out every ray of light, leaving Char with the unsettling feeling of losing sense of the passage of time. At least in the Gold Division, he realized, the color-changing torches almost functioned as windows, letting the inhabitants know the time of day.

I would have hated to stay here for the night, even back when it was used, Char realized. It's just too creepy. Or maybe the darkness is just getting to me. I never realized how much I liked my tail fire until now.

He peered up at the domelike ceiling, wondering about its stability. The chamber was supposedly nearing a century of age, having been built around the time of the very first Watcher sightings in response to the new threat, and it had mostly held up over the decades. One of the pillars had fallen and was nothing but pebbles. One of the entrances had caved in so badly that it took almost a third of the chamber with it. But overall, the place had held up. Char wondered how many of these shelters still existed around Ambera, and wondered how many others were regularly put to use…

He wondered how many dangerous Pokémon knew about these chambers, and used them to hide away right under the noses of the Master… or, for that matter, the resistance. Did the Master's generals use these places to plot and scheme and gather forces while evading the detection of their enemies?

"How much longer?" Ray wined. "Sorry, I'm just excited is all. I want some action! Can't wait to spring this trap! This is going to be so awesome!"

"I can't see the sun, but it's probably going to be another hour…" Char grumbled. "At least that's what it feels like. I can't wait to be able to see my body again…"

"What? You don't like being invisible? It's really fun," Ray said annoyingly. "It's like you're the wind! When I run around it feels like I'm flying!"

The sounds of loud crashing erupted from the entrance tunnel.

Startled, Ray and Char snapped to attention. Something had certainly collapsed.

"SSH! She's coming!" Ray hissed. "That could be the thief! We knew she might have come early!"

But the thief is not what came flying from the darkness.

It was a flaming phoenix, its wings spread wide and its body aflame to light the way. It was coming fast, and shouting a feral, desperate cry.

"Keeeeeyy-yeeeeer!"

Char ducked out of the way just in time to feel a wave of heated air blow over his back.

Smoke exploded into the air as Tallie snuffed out the fire from her feathers. "CALL IT OFF!" she shouted in a hoarse voice. "CALL OFF THE MISSION!"

"Miss Tallie! What seems to be the matter?" Kecleon replied politely, removing his camouflage.

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" She shrieked, flapping her wings. "YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! THERE'S… IT'S…"

"…too late?"

A deep and booming voice had sounded from down the tunnel, giving even Kecleon a start.

Thump. Thump. Thump. The reverberation of heavy footsteps shook the entire shelter. Debris crashed around in the blackness. Something big was coming.

"Oh god, how… how did this… how did this happen…" Tallie muttered incessantly, her eyes dilated with fear. "This of all things…"

She backed away from the door.

Char squinted in the direction of the footsteps, taking refuge in his invisibility and standing his ground. But his courage faltered as he saw two huge, glowing red eyes staring back at him.

Thump. Thump. CRASH!

A giant claw punched a shard of cement out of its path, turning it to dust.

As the figure entered the light, Char saw that the piercing red eyes belonged to a Nidoking — A particularly large, fearsome Nidoking wearing several pieces of silvery armor and a cape.

"I see that someone has found my old hideout," the royal Nidoking boomed. "How intriguing. It looks as though I will have some unexpected entertainment this evening."

The Nidoking stepped into the torchlight, and the whole room went silent.

*Chapter 93*: Chapter 70, Part 2

o

Chapter 70

Part 2

The ground shook as the Nidoking stomped into the room, his cape waving in his wake. A toothy grin spread across his face as his eyes scanned the shadows at the edges of the firelight.

"Hmm, most fascinating," he said evilly, touching his chin. "I come back to my hideout after a long and tiresome day, and I find… hmm? Three invisible Pokémon here? Ohh, but they're not any old Pokémon, are they? Here we have none other than… my longtime acquaintance. Kebb, is it? Or is that your brother? I always forget, you look the same to me."

"If it does not concern you, then I will not bother to tell you my name," Kecleon said defiantly, shifting his scales back to visibility. "I implore you, great Cepheus, we mean you no harm or interference this evening. We are only here to set a trap for a thief, nothing more; would you consider leaving us to our own devices? This matter concerns only a petty street-thief and myself, it is no concern of the Master's."

"…What, and waste this golden opportunity to catch my own petty street-thief?" Cepheus mused. "Don't think I don't know about you, Kecleon. Don't think I don't know what you've done to the Master and what he rightfully owns. Do not think that I don't know how you… built your empire."

The Nidoking stepped closer, narrowing his glowing eyes.

"Do not think that the continent is big enough for more than one empire," he growled lowly. "It has been a dream of mine, a longtime dream, to dismantle what you have built, and take back what you have taken."

Kecleon crossed his arms. "Pah! Says the one who doesn't even know my name," he laughed. "I'd like to see you try. My brothers and I have occupied this continent since before the empire was founded. We know it like the very scales on our hides. And what do you know about Midwestern Ambera, easterner? Don't you have your own city to rule?"

Char felt a paw nudge his side.

"I'm going to get the other Kecleon," Ray whispered as quietly as he could. "He should be outside… the brothers could defeat Cepheus together…"

The Nidoking's ears perked, and Char heard the invisible Raichu gasp. A gleaming red eye was cast in his direction.

"I see you underestimate my hearing," Cepheus said, "not to mention my eyesight. Do not bother getting your brother. I've brought him in for you."

Scales glimmered in the darkness as the Nidoking thrust his hands up to his shoulder, flinging a blurry shape to the ground just beside the fireplace. The shape flickered and flashed as scales turned colors, the failing camouflage of an unconscious Kecleon.

A gasp rose from the room, the loudest coming from the green Kecleon still standing. He rushed to the side of his fallen brother, holding his hand.

"Brother!" he cried. "Brother, what has this brute done to you?! Brother… are you still… are you still alive?"

Kecleon lifted his brother to survey his injuries, and noticed a large, gaping hole in his chest. The wound was completely dry, as though the blood and fluids had been sucked out and burned away.

The room fell so silent, Char thought he could hear Kecleon's pulse rising.

"Seems as though your brother doesn't have the heart to get up," Cepheus said nonchalantly. "Wasn't my fault, though. He struck first."

"Oh… oh no," Ray whispered in despair. "By the gods above… He can't be dead!"

"This is all our fault," Char replied quietly. "We set this up. We made the Kecleon bothers come here… We… we led him to his death."

The green Kecleon stared at his lifeless companion, his breaths deepening as he let the umoving body slide from his claws and slump to the dusty ground.

He clutched his brother's claws. He gave Cepheus a narrow, deathly glare.

Veins of red began streaking across the chameleon's scales.

"You will pay," Kecleon said with a hollow, terrifying voice. "You will pay for what you have done to my family. I will never rest until you get what you deserve."

The Nidoking chuckled. "Hmm? Oh, what was it you said just now? Ah, yes, that's right. 'I'd like to see you try.' Because you see, your brother said the very same thing, but his vow didn't quite last too long. As you can see, he's quite busy resting at the moment."

"Oh, and he will be avenged, you can trust me about that," Kecleon said darkly, taking sideways steps around the great Nidoking as his scales turned the color of blood and anger. "See, I am known for vengeance. I am known far and wide for… the things I will do to someone who steals my merchandise. But you want to know what I am not known for? I am not known for what I do to those who hurt my family. And that is because, like your own victims, Cepheus, nobody has lived to spread the word. You will be no exception! I have slain greater things than you. Meet your doom, Nidoking!"

Kecleon disappeared just as the Nidoking lunged for him.

"Ah, you poor misguided lizard. Haven't you learned by now that I can see you while you are invisible?" the Nidoking sighed.

There was a cracking sound as the Kecleon appeared directly behind the Nidoking, connecting with pointed headbutt into the back of his neck. Cepheus waved his claws to swat the aggressor away, but Kecleon was already gone.

"An invisible double-team. Not bad," Cepheus said. "Unfortunately for you, the same trick isn't going to work twice. I learn from my mistakes. But you… you can't seem to learn that the same thing is about to happen to you that happened to your brother."

"Say, do you actually fight, or do you only speak your opponents to death?" Kecleon called from somewhere.

Cepheus shrugged. "Trust me, you will know the very moment I decide this is worthy of anything more than words," he said, sounding bored.

"Yes," said Kecleon evilly, voice coming from everywhere at once. "It shall be the same moment that you realize you've underestimated me!"

The red shopkeeper appeared on the ceiling, propelling himself for the Nidoking's open hide. Cepheus glanced up, giving his tail an effortless flick and sending the Kecleon flying. In a shocking move, however, Kecleon snagged hold of the Nidoking's horn and swung around, redirecting his momentum and clawing at the Starborn's unguarded belly on the way down. He vanished into a cloud of dust the moment he hit the ground, leaving visible gouge marks on his foe's white scales.

The Starborn Nidoking sighed again, producing a pair of blue berries from a pocket somewhere on his person. He popped them into his mouth, and Char already saw the gouges begin to heal within moments. "You still don't understand, do you?" the beast groaned in frustration. "I'm not even using a small percentile of my power. You are not even worth wasting white-energy on."

Wham. Kecleon appeared in midair, swatted the Nidoking's cheek with a forceful fist, then vanished just as quickly.

"And you want to know why?" He goaded, straightening his cape. "Heh heh… because… after today, all of Ambera will know that I, Lord Cepheus of Centauri's lineage, have defeated the great and renowned Kecleon brothers… with naught but one claw."

The Nidoking swiped at the empty air. A moment later, a strangled, struggling Kecleon appeared in his grasp.

Ray and Char both gasped.

"Tisk, tisk," said Cepheus. "So very predictable. Your threats are worthless and full of empty promises, just as the wares you peddle."

Kecleon clawed at his throat and tried to open his windpipe, but the Nidoking's claw was too massive. His tail flicked and writhed as it dangled beneath, his scales flashing in patches of strange and random colors.

"Char…" whispered Ray gravely, "We've gotta do something. We can't just let Kecleon die…"

"At this point, I'd say you have only a few options," Cepheus replied directly to Ray, flicking an ear in his direction. "If I were you, I'd leave. I'd say there's about, hmm, twenty seconds before this lizard's heart stops and I get bored of watching him die. If you get a running start, you might live to bear witness for him. Somebody needs to tell the world how they both died, I think. And I do hate spreading my own rumors of myself."

When Kecleon started to visibly grow limp, Cepheus dropped him like a dead rat. He made no attempt to get up for fight, only glaring helplessly up at the mighty king who'd defeated him.

"But since you're still here, you may as well stay to hear Kecleon's last word. It is only fair," Cepheus said, putting the spike of his toe against Kecleon's chin. "Now then, you sniveling, slimy street-bandit who's been a thorn in my side for my entire reign, you've ten seconds to decide how you wish to be remembered."

For those ten seconds, there was silence. Cepheus simply glared down at his victim with gleaming red eyes, and grinned evilly.

At the last moment, Kecleon grinned back.

There was a scuffling sound from a direction Char didn't expect, and a sudden force struck Cepheus in the side, toppling him to the ground. Char noticed a strange shadow briefly obscure the firelight, and it flew with impressive agility across the ground to where Kecleon lay.

"Is that…" Char said, grinning with glee.

"Yeah," replied Ray. "It is. Right on time! I was hoping she'd show up. Now we might actually have a chance."

"Oh, NO you don't!" screamed the shadow, scooping up the fallen shopkeeper and dragging him away from the scrambling Nidoking. "Nobody hurts Kecleon, not while I'm here! Kecleon, you have to get up!"

The grumbling Nidoking was back on his feet in seconds. He came lumbering over to the corner of the room where the shadow had fled, but the shadow tossed several objects at him, each of which made a pop sound upon contact.

"AUGH!" he cried, shutting his eyes. "Oh, so you've got those blasted blinding seeds, do you?" He ruffled through the pockets on his garment, but clumsily spilled half of their contents on the floor.

"Kecleon, please, you need to get up right now!" the thief begged. "I'm not going to let my rival die. Not today. Now here, eat this." She stuffed what appeared to be a sitrus berry into his mouth. "Hang in there. You're gonna survive, I promise. I've got enough supplies for both of us."

Kecleon's scales flashed in various colors as he reluctantly accepted the berry. "Who's that? Who are you?" he said hazily. "Are you…"

Fern threw off the penumbra cape, revealing her identity.

"I'm… I'm the shadow bandit," the thief said proudly. "You invited me here, remember?"

"In that case, I'd bet my tail that most of those supplies are mine," the Kecleon laughed. "A pleasure to meet you, Furret."

In a few moments more, Cepheus had succeeded in swallowing a healing seed, curing his magic-induced blindness. His eyes flashed angrily, scanning the dark edges of the room.

"Oops, got to go take care of this king freak again," she said. "Be right back. Try to get up! Get out of here!"

Fern jumped up and pounced at Cepheus again. She leaped right at his face, only for him to reach out and grab her upper body in one claw, the same motion that had caught the Kecleon just moments prior. But somehow, her body slipped out of his grasp like a wet worm, and she scurried away, running behind him and nipping at the end of his tail.

Cepheus yelled in annoyance, whipping his tail around and trying to slam the Furret aside. Her body contorted, seemingly in defiance of physics, as it danced and entwined with the Nidoking's tail, never seeming to make contact.

With his tail failing him, Cepheus turned to fully face the Furret, but she tossed another seed at his face, and his whole body was instantly paralyzed.

"Good, now he won't see us," Fern said, noting that the Nidoking's stunned form was faced away from the fallen Shopkeeper.

Kecleon groaned as he rose. "You seem to have come prepared, miss," he said.

"Yeah, because I thought I was going up against you!" she laughed. "I didn't want to disappoint you. Now, if we're fast, we can get out of this place and lock him in here."

"ROAAAAAR!" Cepheus's challenge was that of a lion, shaking the few remaining supports of the bunker and causing rubble to come rattling down the sides. He spread his arms wide, his claws and his horn radiant with white energy, his eyes sparkling with relentless malice.

Fern gasped. "No… how did he… I paralyzed him! How did he heal so fast?!" she muttered in panic.

"YOU FOOLS!" cried the anguished king. "I AM CEPHEUS, CHILD OF THE STARS! THE VENOM OF CENTAURI FLOWS IN MY VEINS! I AM INVINCIBLE! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY TWO PATHETIC THIEVES!"

"One of his articles of clothing must have been enchanted, and cured his paralysis quickly," Kecleon noted. "If you've got any more ideas, miss, please be quick about it."

The furious Nidoking shook the earth as he barreled towards Fern.

"I know just the thing!" she whispered, fishing around in one of her bags.

As Cepheus stared down at her, she brandished an orb. It dissolved in her paws with a flash of magic, and Cepheus soon found himself picked up off the ground and hurled across the bunker chamber with startling force, smashing into the pile of rubble and sinking into it. The blowback orb had done its job well.

Char and Ray moved quickly.

In a moment that felt far too soon, the rubble burst open and the Nidoking appeared again. So enraged he was, that the light from his eyes looked as though it were seeping into his scales.

"Come on, really?!" Fern gasped. "Again?!"

"Cepheus is not one to be trifled with, it seems," Kecleon said. "If a mere item could defeat him, then his reign would have been toppled ages ago."

"Naaaah, you can beat anyone with the right item, you just gotta know which one it is," she insisted, pulling a number of objects out of her bag quickly. "What I gotta do is neutralize his enchantments. I wonder what he's wearing that's making him so resistant to everything? Whatever he's wearing, I've gotta tear it off of him!"

Kecleon knowingly eyed the appraisal specs as Fern pulled them out and pressed them against her eyes.

But what she saw… didn't make sense.

Shaking her head, she took them off, then put them on again.

Odd.

"Huh… it's not working," she said worriedly, shaking the bifocals in her claws. "Why won't they work? They were working just a minute ago…"

She put them back on her face, and turned to look at Kecleon.

She blinked. She looked again at Cepheus.

"Huh…?" she muttered. "They still work… but… but… wait a minute."

"What is the matter, miss?" Kecleon said tersely.

"It's… he's…" Fern took the glasses on and off, not believing what she saw. "He's not enchanted at all. None of this clothes glow! The Nidoking should have clothes that glow bright white through the glasses, but… he doesn't glow at all… That must mean…"

Defiantly, the Furret scurried up to the raging Nidoking. A quiet standoff lasted only a few seconds.

"You're not the Starborn!" Fern shouted. "You're… You must be an imposter!"

Again, there was silence. The Nidoking's rage seemed to fade, and the light from his eyes dimmed down as an evil smile spread across his face.

He began to laugh.

Kecleon began to laugh.

Char and Ray began to laugh.

"What?" Fern muttered, confused and frightened. She turned to see everyone in the room laughing at her expense, even those who were invisible.

The corpse of the purple Kecleon brother began to move, his false wound disappearing as his scales faded back to their correct color.

"Nice to meet you, miss," the Nidoking said cordially. "Name's Nidoroch, but you can call me Rocky. Everyone else does."

"So… you aren't the scary Nidoking I saw in the warehouse…?" Fern gasped. "How… but your eyes, they were red!"

"Oh, that? That was just your most basic leer," he said, turning his eyes into a blank red glow. "Pokémon learn to do that when they're three days old. Helps them look scary in the forest at night."

Fern blinked, baking away warily, even though the Nidoking was no longer making a move to catch her. She eyed the exit.

A terrible realization dawned on her.

"So… that must mean…" she said.

"Indeed," Kecleon said jovially, collecting all the loose items that had fallen on the floor and stashing them into his bag. "Our contest is over, and it seems as though you have failed."

"Thank you," said the purple brother, snagging Fern's appraisal specs right out from her claws and joining with his brother, who'd collected the penumbra cape from the floor. "You've given us quite the entertainment for the night. We thank you very much for returning our valued merchandise to us."

"B…but…" Fern stammered, turning in panicked circles. "What about… what about the… the imbuing canister? It never arrived! Where did it go?"

"Unfortunately for you, and you would have known this had you done some research on the matter, there is no such thing as an imbuing canister," the purple Kecleon informed her. "Enchantments take time and dedication from skilled magicians. There is no shortcut for the lay Pokémon, which is precisely why they sell at such high prices."

"And there was no blast door, either. It was yet another fact we fabricated, once we knew you were listening," said the other. "The Talonflame spotted you entering the bunker, and we knew it was time to begin our performance. Everything that was spoken in this bunker tonight was meant for your ears. We even kept most of the room hidden in shade, so you would think we couldn't see you as you hid in the shadows."

"Yep, and the invisible Pokémon here helped me out of the rubble heap you put me in," the Nidoking said. "All in all, it worked out pretty well, I think. I'd like to think I really nailed the part of Cepheus. Had that pompous sneer down to a science."

Fern's mouth hung open, and tears welled in her eyes as she tried to comprehend the falsehood of the battle she'd just fought.

"You see, this is what a little bit of information gets you, Ferret," said Nidoroch condescendingly. "Your Pidgeotto friend, the one you made friends with the other night? He told us everything. And we used everything he told us to lead you right into this trap: he told me what to wear and how to talk 'n how to make myself look like Cepheus, he told us that you're compassionate to your foes, and probably most important, he told us your motives for stealing from Kecleon. You just wanted to be the best thief in the world. So how could you resist an item that would, supposedly, allow you to enchant anything you wanted?"

"So we wrote you a note that we knew you couldn't ignore," the green Kecleon said smugly. "And it all worked wonderfully."

Fern sighed in defeat, although her heart was still pounding. "Alright, alright… are you going to capture me, or what? Are you going to take me to jail?"

"No, we really have no interest in apprehending you personally," Kecleon said. "Without the penumbra cape and the appraisal specs, and especially due to the fact we now know your identity and your weaknesses, you pose no threat anymore. We are merely here to take back the merchandise you have stolen."

"Indeed," said the other. "In fact, we have located your hideout yesterday, and we lured you here to distract you while our agent cleans out your stockpile of stolen goods! Hmm, if I am not mistaken, they would not have arrived yet, would they have, brother?"

"Indeed not," said the other. "If you hurry, you might be able to beat them. You're certainly welcome to try."

But Fern was already gone.


Iron Outskirts

The Furret ran faster than she'd ever run before.

She'd lost track of all the pedestrians she'd nearly run over in her mad dash. Her last remaining bag of belongings whipped in the wind as she fled Iron Town into the badlands beyond.

She envisioned her hideout – coincidentally, in another old abandoned Watcher bunker, designed very similar to the one where she'd been duped – and imagined all the stolen loot, the mountains of rare, valuable, useful enchantments that lay within, all meticulously sorted by size, shape, and potency… All the loot she hadn't even had a chance to use yet…

It can't be gone. It's not gone. It can't be, Fern told herself, spurring her faster onward. Please, oh Lugia please, please don't let them steal my things!

When she finally arrived to the secluded flatland and the secret passageway to her hideout, she scanned the surrounding horizon. Only the far-off wall of the plateau rose up from the earth, accompanied by some barely-visible Iron Town skyscrapers. Nobody was around. No birds in the sky. No hostile scents. No footprints. It certainly didn't look like she'd been followed…

The moment of truth came when she threw herself down into the tunnel and beheld the steel lock, shining in a ray of light from the evening sun, still intact and holding firm.

"I… I did it," she breathed, unbelieving. "I made it… I made it… Oh, thank the heavens."

Realizing she couldn't relax just yet, she fumbled for her key and dropped it. When she finally got her shaking paws to grasp the key and fit it into the keyhole, the sound of the tumbler was like a blessing. She opened the door and threw herself into the dark depths of her home.

Beneath an aura-light, an Espeon waited patiently for her arrival.

Fern nearly swallowed her tongue. "How… How...!" she shrieked angrily. "How did you get in? The door was locked!"

Eva grinned. "Tumbler locks don't work on telekinetics," she said simply. "Perhaps you should have invested in a psyche-lock instead."

The Furret, physically and emotionally spent, collapsed to the floor. She heard a clunking metal sound as the lock slid back into place, sealing her in the room.

Click.

"Gotcha!" Eva chimed.


Ten minutes later, Char, Ray, and Tallie arrived at the entrance to the thief's hideout – the short tunnel which led into the abandoned Watcher shelter. They'd made use of Canniah's help after all, who teleported Char and Ray across Iron Town as soon as Tallie had given the signal that the Iron Town Shadow Bandit was, once and for all, cornered. Eva sat in front of the locked door like a sentinel lion, looking very proud of herself.

"She's really in there?" Ray inquired, his invisibility effect wearing off alongside Char's.

"Yes, and going nowhere," Eva replied smugly. "I used an embargo orb to keep her from using anything in her stash of belongings. But that is likely not even necessary; she's completely given up at this point. Accepted defeat and resigned to her fate. Those are the only thoughts in her mind as of this moment."

Eva put on an unnaturally large smile. "Well?" she sang, mostly in Tallie's direction. "How's that for efficiency?"

"Alright, alright, I'll give it to you this time," Tallie sighed, spreading her wings and fake-bowing. "All hail the master of wits. I couldn't have done it any better. And that's not something I say often."

"Yeah! That was so perfect!" Ray beamed. "And you came up with the plan so fast!"

Eva shrugged with what Char knew to be completely fake humility. "After you spend a certain length of time on this world, you start to notice patterns," she said. "Pokémon nature is quite predictable. Sad, really, once you start to notice it, how we're all doomed to act the same way in the end. But very useful once you happen to take notice. Once I knew how the thief idolized her foes, the rest was simple."

"Alright, kittycat, do it a second time and maybe I'll believe it wasn't luck," the Talonflame teased with a flicker of newfound respect. "No, but seriously, I can't wait to see you do that again. I never get bored of watching mind games that end with the bad guy walking into their own demise. Absolutely a riot."

"Seeing that I'm now Char's partner, I will be available to provide you with many more hours of entertainment in the foreseeable future," Eva said with a sly grin.

While his team exchanged congratulatory words, Char tiptoed up to the metal door and placed his claws against the rigid surface, wondering what lay on the other side. He saw nothing through the keyhole, and heard no commotion from the supposed thief. Was she really in there? If so, was she really so heartbroken as to just sit in a corner and stew over her failure? I would be adamant to escape, even now, if that were me in there, Char thought quietly.

Char felt a trickle of sympathy against his inner ember; this thief had saved Otto's life, and had similarly attempted to save Kecleon's. And now, due to the Espeon's cunning plan, she was doomed to whatever cruel fate the vengeful chameleon Pokémon had in store for her. Perhaps she deserved the punishment, but perhaps she also deserved a little kindness as well. All this time, the thief was only trying to impress her hero; how bad could she really be?

The Kecleon brothers had not teleported – they were walking the distance to the hideout, leading a whole moving crew who would help to clear out the contents of the room before nightfall. They would be arriving soon. Char knew that whatever the thief's fate was, it would be upon her within the hour.

Char turned to his teammates. "Think we can see her before the Kecleons get here?" he wondered. "I don't know what they'll do to her, but I feel like we need to thank her for saving Otto, at least."

"Yeah, and then she'll bolt out of here as soon as the door's cracked open," Tallie said flatly. "Just watch, that's what'll happen."

Eva shook her head. "No, I'm most certain she won't; she's currently lost in a self-deprecating daydream. In her mind, she has already accepted the shackles. Without her prized cape, she seems to have no confidence at all, so I doubt she will pose a threat."

The lock clicked, and Eva cracked the door open.

"Yeah, well, I'm keeping watch anyway," Tallie said, straightening herself. "Besides, all the huggy stuff is your specialty."

Char crept into the room. A single aura-light cast a yellow beam from the ceiling, as though the sun were shining straight through the roof. The floor was covered in heaps and piles of shiny things like a dragon's lair. Dozens of piles spanned the room from wall to wall in straight lines, as though the thief had invented some kind of chaotic sorting system. In the shadowy distance, there were even more items placed museum-like atop shelves and tabletops. Char thought he could feel an eerie disturbance from the enchantments, a sensation that reminded him of the magical rooms behind Kecleon's store.

In the middle of the room, curled up on the highest pile of treasure, the Furret lay with her head in her tail, sobbing softly.

Clink. Char kicked a golden coin at the base of the pile, and the Furret's head perked to attention.

Char searched for the words to say as the Furret only blinked, looking deeply surprised.

"Charmander?" she uttered, catching the Charmander off-guard. The sound of the word, the way it was spoken, triggered distant memories. "Is that really you… Charmander?" The Furret slithered down the pile of treasure, knocking things along the way. "…You don't even remember me, do you?" she said with a sad laugh.

"Wait…! Fern?" Char cried, the truth finally dawning on him. "That was… you? You were the thief?!"

Rather than replying, the Furret pounced on the Charmander, tangling him into a huge, furry embrace. Char didn't feel the need to resist; he returned the gesture as his mind buzzed with questions. He remembered this Pokémon who he'd rescued from a place called the Iron Crevice. He remembered the day when he denied her permission to join the team. Even now, he felt sour and regretful about how that must have made her feel at the time.

"I'm sorry," Char said, his voice half-muffled into her side. "I didn't even recognize you back there. When you took off your cape, I thought – you were just another Furret. They're so common around here, I see them every day."

"Yeah, but there's only one Charmander in the world that I know," Fern said, hugging more tightly. "I never thought I'd see you again. Not like this, anyway. You were the one who inspired everything that I do."

"Huh?" Char replied, trying to look at her face. "What do you mean?"

"I remember back when we first met," she explained sadly. "I didn't know what I should do with my life. Tried dungeon hunting… but that didn't work too well, and you had to rescue me. I asked you if I could join your team. I remember what you told me, you told me to go chase the legendary Pokémon. But I didn't know how. I didn't know the first thing about legendary hunting.

"But then you came back one day! Remember that? We made up that whole plan to break the Bulbasaur out of jail, and I pretended to be a witness to the jailers, and that Marowak snuck in and made all the Bulbasaur invisible? Remember when we did that? And it worked! It was so thrilling! I… I'd never had that much fun in my whole life. Before then, I never even dreamed of breaking the Master's law. But that day made me realize how much I loved breaking the law. That's what made me decide to try being a thief. "

She freed the Charmander from the curl of her body, scampering back to the top of the treasure pile.

"I was meant to be a thief," she said with her head turned downward. "The days I spent collecting all this were the best days in my whole life. Part of me knew that I would get caught someday, but I didn't know it would happen this soon." She sighed forlornly, caressing some kind of magical brooch with her front paw. "Still, it was worth it. It was all worth it."

Char was at a loss for words. He inspired this? He made this happen? Because of what he said?

Somehow, Char didn't feel guilty about leading her into this life of crime. He knew he probably should have, but his inner fires burned a completely different color. Somehow, he felt proud of her.

"I'm sorry that my friends and I had to catch you," Char finally said. "If I knew it was you, if I knew what your story was, I'm sure I would have thought of something different. But Kecleon is such a powerful Pokémon! You picked a fight with him, and now I don't think there's anything I can do for you. Kecleon never forgives anyone who steals his treasure."

"I know," Fern squeaked. "I know."

Char looked again at the countless quantities of shiny things that filled the old Watcher shelter. He picked up a gold coin from the floor and turned it over in his claws.

This isn't Poké, he realized. This is gold. These are the coins that are in the treasury. They don't just trade with these on the open market.

Impressive, Fern. Maybe I should have let you join the team after all. But I guess it's too late now. You've got a lot to answer for.

He was just barely aware of Eva and Ray approaching him from behind.

"Char, they're here," Ray whispered.

Char nodded, dropping the coin into the pile with a plink and looking sadly up at the Furret. "I don't know what they'll do to you," Char said.

"I know, I know," Fern said again, slumping her body on the pile. "But whatever it is, I deserve it. You caught me fair and square. Whatever happens now, I'll take it. Charmander… hey. If I never see you again, I want to thank you. For everything. Even for… you know, this. I can't tell you… how happy I've been to have found a reason to live, even if it was just for a little while."

"You can call me Char," he said, stifling a sigh.

He left the room with his two teammates at his side, and met with the Kecleon pair standing just outside the door. Their little beady eyes were glinting with energy, and their scales were a rainbow of red shades. They looked absolutely unnatural and fiery.

"Are we ready, brother?" one said.

"Absolutely," said the other, his little claws curled into fists. "I've spent enough time just anticipating this moment! Come, brother! Let's give this slippery Furret just what she deserves!"

"Hey… uh," Char said to them as they started to push past and into the room. "Could you… maybe… go easy on her?"

The Kecleon brothers paused for a moment, staring at one another, before bursting into harsh laughter.

"Easy?!" said one. "After what she's done to us?"

"We've never gone easy on a thief!" said the other.

"No, never! Our punishment will be as cruel as the losses we've suffered from her mischievous exploits!"

"Twice as cruel!"

"Seven times as cruel!"

"Seventy!"

"Aye! It will be long and Painful!"

"Heartless and grueling!"

"Indeed, she shall know our wrath for the remainder of her living days!"

"Come, brother! Let us waste no more time! Let us dispense justice! I live for moments like these!"

Together, the two red Kecleon brothers paraded into the treasure room, slamming the door behind them.

Char counted the heartbeats of silence, giving sideways glances to his friends.

"Hah, this should be good," Tallie muttered. "I heard that once, the Kecleons caught one of their thieves and rearranged their limbs. That's painful. Even if you live through it, what a miserable existence. You can't fly with claws on your arms instead of wings."

"I've heard similar tales," Eva replied, nodding. "Wonder what this Furret's fate will be. I'm certainly expecting something… creative. Perhaps we shouldn't look; I know I certainly don't want nightmares for the rest of the year."

"AIEEEEEEEEE!"

A long, piercing shriek of anguish sounded from within the room. It was Fern's voice, making a sound that suggested that Kecleon had found a way to impale her very soul. His fire danced nauseously as pinpricks of pain crawled over his skin.

Then the door burst open, and the Furret flew straight into Char like a cannonball, knocking him onto the floor.

"CHAR!" she shrieked down at her captive. "They… they… they're making me their apprentice! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I-I can't! I can't breathe!"

"Ah! Neither can I," Char gasped, pinned under the Furret who beamed with an otherworldly sort of happiness.

The Kecleon brothers exited the room, side-by-side. Their scales had turned colors of yellow and blue, as though to blend in with the gold and diamonds of the treasure in the room.

"Indeed! She's a natural!" said one of the shopkeepers. "An absolute prodigy if ever we've seen one."

"And we'd be emphatically honored if she would repay her debt with a lifetime of partnership," said the other.

"Of course, we have you to thank for the idea, Raikouun," said the other.

Ray winced. "Huh? Me?!" he said.

"Yes!" said the Kecleon. "We've taken your words to heart. You were absolutely right, my good friend. In this day and age, in our changing times, we simply need more than four claws to run our business! The time of our stubborn denial is at an end. We have decided that it is time to break with tradition and choose a new partner. And what better partner could we want than one who so cleverly outmatched us?"

"Of course, she's very welcome to keep the cape and the glasses. As priceless as they are, she's found a use for them beyond anything we've dreamed of, and they suit her identity as the Shadow Bandit. But she still has a lot to learn."

"Indeed. So much to learn."

"Yay! All hail the Shadow Bandit!" Ray said, joining in the group hug and mercifully getting Fern off of Char's stomach.

Fern shared a joyous laugh with her old acquaintances as Tallie just seemed to roll her eyes and Eva simply sat back and observed. Char couldn't help but absorb some of the Furret's contagious happiness, and he felt his heart soaring over the clouds on Charizard wings for her.

"So, I guess this means I'm joining your club after all!" Fern said.

"Yeah, I guess it does," Char replied with a smile almost as big as hers. "You did it. You made your dream come true. Congratulations."

"Pardon us, but there's just one question that you've left hanging," one of the Kecleon brothers inquired. "Not that we mean to tread upon your trade secrets, O Shadow Bandit, but as our partner, would you mind explaining to us how you were able to pinpoint our location with such consistency?"

"Yes, I find it quite puzzling myself," said the other. "Even when we were carrying nothing of value, you always found us in the city, wherever we'd try to sneak. However did you manage to track us with such astonishing accuracy?"

"Oh! Uh, the glasses," Fern explained, parting away from the group hug. "It was the glasses. They let me see enchanted things. And uh… some of your scales are enchanted! They glow in the glasses just like the things I wanted to steal from you."

Both of the Kecleons blinked in unison.

"Yes! Yes, indeed!" said one. "A remarkable observation, O Shadow Bandit! It is one of our family secrets, in fact. The scales of our species are quite receptive to enchantments, the same kind that are often imbued into the jewelry and scarves we sell as merchandise. Likely because of our natural powers of camouflage."

"Yes, and although a Pokémon generally cannot be enchanted directly, it was our great-great-great-grandfather Kolagu –"

" – The greatest thief who ever lived! Bless his scales! – "

"Who discovered that Kecleon eggs can be enchanted, and the enchantments would pass into their scales during incubation. Ever since, our ancestors have been enchanting their eggs, and this is how we were able to maintain our dynasty as the greatest master thieves in Ambera, the Magi-Kecleon! Even now, there are a number of powerful enchantments still upon our very scales for strength, agility, and stamina."

"Yes, and their power multiples when we are enraged. Magi-Kecleon must learn the discipline to remain calm and rational until their power is needed, lest we break something we would regret breaking! I'd imagine our fire-type friends here can sympathize, what with your fire power being tied to your emotions. Our powers operate very similarly."

"As for the appraisal spectacles, we have never imagined such an innovative use for them! To us, they have always been used at the appraisal desk to analyze the magical threads on our merchandise before putting them up for trade. We've certainly never worn them outside of the workshop, or even looked at one another while wearing them. Or if we had, we'd simply gotten used to seeing it this way."

"But it appears as though you, O Shadow Bandit, do not need enchanted scales to stand with us. Your innovation with our merchandise works just as well! Come with us, and we will teach you how to use everything in our inventory. Perhaps one day you will find something you prefer using even more than your cape!"

"Perhaps you will find yet other ways to weaponize the mundane tools of our craft."

Fern looked overwhelmed. "Oh… oh Lugia, you can call me Fern, you know. You don't have to keep calling me… Well I mean, unless you want to… It does sound nice. I'm not dreaming, am I? Is this real? Char? Did I really just get hired by my idols? Is this actually happening?"

One of the brothers pat her on the head. "Appears to me that your dream has just begun! You can start immediately. Come with us, there's no time to lose."

"Indeed, the movers we've hired only have hours to clean up this mess you've made. In the meantime, let's get you approved by our landlords and into a suitable room! And you, Char, Raikouun, Miss Eva – consider this a completed mission! Your payment will be sent into your account by the end of the evening."

"Well, um, actually," Char said suddenly, "Do you think… I could buy an item?"

"…Oh? Why of course, we'd never say no to a reasonable request by our favorite customers!" the Kecleon responded, sounding genuinely surprised. "But I wonder, whatever do you have in mind…?"


Division Base

In all the celebratory clamor, Ray had almost forgotten to get his bag back. Fern happily handed it over, and Ray verified that everything was in there, especially the reviver seeds, the frozen flame, and his brother's precious compass. He sighed deeply in relief, hugging the bag even harder than he'd hugged Fern.

That evening, Team Ember reported their first successful one-star mission to the registry. Char instantly felt different, as though he and his team had graduated to a higher echelon of the division, one of higher responsibilities and harsher realities. No longer could they hide behind the old excuses – they were no longer in training, or low on funds, or without the necessary members.

It was proof enough to Char that there was nothing left to hold him back. From now on, he would be expected to repeat this success every day.

While Tallie and Eva went to check on Otto's health, and Ray went with the Kecleon brothers to welcome Fern into the base, Char took a walk to Team Remorse's room. It was a sidetracked walk, and he carried with him a tan-colored bag slung over his shoulder. Now that the mission was over, there was something that he knew in his ember had to be done.

"What?! Already?" Marrow yelped upon hearing the news, peeking his head out from behind the front door to Team Remorse's hall. "How many days did it take you? Three? Yikes, and here it takes Scythe months to get one of those red assignments done! Awfully jealous of you guys right now, in more ways than one."

"Right… this is the last time I'll be seeing you for a while," Char realized.

"'Fraid so," Marrow replied, "Time for me to get back to work at the canyon now. Glad I was able to see out the end of your mission from Xatu, at least. Any idea what you'll be up to next?"

Char shrugged. "Bulletin board missions until we drop, I guess."

"Well, that and team tryouts until you drop, am I right?" Marrow replied. "That way, when you drop, someone else can pick ya up and carry on in your place."

Char nodded in understanding, remembering all the new recruits and how eager they were to impress him. It didn't help his current state of mind, thinking about all the Pokémon he'd have to disappoint by rejecting their applications, or all the stress that would come with managing a team that would be double the size.

"Hey, I want you all to know that I'm real proud of you," Marrow said, sounding melancholy. "As far as I'm concerned, you're a good team. A real unit. I've got a feelin' Scythe'll want to give someone else a shift at watchin' you all, just because Scythe cares about you, but in my mind you don't really need it. You did this job on your own. You're going to be an elite team someday, and I don't think that day's very far. Someday soon, they'll be saying, 'Oh yeah, the Gold Division. Home of Team Absolution, Team Remorse, Team Flamewheel, Team Avalanche, and Team Ember!' and Xatu will start writing you more letters, and… actually scratch that. When you get too good at this job, it stops bein' fun. But you don't fight for the fame, or for the fun. You fight for a cause. You pick that cause, you hold it close to your heart, and you'll be a golden team, mark my words."

"Thanks," Char said, bowing his head. "And thank you for watching over us for these past days. I know I've learned a few things. I'll let them know what you said. And Saura too, if I see him again sometime."

Char shifted the tan-colored sack that was slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, what's that? A gift for me? Going-away present? Aww, you shouldn't have. No really, you shouldn't have. Whatever it is, we probably have one of 'em already…"

Char sighed. "Yeah, it's uh… not for you. To be honest, I'm dreading what I have to go do with it. Well… I was kind of hoping if I came to talk to you, some of your fearlessness would rub off on me right now..."

"Fearlessness?" Morrow said, chuckling. "Hey, you put your tail in the water earlier this week, and just the other day you went claw-to-claw against a dragon. How much fearlessness do you need?"

Char said nothing. The sack seemed to grow heavier on his shoulders.

"Oh… so it's one of those problems. Yeah, I getcha. Alright, alright. Day's not over yet, so technically I'm still your mentor. Guess you can get one last lesson from me."

Morrow stepped completely out of the door and kneeled down to Char's level. With a brief struggle, he clawed his helmet off and stared at Team Ember with his warm, mousey eyes.

"Hey look. You want to know what fear really is? Fear is like an annoying friend who's always disagreeing with you. It's okay to let them give you input. Sometimes it gives real valuable input. But there's always gonna be that time where you've heard enough input, and it's time to act. Y'know? So you just turn to the fear and say, 'Look, thanks for the advice, but I've heard enough, and now I've gotta go do what needs to be done'. Ya hear me? That's really all there is to it. And if the thoughts don't shut it up when you tell 'em to, then you just go out there and do it and try not to think. And if you're quick enough, the thoughts aren't even gonna catch up."

Char sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. "Guess I just need to get it over with."

"Yup. There's a time for thinkin' and a time for actin'. Try not to do those things together, and life makes a whole lot more sense. Don't spend time thinkin' when you should be actin' and don't go actin' when you should be thinkin'. Cuz our brains just aren't built to do both at the same time, they gotta take turns. And what fear is, it's a thought. So when you quit thinkin' and start doin', it'll go away. Soon you'll be feelin' either regret because you messed it up, or relief because it's over with. Either way, you won't need the fear anymore at that point."

Marrow stood up, crossing his arms. "And now the mask's off, and you know my big secret to being fearless. Normally I never give out trade secrets like that, but I've grown a real liking to you guys," he added with a wink.

"Thanks, Marrow," Char replied with a small, forced smile. "In that case, I can't let your secrets go to waste. Guess there's only one way out of this…"

As he walked away down the hall towards a place he really wasn't looking forward to being, he remembered Tallie's words from earlier that day:

Sometimes showing off your strength makes you look weak.

And sometimes letting your weakness show is what takes the most strength.

He thought of the friends who'd helped him on the mission. No, not just friends anymore. Teammates. Subordinates. Pokémon he had authority over, and responsibility over.

Now I know what you mean, Tallie. You were right. I was only on lesson one.

That changes right now.

He approached Team Flamewheel's hall. Canniah greeted him, asking him to come in. They exchanged some pleasant remarks about the successful mission, with Canniah making some odd jokes at Tallie's expense and remarks about Otto's unexpected evolution. The smalltalk lasted for longer than it should have, and finally Char spoke up, asking if he could speak with Lily.

Before he knew it, Char was standing face-to-face with the Bayleef. Char knew that this was something the rest of the team didn't need to be concerned with. It wasn't their job to talk to her, or to support him. This was his ordeal, and his alone.

"Oh, so you've finally got it?" were her first words, flat and unamused, as though she wanted the Charmander to go away so she could get back to sleep.

"Yeah, we finished the mission," Char replied, his words equally as soulless. "Here."

Char sighed long and deeply, setting the flesh-colored sack on the ground in front of him. He still held the opening shut, as the bag was going to roll to the side if he let go.

"Thank you," Lily said, extending a vine to collect the sack. "I'm sure Prince will send his regards."

"A-about Prince," Char said carefully, letting go of the bag, "I talked with him earlier today before the mission. I tried to give him the frozen flame back. But he wouldn't let me. Look, Lily, I gave it an honest attempt, but he insisted I keep it."

"That's fine," Lily replied. "Don't worry about Prince. I'll talk some sense into him later. But I appreciate you bringing it back to me. Thank you for seeing things my way. I think you and I are going to be okay from now on."

Char hesitated with a sudden flare to his fire. "Uh… well, here's the thing. I'm not… giving the frozen flame back. Prince wants me to keep it. So… that's not what's in the bag."

Anger flashed in the Bayleef's eyes, but it was overridden by curiosity just a heartbeat later. The Bayleef fished her vines into the opening, lifting the contents and letting the sack fall to the ground around it.

She beheld a glass orb, exactly the same shape and size as the frozen flame. But this one was a different color. The flame inside was green, shaped like a serene patch of grass. She squinted at it, her eyes softening as she gazed inside of the crystal glass, as though its enchantment was already washing over her heart.

"What is it…?" Lily said, absentmindedly.

"It's called a soothe globe," Char said meekly. "It's the only other globe that Kecleon had in stock. It works just like the frozen flame, but instead of protecting fire-types from rocks, it… well, it… it protects grass-types from fire."

Lily's breath caught, and she almost dropped the priceless artifact on the carpet. Her mouth hung open as she stared blankly at Char, her mind processing dozens of emotions and thoughts all at once. "And why are you giving me this?" she inquired pointedly.

"I'm sorry that I burned you," Char said to her, speaking carefully. "I know that's something I can't undo. And you don't have to forgive me for that. Here I am, worrying about how I need to save the world and defeat the Master and whatever the heck my human self's plan was for turning me into a Charmander, trying to be the hero of my own story, and this whole time, I forgot… you were the hero of your own story, too. Now I understand that. And I know I can't fix everything the world did to you. I don't think anyone can. I can't even take back the things I did to hurt you. But I feel like you deserve to have this. I know how much the frozen flame meant to you, and I feel like you deserve something that… that's all your own. Not Prince's, not Flamewheel's. So… yeah. This globe is yours. It's for everything you went through for Prince, for me, for Ambera. I know that there isn't enough in the world to pay you back for everything you did, all the sacrifices you made, all the friends you lost and the pain you felt when the Silver Division fell. But… if you hold on to that, I can promise you that I won't – t-that nothing – ever has to burn you ever again."

Lily said absolutely nothing as she returned her unblinking gaze to the little crystal ball, the sealed glass orb that encapsulated the serene magical fire within, its soft green radiance washing over her face. But Char could see flashes of emotions in her gaze that he couldn't be described in words. She was holding back tears, and she was holding them back hard. She looked as though someone had driven a steel spike into her chest, and she was standing in place dying, cycling through her deepest regrets in her final moments.

"How much did this cost?" Lily said suddenly. "Do you have any idea how rare these globes are?"

"Uh… we used almost all of the rewards from our mission to pay for it," Char said, avoiding a direct answer. "And that was even after Kecleon's 'favorite customer' discount."

Lily scoffed. "You know he gives that discount to everyone, right?" she said bluntly, before gluing her eyes again to the orb, unable to resist watching it for more than a few heartbeats at a time. "Listen, I—"

"You don't have to thank me," Char said quickly. "I'm the one who has to thank you. You might not realize it, but when you came and asked for the frozen flame back, you taught me something. You reminded me of what I'm supposed to be doing here in the Pokémon world."

And why I lost Saura, his thoughts added ruefully.

Char turned to glance at his tail, and he was met face-first with a billowing, full-bodied flame.

He smiled in wonder.

The ego makes my flame strong. That was lesson one, he thought.

Back when I was running around in the little mystery dungeons and spitting embers at Pidgey and Oddish, that's just what I needed.

But it's selflessness makes the ember burn even brighter! And that's the kind of strength I'm going to need starting now.

Because I'm a team leader. And that means it's not all about me anymore.

It means that it's my job to make sure Ray can be the best Ray, and Otto can be the best Otto, and Tallie can be the best Tallie, and Eva can be the best Eva.

It means that everything is my fault, even the things that aren't.

I'm not their idol, or their master. I'm a servant. Just like Xatu calls herself one of our best servants. I'm their servant.

I get that now.

And if Saura ever comes back… well, maybe I'll be a better friend to him. Maybe I'll be the Pokémon he deserves to have as a friend, not the Pokémon who needs a friend.


Somewhere deep in the base, in a gloriously sunlit chamber, a quill carefully drew a line through a row of runic symbols.

A pair of bird eyes narrowed upon the final instruction, the only one of dozens which yet remained incomplete:

XXVI. I shall become fluent in the written language of your people.

The darkness of uncertainty swept across the heart of the Overseer as she read and re-read the line, calculating some way – any way – it could come to fruition.

She reflected upon the powerlessness she felt, praying to the winds of fate to come once again and surprise her…


End of Season V

*Chapter 94*: Special Episode: Discontinued, Part 1

o

"Discontinued"

The time gear had long since gone irreversibly cold. Coronus did not know where he'd stashed it, nor did he care, but it did not stop the occasional whisper of a temptation to open the top drawer of his heirloom cabinet first thing in the morning upon rising from his bed.

There were days when the old habit would unconsciously possess him, and he would come to his senses staring at the velvet lining of the drawer, his fading dreams crying out that something, somewhere, had gone dreadfully wrong, but the panic would fade as rapidly as the memories of those dreams – an old, irrelevant concern from lifetimes past.

From the southern aperture of his royal chamber, he surveyed the rays of the morning sun and the shadows they cast across the silver spires of Amaranthine's castle and the marble streets that spanned beyond. There was something wrong about them as well – perhaps the sunlight was too bright, perhaps it should have been obscured by a certain cloud formation he'd once memorized – but he pushed that out of his mind. The past and the future were dead to him. The present was his throne, one he'd rightfully earned, and he would reign for as long as fate would allow.

He selected something suitably modest and comfortable from his wardrobe, a princely red gown with golden trimmings. Something that demands respect, but keeps the subjects at ease, he thought, fitting the specially-tailored clothes over the bulk of his body. It had been some time since he'd enjoyed the convenience of deciding what to wear each morning, remembering a distant day where he'd donned a robe from this very cabinet and wore it for so long that it had become a tattered black rag which had hung pathetically from the spikes on his back. But as a prince, public image was quite important, and he made an honest attempt to play the part, making sure the twine was tightened around his waist and the folds of his stole fell gracefully without wrinkles, before exiting his room.

The Nidoking enjoyed a lonely walk down a gothic corridor, the sunrays falling through the skylights somewhere high above. Around him, pointed archways branched to other rooms, adorned by paintings of the legendary gods and ghost-torches that would turn themselves on at nightfall.

Charon. He was around somewhere. Or perhaps not. Coronus was used to meeting him in this very hallway each morning, but the old ghost seemed to have retired from his position of companionship and gone to do other things with his time. Had he been angry? Perhaps, it was difficult to remember, but he sensed they had shared bitter feelings over some irrelevant topic. How long had it been since he'd last spoken with the Chandelure? Was it already two decades? It only felt like days. The Nidoking admitted to himself that he missed the convenience of sharing his thoughts with another soul at a whim, but considered that his thoughts nowadays were best left to himself. Besides, he had other companions now, companions who he valued a fair deal more than some old single-minded ghost.

Morning brunch was always his favorite time of the day. The royal cooks would lay out a small feast in a private dining hall. Every day he looked forward to opening the door to be greeted by a cheerful wait staff, the strong smell of amberdough bread, the rectangular table set with spotless silverware and crystal goblets of mago juice, and perhaps most importantly, the company.

"Ah! A bright and shining morning to you, Your Starborn Highness," said a noble Charizard, raising his glass. "Any noteworthy plans on this day?"

"Several, but given this delightful weather, I'd assume that your own plans will involve some flying," the Nidoking replied formally, seating himself at the head of the table.

"Keen of you," replied the Charizard, flashing a mischievous grin. "I've been at the skies since dawn. Given a few days more of this favorable weather, I'm certain I'll have built the endurance to cross the channel on wing."

The Nidoking scoffed. "What need have you to cross the channel? What do the westerners have that Amaranthine does not?" he said facetiously, waving a goblet in front of his face. "Tell me, and I shall have it ordered from abroad!"

"The unknown, and the challenge which comes with it," the Charizard responded proudly, punctuating his statement with a bite of bread.

On the other end of the table, a large Raichu assembled food on his plate. "Speaking of which, have you heard the latest news from the west?"

The Nidoking's stomach turned at every mention of the "west," and had on several occasions entertained the thought of a royal decree banning discussion of western politics on the castle grounds. "What has my father done now?" he said disinterestedly between sips of his juice.

"Found a whole terrorist base!" the Raichu replied. "Under the Great Plateau in the Midwest! Thousands of dissidents were found in the ruins of an old school. It's going to take weeks to clear it all out, I hear!"

"More riches for the Master, then," the Charizard hummed. To the prince, he said, "However, your father is quite the negotiator; I'm certain he can secure at least a fourth of the spoils for the treasury."

"The Master can keep it, for all that I care," Coronus grumbled, hiding an unsettled breath.

Better not to press that topic, he decided. Better not to risk the Charizard, the Raichu, or any of the others from sparking distant memories – memories that never should have been theirs to begin with. Synchronous awareness, he called it, and although he could never prove its existence to Charon or himself, he'd sworn to see signs of it on several occasions.

He did not intend to tempt fate. It was better to be safe.

"Quiet today, Saura," Coronus said to the Ivysaur across the table, pointedly switching the topic. "Any plans on this fair-weathered day?"

The Ivysaur looked wistful. "None," he said. "Nothing of importance, at least. Might as well go sit at the top of the seaside hills and sunbathe."

The clattering of crystalware accompanied an odd, terse silence.

"Ah, what a utopia we must live in, to have more time than we know what to do with, eh Saura?" the Nidoking said with loud, forced cheer. "How wondrous to have no responsibilities, to float about on the wind's wake however it may take us? Could we ever ask for anything more?"

The Ivysaur tilted his head. "I suppose," he replied. "Sometimes I wish I could do more to help. The harvest is over, the recruits are on break, what am I to do but sit here and eat up your resources for the winter months?"

"Your royal orders are to eat, drink, and be merry," the Nidoking insisted. "Your rest has been well-earned. Savor it while you can."

Though it lasted only a moment, the Ivysaur sent him a strangely forlorn look, then returned his attention to the meal.

I need to find something for him to do, and quickly, Coronus realized. He has always been too generous, but that's his nature and I cannot deny him that. He is not happy unless he's busy, so I must keep him busy. The others…

He glanced at the Charizard, the Raichu, and the three empty seats between them. He nodded to a Gardevoir servant who removed an empty dish from the table.

I'm glad the others learned to fit in, for the most part. Now, if only I could just quash this Charizard's notion of flying to the west…

The door slammed open once more, drawing the attention from the kitchen staff. Coronus glanced up, casting a warm grin to the newcomer. "Nice of you to join us, Adron," he said, setting his teacup onto its saucer. "I began to wonder if you would show up today."

The hardy Scyther was clad in his steel helmet and silvery armor, as was the norm for him. "It reminds me that I am always on duty," he'd once told the prince. "The guard never sleeps."

The prodigious Scyther had fit in with the royal lifestyle almost too well. Raised as a warrior by an elite clan known as the Adrellos, at the top of his brood at that, he was thrilled to be hired as the high general of the castle guard – at least, in a manner of speaking. Like the others, Adron wasn't exactly hired for anything in particular, but valor and discipline were all that the young Scyther knew, and Coronus could not say no to his aspirations. After a talk with his father, Coronus handed the Scyther full command of training the army's recruits and defending the castle, and Adron had since proven himself one of Amaranthine's greatest assets. He ran the military like a machine, churned out droves of able-bodied soldiers a year for Cepheus's overseas campaigns, never failed, never displayed weakness, and despite it all somehow managed to maintain a striking measure of charisma and intrigue to his personality. The Starborn Prince never tired of his company.

"Your Highness," the Scyther addressed, bowing formally. "Pardon my delay, but I have something to report. This morning, Aether summoned me to conference..."

"Aether?" Coronus repeated with a twitch of surprise. "Well, what is it? Is she well?"

"She was stricken with a minor migraine and was unable to sleep since sunrise. She believes there is little cause for concern, but cause nonetheless. I don't believe she will be attending brunch this day."

"A minor migraine, you say? Does it blow from the west?"

"Regrettably, yes."

A pained grumble sounded from the Nidoking. "And? What has she spoken of?"

"She told me little, other than to keep my eyes on the horizon. She seemed more interested in an audience with you. If I may…?"

After a solemn nod from the Nidoking, the Scyther approached the table, standing rather than sitting, and was served a platter of small morsels fit to be skewered at the end of his blade-tips.

"I'm certain it's nothing," the Charizard said, noting the worry upon the Nidoking's face. "Whatever lurks to the west, it is His Majesty's affair."

"So I would like to think," said the prince, "But if Aether deems it necessary for me to know, it is apparently of my concern." He rose from his seat. "Might as well see what the matter is."

Once upon his feet, he glanced reluctantly at the plentiful table – the second course had not even come yet, and would no doubt be cold upon his return. And the company – they were all there, just as he liked them to be… and he had to leave them.

"Your Highness, I would accompany you, if you wish?" offered the Charizard, feigning disinterest in the food before him.

He sighed. "Yes, thank you," he responded, beckoning with his claw. "I think I would like that."


It was a long walk to Aether's chamber, but the Starborn Nidoking always had room in his heart for a leisurely stroll through the castle. It was a relaxing matter to meditate upon its perfection and security; how solid and symmetrical the walls, how well-maintained the pearly pillars and arches, how royal the furnishings and marble designs underfoot. Such architecture never failed to satisfy something deep within his ground-type nature.

But this day, the pleasure Coronus took in his walk was not enough to outweigh the dread. While Aether's summoning was bad enough of an omen on principle, being summoned in the early morning from the breakfast table suggested something perhaps a bit more urgent than usual. If Aether had been bothered enough not to come to brunch… this was dire. Very dire. It was the whole reason he kept her around; she was to be the harbinger of doom, the indicator of his failure, and he hoped the day would never come when she would speak of an ill fate.

But perhaps things were not so bad. Perhaps it was only a silly little twinge, a migraine. Perhaps it was unrelated to the future at all. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about.

"No interest in your food today, Amadeus?" the Nidoking said jovially, hoping to find some comfort in the Charizard's companionship. "Aerial acrobatics left your stomach in a loop, is it?"

The Charizard grinned. "You discredit the iron stomach of a dragon? Hah! Would any winged predator survive, were they to disgorge their prey once they've just swooped to capture it? Arceus would have been mad to allow such a backward adaptation!"

"Arceus has made greater mistakes," Coronus muttered, tasting more scorn than perhaps intended.

"Furthermore, you discredit the eyesight of a flying predator, which we require to track our prey as we stalk them from the clouds," the Charizard continued, "the very type of keen eyesight which can spot when a Starborn Prince requires company, despite not saying a word."

"And I thank you for it," Coronus returned. "If it were only a migraine, I see no reason it should be something to fret about. Adron's voice carried an unnatural tone; perhaps it was that which brought me disconcertion. But even if it should signal a shower of meteors to break apart our castle, I would have no other Pokémon at my side when I would receive the bad news."

"Your Highness, I confess I will never understand what you see in me, to have chosen me as your friend as you have," Amadeus said with a small laugh.

"Your humanity? Not even that?" Coronus said. "Would you believe that I find you a novel specimen, a human trapped in the body of a Pokémon, as much as I would find a caged Mew at the side of my throne?"

"I have no memories of my humanity, as I have told you in the past," The Charizard said. "My human past hardly factors into the Pokémon I am today."

"Ahh, my dear Amadeus, you are far more of a human than you know," Coronus said mysteriously.

The Charizard was very amused. "You claim this upon what basis, your Highness, you who have never met with a human in the flesh? You, who once spotted a flaming salamander crawling between the tall grass of midwestern Ambera and thought to himself, 'yes, this is human enough for my tastes'?"

"Perhaps you are not the only one with a keen eye? And besides, are you complaining?"

"Never. Though I cannot claim to understand the infinite wisdom in your choice of friends, my fire would die before the day I would disrespect it. I only beg your pardon for my occasional curiosity."

The Nidoking hummed, searching for a fitting response. "For your curiosity, I greatly enjoy the company of dragons, and the passionate hearts of fire-types. When I spotted a young Charmander, I gambled upon the future of a companion who may one day provide me with both. That you have grown into the very Charizard I hoped was but a fortunate roll of the dice."

A perfect lie, one crafted not from a mistruth, but from omission – the very kind of lie he was used to feeding himself each day. The Charizard seemed satisfied with the answer, as with all of the answers he'd been told before, but Coronus knew that if one Pokémon in the world possessed the scholarly intellect to one day figure out the truth on his own, it was Amadeus.

However, the Charizard's insight was not the most immediate threat at the moment. With every step up the spiral staircase of Aether's tower, Coronus seemed to slow his pace, hoping that, if fate had at last caught up to his meddling, he could savor these final few moments before everything would begin hurling towards an undignified end.

At the top of the northern tower, one of the highest points of Amaranthine's castle, an old and withered Absol sat brooding. She faced toward the last remaining sliver of the night upon the western horizon.

"Good morning to you, miss Aether," the prince said. "I came as soon as Adron gave me the news. Have you suffered a restless morning?"

The Absol's gaze remained fixed on the darkness in the way that a Xatu would watch the sun. "My words to Adron were understated for the sake of secrecy. You may hear the truth from me, then do with it what you see fit."

If an icicle had already entered the prince's gut, the Absol's words shoved it deeper.

"Amadeus," the Absol said, turning to regard the Charizard, "Perhaps his Highness will need you to leave for this discussion?"

"I brought him to help me bear the weight of the news," Coronus said. "He has my permission to hear whatever it is you have to say. Now then, let's hear the worst of it."

The Absol sighed, staring up at the midmorning sky. "The visions from the west kept me up since midnight," she admitted. "They were sharp, and forceful, and full of blood and fire."

"The fire, perhaps, we can deal with," said Amadeus with some forced humor.

The Absol spoke over him. "Not since the days of my youth have I experienced a vision so strong. An Absol's sense of prophecy increases with age, but even so, this was something unbearable," she said forcefully. "I cannot say what this means for our kingdom, but something grave has transpired in the west, and could very well reach us from across the channel. My prince, I cannot say for certain, but I would consider preparations for war."

Coronus blinked.

War. The very word he had hoped she wouldn't say.

"War, you say?" the Nidoking said in a dismissive tone. "What gives you the idea that war will be necessary? I thought your horn only sensed the changes of the earth and sky? Since when could you sense a change in the hearts of our foes?"

"I sense impending suffering and death, in whatever form it may come," she said. "When the souls of a hundred Pokémon are sentenced to a dark fate, my nightmares and my daydreams make it known to me. And when there are a thousand, I sometimes hear their voices of anguish from the future."

"And how many voices have you heard on this distressing night?" Coronus asked carefully.

"Many thousands," replied the Absol, her head falling in solemnity. "The location where this tragedy is to happen, I cannot say. But I only know the danger originates from the west. And logically considering the dangers which may cross the channel and come at us – not a tornado, or a hurricane, or an earthquake – but an army is something we could realistically expect."

"And who else could cross the channel with an army large enough to slay ten thousand of us, but the Master himself?" Amadeus considered. "Could it be that your father's way with words has failed, your Highness?"

"…Your Highness?"

War.

Icy adrenaline held the Starborn prince captive, refusing him the ability to speak.

He'd had enough war for one lifetime. No, twenty lifetimes.

A surge of intrusive thoughts broke into his head.

The Astral Throne.

The slaughtering.

The failures upon failures.

No! I cannot go back. I will not.

I will come back here. I will rebuild this.

I will rebuild everything the way it is right now.

By reflex, he reached for a pouch that was no longer there.

"…Your Highness? Are you quite alright?"

Charon. I must speak to him. Where is he?

We are going back. We are doing everything over again. We can prevent the war.

I don't care how many tries it takes. I'm going to build the world I want.

"I'm… I'm fine." Coronus muttered. "Thank you, ever so much, for your forewarning, good Aether. I shall… use it to my advantage…"

The descent through the tower proceeded even more slowly than the ascent. Coronus clenched his claws in seething hatred, pulling out old, dusty thoughts and memories he'd hoped he'd never need again.

Is that it, then?

Would you tear down my hopes and dreams, O cruel tides of fate, in one swift motion of your tail?

Take away the ones I loved? The family that I… that I have earned?

Rage was building. Heart was pounding. Stomach was plummeting.

From somewhere, there came an urge to destroy the castle himself, so that the Master could not have the satisfaction.

But then, cutting through his downward spiral of thoughts, his Charizard companion touched his shoulder with a warming claw.

"Before you unleash your fury, O Highness, would you care to hear my perspective?"

YOUR perspective? Your perspective is what CAUSED all of this in the first place! You, who cannot fathom what you have placed upon my shoulders…

But he swallowed his anger. "What is it?" he managed.

"I will tell you," the Charizard whispered, "Once we leave her earshot."

Following his friend's lead, the Nidoking exited the stairwell and ducked into one of the castle's upper halls. Though Coronus could not understand what Amadeus could possibly say to make things better, there was always something about the Charizard that made his heart want to believe in his words, and so he was willing to listen.

"I have a suspicion as to what triggered her headache," Amadeus hissed, walking quickly. "According to the grapevine, yesterday, your father found a terrorist ring beneath the Great Plateau of Midwestern Ambera."

"Yes, Rautzen spoke of such a thing this morning."

"You mean Raikouun? I would like to meet this 'Rautzen' you keep speaking about, he sounds like he made quite an impression on you."

"Yes, yes. You are correct, of course. You were saying…?"

The Charizard found a particular pair of double-doors, and flung them open, stepping out into a balcony of his own three-story living chamber. When Coronus had kidnapped the young Charmader from the fields of the far west, he'd reserved one of the castle's best suites for him, filling it with all of the pleasantries a fire-type could want – coal fireplaces, artificial magma flows, obsidian furnishings – everything that was scientifically proven to warm a Charmander's heart. He'd even gone so far as to have the two upper floors torn out, allowing a high ceiling and a place he could practice his flight once his wings would grow. But the young Amadeus apparently preferred the cerebral comforts over the primal, and had gradually torn down his volcano-like haven, building in its place a personal library. Whenever the Charizard was not out flying, he was either learning, or sharing what he'd learned.

The Charizard hopped over the balcony rail, spreading his wings and gliding to the floor. The Nidoking took the stairs.

"Rumor has it – and you know that I always seek out the best of the rumors – the organization your father broke up called themselves the 'Gold Division,' implying that there are more of them, but nevermind that for now. This was a great triumph in favor of the Master."

Coronus bit his tongue and feigned ignorance. My father brought down the Gold Division? Could it be true? Even now, it seems too soon… Is this what happens when there is nobody to stop him? I wonder what caused Enigma to turn her attention there… Was there a mole? Did The Executioner make a mistake? It is fascinating…

No, no… there I go again, returning to that old web of thoughts. I need to remember: it is not fascinating. It is agony, and deserves to be ignored.

But what of… what of the Adrellos? Adron never served the Master, Team Remorse does not exist, so that would mean… Where is Adrel?! What is he doing right now? Is the Solemn Fortress still defended by a Scyther? This opens an entirely new web of possibilities I never explored, because I thought it foolish to have Char taught to fight by any other team. Would this have an effect on Basin Canyon? Oh, and what of Aster? Was she associated with the Gold Division? Surely my father would have failed in his crusade had she been defending –

No! You must discontinue these thoughts immediately. They are done. They are over with. They are in the past. They are in the past's past. I am the one who decides the lines of fate now, not…

He eyed the Charizard.

Not him.

"But if I am not mistaken, there is something we are both forgetting, and I have the evidence to prove it," Amadeus said, scanning the shelves of books.

With a powerful thrust of his legs, the Charizard took wing again, flapping his way up to the second floor. The shelves up there were sparsely populated, Coronus noted, and the third-floor shelves were completely empty. He knew that, given enough time, the studious Charizard would have all of the shelves packed with books, but wondered how he managed to keep from burning down the entire library with an unfortunate swing of his tail.

The Charizard returned with a small book, setting it on his reading desk in the center of the room.

"What's this?" Coronus wondered aloud.

Amadeus opened the book. "Before Aether was tragically stricken with amnesia, she kept a diary," he explained. "This is her diary, containing all of her thoughts and memories she no longer possesses for herself."

"Oh! How… oddly convenient," Coronus said, surprised that he never knew of such a diary before, and was already plotting out ways to have it 'accidentally' tossed into the nearest fireplace. "Have you ever shown this to her…?"

"Come now, would I ever do such a thing to you, your Highness?" the Charizard said knowingly. "Am I correct in saying that her amnesia was no accident? I am no magician, but I know that it takes the most obscure and twisted kinds of magic to erase the memories of a dark-type, one who is normally immune to psychic magic of all kinds. It takes the kind of magic that only someone ostentatiously rich could commission. Someone who, say, rules an entire kingdom… Or, perhaps, the son of such someone."

At this conclusion, Coronus was both awed and shocked. Amadeus, stop being so keen. You are too true to yourself for your own good.

"Come today, I cannot deny what a wise decision it was on your part, your Highness," the Charizard said, turning the pages of the old and brittle diary, careful not to tear them with his large claws. "While I'm sure you are aware that Aether once led a terrorist team of her own, one she called 'Team Absolution,' perhaps you did not know that her team was indeed, as it says here, subservient to… the very group your father has torn down…"

"The Gold Division?" Coronus completed, Of course, that's not new information, he told himself. I already –

Oh.

It then clicked together. The Nidoking understood.

Amadeus shut the book. "The reason Miss Aether couldn't sleep last night is because she heard the dying cries of her old allies as they were burned alive, arrested, slaughtered… however it is that your father treats the terrorists he finds. The deaths were relevant and personal to her, and so she sensed them with her horn, even though they might be residing somewhere inside of her mind that perhaps she cannot access. And that, my good prince, is my own perspective. The tragedy is not to happen in the future – it is already done. And as long as we do not let Aether see this diary, she will never know the reason why."

The relief swept over the Nidoking faster than the despair had, washing it away. No… no war.

No war!

No going back. No rebuilding.

We're safe. Everything's safe.

Safe!

"Ha-ha-HA!"

An awkward, relieved stream of laughter burst from the Nidoking. The Charizard seemed confused.

"Ah! Pardon me, I am simply relieved. Good work, Amadeus! Very good work! I suppose we will not be going to war. No war, no war! How joyous! Let us throw a grand feast this very night! Let us invite the council, all of them, and celebrate the fortuitous benefits of peace! Let us throw a ball! No war, no war, no war! How sweet the words!" The gleeful Nidoking sang as he shook the Charizard's hand. "Ah, how good it is that you are here, Char. I knew I brought you here for a reason."

"You wish to celebrate… what, nothing but the deaths of ten thousand Pokémon… with a feast and a ball, merely because the Pokémon did not belong to us?" Amadeus said humorously. "Such empathy you demonstrate, your Highness! Well, then. Who am I to complain? Put the fattened Emboar on the table and I'll consider showing up."

Soon after, the Starborn Prince galloped merrily through the halls with a bright, toothy grin spread across his face.

Yes, of course it made sense! How could I have ever doubted myself? After all, it was I who Amadeus hand-picked in the first place, because he saw my natural talent with weaving fate's tapestries –

He realized that his thoughts were drifting too far in an uncomfortable direction, and he drowned them out with his ignorant glee.

"Royston!" he shouted, pulling aside nearby Gardevoir (there were dozens of Gardevoir constantly about the castle, as King Cepheus felt they made excellent housekeepers).

"Y-your Highness," said the startled housekeeper, trying to compose himself. "Is something the matter?"

"Royston! Tell the staffing house at once that we are to have a grand ball this evening!" shouted the prince. "Invite the whole council! Slaughter the fattened Emboar! Let the bards play!"

"Oh… oh dear," said the wide-eyed Gardevoir. "Pray tell, what is the occasion?"

Coronus thought quickly. "The occasion? Haven't you heard the news, Royston? Our king's great crusade has been a success! He has dealt a great blow to the Master's enemies to the west, and the Master is soon to flood us with riches! What better way to celebrate than to begin spending them at once, and get the economy moving?"

"Oh, this is wonderful news, your Highness, but… this is on such short notice," said the housekeeper. "I do believe we have not even finished cleaning the dishes from Saura's half-hatchday celebration last week. If we are to give due justice to this momentous occasion, perhaps… allow us a day to prepare? Perhaps two?"

"Nonnnsense!" the prince laughed. "I have full faith that our wonderful staff can make it so. Now, get a move on, Royston! Have the table set and the ballroom opened by Seven!"

"I… I'll make known your words, your Highness," the Gardevoir said before a flash of light teleported him away.


The human-clocks struck eleven, and the district reverberated with the clear, musical sounds of bells tolling in the distance. The day was still young, and there was so much to do!

Well, mostly for the staff. Coronus could not be bothered with the minutia of planning an event. But he was not without his own responsibilities to keep himself busy.

Whenever the king was off crusading around Ambera, he would appoint several high council members to keep the kingdom running in his absence. Coronus, unfortunately, was one of those members. It made sense that he needed to learn the politics and processes of being king, as he would succeed Cepheus one day. But after having lived several dozen lifetimes in pursuit of an entirely different set of objectives, he really couldn't care less about learning to run a kingdom.

He did, however, quite enjoy throwing his weight around and insisting on having his way. And some of his daily tasks involved doing just that. It was quite a luxury not having to do everything himself for once.

Stepping out into the glorious garden at the front of the castle, Coronus breathed in the air, a strange mix of dusty autumn and delightful spring scents. Though the leaves had fallen elsewhere across the land, the castle's gardens were kept perennial by some manner of grass-type magic, keeping their vibrancy even as the snow would cover them in the winter. It was a garden that never died, and in a way, never grew, but it was always magnificent.

"Heading out to Delegate Street?' a voice unexpectedly said from nearby.

Had it been any other voice, Coronus may have been startled, but he'd grown quite desensitized to this one. He turned and greeted the iron-clad Scyther who'd flown over the hedges to meet him.

"Want me to call you some bodyguards?" the Scyther offered.

"Thank you, but I'm not going that far from civilization," Coronus replied. "The Pokemon on Delegate Street will attack with words and ideas, not tooth and claw. I believe I'll be fine."

"As you say," the Scyther said. "But before you leave, there is one other matter… about Aether."

"I've spoken with her, and she -"

"Yes, I've heard it all," the Scyther replied.

Coronus wanted to feel appalled, but only rolled his eyes. "You were listening to our conversation."

"Of course," said the Scyther, walking alongside him through the garden. "Regarding matters of royal security, it is my duty to know everything."

Coronus sighed. "I suppose there are more things to say regarding Aether's headache," he began explaining. "You see…"

"No need, I was listening to that conversation as well."

This time, Coronus was appalled. "How dare - I mean to say, how did you get into the library?! I was certain we were alone."

"I only listened through the door, your Highness," he said. "I do not believe I would have eluded your ears had I accompanied you and Amadeus in the room."

"So, you know about-"

"Aether's memory loss? Yes, I know. And I find this to be a fortuitous decision on your part, your Highness, so have no fear of scandal, at least coming from me. But even with Amadeus's explanation, something still does not sit right with me about this."

"Oh? And what, pray tell, is that do you propose?" Coronus hummed.

"I don't know," the Scyther said, lowering his voice, "and perhaps this is the problem. We are currently receiving intelligence from your father, regarding the ongoing struggle between the Master and the resistance. But I fear this intelligence, as of late, has been… incomplete. As though your father is committing lies of omission."

"What are you implying? That we cannot trust our own King?" Coronus replied.

"In the same way which western Ambera cannot trust their own Master? Perhaps not. But I have suspicions that Aether might have felt more than just the destruction of some insurgency, and some small sect of it, at that. Your Highness, I recommend that you send more spies to the west."

"And spy on my father?!" laughed the Prince. "You could not even spy on him when he is at home. What good do you think that would do?"

"There will be no need to spy on him directly, but I merely need to know more about… the circumstances surrounding his conquest."

"Good, then, you can go!" Coronus said. "I see no reason why you can't. The guard is fully staffed for the winter season, the trainees are gone, and the army is overseas."

"Despite this, I am sworn to protect the castle," the Scyther said, bowing his head. "This is my oath to your father. I wondered if perhaps you would consent to… sending Amadeus instead."

Coronus frowned. "Amadeus? Why?"

"He has clearly expressed a desire to explore the western lands, and he is a strong dragon capable of defending himself. Besides, I am not asking him to operate covertly. I only need reconnaissance. But I need it from someone I deeply trust, and there are few Pokemon I trust more than those who sit beside me at morning brunch."

The Prince snarled, hoping the Scyther would not notice. "Adron, I would seek a more suitable agent, if not just for a second option. I find that Amadeus is a Pokemon I often require at my side, and feel that his absence would be as unbearable as severing off my own arm. I will consider it if we are desperate, but only if. See if you can't find someone else, will you?"

The Scyther bowed. "Of course, Your Highness," he said, turning to leave. "I will look into my options at once. And please, take care out there. Words and ideas can be just as deadly as the sharpest of scythes."

The Nidoking immediately felt a chill upon leaving the castle grounds; outside of the garden's pleasant-weather spell, the frosty autumn air nipped at his ears and crawled under his scales, making him wish he'd worn his Arcanine-hide coat.

Knowing Adron, he'll probably send me a bodyguard anyway, Coronus told himself. Ah, Adron, if only you knew how much effort it took to cultivate the most perfect and ideal version of yourself. If only you knew the hundreds of cruel fates I've saved you from, the curses and the accidents and the tragedies that would ensure that your true self would be suppressed beneath a pained life and a shattered mind!

If only any of them knew…


(Part 1 of 4)

*Chapter 95*: Special Episode: Discontinued, Part 2

o

Delegate Street was not Coronus's favorite place in the world, to say the least. It served as the boundary between the royal districts and the slums and was comprised of the worst elements of both. It was a hundred leagues long and housed the business-offices of all the industrial managers, those whose job it was to tirelessly improve the gross national product, manage resources, and help to ensure that workplace casualties remained at a suitably low level. They were the slave-drivers, as he called them. And while he appreciated the work they did, protecting the royalty from the affairs of the lower class, they were absolutely insufferable beasts. All of them. They were the only Pokémon in Amaranthine with the gall to speak down to their own prince.

Cepheus himself was usually the one who personally dealt with their snobbery and insubordination. But he was off warmongering, and so the next of kin would need to do.

As the Nidoking strayed farther from his fortress of wealth and comfort, the horizon faded to black with the ashes of a thousand smokestacks from the industrial districts. Not even the flying-type wards set upon the sky could keep the occasional scent of destitution and disgrace from blowing the wrong way, reminding Coronus of the unseen and unloved camps of serfs who tirelessly worked to bring Amaranthine its success and riches, though they would never see but a glimpse of a diamond or gold coin in all their miserable lives. Hardly could they be called Pokémon, for most of the district was covered in white-energy suppressors which dampened their elemental abilities, preventing an inconvenient uprising. Coronus preferred not to acknowledge their existence, but when the did, always sent them a thought or two of gratitude for the values of their generous sacrifice.

The Starborn prince wandered down Delegate Street and glared into the eye of every passerby. And none said a word to him, especially the four-leggeds who were not tall enough to leer back. He knew they could do nothing to help him, so he allowed them the privilege of pretending he was not there. He did not, after all, wish to be there. It was not his element. Velvet curtains, whitegold bricks, jovial company, and endless feasts were where he truly belonged. It was only when he stepped foot onto this dreary street that he began to feel the pain of their absence.

And besides, the muggy, ashen alleyways of the industrial zones were too much like the aftermath of a warfield, reminding him too much of the battle for the –

No. He would not remember those things. They never happened.

Finding the correct address, the Nidoking stomped open the flimsy shutter-door (his favorite way of making an entrance) and proceeded uninvited into the office of his choice. Inside was a – well, he did not know what it was, some sort of sniveling snake-alligator Pokémon. It looked as though like it regularly snacked on dawdling workers and had no shame about it.

"Oh, your Starborn Highness, this is a surprise," said the thing, clearly masking its anger. "What in the name of humanity can I do for you?"

Coronus snorted and set aside his walking-stick. "You are in charge of the lumber manufactory, correct?" he said, stepping forward to stand over the befuddled manager.

"Why yes, yes, and yes," said the odd spindly salamander.

The Nidoking narrowed his eyes. "What interest have you in carpentry? You are not a grass-type, clearly. Who put you here?"

"Well, uh-humhum," started the Pokémon.

"Don't answer that, slave-driver," grumbled Coronus. "As long as you can do your job, it is no matter to me."

The Salandit perked up. "Speaking of which, if you wish to see, I can show you the ledger, my prince! Our numbers are up, and casualties are – "

"I need warships," stated the prince. "Many dozens of warships."

The slave-driver shut his trap, processing this baffling statement for a moment. "Warships, your highness?"

"You heard me," grumbled Coronus. "I wish to construct a fleet of ironclads to guard the channel."

"H-how many, your highness?"

"Five hundred. At least."

All the color ran from the Salandit's body.

"You will suspend all other projects and dispatch our wood supply to the shipyards immediately," he commanded.

"Y-your highness," the Salandit sputtered. "We have not the wood for even… a quarter of that."

"Then you've got some work to do, snake," Coronus said. "Import more. Level the Quilladin Forest if need be."

"But we've not the crowns for – "

"I shall raise taxes to ninety percent," Coronus declared. "You shall have your funding. Now get me that wood."

This was of the utmost importance. In all of the timelines, Amaranthine was invaded by one of the Master's generals – sometimes Mirandalys, sometimes Rolff, sometimes whatever Scyther or Scizor that Enigma had happened to snatch from the Adrellos clan. Sometimes Amaranthine would fall. Sometimes war would trudge on slowly for fifty years. But in the timelines where the attackers were successfully fought off, it was done by reinforcing the western channel. It was an absolute tactical necessity.

Coronus hoped he'd have more time to prepare. But he wasn't taking any chances now, not after the scare he just experienced. If it took five hundred warships to protect his beloved friends and keep them showing up at the brunch table each day, then five hundred warships he would build.

After bringing down this ultimatum upon the logging industry, the Starborn Highness took up his walking-stick and sauntered down to the local offices of Aggron Ironworks, issuing the same royal decree to a very henpecked Lucario. This one fought back a bit more, but Coronus repeated himself until he was certain the message sunk in.

Certainly, my decisions are not so unreasonable? said the Nidoking prince as he paraded further down Delegate Street. I cannot believe nobody else sees the brilliance of my ways except for me. This timeline is perfect and I am the only one who knows how to preserve its perfection.

Finally, he proceeded down to one of his least favorite bureaus, the granary. The rations were dealt and managed by an absolutely irritating Sceptile. Whenever in earshot, she was always screeching on and on about shortages and workers starving to death and all kinds of things that made no difference. She obviously couldn't do her job properly, but Cepheus had put her there, and Coronus lacked the authority to remove her until he himself was king.

"Our Highness, thank Arceus you're here," she cried the moment he walked into the door. "It's been three weeks since livestock epidemic has begun, and your father has said nothing! The fishers and the threadweavers are desperately short on rations! Is it too much to expect some help from those who run our kingdom? The rock-breakers are too tired to walk, the steelmenders can hardly – "

"Silence," ordered the Nidoking with a wave of his claw, trying not to focus on the smell of rotten berries which permeated the room. "I'm tired of you babbling on about shortages. It's your job to manage the supply, and to prevent shortages, and you are obviously too incompetent to accomplish even that feat. I swear to all the gods, the moment I inherit the throne from my father, I'll have you removed from office and you will be laboring out there with the slaves. Unless, that is, you wish to redeem yourself. I have a job for you. If you perform the job satisfactorily, I might be inclined not to revoke the tenure my father so graciously granted you. I'm expanding our glorious fleet, Sceptile. I need you to start setting aside rations to feed our naval forces."

The Sceptile went ballistic. "Set aside rations?! Set aside what?! Look around you, Starborn Highness. Do you see any reserves of food lining our shelves?! I cannot ration what does not exist! I cannot manage that which never passes through my hands! With all due respect, Starborn, we need. More. Supply. Because if I am to feed an army, then ten thousand laborers will go hungry."

Coronus snorted. "Then perhaps you should consider eating the hungry? Seems like it would solve your shortage problems," he sneered facetiously.

The pantry officer glowered at him. "Many have already resorted to it," she said bitterly. Then she added, after a hesitant pause…

"But tell me, what kind of food lines your tables every day, Highness?"

The Nidoking didn't know what came over him.

There was a blue flash of light, an ice-type spell from the top of his magical staff. The Sceptile was thrown through an empty shelf and tumbled to the floor, taking several pieces of furniture with her. Coronus jumped at the fallen lizard, grasping her neck and pinning her body tightly against the floor.

His eyes turned to fire.

His palms shook.

The Sceptile, nearly paralyzed from the freezing-cold assault, tried to speak, even as the Nidoking clutched at her throat.

"D— Do you… do you really think so lowly of your… people?" it whimpered feebly.

Coronus glared at the officer and said nothing. A soft, deep snarl sounded from his throat as many painful, repressed memories flashed before him.

The time gear. The freezing-cold time gear, too unpleasant to touch with bare claws.

"…Yes," he growled under his breath. "You are… nothing."

"…Why… Your Highness?" gasped the helpless victim, betrayed by her own prince. "Why…?"

"Because…" Coronus grumbled. "You… are not real."

"What…?"

"You aren't real. The people aren't real. Nobody here is real. Nobody but I. You are all but echoes of possibility, you are vapid daydreams of Arceus himself, formed by the nothingness of the void to appease me. Our universe is discontinued. I am the only soul remaining in this desolate purgatory. But it is mine, my purgatory. And I will not relinquish control of this reality I have forged."

The Sceptile was in tears. "Y-your… your Highness…" she whimpered.

But Coronus released her from his grasp, left her collapsed on the floor, and stormed out into the dreary, ash-ridden street without paying her any further mind.

I will have Adron assassinate her, he thought to himself bitterly, and replace her with someone more to my liking. I will not have this insubordination any longer. I have too much to lose.

I will have my way.


After such an unpleasant errand, the prince returned to civilization.

Zerferian winds swept through the streets, and Coronus scented the northern chill of the impending winter. Soon it would be turning very cold – his least favorite temperature. He so hated the cold that he'd long-since outlawed it from all of the castle halls. Even ice-types were unwelcome. He had the royal mages cast numerous spells to keep the castle perfectly comfortable year-round, and the gardens always in bloom. He would have nothing less for his beloved friends.

Ah, his beloved friends… the Pokémon around which the world turned. The six Pokémon he'd hand-chosen for being his favorites and kidnapped into this life of bliss.

There was Adron, the sharp-minded Scyther, saved from a life of brainwashing and bloodshed…

There was Amadeus, the noble and studious Charizard, saved from a life of struggling to reach his unattainable goals…

There was Aether, the patient and longsuffering Absol, saved from a life of running herself to death, finally given the proper retirement she deserved…

There was Saura, the adopted and displaced Ivysaur, saved from a life of familial abuse and the burden of his strange and erratic power…

There was Rautzen, the bouncing Raichu – no, Raikouun was his name, he needed to remember that - saved from a life of orphanage…

And finally, there was Calamar, the foolishly aggressive Infernape, saved from a miserable fate of monumental sacrifice. It was difficult to choose between Calamar and Lykios, and he had tried to bring the Vulpix along several times in the past, but was disappointed to discover that his particular gift for the spoken word was a result of the very specific chain of events which had composed his life. The Vulpix who was granted a life of honorary royalty was nothing more than a sullen and introverted prop to decorate the halls (even after evolution, which was doubly disappointing). And the few times he'd brought them both… their chemistry began to trigger that phenomenon of synchronous awareness, which was plainly unacceptable.

(Of course, he knew he was likely just being paranoid. Lykios mentioned one day, as he trampled through the snow, that he felt like a 'frozen flame'. Did it mean anything? Was it a coincidence? Coronus didn't care; he was not going to take the chance of letting them remember things that never happened.)

It was inevitable that some would need to get left behind; it was hard enough making a paradise for himself and his six chosen; any more and he would hardly be able to provide them the justice they deserved.

The Nidoking flexed his claw, annoyed with the sticky sap-like residue between his fingers. The Sceptile's blood. He probably squeezed her neck a bit too tightly. What did it matter, though? She was to die anyways.

Another chilly breath of wind swept between his thorns, waving his cape behind him. Oh yes, the winter was certainly not taking its time this year. Little could he wait for the joy of relaxing in the inner sanctums of the castle, wineglasses and storybooks alight with the glow from a fireplace, as the breaths of Articuno raged outside. Uttering a curse to the sky, he cast a fire-type shield around himself to keep warm. That would need to do for now.

On a whim, he took a different route back home, through an expanse of land known as the Pleasant Grounds, a giant park meant for games and socializing and the appreciation of nature. Saura liked to play croquet there with his fellows of the gardening guild, and Rautzen – no, Raikouun, he kept getting those two confused – liked to catch the lightning bolts hurled by the mid-summer storms. Figuring the whole place was soon to be buried in frost and snow, he decided to take one last wander through the park for the sentiment of it. There was a particularly nice knoll of grass near the park's boundary where one could stand and look over the castle and half the royal district; he often liked to perch there momentarily to savor the sight of the paradise which belonged to him.

To his surprise, Coronus found that one of his closely-beloved friends had the same intention. An unmistakable Ivysaur sat upon that knoll, near a young micleberry tree, enjoying the pleasant view of the city.

"Saura!" he called happily, rushing to his side. "I thought you said you were going to rest by the sea today?"

The Ivysaur regarded him with a respectful nod. "Don't know," he sighed simply. "Didn't feel like walking all that way, I guess. It was getting cold."

"Ah yes, you can feel it, the winter winds come fast," Coronus said, coming to sit beside him. "Why not go and enjoy the warmth of the castle? It is much more comfortable in there."

"I don't know," Saura sighed. "I just… I don't know."

The Starborn prince bit his lip, letting a silent moment pass as he contemplated how to lift his friend's spirit. "I suppose you have nothing to truly worry about," he jovially said, "seeing that your best friend brings with him his own personal source of fire! You need not fear the winter."

Saura cocked his head. "My best friend…? …Oh, you mean Amadeus…" he said. Then he shifted a bit uncomfortably and added, "Prince Coronus, since we are alone… could I talk with you about something?"

"Assuming we are even alone," Coronus laughed. "I am certain that Adron has found a means to spy on us, even with no conceivable place to hide. But of course, my good friend. What is it that troubles you?"

The autumn winds fluttered the leaves of Saura's flower, and he breathed deeply, his head turned from the Nidoking's gaze. "I mean you no offense, Your Majesty, but… I don't see why you consider Amadeus to be my best friend."

The prince gave a confused blink. "Whatever do you mean, Saura?" he inquired, fidgeting with his walking-staff upon the ground in the opposite claw. "You are always together, and speak most amiably to one another at the brunch table. You are partners, and inseparable? I cannot imagine anyone else you would consider so close."

"That's…" Saura said, hesitating for a moment. "That's the thing, Prince Coronus. You've told me that from the start, but… I don't see what you're talking about. I enjoy the brunches as much as you do, but… I've never considered myself close to… well, any of them. Even Amadeus. Look, I know you're trying to make us all friends, I know you're trying really hard, and that's why this is difficult for me to say. But…"

He stopped talking, dropping his gaze downward in shame of everything he'd spoken.

"In all honesty, I think I'd consider you my best friend, Prince Coronus. And not because of anything I've done. You just seem to really like me for some reason. You like all of us. I guess I… I guess I just don't know what you want of us."

"Oh, oh Saura," Coronus said quickly. "I only want you to be happy, is there anything wrong with that? And I… well, I…" he quickly thought of a believable lie. "I was under the impression that you and Char… I mean to say, this particular Char… were already acquaintances, given that I found you together in a cave."

"Yeah but… we just met," Saura told him. "I found a Charmander asleep, I woke him up, then I tried to hide from you because I thought you were with the Master. But we didn't… really know each other. And… We still don't, not really. Look, don't get the wrong idea. I don't dislike Amadeus. I have a lot of respect for him. But he… they're just… they're just not the type of Pokémon I enjoy spending all my time with. If I were to be honest."

"…Oh. Well." Coronus could only say. "I… I see."

On the inside, he was quelling a bit of his own panic and listening to his own rambling thoughts.

Char and Saura not friends? There are… oh, there are very few timelines where Char and Saura haven't been instant friends. They have chemistry. They click together on a natural and biological level. So… what has gone wrong this time? What has kept them so apart? They looked like they were getting along fine. What in the name of Dialga's royal blue rump did I get wrong this time? Is it only because they have nothing to bond over? Because they did not fight together? They had no war? Does one truly need a war to forge a friendship?

"I can understand this," hissed the prince, trying not to betray his disappointment and confusion. "I am not one to decide your taste in friends. But I hope this does not mean you no longer wish to dine with me? We've a feast to attend tonight, you know!"

Saura laughed awkwardly. "I don't know, I think I might still be full from my half-hatchingday dinner! But no, Prince Coronus, I could never say no to your kindness. I'll still be there every morning. I just… wanted you to know how I felt about Amadeus, since you always wanted us to get along."

"I see, I see," Coronus said again with an unnerved sigh. "And what do you think of the others?" he asked probingly. "Do you have thoughts about them as well? What of Aether?"

"Aether is not someone I would consider a friend, exactly," Saura confessed. "She's more of an elder that I respect. She teaches me things. She knows how a lot of wild Pokémon behave."

"And Adron? What of him?"

"I certainly feel safe with him around," Saura replied. "But I don't really know a lot about him. He doesn't like to talk about himself. He likes keeping secrets."

"And Rautzen?"

"…I have to ask, who is this 'Rautzen' you keep naming?" Saura asked oddly, looking straight at him. "You've mentioned him a dozen times."

Coronus felt a repressed memory beginning to surface.

He pushed down upon it, but it bubbled into his consciousness…

Charon, his ghostly companion. Saying something. Something about eggs.

No! Don't remember. Don't remember.

Something he'd tried to block out of his own mind. A memory he'd tried to rewrite, repeating it until he could make it come true.

I will not remember. I will not remember. Please don't remember…

The Chandelure was floating in front of him with a displeased scowl. "That's not even the right Pikachu," he said cuttingly.

"Nonsense!" said the Nidoking. "I'd always recognize Ray. That is clearly him."

"No, that's Rautzen, you thick-toed idiot," said the ghost, "Ray is still in the egg! In fact, he is probably dead now, with no brother to protect him. How far you've fallen, Redeemer. How you've lost your talent… not even remembering something as simple as a Pikachu's age."

"This entire plot of yours is deplorable," the Chandelure added. "And I will have no part in it. No good will come of this."

"NOBODY! …Nobody," he shouted all of a sudden, trying to speak over his memories. "Just a… a Raichu I once knew, who… who looked similar to… Ray. Raikouun. I apologize…"

"Heh, well… he's alright, I guess," Saura said with a smile. "He can be exasperating, but he knows how to cheer me up. I like to spend time with him. Ah, that reminds me, Prince Coronus… there's something else I need to talk to you about. I don't really call myself friends with Amadeus, but he does tell me things sometimes. He told me that he has solid plans to leave and explore the west."

Snap!

Coronus idly realized that he'd clutched his walking stick so tightly that it had snapped apart like a twig.

"Ah yes, I do believe he's been trying to imply this for a while," he replied, forcing the fakest smile in all of Amaranthine. "I do wish he'd reconsider, though; I value his company too dearly."

I cannot allow him to escape, absolutely I cannot, Coronus roared in the silence of his mind. If I were to lose my friends… it would be no different than letting them die. I would be alone with all these despicable and meaningless projections… these soulless husks of actors I've left behind decades ago. And with no reason not to just destroy this timeline and everything I've worked for.

Especially him. Especially the human. I cannot lose him. I cannot… I cannot just let him become that bumbling Charmander again. He doesn't deserve that. He deserves to be here with me. To be the bright and intelligent human he truly is. Or… as close to one as he can manage.

But Saura cast him a pleading glance.

"You should let him go, Prince Coronus. Really, you should," said the Ivysaur pointedly. "He really wants to explore the world. I mean… I would too, if I had wings. And who knows? Maybe he'll bring back books for his library."

Coronus gave a huff that he hoped the Ivysaur didn't notice. "I'll consider it," he said flatly. "But I don't see why he would want to leave. There are a million other Pokémon here who could just as easily bring us those books, without risking my favorite dragon in the world falling into the ocean and snuffing his tail-flame out."

"But…"

"I assure you, he has everything he could ever want right here. His favorite foods, leagues upon leagues of clean open air to practice his flying… I've worked tirelessly to provide it all. "

"…But…"

"Please help him see things my way, Saura. Tell him that he must stay. He is honorary Amaranthinian royalty, elevated to a status even the highborn can only dream of. There is nothing of value to him on that benighted continent. He will only become – "

"But Prince Coronus…" Saura said, butting in harshly. "I thought you said he was your friend."

"What?! Of course he is! I take offense that you thought otherwise," snapped Coronus.

But Saura only frowned harder. "You're the one always going on and on about us being your friends. Throwing feasts for 'your friends'. Sharing brunch with 'your friends'," he shot back. "Amadeus really wants to fly around the world. It's the deepest dream of his. He's told me. To keep him from that dream… Is that something a friend would really do? Maybe he needs something more than… y'know… food and books. Maybe he needs something that the wealth of a prince can't give him."

Saura looked at the ground again.

"I'm sorry…" he said, pawing at the ground. "Look at me again, biting the hand that feeds me… I didn't mean to snap at you. I know you're just trying to make him happy. I guess what I'm saying is… maybe in order to make him happy, you have to let him do what he wants, and not what… not what you want. Because I think that's what being a friend means. Otherwise… what would we all be? Your servants? Your pets?"

Oh, if only you knew, Coronus said silently in his boiling anger, staring at the icy clouds high in the stratosphere. I've been doing what that godforsaken Charmander wanted for longer than you will ever comprehend. I've been his loyal pet for the last time.

I'm only making him kindly return the favor for once.

"Like I said, Saura, I'll consider it," falsely reassured the Starborn prince as he climbed to his feet, collecting both pieces of his favorite staff. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to see how tonight's ball is coming along. You'll be there, won't you? The Owl Choir will be there – your favorite."

"Yeah, I'll be there," said the Ivysaur forlornly as he shifted himself and stared at the sky. "Thank you, Prince Coronus."

On the way down the hill and into the sparkling streets, Coronus realized that his bubble of warmth had expired when he felt the sting of a particularly sharp breeze. The war was averted, he said in reflection, but why do I still feel like I'm fighting a war? And losing, at that?

No matter. The grand ball would soon be enough to drown those meaningless worries out of his skull.


The ball was not coming along as smoothly as Coronus had hoped.

It was quite unacceptable, in fact. When he checked on the dining hall some two-hours before the event was to begin, the curtains had been hung lopsided, the table was not set, and there were dozens of Gardevoir running around with their heads cut off (figuratively, of course) yelling about guest lists and dirty dishes and disasters in the kitchen. It was all quite pathetic, really, how nobody could seem to be able to do their job.

"Your Highness!" said a Gardevoir to the displeased Nidoking as the trudged through the less-than-half-prepared ballroom. "The Duke of Northtail and his cohorts have declined our invitation…"

"Nonsense, nonsense," Coronus shouted. "I insist! Tell them that they must attend the ball, or they will be excommunicated!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Royston! I have announcements to make, and I will not have anyone declining attendance! All must hear the news!"

"Y-yes, Your Highness."

Another one got in his way, exclaiming, "My Prince, the Embroar might not be cooked in time!"

"Can you not just turn up the fire?"

"My Prince, cooking does not work that way, especially on a fire-type beast…"

"Nonsense! Things cook faster when you turn up the fire! Even I know that, and I'm not a cook!"

"My Prince," said another, "We've not enough wine! We've used it too quickly!"

"Smaller glasses, then!" he declared, shoving his way through the room. "And dilute the wine with berry juice. Call it an artisan concoction!"

Soon, though, the prince tired of all these servants asking for his advice about things they should have already known for themselves, and he was inspired to retreat to his room for some privacy, and to decide what to wear.

Clothing was another of Amaranthine's proud traditions; it was considered uncouth for civilized Pokémon to tromp around naked, as they did in the uncultured west. In emulation of human society, Amaranthinian nobility wore all sorts of accessories to show off their proud wealth, and clothweaving was a lucrative industry and asset to the economy. Of course, nobody had a larger wardrobe than Coronus; while his father liked to trounce around with armor, not unlike Adron, Coronus considered himself more of a mage, a Pokémon who knew hundreds of elemental techniques, and thought it more suitable to wear colorful robes and vestments that would wave in the wind and catch the eye.

On his way up the stairs, Coronus was mentally rummaging through his options. He liked the red gowns, but he'd already wore those for both of the balls last month. He also liked black, but sometimes it reminded him too much of the tattered thing he'd been stuck wearing for seemingly a thousand years, and he preferred not to remember it.

I need something joyful and royal, something befitting of victory, he told himself. This is not a somber occasion. This is a true celebration. I need something that inspires confidence and ideology. Perhaps violet. Ah yes, gold and violet, just as my father used to wear. What better way to show my subjects that I bring them strength and security under my rule? And he was fitting together the details and accessories of his outfit as he sauntered through the long hallway back to his master bedroom.

His ear twitched. A sound came from an unexpected direction.

Adrenaline mixed with the poison in his blood, and he froze stiff, holding his breath, just as he would in the old days of infiltrating the Solemn Fortress or gallivanting through mystery dungeons. Nobody was supposed to be in this wing of the castle, not now. Perhaps Adron? No, he would not be so careless; Adron never made a sound while he spied on his victims. And besides, he was elsewhere, keeping an eye on the visiting company.

His large, vigilant ears took note of every sound, from the wisp of the chilly wind through the windows down the hall, to the call of the messenger-birds making their way around the district.

There it was again – a sound that shouldn't have been there, and a vibration in the floor. Someone or something was certainly nearby. By instinct, Coronus wanted to ask Charon to investigate, but remembered he was on his own by choice. No matter, though; he was a royal mage, more than capable of defending himself. What could possibly threaten him?

Just as he was squinting into the shadows down the hall, the sky hit an arbitrary threshold of duskiness, and the castle's ghost-torches flared to life, illuminating the full length of the corridor. After recovering from the start it gave him, the Nidoking focused on his bedchamber doors to find that they were cracked open.

Someone was in his room. Uninvited.

Perhaps it is housekeeping, possibly a Gardevoir, he realized. Or perhaps Amadeus or Saura, or someone else who is perfectly welcome in my room. I do not think this calls for any caution. And so he straightened his shoulders and resumed his casual pace, wondering with every step who would be revealed behind the doors.

He extended his claws and swung open both doors, and was immediately relieved to find that the mysterious intruder who'd infiltrated his room was none other than Calamar, his beloved Infernape friend, searching through some of his dresser drawers for something. He gave a deep sigh of relief.

"Calamar, good evening," Coronus said jovially. "Is there anything you need?"

The Infernape, surprisingly, did not turn to face him, keeping his attention fixed on the contents of the drawers.

"Calamar?"

Coronus frowned. The fire upon his head – was it burning brighter than normal?

"Is that my name, Prince Coronus?" said the Infernape with strange menace in his tone. "Is it truly?"

Coronus blinked. "Excuse me…?" he chuckled nervously, drawing nearer. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me something, Prince Coronus," said Calamar, still refusing to look the Nidoking in the eye. "What is 'The Call'? Do you know anything about a power known by this name?"

The words sent an icy chill through the Starborn's veins. He stuttered for a moment, searching for a good lie, and wondering to the great gods above where the Infernape had heard of such a thing – The Call wasn't even supposed to exist in this timeline. He'd avoided contact with Temporal Tower entirely, or so he thought.

"I've never heard of such a power," Coronus said simply. "Where have you heard of it? Why do you ask?"

"Alright then, let me ask you a different question," Calamar said, disregarding his questions. "What of a power called the 'Dimensional Scream'? Have you heard of that one?"

Coronus grimaced, but found no reason not to answer truthfully. "Indeed, I know of such a power. Pokémon with this power are said to sometimes see visions of the past and the future when touching objects that are pivotal to their destiny… but generally this power only manifests when such objects, as well as the user of the power itself, are exposed to the influence of… a time gear."

"Like this one?" said the ape.

He held up a chain. A small, cogged artifact hung from it.

Coronus felt his heart flare with enough rage to match the blaze of the Infernape's crown. "Where did you find that?" he demanded, drawing nearer.

But the Infernape spun around. His stance was confrontational. Fury burned in his eyes.

Coronus gave pause.

"It called to me," Calamar said. "From down in the dungeons, it called to me. Deep beneath the surface of the earth, I found this, along with… the old castle. And when I did… the Dimensional Scream began to manifest. And I have seen the past."

"Give me that," Coronus demanded, reaching for the chain. But the Infernape yanked it away.

"I've seen the past," the Infernape said again. "I've seen everything you've done, you coward. The fatestream has shown it all to me."

"I don't understand… Calamar…"

"My name is Prince," he growled. "But you've torn that future away from me, haven't you? Torn away my divine destiny? Torn away all the good I could have accomplished for this world? And for what? For feasts and dancing and company at the brunch table?"

"Calamar… Please understand…"

"I've always known something was wrong about my life," said the Infernape, backing away from Coronus. "I've always felt something missing. Where is Canniah? Where is Kabir? Where is Legend? Hmm? You've taken them from me. You've taken them from everybody. You've destroyed our destiny. You've rewritten the timeline so that none of them had a chance to be born."

"Calamar…"

"Do you realize what's happening right now?!" Calamar shouted. "Do you realize the bloodshed you've caused?"

Coronus stomped his foot, causing the whole chamber to shake.

"I'VE SEEN MORE BLOODSHED THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW," roared the Starborn Nidoking. "I've personally watched you die no less than seventy times. And that's not half of the amount of times I've watched Adron die. Or Char. I've had enough of it all, Calamar. I've had enough of seeing ten thousand Pokémon die at the foot of the Astral Throne. I've had enough of Enigma. I've had enough of that blasted Call. Do not talk to me of wars and bloodshed."

Calamar gave a dire scowl. There was pity and disgust on his face.

"What… what have you done…?" he hissed. "Coronus… what have you done?"

"What have I done? I've created a world where you are happy! You, the six Pokémon in the world most deserving to be happy… and I've made you happy! What's so wrong about that? Do you realize how many tries this took? Do you realize the effort I put into every little detail of getting you all here in one place, alive and unmissed? I'm quite proud of my work, Calamar, thank you very much. I stand behind it."

"OUR TIMELINE IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANYTHING!" shouted Calamar, slamming the chained amulet down on the marble floor. "NONE OF US ARE REAL! YOU'VE DESTROYED US ALL! YOU'VE KILLED EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED!"

The two stared spitefully at one another for the larger portion of a minute. The fire upon the Invernape's crown nearly flared to the ceiling.

"Nothing matters anymore, because of you," growled the Infernape. "You… you were supposed to be the redeemer… but who are you now? Nothing but a murderer and a destroyer. I'm ashamed to have ever called you my friend."

The next thing Coronus knew, he had Prince pinned against the floor.

Coronus first noticed that all of the Infernape's fire had gone out. He noticed this even before he noticed the icicle that extended from his right claw and impaled him through the chest.

He knelt beside the corpse of his friend for many long minutes, hypnotized by the sound of his own deep breathing. Watery blood pooled upon the floor.

Ten minutes later, the Starborn had mopped everything with a bedsheet, then mummified the body in said bedsheet and shoved it beneath his dresser.

As he changed into his royal violet robe, the Nidoking's only recurring thought was: I should have brought Lykios.


(Part 2 of 4)

Special thanks to ShadowVulpi for motivating me to finish this!

*Chapter 96*: Special Episode: Discontinued, Part 3

o

The ball was proceeding surprisingly well.

Against all odds, the servants had managed to pull it together. The table was set, every utensil in perfect symmetry and alignment, every wineglass sparkling, every napkin artistically folded. Bread and berries filled the dishes up and down the table. The centerpiece of the feast, the giant Embroar, smelled delicious and looked seared to perfection. Coronus knew that Amadeus would be pleased.

In the hours before dinner was to be served, the musicians played, the choirs sang, and all the noblest of Amaranthine's figures promptly filled the dining hall. The castle was as it always should be, noted Coronus: filled with good company and jubilant spirits. In fact, as far as he could tell, there were no absentees among the invited Pokémon; every single one of them stood in attendance, dancing and socializing and happily jabbering their theories as to the occasion of the celebration.

Every Pokémon, that is, except for one.

"Now if only Calamar would show up," said a salivating Charizard, leaning toward the prince's ear. "Then perhaps we can begin with dinner a bit earlier than scheduled, aye, Your Highness? No reason to wait if all the guests are here."

"Calamar, sadly, will not be attending tonight," Coronus told him.

Amadeus blinked. "How come? He's never missed a ball before. He would adore this food."

"He's received word that his father is still alive," Coronus explained without skipping a beat. "He's left for the west, and has not given notice of his return. I suppose we will not be seeing him again for a while, but I trust that he will take care of himself."

"I see," Amadeus said strangely. "And yet you still do not trust me?"

"Trust you? With what?"

"To take care of myself in the west."

Coronus bit his tongue before it could hurl a profanity at his friend. "It is not a matter of trust, good Amadeus," he forced out. "It is simply that… were you to leave, you would take too large of a piece of my soul with you."

The Charizard responded with a mysterious smile. "So you favor my friendship over his, is that it? Is that what you are telling me? Is there an unseen hierarchy to the brunch table that I haven't been informed of?"

"That is not what I mean to say at all," snarled the Nidoking in a fit of exasperation. But a suitable rebuttal did not come to him.

Amadeus batted a wing at him, smiling wider. "I only jest, Your Highness. Have some more wine and relax a bit, will you?"

And relax, he did. Deciding to forgive the Charizard's distasteful remarks, Coronus reminded himself of all the good in the world that deserved to be celebrated. There would be a time and a place to mourn over the loss of Calamar, but now was not that time. This was a time to show all of Amaranthine how happy he was, and to spread that happiness to all who would listen.

At the request of Amadeus, the banquet began ahead of schedule. All the aristocrats took their places at their assigned seats, with Coronus taking his place at the head of the table upon a throne-like chair. Ah, how perfect, thought he, staring down the lengthy, hundred-seat banquet table, expertly set and dressed with delicious food and woven placemats, lined on either side with the most dignified and polite of Pokémon. Every seat was filled, except for the one at his left-hand side, which he knew would remain vacant for the remainder of the night. Beside the empty place sat Adron and Aether, the Absol upon a particular cushioned platform designed to accommodate a quadruped and allow them to eat with their mouths if necessary. At his right hand sat a very eager-looking Amadeus, and beside him, Saura and Raikouun.

This was the moment that Coronus had waited for.

He stood from his seat, calling for silence. The hush was immediate, as all the Pokémon in the room pinned their rapt attention to the prince.

"My loyal subjects, I welcome you to this very special banquet," he projected, smiling proudly. "Certainly, we've had many banquets lately, at least four in the past two months alone!" – he paused to let a strained and awkward laugh pass through the audience. "But even so, I assure you that today is more momentous, still, than all the rest of them. For today, I would like to report to you all, a piece of news I've received from overseas – from none other than our warmongering king and my father, His Majesty, Cepheus the Brutal."

Now there passed a wave of gasps and delighted murmurs through the room. He made certain he drank in all of the delicious anticipation before proceeding.

"My father, the puppet of the Master that he has chosen to be, has spent many of his years absent from the very kingdom he rules," spoke the Starborn prince with a hint of rebuke. "And while he is away lopping off heads of the Amberan terrorists, it seems, at times, that the very head of Amaranthine is itself lopped off, as he has paid little mind to this kingdom, opting instead to install our high council as the temporary heads of state, with I as the head of that verysame council. And while certainly, at times, I've expressed my pointed disapproval of his governing methods, or lack thereof, let it never be said that his absence has been without merit. For today, it has been reported that my father has infiltrated a notable terrorist base upon the west continent-side, cleansing it of tens of thousands of rebels who foolishly thought to defy the Master."

There was a louder murmuring, one which did not cool down as easily. That Cepheus had struck such a massive blow to the notorious Amberan resistance movement came as a great surprise, especially to those who saw his misadventures as nothing more than a hobby.

"And with such a monumental accomplishment shall come monumental rewards! For it was signed in his contract of fealty to the Master, in blood I imagine, that he is paid in proportion to his deeds. And so, I announce to all of you, thou treasured Amaranthinian nobility: that by the wise judgments of my father and your king, we have struck windfall! Prepare yourselves, for we are to soon be showered in gold and riches! Gone shall be the famine! Gone shall be the days of a dwindling navy! Gild the bricks upon the streets, stock the granaries, and let the choirs sing!"

He swept a goblet into his claw and held it high.

"To the spoils of war!" he shouted.

"To the spoils of war!" cheered the attendees, most raising their wineglasses in toast.

The door slammed open at the far end of the banquet hall.

"To the spoils of war."

The singular booming voice set the room into complete and haunting silence. It was a voice that none could ever hope to forget, least of all the Starborn prince who headed the table. Coronus felt a terrified chill and promptly lowered his goblet, nearly dropping it in the process.

A tall, ironclad figure filled the doorframe.

"Mmm, your father is home early," noted the Charizard at his right-hand side. "Veryquite unexpected."

Coronus's heart was buried deep in his stomach for the eternal moments that his father approached the banquet table. The sounds of the king's steps echoed through the room, accompanied only by the rattling of his armor and the guttural growl of his breath. This cannot be, thought the prince. He was not meant to return yet! His work is unfinished… what will he do now, take the crown back from me and reverse all of my progress?

King Cepheus trudged closer, step after step, with a displeased and faraway look to his eyes. His armor was bent and damaged, decorated with many colors of bloodstain. He eyed the throne-chair upon which Coronus sat, as though it were the bed he wished to collapse upon at the end of a tiring day. Coronus sheepishly sidled himself into Calamar's seat.

After nearing the table, the Starborn king rudely shoved his hand between a well-dressed Gallade and a stately Flygon, and with a loud and messy snap, broke off a drumstick from the Embroar. He then proceeded to his rightful seat, biting off a barbaric chunk of the meat every several steps and conspicuously eyeing everyone pretending to ignore him.

"What you have heard is true," Cepheus announced, taking his rightful place before his subjects. "The Master has been very pleased with my recent work, and our kingdom is soon to receive... a significant largesse for our troubles. What remains to be seen is how much of it my son has already spent on parties and new robes."

This got some obliged laughter from the crowd. Coronus only wanted to sink under the table and die.

"So, is that it, then?" Amadeus inquired. "Finished with your crusades? Will you be our king again?"

Cepheus tore a stringy bite from his drumstick. "I will not be here for long. I've returned on dragonback to convene with the council for some… advice… before Enigma expects me to begin the next phase of the campaign. I will be here for no more than nine days. But I can assure you..."

He plunked the half-eaten leg on his son's plate. "It will be more than enough time to give your future king some... advice of my own."

With some difficulty, Coronus resisted the urge to dig his claws into his own forehead in mortification, and politely waited for every distinguished aristocrat in Amaranthine to quit laughing at his expense. But while he did, he glanced by utter chance to his side, and noticed Adron eyeing him. There was important meaning in his gaze, some message he wished to secretly convey. Their eyes met for only a moment as Coronus tried to decipher what was on the Scyther's mind.

Adron made the subtlest gesture toward the king.

Something is wrong, said his expression. But fear not; I will find out what he is hiding from us.

Coronus could not think of a more difficult task in the world than to spy on his father, but also could not think of anyone more capable of succeeding than his ever-vigilant personal bodyguard. He quickly returned his own subtle nod, one which said, Thank you, and you have my blessing to try.

And like a good friend, Amadeus promptly snatched the meaty bone from Coronus's plate, sparing him the indignity. "I'm sorry, but are we eating or not? I'm starved as a Munchlax!" he bemoaned, chomping down what was left of it.

Ah yes, the prince thought with a happy smile, to have friends who have my back, and not the other way around for once… is there anything more wonderful in the world?


Coronus knew it was going to be a long nine days.

Nine days of watching every step, dutifully obeying every decree. Nine days of pleasing his father, no extraneous spending, no neglecting his royal duties. Nine days of no fun. And what good was being royalty if he could not have any fun?

The king's punishments were immediate. On the first day, Coronus was confined to his room and forced to fill out an expense ledger, estimating the cost of the balls he'd thrown.

It is unfair, thought he. Father gets to romp around in the west, swinging his sword and avoiding all his kingly responsibilities. What's wrong with following in his example? Why couldn't we have gotten one of the fifty Gardevoir in this place to do this? Why cannot we use the accountants we already have?

"Because you are in dire need of some perspective," said his father when he finally spoke his thoughts out loud. "I would like for you to stop for a moment and take a look at what you have done. Our royal privileges are not without cost. You are held accountable for everything you do, Coronus. Even I, when I am performing my duties for the Master, am under his scrutinizing eye at all times. If you fail to judiciously manage your reputation, you will bring dishonor upon yourself, and me, and the entire Starborn line. Your people obey you out of trust, and they trust you because you are their servant just as much as they are yours. If you do not understand this, you will not last nine days as Amaranthine's king. You will only be their tyrant, and you will stand helpless as the throne is taken from you by someone who is better willing to be the servant of their people."

Insufferable nonsense, thought Coronus to himself, scribbling down numbers. Do not speak to me about perspective. I've seen Ambera's history play out a hundred times over with my own eyes. I have more perspective than you can ever imagine.

And I refuse to call myself a servant to any of you soulless husks.

But Cepheus locked him the room until he sufficiently accounted for his spending for the past month. It was, indeed, far higher than he would have estimated. When he'd laid bare all his hedonistic splurges (even leaving out those of which nobody could possibly have any proof), it came to over fifty million crowns.

"Actions have consequences," said Cepheus, looking very displeased as he reviewed the net loss. "How many laborers could this have fed?"

"Several thousand…" grumbled Coronus.

"Specifically?"

"Specifically… With the average minimum rations… about seven thousand, for a year."

"And those laborers, when fed, could have provided how many labor-hours?"

"Ugh… at fourteen hours a day, three hundred seventy days a year… So I suppose… Over twenty-five million…"

"And twenty-five million labor hours could have raised the gross domestic product by…?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Coronus growled, digging his claws into the desk.

"The serf class was how much at last census?" Cepheus pressed.

"Eleven million, or thereabouts?"

"And seven thousand, divided by eleven million, multiplied by last year's profits?"

Coronus begrudgingly looked at last year's records, and whatever billions-of-crowns worth of goods the country had produced, and did the math.

"Over five hundred million crowns," he finally said, spitting out his answer like a Miltank's cud.

Cepheus slammed the ledger down in front of Coronus. "Or, in terms you would understand: you could have thrown ten more balls next year, just by sacrificing one of them this year. You must learn to see the kingdom in terms of input and output. You will never be an effective king unless you learn to see the bigger picture. And never stop viewing everything analytically, even if you are certain your instincts are perfect."

Inside, Coronus was enraged. I CANNOT BELIEVE my father is lecturing me on ripple effects, he roared in the silence of his mind. Try this one, father: how many minutes of my time have you wasted locking me in this room, that I could have spent in the company of Amadeus and my friends? And how many units of happiness have I lost as a result? Puzzle that one out, Your Pompous, Needle-brained Majesty!

Coronus then began fantasizing about what it would be like to see Cepheus's body torn apart by a five-dimensional time vortex.

And that was only the first day.

On the second day, his father sent him back to Delegate Street with orders to visit twelve specific offices, three errands of which were to undo his allocation of funds to the warships he'd ordered the previous day. It took every fiber of his being to keep from burning down all twelve of the offices with his various fireball spells.

On the third day, his father made him write a speech to be delivered to the house of Northtail. The purpose of the speech was to raise favor with the duke and his family by reassuring them the Starborn dynasty was deeply interested in the developmental progress of agricultural magic and technology. Even after adequately including the appropriate buzzwords, Cepheus made him rewrite the speech four times.

On the fourth day, Coronus was made to wear a horrendous set of robes, attend the party the duke was throwing for his son's hatchingday (a party far below Coronus's acceptable standards), and deliver the speech. It went horribly, because Coronus simply didn't care, and he was fairly certain that he lost more favor than he gained.

On the fifth day, he was told to visit the Cobalion Academy, Amaranthine's upper-class schoolhouse, to audit the ledgers in response to a suspected money-laundering scheme. Upon wasting the day there and returning, Cepheus admitted that he had lied about the suspected corruption, but he just wanted to give the school board and students a healthy scare. That, and he thought Coronus was looking a little chubby and could use the exercise.

On the sixth day, Coronus was forced to attend a wedding. The wedding lasted for seven hours, during which Coronus was forbidden from saying anything, offering only the privilege of his audience as a blessing upon the union – a tremendously ugly Incineroar to a vapid-minded Medicham. By the end of the third hour, he'd already mentally drafted a decree that weddings should be forbidden from lasting longer than fifteen minutes.

And on the seventh day, there was silence.

Shocked that the Starborn Tyrant hadn't once more woken him at the crack of dawn, Coronus was finally able to enjoy, for the first time that week, an audience with the brunch table and his favorite Pokémon in the world.

Except, he couldn't exactly enjoy it.

He idly swirled his foreclaw in his bowl of oatmeal, saying nothing. The uncomfortable silence spread to the Absol, the Charizard, the Ivysaur, and the Raichu who sat with him.

"I see you've had quite your share of tough love this week," Amadeus said, offering his sympathy between slurps of his melon.

"I've had my share of tough love for a lifetime," grumbled the Starborn prince. "…Several hundred lifetimes, in fact. Why does being king take so much inane work? Why can't everyone just do whatever I say and figure out the rest on their own? I will decree that all responsibility should be banned from affecting the king!"

"Well, I decree that once your father leaves, we all take a retreat!" Rautzen offered. "Let's put the council in charge and escape to the mountains! That'll get us all back in the right spirits."

"It'd be something to do, I suppose," said Saura. "As long as we could stay warm, I wouldn't mind camping. It's getting cold."

"Oh, if only you had a dragon friend who was made of fire and had enough to spare for all five of us," sighed the Charizard. "Such a pity you have nothing of the sort, isn't it?"

"Or a mouse with the power to move stormclouds around so we don't get rained on!" added the Raichu, laughing along. "Would be nice to have one of those, wouldn't you say?"

Coronus cracked a smile. Yes, as awful as the week was, it was merely that – a week. He still had a lifetime ahead of him, a lifetime spent in the company of these wonderful friends. His father's methods of torture would all be soon forgotten. And he thought that a camping trip sounded like just the thing to wash the king's poison from his mouth.

And then Adron showed up to the table, unusually tardy. He did not seem interested in eating.

"Coronus, I think you should come and see this," he said, making urgent gestures with his blades. "Quickly."

"What, what is it?!" Coronus cried, already standing from his seat.

"It's your father," the Scyther reported. "He's speaking privately to one of his advisors. We can listen in. I feel that you have a right to know what he's discussing."


Cepheus was not an easy Pokémon to sneak up on – Coronus knew this from having spent a childhood trying to escape grounding. But now he had Adron, the only Pokémon able to scheme up anything within the range of his father's all-knowing ears. It's why Coronus didn't ask questions when the Scyther led him up to the castle's roof.

"He's taken precaution against eavesdropping," Adron hissed. "This is the only angle I could get, and still I can't quite hear things. I need you."

Coronus crouched and put one of his ears to the bricks below – ears which were nearly just as big as his father's.

"I know not the timeframe," he heard the king say. "But it could take as long as two more years."

A pause. There were subtle vibrations as the hulking Nidoking paced about the room.

"Would a mind-reader be of any assistance, perhaps?" asked a different voice.

Coronus knew this voice. It was Hildolfr, the favorite of all his father's Gardevoir servants, one who was often privileged enough to hear more of the king's secrets than even his own son. But again, that's why he kept Adron around these days – Adron could get him any information he wanted. Sometimes too much information.

"A mind-reader would be of no help," Cepheus grumbled. "Not against Enigma. I believe the only security I have against her are dark-types; she has difficulty countering them. But if I were to bring dark-types…"

"…She would be alerted to your suspicions," said the Gardevoir.

"Yes, and I have already shown too many indications of bad faith. And you know how it is with her. She likes to punch you and then take offense when you cry in pain."

More silence. Coronus couldn't tell what was being discussed, but it already unsettled him.

"The fact remains that Enigma does not seem to be upholding her end of the bargain," sighed Cepheus, pacing the room. "I am worried. But I have more than enough time to... assess the situation. Things shouldn't come to a head until the completion of my next assignment. I have until the Emerald Division falls to perfect my plan."

"As long as you keep her out of your head," said the servant. "But you seem to have that down to a science already, my Lord."

"It's become more of a challenge as of late. But I have my means and methods. I do know, however, that I've already secured my cut of the profits from the crusade. She's routing out the valuables from the caves and she will send us a tenth, split into monthly shipments beginning later this month, once they've had the chance to account for everything."

"A ray of light amidst the darkening sky, my Lord."

This cannot be happening…!

Enigma and Father at odds with one another?

This has never happened before. Enigma and Father have always gotten along… what in the blazing suns is going on with this timeline?! Why so many stupid detours? Why can't it just stay stable already?

Coronus raised his head and stared blankly at the Scyther who'd guided him there. He only then noticed the uncomfortable mid-morning chill against his hide. Too much information. The bane of his life.

"What have you heard?" Adron asked.

"Enough," responded Coronus.

In a stubborn fury, the Starborn prince stomped back through the castle halls, forcing all passersby out of his way, and busted down the door to the study where his father sought to have his private conversation.

His father's red-eyed glare fell upon him, the glare which had always preceded the worst of his displeasure and the most brutal of his punishments. But Coronus swallowed his hesitance; his father could do little to hurt him now. This time, he was the displeased.

"Son – "

"What bargain?!" Coronus shouted, pointing an accusatory claw. "What bargain with Enigma?"

Before his very next breath, the mighty Starborn king swept a claw in his direction, loosing a wind-energy spell forceful enough to send his son to the floor and leave him crumpled in the corner. He'd feared this; Cepheus was never one to hesitate to assert his dominance, not to his enemies, his subjects, or even his own heir.

"This does not concern you," spoke the king.

"Oh, but it does concern me," shot the prince, leaping defiantly to his feet. "I am the heir to your throne," he said, approaching his father aggressively. "Our state of affairs concerns me, especially those regarding the stability of our alliances."

"Perhaps you did not hear me," Cepheus grunted.

Cepheus attacked again with a flamethrowing spell, but Coronus was prepared, and rose a shield of protection to counter it.

"Perhaps you did not hear me," returned Coronus. "Will you teach me to run this kingdom, or will you not?"

Though it lasted only a moment, the prince glimpsed fear in his father. True intimidation. He was intimidated by his own son, stunned by the burning embers of a thousand wasted lives that shined in his eyes.

"May I ask, then, why you've waited until now to become concerned with your kingly duties?" said his masterful politician of a father, quickly hiding this weakness. "Shouldn't you be off galivanting around the garden and picking berries with your Ivysaur friend? Or planning your seventeenth ball of the year for the day that I am to leave?"

"I've always been concerned with responsibility, father," his son countered. "Just not in the way you've intended to teach me. I have every interest in making sure Amaranthine does not burn to the ground under the dark skies of war. And what could be so dire, that you would lock yourself in your innermost study with no one but your closest Gardevoir, unless it concerns the threat of war?"

To his surprise, it brought his father to a loss of words, and they shared a tense standoff. It was the first time, at least in many timelines, that Coronus remembered standing up to his father.

"I… should excuse myself, my Lords," said the Gardevoir, inching for the door.

"No," said Cepheus. "Stay. I think… I am willing to compromise with my son about this. What do you think?"

"Oh, I… it is a risk, but ultimately up to your discretion, Your Majesty…" Hildolfr rambled. "Do you think he is prepared?"

Cepheus turned, casting Coronus a suspicious eye. "I believe he is more prepared than he lets us believe," he said. "I believe he has always been prepared."

Coronus scowled. What… is that supposed to mean? He wanted to ask, suddenly terrified.

The Starborn king meandered over to one of his several desks. "I think I am willing to tell you what I know, son," he said. "But on a condition. You will have to tell me something in return."

"Tell you what?" Coronus challenged.

The king rifled through many drawers and cabinets, one after another. "I am going to ask you a question, and you have one chance to tell me the truth. One chance. Lie, and our bargain is off. Tell the truth, or at least something I am willing to accept as the truth, and I will honor your… request for information."

After searching through at least twenty separate compartments, Cepheus produced a small book. From the book's pages, he produced a small, handwritten note.

"This is something I once confiscated from your room," he said. "This is something you wrote. I want you to tell me how you learned of these names before I did."

He handed the paper to his son. Coronus was already frozen in desperation, knowing exactly what was written there. He crumpled the edges of the sheet as he held it, failing to hide any of his nervousness from his knowing father's eyes. He almost didn't want to look at what he'd written so long ago.

Lifeblood Adrel Centauri Aster Downfall Enigma

It was an old note he'd left laying around, near the forking point of this timeline… something he'd carelessly forgotten to burn. Between the names, there were lines and paths scribbled in ink, numbers and sigils, all representing possible courses of causality. Of course, Cepheus could not understand what the scribbles all meant, but he knew the significance of those six names.

"This has bothered me for decades," said Cepheus. "There is no possible way you could have known these names. I did not myself learn of the Eternal Truths until I was granted personal audience with Enigma. I remembered hearing them somewhere before, and realized that I'd seen them written in your diaries. Since then… you've given me an impossible riddle. Every theory I've posed to myself has proven impossible. So tell me, son: what manner of divine inspiration has granted you this knowledge? You have one chance."

Coronus was trembling. He could no longer feign innocence from his father. He could no longer pretend to be naïve. His father knew that somehow, he'd played a hand in the threads of fate.

But what kind of lie would he believe?

"I…" he started. "I…"

"I learned these names… on my trip to the west continent… when I met Saura, and Amadeus, and Adron – "

Cepheus snapped the paper from his son's claws. "Liar," he said. "I gave you one chance, and you've lied."

"Lie? But it wasn't…"

"You wrote these names before ever having left Amaranthine in your life," said his father, with a disappointed shake of his head. "I don't know how you did it, my son. Perhaps you've received a prophecy. Perhaps you've found something buried in the old castle. Perhaps you're a time-traveler. Although, I suppose I can rule that out; if you were a time-traveler, you could have reversed time until you found a lie that I would believe. And in a way, I am disappointed. Had you revealed a supernatural power of some kind, I'd have taken you west to help me in my endeavors. I could have used you. But whatever your secret is, Coronus, you've chosen to keep it from me, and I will need to respect it. In fact…"

Cepheus crumpled the note and tossed it on the ground, walking away.

"It proves to me that you understand the necessity of withholding information, even from a fellow Starborn. Come, Hildolfr. I need to prepare for my next campaign."

Soon, the king and his servant left Coronus standing in an empty room and staring at the wall. The dread crept up on him faster than he wanted to admit, and in a moment of panic he reached down at his belt to reassure himself that the time gear was still on his person. It was not.


Soon enough, Cepheus departed on dragonback to resume his nonsense in the west, and Coronus was once again free to do whatever he wanted. And he wanted nothing more than to distract himself from all of the foreboding thoughts which plagued him as of late. Wars and enigmas and the tragic loss of Calamar... it was becoming too much.

He knew there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Nobody was better than his father at having things their way – his smooth tongue and sharp attention to detail had always kept him on the good side of that blasted Mismagius. There would be no war, not until much later. Until then, Coronus decided to trust his father that where would not be a war unless it was Cepheus himself who wanted one.

No, it was time to do as his Raichu companion suggested and take a long, pleasant retreat and enjoy the last of the crisp autumn weather before the winter arrived in earnest. So Coronus issued decrees to the high council, gathered his five favorite Pokémon in the world, and crossed the Pleasant Grounds to the forests beyond.

Now, Coronus hated camping. Hated the wild elements, hated fishing, hated the dirt, the reliance on firewood, the sounds of chirping insects and boisterous frogs and squealing birds. And though there were no Watchers in Amaranthine, he hated, hated sleeping beneath a starry sky. So on these occasions where his friends would wish to go camping with him in the Pleasant Woods, he'd stay the nights in a small one-room villa that he ordered from the woodworkers' guild. Sure, the others would poke fun at him, especially Amadeus (who, on one occasion, said, "For being a Starborn, you certainly do not have an affinity for the stars..."), but he didn't care. Conquering the wild meant taking comfort with him, complete with heated blankets, an ample wardrobe, a fully-functioning kitchen, and an icebox stocked with his favorite berries.

One thing he did love, though, were the campfire sessions. On the nights it did not rain... and was not overly humid or unbearably cold... (And he wasn't particularly exhausted... or engaged in a book too deeply...) Coronus would knock down trees with his spells, Adron would slash them into logs, and Amadeus would light them all ablaze in a big pile. The Pokémon would spend the night gathered around the bonfire, sharing mirth and stories. This was another sacred humanlike tradition – to tell stories around the fire, especially "ghost stories," tales of mischievous ghost-type Pokémon and their endeavors to torment the innocent. Coronus never quite understood why humans gave ghost-types so much attention – why wasn't there such a thing as a "poison story" or a "ground story"? – But they were a perfectly enjoyable way to bond with his friends and forget about the outside world altogether.

When the bonfire was alight, there was no Amaranthine... no Cepheus, no Master... No slaves, no delegates, no war... no Redeemer, no time-travel... Just life and togetherness, the way he always wanted it, the way it always should have been.

On the third evening of the retreat, it was Ray's turn to tell the story.

"So this Eevee, his name was Clover, as the legends go," said the Raichu. "He'd kind of always wanted to be a Jolteon. So he trained and trained until he was sure that he was ready to evolve. But when he went to go buy his thunderstone, the evolution trader wasn't there. Instead, there was a weeeeird shadowy creature running the store, a Pokémon he didn't know! So he went inside and told the creature that he wanted a thunderstone and he had five thousand Poké to pay for it. The strange trader said, 'Are you sure you want to be a Jolteon? This is a very, very important decision… one that you can't undo.' And Clover said, 'Yes, I'm sure! I've made up my mind!' so the weird creature takes his money and gives him a small sack with the stone in it."

"Ah this story," Amadeus said with his tail curled forward, its tip resting in the fire. He grinned knowingly. "It's a good one. I don't think any of us will get sleep tonight…"

"I don't see what could be wrong," Coronus interjected. "What does it matter who the merchant is, if the Eevee gets the merchandise it wants?"

"Well see, your Highness, that's the thing," the Raichu continued in an adorably dire tone. "…Clover took that sack and went into the woods to find a good place to evolve. But when he opened the case…"

"…There wasn't an evolution stone in it?" Saura guessed.

"Oh, there was one," Ray said, "but it wasn't a thunderstone. In fact… it was an evolution stone he'd never seen in his life. Something… that shouldn't have existed."

"Pathetic. I'd have returned it and demanded a refund," Coronus huffed.

The storyteller laughed. "Well, that's exactly what he was planning to do! But when he went to pick up the stone… it activated! He started evolving, but he had no idea what he would become…"

The audience dramatically gasped, even Amadeus, who was happy to play along.

"After the bright lights and the cramps and the dizziness… the evolution was done. Clover climbed to his feet and looked closely at them. Purple! Purple and wispy. So he panicked. See, he studied all the evolutions, as the Eons do, but he didn't know what kind of a Pokémon he now was, he didn't know of any evolution that turned you purple. So he rushed to the nearest lake and looked in… and…"

"He saw nothing."

More gasps. Coronus was especially confused; he hadn't heard this particular story before – and he knew quite a lot of stories.

"Turns out, he was invisible! So he didn't even know what he was… so he ran around, trying to find someone to tell him what he looked like! So he ran back into town, only to find that he couldn't talk to anyone. They all ignored him! None of them heard anything he said! And when he tried to jump in the way to stop someone, they walked right though him, like he didn't even exist! That's when he realized…"

"He was a ghost-type. A ghost-type Eon! A Spectreon!"

"Now I know it's not real," Saura groaned. "There's no such thing."

"Oh, but it is a true story!" Ray insisted. "He was a Spectreon. They exist, they're just very rare, because you need the stones that trigger them, but nobody knows where the stones come from. And when a Spectreon does happen, nobody can hear them or see them, so the Eon just disappears from the world!"

"Then how do we know about poor little Clover?" Coronus said skeptically. "If these Spectreon, as you call them, vanish as soon as they evolve, how was this story documented?"

"Well… they can appear again, but they have to learn how," he explained. "Clover ran around for a long time, until he found some ghost-types who could see and hear him. They taught him how to control his phasing powers, and he could finally become visible again!"

"Some scary story this is," Saura said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, but that's not the end of the story…" Ray said excitedly, standing up and making dramatic motions with his paws. "So, Clover, he found some ghost friends, like a Gastly and a Gengar and a Phantump and a Shuppet. You know, the usual hooligans! And they taught him all about how to be a real ghost-type Pokémon. And when he'd learned everything, they took him to this spooky old haunted castle, a place where Pokémon liked to explore at night, and taught Clover how to play tricks on other Pokémon!"

"So this is a ghost-story from the ghost's perspective," commented Aether. "I like it."

"So yeah, they waited until this group of explorers came to stay the night in the castle's basement. And so Clover and his friends began the scares! They locked them in a room together, pulled bricks out of the wall, lit torches out of nowhere… and the exploration team was so frightened, they hyperbeamed their way out, right out of the wall! Ahh, and the ghosts laughed and laughed, and Clover was having the time of his life."

"The time of his death, you mean," Adron interjected.

The Raichu shook his head. "No, no… that's a common misconception! Ghost-type Pokémon are living creatures. They have natural powers that let them interact with the death plane, but they're living things, just like all of us sitting here!"

All eyes were on Rautzen as he circled around the fire. He sulked slowly, his face turning a darker shade of serious.

"And once they were done celebrating their successful haunt, the ghosts all went to sleep. It was a very spooky castle, perfect for ghost-types, and Clover liked the idea of living there for the rest of his life. So he found a nice corner in the dungeon basement, settled in, and had a nice rest. He wasn't scared of anything… he was a ghost, after all. Ghosts are the ones who do the scaring… right?

"Well… in the middle of the night… sounds were coming from down the hall. Footsteps. Clover sprang up to his feet. Was someone else coming? Can't be. No explorers were crazy enough to come here this late at night, right? Well, he looked at his friends, he looked over at the Gengar, the Shuppet… all of them were fast asleep. So if there were intruders, it would be his job to scare them away this time."

"So he floated in the air and phased through the hall, turning his body invisible… he drifted all the way through the long dungeon corridor and to the stairs leading to the surface… but he didn't find anything. No intruders, no wild animals… nothing.

"Then there were footsteps coming from behind him. He spun around, and peered into the darkness… nothing. Nothing at all. But there were sounds, like claws tick-tacking against the bricks… murmurs and breaths… the rumble and creaking of the shifting walls…

"And Clover realized… it was possible for even a ghost-type to be scared. Because he was very scared. Something about this castle wasn't right.

"But as he drifted back to the room with his friends, he wondered… if there are other ghosts haunting this castle, I'd be able to see them, right? Ghosts can see other invisible ghosts… so why can't I see anyone?

"He felt like someone was chasing him, so he floated faster, phased back through the door into the safety of the room… and then something horrifying began to happen.

"Bricks were moving in the walls… shadows formed in pools on the floor… the torches flickered… and suddenly… BOOM!

The Pokémon around the campfire jumped a foot in the air as the Raichu punctuated his scare with a crackle of thunder.

"Something collapsed upstairs. The sound was loud enough that it woke all the ghosts. At first, they started accusing one another of playing tricks… but the five of them were all there, all accounted for… and they began to see the changes happening. The ceiling was bulging, as if to break. The floor was grinding. The walls were shifting. The shadows danced like fire. The five ghosts cowered together in the middle of the room…

"'What's going on?!' asked Clover. 'What's causing all this?'

"And the Shuppet said… 'Oh no… I think this place is haunted!'

"And the Gengar said, 'Well no duh it's haunted! We're the ones haunting it!'

"But the Shuppet shook its head for a moment and said, 'No… no we aren't. I think this place is haunted by real ghosts!'

" 'Real ghosts?' asked Clover. 'What does that mean?'

" 'Clover, we're only Pokémon… we're living beings,' explained the Shuppet, his voice quaking in fear. 'Real ghosts are the spirits of Pokémon and humans who died, and stayed in the world with us, because they're not ready to go to Giratina's realm. And they… they're far more powerful than all of us.'

" 'We need to get out of here!' cried the Gastly.

"But it was too late… the ghosts came out of the walls, these silver, swirling spirits… they oozed like liquid metal, seeping through the bricks, forming the shapes of demon creatures… and then… they all lit on fire, turning the room into a furnace, cooking the ghosts alive…

"They were never seen again. Only the Gastly survived to tell the tale, and she's the only reason we know anything about… the legend of Clover the Spectreon."

When the story was done, there was a deep, stunned silence. The winter winds rustled the trees above, the sound of its breath accompanied by the steady roar of the bonfire.

"GOOD ONE, huh?" Cheered the Raichu, jumping back to his rock. "Amadeus told me that story! Hope I did it justice."

"You did, good Rautzen… you did." The Charizard immediately bit his tongue, casting an odd glance in the Nidoking's direction. "Ah, Raikouun, I mean. I apologize, it appears that the prince's name mix-ups have rubbed off on me."

When the Pokémon retired to their places to rest, Coronus shutting the door of his private cottage behind him… he couldn't stop thinking about how ridiculous and unbelievable Rautzen's story was.

Real ghosts. Pft, said Coronus, shaking his head sadly. If only they existed…

Coronus knew they did. He'd met them before.

But there were none left in this timeline. No ghosts. There were no ghosts… because there were no souls. As he settled into his bed, Coronus realized that the story of Clover, if true, must have taken place before the point of discontinuity.

And there was nothing in the universe which brought the Nidoking more nightmares than the discontinuity.


Late that night – it must have been three in the morning, by the human clocks – a strange sound snapped the Nidoking from his unpleasant dreams. The walls of the cottage were creaking… the most ghastly of sounds, like a Wailord opening its mouth to swallow an island… but Coronus knew that it was only the wind. The winter fronts were pushing in, buffeting the cottage walls under their weight. But Coronus did not let himself be frightened, and distracted himself by remembering how miserable his friends must have been outside while he wrapped himself in warmth and security.

The wind intensified. The roof clicked and clacked as beams wiggled and splintered. Coronus disregarded it. The building had survived many a storm before, there was no reason to believe the roof would suddenly blow off at the weakest of Articuno's sneezes.

Then floorboards thumped.

Several books rattled free from their shelves.

Coronus groaned, pulling the covers over his face.

An odd gust of air pulled it back away, throwing it into the air and leaving it to drift down into the kitchen.

He blinked and groaned, sitting himself up in bed. What in the name of…

A tongue of flame floated in the center of the room.

"Coronus… I've been searching for you…"

The flame was as a piercing red eye, hanging in the darkness, illuminating nothing around itself.

A second flame appeared.

"Redeemer… how you have fallen…"

Coronus frowned, swiping his claw at the side of his bed to collect his walking stick. He thrust it forward, ordering it to produce a white light of its own… light which carved away the shadows, revealing the silhouette of a particular ghost.

"Charon," the Nidoking grumbled. "Back to bother me? After all this time?"

The Chandelure drifted closer. "Oh, believe me," he said, "you've got more to bother you than a forgotten old caretaker."

The Nidoking disregarded the ghost, using his light to hunt for the lost blanket. "I'd like it if you would leave me be," he grumbled. "I've nothing more to say to you."

"…Nothing more to say?" said the ghost darkly. "Nothing more to say to the only other living soul still existing in this charade of a universe? The only other Pokémon in the world capable of giving you the company you so desperately crave from these… these projections?"

"I said leave. We will speak of this after my retreat is over. If ever at all."

"Oh, Starborn one…" hissed Charon. "I'm not here to tell you anything… except that Amadeus calls you back."

Coronus yanked a wooden bowl from a kitchen counter, whipped around, and hurled it at the Chandelure. It phased through him.

Charon laughed. It was a sad sort of laughter. "You don't understand… do you?" he moaned hauntingly. "You don't see the truth."

"There is no more truth!" Coronus roared. "I make the only truth!"

"Indeed you have… you have been the grand designer of all the truths which are soon to befall you."

"Shut it up with your prophecy," spat Coronus. "Leave me to sleep in peace."

A ring of fire appeared on the ground beneath the ghost, catching the floorboards. Coronus staggered at the sight.

"What you do not yet realize… poor old Redeemer… you do not realize that the last ember is fading, and the fire is dying."

"Says who?!" Coronus blasted, nearly breathing icy breath at his old companion. "How dare you threaten me with your self-righteous judgment? Who are you to judge me? Leave me alone! Let me live in peace, for all the gods' sakes!"

The fire spread. It caught the books upon the shelf, the quaint little table where he would often sit to read them. It caught the bed, roaring to life as it devoured the Unfezant feathers which stuffed the cushions. It spread across the floor and began creeping up the walls, its black smoke pooling amidst the upper rafters.

"If you want to enjoy your final moments… then by all means," hissed the ghost. "All power to you, mighty Redeemer. Enjoy them, and do not let me get in your way. But I have only wished to remind you of a truth you may have forgotten…"

The Nidoking threw his walking stick to the ground. It had caught fire, and the burn had spread to his claw. He further backed away, but the fire only chased him into the corner, giving him no escape…

"I am, and have always been, your ally," Charon said. "Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten that I've been your caretaker since you were a Nidoran? That I watched your egg hatch? Have you forgotten the games we would play in the forest as your father neglected you? Have you forgotten the nights I would protect you from the monsters that lurked in the dark? The magic lessons? Do you remember the puzzles that we did together… the family dinners we shared? Do you remember how I comforted your every stubbed toe, and stole berries for you when your father locked them away? Coronus… I was, and always have been, the only constant in your life, from your youngling playpens to your studies of royal law… to your rise, and fall, as the Redeemer."

"Fall…?" yelled Coronus, feeling his clothes peeling apart in the flames. "Was there only one?! I have fallen twelve hundred times!"

"Then I will be there when you decide to rise the twelve hundred and first time. For what is this but another mistake we might erase? Forget not, Starborn one… my fire burns only for thee."

The inferno roared, engulfing everything but its own crimson light.

"Never forget that, you foolish old rabbit."

The fire vanished at once, and Coronus snapped awake in bed, his blanket shredded to bits by his own claws.


The retreat came to an end, as must all good things. On the fourteenth day, Coronus awoke to a crusty layer of frost and snow covering the forest leaves and the Pleasant Grounds, and immediately declared the vacation over and done with. That afternoon, he retired to the warmth and safety of Amaranthine's castle, and all the wonderful heat-wards which encased it.

And for a while, all was well. Better than well, in fact; the high council wasn't bugging him, the winter pantries were all stocked, the bills were paid… and best of all, the first shipment of wealth was soon scheduled to arrive from the west, the fruits of his father's victory against the Gold Division.

On this special occasion, Coronus, his five confidants, and the entirety of the high council was gathered in the throne room.

It arrived in a giant treasure chest, the same kind which banks liked to store in their innermost vaults. It took a team of six Machamp and Cokledurr to carry it. The Starborn Prince could feel the sparkle in his own eyes as he watched the vessel of treasures brought to him. He imagined all the precious things which probably awaited him inside: golden coins, enchanted orbs, priceless books, and anything else the Gold Division might have kept locked away in its keep. It was now his, and it would be enough to throw balls for the next twenty years.

"Ah, to the spoils of war!" laughed Amadeus, sitting at his side. "And this is only the first of twelve. Where shall we put the rest of it? Are the treasuries large enough?"

One of the high council members, an Altaria, happened to hear the Charizard's remark. "We shall give it to the people, of course!" she cheered, waving her puffy wings at him. "Why hoard it when it can bring so much stability to our economy?"

Coronus frowned at her. "We shall see," he hummed. "We shall see how much we can…spare."

Rattle, rattle, rattle, went the chest. Ah, one of his favorite sounds in all the world – the unmistakable jangle of precious golden coins. How many could possibly fit in such a container? Five million, at least.

The chest made the most wonderful, satisfying tha-chunk! as the musclebound Pokémon set it before the prince. They unlatched the latches, one at an agonizingly slow time, and finally, they lifted the lid and revealed the generous tribute from Enigma.

Inside the chest was everything Coronus had hoped. Golden coins, millions of them. Amulets and jewels, all glistening with potent enchantments. Weapons, scrolls, diamonds… truly, wealth fit for the great kingdom of Amaranthine.

Coronus could hardly breathe as he stared at the contents. He slowly, disbelievingly rose from his throne. He descended the stairs with hesitant steps, drawn to the pile of riches by an unbreakable trance as the council members watched with held breaths and stopped hearts.

Blood covered golden mound, blood which trickled down from what sat atop it all: the decapitated body and severed head of his father.

His father's claw clutched a scroll. Coronus slid it out from his deadened grasp, unrolled it, and read its contents –

Thank you for letting me borrow your Nidoking! You can have him back now; I'm quite done with him. I'll let you know if I ever need another. The Starborns were always my favorite Nidokings, so reliable and smart. But perhaps the next would ask a few less questions?

Hope you enjoy your reward! Thanks and good wishes!

Love, Mother Enigma~

Coronus read the letter again, and again, and again. He held the scroll in front of his face, blocking his view of the gory mound which lay before him. His claws tore into the sides of the paper.

His body shook. Visions ran through his mind.

The Astral Throne

The slaughterings.

The failures upon failures.

The bloody corpse of Char. The hundreds of bloody corpses of Char.

The smashed eggs.

The roots of the Lifeblood Tree.

The mystery dungeon. The one, singular mystery dungeon.

The frozen time gear.

He felt a tooth crack from biting down too hard into his own tongue.

A voice spoke up from behind him. The Gardevoir his father knew. Hildolfr.

"T-the king is dead. Long live the king!"

He heard the high council members give their disjointed and breathless responses.

"The king is dead! Long live the king!"

Hildolfr was suddenly standing at his side.

"Your orders, Your Majesty?" he asked in a quiet, whimpering voice.

"Your Majesty?"

"Prince Coronus? Er. King? King Coronus?"

"Starborn One?"

Coronus crumpled the scroll in his claws until it was a wad of torn parchment and splinters.

His answer came out as a long, vengeful seethe.

"War."

"E-excuse me?" responded the Gardevoir at his side. "W-war?"

"War," Coronus said again. "I… I hereby declare war on the Master and his Solemn Fortress."


(Part 3 of 4)

*Chapter 97*: Special Episode: Discontinued, Part 4

o

The drums of war resounded through the streets of Amaranthine. Spellweavers and metalworkers were set to maximize the production of arms. Tens of thousands of serfs were drafted, and Adron set his generals to train them day and night, even beneath the falling snow and pummeling winds. Trade ships were repurposed into warships. Bunkers were dug into the ground. The kingdom was preparing itself as much as could be expected.

Or at least, that's what all the advisors said to the newly-crowned king. Coronus didn't care one bit about the minutia of sustaining a war against the most powerful empire in the known nonhuman world. He only wanted to see the Solemn Fortress burned to the ground.

"And it is not as though you do not have approval for this war," said the councilmember Alteria who was always difficult to keep quiet. "Certainly, the murder of your father was an act of war, certainly; you have ninety-seven percent approval ratings, certainly! But forgive me for asking… do we have a plan? Western Ambera is over twenty times the size of Amaranthine… How do you expect to conquer such a formidable land?"

Coronus regarded her not, instead focusing only on the frost-covered plains down below the castle wall on which he stood, and the squadrons of humanlike soldiers who trained there.

"Machinery," grunted the reluctant king. "The Master is several generations behind us in technology. They rely on only their innate Pokémon energy and their enchanted things. But we have followed the ways of the humans, advancing beyond anything mere white energy can do. We shall mow down the opposition with trebuchets, javelin-canons, and warships. And even our mages are far more sophisticated than theirs; I alone know more elemental techniques than the Master's army put together."

"Is it true, though, Your Majesty, that the war machines have never been tested…?" Asked the Alteria. "How are we to know the damage they deal, when we have no numbers?"

"Because I say so," grunted Coronus. "We will be victorious and I know the way to do it. I do not appreciate your skepticism."

"But Your Majesty, I am only reporting that which has been posed to you by others. Certainly, you – "

"Tell them to stop questioning me."

"And furthermore, Your Majesty, what of the chest of riches? Certainly, it would have been better to trade it for supplies before waging war on the country that would have provided those supplies…?"

"I said I do not appreciate it," Coronus said, waving his claw at her. "I have enough on my mind to worry about birdbrains asking so many inane questions. Now will you please buzz off and find someone to stop this infernal snowfall? It is getting in my eyes."

"…Yes, Your Majesty," said the Alteria, winging dejectedly away.

Coronus paced along the wall, overseeing the constant progress happening on the castle grounds. There were shipments of supplies being hauled in and out of the castle at all hours, dozens of squadrons of differently-typed Pokémon in training, and much wonderful hubbub about it all.

The fortress will fall, Coronus promised himself. It has taken everything from me, and in return, I shall take everything from them. I will not rest until I have turned all of Ambera to my will.

Yes, Enigma is immortal. Immortal, but not invincible. Her mind-control powers have limits; she cannot actively control more than about fifty Pokémon at once. Dark-types can repel her power, and we have plenty of those. And that's not to mention the real trick up my sleeve – the Resistance factions. The Emerald and Black Divisions. We shall ally with them. While Enigma is distracted with our armies, the Resistance factions will strike… or vice versa. She cannot handle a three-way pincer strike.

I have never been able to locate Centauri, so he has no role to play in this. Adrel might be against us, but Downfall will surely be on our side. And I have the magic necessary to subdue Enigma myself.

It will work. I will have my revenge.

I will have my perfect world. I will have my perfect timeline.

And if I cannot, I will burn the world down for what it has done to me.


And so it went. War preparations continued for months. Coronus found that he quite enjoyed being king; the people were so focused on the war that he could do whatever he wished and would not be judged on his actions. For once in his life, there was nobody to tell him what to do – nobody. Not his father, nor Amadeus, nor the 'political climates' of the lower class. And whenever he gave a speech, it never mattered what he said, for all the people would cheer and applaud him merely because they approved of the war he was about to start.

At last, he chose a date for the invasion – the deepest day of winter, the day considered the start of the new year on the human calendars. It was fitting, he thought, that the new era of his reign would be established on this day as well. Once setting the date, it was shared only with the council and the brunch table, and nobody else. That being done, what was there left to do? He meant to simply let the generals plan their plans, the army complete their training, the navy test their ships, and so on. They had their orders, and now everything was out of his hands. He could do nothing more than to wait.

He'd long since disposed of the dead body under his dresser, banishing it to the reverse realm with a ghost-type spell. He'd forgotten it was even there for a shamefully long time, until he began to notice the stench of rotten ash. Poor Prince! He tried not to think about it. He wished he had locked the time gear up somewhere proper instead of leaving it down in the old castle; perhaps it all could have been prevented. Ah, well; life would just have to go on without him.

On the sixteenth day before the invasion, Coronus retired to his room. It had been a day like any other – he'd enjoyed a brunch with his closest friends, received dozens of reports about ongoing matters, half of which he could not understand, and he sat in the enchanted flower garden, where there was no season but spring, and read a book he'd borrowed from Amadeus years ago but had never found the time to finish.

Just as Coronus was preparing to climb into his bed, there was a soft knock at the door. He turned to open the door for the guest, only to find the guest had already stepping inside. Coronus wanted to cordially greet him and wish him a good evening, but saw something glimmer in the Charizard's eyes – sadness, perhaps?

"Your Majesty," said Amadeus with a bow of his head. "I've come tonight because I wish to show you something."

Coronus followed through the torchlit halls until he was led to the Charizard's personal chamber. In a strange moment of nostalgia, Coronus suddenly remembered what the chamber had looked like when he'd first prepared it for Amadeus, and how much work had gone into its design. He remembered flinging open these same doors and walking out onto the third-floor balcony to behold the subterranean paradise he'd built, with its symmetrically-placed braziers and glowing magma-falls, and thinking to himself how wonderful Char would find it, and how happy Char would be to dwell forever in this place.

That's why the Nidoking felt the sting of pain when he stepped through the doors that night, realizing what the room had become.

The library was finished. Amadeus had lined every shelf with colorful hard-bound books – not a single shelf was empty, as far as he could see – and had rearranged the floor plan with work-desks and reading cushions. It was different. Beautiful in its own right, but different. Somehow it made Coronus hurt, as if feeling guilty about not knowing what Amadeus truly wanted. The only remnants of the chamber's original beauty were its arrangement of torches upon the walls and at the corner of each shelf, and the spectacular chandelier which hung from the ceiling, bringing more than ample light to the room's center space.

"It is finished," said Amadeus proudly. "That which I have spent my life building, it is stands finished before my eyes. There is hardly a greater triumph in all the world to see something in your imagination, a change you wish to make, and then to have it become real by your own mind and claw. And even if it were all to burn down in two days' time, the memory of the triumph is enough."

"Well done," said Coronus, nodding. "It is remarkable what you have done with this place. I will admit, I never imagined when we first met that you would take such a liking to books… Otherwise I might have had this library built to your specifications years ago."

"Yes, well, perhaps it is the human in me?" Amadeus said with a grin, leading the king around the upper balconies.

"Perhaps so," Coronus said, offering a chuckle. "But I must ask, my good Amadeus: will there be enough time in your life to read all of these books you have collected? This seems like a very tall order."

The Charizard's smile disappeared, and Coronus felt a heavy gaze cast upon him.

"You must misunderstand, Your Majesty," said Amadeus. "These books are not for me. They are for you. Besides, I've already read most of them. And a great many of them, I have authored myself."

"Oh… well I… I am honored, my good friend," said the Nidoking with a sudden fret. "Words cannot state how much I will treasure your gift."

"It is a gift for you, and your Starborn legacy, and for the glory of this great kingdom," Amadeus proclaimed. "You can consider this the compendium of my knowledge, that which I've spent my life pursuing. See, in this section, there are detailed maps of the known world. In that section, there are your history books, all the personal accounts of Amaranthine's history, as well as that of Ambera, and what little we understand about the human lands beyond the seas. On the second floor, there, are the sciences; entire sections on philosophy, psychology, biology, and spellweaving. In particular, those golden books there, they are the encyclopedia of all known Pokémon techniques, and how to learn them. And the ground floor is entirely dedicated to fictional stories; for the times one simply wishes to relax, I have placed all of the enjoyable books where they can be easily reached."

The Starborn king's jaw hung open. "I don't know what to say," he rambled. "I don't know what has driven you to implement such grand designs… I am at a loss to imagine how I could ever repay you for such a thing as this…"

"Oh, Your Majesty, you've already repaid me," said the Charizard, batting him with a wing and walking off ahead. "You have repaid me with the love and kindness you've shown since the day I first arrived here. And besides that, it is enough to know that my knowledge will remain here, helping to guide the future generations of your kingdom, long after I've left."

Coronus felt himself struck squarely in the heart.

"Ah yes… regrettably, I feel it is time that I take my leave of this kingdom," Amadeus announced to him. "The west calls to me, in all its dangers and mysteries. I know you are about to start your war, and I'm certain that will go splendidly, but I myself do not wish to be a part of it. I do not enjoy war, and part of my heart-fires do not approve of it, and so I must now… distance myself from the tragedies about to strike. And it is with this tribute that I offer you, my Starborn Majesty, that I wish to be excused. May the knowledge I've compiled here be of service to you, and your great-grandchildren, and all the heirs to your great throne, even long after you have passed on."

Burning silence ensued. Coronus felt rage. He felt despair. He held it in, not wishing to offend the Charizard… the best friend he'd ever had. The Charizard paused for just as long, having anticipated a bitter reaction, and preparing himself to deal with it.

It hit Coronus, just then, the gravity of what he'd done. The gravity of everything he'd done.

Heirs to his throne? Long after he'd passed on?

There would be no heirs. And even if there were…

There would be no future.

He stared wide-eyed at all the tens of thousands of books that Amadeus had spent his life archiving. Knowledge he'd collected, not for Coronus, but for the long and shining future of Amaranthine, a future which would never come to pass because it would all cease to exist the very moment Coronus would leave, whether through death, or using the time gear once again…

It hit Coronus, just then, the true tragedy of the discontinuity.

It hit Coronus, just then, the futility of trying to be happy in such a world.

That's all he ever wanted – to be happy. And for his friends to be happy. He wanted to see Char, Saura, Ray, Scythe, Legend, and Prince at his side at all times, all with a grand smile upon their face, every hour of every day. He wanted to shower upon them privileges and gifts, rewards for their suffering and hard work. Since Arceus was not so kind as to grant them what they earned, Coronus had taken it upon himself.

Except… there was a problem with this plan, Coronus now realized. It was a problem that had always been there, and one he'd perhaps tried to ignore… but it was greater than he ever anticipated:

It is the nature of the soul to look beyond oneself, to try and make a difference to others. To try and build a legacy. To be remembered. To leave a positive impact upon history. To be a part of something grand. To, as an old human adage put it, 'plant the seeds of a tree under whose shade you will not sit'. Oftentimes, it's at this point when a person is at their happiest.

Then how did he ever expect his friends to be happy, when he'd taken away the very future in which they'd find their life's purpose?

He understood now why Prince had been so angry. It was not because of what he saw in the past, but because of what he saw in the future – that is, nothing. Nothing whatsoever. Everything would all amount to nothing.

Discontinued.

Coronus now could barely find the strength to keep standing.

"Your… Majesty? Coronus?" said Amadeus, casting a concerned gaze back. "Are you quite alright?"

Of course he'd say that, thought Coronus, the good friend that he is. He knew this would be an unpleasant conversation. He did not know that I would take it so badly.

No… I refuse to believe that it is all for nothing.

I refuse to give up this world I'd spent so long trying to build.

I refuse to believe it is without value.

So what if… if there is no future? What need have I for the future, when I have the present? No, I say! I will not succumb to such petty sentimentality. If all I have is the present, then I shall make the very most of it! I shall make it mine, just as I've always done.

"No…" spoke Coronus powerfully. "No… I forbid it."

He stood to his feet. He approached the Charizard quickly.

Amadeus looked oddly at him. "Forbid… what, Your Majesty? Forbid me from leaving? Ah, I'm afraid you can't exactly do that."

"Perhaps I cannot, but I can plead," Coronus grunted, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Amadeus… I would not like for you to leave me. Yes, there is a hierarchy at the brunch table, of which you are at the top. I… I made this for you, human! Everything I've done here was for you! Please understand this. Please understand… this world revolves around you. And there is no future which matters except for that which involves you."

Amadeus cast him a sad glance. "You must learn to let go, Coronus," he said with an underlying power, as if the Charizard's inner ember flared within the words he spoke. "I had hoped that I had given you enough time to realize this."

Coronus dropped to the floor, and only realized that he was crying when he saw his own tears fall from his face.

"I've done enough letting go," he whispered. "Please, believe me… I've let go so many times… and you may fail to understand… that if one learns to let go, and learns it enough… there comes a point where they forget how to hold on tightly to anything… and it was you that I had wanted to hold tightly to, for the first time in forever."

The Charizard bent down, placing a cordial hand onto him, offering nothing but companionable silence.

"Amadeus," he tried desperately, "Perhaps… perhaps one day there will come a time when I learn to let you go. But today is not that day. So I plead to you, please… Please do not leave me. Not in my darkest hours. It is in these hours when I am most in need of you. I would burn this library to the ground if it meant having just five more days in your company, because you are worth more than all of it. Please… understand me. Human. Understand."

Coronus heard a long, fiery sigh.

"Oh, Starborn…" muttered the Charizard in reluctance. "How desperately you want to make us happy, even after you've lost the means to do so… Fine, then. You may forget we had this talk; I shall try it again some other time. But it will not be very much longer, I assure you."

Amadeus leaped from the platform and glided down and away, leaving Coronus alone to stare at the floor. He'd won over some additional time with his friend… but even still, he could not help but wonder if it meant anything at this point.


On the eighth day before the attack, the weather-Pokémon had finally gotten the snow under control, and it was clear, moderately chilly day. Coronus took the opportunity to check on the preparations.

He toured several of the ships, found them properly loaded with rations and all manners of deadly devices. It was all very pleasing to the eyes. He then surveyed the newest recruits, paying special attention to the dark-types… they would constitute his personal elite guard with which he would storm the Solemn Fortress.

On the sixth day before the attack, the scout-birds returned with a litany of information. The Solemn Fortress was hardly guarded. The desert lands to the north of the fortress seemed not to have any of the Master's presence at all. Adron suggested the primary troops march a particular path to the north, and a secondary strikeforce sail down the channel to the southeastern coast, disembarking there and following a safe path northward, and with any luck, the Master would be flanked from all four sides at once, with the resistance factions striking from the east and west. Coronus trusted his judgement.

On the fifth day before the attack, Coronus gave a grand inspirational speech to much applause, speaking of the downfall of the Master and how it would bring the golden era of peace that Ambera so deserved. Spirits were very high, and all the forces seemed to be in position, ready and waiting for the order to deploy.

On the fourth day before the attack, Aether failed to attend brunch once again, being bedridden with an awful migraine.

"Do you know what you're doing?" asked the Absol as he privately visited her.

"I do," he assured her. "We have the upper hand. They might have numbers, but we have intelligence and power. I'm certain your headache comes from the oncoming war. Wars usually have many casualties."

He then let her rest, and she seemed better that evening.

And finally, on the third day from the attack, it was to be the final day of brunch before Coronus would take after his father, leave his throne, and go off warmongering. And such, he had something important he needed to tell his friends.

"Some of you are coming with me," acknowledged Coronus as he peeled an orange. "Adron is going, of course. As is Raikouun."

"I would fight, if you are willing to accept this as my last act," Aether said sourly. "I feel that I have only one fight left in me."

Coronus felt the knife in her words. Though the Absol was a powerful creature, and would be a valued asset against Enigma herself, her meaning rang clear: "if I come with you, I will likely die. Are you willing to accept that?"

Of course, he was not. Thus, Aether was forbidden from fighting.

Saura, too, bowed out, having never been much of a fighter in his life. Though to his surprise and delight, Amadeus offered to come!

"Long have I wished to visit the west," Amadeus chuckled after a bite of oranbread. "Our Majesty here has steadfastly been against it for as long as I remember. If he is willing not only to let me go, but to take me there personally, how could I ever turn it down?"

"Would you stand at my side, then?" bid the Nidoking.

"I do not enjoy wars," he said forlornly. "But I promise, if it is my company that you need… I will stand at your side… until the last ember fades."

Coronus cleared his throat and motioned for the Gardevoir to take some of his empty dishware. "So then, it appears as though we shall be fractured in two for the foreseeable future," said Coronus with a sigh. "On such an occasion… I have something particularly special planned for the six of us, something to remember one another by, until we meet again at this very table. So, following this brunch, I would like for you all to wait for me at the edge of the Pleasant Grounds, at the knoll overlooking the castle. If you would all await me there, I will greet you with a surprise."

"A surprise? Can't we just ask Adron what it is? I'm sure he's already figured it out," teased the Raichu.

"Oh, I assure you, this one is unpredictable," said Coronus with a mysterious grin. "Very well, then. See you there in, say, two hours? I wish to dress for the occasion."


Coronus returned to his room and flipped through his wardrobe one last time. He knew that, whatever he would choose to wear at this moment, he might be stuck wearing for a long while. What does one wear to war? He chose blue, a color he did not generally like to wear. But it felt somehow fitting. Blue was the color of serenity and hope, things he wished to inspire in his troops. They would not win the war with brute strength. They would win with intelligence and strategy.

So the Starborn king fitted his ties, his belt, and his magnificent flowing robe, cast a last glance at his bed and all the gorgeous furnishings which surrounded it, and opened his door to leave.

"THERE you are! I was looking everywhere for you, silly!"

He blinked. He blinked again. Certainly, what he was seeing could not be real.

A Pokémon floated before his face. A ghost Pokémon.

Coronus stammered. "Uh… E-enigma?"

There was nothing to mistake. The fearsome Mismagius, Enigma herself, was floating in front of the doors to his bedroom. Panicking, he sidled away and quickly collected his spellcasting staff.

"And what business do you have here?" Coronus growled.

The ghost shrugged. "Oh… I just heard you wanted to have a war, so I thought we could maybe talk something over beforehand, you know, king-to-queen. I don't like spilling blood anymore than you do."

Coronus groaned. Of course, she'd always considered herself the Master's 'queen', he reminded himself. No greater pretention in all the land.

"Oh, but I am his queen, silly!" she insisted. "He gave me just as much authority to rule as he did."

Oh, and she's telepathic, he remembered. Great.

He wasted no time in casting a barrier over his mind. He didn't know if it would stop her mind-control powers, but it would at least keep his thoughts private.

"A true consort to royalty has no authority to rule," Coronus said, speaking down to her. "You are nothing more than the Master's delegate, at best. But a queen? You kid yourself."

"Same difference, really, it doesn't matter, point is, I'm powerful and I can do whatever the Master needs me to do," said Enigma, bobbing impatiently. "Now could we please talk? I'd really like to know why you want to go to war with me. I was in the middle of reading a nice book when I heard about it. It was a new book, too! And I don't see a lot of those anymore."

Coronus pointedly slammed the door behind him and began walking at Enigma's side down the hallway. She was, and has always been, the one Pokémon in all the world he was least interested in seeing. He kept his mage's staff between them as he walked, ready at a moment's notice to act with extreme prejudice.

"Well, for starters, the murder of my father?" Coronus growled. "You know, I was in the middle of something, too. And the next thing, I was king! That's not a very nice thing to do, is it?"

Enigma frowned. "Aww. But I had to kill him," she whined. "I didn't want to, but there was really nothing I could do about it. He knew too much! You understand that, right? As a ruler, you always need to silence Pokémon who know too much. That's one of the basic rules."

Coronus begrudgingly grumbled. "I… suppose," he spat, remembering Prince.

A strange moment passed as the two opposing rulers eyed one another.

"So, that's it then? Anything else?" Enigma wondered. "Want to put all your ships and things away now?"

The Starborn king snorted, thumping his staff hard against the floor. "I think not," he said. "My people want this war. Do you realize how much they hate you? This war has nearly unanimous approval from my kingdom. To back out of it now is to betray my own people. Therefore, Enigma, I regret to tell you that for better or worse, I'm deploying my Pokémon as planned."

The Mismagius visibly sagged in the air. "Ah… really? They all hate me?"

"Don't play coy, you filthy blight upon Ambera," Coronus growled, pointing his staff at her. "You cannot possibly be so naïve as to fail to realize just how much people dislike your decisions of the past… well, the past several centuries."

"That's… that makes me rather sad," sniffed Enigma. "Ah… perhaps I should just take back Amaranthine for myself? I could get them to like me again. I thought I could trust you Starborns to be good for me, but if you just spent all this time hating me… I don't know if I should leave you alone anymore."

"Take back Amaranthine?" Coronus growled. "Since when has it ever been yours? We've been independent since…"

Since Centauri… Centauri the boundless.

The ancestor of the Starborn.

Oh… oh no.

How have I never made this connection…?

She's right… Amaranthine must have originally belonged to the Master. But how?

"You want to know?" Enigma giggled. "Oh, that silly shield isn't doing anything, by the way. I can hear you just fine. But if you want, I can tell you the story. Here, I'll show you!"

And Enigma attacked, but Coronus felt no harm. Instead, he felt himself falling… falling intangibly through the many floors of the castle… down into the foundation… down through the dungeons… through the dirt and stone and rock… and finally stopping at an expansive subterranean cavern.

Coronus knew this cavern.

"Oh, you know about this place?" gasped Enigma. "Hmm! I wonder how."

Don't think about it. Don't think about it.

Deep within this cavern, there lay ruins. Golden bricks and pillars, tarnished by centuries of age. Magnificent slabs of pearly marble, scratched and dirtied beyond recognition. Statues of Nidoking, Scyther, and all manner of legendary birds and beasts, all broken into ten pieces each.

It was rubble. All of it. The remnants of something glorious and bright, sunken deep within the earth, its hundreds of sideways halls never to be seen again except by those unlucky enough to stumble upon it:

The old castle.

"This used to be our home, you know," Enigma explained, taking him deeper into the ruins. "The Master ruled here. And we served him, all six of us. It was happy then. Everything was happy."

Coronus produced light from his staff to lead the way. "And by happy, you mean you just brainwashed them all?"

"Oh heavens no!" Enigma shouted. "I didn't need to brainwash anyone. I used my power to give everyone good dreams. The best dreams. And I saved my very best dreams for the Master himself. The golden age of Ambera… ahh, I remember it as though it were yesterday. And then…"

She sagged downward, resting on a slab of steel.

"…The fall happened," she said sadly. "Centauri built this palace, the greatest work of art in the entire wide world! And then it just got buried, just like that… It was a pretty place! Really, it was. I could show you dreams of it if you want."

"I would decline," grunted Coronus.

"I miss them, you know…" she sighed, lifting herself back into the air. "Centauri, Lifeblood, even Aster I wish I could see again… sometimes. She was awfully annoying, but she was so useful when you wanted her to be. But after the castle sunk… Centauri's offspring stayed here and built a new castle on top of it, and the rest of us… we moved west. And that's why the Solemn Fortress is so… solemn. The solemnity is for the old days we lost… this castle… and the family we had."

Coronus struggled to comprehend what he'd been told. Pieces came together, long-forgotten and unanswered. He knew about the old castle, it was where Amadeus had first given him the time gear… but he never suspected that the Master's throne once resided here…

"That… that must be why we still, to this day, have such an affinity for human culture," Coronus said, realizing the truth. "Because…"

"The only human on Ambera lived here, yes," Enigma said kindly. "His culture became your culture. You Starborns preserved it in a way that nobody else ever would. Ah… this is making me so nostalgic, just being down here again. Can I have your kingdom back, perhaps? Pretty-please?"

Coronus turned threateningly to her, grinding his teeth. "You expect me to just hand you everything, you witch?" he shot. "The kingdom that my forefathers have built up for generations? What kind of a king would I be?"

"A smart one!" she answered. "A generous one! A kind one. The Master would want it. And besides… you could be one of my generals! Your father was a good general. You could be one too! We could be friends."

The Nidoking stepped away from the ghost, little by little, pointing the potent end of his staff in her direction. And then, in a guttural growl which nearly matched the voice of his father, he said, "I would never, under any circumstance, call you my friend."

"Aww. What about an ally?"

Coronus clutched his staff. "No. Not even an ally."

"Um… acquaintance?"

"See here, you witch," Coronus roared. "I would rather die than associate positively with you in any regard. You, you alone, are the bane of my very existence. You were always the one to kill Char. You were always the one to kill Saura. You were always the one to rout out the resistance bases just as I was getting somewhere. You… can be nothing other than my deepest enemy."

"I have no idea who Char and Saura are," Enigma said with a weirded-out face. "Are you sure you don't have me confused with someone else?"

She drifted in a semicircle around him, awaiting an answer that did not come. "Ah, so I guess… we go to war now?" she said meekly.

"We do," Coronus declared.

"Ah, alright, I guess I can deal with that," Enigma sighed. "But… before we go to war, Starborn… tell me one thing… why?"

"Why what?"

"Why… everything?" Enigma begged in earnest. "Why all this? Why all you? Why all the hate for me? I'm not a bad Pokémon. I'm just… a Pokémon trying to do what her human wanted of her. I'm only trying to make my human happy. But then again… maybe you'll never understand what that feels like, doing everything for a human… wanting to make a human happy…"

Coronus felt as though all the thorns on his body were digging into his own flesh. How many things, how very many things he wanted to say to her in that moment… How much he wanted to let her into his mind, show her everything… Everything she'd caused, everything she'd broken

But it did not matter. Nothing mattered. There was no future.

There was only now.

"En garde, you filthy witch," he finally said, thrusting the tip of his staff directly at her face and charging it with power.

"Ahh… ah well. I thought we could be friends, but I guess I was wrong," Enigma sighed. "So sad. More bloodshed it is, then, I guess…"

Rather than attacking, Enigma floated deeper into the ruins.

"Where are you going?!" Coronus demanded.

"Oh, to get help," she called back. "I think I'd like to borrow another Starborn. He's buried down here, you know… and I'm almost scared to wake him up, but I might not win the war without him. So…"

And she drifted down into the darkness, until Coronus could no longer see her.

Moments later, the ground began to shake. Earthquake. Colossal magnitude. Coronus rushed for the way out. The rumbling only intensified, and he knew the entire cavern would collapse, spelling doom for him.

It was not ten steps out of the cave, emerging into the drainage system beneath Amaranthine's streets, that he felt the world fall apart. There was an unfathomably large explosion. The ground rocked so violently that Coronus stumbled to the ground, smearing rubble into his robes. Even still, he crawled on his hands and knees and pressed on, determined to survive the imminent collapse. He refused to be buried beneath his very home as nothing more than a mangled corpse.

He could feel the rocks pressing into his palms as struggled through the underground, but he paid it hardly any mind. He only moved forward as his heart hammered in his chest and his blood rang in his ears.

When he surfaced, he found himself in the midst of a terrible apocalypse.

He watched Amaranthine's castle fracture with a harrowing rumble before tearing itself into four jagged pieces. He watched entire buildings fly into the air as the ground shook beneath them.

From the ground, he appeared. A violet monstrosity of nature, a living mountain-The ancient Nidoking, Centauri the Boundless.

He was a hulking behemoth, easily towering over the greatest spectacles Amaranthine had constructed. He cleared entire districts with a sweep of his tail. He created mile-deep craters wherever he stepped. His roar shook the very air with a deafening thunder.

And from his maw, crimson meteors rained from the sky, leaving not a brick upon the streets untouched. Buildings toppled, orange fire flared and devoured, a cacophony of muffled screams echoed through the burning streets, all underneath a storm of ash.

Coronus fled. He deserted his fallen kingdom, putting as much distance between himself and the wild, raging Nidoking god as all of his muscles and spells could provide.

For that's what he truly was – a god. They were all gods, all six of the eternal truths. This much, Coronus knew about them – they once belonged to the Master as his personal Pokémon team. There were six of them, merely because the Master wore a belt which only held six Poké balls, as was custom for humans. These six were somehow granted immortality, and each with a unique power – and it was with these six godlike Pokémon that the Master had enslaved all of Ambera.

Coronus had encountered all of them during his travels… all, that is, except Centauri the Boundless, the very ancestor of the Starborn line. Centauri was said to be sleeping somewhere forever. Coronus never suspected it would be underneath his own castle. But it made too much sense, after the fact – it was too poetic that the very architect of the old castle would be buried deep within it.

He also knew the reason Centauri had been put to sleep: he had gone absolutely mad. He raised mountains and shattered lands in feral fury. Several of the mountain ranges of Zerferia were said to have been the result of the age-old battles to contain him.

Just when Coronus had reached the northern boundary of his kingdom, after dodging the falling fireballs and chunks of architecture raining all around him, Enigma appeared again.

"That was easy. I can tell you didn't think we'd attack from the north! Silly you. There was a huge field there and everything. You really should provide more of a challenge next time."

Coronus lunged at her in a blind rage, roaring his anguish. She effortlessly backed away, but kept talking.

"Well! That was a fun little war, but I think I won," she said with a gleeful smile. "I think I'm going to borrow good old Centauri for a while – I'm the only one who can keep him under control, after all. Meanwhile, do try to clean up the mess we've all made today, alright? It might take a few generations, but I'm sure you can rebuild. After all, I have all the time in the world."

His mind snapped pieces into place. Huge field. North.

No.

Coronus ran northward, nearly on all fours, to the Pleasant Grounds. He heard Enigma bid him a polite goodbye in her infernally irritating voice, piercing through even the roaring sounds of destruction as Centauri the Boundless played in his kingdom as though it were a sandbox.

Upon reaching the Pleasant Grounds, he found that his five friends had waited for him, just as he'd asked. In fact, they waited for him unto the very end. They lay dead in the bloody grass, half-sunken into the gouges left by a large army of enemy foot soldiers who'd trampled through.

The fires of Amaranthine roared on, the smoke filling the sky and bringing dusk amidst the daylight. But Coronus paid no attention to the grand spectacle. Gently, he bent down to caress the corpses, as though to show them a final measure of respect. The Scyther… the Absol… the Ivysaur… the Raichu…

And finally, the Charizard.

Somehow, his corpse looked so peaceful, as though resting from centuries of struggle. Jealousy burned in his chest for his own measure of relief. He wondered if the Charizard was finally happy.

…Except it was not. None of them were happy. Because none of them had souls to pass forth into the afterlives. They were false catalysts. Fake Pokémon. Illusions that reality had conjured up just for him, just because he was there to see them.

It was true. In the end… there was nothing.

The Redeemer did not know how many tears he shed over each one of their bodies. He did not count how long he stayed there, clinging to the last semblance of these Pokémon he would ever have. He stayed as long as he felt that he needed.

And then he stood up, turned around, cast them one final, longing glance… and left them behind.

Or so he tried. After having taken no more than two steps, a familiar voice sounded to his ears.

"Going somewhere, Coronus?"

He spun around once more, only to find the Charizard alive and well, standing proud and unharmed in the bloody grass.

"H-how…" Coronus blurted, staggering in surprise. "Amadeus! How did you survive?! I saw you just now, your fire was out…"

The Charizard shrugged. "Since this is a discontinued timeline, I didn't see anything wrong with breaking some rules."

Coronus staggered. "How… did you know about the discontinuity?"

Amadeus gave a warm grin. "I've seen the timelines with my own eyes. And I knew, my Redeemer, the moment I bestowed upon you the time gear, that a timeline exactly like this one would crop up. I knew you would need your respite. And therefore… I've put some contingency plans into this incarnation of myself."

"Like… retaining your memories," Coronus realized. "You… you've retained your memories?"

"That I have," said Amadeus.

"You never had amnesia? You knew all along what was going on?!"

"That I did," he said with a wry smile. "And beyond that… I've entered this timeline with you, Coronus. You and Charon were never alone. I was here as well. I was the third soul keeping this timeline in existence."

"You…" Coronus breathed, staggering forward again. "You mean to tell me… You are not a husk, nor a copy, but the true Amadeus?"

The Charizard grinned ear-to-ear. "You finally understand," he said. "I am Amadeus in all but my human body."

Coronus warily approached the figure, vaguely wondering if the sun was coming out from behind the ash clouds, or if the fires were dying down; it seemed that everything was fading into the distance.

"If you were Amadeus… why did you allow me to do all of this?!" Coronus cried. "I spat in your face! I defied your will! I shunned you! Why didn't you stop me?!"

Amadeus once again shrugged. "Because I believe you needed the catharsis," he said. "Even now, you are resentful that I've erased my human self, becoming fully and truly the Charmander. I suppose I wanted to help you learn to let go."

Coronus snapped.

"Let go? LET GO?!" he roared, throwing his spellcasting staff at the Charizard's feet in fury. "YOU wanted to lecture ME on LEARNING TO LET GO?! Can you fathom how many times I've had to let go?! All the broken and wasted timelines? All times I've fallen just short of the Astral Throne, only to be intercepted by Enigma? ALL THE TIMES I'VE WATCHED YOU DIE?! I'm TIRED of letting go. I'm TIRED of all this pointless agony, this futile existence you've placed upon me."

Coronus turned to watch his burning kingdom. Somehow, it was getting harder to see.

"I'm done," Coronus spat. "I'm done being your Redeemer. I don't want to help you anymore."

And he stood there. Stood and stewed in hatred. Stood and watched the silhouette of Centauri trounce around… or was that just an ash cloud?

Amadeus walked to his side.

"Except that's not true," the Charizard said softly. "You've just shown me that you want exactly what I want."

"What are you talking about?!" demanded the Nidoking.

"What am I talking about? Everything," chuckled the Charizard. "Look at everything you've accomplished in this timeline. Look at how hard you worked to kidnap Adron from the Adrellos right out from under Enigma's grasp. Look at how much effort you took to erase Aether's memories. Look at it all, Coronus… all of this you've done. All to give us a life of peace and comfort. All to give us a brief reprieve."

"Brief, yes," Coronus spat. "What of it?"

"It's as I said, my Redeemer," Amadeus replied. "Though it may lie in ruin now, the mere memory of the accomplishment is enough. You accomplished this, Coronus. You built this world with your own claws and your own blood and poison and tears. It was not perfect. It was not always right. And it might not have lasted as long as you wanted. But it was yours. Your will was done here… your will that six Pokémon, seven including yourself, deserved something more from life. And that… is an accomplishment to be proud of."

Coronus suddenly found himself wrapped in the Charizard's embrace.

Warmth. It was warm, so very warm. He returned the embrace, resting his eyes against the Charizard's neck. It was all he needed at that moment. It was all he ever wished to feel. The warmth.

"What I want is the same," Amadeus said, holding the Nidoking ever tighter. "I have seen the timeline, and I have seen a great many Pokémon who have been wronged by fate itself. And I realized that I wanted to make a change. I want to bring peace, my Redeemer. But instead of bringing peace to only seven Pokémon, as you have, I wish to bring peace to all of Ambera. The good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the empire and the resistance and all the Pokémon in between… all of it. Everything that Ambera is. That is what I wish to save. Do you understand?"

"I… I do," Coronus said, crying again. "I… believe I do."

When Coronus finally lifted his head, the surroundings had grown brighter. The sun was shining especially strong for such a winter day.

"Would you… would you at least tell me what you've planned, perhaps?" Coronus begged the Charizard. "If I am to be such an integral part of your plan… then what is the plan?"

Amadeus offered a sad smile. "I cannot tell you, because if I did, it would have too much of an impact on your actions, and since you are effectively immortal, you would keep your memories forever, and it would be irreparable," he told Coronus. "But if you would like… I suppose I could tell you a facet of my plan. Namely, what I am planning to do, not how."

"If you would, yes," Coronus replied.

"It was never my intention to dethrone the Master, or indeed his Queen Enigma," Amadeus admitted. "They are only tangential to my plan, in a way that the Executioner understands. But my true plan… My true plan is to repair the mystery dungeons. Because if they are allowed to continue growing…"

"All of Ambera would be swallowed," Coronus realized. "Destroyed."

The human nodded proudly at him.

"You understand now," Amadeus said. "You understand what is at stake, and what I am attempting to do."

"Yes, I… I suppose I do," Coronus muttered, fighting a bout of nervous laughter.

Coronus felt the Charizard take his hand, turn it upright, and open his claw. He felt the Charizard place something in his palm. He glanced down at it.

The time gear. Still filled with the dragon's own warmth.

"And you understand now, the importance of a future."

"I do," said Coronus again.

As the surrounding reality faded out of existence, the two Pokémon shared one long, final embrace. Soon, the two of them were standing in a white void. The void between timelines.

Coronus bent down, collecting the walking staff still resting at the feet of Amadeus.

He looked at his blue garment, already shredded from escaping the underground avalanche. He looked at the tiny time gear, once again pulsing with warmth, the warmth of hope and potential

And at last, he turned around, finding Charon already waiting at his side.

"Ready to try this again, old friend?" Charon asked quietly.

He gave a long, strained laugh. "I am never ready," he sighed, hanging his head. "Yet… I will do what I must. Because I cannot let the story simply end here. Without the future… the past and present are nothing."

"Your Majesty," regarded Amadeus, with a little bow. "And I will never forget what we've done together, here in this discontinuity. Somehow, I will make certain that Char sees these memories. Somehow… in whatever imperfect way I can manage… I will be with you again. I promise this."

"Thank you," Coronus replied, the tatters of his robe flying in his wake as he turned.

And then the Redeemer vanished into the ether, his ghostly companion close at his side.


For the Discontinued arc, I'd like to give the most special thanks to Khronokrator/Khrysophylax, the creator of Coronus;

ShadowVulpi, my beta-reader and motivator;

UnholyPens, for introducing me to a PMD chatroom where I've met several other writers;

JA-Punkster, whose artwork of Amaranthine's destruction was the driving inspiration for part 4;

And most of all, you, the dedicated reader - whether you've been with Silver Resistance for ten years, or have just discovered it today... know that it is you for whom my fire burns.

Let's keep the fire alive just a little while longer. The story cannot end here!

I hope to see you again for season 6.

*Chapter 98*: Chapter 71: The New Team

o

Season VI: Wish

Chapter 71

Iron Town – Municipal District

How long had it been since Saura had done this? When was the last time he needed to get up so early, practically at the moment the Watchers receded, to get started on some important task? Some… mission?

He didn't remember, but it still felt too familiar. The training was still so natural and ingrained. And his dreams always ended the same way – with an old mantra about a fire that would never die, right before he'd pop awake at the first sliver of dawnlight, his mind already racing with all the focus and discipline of a reliable team leader.

And that was good, because if he had woken up just a minute later than he did that day…

Well, he didn't want to think about it. Apparently when it came to governmental stuff, there was no such thing as getting started too early.

Saura glanced ruefully at the crowds of Pokémon lined up behind him for what seemed like miles. When he arrived at the office that morning, there were already fifty Pokémon in line. But then, after waiting for an hour (during which time the line barely even budged), there were at least a thousand gathered behind him, all with some kind of business or grievance which they hoped to settle with the empire through legal and official means.

And to think only a fraction of these guys call on the resistance teams for help, Saura thought silently. Maybe a lot of them don't know the resistance teams even exist?

"Sauraaaaa! How much longer do you think we'll be here?" whined Saurlee, rolling pitiably onto her side. "I feel like we've been waiting for two years! When's the line going to move? I'm hungry! Can we get breakfast yet?"

"We're staying here as long as it takes to get some help," Saura firmly told her. "The Nidoking said that our family is in danger, and I really don't know what else to do."

Except for maybe one other thing, he thought quietly. I could always send a job request to the Gold Division… but I don't even know what we're up against, and I have nothing to pay them with, anyway. But the Master protects his nature preserves by force of law, so I hope they can do something for us. I really do.

"Really it should be Father who's standing in line," Saurvor muttered by her side. "But somehow I don't think he'd believe us if we told him we've been visited by a time-traveler who's bringing prophecies of our doom. And even then, it'd take him days to lumber all the way here… by that time we'd probably be all dead anyway."

"So then why did you want me to come?" Saurlee asked with a head-tilt. "How am I supposed to help?"

Saura bowed his head as he answered. "Because I need a team. I can't do this alone. If I'm going to try to save our family from whatever the Redeemer tried to warn us about… I need some Pokémon who I know I can trust. So we've got to stick together, the three of us, okay? At least until this is over with and we know we're safe."

It's what I'm used to, he silently told himself, staring at the far-off plateau wall at the edge of Iron Town.

Saurvor shrugged. "My guild is going to hate me for this, but I'm with you. This is a family emergency, as far as I'm concerned. More important."

"Me too," added Saurlee. "We're a team! I'll do whatever you need!"

Saura's heart leaped as the line moved, allowing him a few steps forward. "We're going to need a team name," he quickly considered. "Having a team name makes us more focused and efficient. So what should we call ourselves?"

Saurvor looked like he didn't understand the logic, but he responded anyway. "Since we're protecting our family… maybe Thorns of Grayleaf? Does that sound strong enough?"

"…Team Grayleaf," Saura decided. "Dad is the one who promised to protect us, but I guess he can't protect us this time. We'll have to step up for him."

And if protecting our family means we have to stand in line for six hours, fine. Because I'm not going to stop until I know that we're safe.


"Documents, please," said the strange, smarmy Pokémon standing atop the service counter, something that looked like a pointy red goblin with long black hair.

Wow, that's a Pokémon I've never seen before in my life, Saura said to himself when he finally stepped into the service booth. What even is that? It looks like something from down south…

"Nyyyeh, documents!" it said again, its voice already sounding just as annoyed as it sounded annoying. "No fair to anyone holdin' up the line!"

"Sorry… what documents? I didn't know we had to bring any documents," Saurvor said. "I didn't see any other Pokémon with any – "

"Whatever. What's your business?" it screeched.

Saura was quick to collect his thoughts. "I, uh, I'm – we're from the Grayleaf Reserve! The new one, the one next to Purevine Village? Used to be called the Tiny Plains? We were here because we needed to… request backup. I mean… can you station some guards there to protect us for a few days?"

The goblin-thing slapped down some papers onto the table. "You'll need to fill out form theta-thirty-five, request for inquiry. And form theta-thirty-seven, declaration of inquiry. And form theta-thirty-eight, statement of declaration of inquiry. And form theta-thirty-nine, acknowledgment of statement of declaration of inquiry. And form beta-forty-three, declaration of rightful ownership or tenancy, and beta-forty-five, declaration of loss. And form beta-two-beta, description of expected threat – "

"W-wait, hold on a moment… did you say declaration of loss?" Saurvor coughed. "We haven't lost anything… yet. Are you saying we need to have lost something… in order to request help… to protect the thing… that was already lost?"

"A-and what, description of expected threat?!" Saura chimed in. "We don't even know what's going to happen… we don't have anything to describe…"

"So let me get this straight," said the goblin Pokémon, rubbing its forehead beneath its long hair. "You haven't lost anything, you don't know what you're in danger of losing, and you don't know what you're in danger of?"

Saura and his siblings stood speechless, but it only lasted a moment before the Pokémon official raised his voice.

"So I'm assuming you missed the giant sign we have out front, saying 'please ensure you are familiar with all relevant laws before attempting inquiries of mediation'?"

"…Yes, I'm afraid we did," Saurvor admitted. "Doesn't help that we stood in line for five hours before we even got close enough to see it."

"Whelp, you've ain't got no case to make. Can't help you. How about when you've read the laws and you've signed the appropriate paperwork, you come back through the line again? Bye."

Saura tried, "But where do we even get the paperw– "

"I said bye, leafygreen."

As he left the booth, Saura heard the Pokémon mumble under his breath. "I swear, half you midwesterners can't even read…"

Once outside, Saura grit his teeth, glancing forlornly at the standing crowd that was now wrapped around an entire city block.

He winced as a sudden icy breeze struck him in the face, reminding him that autumn wouldn't last forever.

"Well, that was a big giant nothing salad," sighed Saurvor. "What now, brother?"

The Bulbasaur pawed at the ground. "Well, at least we know the Master isn't going to be of any help," he grumbled. "Guess I shouldn't have tried siding with the enemy in the first place. Ah. Now, we go with the second plan."

"Are you going to try bringing back your friends?" Saurlee wondered. "The Charmander and everyone?"

Saura nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to send a message to Team Ember. Maybe they can help. Or maybe they can send someone who can. Ah, I didn't think I'd have to contact them again so soon…"

Saurlee tilted her head. "Why are you sad about it? You can see your friends again."

Saura quickly replied, "Not sad, Saurlee. Just… worried. I'm… worried that… if the Master catches me siding with the resistance again, they'll revoke dad's preservation status or something. Or maybe they're keeping an eye on me and they'll be ready to catch my friends as soon as I meet with them. I've got to be really careful now."

He glanced again at the giant plateau at the edge of town, always looming so tall no matter how far away it seemed. "So we can't use the mail system. But I think I have an idea. I know of a place we could probably get back in contact with the resistance division…"

Saura smirked. "The Cliffside Academy. Saurlee… what would you say about… enrolling in the winter term? Maybe we should take that goblin's suggestion. Maybe we should take some reading lessons."


Division Base

"The uh… Pidgey. The Pidgey. The Pidgey… ate… the tree…? By the nose? No. The Pidgey stood on the tree and ate with his nose. No. The Pidgey stood next to the tree. And smelled. With his nose. And ate – ah. Forget it."

"…Impressive, Char," Eva dryly said. "Not a single word was correct. Not even close. The sentence says, 'I would like to go fishing.'"

Char rested his forehead down on the desk. With some long and deep breaths, he resisted the urge to shred the pages of the textbook. After half a minute of careful meditation, he felt his inner ember subsiding, draining away most of the rage.

"Eva, I'm not making any progress," Char sighed. "Why can't I make any progress? I learned the Resistance Creed. Why can't I learn to read footprints?"

Char felt the Espeon brush against his side. The touch of her fur was always very soothing. "Frankly, your case is something Ambera has rarely ever seen before, if at all," she replied simply. "Most Pokémon grow up reading footprints with no exposure to Unown scripts. And humans never visit Ambera, unless apparently if they're put in the body of a Pokémon first. If you start young, the rest comes naturally."

"I am young," Char grunted at himself. "I'm not even a Charmeleon yet. Do Pokémon who come to Ambera from overseas have this much trouble learning to read?"

Eva telekinetically closed the book and cuddled close against Char, looking him in the eyes. "Well… If I might admit something, I've been through all this before. I was a Pokémon from overseas. I only knew Unown back then, and it was a long struggle before I mastered anything to do with the footprint glyphs."

He met her gaze, and was almost frightened by the powerful fortitude behind it.

"Human. You will learn this. I promise. I'll make sure you do."

But we're out of time, Char wanted to say. High Intelligence wants me to take a literacy test in just two weeks. Maybe if I had a few years…!

Did you hear me, Human? Eva said into his mind. Do you understand what I said? You will learn. Don't think you can just retreat into your daydreams to be miserable by yourself. Not when I'm here.

But how can you promise something when we barely have any time?

There's something different I think I'd like to try, Eva said. How about this: let's put reading aside for now. Today, let's focus on the team tryouts. Come tomorrow, you can send the new members out to do the jobs, and we can spend the rest of the day here. Just you and I.

Char made an awkward chuckle, remembering how Eva suggested reading lessons to take his mind off the team trials in the first place. He stared for a moment at the blue-bound textbook on the table, whose title, he was told, read "Basic Grammar for Beginners" – and he still had no idea how the footprints matched with the grammar sounds in any way, or which Pokémon's footprints half of them were supposed to even resemble. He knew the footprint glyphs had different meanings and sounds depending on how they were rotated or flipped, and it was a nightmare for his tiny lizard-brain to comprehend.

Now the team tryouts were a challenge of their own. Out of the twenty Pokémon he'd interviewed, he'd promised… how many were there? Twelve? Thirteen? He'd promised more than half of them the chance to prove themselves in a surprise mission meant to test their teamwork and ability. They were such a diverse group of Pokémon, all with different strengths and advantages and levels of experience, each which, as far as he was concerned, seemed a great fit for Team Ember.

But, as he discussed with the others… they only wanted four. They'd have to reject all the rest.

(And he wasn't counting Tallie. She decided to skip over the entire interview process, so Char felt it fair that she wouldn't steal a spot from one of the legitimate applicants.)

But could he do that? Could he decide which teammates he wanted, after only just one mission? And it's not like he could draw out the process any longer – the job board outside their door was filling by the day!

Eva said, Although you will have the final say in things, you won't be alone in making these decisions. That's what your team is for.

"Right," said Char, climbing down from the worktable. "I'm not too worried, to be honest. I think we'll all make the right decisions together…"

Char stepped out into his main hallway, noticing for the first time in a while just how empty it always felt. It was a suite meant for the elitist of elite teams, like Scythe's or Prince's teams… one meant to accommodate a hardworking and reliable machine of a resistance team. And not only so, but a team who chose to have more members than most. He noticed that many of the Gold Division's star teams kept themselves small – usually three or four – but this was a place meant for something greater still, a team many times larger, and thus, harder to keep functional unless all the members had a close understanding with one another – Like Flamewheel, who had dwelled in these very rooms some decades in the past.

How elegant it all was. How bright and fire-type. How it still glimmered with the flames of ghost-torches and the shiny golden-steel candlesticks and bright red furnishings and carpets – all which happened to remain reasonably clean and unchanged since Team Stripes and Team Remorse had cleaned and rebuilt the place just for them.

Up the hall he peered. Down the hall. Only a haunting silence settled over everything – even the yellow ghost torches made no sounds as they all faintly wobbled and flickered every now and again. Tallie and Ray were out running an easy mission. Otto was in evolution therapy, still trying to adjust to his new body. Soon they would all return, chasing away the feeling of emptiness. But for now, he could almost see and feel the memories of Team Flamewheel animated within these halls, all busy planning and working on their big, important jobs.

He took note of all the closed doors, some of which had hardly ever been opened since he moved in. Fourteen bedrooms, he had at his disposal. And that didn't count the meeting room, where he just came from, or the office room, or the supply closet, or a few other of the side-rooms he never found much of a use for. And it also didn't count the master bedroom, which proved to accommodate five Pokémon at once.

He swallowed hard, knowing it wasn't going to be empty for much longer. He hoped it wouldn't prove as chaotic as the lower-level training teams, or the cafeteria two hours after sun-up.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but… we could almost hire them all," Char said to himself, appraising the place. "Thirteen applicants. Five of us. Six if Saura comes back. So if we put five beds in the master room, like we had it before Saura left… we'd have enough room to give all thirteen of them a place to stay. And I'd almost want to do that... we'd get the bulletin board cleared off very quick that way. But I don't know if my brain can handle managing a team that big. I only just learned how to manage a team of five. And Tallie's the only other real leader-type here."

He glanced back to the attentive Espeon who hung onto his every word with the sparkle of sunlight always in her eyes. He touched his chin as he thought for a moment, and said, "If we had more co-leaders, we maybe could have made this work. Maybe. I kind of wish Marrow would have stayed. Any ideas?"

"Yes, I think I have one," said Eva with friendly smile. "Maybe the interview can last longer than a single mission. Hear me out: you could hire them all as apprentice members, watch how they work with us over the next few weeks, and fire them as you see fit until you whittle them down to four. Or not, if they prove reliable."

"Hmm, I don't think the team would like this," Char considered. "We agreed on four. Also, we can't just borrow all these Pokémon away from their teams for two weeks! What if we fire them, would they even be able to go back? Saura's already costing us a lot as a ghost member, and I'm considering just dropping him already. I wouldn't want to do that to all those teams for two whole weeks."

"There are ways to make it work," Eva said with a swivel of her tail. "Hire them as contractors, perhaps. You would have to pay them for their time. That way, the interview becomes their job for the next few weeks, and they'd be serving their original teams, technically. When you fire them, their contract is over, and things go back to normal."

Char shrugged and walked towards the front door. "It makes sense… but it still doesn't solve the problem of leadership," he replied. "I'll have to talk it over with Ray and Tallie and Otto when they come back…"

But when Char opened the door, he found… not three, but four Pokémon standing right outside. The first was a Raichu with his paw raised, about to have knocked on the door.

"Oh! Hey, Char!" he said with some surprise. "We would have been back half an hour ago, but Team Remorse caught us in the hall, and… we've got some news for you."

The Raichu pointed at the Pokémon standing next to Tallie: A very familiar Umbreon.

"Hey there," said Raon with a sly grin. "Nice to see you, Char. I come to you bringing orders straight from the big bug: turns out I'm your mentor for the week! I bet we're going to have some real fun."

The Umbreon only grinned brighter, nearly a sneer, as he noticed the Espeon staring blankly at him. Eva said nothing, but Char could feel the jumble of conflicted and dumbfounded thoughts coming from her.

"Eva. I remember you. I was starting to think you ran off," Raon said, sounding unfazed. "What's with that look you're giving me?"

Eva turned her head in a huff. "Can't do anything to me now, I'm afraid," she said flippantly. "So it doesn't matter what Scythe may have told you about me. Now I'm rightfully registered to Char's team."

"On the contrary, that means I can do quite a lot to you," grinned the Umbreon. "Like boss you around. Which is what I'm planning on doing all week. Do you like night missions? I certainly hope so, because that's my specialty."

Night mission…? That's actually perfect, Char realized. I think I know how we can give all the tryouts at once, without technically making our teams too big…

Char stepped in front of Raon, quickly breaking the tension between the Eons. "Sounds good! But I'm curious: did Marrow tell you what our plans are for today?"

"Not one bit," said Raon. "But whatever it is, I'm tagging along now."

"Today, we're hiring new team members!" Ray explained. "Think you can handle ten of us at once? Because that's how big our team's about to get!"

"Well… about that," said Char pensively. "I was thinking… want to hire more than just four? Or maybe… turn this into a temporary apprenticeship, instead of just a single tryout?"

Ray looked surprised more than anything. Tallie looked slightly displeased. Otto looked blank (and Char still couldn't get used to seeing him as a Pidgeotto.) Overall, favorable responses.

"I thought we decided on four because we can only lead four," Tallie replied flatly. "How do you expect to keep a whole kindergarten of Pokémon children in line? Because I'm not doing it. The training teams can barely do it."

"I thought you could do anything?" teased Eva.

Tallie ruffled her feathers and replied, "Oh! Well! If we're putting things that way… yes. Yes I can. But this is my first time leading anything, so I'm going to need some practice before you can expect me to work miracles!" And with a flare of her wings she added, "Also, I can do it, but I don't have to like it!"

"Well, it seems now we have a Pokémon here who can help keep the newcomers in line," said Char. "And maybe train our leadership skills while we're at it. How about that, Raon? We'll even let you come to the tryouts and give your input on who we recruit. And… I think it could involve a night mission."

"I'll be honest, that sounds more interesting than what I had planned," Raon said with a shrug. "But this doesn't mean you're getting out of my training. I told Scythe I'm going to teach you how to fight the Watchers. That alone is going to double your productivity. Not to mention your survival rate. Okay, what's with that look on your face, Char?"

Char thought he'd contained his evil little smile, but Raon was too perceptive. "You'll see. I hope," he said mysteriously.


So there they were, all thirteen applicants, right on time. All dutifully waiting in the lobby near the south-eastern to Iron Town. They were all chattering to one another, not noticing Char as he approached. In just a moment, they would all see him, snap to silent attention, and then… things would need to be different.

The fire inside Char flickered with a strange cocktail of emotions. He knew that, starting now, he'd have to assume the role of the leader for the new recruits. He could never let that image falter, not for the entire duration of this tryout.

But he remembered that he was a different kind of leader now. The thief mission had taught him something important. Leading a team wasn't about being right all the time, or memorizing everything, or always talking loudly and confidently. He was done relying on his ego to fuel his flame.

That was lesson one, and that was over with. It was time to do things a better way.

He learned that leading a team wasn't about winning, obsessing over success. It was about being a servant. It was about trusting in your teammates, doing whatever it would take to make sure that nothing stands in their way. And if you've chosen the right teammates, understood their talents, and assigned them to the right positions… the team would be strong, and victory would come.

Time to see if I can choose the right teammates, he told himself.

At the front of the row was Leo the Shinx from Team Stripes. Char was familiar with this Pokémon, as they'd crossed paths several times before, both on and outside of missions. Such a spirited, ambitious little kitty he was, always overjoyed to work his hardest! Almost like Ray, except extra energetic! And with that cute little high-pitched voice that always made Char want to give him a hug every time he spoke.

Maybe it's the nature of all electric-types to be so bouncy, Char considered. We'd get along well, I think, but now it's time to see if I can rely on him to do his job.

Next, standing close beside the Shinx, was Evan the Eevee, also from Team Stripes. A pleasant and dutiful little fellow, he always seemed. Char knew he secretly wanted to be a Vaporeon (if Eva was to be believed), but he never admitted to it for some reason.

I can't judge an Eevee by who they will be later, Char told himself. That's unfair. That's like judging a Zangoose based only on their rivalry with Seviper. I have to judge Evan based on who he is now. Because, whether I realize it or not, his evolution is only going to be an extension of who he is now. It's always going to be Evan. It's up to me to learn who Evan is and what he can do.

Speaking of Zangoose, Char noticed Zachel standing near the back of the group, acting all shifty, as though trying to listen in on other conversations. Char was already familiar with Zachel – gruff, quiet, down-to-earth, adept as a bag-holder thanks to Team Carrier, and probably had some impressive battling skills she could show off. That is, if she could be kept from crossing paths with a certain snake from Team X.

I see someone reliable when I look at her, Char thought. Reliable and strong. Willing to do her job. And we do need more bag carriers if we want to split the team for multiple missions. I don't know if she'd get along well with everyone, but I like the idea of working with her. I have a weird feeling she could make good friends with Otto.

Speaking of Otto, the fourth Pokémon in line was an old friend of his: a Pidgey named Brace, all ready to graduate from Team Silverwing. He seemed like a plain and unremarkable little bird, but Char knew he was more than that – he knew that birds needed flocks, and would grow stronger as the flock grows larger. Alongside Char's other two birds, Brace might show his true nature in the role of an avian soldier, the same way that Otto and Tallie often did.

Three birds. Three professional birds in our service, all experts at the signs and signals and everything, Char imagined. Or… two, if Otto isn't ready to battle yet. Well, I mean, if Otto can't battle yet, having a spare bird around is just what we might need.

Standing farthest behind the crowd was Kerzek the Sableye from Team Cog. Quite a deadpan creature, stuck at her duties on her current team and bored beyond her limits. She seemed preoccupied with staring at the nearest wall. Char wondered if she were staring through the wall, possibly at some other ghost. He knew Team Cog was the large ghost-team who kept all the energy-magic flowing throughout the base. They kept the ghost-torches running, the memory-wipes at the entryways working, and most importantly, the force-barriers which kept ghosts from entering the base through any wall they wanted.

Eva telepathically answered Char's question before he asked it. She noticed a ghost-torch flickering wrong, she informed him. That's all. She seems distracted by such things.

Isn't she a dark-type? How did you read her mind? Char asked.

Who says I read her mind? Eva returned. I've told you before, I rely on body-language as much as mind-reading.

Oh, my mistake, you must have read her expressionless gemstone eyes, Char teased.

I've brushed with Team Cog before, multiple times, Eva reassured. They are obsessed with all the faults and glitches in the ghost-tech. All perfectionists.

So… A meticulous, hyper-obsessive perfectionist, willing to do boring things as long as she gets to see the sunlight every once in a while… Char wondered. And someone who can wall-phase without a mobile scarf! How does that sound as a teammate? I wouldn't mind someone like her.

Hire her at your own risk, master, Eva said. I cannot be of much help with any dark-types.

Char noticed it when Eva cast a nervous glance at Raon, then at Asunder.

Asunder – the little Poochyena from Team Stripes. Char had to admit there was something he just liked about the fuzzy little guy. He seemed to have the energy of Leo, but the patience of Otto. There was a smile on his face and a dark-fire of loyalty in his eyes. Oh, but he was so young! Was he ready to graduate? Or did he need more training on Team Stripes?

I certainly see a heart in him, Char thought. I just have to wonder if he could be trusted with important tasks. I guess that's what the tryout is for.

Char only just noticed that nearly half the applicants were quadrupeds! It could pose a problem if we just hire quadrupeds, Char realized. We need some more teammates with actual hands, too. At least Saura had vines. Do any of these guys have something like Saura's vines? I wonder.

Another of the four-legged Pokémon, sitting somewhat next to his Stripes teammates, was Zona the Vulpix. Char had very high expectations set on this particular Pokémon. If Zona and Ray and the rest of Team Stripes were to be believed, Zona boasted an incredible power – a hidden power, as it was called, of the psychic-type. He claimed that he could use this power to chase the Watchers away.

I'll believe it when I see it, Char decided. That's what the night mission is for. I want to see if Zona can do what he claims. Because if he can… I'm hiring him, simple as that. Especially since he can use the Frozen Flame too. Then – heheh – we'd have no use for Raon's night-hunting lessons, I guess!

Gemstone, from Team Chasm, was a shiny Pokémon – a girl Nidoran with boy colors. Char found that pretty fitting, because she already seemed like a tomboy, always braggy and overconfident about her powers and seemed willing to pick fights with anyone who disagreed. But was her self-confidence deserved? Team Chasm held very high expectations, and she was the daughter of the famous and powerful Nidoroch of Team Remorse…

This one, I'm fairly confident I can deal with, Eva bragged, nearly as cocky as the Nidoran. I know this personality type. I dare you, master. Hire her. Give me two days and I'll have her perfectly walking in line.

We'll see. Maybe we need her confidence, Char considered. I won't judge just yet.

Pah. You have enough confidence from your firebird over there, scoffed Eva. At least her aptitude is deserving of her pride, something I am not ashamed to admit. But that rabbit is just a show-off child. She won't be useful until she's tamed.

The final quadruped in the crowd was a Skitty who called himself Dragonbane. He came from a team called Team Slayers – Dragonslayers, obviously – and envisioned himself as the world's greatest dragon slayer, despite Skitty having no natural powers to counter them with. It was a silly yet infectious kind of optimism, reminding Char of the determination of one certain Furret to become a world-class thief – determination that had ultimately served her well.

Does team Slayer even have any other members? Eva wondered. I'm not sure I recall them on the rosters. I'll have to ask them about Rufus later.

Rufus?

There was a burst of shame from Eva. My apologies. You were not supposed to hear that name. That is Dragonbane's true name, which, as far as I can tell, he's never told anyone. If you'd like, I can erase it from your memory later.

Lyre the Mawile, another recruit from Team Chasm, was a confusing one even to Eva. She spoke her sentences all roundabout, and her silent thoughts were not much different. When asked her name, she'd replied "Lyre is what you need. Call on the expert." When asked about her experience on Team Chasm, her reply was "All I will say. I was very fortunate in the last one. Destructive."

Destructive, we like that, Eva had told Char. I've got a hunch with this one. Trust me here. Bring her to the tryout.

Scarlet the Quilava was from Team Shadeling. She was a graduate of Team Stripes, and Ray had met her once or twice. Despite Team Shadeling being a solid and respectable mid-tier team, she jumped at the chance to abandon them for Team Ember. She was very shy, yet very pleasant and well-mannered to speak with, and Char was quite pleased at the prospect of another teammate who could use the Frozen Flame… but it turned out there was a reason for her behavior. She was absolutely, terribly smitten with Char. She admitted so in front of all of Team Stripes before Ray even joined Team Ember.

I mean, she looks competent enough, Char considered. Seems like she'd follow orders just fine… I wish I wouldn't have invited her, though.

That mere comment got a very pleased mind-wave from Eva. The Espeon, obviously, was highly protective of her master, and doubly obviously, just as smitten with him. With no offense to the hopeful Quilava, Char saw no way that adding her to the team could end well… and yet he still had the strangest feeling that he would be foolish to disregard her so quickly.

Give her a chance, grumbled Eva begrudgingly, bowing to her master's will. But one. Just one. And if she gives one single, solitary indication that she's emotionally compromised by you… she's absolutely gone.

Then there was Nincada. Just Nincada, as he wanted to be called. And that was fine; some Pokémon just didn't like having nicknames. He applied to Team Ember because he badly wanted to escape Team Spider – a team crawling with bugs. Somehow, he'd grown absolutely sick and disgusted with bugs, always being surrounded by them, and wanted to feel like he was worth more than just a silent, mindless drone in a swarm of bugs. Though overwhelmingly shy and perhaps a little insecure about his powers, Char liked him quite a lot, and only wanted a good excuse to add him to the team.

And lastly, there was the Hoothoot named Glower, another potential graduate from Team Silverwing. She boasted some incredible claims – that she was the most patient Pokémon in the world, and that she was an expert at blending in with the feral birds, so much that even the Watchers couldn't tell she was civilized. She claimed she could keep watch-duty for eighteen days straight if she was so instructed – no eating, drinking, or blinking.

I'm sensing a split-personality with this one, Eva warned. I think… she doesn't just act like a feral. I think she can actually turn into one. I don't know how, but… her memories are quite vivid. I've never seen such vivid memories of… nothing… before. She watches nothing, and she remembers all of it.

Those don't sound like terribly bad traits to have, Char considered. With a memory like that, it would be like having Seviper on our team. I just hope she's easier to talk with than Otto used to be, when he first came back from the daycare…

And that was all of them. All thirteen potential new recruits for Team Ember. So many potential new friends. Potential new team assets. But also potential mistakes, burdens, and problems.

And it was going to be Char's job to tell the difference. Of course he had the valuable input from Tallie, Ray, Otto, and especially Eva… but Char knew he, alone, would always have the final say.

"Squwaaaak! Hey, you! Recruits! Hup-hup, at attention!" Tallie called. All the Pokémon stopped in mid-sentence and stood still.

Char took a long, simmering breath, then stepped away from his teammates to address the interviewees.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he said proudly. "You're right on time. We like that. So… I suppose today's the day we'll find out who joins Team Ember, won't we?"

"OOOOH ME! PICK ME!" loudly shouted the little Shinx. "Hey, Ray! Hi! You're going to pick me, right?"

A deadly glare from the nearby Talonflame, and Leo was silent again.

"Now… originally, we only wanted four of you," explained Char. "But after some consideration… I think we've underestimated the urgency of our situation. High Intelligence is giving us some tight deadlines, Team Remorse is still training us hard…" – he motioned at Raon – "And right now we've got more than forty jobs posted on our board. We need as much help as we can get, as fast as we can get it."

There was a noticeable wince from several of the recruits – especially the flustered Quilava, the rambunctious Shinx, and the purple Nidoran. The rest watched silently and expectantly. Even the most deadpanned of them, like Kerzek and Glower, clearly waited in suspense.

"So… therefore…"

Char sighed whimsically, then watched for the delicious reactions he knew would come in response to his next words:

"Everyone is hired."

The crowd exploded in confusion. Repeated cries of "What?!" and "Wow, really?!" sounded from half of them. Several toppled to the ground in surprise.

Char didn't forget to check the reactions of his own team. Tallie gave a very nervous glare, as though terrified of something and trying desperately to hide it. Ray looked just as shocked as all of his former Stripes teammates. Eva had a deliciously evil grin, and Otto stared more blankly than ever.

"Now! Everyone!" Shouted Char, somehow cutting through the cacophony of Pokémon cries he'd caused. "As of now, you're all on Team Ember. And as our new recruits, here's your mission: you have two days to stay on Team Ember. We're about to all have an overnight field trip, where we'll be doing a very special task. I'll have you all signed as temporary apprenticeships – "

"That is impossible," said Otto suddenly, "unless we register Team Ember as an official training team. But such process takes nearly three years."

"Shh! Whatever! We'll think of something," Char awkwardly laughed, quickly reassuring everyone. "But the point is… whoever's still on the team when we come back tomorrow… you're here to stay! Got that? So if you're all well-behaved and you all prove that you can work quickly and reliably on the difficult tasks I'm about to give you… there's a chance you'll all be living in our hall tomorrow! That would be awesome, wouldn't it? But we're also not going to go easy on you. You'll split into four teams: I'll lead one, Tallie will lead one, Raon will lead one, and you'll have to elect someone from your group to lead the rest. If you slip up and your team leader doesn't like it, you're gone. Even the one you're appointing for yourselves can fire you; I want to test their leadership skills too."

"Oof. Brutal," whispered Zachel, shifting her eyes at the other Pokémon in the group. "Okay, who here's a leader? Because none of you look like it."

"Me. I'm a leader," declared Gemstone.

"I might be able to do it," said Scarlet, nibbling nervously on her forepaws. "I mean, if nobody else wants to."

Then Char turned towards the long hall that led to the Cliffside Academy entrance, a path he and his friends had walked dozens of times.

But never with so many Pokémon in tow. He almost felt like Scythe must have felt, that long-ago day when he led such a large group of adventurers to the Etcher Ravine. He remembered Leo and Zachel being there, too. He chuckled to himself as he realized how little they'd changed. Leo still wore the same beaming grin as always, and Zachel still had her gruff-and-serious glare.

Now it was his turn to play the role Scythe played that day. Team Ember had to guide and protect them all. For as much safety came in numbers, there was just as much responsibility.

"Otto, do you want to stay behind?" Char said to the Pidgeotto. "If you think you need an extra day of rest, I can't force you to go anywhere. Maybe you can figure out all the paperwork for these guys while we're gone. You were always good with the rules."

"Thank you," Otto sighed quietly. "I'm – I am learning to fly again. Making fast progress and almost ready. I can glide and I can nearly hover. But yes, I will ensure that your training exercise is recorded correctly. And I could use the rest."

"Good! Thank you," Char said, bowing to his dutiful teammate before turning to the newcomers. "Now, as for the rest of us… I hope you're ready. We're going on a night mission."


Author's note:

Yes, after two years, it actually lives! Hope this chapter brought back a lot of memories for you, as it did for me.

I wanted to thank everyone who came to the Twitch reading of the chapter! I think that was the most fun I've ever had on a stream before. I think I might do that on a regular basis with all my new chapters, so I invite anyone reading this to come join next time. I won't link to my Twitch channel here because that'd be against the site rules, but it's easy enough to find if you're looking for it.

Also, seeing that DA is pretty much dead, I won't be posting there very often anymore. So if you want to check on my status or ask me questions, you can join my Discord server, which is linked on my Twitch page.

See you next update! I look forward to providing you a very eventful and entertaining season 6.

*Chapter 99*: Chapter 72: Among Us

o

Chapter 72

In the quarters of Team Remorse, the front door slid open to reveal a very weary Marowak.

"H-heya? Anyone around?" Marrow called, dragging his bone-club along the floor. "I uh… I got halfway to the canyon and I realized I brought the wrong club…"

An odd silence hung in the air as Marrow trudged further inside. He didn't know what to expect when he returned to the team hall at such an hour, but he wasn't expecting total emptiness. Someone was always supposed to be home. Someone always answered the door. Even if just one teammate stayed back, or rarely, if they hired someone to stand guard at the door, Team Remorse never left their halls unguarded – especially unguarded and unlocked.

Clack. Marrow jumped halfway out of his helmet as the door slid shut. Of course, it was meant to do that. But it made Marrow realize that he'd gotten a bit nervous. Something didn't sit right.

Almost hesitantly, he approached the door to his bedroom where he kept most of his clubs. Along the way, he glanced at the bedrooms to his left and to his right. Most were open, but a few were shut. Did his teammate fall asleep on duty? Surely, there had to be some reason nobody answered the door…

"Um… let's see here," he considered, glancing at the nearest doors. "Brock, Craw, Raptor were with me when I headed back. Daemon, Shander, Markov are already at the canyon. Kyria… Maybe she's at lunch? Rocky and Ursa… supply-hunting in town, I think. Scythe… might be in his room? But he would have heard me. Not like he'd be asleep or anything. Peh, probably around the base somewhere like he always is."

He gave himself a hidden little grin as he peeked at the door just across the hall from his own.

"And I know exactly where you are at the moment," he chuckled to himself.

But when Marrow turned to push open the door to his room, the one behind him burst open.

He jumped and brandished his weapon for a moment, but turned to see a familiar face standing behind him.

"Ah, scared 'ya, didn't I?" Raon said evilly. "Hah! One of these days I'm going to spook that helmet right off."

Marrow thanked all the gods that his helmet was still on. It hid the face of abject shock he wore.

"Heya," said Marrow casually, straightening himself and propping himself up with the club. "Yeah, I won't lie. Ya got me. Say there, have you seen Scythe? Or… Kyria, for that matter? I think they were supposed to stay back today. But I'm not seein' any traces of either of 'em."

"Oh, ah! They're at lunch," Raon said, peering at the door. "But! I'm holding things down here. Hah ah, thought you'd be at the canyon by now, yourself."

Marrow squinted and approached the Umbreon by a few steps.

"Wrong club," Marrow said, skillfully flipping it around in his hand. "This one's for smackin' brains out, useless for leverin' rocks around. Any idea when they'll be back? I have half a mind to stay and talk with Scythe. Had questions about what we're doin' next at Ingrain."

Raon tilted his head. "Hm, I think I know where I can find Scythe. If you give me a moment, I'll go find him."

Marrow stepped forward again. "Actually…"

THUNK. The end of Marrow's club hit the floor right before Raon's face, blocking him from going anywhere. Frightened confusion flashed in the Umbreon's eyes.

"…There's a few things I think I'd like to ask you, too," Marrow said with a final swagger. "For one, weren't you supposed to be with Team Ember today?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Raon said cooly.

"Y'know… that meeting we had yesterday? You were there? The one where Scythe says it was your turn?"

Raon blinked. "Oh… yeah, I remember now. Well actually, their mission isn't for another few hours, so I just browsed the job listings for a bit. I thought maybe I could find them a good training job. Then Scythe caught me near the door and told me to come back here and watch the room for a minute."

"Nah. Scythe didn't catch ya, slimy rodent. I did." The Marowak twirled his club with a single hand, smacking Raon to the ground and pinning him down with the brunt of the bone.

"For one, Team Ember is not doing a job right now. They did their job this morning. Now they've got some kind of team tryouts going on, where Char made up the mission all by himself," Marrow grunted accusingly, prodding the bone deeper into the Umbreon's ribs. "For another thing… heh, heh… I just passed them in the hall on the way back. And you were there. Care to explain how you're in two places at once? Arceus almighty, you're probably a spy for Cepheus, aren'tcha? Is that how he's staying ten steps ahead of us? Are you the spy, or is the other one the spy? Or are you both in on this?"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" shouted the Umbreon, flailing with his paws. "Alright, you got me. Happy? I'll tell you everything I know, but we do this behind closed doors."

"Ah yeah? So nobody can hear me scream, you mean?" Marrow said forcefully. "Why should I trust you to lock me inside a room?"

"Listen. Marrow. You can trust me," begged the Umbreon. "I'm not the one you should be distrusting…! I… ah, fine. I'll show you why."

And with that, the form of the Umbreon melted into a blue-diamond light, which reformed into…

…A very familiar Mew.

Now Marrow actually dropped his club and stepped back in wonderment. "…Domo," he breathed in disbelief. "Ah, now I know why you've been absent from the dojo for so long! What in the blistering blazes are you doing?! How long have you been impersonating Raon?"

"…Behind closed doors, please," the Mew whispered. "I'll tell you everything I know."

Blankly and unquestioningly, Marrow followed the tiny floating Pokémon into his friend's room. A burst of telekinesis quickly slammed the door shut behind them.

"I actually haven't impersonated Raon before," sheepishly admitted the Mew, floating around the room and stopping to rest on a countertop. "Mostly… it's been Flamewheel members. I've spent a bit of time as Prince lately. But listen. The reason I'm here…"

Domo looked honestly reluctant to say it. "Promise not to tell the other teammates about this? I really can't afford for them to know about any of this."

"That'll depend on the reason," Marrow sighed, leaning against his club again.

The Mew shivered, nervously floating from one countertop to another. "First of all, this was Prince's idea. He came and asked me to spy on Scythe. When Flamewheel joined the Basin Canyon project just recently, Prince says Scythe wasn't acting right, so he asked me to use my transformations and keep an eye on him."

Marrow felt his blood harden to stone. "So… I wasn't the only one who noticed," he uttered. "Well I mean… not one of us hasn't noticed Scythe actin' a bit funny since the mission up north. But me, I was startin' to think it went a bit deeper than that. Not that I like distrusting my boss, but… what if…"

"What if it's not your boss?" Domo finished for him. "Yes, actually. As a shapeshifter myself, I can say he's been showing exactly the kind of behavior that a shapeshifter makes when pretending to be someone else. It's very possible… Scythe isn't Scythe."

There was an uncomfortable moment of quiet as Marrow let the implication sink in.

"Ahhh, yeah, that crossed my mind once," Marrow said blankly. "I thought it too crazy a notion to be true. What would he be, then? A Ditto? And how'd he get in the base to start with? What with all our checkpoints and security and the ghosts in all the walls?"

"…I've got no proof of it yet, but at this point, I think Zoroark is the best possibility," said Domo in a lower voice. "It's difficult for my Mew to get into his head, so it could very well be a dark-type. Aside from that… could be a Ditto. Could be a magic item we don't understand. Worst case, could be another Mew. But given the timing and the circumstances, I find it very likely this is a spy for Cepheus. Oh, and that isn't all, either…"

Domo's huge eyes shifted suspiciously at the walls, as though keeping watch for eavesdropping ghosts.

"…I don't think Scythe is the only imposter," he whispered. "He's got an accomplice. I'm certain of it. Someone else on Team Remorse or Team Flamewheel is helping him. It's the only way he could have gotten so far."

Marrow nervously twitched. "Well then… should I go discuss this with Prince? If Scythe isn't even here, we've got to stick together about this."

"No, not yet, please," begged the Mew. "If Prince finds out I leaked the secret, he'll kill me. Just… act normally for now. We can't let the imposters know we're onto them. I've already contacted High Intelligence and Xatu says to stay the course."

"Right," said Marrow with a nod. "Yeah, the old policy. You find a trap, you spring it. But uh… I don't like this. The settlement's coming up too soon. If Cepheus has a spy in here… there isn't a lot we can do. There's no time."

"Marrow, nobody likes this," Domo replied. "But we've got to treat this delicately if we don't want a bloodbath in the division base. The spy might not even be working for Cepheus. Could be Adiel. Could be someone else."

"Would certainly explain how Adiel got a message to Team Ember," hummed Marrow. "Also would explain why Xatu says we can't leave Char on his own yet. Hm."

The Marowak paced around the floor, bouncing his club on his shoulder. Even through the mask, Domo could see how uncomfortable he was.

Marrow turned to the Mew quite suddenly and said, "Alright then. Erase my memory."

"Huh? What?" Domo squeaked, swiveling his tail in the air.

"You heard me. Erase my memory of this conversation," Marrow demanded. "I know you can. Mew is one of the most powerful psychics on Earth. Look, it's the only way I'm gonna act natural about this. And it's the only way I'm gonna be of any use at the canyon. I'll need to fight at top-form when Cepheus shows up, and I can't do that if I know we've been sabotaged from the start. And besides, if you and Prince and Xatu are all dealing with this problem, it sounds like things are in good hands. Nothing further I can really offer. And no sense having Prince killin' you for spillin' the secret either. So? Just send me on my way, if you will. I was just here to swap out my club for a different one. All you gotta do is put me back in front of my room and this never happened."

Domo looked sad and uncomfortable at the request. "Well… I'm not good at doing that. I haven't erased any memories in… well, decades. But if it's only the last ten minutes… I could try."

"I'd appreciate it," grunted Marrow, looking at the floor. "And I wish you well. I'll be counting on you, even if I'm unaware of it."

"Fine. Sit down," Domo instructed. "Sit down and shut your eyes…"


Cliffside Academy

Later that afternoon, most of the elementary classes had ended for the day. Char had no trouble finding an empty classroom to borrow. His group of seventeen Pokémon filed their way inside as though beginning an early-evening class session.

Char didn't often visit the actual classrooms of the academy. He always found something slightly uncomfortable about them – perhaps they were too different and alien compared to the classrooms he knew from the human world, and he didn't feel like he belonged there. The prominence of footprint glyphs all over the signs and posters didn't help with his confidence, either. (When it came to reading, he knew he probably belonged back in the nursery.)

This one he picked was very small; it had nothing like a chalkboard at the front, no podiums or tables or anything that looked like a teacher's desk. It only had a green circular carpet which was very rough to the touch, some tiny supply shelves around the perimeter, and something in back that looked like a giant roll of poster-paper. The walls were all painted to make the room look like a bright spring day. Char figured that he must have picked an art room.

"Time to pick our teams," Char declared once everyone was settled in a lazy circle. "We're supposed to be keeping our teams at four or less, so we'll need to split into our groups before we enter Iron Town."

Tallie interjected, "Question! How do you expect us to pick our teams if we don't even know what our jobs are? You haven't exactly told anyone what we're doing. I don't know what kind of workforce I'll need!"

"We'll get to that," Char said. "But first, before we pick our teams, we'll need to pick our guest leader. So… can any of you tell me some qualities of a good leader?"

"Experience!" quickly chirped Brace, the little Pidgey. "I think a leader needs to know what they're doing."

"Confidence," added Gemstone, the little Nidoran. "Doesn't make a difference how much experience you got, unless everyone else knows about it."

"Eh, I think a leader should take responsibility," Zachel said, glaring at all the Pokémon around her. "A leader needs to admit when they made a mistake. Not blame it on the whole team."

"A leader needs to be clear about their expectations," grumbled Kerzek the Sableye, ironically speaking too low to easily be heard. "Tell you what you're supposed to be doing, not just assume you'll read their mind. And not lie to your face and say you're doing great, and then just fire you the next day."

"Leaders have to be persuasive!" Asunder proudly shouted. "Leaders have to make sure the team does their work, even if they don't want to!"

"I think a good leader needs empathy," Zona said with a little smile. "You need to be aware of everyone's limits and strengths. Anyone can run out of strength, and the whole team might break down."

Char peered suspiciously at the quiet Quilava in the back. "Scarlet? You showed interest in being the guest leader. So what about you, do you have an answer?"

"Oh! Uh… Selflessness, I think," she said, fretting her front claws together. "Knowing that the team and the mission are more important than you personally… otherwise it just makes a great big conflict of interest where you might abandon your team when things get bad. And there's no worse kind of leader than one who abandons the team."

Char felt an awful shudder. Surprisingly good answer, he said to himself.

Oh, really? Eva sneered. Personally, I preferred Zona's answer the most. Perhaps you are biased because it's the same as the conclusion you recently arrived at yourself?

Char decided to ignore her. "Those are all good answers," Char said, pacing around in the center of the carpet. "As for me, I'd say the most important quality of a leader is adaptability. There is no such thing as a perfect leadership style. It completely depends on the mission, the circumstances, and the Pokémon involved. You might not always know what to do next, but you should know how to use the resources you've got and figure it out. Like recently when Team Remorse needed help on a mission, they went and got Team Flamewheel's help. Or now, when I realized that Team Ember needs help, so we came and got all of you guys. See, a team is like a system. The perfect team kind of just works automatically because all the members communicate with one another and complement one another's weaknesses. The leader is in charge of maintenance; they fix and change the system when it's not working. I knew that Team Ember wouldn't work with only five members anymore, and that's why I'm changing the system.

"…And that's why I'm not going to tell you what your job is until after you've picked your teammates. I want to see how adaptable you are.

"So again, the question… who among you thinks they can lead a team of four Pokémon to accomplish something big?"

There was an immediate answer from the little purple Nidoran. "Me! I'll do it!" she said proudly.

"Whoa, whoa there," shouted Zachel over her. "Care to tell us about your credentials? I uh, see you've certainly got the confidence you were talking about, but what about all those other leadership traits? How much of those you got?"

"For your information, my dad has taught me a lot about running a team," she said curtly. "I'm the team leader all the time on Team Chasm. And I have a perfect record. Lyre can tell you!"

"Last time you fell in a hole!" Lyre snickered.

"No! That was like, last year! And it doesn't count because you still won the mission without me!" Gemstone cried. "Alright look, guys. I know I must sound like a real tryhard right now. But I know how to delegate tasks and manage time. Honest. You'll see if you give me a chance."

Char scratched his chin. "Alright… anyone else volunteer?"

"I have… experience," Scarlet said reservedly. "Quite a lot of experience… actually. I was a substitute teacher before I joined the resistance. For what it's worth."

"Look, I don't know what you're going to make us do, but I know how to fix problems and I don't take nonsense," Kerzek claimed, shaking her head. "I'd get the job done."

Char grinned. "Perfect. Then you three are going to be the logistics team," he instructed. "Gemstone, I'm going to make you the official leader of your group, but really, all three of you will need to practice leading each other. You seem like you all have very different skills, so I want to see if you can recognize who needs to be in charge under which circumstances. You'll also be in charge of coordinating things with the other teams and team leaders. And I guess Lyre can go with you, since it sounds like you've worked with one another before."

"Hah! Good, you won't regret it," Gemstone gladly asserted. "So does this mean I get to fire them if they misbehave?"

Char responded tentatively. "…Yes, it does," he said. "But only if absolutely necessary. I hope I can trust you."

"I guess we'll see, won't we?" Gemstone said, standing up straight and attempting to look down at her two new teammates, despite having the tiniest stature.

Can you keep an eye on them? Char silently asked Eva.

Gladly, said Eva, only giving the slightest sideways glance of acknowledgement. I'll make sure they all… stay honest. Especially that prickly little Nidoran.

Go easy on Scarlet, though, already? Char sighed. She seems more adult than most of these recruits. She doesn't really seem like she's going to cause any trouble. At least for now.

As you say, flatly replied the Espeon. But trust me, if she causes trouble… she will get what is coming to her.

Breathing deeply and keeping his ember steady, Char turned to address his teammates. "Tallie, I'm putting you in charge of security," he declared. "I think you already know who you're getting on your team."

"The Pidgey and the Hoothoot, you mean?" Tallie guessed. "Give me the Skitty, too. If we're going to be guarding something, I want ground control. He seems like a fighter."

"Fine," said Char, waving his hand. "Dragonbane. You're with Tallie. Now… Ray, your team will be in charge of supplies. I'm going to need you to go into town and shop for what we need. We're short on money, so you'll probably need to do some bartering. Show the recruits how it's done! Zachel, you can go with him. And…"

Char closed his eyes and tried not to laugh at the painfully obvious begging-eyes of a certain recruit.

"…And Leo can go with you."

"YAAAAY! Let's go, Ray!"

Zachel waved her claw to get Leo's attention, and grunted, "Hey. Indoor voices. We're in a classroom, remember? Jeeze."

"Raon can go with you," Char continued. "Since you'll probably be out the longest, he can protect you from the Watchers if you're out too late. You can do all the shopping, but otherwise, follow his lead and do what he tells you." Turning to the rest of the recruits, he added, "And that leaves Evan, Asunder, and Nincada. Ah, and Zona. All of you are coming with me. We're going to be the home-base team."

Char crossed the room, walking between the attentive group of recruits, and approached the paper supply at the back. On the shelf next to it, there stood a box of many-colored triangular rocks.

Oh… I've seen these before. Perfect. He grabbed a black rock and yanked a big chunk of paper apart from the roll. He set it on the ground as all the recruits crowded around closely to watch. There, he drew several black lines and circles. A very rudimentary map. On one of the longer lines, he wrote the numbers "418", thankful that most Amberan residents seemed to understand Unown digits just fine.

"So for the first step of our mission, I'll need everybody to meet here," Char instructed, circling a dot next to the numbers. "We'll all leave the academy fifteen minutes apart, and meet here in two hours with your teams. You'll know the destination when you see it. If not, my team will get there first and show everyone the understand what to do?"

"Ah! This is so exciting!" Ray cheered, giving Leo a big, static-sparking hug. "Look at all of us! I hope everybody makes it through the tryouts, our team is going to be so awesome! Hey! Who knows the team motto? Until the last ember fades…?"

Dead silence.

"Aww, c'mon! I've taught you the Team Ember motto before!" Ray pleaded. "Leo? Evan? You remember it, don't you? I said it a billion times! Team Stripes should know it!"

Char knowingly smiled. "Don't worry, they'll learn it," he assured the Raichu. "Just so long as they make it through the mission and get to stay on the team. They'll learn it soon enough."

"Or you could just say 'break' like normal Pokémon," Tallie sighed.

Char shrugged. "Yeah, that'll work for now. Alright, everyone! Break!"


Fairbreeze Park

Scarlet had a secret. A big one.

It wasn't just that she was infatuated with Char. No, that wasn't much of a secret anymore, at least to Team Stripes, ever since she blurted it out in a moment of confusion she'd come to regret.

Oh no, her real secret was the reason she was infatuated with Char. And that was something she didn't intend to share with anyone. Except maybe him.

Scarlet didn't even really know if she should call it infatuation. That's what Ray had called it, half-jokingly, when she confessed, and she just went along with it at the time. But infatuation wasn't exactly the right word for it.

Though, yes, he was cute. And he seemed very mature for his small stature. And strong. And she couldn't help but feel a close kinship with other fire-types. And he'd probably make quite the handsome Charizard.

But really, the feeling was something more like… a nagging. Something she needed to resolve. Something she needed to get off her chest. And with Team Ember not only calling for new recruits, but saying they would give special consideration to fire-types… it seemed like fate was trying to tell her something.

"Gemstone, this isn't the right way," sighed Kerzek. "This is nowhere near route 418. We need to be at least ten city-blocks to the west."

"With any due respect, when it comes to directions, I think you should trust the Pokémon who hasn't spent their whole life inside of walls," replied the smug little Nidoran.

"I've spent my life inside of walls, and yet I still know this isn't the right way," muttered the Sableye. "So what does that say about your sense of direction?"

"Oh, be quiet. I'm the team leader. We're doing things my way," Gemstone insisted.

Scarlet decided to speak up. "That's fine, as long as you accept the blame if we show up late," she said sternly. "Don't get the rest of us fired just because you made a mistake. This is the wrong direction, by the way."

Gemstone dug her feet into the ground and turned around. "Alright look, I know where route 418 is! I've lived here as long as dad has, okay? But Char told us we need to stagger our departures so we won't look suspicious. So it's better if we arrive from a different direction." She shook her head and continued on. "Just because I'm little doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. Sheesh. Give me a chance."

"Hmm. But Eva! What will she think?" Lyre said, sounding oddly happy.

"What about her?" Scarlet asked.

"We perform for Eva. Right now," Lyre replied. "She is among us."

"Oh is she?" Kerzek groaned glancing around at the autumn landscape of the park. "Figures Char wouldn't leave us alone. So he's got his psychic kitty spying on us. Well, you mostly. Not me. Not unless she's got ways of getting around shadowfire."

Scarlet uncomfortably bit her tongue. She knew it wasn't enough to simply never speak her secret to anyone. She also had to hide it from psychics. Thankfully, it was the first thing she learned how to do. She made sure to learn the techniques necessary to keep her dark secret just beneath the surface layers of her consciousness, keeping it muddled with other thoughts and never dwelling on it directly. And she'd kept the secret from all the mind-probes at the Gold Division base, and she was pretty sure she'd kept it from High Intelligence, too. Really, it had been easy to keep her mind off of it for most of her life.

That is, until she met Char and learned some of his secrets. Then things got much harder.

Really, she should have made her move before he started hanging out with that Espeon all the time. That possessive, over-protective Espeon. Scarlet knew exactly what was up with her. Eva wasn't even shy about it. She didn't even bother to keep it a secret that she had claimed Char. They were inseparable now. Always standing next to one another. Always walking together. And Eva was always swaggering and brushing up against him as though trying to impress him and get his attention. And Char was always doing that little head-nod and eye-sparkle at her, which obviously meant they were whispering to one another in telepathy.

Eva was making things a whole lot harder on Scarlet. She'd have to get past her somehow. She refused to let Eva know the truth before Char did.

Luckily, Scarlet didn't consider herself easy to beat. She wasn't a pushover. She just needed a little more patience. Getting herself onto Team Ember was the logical next step.

Then maybe she would have found a proper place to belong.

"Kerzek, you can phase through floors, right?" Gemstone asked suddenly, hissing under her breath.

"What kind of a question is that?" Kerzek coughed. "I was on Team Cog. How do you think I'd get any work done if I couldn't move through floors?"

"…And you can take Pokémon with you, right?" said Gemstone.

"…As long as they're touching me, yes," the Sableye replied. "Why are you asking, exactly…?"

"Good. Do it," ordered the Nidoran. "Now."

"Um… why…?"

"You heard me. Do it. Right now. With all three of us. Take us through the floor."

Kerzek hesitated for a good, solid moment. "I don't think that's a good idea," she replied. "Taking corporeals through walls is one thing, falling through floors isn't exactly the safest – "

"Trust me." Gemstone hissed quietly.

The Sableye considered her for another moment, then shrugged and did as she was instructed. She took Scarlet's paw in one hand, Lyre's giant maw in the other, and waited a moment for Gemstone to run up and pounce on her.

One disorienting flash of darkness later…

Scarlet felt herself thunk onto a sloppy, dank floor.

She heard a squeak from Lyre. "Yike! Poison points!"

"Yeah. I know. That's why I fell on you and not Scarlet, because you can't get poisoned. Scarlet, some fire please…?"

Scarlet let her heart pound for a moment, which fueled her quills and lit up the surrounding area. It was a dark and dirty tunnel, but surprisingly large. Nearly large enough for a Rhydon to burrow through, she thought.

"It's a bunny-burrow," Gemstone quickly explained. "Dad took me here when I was younger to teach me how to dig. Also, you idiot Mawile, you almost ruined it!"

"…Me?"

"Yes, you! I was trying to pretend I didn't notice Eva following us. You know, element of surprise? You didn't have to go blurt it out."

"…Curious, but how did you know she was following us?" wondered Scarlet, getting down on her all-fours to help shine her fire through the cave.

Gemstone put her nose in the air as she stepped forward to take the lead. "It was obvious," she said. "We were the only recruits who weren't assigned a senior member. And Eva was the only senior member who wasn't assigned to any recruits. Char was testing us."

"Are you sure Char wasn't just trying to keep an eye on us?" Scarlet said oddly. "For safety's sake? Like a responsible leader would?"

"Maybe, but what do you think Char would say if we couldn't even shake off a spy?" Gemstone huffed. "Some resistance team we'd be. Anyway, we should have lost her. Now follow me, and these tunnels will take us right down to Route 418. We'll get there at least thirty minutes early." She grinned back at her followers. "Trust me yet? Told you I know what I'm doing."

As Scarlet tip-toed through the chilly mud of the tunnel, there came a voice inside her head: Well-played. Char will hear about this. I'll see you at the bunker. …And then there was silence.


Grayleaf Reserve

It had been a long day of walking, waiting, more waiting, and even more walking. But it was done. The first endeavor of Team Grayleaf was a success.

Thanks to his sister's help, Saura managed to covertly send a message into the Gold Division base. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before it would reach someone who could help. Maybe it would even reach Char. But even if not, just having a single competent resistance team on his side would do wonders to relieve his worries.

Now he just had to wait for a response.

"So you said your friends just passed through there? Just an hour ago?" Saurvor wondered as they approached the edge of their homeland. "That's a real shame. I guess if the line would have been just a little shorter, we could have run into them."

"They pass through there all the time," Saura said. "That's the entrance to the base where I used to work. That Slacking usually keeps track of who enters and leaves. Apparently Char isn't even coming back tonight! Apparently he's doing an overnight mission with his entire team and didn't even say where."

"But the message is sent, right?" Saurvor said again. "That means it's going to get picked up by someone quick… right? I mean, your base doesn't lose messages a lot, do they?"

"…Not that I'm aware," Saura sighed. "I mean, accidents always happen. But their system has been pretty reliable for as long as I've been there. The upper teams were always able to contact the base whenever they needed…"

The siblings continued down the trail in uncomfortable silence. The night was falling, the shadows of the trees were lengthening, and the darkness was approaching. But it wasn't the threat of the Watchers that bothered Saura; he knew how to get back to his family's den with more than enough time to spare. It was the darkness of uncertainty which crept into him, getting stronger by the day.

Just knowing they'd asked for help didn't provide a lot of relief.

"Saura…?" asked the little Bulbasaur quietly. "We're not actually going to die… are we?"

"Not if I can help it," Saura grunted, forcing confidence into his voice for his sister's sake. "We're going to do everything we can to keep the family safe. I just… I wish I knew what we're up against."

"Saura… if nobody from your base comes to help us… what do we do?" Saurlee meekly asked.

"I… I don't know," Saura grumbled forlornly. "I'll sleep on it and think of something by tomorrow. I just… I wish I knew what we were up against, exactly. All we know is that it's something so… strange and unexpected that not even a time-traveler could figure out what causes it. But hey, I'll think of something else tonight."

"Saura…." Sniffed the little Bulbasaur girl, "I don't want everyone to die…"

The first stars of the night were starting to twinkle as Saura stopped to embrace his little sister, tenderly nuzzling his forehead against hers. "I know, Saurlee. I know. But that's why we're Team Grayleaf. We're not going to quit. Okay? Either we stop this, or we don't go down without a fight. Alright, look at me, Saurlee… I'll promise you one thing. Maybe… maybe I won't be able to protect the family. But if I can't… I'll at least protect us three. Okay? And maybe we can find that Redeemer guy again and tell him what's really going on, so he can help prevent it in a different timeline. So maybe he can save them next time."

Saura knew it didn't mean much. He really had no information to go on. Some sort of swift, silent death was coming to them all… a virus? A disease? Couldn't be, not when the Venusaur line is immune to most illness. Was it a spy? Was it another of the Master's generals, someone he'd never heard of before? Or maybe someone who didn't work for the Master at all?

Was it a natural disaster? Would they get flooded? Frozen? Torn away by a tornado? Those were all scary things, but not that difficult to survive if you knew they were coming.

Then there was the worst possibility of them all… what if one of them was the cause? What if Saurvor, Saurlee, or even Grayleaf were unwittingly the cause of their collapse? What if it was the new baby seedling? What if it was himself?

Could he really destroy his whole family on accident while trying to save them? But how was that possible, if the Redeemer hadn't told him ahead of time about the danger, yet they still died in all the other timelines?

Saura found it difficult not to be paranoid of absolutely everything. If he didn't regain control of his heart quickly, he'd begin to see red eyes and evil faces in the shadows of the trees all around him. He'd imagine the trees reaching down to strangle him. He'd imagine the rustling of the wind through the treetops was caused by malevolent ghosts plotting his doom.

And even in the waning of the sunlight, Saura thought the grass-munching Rhydon in the field were stopping to eye him suspiciously.


Thanks again to everyone who came to the Twitch reading of the chapter! (Except for certain people who made me read a certain comic. You know who you are. That was agony.)

Tentative date for the reading of Chapter 73 will be Sunday, December 13th at 7pm Central, and the update will be posted to FFnet on Tuesday, December 15th. Can I get 2 more chapters done by the end of the year? Let's find out!

*Chapter 100*: Chapter 73: Facing the Dark

o

Chapter 73

Saura didn't sleep much that night, and if he did, he didn't remember his dreams. That was probably good, because they would have been filled with ominous dark clouds trying to engulf and suffocate his family.

He paced back and forth in his corner of the den, occasionally stopping to glance over at his sleeping mother and father, and all the little seedlings cuddled around them.

"Think. Saura. Think," he whispered to himself, listening closely to the sound of his own voice in hopes that it would tell him something useful. "What's next? What can I do? I need to come up with something tonight. I promised them. What's my next step?"

He glanced the other way at Saurvor and Saurlee. They'd agreed to stick together from now on, at least until the danger passed. And that meant they all slept in the same corner of the room, too. They were a team.

"I could try convincing dad to leave the reserve," Saura whispered at nobody. "But he'd never agree to it! This is the safest place in the world to him. I know I can't change his mind about it. Ugh… I wish I would have asked more questions from that Redeemer guy when I had the chance…"

He forced his forehead against the floor as though trying to induce one of those headaches he'd spent so long trying to dispel.

"What would Char do in this situation?" he wondered. "What would Scythe do? What would Alakazam do?"

He couldn't see the den's entrance around the corner; he couldn't tell from looking whether the Watchers had come out yet. Either way, he knew that night had fallen, and that meant he couldn't get any work done safely. All he could do right now was to think.

"I know a few things," Saura considered, setting himself down. "I don't think I'm the cause of this. Or Team Grayleaf. If we were the cause of it, the problem wouldn't happen in the other timelines where I wasn't warned this danger. So I can trust myself. I guess that's something. And it's probably not the Master because he's the one who decided we were untouchable in the first place. I don't think his generals would do anything to us."

He tried to remember what he was told…

"The truth is, in the overwhelming majority of variations of the timeline I've seen, you and your family – save for Saura, of course – have perished around this time. It is rare for you to survive for even this long. Come fifteen days from now, you have always met your doom."

"Even in the timelines where you escaped from Hunter, you have still perished. Whatever is this unseen cause of your death, I suspect it is still stalking you."

"So I always survive… yeah, that makes some sense. I can't be the cause of it. Wait a minute…! How did he know that we die in the first place? If he wasn't paying attention when we died, how does he even know that we die?"

Saura leaped to his feet and rushed to the front door of the den. There, he peered at the night sky and at the silent ghosts that had risen to their nightly watch, drifting silently like clouds.

"So… whatever this is, it's secret and doesn't leave behind traces," Saura guessed. "If this were a forest fire or something that destroys the whole forest, it would have been obvious. So this must be something that shows up and just leaves us all dead."

He peered suspiciously at the ghosts who claimed the starry sky as their own.

"Is it the Watchers? Do the Watchers attack us? Does… does the Call bring them all in here? Nah, can't be. At least it can't be my Call. That wouldn't make sense unless someone else in my family has the Call. Which… Nah. Pokémon only get heartspeak if we spend time around humans… And I'm sure that nobody else here has ever met a human in their lives. At least a human who wasn't transformed. Even I haven't met one of those. …Which makes me wonder how I got the Call in the first place. Heh."

In the starlight cast through the den entrance, Saura spied a supply nook that his father used to store gardening tools. In a big cluttered pile, there lay all kinds of stuff the family would use to help keep their land looking beautiful every year. Spade-rocks, ropes, drag-rakes… He'd used most of them in his lifetime; despite his general disinterest, his father made sure he got his experience.

But now he wondered if he could use them for something other than gardening.

"We need to booby-trap the forest," Saura decided. "It's not a perfect idea… it won't help with ghosts, or birds, but… it's something we can do while we wait for help to show up… I'd start right now if I could, but we have no way of working at night…"

He trudged over to the supplies and pawed at the tangled pile of rope on the floor.

"I wonder if dad knows how to make traps… Guess I'll ask him in the morning… WAAAH!"

Saura tumbled backward in terror when he noticed a Watcher floating in the doorway.

He lay on his side for several moments only staring at the strange wispy creature, remaining motionless except for his jittering heart and panicked gasps of breath. This visitor was a singular ghost which had broken away from the swarm in the sky. It was only five feet in front of him; it couldn't possibly have come any closer without entering the den. It took the form of a Pokémon that Saura didn't recognize, something which almost looked like a jellyfish that swam in the air. Its skin was a strange reflective color; Saura couldn't tell if it was a light creature cast in shadows, or a dark creature touched by the moonlight…

And its eyes… It watched Saura with eyes of ghastly yellow and bloodshot red, blankly staring down at the frightened Bulbasaur with distant interest. Yet, it floated no closer. It refused to enter the doorway, as though an invisible barrier kept it out.

Saura knew that what he beheld wasn't even a Pokémon. Celebi had called them "newborns"; they were spirits of unborn Pokémon who should have been kept safe in Giratina's domain as they awaited a day to be incarnated. They were never supposed to exist in the physical realm without a body or an identity. Their true forms were incomprehensible to behold; it was the fabric of reality which rendered them in the forms of ghost Pokémon, something which mortals could better understand.

"W-what do you want?!" gasped Saura. "Go away…! Y-you already got me, remember? You don't need to get me again…"

As expected, the ghostly entity didn't answer, nor did it move, or even make any indication that it was listening. It bobbed slightly in the air, neither approaching nor retreating. Likewise, Saura didn't move a muscle, hypnotized by the sight of the apparition so uncomfortably close to his face.

Then, after several minutes of the strange standoff, Saura stood up.

He squinted at the creature. He watched its short, leaf-like tendrils drift in an invisible breeze. He met the creature's unblinking stare.

"Do you know how tired I am of you?" Saura hissed at it, taking a wary step forward. "Do you know what you did to me? Do you know how many dumb headaches you gave me? Kept me from helping my friends? Made me weak and cowardly and helpless when I was supposed to be helping them?"

He stepped forward again.

"And now what? You want to get in here and hurt my family?"

The ghost only drifted obliviously in place.

"Well… how about I give you a headache for once, huh?!" He growled, planting his feet down in a familiar battle stance.

He held his breath and focused some of his stored sunlight into his bulb, drawing upon its energy…

His last thoughts were "This had better work…"

Then he heard the ghost emit a strange little squeak.

The next thing he knew, the ghost was blasted away in a small flurry of razor-leaves. His razor-leaves.

It turned and tumbled as it drifted upward, back towards the treetops from which it came, until Saura lost sight of it among the rest of the swarm. And once again he found himself alone, standing in the soft beam of moonlight cast by the den's entrance.

"…That… actually worked," Saura gasped, looking down at his paws. "I… I don't know what else I expected, but… huh."

Saura had a strange thought. A sudden compulsion.

Living in the Gold Division base, the nighttime was always so far away. You'd have to walk through so many windy halls, up so many staircases, and finally through buildings or waterfall caves or whatever just to catch a glimpse of the stars… and the ghosts which haunted them. That, or you had to take an overnight mission… which Team Ember had never dared doing. The night always felt like some far-away myth, a forbidden world of the worst dangers and fears.

But not here. Here, back at home with his family, the night was only three steps away.

Of course, it had always been like that since Saura was a seedling. But he never dared to stand at the front door after the darkness fell. Father forbade it. Anyone who disobeyed got grounded to the corner for an entire day.

But now, something felt different. The forest looked so… tranquil. It beckoned him with its soft, calming wind and its refreshing autumn chill. And perhaps something more powerful, too. Some sense of adventure, perhaps. Some sense of courage.

Alone and defenseless, and in the thick of nighttime, the little Bulbasaur dared to step outside his den and beyond that invisible pane of glass, a barrier that had always kept him inside just as much as it kept the Watchers out. Now, perhaps for the first time since the night he met Char, he felt the fullness of the moonlight fall upon him. It tasted so oddly exotic and invigorating.

There were Watchers around, yes. Most were high in the sky. There were a few that drifted between the distant tree-trunks of the forest. But there were no Watchers around the front porch of Grayleaf's den. The area was clear.

There was peace.

Saura smiled softly to himself, imagining his friends standing proudly beside him.


Route 418

Earlier that day…

"So! Anyone know the first rule of fighting Watchers?"

The Umbreon waited for an answer from the Pokémon in tow.

"Don't let them touch you?" Ray wondered. "Oh trust me, Char's team knows that better than anyone!"

Raon nodded back at him. "Correct. Don't let them touch you. Now what's the second rule?"

Zachel tried to answer. "Uh… watch out for the ones that –"

"The second rule is don't let them touch you," Raon cut in. "Anyone care to venture a guess at rules three through one hundred?"

"…Don't let them touch you?" Leo tried.

The Umbreon devilishly grinned. "Sounds like you've learned the important part," he said. "The rest is mostly just details."

It was still early in the evening; there were plenty of hours, at least five or six of them, before the Watchers would become a threat. It was plenty of time for the supply team to rendezvous with Char, learn about the task they were handling, and start working on it. What that task was, or how long it would take, was anybody's guess.

Raon and his group took Route 418 into the countryside. It was a smaller, more remote road than Route 415 the road they'd taken out of Iron Town. The townsfolk were constantly passing on Route 415; there was never a private moment to discuss their confidential resistance work. Now that they were alone on this deserted countryside road, with nothing but fields of tall grass and silent forests all around, it felt safe to speak.

"Alright, all jokes aside, Watchers move in certain patterns you've got to look out for," Raon instructed, glancing vigilantly at the darkening sky. "They're like the clouds. Sometimes they're densely packed in one area. If there are too many, you just don't go that way. Simple as that. Not unless you got sol-rock or some kind of explosive option. When you go out at night, you watch for the areas with the least amount of Watchers and you go that way. If you deal with them one at a time, and hope you don't run into any of the strong ones or the crazy ones, they're easy to deal with. Just don't miss with your attacks."

Zachel glanced at her claws. "What kinds of attacks are we talking?" she asked. "Projectiles, I assume? I know a few of those. It's just the standard ghost weaknesses, right?"

Raon shook his head. "Afraid not. We don't really know why, but Watchers don't have the same weaknesses as Ghost-types. As far as we can tell, they seem to be weak to psychic energy, ghost energy, and dark energy. Aside from that, hit 'em with any elemental attacks you got, and it knocks them back most of the time. Just don't try melee. No normal-type tricks, no fighting-type tricks, no flying-type tricks. Not unless they're projectile, and even then, they don't do much. Oh, and if you absolutely have no other options…"

Raon lifted his paw, showing off a glowing set of claws.

"Charge your energy into whatever you're hitting them with. It works for one hit, and it'll protect you from the curse. That is, if you really got no other options. I know Scythe likes slashing, he can charge up those blades of his nice and bright. Ursa isn't quite bad at it himself. But you know who's the very best when it comes to fighting Watchers?" He cocked back a gleaming grin at his followers. "You're looking at it. That'd be me. That's why Scythe hired me. The Watchers are my specialty. I've proven to be the best at dodging 'em, best at navigating 'em, best at outrunning 'em, best at blasting 'em. Best night-prowler in the whole darn base, far as I'm aware. The only one I'll admit who's better than me is Aether the Absol, but she's gone and retired, not even in the base anymore."

Leo got all starry-eyed. "Wooow! Really? I didn't know!" he excitedly gasped. "Wow, Ray! You weren't kidding, were you? Team Ember really does have the best teachers!"

"Pleasure's all mine," gloated the Umbreon, his golden rings already glimmering in pride. "But there's only so much progress one can make just by talking about it. What you need most is some confidence, and that only comes when you start swatting 'em away all by yourself. But… depending on what kind of chores Char has us running… that's what tonight is for."

"Oh joy. Can't wait," Zachel said dryly. "Honestly I'm not worried so much about fighting Watchers. Do you think we'll make it back to town in time before the retailers close?"

Raon gave a mysterious chuckle. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, either," he said. "Char told us to barter, right? Well, I'll have you know I'm rather good at bartering, too."

The Zangoose scrunched her nose at the reply. "Bartering? But what does that have to do with…"

"Ah-ah! You'll see," he replied. "Just watch and learn, kiddos. We're all professionals here. We're getting the job done right, one way or another."

Raon glanced up and saw something moving. "Oh, would you look at that," he said. "With my keen eye, I spy a little bird in the sky."

It took Ray a moment to see what he meant. "Oh yeah, that's Tallie up there!" said the Raichu. "…Oh! Oh! I… Guys! Guys! I think I know where we're going! I know what this is! I just didn't recognize it because we came from the other way last time! It's this old Watcher bunker where we did our last job and caught the shadow bandit."

"…Oh. Ohh! Yeah, there's one of those out here, isn't there?" replied Raon. "Kinda forgot about it. Rocky said something about it now that I recall. Can't imagine this one has seen a lot of maintenance. If you've noticed, this isn't exactly a high-congestion road. After the old bridge fell on Route 510 a few decades ago, nobody comes this way anymore. Now they just go around and take 415 straight into the city."

Ray waved to the raptor high in the air. The silhouette-speck against the evening sky did a little bob-and-weave maneuver to affirm their presence.

"That way," said Raon, jumping impatiently off to the side of the road. "She's signaling. She wants us to come this way."

Ray squinted at Tallie and scratched his head. "Huh? She is?"

Zachel playfully tapped Ray on the back as she passed, following the Umbreon's lead."Heh. How come Raon knows more about bird signals than you?" she goaded. "Remorse doesn't even have birds on their team."

"I! Uh! She never taught us that one!" Ray tried, scampering to catch up.

Not wanting to waste any precious minutes of sunlight, the small team dashed through the shrubby fields and short-cut their way to their destination. Sure enough, there was a tiny dirt trail that ramped downward into the ground, disappearing into some kind of artificial cave. This was the entrance to the shelter which Ray expected.

"Halt! Intruders!" shouted a voice from within the tall grass. "Who are you? Why have you come here? State your purpose!"

Following the voice, the grass-stalks rustled and out popped a certain little Skitty who proceeded to glare dauntingly at them… or as dauntingly as a Skitty can possibly glare.

"Dragonbane! It's us!" Leo called to him. "Let us in!"

"Who is us? Who do you work for!" came the spirited reply.

Raon returned a glare of his own. "Alright, alright, enough kidding around," Raon sighed, trying to push past. "Daylight's waning and we've got work to do."

Surprisingly, the Skitty didn't hesitate to jump in front of the much-more-powerful Umbreon and stare menacingly.

A new voice came from above. A Hoothoot had perfectly disguised herself on a nearby tree-branch. "Dragonbane, unless you have memory loss, you would know who they are. This is the remainder of Char's group."

Dragonbane stood even taller. "Tallie told me I need to be a sentry!" he insisted. "That means I need to make sure you're not Zoruas or Dittos! So tell me who you work for and why you're here!"

Raon rolled his eyes. "We work for Char. He's holding team tryouts. We're here because he requested us to come. And we don't know what our job is, because Char hasn't told us yet. Happy?"

"Good enough," Dragonbane said. "Come on in. The rest of us are already here."

Together, they entered the dark and creepy opening in the ground and proceeded through a long, damp and smelly tunnel that nearly seemed like a sewer pipe. The three birds of the security team, plus the assertive little Skitty, brought up the rear.

And soon, all seventeen Pokémon of Char's group had arrived and were gathered together in this strange little underground chamber.


Shelter

The only light within the abandoned Watcher shelter, besides the one on the Charmander's tail, came from a fire at the center of the room. Thankfully, this one was quite big and bright. During the ploy to capture the shadow bandit, Char had to make sure the light source he used wasn't too much, both because he needed the edges of the room to remain perfectly dark, and because there wasn't anywhere for the smoke to filter out. But now, Kerzek had set a nicely-sized ghost-flame upon the remains of the bonfire; it lit up the whole gathering of Pokémon with an odd white-and-violet light without crackling or polluting the air.

After Char took roll-call and verified nobody was missing, he began explaining his plan.

"This place is an old bunker that Pokémon used to hide from the Watchers at night," said the Charmander to everyone as he stood before the fire. "As you can see, it's not in very good condition. Three of the doors to the outside have completely collapsed, the ceiling is falling in, and there's chunks of rocks and dirt all around the outside of the room. The only reason the center of the room is clean is because my team just used this place to finish one of our recent jobs. But ever since that job was over with, I couldn't stop thinking about this place. It's busted, it's smelly, it's got all sorts of rodents and bugs. But it's big, and it's in a very good location, and it's nice and private. It seems like no other Pokémon ever come here. And who could blame them? It's a dump and it's really far out of the way. But I'm thinking… maybe it doesn't have to be.

"So here's what I need for all of you to do: we're going to fix this place up and we're going to make it a secret clubhouse for Team Ember! I want all this junk out of here, I want the ceiling fixed, I want that entrance moved to the opposite side. I want a door with a nice lock on it. And maybe, if there's enough time, I want some furniture and decorations in here! All the top teams have remote bases like this, so why not us too? It'll help us store supplies and accomplish missions faster when we don't have to walk back and forth to the division base every day.

"And that's your job! You can start right away and you have until tomorrow night. Work through the night if you need to. You can't do all the work from the inside, but maybe we can learn how to fight the Watchers, too."

Char was too busy peering over at the nearby Vulpix to notice the big smile of elation on Raon's face.

"Supplies team, you are responsible for fetching everything we need from town and getting it here secretly. Security team, you're here to make sure nobody bothers us. You keep out the wild animals and warn us about intruders. Logistics team, you'll direct this whole project. You decide what we need to do and how we need to do it. And home-base team…we're the workforce. We're going to do whatever the logistics team needs. Now if everyone behaves and we all get the job done on time, we'll all go back home together and I'll welcome you all to your new rooms in Team Ember's hall! But if things go wrong… my team and I will be keeping close eye on everyone and we'll decide who stays and who doesn't. Everyone got it?"

"Pssst. Char, aren't you forgetting something?" hissed Tallie from nearby before anyone had the chance to answer.

Char's eyes lit up in realization, and so did his tail. "Oh! Right! One last thing…" he quickly said, jumping to the side and digging around in a small pile of supplies he'd brought.

From the pile, he produced a gorgeous crystal ball of pure, unblemished glass. Inside the ball, there burned a small blue tongue of fire, its mesmerizing glow glinting in the eyes of all who beheld it. As brightly as the flame burned, it burned without the slightest hint of dancing, as though eternally petrified inside of its diamond encasement. The flame also remained perfectly upright regardless of how Char rolled and turned the sphere in his claws.

The sight of this rare object, as expected, brought many gasps of awe from the recruits.

"You might be wondering why I said I'd give special consideration to fire-types," Char explained, holding the item proudly for all to admire. "This is the reason. We call this the 'frozen flame'. It's the most powerful relic Team Ember has. If you're a fire-type Pokémon and you're anywhere near this thing, you can't be hurt from anything made of rocks, or any rock-elemental attacks. You won't even feel pain. And since I think we're going to be working with a lot of rocks in this place… I think we're going to put this thing to good use."

With that, he set the beautiful sphere down between a few small stones so it wouldn't roll away.

Finally he pointed to the side and said, "Alright, I'm handing this over to the logistics team now. It's all you! Show us what you can do!"

Gemstone certainly looked skittish. She almost didn't move for a full minute. "Wow, big job," she said, gazing blankly at all the garbage and disarray around the room. "I've uh… I've never done a job this big before."

"Well, you wanted to be the leader," Kerzek told her. "So go on, fearless leader. Give us orders."

The Nidoran gulped hard and peered into the shadows behind the ghost-fire. "Um… Well for one thing, we need a lot of light. Need lanterns or something."

"Anything else, kiddo?" Raon chuckled. "The supplies team is only making one trip into town if we can help it."

"Hold on a moment, I'm thinking!" shouted the tiny leader of logistics. "We need to fix up the whole west side of the room. Isn't this your thing, Kerzek? Team Cog does all the stuff with wall architecture, right?"

"To put it mildly, yes," huffed the Sableye, walking into the shadows for a moment.

Kerzek disappeared clear into the collapsed wall. A few moments later, her head popped out from the ceiling. "Look, I don't know we're going to fix the cave-in. There aren't any strong Pokémon here. I mean muscular-strong. We need to install a support pillar. At least one of them. I don't know how you're going to get one of those all the way over here from town."

"Anything we can do?" Gemstone pleaded.

The Sableye vanished into the ceiling again and came out a minute later. "Okay, so this thing isn't as deep underground as I thought. The whole ceiling of the bunker is made of iron. It's rusted out and made a giant hole over here, that's where the surface collapsed. So I think we probably can't fix it. But we could break it down and rebuild it. If we can dig to the surface here and get rid of all the rubble, we can probably patch up the hole and cover it with dirt or gravel or something."

"So what do we need? And how long will it take?" said the Nidoran quite urgently.

"As far as supplies go," Kerzek said, "Maybe twelve skeleton bolts… a three-by-five steel beam… maybe a mobile-orb and a big bag of food so I can get some help in here… I'll be honest, I've never done something like this before, either. Maybe a crystal drill? I'd ask for some cement mix but I know you're not getting any of that. Uh… yeah. That's my best guess."

Gemstone quickly bounced over to the supply team. "Got all that?" she barked at Ray.

"Yeah! Sure! I'll remember all that!" Ray said with a nod. "I'm not sure if we can get all of that before nightfall, but we'll do our best."

"Good. Do your best, and we can do the rest in the morning. Char, I get to give you orders too, don't I?"

Char couldn't stifle a little laugh. "Yeah, what do you need?"

"Digging," she said bluntly. "You take the home-base team up to the surface and start burrowing down. Try to keep as much of the dirt on the surface-side as you can." She suddenly turned again to Ray. "Shouldn't you have been gone ten seconds ago?" she questioned. "If you say you can't get it all done before nightfall, you'd better get moving already."

Raon returned a little swagger as he turned around. "She's got a point, boys," he called. "Supply team, follow in line. We've got work to do."


Iron Town – Market District

For Ray, it didn't feel too unusual to be marching into town this late into the evening. This was, after all, the time when they'd usually be heading back to base after a hard day's work. But it felt wrong knowing that today, they weren't headed back to base at all. In fact, they even had to turn around and go back to the bunker once they were laden with supplies.

It was thrilling. And scary. Ray knew he might be walking among the Watchers this very night. But he trusted the Umbreon who so shamelessly declared himself the best Watcher-slayer in the whole Gold Division. He wasn't sure how true that claim was, exactly, but he knew that Raon was good enough to be a long-standing member of Scythe's team, and that certainly meant something.

What he really wasn't sure of, however, was how they were going to get their supplies when all the shops were closing for the night.

"See? We told you, Market Street is empty," Zachel grumbled. "Now we'll have to go back, waste a whole night, and… Oh. You've got that look in your eye again. You're planning something."

Raon kept on walking. "For those in the know, the market never truly sleeps," he said mysteriously. "Come on and follow. We still need to hurry, we're just not exactly going to be normal customers at this time of day."

"Oh! Are you talking about a black market?" Leo guessed. "Are there secret shops around here? Are you going to show us where they are?"

"Yes, in a way. You'll see," was the Umbreon's reply.

The team traveled up the long, long street. Some retailers were still packing up for the day. The passersby were clearly thinning out as the minutes passed and the sky darkened. At one point, the street lamps lit aflame, their light helping to guide the way for the townsfolk even though it wouldn't do anything to repel the Watchers.

Raon reached the very end of the street, but still kept going. He slipped down a dark and narrow alleyway, becoming invisible except for his glinting red eyes and shiny gold rings. He beckoned for the teammates to follow.

"This is going to be interesting," Zachel whispered. "A black market. Never been to one of these before. Wonder what they got for sale."

"Yeah, this is probably one of those secret places where Kecleon does his business," Ray replied, charging static into his own fur to help light the way. "We might get to see some really rare items here."

But after the first alleyway was past, there came another, and several more after that. Raon fearlessly turned corners in total darkness and led the way confidently, although Ray was beginning to wonder where they could possibly be going. There were no more public roads in sight; this was all just dark, dilapidated alleyways, many not in any better shape than the bunker they were trying to fix up. He wondered if they were headed to the industrial district.

But nope. At last, in a ray of dimming sunlight, Raon led the group out into an expansive sort of lot, all paved with sand-concrete and lined with many uniform buildings all in a row. It was impossible to tell them apart except for some tiny numbers upon the doors. He peeked out from the shadows, looked both ways, and then told everybody to run for it.

"So uh… there don't look like there are any Pokémon around here," Zachel noted. "So what's the deal with this bartering you said you'd do?"

"The only Pokémon left are guarding the perimeter of this place, and we slipped right past the fences," Raon told them, prowling around to the building's back doors. "And luckily for us… the idiots trust the guards enough that they almost never lock up for the night. Team Ember, welcome to the warehouse district."

And he pressed open a door, revealing an expansive, dark building packed with many shelves of supplies.

"Oh… and did I say 'bartering'? Oh, whoops. I actually meant burglary. This is where most of the retailers keep their spare stuff locked up, and where the industrial district ships their finished products. Everything we need is somewhere in one of these buildings."

"W…wait. Stealing? We're just going to steal stuff from the warehouse?" Leo asked oddly. "That… doesn't seem right."

Raon only chuckled, creeping farther into the ominous building. "What, are you ashamed of being a criminal? Well you picked the wrong line of work, then. We're the resistance, remember? Our very existence is criminal."

Ray was hesitant as well. "Yeah, but… uh… this all belongs to someone. This isn't the Master's stuff… it just belongs to the law-abiding citizens. Besides, won't they notice it's gone?"

"Yeah, and what would you do instead, huh? Buy all your supplies from Kecleon?" snickered the Umbreon. "Need I remind you that Kecleon is a thief? Where do you think he gets all his stuff, I wonder? You've been using stolen goods since the moment you signed up on Team Stripes. Now is not the time to suddenly grow a conscience about it."

He gleamed a bright red eye at his followers and added, "By the way… you should keep in mind that my kind weren't always called 'dark-types'. Back in the day, we were called 'evil-types'. And many of us still proudly live up to the title."

Thunk.

Something clocked Raon in the head. He immediately slumped to the floor, but seemed mostly unfazed.

"…Ow!" he mumbled, quickly scrabbling back to his feet. "What the…? Guys, there's someone else here with us… Quick, run for it. Get out of here. I'll hold them off."

But then the door shut on them, cutting off the remaining rays of sunlight and locking the team in the thick of darkness.

And then… nothing.

Ray lit himself with static, but it wasn't enough to see anything. He could only see the soft glow of Leo's fur and the brightness of the Umbreon's rings. He could only hear the frightened panting of breath, both his own and that of his companions as they all stood guard for another attack.

But another attack never came.

Eventually, Leo even shouted an echoing "Hello?" into the void, but there was no reply.

Raon paced a wary circle around the younger Pokémon. "If I had to guess… I don't think we're locked in," he hummed. "I think there were other thieves in here. I think they bolted when they saw us and shut the door behind him."

"So… we're alone?" Zachel said quietly, relaxing her battle stance. "You're the one that can see in the dark here. Do you see anything?"

"Didn't see anything," Raon reported, still casting watchful glances every which way. "I didn't even see what hit me. Could have been invisified Pokémon. It's a bit dusty in here, but I don't quite smell anything. Seems we're alone now, so let's get on with our job. I was going to suggest we split up and hunt for supplies separately, but now I think we should stay together. Ray, what were the things we needed?"

Ray still shook from the startle, but tried to compose himself and said, "Lights. That was the first thing."

"Could use some lights around here, to be honest," Zachel added. "Lanterns would be best. Or luminous orbs. Hah… must've been nice always having a Charmander around with you, wasn't it? You never had to worry about the dark."

"Yeah, we should have made Char come with us," agreed Ray. "And then, uh… we need a bunch of skeleton bolts, whatever those are."

The Umbreon nodded. "Those are screws that ghosts use to pin stuff together inside of walls. Hope that bag of yours is a big one, Zangoose."

Zachel patted her exploration bag which was strapped firmly around her shoulder. "Best one I got," she confidently said. "Thirty times bigger on the inside. Also reduces weight to a fourth."

"Good, because skeleton bolts are heavy," Raon said, prowling down the aisles of warehouse shelving.

"Don't know how we're going to fit a whole steel beam in here, though," Zachel added dryly.

Raon shrugged. "Don't worry about that. We can get steel beams anywhere. Let's focus on the bolts and drills for now… assuming there's even any here."

As Ray finally adjusted his eyes to the dark, he didn't see much of any use on the warehouse shelves. Back and forth they went, between rows and rows of shelves, yet, there were no handheld tools or useful supplies. Just giant crates and weird machines.

"Looks like this warehouse is a bust, unfortunately," sighed Raon, after their cursory search. "I think this is just industrial machine parts. But we have a few more to check. The tools we need are here in this district, I promise. But they're always switching stuff around so it's hard to tell where to find anything. Nothing left to do but check another one. Come along, then. You know you'll have to be doing this without me one day, so now's your chance to learn something."

The lights turned on.

Power flowed through the electric rods in the ceiling, illuminating the whole room. Voices could faintly be heard from the front entrance.

"Oh… oh this is bad," Raon whispered, suddenly very nervous.

The Umbreon twitched his ears for a moment, then bolted behind the nearest pile of crates, motioning for the rest to follow.

And there they hid for a minute, waiting for the lights to go out again, or any sound that would indicate how close the intruders had come, or what they were. But there was nothing. No voices, no footsteps, no hints of anything.

"In hindsight, we should have left when the other thieves attacked us," Raon quietly rued. "I bet they slipped up and got spotted by the guards. Now the guards are going to find us instead."

"Aww! We'll be framed!" Leo realized.

"I mean, we're not exactly innocent ourselves," Zachel said back. "We broke in here too."

"But we should be okay… right?" Ray wondered. "We're a strong group of Pokémon. We can probably knock them out and bolt for the exit."

"I could probably knock them out, yeah," said Raon, peering around the corner of the crate. "Depends on their typing. But we have to do this carefully. We don't know how strong they are."

After several more minutes, the intruders still hadn't shown themselves or given away their positions. Yet, the lights still didn't go out. Ray could only fidget with his tail and cast worried glances at the warehouse aisles, wondering how fast he could run if he tried his hardest.

Raon sniffed at the air. "Okay, they've got to be on the other side of the room by now," he said. "This is probably our chance to break for the exit."

But again, they didn't get very far. Raon jumped out to lead the way, but he once again was thwacked in the head by something invisible before he'd taken five steps.

And before Ray had the chance to leap out and protect him, he felt a claw close around his tail, keeping him held in place.

Ray fired a burst of static straight through his tail and into the invisible assailant, but it only caused strange arcs of electricity to leap in the air around him. He only then noticed that his friends were similarly struggling to escape some invisible hold, and that something was doing a great job of pinning Raon tightly to the ground.

"Gotcha," whispered a pleased voice into Ray's ear… one that sparked some distant recognition.

"…And that is how it is done," said another, instantly-recognizable voice.

The air warped and wobbled, and there was a purple-colored Kecleon effortlessly holding down the powerful Umbreon. A pair of green claws were holding Leo and Zachel in place. And while Ray was still reeling in the relief of knowing they'd not been in danger at all, he wondered who could be holding him prisoner…

He turned to find a very familiar Furret yanking the end of his tail. "Hi, Ray!" she squeaked. "Looks like I caught you again!"

"Okay, okay, seriously," grunted the frustrated Umbreon who'd long since given up struggling. "What was that all about, huh?! You nearly gave the kids a heart attack."

The smug purple-colored Kecleon brushed off his claws as he let the humiliated Umbreon back to his feet. "Oh, just consider it a training exercise!" he laughed. "We're here taking our new protégé out for a few lessons, and the warehouse lot is ripe pickings as always."

"The last thing we expected to encounter were rival thieves, but it was a welcome opportunity to demonstrate how we deal with them!" The green brother added. "So, what say you, Shadow Bandit? What have you learned from this?"

"That was so amazing…" gasped Fern, finally letting go of Ray's tail. "You turned on the lights so that they would hide and stop moving around. I never would have thought of that! If it were me, I'd have just stayed in the dark."

"The dark is only useful against some foes, young miss," said the shopkeeper. "Certainly not against an Umbreon."

Ray collapsed to the floor in breathless relief. "Ah. Ah! I was so ready to fight. Glad we don't have to fight yet. We still have to go out against the Watchers after all. I didn't want to waste too much energy!"

"Oh? What are you doing out so late, if I might presume to wonder?" Asked the green brother. "Anything in particular you need from these warehouses? We may be able to direct you to the correct place."

"We're rebuilding a run-down Watchers' bunker," Zachel explained. "We need construction supplies. Like skeleton bolts. Drills. Lights. Steel beams. That sort of thing."

Fern lit up instantly, and squirreled her way around the Pokémon to help Ray back to his feet. "Hey! How about we take care of it?" she offered with a great smile. "Yeah! You just tell us what you need and were we ship it to, and we'll get it there in the morning! You can wait until morning, can't you?"

"Y-yeah…! Morning should work! B…but…" Ray quickly glanced the two lizard Pokémon, but couldn't judge any sort of reaction from their faces. "We don't really have a lot of money at the moment. We couldn't pay Kecleon for all that! I was gonna have to barter stuff down to dirt-cheap but all the markets closed before we got back."

"Oh, how about I just pay for it?" Fern offered further. "You know I have more money than I know what to do with! And I really do need to repay you for what you've done. Being the Kecleons' partner is the best thing in the world, and I never would have gotten here if it wasn't for Team Ember. What do you think, Kabb, Kebb?"

"Hm! If it isn't such a monumental load of supplies you need, or such a long distance, we can arrange something, yes!" said the green brother. "…Say, this wouldn't happen to be the same bunker where we performed are little act, is it? It is the only bunker around here I would dare to call 'run-down'…"

"Yeah! Yeah, it is!" Ray excitedly answered. "Char wants us to fix that place up. That's why we're here."

"Ho, I say, we've reconstructed more than a few underground bases in our time," the green brother replied. "We'll bring everything you need! Leave it to us. We'll perform the delivery first thing in the morning! Just so long as someone's there to receive it!"

Ray smiled brightly. "Oh! Yeah, sounds like a deal to me. We're staying there all night, so we'll be there in the morning!"

The brother bowed. "Good, good! Now it would probably be best if you skedaddle your way back there before the Watchers arrive! That's a bit of a trek, isn't it? And besides, we've yet to finish our little lessons for the evening."

"Oh, and here."

The Ferret pulled something out of her supply bag and presented it to the Zangoose.

"What's this, now?" Zachel said, taking it tentatively.

"It's light! I heard you guys talking about how you needed light. So you can have my luminous orb. Don't even mention it! The brothers have hundreds of these, anyway."

With their task complete, but in a quite unexpected way, the supplies team quickly left the warehouse, sneaked back through the alleyways, and began their long walk to the new base, hoping they wouldn't encounter too many Watchers along the way. Raon, though, didn't look too thrilled with himself.

"At least you see I was right about Kecleon," he hissed as they left the city boundaries, their eyes already adjusting to the chilly darkness.

"You were right about something else too," Ray returned. "It did take bartering. I was just the one who needed to do it!"

Ray only had a singular moment to smile at his own comment before he noticed something rise out of the ground behind them…

"It has begun," Raon uttered quietly, picking up his pace. "Stick close. Very close. They usually take an hour to come out in the full swarm. We'll need to be in the bunker by then. Even the warriors who fight the Watchers for a living need to make sure they hide when the first swarm hits…"

"How come? Aren't they easier to fight right now?" Leo asked in worry.

"Because… it's like the weather. The stormclouds. You don't know where the dense swarms are going to be until they're already out. If you risk it… they could spring up all around you, and there aren't a lot of ways to get out of that…"

The Umbreon glanced at the Pokémon in tow, and his crimson eye shimmered as he noticed the Shuppet-like creature now staring at them from a dozen meters behind.

"Okay, so here's what we need to do," he said to them. "Line up in a straight line behind me. Try and follow my pawsteps exactly. And now… get ready to run."


Shelter

Char was very relieved when Raon and the three Pokémon in his care returned to the bunker. His flaring tail-flame made it difficult to hide how worried he'd been getting as the darkness turned absolute, the treetops became invisible against the clouds in the sky, and the Watchers rose to their nightly reign. It was too late for the sentries to report anything; he'd ordered Tallie and the other birds to return to cover for the night some two hours ago. He imagined the straggling teammates getting caught out on the road somewhere and surrounded by ghosts, and could only put his full faith in Raon to safely deliver his teammates to him.

Raon arrived with a surprising explosion from behind the tree-line. A pulse of dark-type energy swept the nearby Watchers away, and in its wake came the hurried procession of Pokémon into the safety of the tunnel.

"Ah! Finally! You made it!" Char cheered, casting light from his exuberant flame all across the room, as the working team of Pokémon murmured among themselves.

"Was there ever any doubt?" said the sly Umbreon. "You know I wasn't going to let your kiddos down, right?"

"Yeah, and fighting the Watchers isn't that hard after all!" said Leo. "You just have to run fast and not miss your attacks! I bet we could zap them all night, couldn't we, Ray?"

Gemstone hopped down from a large pile of dirt. "Alright, and your supplies are… where?" she questioned. "We dug half a hole, but we can't go any farther as-is. We were waiting on you."

"Oh, uh… supplies. They're coming in the morning!" Ray promised.

"But you have none right now? Nothing?" groaned the Nidoran. Then to the Umbreon, "Anyway, you were saying something about not letting us down?"

"Hey, lay off, we took care of it all," Raon said, standing up to her confrontation. "Shipments are coming in the morning. Trust me. Oh, and I do think we brought one thing… Right, Zachel?"

Zachel snagged the luminous orb from the bag, and gently tossed it toward the center of the chamber where it rolled and stopped beside the frozen flame.

"Oh… oh a light ball. It's something, I guess," said the bunny with detest. "No sense using it now, though. The rest of the work needs to be done from the outside. And I'm not going out there until the all-clear."

Char turned a pleased grin in the Umbreon's direction. "Well, since there's nothing else we can do on the bunker for now… I guess all that's left is to fight the Watchers. So… are you ready?"

Raon struck a pose. "Are you kidding? I've been ready since the moment –"

"…Actually, Raon… I wasn't talking to you," Char said with a mysterious little grin.

Raon oddly back-stepped at the comment. "…Oh…? Then who…"

He turned to find a certain meek little Vulpix approaching from his side. "I'm… as ready as I'll be, Char," he reported with a deep sigh. "So… if I show you… then I'm staying on the team… for certain?"

"That's right! You sure are," Char told him. "That's what we agreed on. Ray told me enough about you already. I know you'd make a good teammate. But this is something I need to see for myself. And that's actually why I brought us all here to a place where it's easy to fight the Watchers. I want everyone to see it, too!"

"Uh… wait, am I missing something…?" Raon said, giving a weird look at the passing fox. "Show us what? What do you want to show us, exactly? This had better not be something dangerous. The Watchers aren't something you should play around with, Char…"

"Oh, this isn't play!" said Ray. "He's going to show us how he fights the Watchers!"

"…Wait… you?" Raon stammered. "But you're so… how should I say this… small?"

"You're a bit small yourself, you doofus," said Kerzek, following behind Zona.

Raon hung his mouth open for a moment. "…Hey! Who're you calling… Hey! I'm an Eon, I'm naturally small! For your information, I'm the biggest Eon I know!"

The Umbreon wore a befuddled look as the whole room full of Pokémon filed past him and down the entrance tunnel, following the lead of Char and Zona.


At the very same time as a certain Bulbasuar hundreds of kilometers to the south-east sat at the mouth of his den and stared forlornly up at the stars, so did his old and beloved partner, the human-turned-Charmander, stand just within the door of the Watcher-bunker and behold a monstrous cloud of the ghosts blocking his view of the sky. Though so very far apart, they together prepared to face their ultimate fears of the darkness in their own separate ways, finding the courage to push back against those monsters who'd oppressed their lives and freedoms perhaps even more than the Master ever had.

And while a few razor-leaves were enough to show Saura his own inner strength, Char had an entire team to defend. He needed something a bit more… potent.

"This only works… three times in four, I think," Zona calmly told Char as the rest of the Pokémon crowded around them. "Sometimes I can't focus right. And sometimes I'm just too tired. I used to only be able to do it one-in-four times, but… I had practice."

"You feel okay now, though?" Leo asked, softly brushing a paw on Zona's back. "Think you can do it?"

"…Yeah, I can," Zona said, exuding all his confidence. "I… need to. Char needs to see this."

Ray was already giggling. "Oh, I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face…! This is so cool!" he cheered.

"Alright, honestly, you're starting to weird me out," Raon said in exasperated worry, standing near the front of the line, where the Watcher-cloud loomed ominously just a few steps in front of their faces. "What exactly are you trying to pull here, Zona?"

"…You'll see," Char only replied.

"…Yeah, I'm sure I will," said Raon, rolling his eyes. "For your information, if you all get massacred because of this, it's going to be counted as my fault, alright? I think I'm allowed to have a say in this, wouldn't you?"

"I have a… well… everyone calls it a 'hidden power'," Zona explained quietly. "Pokémon with hidden powers can have a strength with an element that isn't normally theirs. And mine is psychic-type. I think I… got it from the egg. From my mother. She had very strong psychic powers, and I think she passed them to me…"

Zona hung his head ever-so-slightly, but Leo was quick to nuzzle the little fox in the neck. "Awww…! Don't think too hard about your mother, okay? Don't let it hurt…"

"It's okay, Leo," Zona sighed. "I guess I… never explained it to you, have I?"

"Explained what?" asked Leo.

"How I make the light happen," he said simply. "I try to remember Mother and Father. They're the memories I use to focus the power. Memories of… love." He took a sharp, confident step forward. "Love can protect… Love can hurt… Sometimes it can comfort and hurt at the same time. And sometimes… it can conquer."

From the tiny Vulpix, there came a burst of light brighter than any luminous orb. It made only a soft rumble like distant thunder as it displaced surrounding air, followed by the garbled and warped sounds of what had to be the voices of the Watchers…

When it was over, Zona's eyes were still blank-white with the powerful glow of white-fire and sunlight.

And in the surrounding forest… it had become daytime.

Even knowing what to possibly expect, Char was positively stunned at this display of power. He knew that the sun hadn't suddenly risen, and time hadn't just suddenly jumped forward… yet the grass and trees outside the den were cast in something indistinguishable from raw daylight. The light only seemed to linger in the air with no source, streaming radiantly into the tunnel like rays from the morning sun.

"I can sustain this for about an hour," said Zona, still with ghastly-white eyes. "If you need to finish digging your hole, you can do that now."

Char was almost as starry-eyed as the proud little Vulpix. He could hardly fathom the mighty show of power he'd just witnessed. Such spectacular power, all from a tiny little fox…

It's almost like the Call, Char realized. This is what the Call would look like, if it were visible…

The Umbreon standing next to Char was just as floored. "I… I'm… Holy flames of Solgaleo! I've only ever seen Alakazam himself do something like this…" With a jealous snort, he added, "Okay Char, so remind me why you even need me? You seem to have a good team of your own going here… Uhh… dare I might say it, but if this kid can keep it up… that'd make him a better watcher-slayer than me. Don't tell anyone I said that, by the way…"

"…Oh, we'll still need you," Char assured him with a very pleased smile. "We won't always get to rely on Zona. Like he says, it only works three out of four times… So we need you to teach us what we should do the rest of the time."

Raon flicked his tail. "…Fair enough. But holy gods, Char. This kid was on Team Stripes this whole time? Holy gods."

And though nobody else noticed it, Char and Eva shared a sly smile with one another. Things were coming together nicely now, and they both knew it.

Soon, Char would have a larger, capable team…

A dozen reliable Pokémon who could carry out the daily mission-work for Team Ember, tackle their team's bulletin board head-on…

And that meant Char could finally focus wholeheartedly on the things that mattered most: learning to read, finding Giratina, utilizing the Call, and figuring out what part of Ambera he had wanted to change before giving up his memories and his humanity.

Maybe defeating the Master. Maybe saving the world.

And though it was wishful thinking, and he kind of wanted to hide the thoughts from Eva…

Maybe somehow, when the time came, he could still save the world with Saura at his side.

*Chapter 101*: Chapter 74: Necessary Precautions

o

Chapter 74

The digging phase went a little… too well.

Everything seemed fine at first. Combining their efforts, the capable recruits tore down the eroded section of the ceiling from the surface above. Zona's light shielded the workers from the Watcher swarm, which had come out in full force once the sunlight was completely gone.

…Then they dug into a second, previously-unnoticed patch of structural weakness, and over a third of the entire hideout caved in.

Or at least, that was the story Kerzek was giving. Scarlet certainly wasn't going to tell everyone that Gemstone was the one who panicked, thinking the job wouldn't be done before Zona's light would fade, and knocked the ceiling down with a badly-conceived "earth power" attack.

And in return for not telling anyone, Gemstone had agreed to let Scarlet give the next order for the logistics team: that everyone was to take a break, gather beneath the still-standing half of the ceiling, and get some sleep. They needed to conserve energy for morning when the construction supplies would arrive and the real work would begin. So Char assigned a cycle of night-watch shifts, and Team Ember called it a day.

Alongside Lyre and Kerzek, Scarlet served her shift under the watchful eye of the sleepless Umbreon warrior, who found this a perfect opportunity to give his Watcher-fighting lessons. An occasional Watcher would sometimes drift into the exposed half of the shelter, making itself easy target practice for the recruits.

"In many ways, it's just like any other battle," the Umbreon had told them. "The only pressure comes from knowing it's a battle where you can't make a single mistake. But you can't think about that. If you think about failure too much, your body is just going to act out the failure you're thinking about. So concentrate as you fight, focus on each decision you make. Pretend you're overconfident, but without actually being overconfident, if that makes any sense. Use projectile attacks if you can. Keep the healthy fear in the back of your mind, and just fight them to win."

Of course, this was nothing remotely new for Scarlet. She'd fireballed plenty of Watchers in her time. She knew the whole trick about "pretending you're overconfident". She even had a certain knack for teaching her skills to children, and could probably have done a better job than this Umbreon did at explaining how to protect oneself under the cover of night.

In fact, Scarlet knew more than she cared to admit. Now if only she knew how she was supposed to have a conversation with Char about it…

The Umbreon's voice echoed into Scarlet's ear as he began his lessons for Glower and Brace, the next two in line for the night watch. As she set herself down against the dusty, moldy wall of the chamber, she snuck a glance at the Charmander sleeping nearby, and to the Talonflame and Raichu who rested beside him.

Hm. Odd, Scarlet thought. The one I'm actually worried about is nowhere to be seen. I wonder if…

Don't you even think about it, said an aggressive telepathic voice.

Scarlet tore her gaze away from Char and flopped herself to the floor. She'd worry about it later. Now it was time to try following her own orders and getting rest.

But the voice in her head wouldn't even let her do that. You're not fooling anybody, Quilava, it said. I know what you're doing.

Against her better judgement, Scarlet decided to reply. I just want to talk to him, she silently sighed. Tell him something important.

Over my dead body, was the chilling response. If you have something important to say, say it out loud. I already know your secret, anyway. I read it from your mind days ago. There's really no need to keep it hidden anymore.

Scarlet replied, if you've read my mind, then you'd know that I've fallen for that trick before, and I'm not falling for it again. Sorry to disappoint. And it'll be Char's decision whether or not he wants to tell you about it.

You are smart, fussed Eva. Perhaps smart enough to have been worthy of Char, were he not already taken. But make no mistake: there is no competing with me. You cannot fathom all that I will do for him. I kindly suggest you forget about it. I would not like to see things get… ugly.

After that, Scarlet laid still for a while, listening to the quiet murmur of her own inner fire.

A fire which, after a few moments, became simmering laughter.

"Heh. Heh heh. Heh."

The Quilava grinned to herself. Fine. We'll just have to see about that, kitty.

Time to see if I've still got what it takes to be clever.


"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"HEY! EVERYONE AWAKE! BREAKTIME IS OVER!"

Fifteen Pokémon jumped awake at the sound of Tallie's full-volume mobbing call accompanied by a tiny, impatient Nidoran.

A very groggy Ray tried to clear out his ears. "Ahh! Hey! You don't have to do that!" he whined. "We're supposed to teach them how to wake up to the mantra!"

Tallie fluffed out her feathers and gave him a smug look. "I don't know… it seemed like that works much more efficiently than the mantra ever has," she chided.

"Amazing. I feel like I only slept for three hours," Zachel groaned.

Gemstone hopped around the room and nudged everyone, threatening to poke them with poison points if they didn't get on their feet in five seconds. The only Pokémon that didn't respond to the pushy little team leader was Raon, who refused to even budge after having drained every ounce of his energy on his overnight lessons. The Nidoran wisely chose not to bother him further.

"No more sleeping! Watchers are gone, it's time to get back to work!" she insisted at the top of her lungs. "See? We have visitors! Everyone! Outside, now! Get moving! Char, you 're the one who does official business. Get out there."

"Alright, alright, I'm on it," Char mumbled, crawling on all-fours until nearly at the bunker's doorstep. Then he stood up, straightened himself out, and sixteen Pokémon in various states of awareness followed behind him.

Outside, in the barely-there morning sunlight, Char beheld the Kecleon brothers unloading something from a Tauros-pulled wagon. An iron I-beam. It was so long that the brothers struggled to haul it off the wagon and staggered while carrying it over the dirt road.

Then Char noticed everything they had already unloaded.

Several equally-large I-beams. At least five blocks of lumber in varying shapes. Boxes overflowing with nuts, bolts, and nails. A tub of concrete mix. Several toolboxes with their lids open and their contents on display. A pyramid made of at least a hundred cinderblocks.

Char was supposed to conduct the business, but he found himself speechless. He panned his gaze around and the pile of supplies kept going. The whole patch of land in front of the broken-down bunker had suddenly become a fully-supplied construction yard.

He felt the tremor in the ground when the Kecleon brothers dropped the metal beam into the dirt beside the others.

"Oh! Look who it is!" said the purple brother, noticing their company. "Char! A pleasant morning to you, and to your team! Seems that you've brought many helping hands today! That's good! I think you'll be needing them!"

The green brother waved to indicate the massive supply-yard they had unloaded. "And here you are, just as promised! One full-featured, do-it-yourself remote team base! All-expenses paid, courtesy of a certain mutual furry acquaintance! Please pardon us while we unload the last one-third of the delivery."

"This… this is only two-thirds…" Char tried saying. "So… I wasn't planning to rebuild the entire bunker…!"

"Use whatever you'd like, and let us know if there's anything left to take back! We'll hire a crew to haul it away," said the purple brother.

"Uh… good, thanks," said Char. "I take it… you're not actually going to… help us use all of this?"

"Heavens, no! We deal only in supplies, not in construction!" said the green brother, setting down a wooden crate of who-knows-what. "I'm afraid you will need to find someone else to hire if you want the base built for you. We were under the impression you were building it yourself!"

Char let a nervous chuckle escape his throat. He glanced down at Gemstone, finding her in twice as much shock-and-awe as himself. Her eyes twitched between all the different piles of junk. Her ears stood on high alert, like she was trying not to flee in terror.

"Still want to be the leader?" Char asked of her.

"No. I mean… no, I not giving up on this. We're doing this. Uh. Hm. Logistics team? Any thoughts?"

"We need more hands," Scarlet muttered, looking down at her claws. "I mean that in the literal sense. We have too many paws, not enough hands. This is articulate work."

"I'm going to need more ghosts," Kerzek grunted. "No way in hollow Earth I'm plotting all the weight distribution on my own."

"Aaaa-and… and we need muscles," Gemstone decided. "Yeah. Muscles. Lots of them. Hey Char, just checking, we are allowed to hire other teams for this project, right?"

"Y-yeah, of course, if you can pay them, or get them to do you a favor," Char told her, knowing full well that his team wouldn't make any progress otherwise. "So what do you have in mind?"

Kerzek spoke up. "My turn to make some decisions," she said. "Scarlet. Take three members, run back to the Gold Division, and bring us some help."

"…Wait. Me?" Scarlet squeaked, glancing nervously back towards the bunker. "Why me?"

"Because I say so. And because you're part of the logistics team and I trust your judgment. Bring me… three ghosts. Try team Cog, I don't care. I don't care what team they're from, as long as they're ghosts and they can wall-crawl and they're willing to spend the day here. And then get me three or four Machoke. We need them to help lift all this stuff. Try Team Grindstone and Team Carrier. Take two teammates with you and do the split-up thing on the way back."

"Maybe I should just fly there? Seems like that would be faster," offered Brace.

"Uhhhhhhhhh, no," said Kerzek. "We need the lookout team to stay together and stay on guard. And we need someone to lead them back here in separate groups. So we use ground forces."

Before Char could even weigh in on any of the choices, there was a displeased voice in his head. I'm going with them, Eva decided. I'm not about to let that Quilava out of my sight. Unless, of course, you would command me otherwise, master.

Yeah, that's fine. Go with them, Char replied.

When Char announced he was sending Eva with the return team, Scarlet visibly flinched. She tried to hide her discomfort as Eva stepped towards her, swiveling her tail assertively and looking very pleased with herself.

Scarlet chose Ray and Asunder as her two other companions, and they quickly went on their way. Char gave one last mental shout to Eva, reminding her not to treat Scarlet unfairly, but got no reply.

"Now," said Kerzek, "Now what I need – "

"Hey! My turn to make the decisions!" shouted Gemstone. "Now, I want this entire bunker clear before they come back with our help, got that? All this gravel and metal. Shovel it, toss it, teleport it if that's what you do, I don't care. Char, you direct the cleaning. Tallie, take your birds back in the air."

"And me?" Kerzek sighed.

"You? You go back into the wall and check your structural integrities or whatever it is you ghosts do in walls."

"Yeah, like that did a lot of good last time," she said with a hint of accusation. "Apparently I missed a whole rotten dent in the ceiling last night. Somehow."

"Shut up or I'm going to fire you," Gemstone grunted. "Now get to work. Everyone! Get to work!"

Char wasn't left with a lot of help. Between Tallie's group who'd gone back on sentry duty, and the group that Scarlet took, Char was only left with… Leo, Zachel, Nincada, Evan, Kerzek, and Gemstone. And Lyre. And Zona. And a useless, sleeping Umbreon. It was something, but there was also a lot of rubble on the floor, so Char wasn't sure how he was supposed to have it all done by the time the reinforcements would arrive.

"I don't know if I should call it brilliant or lazy, that you give Gemstone control over the logistics team and she gives the responsibility right back to you," Zachel remarked quietly to Char. "Where I come from, that's called setting you up for failure."

Char smiled at himself. "It's fair enough," he sighed. "If I can't get the job done, I'm not sure how I would have expected her to do it either. Besides, it's a good call having the fire-types here to use the Frozen Flame."

"You're too generous to assume Gemstone thinks that far ahead," Zachel groaned. "I sure don't."

"Gemstone has very good reasons for things," Lyre said mysteriously. "You'll see."

After they carried a sleeping Raon out of the construction zone, and positioned the Frozen Flame where it wouldn't get buried, everyone got to work clearing out the rubble caused by the collapse. Char sliced the larger pieces apart with his favorite old metal-claw technique. Evan and Leo did surprisingly well in headbutting the boulders apart. Lyre chomped them apart with ease. Zachel stole some of the construction supplies and set up a pully system to help lift large rocks and loads of dirt up through the hole.

When the collapse from the previous night was about a third of the way clear, Kerzek stepped out from the wall.

"Hey. Char. I need your opinion on something," she said. "I was looking at the western wall here, and I found something concerning." She held out her ghostly claw and beckoned for Char to take it.

"What? Did you find something else that's going to collapse?" Char asked.

Kerzek waved her hand urgently. "It's difficult to describe. Better to show you," she said.

Char looked back at the teammates all still hard at work. They were in the middle of lifting some large stones with the rope and pully. He thought about telling them to wait for a moment, but figured they were doing a good enough job on their own. So he took the Sableye's hand and let her pull him into the wall.

For a moment, he felt the sickening sensation of having to hold his breath and being completely blind while inside of the solid rock, but Kerzek gave a hard yank and pulled him into a tiny hole she'd dug out. It was only large enough to accommodate about half of Char's body, but that was all she really needed.

"Okay, look, I don't have much time to tell you this," Kerzek hissed. "Scarlet wants to have a private talk with you. Without your girlfriend tagging along."

Immediate dread overcame Char, fitting for the painfully cold experience of standing inside of an underground stone. He was afraid of this whole Scarlet thing becoming an issue, especially after Eva raised such a fuss about it.

"I… think I know what this is about," Char muttered. "And I don't think that's a good idea."

"She said you'd say that," Kerzek whispered. "She says it's definitely not what you think it's about. Look, between you and me, she's not stupid. This whole thing with sending Scarlet back to the base was a diversion she came up with last night to get that cat out of the way for a moment."

Char blinked, even though it made no difference to his absolute blindness. "Good plan," he admitted. "I wouldn't have even thought of doing that. Now what?"

"She needs a time. She needs a place. You need to give them to me right now. A time. A place."

"Somewhere Eva won't follow, I take it," Char said with a small sigh. "That's tough. She rarely lets me out of her sight anymore. Or out of her mind."

"You got about thirty seconds before you run out of air in here, so be snappy about it," urged the Sableye, gripping his arm ever tighter. "You know Eva best. So this is happening on your terms. But it needs to be arranged right this moment so I can pass the info to Asunder."

…Why did Scarlet need to avoid Eva? If not for the obvious reason, then what other reasons were there? Was it really so urgent? Char wasn't sure if it was a good idea to be taking such unsolicited demands from one of his recruits who went through the trouble of manipulating the whole mission for her own sake…

I could just fire her from the team right here and now… it would solve everything, Char considered. No drama, no competition, no secrets tearing rifts in the team… Maybe I should have listened to Eva's warning in the first place.

But no. If this is something important, and Scarlet really did put this much effort into setting up a meeting, I want to give her a chance. Even if I have to fire her immediately afterwards, I'll at least she'll have her say.

"This is sudden," Char said. "But… with Eva being Eva, it probably has to be this way. Even if I were to ask nicely, I'm not sure if Eva would even respect my request to be alone with Scarlet."

Kerzek snapped her fingers. "Oh. Almost forgot. If it helps, she says you're allowed to tell Eva afterwards. But only if you decide that's a good idea."

"Alright. Alright," muttered Char. "A place. RightI know somewhere she absolutely would not follow me. Isn't there a three-sector mystery dungeon to the south-east of here?"

"Restless Plains. Got it. What sector?"

"Better make it the second one," Char decided. "I feel like Eva could still interfere if we met near the very entrance."

"And time?"

That question was harder. "Time. Um… how about tonight, after I announce the results of the mission? I want to get this over with as soon as possible. Oh. Wait. But that doesn't give Scarlet a chance to…"

A thought struck him. A sour thought, one he wasn't entirely happy with.

"Alright. I know how I can make this work," Char said ruefully. "But this had better be good. I mean it."

Kerzek yanked Char's arm and dragged him back outside the wall, where he took a huge breath of fresh air. Or as fresh as the air could be when it was filled with all the dust from all the quarry-work. His teammates had hardly noticed his absence.

"So, what do you think? Tear down the wall or keep it?" Kerzek asked.

It took Char a moment to realize what she was asking, and then he played along. "Keep it," he said. "It looks strong enough. If it falls apart, we can deal with that when it happens."

If only the same could be said about my team, Char silently added.


Grayleaf Reserve

Grayleaf, the mighty Venusaur, lumbered from his den at the beckoning of three particular children. In a proud and booming voice, he said, "About time you took an interest in something, Saura! I've been trying to get you into gardening all your life. But you were always stubborn as a Cacturne! What's changed your mind all the sudden?"

"Well dad, it's not gardening exactly," Saura croaked. "It's more like…"

"Let's say you already have a garden," quickly offered Saurvor. "And you were growing veggies. How would you go about keeping the wilds from eating them?"

Grayleaf ruffled out his petals and gave Saurvor an odd look. "Traps. You're asking how to build traps. Is that it?"

"…Yeah. That's it," admitted Saura.

"I'm not sure why you didn't just come out and say it in the first place," snorted Grayleaf. "But now I get the feeling this has nothing to do with gardening at all."

Saura pawed at the ground, choosing his words carefully, as he watched Grayleaf lumber over towards one of the supply chests. "I was thinking… what if intruders get in here? All of my sisters and… most of my brothers don't know how to fight. I just want to be able to protect them if something is going to happen."

"Nobody's getting in here with the Master guarding us, you understand that, right?" Grayleaf said. "He's got us on watch every hour of the day. And most traps can be set off by animals, cause needless harm to the local wildlife. Nevertheless…"

With his vines, the Venusaur thumped some tools onto the ground, including a rolled-up fence made of thin metal wire, a few paw-spades, some rope, several wooden stakes, and a chisel. "I'm not about to refuse my son's request for my wisdom. Not when you're the reason we're safe here in the first place. So… how about I start by teaching you how to make a pitfall trap?"

"Ohh! Like where you dig a hole and cover it with leaves?" Saurlee wondered.

"Naah, that's the novice kind. Anyone can make one of those," replied Grayleaf with a wry smile. "But Venusaur can do much, much better."

After picking out a patch of land for demonstration, Grayleaf instructed Saura and his two siblings to put the paw-spades on and start digging a hole deep enough to fit two entire Venusaur. This didn't take very long with their father's help.

"Now's the part where we get leaves, right?" guessed Saura.

"Yes… but not the kind of leaves you're thinking of," Grayleaf said. "How about you three run to the swamp and bring back some lily pads? I'll need about four medium-sized lily pads. Just watch out for Lombre. You know how to spot Lombre, right?"

"Yep! They have triangles on top," Saurlee answered.

About fifteen minutes later, that errand was finished too. Grayleaf showed his children how to tie a pair of stakes together with a strand of rope, then sink the stakes into the ground so the rope stretched across the hole a few measures beneath the mouth. Then he did the same with a second rope that crossed perpendicular to the first. And then he set the lily pads to cover the gaps.

"This is good, but it's still not quite the work of a Venusaur," Grayleaf said. "Not until we add the finishing touches."

Finally, he showed the children how to cover the tops of the lily pads not with leaves, but with the soil that they'd dug out of the ground to make the hole. He showed them how to pad down the dirt just enough so it stayed flush with the surrounding surface.

In the end, Saura stood in awe of the pitfall trap, which had no telltale signs whatsoever. It actually looked like a continuous patch of the forest floor, which was mostly kept clean thanks to the family's daily chores.

"So… what do you think?" asked Grayleaf roughly an hour after they'd begun work.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I feel like I could blink and forget where we put the hole," Saurvor said. "That's crazy."

"That's why we always, always mark the traps we set," Grayleaf instructed. He picked up a tiny twig with a sweetgum pod hanging from it, and carefully stuck it in the center of the trap like a miniature flagpole. "Now there are a number of different leaves you can use for this type of trap, like giant sycamore, but I've always preferred lily pads. They last a bit longer before they dry up and collapse. And they're very sturdy. Saurlee, want to try walking on it?"

"Nnno thanks, I'll – yeeea!" she squealed as her father strung her into the air by a vine and carefully set her down next to the sweetgum twig. She cringed for a moment, then carefully tiptoed circles around the twig, and finally tried hopping up and down. The ground beneath her paws betrayed no signs of treachery.

"See? Perfectly sturdy. The smaller critters like Pachirisu won't even know it's there. And if you want, you can even chisel some logs into spikes and put those at the bottom to make it a bit more deadly."

Saura went over all the steps in his head, making sure he remembered them. "That's amazing. Thanks, dad!" he said. "Do you know any other traps?"

"Are you joking? I know at least twenty kinds of traps," Grayleaf said. "I am not a hundred years old for nothing. All depends on what you want to know."

Saura thought for a moment. This knowledge helped, but it wasn't enough. "Can you teach us how to make a trap that works on birds? Or maybe ghosts?" he tried.

Grayleaf hummed. "I know about three kinds of traps that work on birds, and exactly one that works on ghosts, but only if you're very, very lucky."

Though Saura wanted to learn to make all the kinds of traps his father knew, there just wasn't enough time. Already, he was envisioning that by this time tomorrow, he would have no fewer than twelve pitfall traps set up all around the den.

I'll work all night if I have to, even under the Watchers, Saura promised himself. This is my family's safety we're talking about. This is a matter of life and death.

And I get the feeling that everything's resting on me right now.


Construction Site

After a long morning of hard labor by the handful of Pokémon left at the bunker, Scarlet's team returned with some helping hands just before midday. Like a good sentry, Brace reported Ray's approach approach about fifteen minutes before they arrived.

"Auuuugh!" Gemstone shouted, stomping angrily around and kicking at the rubble. "No! Too soon! We're not even close to done!"

Char only shrugged as he and Leo helped one another roll a large rock onto the makeshift pully-elevator. "I did the best I could with what I had," he said. "It's like she said: we just have too many paws and not enough hands for a job like this."

"Yeah! Well! Whose fault is that? I didn't pick the recruits!" Gemstone moaned. "Why didn't you send out a call for more useful Pokémon? What happened to your Bulbasaur friend, huh? Just having a couple of prehensile vines would have made a big difference! Ughhhhhhhhh, this is a DISASTER!"

Char crossed his arms. "Is this how you're proving yourself a good leader? By whining about things you can't change?" he said oddly.

Gemstone stopped herself in mid-rampage, and tapped her front foot against the metal floor. "Okay, okay. You're right. You said that good leaders adapt. And it may not look like it but I am a good leader. I'll show you." She looked at the floor as she paced away from Char. "Okay. We need to clear a room of rusty iron scraps and rocks and all sorts of filthy junk. And we need to do it as fast as possible, because it's going to take long enough to build the place. And we need to clean and furnish it too! How is this possible? How, how, how?"

"Can I say something?" asked a very bored Nincada who sat in the corner.

"What? If you're asking for a job, I don't have anything for you to do yet," grumbled Gemstone. "You'll just get squished by rocks. And aren't you like, halfway blind anyway?"

Nincada wiggled his antennae. "I'm a ground-type. I can get squished just fine, thank you. Bugs can harden their shells in case you don't know. Also. I can see up close as long as it's dark. Like how I can see you're frowning at me. But that has nothing to do with what I wanted to say."

"Yeah? So what is it?"

The little bug squinted as he looked up at the large hole in the ceiling. "In my opinion you should focus on the construction. Leave the furnishing part for later. If we're accepted onto Team Ember we have plenty of time for the details. This is going to be our base after all."

"Eh. Fair point. I guess you were good for something," Gemstone sighed. "So construction. Top priority. But we can't construct anything unless all this junk is out of the way. What we need is more hands. But we're not getting many more hands besides the ghosts and the Machoke. So what we really need is… more tools. Better tools. But what tools can do what we need? I'm not a tool expert. And I don't think anybody else here is…"

Gemstone hopped excitedly in place for a moment.

"Oh! Oh! Idea!" she shouted. "Kerzek! Where are you? Come here for a moment."

Kerzek dropped in from the ceiling, hanging in place like she clung to monkey bars. "Yesssss…?" she said, as though she'd been trying to avoid Gemstone for the past half hour.

"I did my homework. Ray is the item expert on Team Ember. Go and ask him what kind of items would be useful to clean out this junk," Gemstone commanded.

The Sableye frowned. "And we can't just wait for him to get here, because…?"

"Because it's going to save him some steps if he needs to turn around and go back. Get going… we're short enough on time as it is."

"Gemstone, have you ever heard the saying, 'A lack of planning on your part is not an emergency on mine?'"

"Well have you ever heard the saying 'I'm your boss and you do what I say or you're fired?' And besides, what exactly are you doing right now anyway? Sleeping?"

"GAAH. Fine." Kerzek barked. "Be right back. But don't blame me if the whole place collapses again while I'm away."

Kerzek climbed back up through the ceiling and up onto the surface. Once she found the road, Brace helped guide her in the right direction, ignoring her request to have Tallie swoop down and carry her the rest of the way. Not too far off, she encountered an approaching group led by a Raychu and Poochyena. Behind the Raichu there followed a procession of large, muscular, humanshape Pokémon.

"Oh, hi!" said Ray. "I hope we're not too late!"

The Sableye took one look at the hired help. "What are these guys? I thought I asked you to get Machoke," she flatly said.

"Oh, but I got us something better!" reassured Ray. "These are Gurdurr and Conkeldurr!"

"Never heard of 'em. Are they even from the base?"

A Gurdurr replied. "Affiliates with the Gold Division, but we don't live in the base. We live in the warehouse district of Iron Town. Too much work to be done up on the surface."

The daunting Conkeldurr stepped forward. "Ghost lady, all you need to know is that you got construction work to do and we're the right guys for the job. We're Team Framework. We build structures from the ground up. It's our thing."

"Fine," said Kerzek, waving for them to continue walking. "Guess we'll see how good of a job they do by tonight, when the mission is supposed to be over. The results are the important part, if you get what I mean."

Asunder's ears perked. "Hey! How come you ran all the way out here?" he shouted. "I thought the birds spotted us and told you we're coming?"

Kerzek thought for a moment. "Ah. Well. I just wanted to make sure you didn't wander too far south and get caught in a mystery dungeon or something. You know there are a few of those around here. There's one called Restless Plains right to the south, in fact."

Asunder nodded in understanding. "Got it," he said. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

The dark-types quickly shared a knowing glance. Then Kerzek set her sights forward again. "Aaanyway, our almighty boss of earthquakes and destruction sent me to ask you a question, Ray. She says they aren't getting enough progress done on the cleanup. She wanted to know if you could speed up the progress by using dungeon orbs or something."

Ray grinned. "Of course! That was the first thing Scarlet thought of!" he said, indicating the item bag he now carried. "She sent me right to Kecleon's store as soon as we got there. I found a few things that might work. Trawl orb, rock smash orb, levitate orb… yeah, we got this!"

"…Yeah, somehow I figured she thought of this," Kerzek said, sounding very unimpressed. "And what about ghosts? I take it they're on their way, too?"

"Yep, separate team, just like we talked about," Ray said. "They're probably fifteen minutes behind us. Got some real good ones. I think you'll be happy."

Kerzek nodded. "I'm satisfied. Good. Now let's get this job moving already. Get in there and work your magic. Then maybe we'll actually have something for all this hired help to do."

As Kerzek led the group back to the new base, she couldn't help but cast several more secret glances at Asunder, who always winked at her in return.

When Char told us to demonstrate our leadership skills, I bet this isn't what he had in mind, she humorously thought. But I've got to admit… Scarlet is doing a bang-up job at this. So far. I bet nobody has even the slightest idea what's really going on right now…


Once Ray returned with his reinforcements, everyone took a rest from the back-breaking labor and let the items-master find a more efficient way to clear the room. He started by using a trawl orb to try and warp the rubble out of the room, but it only worked on the frozen flame. Then he used a levitation orb, and that did the trick. With the gravity inverted, the worst of the rubble floated right out of the hole in the ceiling. Then it only took a little help from the birds and their strongest wind attacks to send the junk flying, scattering it back into the woods. (When the rocks rained down, a few even smacked into Raon, but he didn't so much as twitch…)

From there, Team Framework took care of the rest of the cleanup, as they said it was a normal part of their job.

As the Gurdurr began work, the giant Conkeldurr stood over the purple little Nidoran, as though he was thinking about stomping her flat. "We can build this base for you, but I'm afraid we'll need some specifications," he gruffly said. "There's only so much we can do without clear specs. So, got any blueprints to show us?"

Gemstone blanked out. "Uhhhh…" she looked pleadingly at Char.

Char just shrugged and leaned back against the wall. "Don't look at me! I want to see how you handle this," he said with a smirk.

She thought for a moment. "Uhhhhh… we don't need anything complicated," she tried. "Just put the roof on and make sure it's strong enough not to collapse. I think that's all we really want."

"That ain't much help to us, I'm afraid," grunted the giant. "We build. We don't design. Anything we do without a blueprint is going to take ten times as long, and we can't guarantee it will be sound."

"Well, uh, uhh… we don't have a blueprint and we don't know how to draw those," Gemstone argued back. "So hey, can we work out something?"

A new voice spoke up from an unexpected direction.

"Seems like this is your lucky day. This is a Squirtle-class bunker," said the voice, coming from the ceiling-hole. "There are dozens of these built across Midwest Ambera, all in stages of decay. But they are very well-documented. And it just so happens I've got a blueprint of them right here. I was told that I might need one."

A nice chill swept over the chamber. Down through the ceiling floated a large ghost – a Frosslass. It was tall enough to look the Conkeldurr in the eye, even if it wasn't floating over his head. She produced from inside her body a large roll of paper, offering it to the leader of Team Framework.

"Oh… Oh no," whispered Kerzek to Char, clawing at her forehead. "Oh. Why'd she have to go and get her…"

"Why? What's the matter with her?" Char asked.

"Oh nothing, just that she's kind of my boss. On Team Cog. She's the leader of my branch. I was hoping I would get to spend some time away from her… Hey, if you don't mind, just… don't ask her about my performance history, alright?"

"I'm Ether, of Team Cog," said the Frosslass, giving a respectful bow. "It seems we will be working together on this project today."

"Mattock. Team Framework," replied the Conkeldurr, accepting the blueprint paper. "Welcome to the project. I have the impression it will be a pleasure to work with you."

As the two team leaders discussed their partnership, Char noticed a familiar Espeon peering down the hole, followed by a familiar Quilava.

Welcome back, Char said telepathically. Do you have anything to report about Scarlet?

Eva turned up her nose. Disappointingly, no, she said. No, she's done nothing scandalous, or questionable, or the least bit interesting. She's done her job quickly and efficiently with a respectable turnaround. I'm actually sorry that I bothered.

Char had to chuckle. Thank you for being honest, he replied. And what about the other ghosts that Kerzek asked for? There are more, right?

Yes, there are, she reported. They should be arriving shortly… oh no.

Great. Another 'oh no'. What is it now? quietly sighed Char.

Oh… there might be an issue with one of the ghosts we brought along. An… indirect issue, said Eva, with a glimmer of worry in her eyes. I was too busy keeping an eye on Scarlet to make the connection. But… ah, you'll see shortly. It's too late to do anything about it.

The next set of visitors didn't come through the hole in the ceiling, but through the proper entrance. And they were sure to make a grand appearance as soon as they entered the room.

A Croagunk, a Seviper, and a Dusknoir.

"Heya, Char!" a smug Croagunk called from across the room. "Heard boss was hired to help someone build a base. When we heard who he was helping, we had no choice, we had to tag along too. Heheheh, I hope you don't mind if I play some target practice with your fire-phoenix up there…"

But just as Dusknoir looked like he would float forward and join the logistics meeting, he visibly winced and halted mid-air.

"You… FOOLS." He growled, curling his hands into fearsome fists. "YOU… FOOLS! YOU BLASTED FOOLS!"

Dusknoir's yell drowned out all other sounds in the room, and everyone fell silent.

But it was too late for anyone. Those who realized what was wrong already had their breaths firmly held.

A certain member of Team X locked eyes with a certain Team Ember recruit.

Zachel and Seviper.

The two mortal rivals came forward from their opposing groups, stopping just out of one another's reach.

"Hey," Zachel called. "You again."

"Yes. Me again," sneered Seviper.

The two Pokémon sized one another up, trying to intimidate the other into submission. The room was so tense that Char thought he could hear several heartbeats besides his own.

"Seems like I'm always running into you," Zachel growled. "I'd say, a little much for my liking."

"Not my problem," replied Seviper. "I'm jussssst doing my job."

"Then maybe you should back off and let me do mine," Zachel warned. "This is Team Ember's mission here. You have nothing to do with it."

"I beg to differ," returned Seviper, coiling his tail around himself. "You hired my boss. And we come as a unit."

"Seems like we might have a problem."

"Certainly seems that way. What do you propose we do now?"

Zachel curled her front claw into a fist and stood as though ready to battle. Char wondered if he should do something. After all, Zachel was his responsibility now. He thought about all the orders he could issue to defuse the situation– maybe Ray could rush in and paralyze them. Maybe Eva could cast one of her barriers to block the first attack. Or maybe the stronger Pokémon in the room – namely Dusknoir, Mattock, and Ether – would take it upon themselves to act.

On the other hand, maybe they wouldn't. Nobody in the world wanted to get between a bloodthirsty Zangoose and Seviper. Nobody. Most Pokémon would sooner yank on Raikou's tail or jump into Jeliicent-infested waters. It would prove a much less painful fate than to try stopping the fight everybody knew was about to happen. Because apparently, once they lose control, they are no longer themselves. Their minds are completely replaced by a primal, unstoppable drive to resolve the rivalry at all costs…

Char whispered quietly to Kerzek. "Hey… you're on Team Cog. Isn't it your guys' job to take precautions about this? Keep these two apart? Like redirect them in different hallways so they don't meet? How come you guys never did that…?"

"Normally, yes, we take care of it," Kerzek replied. "But this is a special case."

"Special case? How so?"

"Classified information. Team Cog knows a lot of secrets. This is one of them. Lips are sealed. Even ghosts have their honor."

Char was about to ask for much more clarification on the matter… but Zachel suddenly made a move.

"I have a proposition," Zachel said, taking a wary step forward. "How about we end this nonsense right now?"

"Hm…? You really think you can defeat me?" hissed the snake, coiling to strike. "I think you may wish to… reconsider. You're still on a training team. Whereas I - "

"No, I mean… I'm getting pretty tired of all this."

"…Oh."

Zachel let out a sigh and finally tore her gaze from her mortal enemy. She looked around at all the eyewitnesses staring at her.

"Can you guys keep a secret?" she yelled. "Yeah. I'm talking to all of you. Char, Scarlet, Frosslass… whoever you guys are… You all swear to keep your mouths shut about this?"

After nobody spoke for a few moments, Zachel continued. "I'll take that as a yes. So… Seviper and I don't actually hate one another. Never have."

To everyone's amazement and horror, she pounced forward and gave the snake a warm and earnest hug.

"Yeah… We're actually besties," she said, rubbing the viper on the head. "We were only faking the whole rival thing because that's what everyone else expected us to do. But I'm so tired of it by now."

"IS THIS TRUE?!" Dusknoir demanded loudly, pointing a finger at Seviper. "This whole time we've OPERATUED UNDER THE ASSUMPTION that you were EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED by the Zangoose, and now you're telling me it was all for NOTHING?! IS THIS TRUE?"

Seviper only sighed, rolled his eyes dramatically, and melted into Zachel's hug, coiling tighter around her. "…Yes. It is all true," he admitted with a contented smile. "We have been friends from the moment we met. We agreed to project a rivalry for… certain mutual advantages. And we will continue to act out our rivalry in public. But if Zachel is to be joining Team Ember in the near future… For the sake of the respective productivity of all our teams, I believe it is time the truth be told."

Collectively, the room breathed a sigh of relief. Except for the ghosts, who didn't generally need to breathe in the first place. Ether only laughed and explained how she already knew about this from the start. Ray and his friends from Team Stripes looked absolutely heartwarmed. And Char just slumped back against the wall, trying to mentally process everything.

"I guess that's one secret you don't have to worry about anymore," he awkwardly laughed to Kerzek.

But the Sableye said nothing. She only walked away in annoyance, refusing to look back at Char.

The rest of the room congregated together around the rivals, whether to congratulate them on their friendship or, in Dusknoir's case, to berate them for lying to their own teammates. But Char just sat in place for a moment, thinking about something.

Eva, he said telepathically to the Espeon still sitting at the lip of the skylight, when we interviewed Zachel… you said that she was lying about not being rivals with Seviper.

That I did, replied Eva.

So… I guess you were wrong? Char asked.

No. I said that she was lying about not being emotionally compromised by the Seviper, Eva said, emanating annoyance. As of now, I am either to believe that Zachel is very skilled at deceiving mind-readers… or there's something else going on here. They are still lying about something, and I will find out what it is. I believe, for the sake of Team Ember, you have a right to know the truths about your team members.

Thank you, Char said. I appreciate the –

Char had to stop himself hard before his mind drifted in the direction of a certain recent memory… namely, a conversation with a Sableye, and a secret that Eva was apparently not supposed to find out. Yet. At least until Char learned it first.

What's wrong? Eva quickly asked.

Nothing… it's fine, Char quickly said, focusing those thoughts far to the back of his mind. I appreciate all you do for me, Eva.

She responded with very pleased thoughts. You are always welcome, master, she said. It is why I am here.


Basin Canyon

In a dark corner of a dusty cave, a Marowak awoke with a splitting migraine. In the aftermath of some very strange dreams, his thoughts still ran in incoherent circles.

He blinked his eyes open, trying to focus on the caves and tunnels.

Down one tunnel, a complex labyrinth.

Down another tunnel, the exit.

Down another tunnel, the meeting room.

The meeting room.

Marrow jolted to his feet in a strange panic.

There's something… I have to tell them something, he realized.

Something important. I have to tell Scythe something important.

Something…

He tried to clutch his head, only to feel the ivory of his helmet in the way.

something I can't remember… he realized.

Great Groudon… Why… why in the blazes can't I remember?

*Chapter 102*: Chapter 75: They Must Never Know

o

Chapter 75

Ember Hideout

When Char asked his new recruits to build a base, he wasn't expecting the bunker to be completely restored to its original condition from centuries ago. And he certainly wasn't expecting nearly all the work to be done by professionals as the logistics team and home-base team stood around watching.

But he wasn't complaining. It was supposed to be an impossible task in the first place, and they found a way to get it done. Compared to what he expected (that he'd end up with a rickety amateur job and need to spend the next few years patching it up), this saved a lot of work in the long term.

I only hope they can pay for all this, Char thought.

Oh, don't worry, miss Scarlet has thought of that, Eva sneered. She's verified that miss Shadow Bandit has agreed to foot the whole bill. Parts and labor included.

Char peered at the Quilava, who was saying something to the ghosts of Team Cog on the other end of the room. Seems she's thought of everything. Char said.

Seems she has, Eva grumbled. Then a moment later: But I hope you realize she's just trying to impress you.

Isn't that what interviews are for in the first place? Char replied. Ah. I know you're just waiting for her to slip up so I can have an excuse to fire her.

I wonder what gave THAT away? Eva returned.

But… what if she's just a good teammate? Char wondered. What if she never gives me an excuse to fire her? What if she proves an asset to the team? She certainly seems like a better decision-maker than Gemstone at this point.

That doesn't make things any easier, Eva said. You know she can't stay on this team. Proving that she may have been an asset to Team Ember, under different circumstances, only complicates matters. Tell me: what will all of the new recruits think, when you fire such a wise and effective decision-maker in favor of the little bunny-brat? How many will foster resentment and distrust against you for that?

Char was beginning to feel intimidated by Eva's tone. Do you really feel so threatened by her? He asked carefully.

Eva huffed. If you think I am afraid of her winning over your heart, you are very mistaken. What I fear, my master, is her zeal tearing rifts in the rest of the team. I will always have you. I will always prove myself the most perfect servant and companion to my human. But I would not like to see your prided team fall to ruin, the same way I have seen so many other teams fall when similar circumstances arose. I am only… growing frustrated. Every passing moment that she remains here, that fate becomes more likely.

Char could only sigh long and deep. He knew he couldn't keep all his conflicted emotions from seeping out of his heart. He also knew there was no way Eva didn't notice anything amiss in his jumble of thoughts. She had an eye – and a mind's eye – for details.

But Char didn't dare say what was really on his mind – that she was going to be the reason Scarlet wasn't a good fit for the team.

This is so stupid, Char grumbled at himself. But… that doesn't mean it isn't a real problem. I can't make-believe this problem away. Stupid as it is, as team leader I need to resolve it. Even if it results in some broken hearts. Then he said to Eva: Alright. You've made your point. Look… give me until the end of today. I'll make sure this is resolved. Trust me.

You're not the one I distrust, master, she sighed in return. But that Quilava is hiding something. She's planning… something. And I'm certain it has to do with you. And it… it has me afraid.

Char noticed Eva's gemstone glinting at him from across the room before a Conkeldurr stepped in the way and blocked his view.

Do what you think is right, but know that I'm not taking my eye off you until that Quilava is no longer a threat to your team, she warned, in a strange combination of a bitter threat and undying loyalty.

Stepping carefully around the construction site, Char decided to check on a certain new pair of celebrities and the clamoring fans which surrounded them. Zachel and Seviper hadn't been given a moment of peace since admitting their secret, as the excitable children among the recruits kept hounding them for answers and fawning over them as though their friendship could have only happened through divine intervention.

"So you never hated each other? How long have you been friends?" asked a giddy little Leo.

"You've never had a fight? A single fight?" added Asunder.

Sitting and resting against the viper's coils, Zachel looked like she wanted to laugh in exasperation. Seviper sent her a glance that clearly said, You're the one who made this public. This is what you wanted. This is what you get. Are you happy?

Zachel returned the glance with a long, contented sigh, clearly meaning, It was going to happen eventually. Might as well enjoy it.

"How long were we friends? From the moment we first met, really," rambled Seviper, not turning his gaze. "Wouldn't you say? As I remember, we met at the waterfall lobby several days after I was first admitted to the base. We joked about killing one another. Then we started bragging about all the fights we won. And… what else?"

"Hey, don't look at me, you're the one with the photographic memory," Zachel said with a smirk.

"I prefer the term 'eidetic' memory," Seviper said, sticking out his tongue. "But yess, yess. How silly of me to forget. You helped show me around the base. Taught me about the culture of the Gold Division. We had such a long and insightful conversation, we both lost track of our teams. But I hardly cared, and neither did you. We agreed to meet the next day to speak more, and I remember what you said: 'You'd better come back, otherwise I'll find you and I'll drag you here myself.' After that, we came up with the fake rivalry. You said it would provide everyone with… a dose of entertainment, is that right?"

"Yeah, and don't forget, we're still doing it!" Zachel shouted, pointing her claw at the children. "No spilling our secret, got it? This is a Team Ember thing only. YIKE!"

Zachel screeched and jumped to her feet in a moment of panic. "Char! Didn't even see you there. How long were you watching? We're not slacking, I swear…"

"Actually, yes we were. Entirely slacking," Seviper teased. "Especially her. You should give her some work to do." Snickering, he just barely ducked under a swipe from Zachel's claw.

"Yeah… do you want us to do anything, Char?" Leo asked. "We're just trying not to get in the way of the Gurdurr team… We're not trying to be lazy! Honest!"

Char crossed his arms. "Well, for starters, that's not my decision," he said. "Ray is your team leader. He and the logistics team should be the ones giving you orders. But… since you're asking me, I think you should start planning what we should do with this room once the construction is done."

"You mean like decorations and things?" Leo asked.

"He means everything," said Seviper. "Decorations. Utilities. Furnishments. Carpeting. Door security. Supply cabinets. Secret passageways and traps. Everything a hideout should have."

"None of us have ever made a hideout before," Asunder said.

"Well, you might be in luck. Because I have," Seviper said, lifting his head smugly. "I've helped build several. No thanks to a certain overzealous Scyther and his band of peanuts who ransacked some of them," he sneered at Char.

"That overzealous Scyther also got you into the division base. I'd call that a fair trade," Char reminded, just as smugly.

"Indeed, how sssilly of me to forget, with my photographic memory and all, how he also made us chase you across the whole continent first," he said sarcastically. "Indeed, indeed, some fair trade that was. But yes, I am willing to share my wisdom with you, as long as boss insists we stay here." He gently flicked Zachel in the back of the head with his tail blade. "Because what else are friends for?"

Char shrugged. "Sounds fine to me," he said. "Why don't you start writing things down?"

"Why don't you? My hands are a bit tied at the moment," quipped Seviper.

"Because I'd like to check up on the security team," Char said. "Unlike the rest of us, they never got a break…"

Char laughed contentedly as he stepped away from the group. "Ahh," he sighed happily to himself. "Zangoose and Seviper… Who would have imagined? I guess it's true what they say… fate surprises all."

Char thought for a moment, as soon as he spoke those words, he felt some kind of shadow cast over his heart.

"WHAT!"

The booming voice made Char nearly jump to the ceiling. He leaped back in fright to find a big, scary Dusknoir staring him in the eye. Maybe. It was difficult to tell what Dusknoir was actually staring at. There was a face strangely drawn across Dusknoir's torso with bending yellow lines, a pattern which seemed to twist and contort in the way one would expect a face to behave. But Char couldn't shake the feeling that Dusknoir's real eye was the unsettling red orb which levitated in the dark hole in his helmet. The helmet-eye certainly drew his attention the most as the big creepy creature stared him down.

"…did you just say?!" Dusknoir hissed quietly.

"Uh… I… What, about visiting the security team…? Char tried.

"Repeat what you just said," Dusknoir commanded, focusing that gleaming red eye down on Char. "About fate. Word-for-word. NOW."

"Uh… fate… surprises… all?" Char uttered, trying to imagine what could possibly be wrong with the words as he spoke them.

Without further warning, Dusknoir swiped Char up in his hand, curling his cold, metallic fingers around Char's entire body and silencing his gasps of surprise.

Dusknoir dropped into the floor, taking Char with him.

Not again…! Char could only think, taking the deepest of breaths he could manage before getting drowned in solid dirt and clay.

MASTER! Master! What happened? Where are you?! cried the desperate voice of Eva, which quickly faded away in the distance.

Char tried not to struggle as the layers of soil and sediment invisibly scrolled by his face. He thought for a moment that he felt the textures of the solid ground change as he was pulled through them; though he couldn't touch them while intangible, he still tasted or sensed them somehow. He wondered how exactly ghosts could so consistently navigate through solid objects the way they did.

Tightly held in the grasp of the Dusknoir, he fell, and he fell, and he fell, for what seemed like an entire minute. The coldness and the pressure steadily increased, bringing on a wonderful little migraine.

Then finally… thunk. Char landed in a deep, subterranean crevice. Unlike the gap in the wall that Kerzek had dragged him into, this space was long and wide, extending in both directions like a canyon on a moonless night. Surprisingly, he found that he could see his surroundings. Dusknoir's cyclops-eye gleamed in the darkness about three times as brightly as Char's own tail (even as brightly as it burned in such an unpleasant situation).

Dusknoir spoke, his ominous voice coming from everywhere at once.

"What you've just spoken is special passphrase that you were not meant to know," said the ghost. "You will tell me how you learned it."

Char needed a moment to dig deeply into his memories. Where had he heard 'fate surprises all' before? It seemed so innocuous, like such a natural and generic idiom…

In a far corner of his memory, he heard a voice speaking the words to him. A soft, perky, female voice.

Oh. Her. Well… there might be a small problem with telling the truth.

Given the circumstance, Char felt a bit hesitant to give Dusknoir the news. "I'm not allowed to tell you," Char admitted. "It's confidential information. Under orders of High Intelligence themselves. Why? What's going on?"

"Listen real closely, Charmander," said the ghost. "This isn't a threat. I've only taken you here so no one can eavesdrop, not even that blasted PSYCHIC KITTYCAT of yours. But I need to know. I need to know who told you that phrase. And when. And where. Because that phrase ISN'T MEANT FOR YOU. It's meant for ME."

"It's… confidential," Char tried again. "Sorry."

"OF CORUSE IT'S CONFIDENTIAL! I WAS THE ONE TO WHOM IT WAS CONFIDED!" Dusknoir boomed, the cavern rocks trembling at the power of his voice. He pointed a large, brick-shaped finger at Char's face. "I promise you. The forces at play are far beyond those of your High Intelligence. These are forces of the supernatural. Of the cosmic. Not even Alakazam has the authority to silence you on this matter."

As Char struggled to understand what he meant, Dusknoir seemed to bow regretfully and sigh.

"Charmander. I'm begging you," he grumbled. "Me. A big scary ghost. Begging you, a tiny little tadpole. For the truth. It's all I can do. I understand that we've been enemies in the past. My team has harassed yours. But I've also saved your life. So… please. At least in repayment for saving your life, please tell me. It means more than you can comprehend. At least… at the very least, tell me the name of the Pokémon who spoke that phrase to you."

Against his judgment, Char sighed as well. Something in the depths of his conscience told him to trust Dusknoir.

"Celebi," said Char plainly.

"Celebi," repeated Dusknoir, casting his gaze aside and shining his eye-light down the endless stone hallway. "I wasn't expecting that answer. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all… hmm. What could this mean, what could this mean…"

"Can I go back now…?" Char pleaded. "I don't think I can breathe for much longer."

Dusknoir only ignored him and kept deliberating. "Celebi. Celebi…? Celebi! That really could mean anything. Celebi could have picked up that phrase from anywhere in the timeline… from anyone… but wait a minute. As far as I'm aware, Celebi is…"

And then, Dusknoir's gaze snapped back to Char. But this time, there was a cold and frightening power in his eye. Somehow, Char felt deeply afraid.

"…Temporal Tower," Dusknoir nearly whispered in disbelief. "That's where you heard it. That's where it came from. Wasn't it? Isn't it? Because you were there. In Zerferia. You met Celebi. In Temporal Tower. And she's the one who told you. …Am I right? AM I RIGHT?!"

The vibrations caused by Dusknoir's fury made Char fear that the cave might collapse on him at any moment.

Char nodded carefully.

And then… suddenly it was Dusknoir, the big scary ghost, who seemed most afraid of Char.

Dusknoir eye widened. He backed away from the Charmander for a moment. His hands trembled in anxiety. The lines on his torso, normally representing a face, vanished entirely, leaving just his eye to convey emotion. And that eye stayed trained right on Char, as though Dusknoir expected a beast to burst out of Char at any moment and slay him.

There came a long, creepy moan from the ghost, which Char at first thought was a haunting wind rising from the dark abyss.

"Yyyyyoooouuuuuuuu…."

Dusknoir seemed to steel his courage and floated closer again, attempting to inspect the Charmander closely.

"It's you…" he whispered. "Celebi would not have spoken that line to you, if she wasn't certain it was you. It's YOU. It's always BEEN you. That makes sense. That makes so much sense. EVERYTHING makes sense… No wonder all roads lead to the Gold Division. No wonder we ended up here. No wonder fate always made everything about you. You. You. You… you're… you're the human."

To Char's surprise, Dusknoir bowed to him.

"And finally, I am able to properly introduce myself. Human, I am… your Executioner."

Char scurried backwards on his hands and feet. "Y… you what?"

"Oh for the love of… I've been practicing that line for years and I never realized it sounded like that...!" muttered Dusknoir quickly. "Nono, don't panic on me. I'm not here to execute you. I'm here to execute someone for you. You've spoken to me when you were a human, before your memories were taken. And before you ask… no, I don't know what your plan is. All I know is that you've hired me for a job: to remove your most powerful enemies from the picture, so that your plan might work."

"Enigma…?" Char guessed.

Dusknoir made his face-lines reappear, and wore a non-threatening expression. At least as non-threatening as a Dusknoir could possibly make itself look. "So the stooges already told you…" he said thoughtfully. "Well. I never said they couldn't. But yes. Apologies for spooking you, human. I'll let you get back to… whatever it is you're doing as a Charmander. Gods only know what you meant to accomplish by doing that… I'd have chosen something more interesting, honestly. But to each our own…"

Dusknoir held out his hand.

"I'll return you to the surface, boss," he said. "Let's go, before you suffocate…"

But when Char let his guard down and took a few steps forward, Dusknoir once again swiped him up in a single hand, and slammed him down against the ground. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt – he must have still been in range of the Frozen Flame.

Dusknoir held the Charmander firmly in place, and brought his glowing cyclops eye down on him, almost touching his nose.

"Oh yes. And one more thing regarding those… stooges," Dusknoir said threateningly. "To operate as the double-agents we are, we require free passage to the Master's hideouts, especially the Solemn Fortress. Passing the Master's security requires frequent exposure to mind-probing. I've learned many dark-type techniques, so I can hide and trick their psychics whenever I want. But the stooges of mine? Not so fortunate. I needed to do something different with them. Something… undetectable even to the Master's best psychics. Something undetectable to even Enigma herself. I've made them believe… that you are the Master."

Char held his breath, stunned motionless.

He continued to explain. "They believe you are the Master. That is how they can say they serve the Master without telling a lie. And… if they were to find you reincarnated in the body of a Charmander, they would believe you are the Master reincarnate, abdicated from the throne, leaving that psychopath of a Mismagius in charge, our mission being to defeat her and return the throne to you. Understand? Making any sense?"

Char only nodded, his mouth still blocked by one of Dusknoir's massive fingers.

"That's why I panicked when I heard you speak that phrase. Never again must you speak that phrase in public. NEVER. AGAIN. My Seviper and Croagunk must never know. They must NEVER know."

The cavern vanished as Char felt himself rising through the solid rocks and dirt back to the world above.


Grayleaf Reserve

"There. That's another one."

Saurvor patted the dirt on top of their latest pitfall trap, making it flush with the forest floor just like their father had taught.

"That makes seven," he reported. "Now, how about we… Saura?"

Saura had already bounded aside and set his paws into the dirt, beginning on the next one. Dust and dried leaves billowed into the air as he sank his paw-spades into the dirt, digging like a frenzied Eevee trying to make a den before nightfall.

"Another one?" sighed the exasperated Ivysaur. "Don't you think we've made good progress for now, brother?"

"Progress? I have no idea," Saura replied absentmindedly, focusing closely on his work and trying to ignore the debris which kept bouncing back into his face. "We don't even know how long we have. It could be here tonight. It could be here any minute. We need to do all we can…"

The big brother grew concerned. "Saura… we've been doing this for at least five hours. We're going to need a break eventually. Especially lil' sis. She's working herself down to the bud."

"We have chesto berries. Eat some of those if you're tired," Saura grunted, stab-stab-stabbing the dirt with the pointed ends of the spades.

Saurvor approached carefully. "Hey… come on, now. Don't you think you're being a little… extreme?" he said.

Shunk. Saura sank both spade-tips into the dirt, punctuating his frustration. He stood for a moment and hung his head. "You can't… just… rest… when someone needs you," he spoke between heavy breaths. "That's not how it works. You keep pushing. And you keep pushing. And you don't stop until you can't push anymore. This happened to me before... There was a time when I had to walk for leagues through a solid blizzard with no idea where I was even going. And before that I had to climb the world's deadliest tower filled with creatures trying to slice me and my friends to shreds. And before that, one of the Watchers left thoughts in my head, they hurt so much, and I had to fight it so hard… because if I didn't, I'd have to erase my memories, forget my family, forget you… but I fought. And I'm still fighting. And I'm not going to stop fighting."

Saura turned to his brother. The fiery look of determination in his eyes deeply surprised Saurvor, making him think for a moment that Saura had turned into someone else entirely. "Right now, every fiber in my body is telling me to stop and rest," said Saura. "But I know… I can't. Not if I want mom and dad and all the seedlings to stay alive. I'm… I can't go the rest of my life knowing I lost them just because I got lazy for a moment. You don't realize until it's too late. Times like this, every moment counts."

Saurvor stared back at him forlornly. He took another careful step towards his brother. "Yeah… I get that," he sighed. "No really, trust me. I do. You're serious about this. But times like this… I remember a story father once taught me, it helped me not to make some mistakes at the guild. Mind if I tell you?"

The frustrated little Bulbasaur said nothing, but he sat down and nodded his head. Saurvor came to sit beside him.

"I'll try to tell this the same way dad did," Saurvor began. "So the Dread Pirate Jawbone, he had two sons. When he retired, he gave each of his sons one of his best ships so they could carry on his legacy. The Altaria and the Sharpedo, they were called. But he made them promise they would really appreciate the gifts he gave them, not take them for granted. He explained, these were very special ships. Best pirate ships ever built. Both could cut through the water as fast as lightning. Both had their outer hulls lined with Aggron hide, impenetrable to weapons. Both could hold tons and tons of treasure, quadruple the amount of any cargo ship. And they were newly built, so they were in nearly perfect condition. So both the sons realized how fortunate they were to be given these ships, and promised they would cherish these ships forever.

"So then they both sail off in different directions and start their careers of pirating. They loot and pillage and pillage and loot. The younger brother, the one who took the Sharpedo, he wanted to prove he was a better pirate than the older brother, right? So he pushed himself extra hard. He also wanted to keep the promise he made to his father, so he made sure to use the ship to its fullest potential, you know? Squeeze every last little drop of usefulness out of the Sharpedo, so he could tell his father that he did it justice! So that's exactly what he did. He sailed around the shores of Ambera, gathered a crew, pillaged every village and ship and port along the way, and nobody could ever catch him because the Sharpedo was too darn fast and too darn strong.

"Now, forty years pass. Forty years of looting and pirating. The younger brother was such an active pirate that the Sharpedo now is getting all worn down. There are leaks in the hull. The brigs are all rusted. Big giant holes in the sails. The main deck is eroding away. The crewmates' quarters are all broken down. And the brother looks at all this, and he's very proud of it. He knows that used the Sharpedo to its fullest potential. It's given all it has to give. In fact, one day, the ship gives up its last breath and starts to sink into the ocean. So he gets all his crew into lifeboats and prepares to go down with the ship like pirates are supposed to do. But it's okay because he's a water-type so… well anyway, the ship is sinking, and sinking, and sinking, and the brother is reminiscing on all the memories, and he's happy…

"But suddenly another ship comes to his aid. It's his older brother on the Altaria! It sails right up to beside him and offers him a hand. But as his ship is sinking, he yells up to him, 'Big brother, see, I'm a better pirate than you! I've obviously done the most looting and pillaging! Look, I've driven the Sharpedo into the ground! Er… into the sea! But you've barely been pirating at all, your ship doesn't look like it has a single scratch on it!' and the brother yells back, 'Oh really? How many tons of treasure did you haul back to your hoard?' and the younger brother answers, 'fifty tons! What about you?' The older brother scoffs and says, 'One hundred tons.'

"The younger brother is flabbergasted. Just as the last of the Sharpedo is sinking underwater, he says, 'But… how in the world did you do twice the pirating that I did, without wearing down your ship?' And the brother looks at him all funny, and finally says, '…Maintenance!'"

Saurvor smiled expectantly, but Saura only tilted his head and frowned. After a moment of thought, he replied, "What's your point…?"

"My point is: sometimes trying your hardest is not the same as trying your best. Look… we're setting traps to catch monsters or something, right? But what if the monsters come, and we can't fight back or run away, because we're too exhausted from digging so many holes…?"

Saura sighed. "Alright, when you put it that way… but wait, wait. No! We have to keep going! Maybe we can start on the chestnut traps now! They'll take a lot less energy to string up, right? I know it's tough, but we can't waste a single moment! This could be the difference between life and death!"

Saurvor rolled his eyes. He lumbered forward a few steps, then gently wrapped his younger brother's bulb to hold him in place. He softly pressed his forehead against Saura's.

"Brother. Stop. For just a moment. Stop. Breathe. Just breathe. Alright? Breathe. Respirate. Feel the sunlight on your leaves. Set down your roots and fortify yourself."

The young Bulbasaur gave in, leaning forward into his brother's embrace.

"There. Just like that. Breathe in, breathe out. It's okay. You're doing fine. You overwork yourself all the time, don't you?"

"…Yes. I do," Saura admitted.

"And you're doing great, Saura. You're an amazing team leader. Better than many guild managers I know. You're strong and you're so determined. But sometimes you need to stop for a moment and remember what you are. Do you know what you are?"

"What am I?" asked Saura.

"You're a grass-type," Saurvor said tenderly. "Remember. We don't have the burning passion of a fire-type. We don't have endless energy like the electric-types. We can't fly away from everything like a bird, or swim away like a fish, or burrow and hide like a Diglett. But we don't need to. We are like the grass and the trees. We work best when we are calm, and we are collected, and we are patient. Now I can't promise you everything will be okay. But I can promise you that whatever it is we need to do, we'll only be at our very best when we cooperate with these flowers on our backs, and let ourselves be grass-types. Alright?"

Saura sighed again, long and deeply, never opening his eyes. "Thank you," he uttered. "I guess I spent so much time around a Charmander and a Raichu that started acting the way they do."

"Heh. You don't have to thank me, actually," said the Ivysaur. "That's a speech mom gave me back when I was your age. I was nervous about leaving home for the first time and she told me that. So nowadays whenever I start to panic, I remember to plant myself down and remind myself that I'm a grass-type. Six out of seven times, I want to say, it makes the whole situation so much better."

"Heh… and that seventh time?" Saura chuckled.

"Well… Heheh… sometimes I open my eyes and everything's just as bad as it was when I closed them. But it's never once made anything worse."

Saura took his brother's advice. He convinced himself that it probably wouldn't hurt to let a minute pass while he stopped to reflect on his thoughts.

He went through all his plans, his worries, and his theories. He let everything play out in his mind's eye, letting each vision fade away to the next, without stopping to stress over any of them.

Traps. We need more traps.

It's the only thing I can think of. It's the only way I can think to protect my family.

Because what comes, kills us all, and leaves no traces? What could do that, except for an assassin?

It can't be a plague. Poison-types can't get sick.

What else can endanger a powerful Venusaur like dad? Especially here, in his natural element?

Element. Elements.

What elements are there?

Animals. Ferals. Wild Pokémon.

That's what the traps are for.

Trees. Plants. Gardens. Those probably aren't a theat. Plants practically bow to a Venusaur's will already.

Birds. Sky. Weak to flying-type attacks. That's possible. But we can put snag-traps in the branches around the den. That's easy.

Ice? Is the forest going to freeze over for the winter? Is there a terrible winter coming? We never get terrible winters here. We're too tropical.

Ground.

Saura opened his eyes.

"Feel better?" Saurvor whispered, untangling vines from him.

Saura ignored the question. "I have some new theories about what's coming," he said plainly.

"Yeah?"

"Earthquake. That's a theory."

Saurvor hummed in displeasure. "We aren't particularly weak to ground-dangers," he considered. "We should be able to survive an earthquake. Unless, what, are all the trees going to fall and smash us? Are the rocks in our den going to collapse and trap us inside?"

"Maybe. It's just something I never considered before."

"Fair," said Saurvor. "Well, luckily there are precautions we can take. Maybe we can tell everyone to start earthquake-proofing the den. Any other theories?"

Saura was about to say his next idea, when a terrible burst of dread overcame him.

It felt something like the migraines he'd gotten whenever he imagined his family burning to death. He hadn't had one of those headaches in a very long time, thankfully because the risk of everyone dying in a forest fire was apparently unlikely.

But this… this gave him something new to worry about.

His eyes dilatated in panic as he glanced around, re-appraising all the threats he'd considered before. The birds. The trees. The ground itself.

"…Saura? You okay?" said Saurvor. "You… look like a Staraptor is about to swoop down on you."

"I… I have another theory," he shakily said. "I think… the Nidoking was lying to us. I think he knows what happens to us. Or… at least… he might not have known exactly what kills us, but he was hiding something. There was something we weren't supposed to know."

"What…? Don't you think he would have told us?" Saurvor said in confusion. "He treated you like you were a really important Pokémon, don't you think he would have warned you of the danger?"

"Maybe he couldn't," Saura considered in dread. "Because that's what he said. He said that he couldn't tell us things that we wouldn't have learned on our own somehow. Or it would break the whole timeline."

"Then why didn't he just say he wasn't allowed to tell us?" Saurvor asked.

"Maybe that would have broken the timeline too," Saura guessed. "Or maybe it was too big of a hint. Maybe it would have made us learn the truth sooner than we were supposed to. Maybe if he said that, it would have made us pry for more information and not listen to the other things he was talking about. So maybe the only thing he could say is that he didn't know."

Saura began to pace back and forth. "Maybe… he doesn't actually know after all. But… he's a time-traveler. He's been through this timeline so many times that he knows a lot about what happens. And I'm apparently a real important Pokémon like you said. So… that means… that means there must be a reason he didn't investigate what killed us. Maybe he didn't because he couldn't."

A burst of thunder cracked in the sky, quieting all the birds and animals of the forest and leaving the two brothers standing in an eerie moment of silence.

"…Oh. Looks like we're in for a shower," chuckled Saurvor, glancing at the clouds. "Good. I was hoping for one more before winter strikes. Even if it's cirrus-water and freezes our leaves off."

Though he didn't say it out loud, Saura nervously hoped his brother was right. Hopefully it was just a rainshower.

Because try as he might, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was some kind of a warning.


Ember Hideout

Early in the evening, the construction crew had finished their work, and Team Ember was left with something amazing.

It was a huge, round, empty room with a high ceiling almost like a cathedral-dome. It still smelled of metal. But it was clean, and it was perfect, and it looked strong enough to stay standing for a hundred more years. The roof was all in one piece, so moonlight and Watchers couldn't get in anymore. There were two functioning doors that actually locked (and with psyche-locks, as Eva had suggested). It was nestled safely in the ground, doubling as an excellent storm shelter. And best of all, it looked just as inconspicuous from the outside – like some abandoned building. (Well, at least it would look inconspicuous as soon as the Kecleons returned to haul away all the unused materials on their front lawn. )

In a way, it intimidated Char a little. Team Ember's room had been fully furnished when he moved in; Team Flamewheel had left them everything they needed, and he never had to worry about building things up from nothingness. But this is what he got – a huge, empty basement with nothing but a concrete floor, a steel dome cap, and endless potential to be whatever he and his team wanted it to be.

Was this even allowed by Gold Division standards? He never thought to ask for permission. He didn't know if there were rules and regulations about satellite bases – he could imagine that it wasn't good for security if all sorts of resistance teams operated outside of the central base, just sitting around waiting to get discovered and picked off.

Where's Otto when you need him? Char wondered. I'm sure he knows what the rules are. Not that I care much, though… this place is for my team. We can do our jobs much more efficiently if we didn't have to leave the base and walk across the country every morning.

His team. His big, huge, exciting new team. The team that had built this all in one day. Or rather, helped build this. Or rather, arranged to have it built. Or really, it didn't matter – they made it happen, and that's what counted in the end.

Some of the new recruits had really proven themselves. Others weren't given enough of a chance. Char knew he'd have to address the matter very soon. But it wouldn't be too bad. He reassured himself that it would be alright – there wasn't yet any bad news he needed to give out.

…Well, kind of.

After the construction, Kerzek and Lyre came up with one particular idea to breathe some life into this empty shelter. They'd built a single small structure in the center of the room: it resembled a water fountain, but instead of water it was filled with bright white rocks blazing with fire, and instead of a statue, the frozen flame sat on a pedestal at its center. The fire wasn't real, since there'd be nowhere for the smoke to escape. It was ghost-fire, the same kind that burned in all the torches at the Gold Division. Kerzek had convinced Team Cog to help her get it started and enchant it to be sustainable. It didn't crackle, it didn't provide heat, it didn't burn you when you touched it – but it did provide plenty of light. And it looked amazing. It billowed all the way to the ceiling, shining a hypnotic set of colors across the entire chamber. The flames burned shades of white and orange, somewhat like real fire, but they had a wispy blue outline to them.

As evening fell, Team Ember – Char's old friends, the new recruits, every member save for Otto – gathered in a semicircle around the blazing light. It was time to announce the results of the assignment.

"First, of all," started Char, "Let me – "

"AWWWWWWAAAAAAHHHH!" groaned a voice from the side of the room. A massive lion's yawn. "Ahh… sorry, I must have been – ACCK! WHAT! WHERE AM I?! Where is this place? Oh no… We've been captured, haven't we? Oh gods, oh gods almighty. I fall asleep for one moment and we all get locked up in a…"

Char spotted the brightly-glowing rings at the end of the room before he noticed the Umbreon who wore them. Raon stumbled forward to the center of the chamber to join with the crowd, his drawn claws click-clacking on the smooth concrete floor.

"Oh. Wait. Wait. Don't tell me… this… this isn't the same place, is it?" gasped the Umbreon. "It can't be!"

"No! Yes! Both!" shouted Lyre with glee.

"Naaah… can't be. You couldn't have rebuilt the whole place in just…" Raon paused, looked at the ceiling, and seemed annoyed that he couldn't see the sky through a massive hole anymore. "…How long was I out, exactly? Days?"

"Welcome back, Raon," Char sighed. "If you don't mind, I'm trying to give a speech here. Why not go outside and see for yourself what time it is?"

"Stand guard too, while you're at it, since the defense team is off-duty," added Gemstone. "Let's not waste anymore time. Tell us already! Who's staying, who's leaving?"

The rest of the recruits murmured in excitement. Char waited for the poor confused Umbreon to wander off before he began giving his answers.

He tried again. "Now, before I begin, I'd like to thank all of you – "

"Just skip that part!" Gemstone demanded. "We all know the boring stuff already! Get to the results!"

"Jeesh. Sounds like someone is trying to get fired," Zachel hissed at her.

But Char just chuckled. "Okay, fine. You want it, you got it. The results. Well, first of all, I can't give all the results just yet. Some of you, through no fault of your own, barely did anything this mission. And that's perfectly fine. But it still means I need to evaluate you in some other way. But for some others of you… I do have my definitive answer."

Char held out his hand. "For an incredible show of power and protecting the team from the Watcher swarm – Zona. You're in."

The Vulpix tried very hard not to explode in delight as all his former teammates, the Team Stripes graduates, cheered for him. But try as he might, he still cracked a little smile. "Thank you so much, Char," he replied happily. "It's an honor. You have my light whenever you need."

Char turned to a different recruit. "For excellence in logistics and decision-making… and for an incredible show of skill of initiative in helping the construction crew even when you didn't need to… Kerzek! You're in!"

"Thank. The. Gods," the Sableye moaned dramatically, digging her claws into her forehead. "I swear I never want to see Ether again. You have no idea. I nearly threw a fit when she came in here earlier. Finally. I'm OUT. I'm never stoking another ghost torch in my life. Except for this one right here. I'll be happy if this is the only one I have to work with."

A little to Char's surprise, but not really, the whole team applauded for her just as loudly as they had for Zona.

Char continued. "Tallie, do you have any good words to say about anyone on the defense team?"

Tallie answered without hesitation. "This guy," she said, waving a wing straight at Brace. "He knows his stuff. Knew all the codes and maneuvers I threw at him. Followed all the orders I gave and never asked for clarification. Flightspeed needs a little work, but endurance is perfectly acceptable."

"Good. Brace, you're in," Char decided. "For impressing Tallie. And that's not easy to do."

At the sound of the applause, the Pidgey flared his wings and gave a little bow of his head. "What can I say? I'm a flock bird. Silverwing trained me. Happy to work with Otto again, too."

Char paced in consideration for a moment. "Hmm… who else? Oh. I know. Zachel! For fulfilling our need as another bag-carrier, and for your prior reputation as a multitalented fighter who's worked with us in the past… you're in!"

The Zangoose only gave a dry chuckle, sitting back and propping herself up with her hands. "Hahah. And they said I'd never graduate," she mused, shifting her tail back and forth. "Finally, I feel like a grownup. Seeya never, Team Carrier!"

There. That's the four we originally wanted, Char told himself. Now… do I want any more…? I still don't know enough about these guys. I need to give them one more assignment. Maybe a dungeon exploration.

Just let them all in already, Eva suggested flippantly. As if you were ever going to fire any of them in the first place.

Nah. I'll think of something. Even if I let them all stay, I'll still let them prove themselves somehow. And I'll do it quickly. I know they can't take a lot of time off from their teams.

Well… except for one.

"I think that's all for now," Char announced. "For the rest of you… I need to learn a little more about you before I make my decision. So… let's break in the new base and have a little sparring tournament tonight, so you can show me how you battle!"

More happy gasps of excitement rose from the crowd of Pokémon. "Heh… that's honestly what I was expecting us to do in the first place," said Evan to Leo. "Either that or go to a dungeon. That's what I was ready for! I mean look at me. I'm a normal-type fox. How am I supposed to help on a construction project?"

Char paused for another long moment, enjoying the happy commotion of his recruits while it lasted. There was one more thing he needed to say, and he wasn't sure how much of the happiness would remain once he did.

"And finally, one last announcement," Char said, rather somberly. "Regrettably… there is one cut I need to make."

That did it. The whole team was instantly silenced. Char already felt afraid of saying what came next. He breathed deeply, putting his inner ember under control and drawing strength from its warmth.

"Scarlet," he said, looking directly at the Quilava. "You… have proven yourself a masterful leader and logistician. I know you were responsible for… several of the good decisions that led to the completion of the mission tonight. But… I'm afraid I cannot let you stay."

Calmly, quietly, the Quilava rose to her hind feet. She stared back at Char peacefully and graciously, then bowed her head. "I understand," she said quietly.

"Wait…? Her?! You're firing Scarlet?!" gasped Nincada. "Why?! She was AMAZING! I know I barely did anything, but even I could tell she was amazing!"

"Yeah… she is," Char admitted. "And she'd be a fantastic leader… on another team, maybe. But…"

"…It's alright, Char. I can tell them," Scarlet said wistfully. "Most people here in this room know the truth anyway. I told them a long time ago. Ah… it's because… honestly… I can't… look at Char as a team leader. I can only see him as…"

She trailed off, leaving everyone in awkward silence.

"You love him, don't you?" muttered Zachel. "I recognize that tone of voice anywhere."

Scarlet scratched the floor with her front foot. "Yes, and… more importantly, I respect him. I respect that he wants Eva at his side. So if I were to stay on this team… no matter how hard I would try… there'd just be… competition. And nobody needs to deal with that."

She bowed again, deeply and earnestly. "Thank you for the opportunity to meet you, Char," she said. "I wish you the best leading your new team."

And with that, the Quilava dropped to all fours, slowly slunk away towards one of the bunker's doors, and disappeared.

The silence lingered for a minute after she left.

I'm very proud of you, Master, said Eva, almost sadly. I know it was difficult for you. But what you've done is very courageous. You do not know how much respect you've earned from me tonight. Respect which will be well-repaid.

I'm glad you're happy, Char grumbled.

Sensing the disdain still in Char's mental voice, Eva said nothing else.


Though it was a somber moment to send such a skilled and capable Pokémon walking away, most of the team understood why it had to be done. And some of them considered Char a stronger leader for it. The mood couldn't stay heavy for long, not when there was a tournament to be held! Char sent Tallie and Brace to fetch heal-seeds and oran berries. Then he and Ray put their heads together to draw up a tournament bracket.

Sometime later, while the recruits were all stretching and warming up and practicing their elemental attacks, and while the team was still waiting for Tallie to return with the supplies, Eva felt an odd tingle in her mind.

Someone was nearby. Someone who wasn't supposed to be there.

She began to pace around the room, checking every shadow in every corner, trying to pinpoint the source of the mind-waves.

This mind-wave tasted familiar to her. Or did it? She seemed to recognize it, and not recognize it, at the same time.

That's impossible, Eva told herself. No. This is something unusual. This is a new entity. They are here. Somewhere, they are here. And I will find them.

She paced more frantically, leaving the noisy chatter of the recruits to fade into the background. Not a ghost. Not a fairy. Not a dark-type, obviously.

And then she heard a voice.

Two voices, actually. One was a voice she recognized. The other was also a voice she recognized, but much more vaguely, as though only meeting this Pokémon once or twice. But beside the point, it was a voice that was not supposed to be anywhere near the bunker.

She traced the voice to inside the wall of the bunker. A wall that used to be a door. The bunker originally had four doors, one in each cardinal direction. But at Char's preference, two of them were sealed completely.

Then she remembered somebody mentioning something about a secret passageway. A third exit. It was a good idea, in all honesty; something they could use to sneak out in case the bunker was ever invaded. But nobody told her that a secret passage had actually been built.

Once she knew exactly where the secret passage was, she easily found the way in. A simple trapdoor, something barely big enough for an Espeon to fit through… she knew it wouldn't serve much purpose for the larger Pokémon. But if it were made any larger, it would be too easily noticeable. She went inside, careful to make herself silent as the air and not alert the Pokémon of her presence.

Peering around the corner, she saw them.

Zachel and Seviper. Sharing some suspiciously… tender words.

His body was loosely coiled around her, a sweet embrace. She happily rested her head beneath his chin.

"Are you sure I can't join Team X?" Zachel said quietly. "I'll never see you anymore."

"You'll be seeing much more of me," Seviper assured her. "Char considers us his friendly rivals. I'm not sure how good of rivals we'll be now that we're so horrendously outnumbered… but I'll make sure that doesn't change. I promise."

"Yeah, but what about when you go to the fortress? You always leave for such a long time."

"…I know. I'm so sorry," he whispered. "But that's why you can't join us. Team X isn't a normal team. We have a special mission. It's nearly too dangerous for just the three of us already. The last thing I want to do is drag you into it. No way I'm putting you in that kind of risk. Never. I seize the day, every morning, by reminding myself that somewhere… you're still alive."

"Me too," Zachel said, snuggling closer to him.

"Hey there, tiger-eyes, remember… this won't last forever," soothingly hissed the viper. "Someday… our mission will be all through. Someday Team X won't need to exist any longer. And when that day comes… I'll be here for good. You want to stay on Team Ember? I'll join you. Or we could run off and leave the resistance altogether. When the time comes, you take the lead, and I'll follow you to the ends of the earth."

"I won't forget that promise," Zachel grunted, stroking the scales of his neck. "I may not have as good of a memory as you, but I won't forget."

"Heh. Did you know, I've been having lapses in my memory lately?" Seviper said. "All the time. It's embarrassing, actually. When boss needs me to remember something and I can't. And you know you're the one doing this to me, tiger-eyes. I'm spending so much time thinking about you… I forget about my duty as a witness. But you know? That's perfectly fine by me. I'd rather my mind be filled with memories of you. Nothing but you."

"Yeah right. You forgot to give me my scarf back again," Zachel giggled.

"Did I?" deviously said the viper. "Or did I steal it, so that I could get the enchantment copied onto another scarf? So that I could give it to you for your hatchingday this winter? You think I'd forget your hatchingday, did you?"

"Well thanks. I'm probably going to fail at Char's tournament without that scarf." Zachel said, wiggling contentedly in his coils.

"What, you mean you can't beat up a bunch of kids? You'll do fine, tiger-eyes. Absolutely fine. Never tell me otherwise. Besides, even if you lost, you're still on the team, aren't you?"

"It's not about being on the team. It's about pride."

"Alright, well, if you lose any of your sparring matches, just let me know and I'll come give them a good bite later. Nobody's taking your pride and getting away with it. I won't let them."

"Gods, why are you so wonderful?" cooed Zachel. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Fate. I'd call it fate," he replied. "Fate surprises – I mean, sometimes it does things we don't expect. And I know I never imagined that the most wonderful thing fate would ever done to me… was to put you right in my path."

Eva THANKFULLY averted her eyes just in time to avoid watching the Zangoose and Seviper press their mouths together and kiss.

She staggered back to the exit, her head spinning and her mind processing what she'd just witnessed.

Hahahahaha… she laughed, hollering at her loudest in telepathy. HA-HA-HA-HA! Oh… Oh Char. Char! You'll never believe this… I found out why Zachel is still hiding things from you. Oh, this is rich. This is so very rich. You'll love this.

Char? Are you there?

Char?

Master?


Restless Plains S2

The Restless Plains mystery dungeon was a flash-dungeon – a very small, young anomaly that had sprung up seemingly out of nowhere. Not so long ago, it only had one sector. Now it had three.

After being dropped off by Tallie – who'd given Scarlet a ride to the same place some two hours ago, right after she'd been fired – Char entered the dungeon, ready to finally hear what Scarlet's big secret could be.

Missions to Restless Plains were always D-rank. It was a simple and harmless dungeon, home to practically no wild Pokémon except for some Diglett and Wurmple. So Char didn't feel so afraid of entering it with no preparation, no supplies, and no rescue emblem.

He hoped that it would deter Eva from even thinking about eavesdropping on this conversation.

The mystery dungeon, on top of posing no challenge whatsoever to even the least experienced of explorers, also had a particular trait which made it very easy to tell if one had accidentally wandered into it. The sky of restless plains was perpetually nighttime. The moon and stars covered the sky from one horizon to another. But through some planar anomaly, the sunlight never stopped shining at full brightness upon the ground and the grass, making them glow like deep-sea reeds, even if the sun was nowhere to be seen. This is where it had gotten its name – it was a dungeon which could never decide if it should be day or night, awake or asleep. Restless.

Meandering into the second sector of the dungeon, Char found the Quilava patiently waiting for him, sitting on a fallen log and staring at the false visage of the full moon in the sky. He sat down next to her.

"Well, you pulled it off, somehow," Char admitted. "That was almost as good as the heist my team and I recently pulled with the shadow bandit. So how many of them were actually in on it?"

Scarlet never stopped staring at the sky. "Everyone but Eva," she explained. "But I only gave everyone pieces. A few orders to follow, a few lines to say, here and there. I even made sure they put in a secret room for Zachel to hide with Seviper and told them both about it. Most people only knew something harmless. Nobody knew the whole plan except for you and I."

"That was incredible," Char gasped. "And all to outsmart Eva, huh? You're good at this, aren't you?"

"I have experience," she only said. "Sometimes, I think, a little too much experience."

They sat still for a moment. Both knew they couldn't stay for long; all dungeons would violently kick out unwanted intruders who stayed too long. But the time limit for Restless Plains was over an hour. There was plenty of time.

"I'm assuming you don't actually have a crush on me," Char said plainly. "That was part of the ruse."

"Yeah. Nobody can ignore that kind of gossip, I find," Scarlet said. "For the record, Char, I do think you're cute. But nothing really more."

"Well… thank you, I guess," Char said, not even daring to blush. "But I'm sure that's not a secret that's worthy of having to hide in a mystery dungeon to share. I guess I'm sorry I had to fire you. I saw you directing the Gurdurr team. You did an excellent job."

She shrugged. "I could work on your team, easily. Circumstances permitting. Even if I were as infatuated with you as everyone thinks… Eva doesn't seem to understand the concept of professionalism. And knowing one's place."

"Yeah… that's just a thing with her," Char sighed. "I… I tired to get her to accept you. But she fought every step of the way. I'm sorry."

I even thought about using the Call on her, Char remembered. Celebi's voice had come to him at an opportune time. But something in the back of his mind warned him that it would be an absolutely terrible idea to brainwash Eva. So he let the day's signal go unused, like so many other Call signals recently.

"Alright, ready for this?" Scarlet sighed. "Honestly I'm not sure I'm even ready for this. I haven't told anyone this secret in decades."

"Ready as I'll ever be," Char replied. "Try me."

Scarlet took a deep breath, controlling her inner ember. Then another.

She looked at the sky. She looked at the ground. She looked at Char.

"Nobody must ever know this, understand?" she said one last time. "Unless you want to tell Eva. But only her. Nobody else."

"Yeah. I get it," Char answered.

So Scarlet stood up from the log. She turned around and stood before Char.

She held out her front hand.

"Hello, Char," she said. "My name is Scarlet. It's nice to meet you."

*Chapter 103*: Chapter 76: The Lost, The Forgotten

o

Chapter 76

Char found himself reflexively reaching to accept the Quilava's handshake.

Handshake… A gesture he'd not seen in forever. A gesture he needed to teach Saura and Ray about when they first met.

A very human gesture.

He wanted to panic for a moment, realizing he may have been tricked into revealing one of his own biggest secrets to this devious Quilava. He wanted to slap himself for not listening to Eva's warnings. This Quilava had proven herself capable of tricking everyone, but Char assumed, for some reason, that he wasn't among those she was tricking. But maybe he played right into her trap…

Char's first instinct was to panic, but he stopped himself. That's what a child would do. That wasn't what the leader of Team Ember would do, a leader whom this strangely intelligent Quilava had regarded as worthy of her respect and attention, who'd proven himself capable of cooperating with her sudden and complex ploy to sneak away together. A leader who was now being offered a real, actual handshake – a gesture between two people who see eye-to-eye.

So Char decided to act the part of the leader and assert just as much strength and confidence as he felt was expected of him. He stood up nearly equal to her height. He looked her squarely in the eye, let himself give her a pleased little smile, and proudly clasped her hand.

"Scarlet. I'm Char," he said. "Nice to meet you, too! You must have come from the human lands. Or you must have known someone who did."

A sparkle in Scarlet's eye told Char he was on the right track. "Likewise with you. It seems we have something in common," she said, withdrawing her hand.

"But… that's not all, is it?" Char considered. "That's still not worth hiding in a dungeon to tell me. Pokémon come from the human lands all the time. I've met a few of them myself."

"Yeah… there's something else I think we have in common, too," she tentatively said. "Maybe I've met humans before. Or… in some sense of the word, maybe I haven't. Want to guess again?"

Char thought about her words very carefully, but it still felt like a puzzle with missing pieces. If his only hint was a handshake… Well, she obviously learned that from somewhere. She either saw humans doing it, or she learned from Pokémon who saw humans doing it.

Was there a third possibility? Maybe she came from one of those cults he'd heard about who worshipped humans and copied their mannerisms on purpose?

"Let me ask you this, Char," she said with a hopeful grin. "Have you met any humans before? In person?"

"N-no," Char said carefully. "I haven't. Not in person."

"In some sense of the word, right?" Scarlet tried. "And in another sense of the word… maybe… you have?"

"I don't… understand," Char admitted.

"So you've never met a single human since the day you hatched?" Scarlet asked. "Actually, when is your hatch-day? Do you remember?"

That got a nice lump of tar to settle in Char's stomach. He didn't have a hatch-day. And he never got around to fabricating one, either. He'd have to think quickly for this one.

But Scarlet must have noticed the panic he was trying to hide. "You don't have to answer that," she said gently. "It's supposed to be a hint."

A hint. His hatch-day, or lack thereof, was supposed to be a hint.

Then it hit him.

The third possibility. The one he never would have even considered as a possibility.

The reason for the secrecy.

The thing she had in common with him.

She knows what a handshake is… for the same reason that I do.

"You figured it out, didn't you?" Scarlet said with a soft smile. "That means I was right about you, too. Wasn't I?"

Char gulped down his apprehension, then gave his answer.

"Are you a human? In the body of a Quilava?"

Scarlet gave a little chuckle, sat back down, and stared at the stars above. "After all this time, it still feels surreal to hear someone say it," she sighed wistfully. "It's been decades since I've even discussed it with anyone. Some days I've even forgotten altogether… though maybe that's what I'm supposed to do, just embrace this world and forget about what I used to be…"

She turned to look at him. "What about you? Do you ever feel like that? Like you'll never be the Charmander completely? Do you always feel like some part of you is always going to be stuck somewhere that's completely lost and forgotten?"

Despite his efforts, Char blurted out a loud and awkward laugh. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a minute. I have so many questions!"

"Don't know how many answers I have for you, seeing that we're basically in the same situation," Scarlet said with a shrug. "But go ahead and try me. We've got time."

Char got down on his belly and looked attentively at her. "Why not just tell Eva? Why go through all this trouble to get past her? I can kind of understand keeping it a secret from the rest of the team… but I don't understand… if you know I trusted Eva with my secrets… why not just stop this silly rivalry in the first place?"

"Could I have? Really?" sang Scarlet. "She hates me because she thinks I'm in love with you. And she thinks I have the competence to be a decent partner to you. Which, to be perfectly fair, I probably do. And we're both fire-types, so we already have certain feelings in common… like the roar of the embers…" she rolled over to face him directly. "So what do you think would happen if she found out that we have even more in common than she thought? And that I could understand you on a level even deeper than she can? …Think that would have made her feel less threatened by me? Or… would it have just made things worse?"

Char snorted at the thought. "Alright. Yeah, you're completely right. Good call," he sighed. "But where did you come from? Why are you here? What made you transform? Do you remember what your life used to be like? I've always thought I was the only one… Are there any more of us? Do you know? I actually lost my memories when I came here, so I don't even know where I'm from, or why I transformed… I've been trying to figure that out since I got here."

"Reincarnation amnesia, right?" she said. "It happens to some. But you'll find that memories are fragile either way… if you go long enough, you'll start losing your memories of your old life no matter how hard you try holding onto them… Well, let's start with this. How much do you know about Ambera? Do you know about… the rules?"

While Char knew some of the rules… like the fact that this Quilava probably had the Call and didn't know it… he wasn't sure how much of the truth he was comfortable in divulging. Better to just plead ignorance for now, and see what Scarlet had to say. "I'm not sure. I just woke up here, met some friends, and… yeah, that's all, really. Guess I had a few bad run-ins with the Master doing stuff here, and joined the resistance."

"Interesting… so you woke up here? You didn't have to come here from overseas? That's… to be honest, I've never heard of that happening before," Scarlet hummed in surprise. "I came from Johto, if you remember anything about the human lands. But you also say you have amnesia, so you might not even remember the trip. So to explain, as far as anyone can tell, Ambera is under a few spells. It doesn't seem to exist geographically on the map of the world. Humans can't come here at all. Pokémon can only come here if they're guided by Pokémon who have already been here. So we think that the gods wanted Ambera to be a paradise for Pokémon only. We think there's at least one of every single Pokémon species living here. Even those that humans haven't discovered yet."

"Who's this 'we?'" Char said quickly with the keenest fascination. "So there are more humans here? We're not the only ones?"

"I've met several others, yes," Scarlet continued (with a hint of something strange in her voice… disdain, maybe?). "I can only speak for myself, but… I… well, there's only one way to say this. I died. As a human. I burned alive in a housefire. I even remember choking to death on the smoke… and then I woke up as a Cyndaquil. Probably some god wanting to turn my fatal weakness into my greatest strength, or something like that. But I'm not complaining."

I know what dying feels like, Char wanted to say. Seems we have even more in common than we thought.

"We think the spirit gods, or whoever handles life and death up there, they like to reincarnate humans into Pokémon sometimes, as some kind of… alternative to the afterlife. Maybe if they think someone died too early, they give us a second chance to accomplish what we wanted."

"So… how many of us are there? Do you know? When did you meet them? Do you still know any of them?" Char eagerly asked.

Scarlet rolled onto her back again, pointedly breaking eye contact.

"…No," she said softly. "I don't know any of them anymore. I wanted to stay in contact with them… because it's nice not to feel alone. Turns out that was probably the wrong idea. Turns out maybe I'm just supposed to be a Cyndaquil now. Quilava. Whatever. Sometimes I still forget that I evolved…"

After a moment, she added, "I can already hear you wanting to ask. And I guess that's why I brought you here in the first place. So I could tell you. I guess it's time…

"When a human becomes a Pokémon, their first instinct is to find someone to be their friend. Someone they can tell all their secrets to, someone… who can teach them how to be a Pokémon instead of a human. Usually you make friends with a Pokémon who used to belong to a trainer. They seem to understand you the most. Especially if they're a starter."

"…A 'starter?'" Char asked.

"Pokémon who were raised from hatching to be friends with a human," she explained. "They're taught from the youngest ages to understand human speech, read human mannerisms and feelings… Generally they're fire, water, and grass-types, though there have been exceptions. Human scientists found they have special bonding behavior with humans, especially young children, and that's what they give to children who want to become trainers. Very rare to find in the wild, at least in the regions where they're given as starters. You and I, we're both starters. So was your friend Saura."

Special bonding behaviors, is it? Char considered quietly. Maybe they gain heartspeak faster than other Pokémon. That would explain why Saura and I are such strong vectors for the Call. I'd bet anything that Lily is one of these 'starters', too…

"Actually… now that you mentioned it, this is starting to sound familiar," Char said. "I think… I think I remember something about kids being given Charmanders and Bulbasaurs… I don't think I was a Pokémon trainer in my past life… And yeah, Saura was the first friend I made when I came here. Woke up next to him, actually."

"Makes sense, you two really did seem inseparable from what I know of you," Scarlet said. "Yeah, all the transformed humans I've ever met have gone through this stage. And for me… that friend was a Snivy. His name was Jacaranda. Said he was a starter who lost his human. Said his trainer broke her leg on a forest hike and he couldn't bring her help in time, and… so he just… wandered off into the wild without a purpose. And then a few days after I found myself in this new body, he found me."

Scarlet's voice strengthened as she spoke of this incident, as though it had taken great trouble learning how to tell the story without letting her voice break.

"…He was one of those shiny Pokémon, too," she added. "Though I never realized it, because I never met another Sinvy for as long as I'd known him…"

"Oh… I bet that was terrible…" Char offered. "I… don't know how I'd feel if I lost Saura. Even though I haven't seen him in a while… I'm happy that he's safe with his family right now. If I found out he died… it would… take a while before I could regain the strength to move on. Don't know if I could even be a team leader after that…"

"Yeah… it was terrible for him," she sighed. "That's why he latched onto me when he found out I was a human. He thought of me like a second chance. He promised he would never leave my side and we'd go everywhere in the world and do everything together… And that… if something happened to me… he'd… save me or die trying."

The hesitance in her voice was unmistakable. "That's… exactly what happened, isn't it?" Char uttered.

"Yeah… and… just… if a few things had just gone differently… And if I… knew… what was going to happen… He'd still be right here. We'd still be in this together. Maybe he would have even gotten to meet you. Maybe we'd both be on Team Ember today…" Scarlet spoke each word so slowly and carefully, as though weeding out the individual teardrops hidden within them before showing them to Char.

But Char heard the fire in her heart. The roar of the embers, she'd called it. He heard echoes of this fire in her voice, drowning and conquering the distant memories of what had happened, yet never fully succeeding.

"What… happened?" Char caught himself asking.

She made a sudden snort, like a dragoness trying to suck down the smoke from her own firebreath. That's when she seemed to make her emotions submit to her fully, and she spoke the rest of her story with the calm confidence of someone who knew they were expected to be a leader.

"Jacaranda was the one who had the idea to search for more humans," she explained. "He thought if I was a transformed human, there must be more. Thought maybe we could make a whole team of them. Like a support group. And I loved the idea. Have a whole group of humans helping one another learn how to be Pokémon. So… that's what we did. We explored the world in search of humans. We visited Sinnoh. We visited Unova. We were going to visit the Alolan Islands, but the captain of our ship lied about where he was taking us, and we ended up in Ambera instead. But once we realized what Ambera was like, how amazing it was, how there was every Pokémon and every conceivable habitat and just… everything we could ever want, without all the league battles and human nonsense… we decided just to stay there. We didn't realize how bad the Master was and how much he interfered with everything. We figured we could just stay out of his way and everything would be alright.

"I could write a whole book about what we did together in Ambera. Maybe I will someday. But I'm going to make a long story short so we're not here all day. And because… this isn't a story I like to remember anyway. So… we started finding humans! The first one we found was a… Fennekin. Named Gravis. Also had gotten taken off the map when sailing from the Alolan Islands. Then we met Axolotl the Inteleon who'd been living here already for twenty-four years. Then there was Alabaster the Emolga. And we kept finding them. Soon we had a group of five humans all together! Five humans and Jacaranda. That was our team. We called ourselves the 'Lost and Forgotten.' Or 'L and F' for short as a code word. And we started a secret clubhouse near Greenhaven Meadows, way south-west of here. And for about… I want to say five years… we were happy. We… even found a sixth human before it all happened. Echo the Sylveon. Just finished welcoming her to the team. I would have liked to get to know her more…

"And… well… we found out something. And we found it out the hard way. The Master… doesn't like humans that get turned into Pokémon. Apparently that's a loophole in the no-humans rule that he doesn't like. So whenever he finds humans… … he… kills them. Or he kidnaps them. Or probably both. All because he insists that nothing on the continent belongs to us."

Char knew he couldn't fall back into shock-and-awe. He knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. He needed to keep talking with Scarlet if he wanted more information.

"That makes so much sense," Char gasped in reply. "So that's why nobody ever talks about humans around here… even though everyone seems to love them. And why everyone in the Gold Division… Team Remorse and High Intelligence, at least, always told me to keep it a secret. And why… I guess I've never met another one until now."

"Oh, yeah, the people? They love us humans," Scarlet laughed awkwardly. "Fawn over us day and night if they could. Build shrines for us and make us leaders of everything. But what they say doesn't always matter. It's what the Master says that matters."

"Heh… the Master probably wants to be the only human-turned-Pokémon on the continent," Char muttered. "That's probably the reason he doesn't like us…"

The ensuing silence made Char's heart skip a beat, as if he actually felt the surprised flicker of Scarlet's fire.

"W-what? What did you – you said the Master is a human-turned-Pokémon? Uh, excuse me? Where exactly did you hear that?"

Again, Char's first reaction was to panic, realizing he'd just leaked information he'd completely forgotten wasn't common knowledge. But his ember seemed be cooperating with him today, helping him harness and control his stress instead of fueling his fight-or-flight reaction. He'd never felt it work like this before. It reminded him of the kind of focus and control he'd experience when smoldering. But instead of feeling nothing, he felt powerful and self-assured.

There is no reason I should be afraid of sharing this information with a fellow human, he quickly figured. Especially considering the information she just shared with me.

"I've spoken with Celebi and Dialga," he explained. "They do not know for sure, but according to their theory, the Master was a human like us, and he was transformed into a Mewtwo based on his personality. And… that's what he is today."

"Well. That would explain why he can brainwash everyone so easily," Scarlet spat, blowing a smoke plume into the air. "And why he knows so many things we all thought we were keeping a secret from him. Yeah… he uh… when we started trying to spread word of the Lost and Forgotten to other cities, trying to pick up the trail of any more humans… the Master found out about us, and he invaded our clubhouse one day. Gravis didn't make it out alive. Echo didn't make it out alive. The other humans… they escaped and left Ambera as fast as they could."

"…And Jacaranda…?" Char asked quietly.

"Jacaranda is the reason I made it out alive," Scarlet simply said. "He convinced the assassins that he was a human. They… took him out. But he distracted them so that I could escape." She sighed long and hard. "In a way, I'm happy for him. He… the last thing he said to me. There was always one thing he never forgave himself for. And now he could finally make it right. He could finally… save his human.

"And I said… I promised him… I'd avenge him. And Gravis and Echo. Somehow. I promised him I'd stay in Ambera and join a resistance faction and that everything I'd ever do for the rest of my life, I'd find a way to oppose the Master. And he looked at me one last time with those… ruby-red snake-eyes of his… he was a Serperior by that time… and he said, 'I'm doing this so you can be free. If you let yourself hate the Master like that, you're just going to be a slave. And this will have been for nothing. So go and be free.'"

"…And now, here I am in the Gold Division, doing whatever I can to help. But I don't make it my whole life. And I teach at the Cliffside Academy and Gardenseeds in my spare time. That's my way of honoring Jacaranda's last wish."

Scarlet trailed off for a moment, making Char wonder if she was done with her story. She still had the faraway gaze in her eyes, as though she'd slipped back into those long-lost memories and was trapped reliving them.

Char realized he was still lounging on his belly, which he was sure looked very disrespectful given the circumstance, and he forced himself to sit back up. "I'm so sorry that all happened," he said earnestly. "It wasn't your fault. It could have happened to me, too. If I hadn't joined the Gold Division so quickly, I wonder if I would have gotten caught trying to tell everyone I'm a human. Really makes you wonder how many humans suffer the same fate all the time and we just never hear about them."

"Yeah… I'd be lying if I said I wanted to know," she dryly said. "I don't want to know. But at the same time… part of me has always wanted to try restarting the Lost and Forgotten project with all the things I've learned from working in the Gold Division. Because I think that humans deserve to be treated like humans, no matter what body we have. I think Jacaranda would have wanted me to."

She got to her feet and offered a forepaw to Char, helping him up. "And that's all," she said. "Now you know my secrets. I wanted you to know that you're not alone. And maybe I wanted to know that I'm not all alone either."

Char showed her a pleased smile. "Thank you for telling me. I never would have known," he said. "But I have one last question. How did you know I was a human to begin with? Or how did you start suspecting?"

"Well," Scarlet hummed, "If I had to be completely honest, I'd been slightly suspicious since you joined the Division. All the humans I've met, they all have certain mannerisms to them. The gait that doesn't match their legs. The facial expressions that don't match their inner elements. The way they get other Pokémon to pay attention to them, like they have some kind of a magical aura. When I started noticing the signs in you, I tried to get closer to you and gather more information.

"Huh," Char said. "I should have known. You have a very familiar way of holding yourself, too, now that you've mentioned it. Though you've probably learned to hide it pretty well – "

She cut in. "—And also it was because I heard Scythe call you a human once," she plainly confessed.

"…Oh," said Char, pausing to contemplate. "Yeah… Scythe called me that sometimes when he thought we were alone. I've had a strange relationship with him. In public, he's my mentor and I'm the student. But when we're alone, he treats me like a Pokémon trainer and he claims he's my servant. I've never figured out exactly how I'm supposed to react when he acts like that. I mean here's this old seasoned warrior who's seen the world and probably slain a hundred enemies and seen so much struggle and suffering and death, taking orders from me. How can I even pretend there's anything I can offer him that he doesn't already have?"

"Purpose. You give him a sense of purpose," Scarlet said confidently.

"I'm pretty sure he already has plenty of purposes he follows," Char said back.

"Then you make all those purposes stronger for him," she only said.

A warm breeze made the flame on Char's tail start to dance. Was that the dungeon's first warning of the mysterious wind, or just the weather?

"Unfortunately, now there's one last thing you still need to do, before our little adventure here is all over," Scarlet said.

"…Yeah, I know," Char sighed. "Eva. What am I even going to say to her?"

"Tell the truth if you think it's best," she suggested. "Or just tell her I'll go away and be out of your hair."

Char frowned. "Yeah, but… what if I don't want you to go away? What if I think you're a perfect fit for our team and I'd be happy to have you? The recruits all seemed to love you. And… and yeah, it would be nice to have another human to talk with. But if Eva is going to make this difficult on me… I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You know her better than I do," Scarlet said. "But if she really loves you, and if she really thinks of you as her human master… she'll do what makes you happy, even if it doesn't make her happy. I think you should just tell her what you want, and we can all go from there."

"Guess I'll have the whole walk back to think about it," Char considered. "I'll figure out what I want to say."

The sky turned from starry-midnight-dark to pleasant-early-evening as the two of them left the dungeon. It was a weak dungeon, too weak to trap or confuse them. As long as one kept their sense of direction, they could just walk out whenever they wanted. And Scarlet had exactly the sense of direction needed.

Char felt a weird wobble in the air, as though the fabric of space itself had just solidified into gelatin. He looked around, trying to determine what time of day it was. Still a good deal of daylight left. Still plenty of time to run the tournament for the recruits, if Tallie would return to fly them back.

By chance, Char caught sight of Tallie at the edge of the field, waiting patiently for their return. But it wasn't until he got closer that he noticed something else.

At the Talonflame's side, there sat an Espeon staring intently at him from across the field.

Scarlet, however, didn't look the slightest bit alarmed. "Oh, see… there was one last part of my plan that I didn't tell you about," she confessed. "I made sure Eva could follow a breadcrumb trail and find us. She read Tallie's mind to find out where she took us, then demanded Tallie to take her here."

Char gulped, feeling Eva's eyes already burning on him, and dreading the first step into the reach of her telepathy. "You actually… brought her here? Why?!" he demanded, suddenly panicked.

"So that you two, maybe the three of us, could have a talk without making a scene in front of the kids," she explained. "And because… I wanted to show her that she underestimated me," she said plainly.

"We all underestimated you," Char said, fretting his claws together like he always used to do. "I just hope I… underestimated how much you can help defuse this situation."

"I guess you're about to find out, aren't you?" said the Quilava, sounding surprisingly perky and supportive. "If she really loves you and respects you as much as I think she does, she won't hurt you. And I can beat her in a fight if it comes to that. So let's just get this over with, alright?"

Char took several deep breaths as he slowly drew closer to the fate which awaited him at the end of the field. He once again composed himself as Char the team leader, not Char the sensitive and bewildered little lizard.

I don't know exactly how I know this, but I get the feeling that whatever happens, this is probably going to be the last real fight between Eva and Scarlet, Char thought. This is about to be resolved. It may not get resolved pleasantly or well, but after today, it will be resolved. I just… need to do my best to find the resolution best for the whole team.

"Scarlet," Char said as the two of them were about to enter the range of Eva's telepathy, "Whatever happens, please know that I'm happy to have met you…"

"C'mon, don't be so defeatist," Scarlet giggled. "Humans aren't supposed to just resign themselves to fate. We make our own destinies. C'mon, Char, this isn't going to be as bad as you're thinking it will be. I'm more afraid of Kerzek, to be honest. Now there's someone who could really mess you up if they wanted…"


Shamble Forest

It was nearly nightfall as a small Bulbasaur scampered through Shamble Forest alone.

But there was no way he would make it in time. Darkness was falling too fast.

Saura sprinted down a long, dusty road. He was starting to panic again. In the back of his mind, he knew he was running out of time. He had to hurry home before it got too dark.

The population of Watchers around his home was minimal; he could throw leaves at the ghosts all night if he wanted to. But out here, on the road into Shamble Forest… the ghosts could see him and attack him from every direction, and he wasn't prepared for that.

Besides, he had to make sure Saurvor and Saurlee were safe. They were a team, after all. They promised to stick together.

So wait, why did I leave them behind? He suddenly thought.

Oh. Right. I had to get supplies from town to build the ghost-traps.

But I'm not carrying any supplies…?

He stopped and looked around, realizing that he didn't actually know where the pathway was leading. It forked off in different directions he didn't remember.

So wait… did I never actually leave the forest?

Why did I black out and forget everything? What happened?

"You fell asleep," said a voice from right beside him.

He turned and suddenly remembered that he wasn't actually alone. He'd been traveling with another Bulbasaur.

"How long was I asleep?" Saura worriedly asked. "How far away are we from home? I don't know where we are."

"No, you don't get it," said the Bulbasaur. "You're still asleep. This is a dream. But don't try to think too hard about it, or you'll wake up. You need your rest. You passed out from exhaustion."

Saura blinked and narrowed his eyes at the other Bulbasaur. "Oh… right… Saurvor was insisting I sleep. I think I remember that. So… who are you, exactly?"

"I'm you," said the other Saura. "Just the voice in your head that you use to talk with yourself. I only have a body because you're in a dream."

"You're… my subconscious, or something?" Saura wondered.

Other-Saura shrugged. "Yeah, basically," he replied. "Don't worry about it. We need to have a talk and we don't have a lot of time."

Saura only vaguely realized what it meant to be in a dream, and he decided to keep walking down the trail, not caring so much about where it may lead. But the further he went, the more things started to seem strangely familiar… and not because he recognized where he was, but because he recognized how it felt.

The treetops. They were so hauntingly realistic. The leaves had intricate patterns of veins and swayed in the breeze so realistically.

"I think I remember this dream," he said to himself. "Yeah. I used to have this dream a lot, didn't I? Except something is different. The forest… oh."

He was afraid to say it, because of a certain unsettling dread that it would come true the moment he thought about it too hard.

"…The forest used to be on fire," he said.

"Yeah… but not anymore," said other-Saura. "You fixed that by coming home and seeing the forest still standing. It's okay though. The fire's gone."

"…For now, at least," he said to himself.

Saura breathed deeply, but couldn't detect even a hint of the smoke and ashes he'd come to associate with this dream. The relief he felt made the sky seem to brighten for just a moment.

But as he stared up at the sky between the treetops, something didn't sit right. The sky was somehow sinister, like the stars were arranged all wrong.

"We're still not safe," he remembered. "The fire is gone, but something else is here now."

"Yeah… and that's what we've been trying to figure out this whole time."

The first Saura looked at his clone and said, "So… any new ideas?"

Dream-Saura frowned and replied, "I don't know. I keep thinking about that Nidoking."

"The Redeemer?"

"Yeah. He's the one who told us about the problem in the first place."

"Yeah? What about him?"

Saura was glancing upward as he walked, looking out for danger coming from the sky. Wondering if the Watchers would come out from the darkness and attack him, even in his dream.

The leaves on the giant oak trees… were they drooping? Well, it was autumn. They were supposed to do that. Strangely, they were only turning colors on top. The bottom half of all the trees looked alive and vibrant, like it was early springtime. Saura was pretty sure the trees weren't supposed to do that.

"Uh… hello?" he called out, realizing his other self hadn't replied to his question. He looked around, wondering if he was left alone again.

A huge, disgusting drop of green slime slopped onto the trail in front of him. Saura froze in his tracks and looked up again to notice that the leaves were now melting and oozing off the tree branches, liquifying and dripping to the forest floor everywhere. He tried to walk around the ooze puddle, only for another giant ball of goop to strike the ground and block his path.

"What, exactly, are you afraid of?" said a new voice.

Saura turned to notice the Nidoking standing with his arms crossed, looking disappointed.

"Huh…?" Saura said.

"There's no reason to be scared of a little sludge," said The Redeemer condescendingly. "You're a poison-grass type. That sludge is either poison, or liquified leaves, both of which are your core elements. I'm disappointed you haven't thought of this."

Saura wanted to vomit as he looked at the giant puddle of slop, which almost looked like Dialga had blown its nose all over the forest trail. Shamble Forest was starting to look more like Jaded Woods, a mystery dungeon he'd visited a few times during his resistance team career.

"And you weren't afraid of the Jaded Woods either," The Redeemer reminded him. "Go on. Don't make me push you in."

With a giant gulp, Saura hesitantly tiptoed into the mysterious puddle of liquid. Surprisingly, it was warm and soothing to the touch, and kind of even made him feel stronger.

"Thanks," Saura sighed. "I don't always know what I'm supposed to do anymore. My family is counting on me, and I can't figure out if I can actually save them."

"Sure you can," said the Nidoking, stepping into the sludge beside him. "Why else do you think I warned you about the danger in the first place?"

"Yeah, but you didn't actually tell me anything useful," Saura rued.

The Nidoking glared down at him. "Oh, come now. I left you a huge hint. Have you already forgotten?"

"A huge hint?" Saura said in frustration. "I don't even remember everything you said. Something about discontinuing the timelines?"

"Maybe you should stop trying to remember what I said," the Redeemer suggested. "The time gear would not have let me say anything useful, so the hint was not in what I said. The hint was not in my words, but in my actions. Saura… what did I do?"

"What did you do?" Saura echoed, looking at his reflection in the surface of the green slime. "I don't know. I can hardly remember. Why can't you just tell me?"

"Because I'm just your dream," said the Nidoking. "If I could tell you the answer, then you'd already know what I was going to say. You need to piece this together on your own. But you can do this. I believe in you. Char wouldn't have chosen you as his partner if you weren't amazing at figuring out things like this. C'mon, Saura."

Saura suddenly realized the slime puddle was too deep for him to stand, and he sank below the surface, feeling the substance coat his entire body in warmth and comfort.

"C'mon," said Saurvor again, gently nudging his brother awake.

Saura blinked, realizing he was back in the safety of his den. The warm comfort he felt was the body of his Ivysaur brother.

"Huh? How long was I asleep?" yawned Saura. "It's not nighttime already, is it?"

"Nah, just for a few hours," Saurvor whispered. "Hey, come look at what we did while you were asleep! We made some nice progress."

Saura followed his brother up to the surface. At the end of the front yard, Saurvor pointed out a series of sweetgum twigs sticking out of the ground.

Saura smiled. "Wow, that's… nice work," he said, tiptoeing close to one of the trap-markers and trying to detect where the pit started. "How many are there?"

"Well, I did ten of them on this side," Saurvor said. "Saurlee did some on the other end. How about we go check on her progress?"

When they got to the garden at the other end of the den, Saurlee was just sticking a sweetgum marker into a trap she just finished. "Hey! Saura! You're awake!" she cheered, jumping excitedly. "Hey, hey! Look at what I did!"

"…Oh! You made one all on your own, did you?" Saura said in surprise, examining the trap area the same way that he had for Saurvor's, still not able to discern where the trap began or ended. "That's… very impressive, Saurlee! Wow! How did you get the lily pads all on your own?"

Saurlee huffed. "I'm not a weakling, you know," she admonished. "I have vines like everyone else. Also I changed the design a little bit so I could make them faster. But I think they're still just as good as the ones dad made."

Saura was even more surprised. "…Oh? So you made more than one…?" he said.

Saurlee struck a pose. "Yeah! Look that way!" she said, pointing a vine to the tree line at the end of the yard.

Saura looked up.

He was about to congratulate his little sister on going above and beyond his expectations, when he felt an odd prickle of disturbance in his bulb, beholding something he was not expecting to see.

There was a graveyard of sweetgum markers at the edge of the yard. Twenty of them. And then another patch next to it. Thirty, at least. Maybe more. They extended out past the tree line, and Saura couldn't tell if it was just forest-rubble he saw in the shadows, or even more markers…

Saurlee didn't seem to notice how petrified the two brothers had become. "So! How's that!" she shouted. "I worked really hard! Do you like it?"

"Saurlee… how…?" Saura gasped, afraid of taking even a step forward. "How did you do all this while I was asleep?"

"Oh! I just… um…" she glanced away. "I just remembered how sad and scared you are about all this... So I worked super hard so that you'd feel safer. I just want to see you happy again, brother…"

Saura still couldn't believe his eyes. It must have been some redesign she'd come up with, to make so many pitfall traps in such a short time, when the fabled Grayleaf himself had taken just over a half-hour to make one of them.

Then again, Saurlee was proving herself to be a prodigy. Saura remembered the gorgeous little garden that Saurvor had shown him, which Saurlee had somehow built all on her own. She was really inheriting her father's mastery over the soil and plant life.

Maybe I need Saurlee more than I thought, Saura considered to himself. If this is what she can do… maybe she's a much bigger asset to this little team than I…"

Saura's heart exploded as he felt the ground give away under his pawstep.

Crumble, crumble went the dust and the soil. Snap went the frail twigs. In the heartbeat of the moment, Saura knew there was no escaping this. He was already falling.

Saurvor reacted quickly and whipped his vines down, snagging Saura's hind legs in mid-fall. And Saura was left hanging in the middle of the pit for a moment.

But his terror didn't subside. There were about eight small logs stuck at the bottom of the pit, their ends sharpened to a point as though a Bibarel had gnawed them down. The spikes stared him in the eye as he dangled above them by just about two or three body lengths.

Saura's heart still didn't start up again by the time Saurvor pulled him up and flung him onto safe, solid ground. Saurlee came rushing up to him. "Oh no… I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she squealed. "I forgot to mark that one! I'm really sorry!"

And that's all he remembered before fainting back to sleep from the sheer fright of what had happened.


Outer Restless Plains

It wasn't the way Eva stared at Char that unsettled him. It was how she sat still and said nothing, even once he was well within the range of her telepathy. As though she was too hurt and angry to even admonish Char for what he'd done.

The silent treatment. It already hurt. He couldn't even bring himself to look directly into her eyes as he approached.

This is it, he realized. Time to end this fight, one way or another.

As Tallie kept watch from the sky, Char and Scarlet came as close as they dared to the silent, seething Espeon. She was cold as a statue; only some small tail-twitches showed any indication she was still alive.

"…Anyway, you can have him back now," Scarlet said, casually shoving Char back in her direction. "I've done what I needed to do. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Eva didn't look impressed. She cocked her head slightly and said, "Oh? Is that all? You're just going to give him back to me now? Wait and see how long it takes for your confession to sink in? See how long it takes for him to inevitably drift away from me and into your arms, is that it?"

"Eva… please," Char groaned. "It wasn't… It had nothing to do with…"

"Shut up. I'll not talking to you," Eva snapped hurtfully. "I'll deal with you later."

"Just a suggestion, but maybe you should listen to him when he's telling the truth," Scarlet returned, looking unfazed. "Maybe you should stop hearing only what you want to hear. Not everything is about love. Sometimes it's just business. You know, in the human world, it's considered forbidden to fall in love with your boss, for exactly this reason."

"Don't tell me about the human world, Quilava," Eva shot back. "I know more about the human world than you will ever know."

Scarlet only shrugged. "Whatever. Believe what you want to believe. It doesn't change the fact that you're getting in the way of your boyfriend just trying to do his job. You know, if you think there's even the slightest chance your Char was acting in good faith, I don't think you're making a very good impression on him right now."

Something flashed in Eva's eyes. Scarlet had struck a nerve. Nevertheless, she immediately turned to Char as if to lash out. But she only said, "Why would you do this?"

"He didn't want to do this, for the record," Scarlet said for Char. "No more than I wanted to do this. You could have let us have a nice short talk and then be on with our lives. But you forced this to be complicated."

Eva got up onto all fours and arched her back in anger. "Try seeing things from my point of view, will you?!" she screeched at the Quilava. "It could have gone either way! Maybe you were harmless, maybe you weren't. I made a judgment call about it. And… I'm hurt… that Char didn't trust my judgment."

Char said softly, "Eva… the difference is that I'm the team leader. If you want to be on this team, you're the one who needs to trust my judgment call. I need to run this team by my best judgments. And if I feel that one of our new recruits deserves to have a word with me, my choice is final. Scarlet's right, you know… you were only getting in the way this time. I'm sorry, but it's true."

Eva's voice turned dark. "Oh. Oh really, then? So what was the big secret? What was so important that you couldn't just say it in front of all of us? How come only Char needed to know?"

Scarlet bowed her head. "Char will tell you the secret if he wants. Like I said, he has my permission. But you might have to ask him nicely. I don't think he's very happy with you at the moment."

Eva turned her scowl towards Char, and said nothing. She let her demanding gaze speak for her. And there the three of them stood for a long moment, alone in the light of the setting sun, in a deadlock that only Char could resolve.

"Fine," Char sighed, putting his head into his claw. "You want to know the secret? She's a human in the body of a Pokémon. Just like me. That's why she wanted to talk only with me. Because we're the same. That's all. It was never about anything else. Do you… understand now?"

While Char was expecting some kind of reaction from Eva, it wasn't the one he got.

Somehow, hearing this secret broke her completely. Char could see her soul shattering in her eyes, and her legs getting weak, as she glanced in horrified disbelief from one human-turned-Pokémon to the other.

"Human…" she whispered to herself. A single word full of such unfathomable despair.

She flinched like she'd just been struck in the face with a claw, and couldn't decide whether to run away. She looked at Char, then at the far horizon, then back again. Then she looked straight at the dying blades of grass at her feet.

And there, she collapsed into a sobbing wreck of a Pokémon.

Char didn't know whether it was appropriate to run up and comfort her. He honestly didn't even know why she'd taken the news so badly. He thought for sure it would have been a harmless secret. Maybe an interesting secret, but ultimately harmless.

I'm sorry, she had to say in telepathy, because her voice was unusable. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know how I can be so pathetic. How long ago, was it, that I looked into your eyes, Char, and promised you with such conviction that I would think twice before distrusting a human again? And what have I done? I've turned around and broken that promise as soon as I made it. I'm absolutely disgusted with myself. No! I should have let you consort with her. I should have. EVEN IF she was trying to capture your heart… I should have let you go, if you thought it was for the best. That's how a Pokémon is supposed to serve their master. Your will comes before mine. Always.

As Char drew closer to the crying Espeon, she lifted her head and gazed at the two fire-types with tearful eyes. Char knew she was speaking telepathically to them both.

Finally, Char decided to open his heart to her, allowing himself to feel the waves of emotion she felt. And immediately, it moved him. The hurting was deep to her core. She openly spilled her thoughts to both of them, making no effort to censor herself, not caring how pitiable it made her look. Her words rang as pure and honest as a Pokémon could possibly speak them. Char even felt for a moment that she thought of herself as a young Eevee in a grown-up world where she absolutely did not belong.

Understand something about me, she said somberly, ashamed to look Char in the eye. All I've ever wanted is to serve a human with all my heart. It's my only wish in all the world. To have a human master, here on a land where humans cannot be. And yet… look at me. Look at what I've become. Drawing the ire of every human I meet, for some reason or another. My loyalty becomes jealousy. My intuition becomes paranoia. And wherever I hope to serve, I only stand in the way. Nothing has changed about me. Nothing ever changes.

"What are you saying?" Scarlet said in concern. "This has happened before? You've met other humans here in Ambera?"

An understatement if any were ever spoken, she direly replied. I knew… a particular human…

Eva sighed longingly, trying to compose herself and regain some of her dignity. She said to them: But there are some secrets I realize I'm done keeping. If I ever want to prove myself worthy of serving a human again… I must learn to serve a human on their terms, and not on mine.

After blinking most of the tears out of her eyes, she raised her head at the two fire-types. So, then, human-Charmander and human-Quilava. As a gesture of my penance… I'm about to tell you something I absolutely shouldn't tell you. Something I once promised I would never speak to anyone. But I think it's something you deserve to know. You both deserve to know. Char… do you remember how I once told you that I used to serve on another team? I believe the time has come for me to tell you about that team.

It was a team of six. A Venusaur, a Nidoking, a Mismagius, a Suicune, a Scyther… and me. And our leader was a human Pokémon trainer. The only untransformed human who ever stepped foot onto Ambera in its entire history. He never told us his real name… either that, or he somehow erased his real name from our memories. We all knew him by one name, and one name only:

The Master.

Scarlet flashed a glare at Char. "'The' Master? You mean 'The' The Master?" she echoed incredulously.

Eva nodded. Yes. The very Master you're thinking of. One day, long ago, he was my master.

"So he really was a human," Scarlet hummed, still eyeing Char. "Funny. That's something I hadn't ever considered until today."

Yes. It's true. I knew him. I served him. We all did. He was a wonderful human. So wise and powerful. So creative. He had this whole vision he wanted to bring to life. And he did. And we were part of it. We… the six of us… we're the ones who helped him conquer Ambera in the first place. We're the ones… who put him on the throne.

I know that happened a thousand years ago. Or maybe more like two thousand. Or more. I don't know anymore. He found a way to expand lifespans. He used it on himself and the six of us. We've all been alive for much longer than we're supposed to. I've been alive for so long that history just blurs together. And I can't leave Ambera. The spell that keeps me alive prevents me from leaving. All I've ever wanted was to love a human… and now I'm cursed to remain here, on this continent completely devoid of humans… for all eternity as far as I know.

She looked directly into Char's eyes. Do you understand now why I clung so passionately to you? Why I was afraid of the mere possibility of losing your favor and your company? I know that it justifies nothing, but for all I know, it could be a thousand more years before I'd ever get to meet another human like you… And so I was panicking… I'd just met you, and already I would lose you…

Char's heart was filled with so many contradictions and questions. But through it all, one particular thought sprang to the top of his awareness. "Eva… I know you're trying to… reassure me… that I can trust you," he said carefully, "but if what you're saying is true… how can I trust you at all anymore? If you're on the Master's side, how do I know you aren't just going to betray the resistance? How do I know you aren't just going to go back to him?"

I knew you would ask that, Eva said. I'm still trying to decide how I should answer.

"I get the feeling she can't," Scarlet considered. "Something obviously happened. I think she's been banished from the Master's team. It's the only explanation for why she'd wander Ambera looking for other humans for so many years. She wants nothing more in the world than to go back to him… but she can't. So now, like the vengeful spirit she is, she hates him and sides with the resistance against him. But through it all, she's still looking for another human to fill the void in her heart. And whatever reason the Master broke her heart, it's probably not easy for her to talk about." The Quilava pointedly smirked at her. "Well? How much did I get right?"

Eva looked away. Her tail swiveled a little. I could tell you that you're right, she said plainly. What you've said is a perfect explanation for everything. Something better than I could have come up with. Something you'd accept as true.

But no. I won't lie about it this time. Not when I'm so close to speaking the real truth. The real truth is far more difficult to admit. It is something nobody wants to hear, and even fewer want to speak:

The Master fell from power long ago. The reason I can no longer be with him is because he has been dead for centuries.

Char didn't want to acknowledge the words he'd just heard. The Master was gone? Dead for centuries? There had to be something he was missing. There had to be some explanation. He felt it in his fire.

"You're not lying… are you?" he muttered.

Why else do you think nobody gets to see him? Eva said, staring sadly at him. Why else do you think he never makes any public appearances anymore? Why else do you think… Ambera is falling apart now? He's dead. He's gone. He's abandoned us all.

Char felt tremors in his soul. Like the floor would collapse and drop him into a bottomless abyss.

"So… the resistance teams… who are they fighting?" he asked, afraid as he was to hear the answers. "Someone's still giving the orders… isn't there? Someone has to be still on the throne… don't they? And who else knows about this?"

Enigma is the one in command, if you even want to call it that at this point, Eva explained ruefully. She claims to be taking orders from the Master from beyond the grave, but we all know that she's gone completely insane. That's just what being alive for thousands of years does to you. I've lost my mind and regained it dozens of times already since the great fall. Finding a human has allowed me to regain more of my sanity than I've felt in hundreds of years. But Enigma… she's completely lost her mind. Even until this day, she's been unable to accept that the Master is completely gone. So she has delusions which tell her that he's still there talking to her. And it's those delusions which are in command of the entire kingdom now. The Master never would have made the decisions she's claimed, or wrecked Ambera the way she's done it. Ambera was his beloved darling child… he would have sacrificed anything to keep it strong and beautiful. According to some, that's exactly what he did. But look and see what he has to show for it.

As for who else knows… The original six know, of course. And all the high generals know. Adiel, Cepheus, Mirandalys… they all know. When they're granted private audience to meet the Master face-to-face, they learn the truth, and are then sworn to secrecy, under punishment of total and permanent brainwashing by Enigma. I'm certain that Lucario of the Emerald Division knows, as well as High Intelligence of the Gold Division. And…

"…And Scythe," Char realized with dread, his claws uncontrollably shaking. "Scythe was one of those generals. He knows the truth. He's always known the truth."

Eva sighed. …Yes… I was hesitant to broach that fact, but you have it right. Adron knows.

"Then… then why…" Char struggled to say. "Every morning… he says to his whole team, 'why do we rise?' and they all reply 'So that he will fall!' But… if he knows that the Master has already fallen…"

"He says that because he has to say it," said the wide-eyed Scarlet, piecing it together. "If the resistance knew the Master has already fallen, and it fixed nothing… they wouldn't fight anymore. They need him to still be there."

"What about Enigma?" Char anxiously tried. "Why can't the resistance just fight against Enigma now? If she's the one wrecking everything…"

Scarlet realized the answer to that one, too. "If the Master already got knocked off the throne… and it fixes nothing… there's no reason to believe that defeating Enigma would do anything different. Someone would always fill the vacuum of power. Someone would always take their place. Nothing would change. And everyone would know that nothing we're doing even matters."

As much as Char tried to suppress his inner fire, he was panicking fast. Not only because the truth was too large and too sudden a change for him to accept, but because he was still the leader of Team Ember. He'd have to carry on as that leader, knowing the dismal truth of the resistance while still projecting the same strength and focus his team needed from him.

He didn't know if he could keep that strength and focus, knowing he would have to project a giant lie to keep a smile on everyone's face. That was too crushing of a thought to believe.

And yet, that's exactly what Scythe did. And that's exactly what Lucario did, too. And probably many more. They carried this burden.

And now Char would now need to carry this burden himself.

"…But that can't be true, can it?" Char feebly tried, fishing for possibilities. "That nothing we do even matters…? We work so hard every day… doing all these jobs… we can't really be going nowhere… can we?"

It is a difficult truth for many to believe, but you cannot change a kingdom merely by changing its king, Eva said. Such a change is nothing but an illusion. In truth… you only change a kingdom by changing its people. And that's much harder, longer, and more complicated a process, so it's not something we can place our childlike hopes upon. For that, we need a figurehead unto whom we can direct our hearts and prayers. A king often serves no greater purpose than taking the blame for the misfortunes of the people, because that makes life simpler for all to understand. And that is precisely the role which the Master plays in Ambera today, and the reason the people need to believe that he's still there.

But you also need to understand what the resistance movement is really doing. They save lives. They help people. They spread ideas. They run the economy. They change Ambera's culture and values from the inside. They all think they're working hard to change our king, when they are actually succeeding in changing the people a little bit each day. There are some… who even refer to the resistance movement as Ambera's true governing body.

But that's why nobody can know the truth about the Master. It is only because of the Master's notoriety that the resistance finds the strength to rise at the brink of dawn every morning, uniting against a common enemy to make Ambera a better place.

And that is all I wished to say. Now you know my deepest secrets, my human master… if you would still allow me to call you that. I hope you will consider this sufficient repentance for the pain I've caused.

Deep in his bones and every sinew of his muscle, Char felt like his world should have been shattered by this revelation. It made too much sense, and it was enough to shatter anyone's spirit. The Master… wasn't there? They'd never been fighting him? The war was all fake?

And yet… in the depths of his ember… a spark still burned.

A spark that said, something about this still isn't adding up. I think I mostly believe Eva's story, but there's still something missing. It's big and glaring and staring me right in the face, I just… wish I could remember what it was.

But that spark was enough for Char to keep his strength about him, and stay determined to learn the real truth before succumbing to the same despair that had ensnared Scythe, Lucario, and undoubtedly many more members of the resistance unfortunate enough to learn of the Master's true fate for themselves.

"What am I going to tell the team…?" Char wondered absently.

Eva bowed before him. "For once, I will say what I always should have said: tell them whatever you choose. You are the human, I am the servant, and I am here only to offer my advice and my support, should you need it. Howsoever you choose to handle these truths, and howsoever you choose to treat your team because of it… I will be here at your side to help you accomplish it more efficiently, but only if you would have me. My master."

Eva glanced sideways at Scarlet as she raised her head. "And though I will always put my master's will before yours, I revere you the same, human. I am sorry for my misbehavior."

"So… does this mean… I can hire her?" Char wondered.

"If that is what you think is best," said Eva softly. "Whatever you deem best, I deem best. I only wonder how the others will react, after they've witnessed her… dramatic termination."

"Oh, half of them know it was just an act," Scarlet reassured her. "They've probably explained it all to the other half by now. Nobody's going to be surprised to see me coming back."

"So it seems I've been thoroughly outwitted," happily sighed the Espeon. "It is an honor to be outwitted by a human. I only wish I had known sooner."

When Scarlet gave a signal, Tallie descended from the sky, shot Eva a strange glare, and let the Quilava climb onto her back.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone," said Scarlet. "See you back at the base?"

Tallie interjected, "Yeah, don't get too comfortable. I'll be back in a flash. I don't fly like a Slowpoke." And the two fire-types swept into the sky.

On one hand, Char wanted to stop for a moment and reflect on everything he'd just heard. But on the other hand, he didn't want to think too deeply about it. It scared him. He was just growing into the role of a good team leader. And now… he didn't even know what kind of a team he was even running. A 'resistance' team? What was that even supposed to mean?

Eva looked at him with a comforting sparkle in her eye. "I can tell you are struggling with some heavy thoughts right now," she said softly. "There's no need to struggle alone."

Char returned a sad smile. "Eva… you've really been alive since the start of the Master's reign…?"

"I have," she wistfully sighed. "He called me Aster. The flower that will always drift. That's what everybody called me. But when you're cursed with immortality, you need to change your name every once in a while so people don't catch on. And Eva is a very common Espeon's name, so I've taken that name often."

"Aster? Do you want me to call you that now?" Char offered.

Eva visibly shivered. "There was a tingle through my spine just now, at hearing a human speak my true name again," she admitted. "You may always call me whatever you'd like, human. I'll give you no objections. I would only ask that you don't call me by my true name when we are in public. There might be certain… repercussions… when certain Pokémon would hear you utter that name." She looked away suddenly. "Unless… you want to, I mean. I would suffer those repercussions for you. Or any repercussions. Do whatever you want with me… I have no right to tell you otherwise."

Char reached out to scratch the Espeon on the head, and her face melted into bliss. "Thank you," he whispered. "I think I understand you a lot better know. I forgive you for fighting with Scarlet. And hey… I'm not going anywhere, as far as I know. Maybe I'll be your master for a long time."

"I'll be your Pokémon until the day I outlive you, if you'll have me," she promised, laying down in the grass as he continued petting her. "I forget sometimes what it means to love unconditionally. I forget that it means to expect nothing in return. Perhaps another Pokémon will capture your heart… or perhaps it will be another human. Perhaps Saura will return to your side. As long as it is in your best interest, and it makes you happy, then I will offer no resistance to anything. That's how I once served him… and how I must now serve you."

"Yeah…" said Char with a faraway gaze. "Speaking of resistance. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to lead a 'resistance' team now, knowing what you've told me. What are we resisting, exactly? I need to come up with something, or I'm going to feel really weird standing in front of my team every day and reminding them why we're fighting."

Eva's eye sparkled. "I could offer several complicated reasons that would justify still calling it a resistance team. But I think the simplest answer… is that you're resisting against an unhappy future. That's all it is. That's all it ever was."

Char thought that answer was good enough for now. Especially since it had come from someone with a full perspective over Ambera's history. Maybe… knowing the Master wasn't there anymore wouldn't change very much at all. There was still work to be done, there were still mystery dungeons to be explored, there was still evil to be fought, and there were still smiles to put on Pokémon's faces all over the world. That's what they'd always done, and that's what they'd continue to do.

"How much of history do you remember?" Char found himself wondering.

"Shockingly very little," Eva admitted. "As it happens, the mind is only meant to withstand one or two centuries of wisdom and experience. Any more, and things will get lost and forgotten, despite your best efforts to remember them. I have many sharp memories of my time with the Master. And then I remember many of the stupid decisions Enigma has made since then. It was around the time she wrecked the Emerald Division that I got fed up and cut off ties with her. But for the rest… I would need to jog my memories with a history book. And to be honest, the history books aren't very helpful, either. Most of the time they're simply wrong, but they are believed only because there is no other source of information. But… whatever you wish to know, I will do my best to scrape the answers from the depths of my subconscious, any way I know how." She bowed her head again, drawing upon her deepest humility. "And I will be perfectly clear… for all the secrets I speak to you, I expect nothing in return. Although I still fondly anticipate the day I might see the secrets you keep from me, I will not resent you for keeping them as long as you may need. As promised, I have not placed a pawprint on your memories of the Call, and that's how it will be until the moment you tell me otherwise."

When she mentioned it, Char started to ask himself why he still wanted to keep the secret of the Call from her. This, a Pokémon who had served the most powerful human Ambera had ever known, who'd commanded brainwashing powers and apparently some means of making Pokémon and humans immortal… she was offering the same level of loyalty to Char. So… was there any reason to still keep the secret?

The Call.

Char remembered what he was forgetting. The thing that was staring him right in the face. The problem with Eva's story.

He tried not to betray his thoughts to Eva as he followed where they led.

The Call.

Temporal Tower. Celebi. The source of the Call.

The Master… knocked down Temporal Tower while I was up there. The Master killed me. And he tried to erase me from history.

So maybe… the Master isn't on the throne anymore… but he still exists somewhere. Maybe the spirit realm. Maybe another dimension completely. He's still there, and he's still plotting something.

Maybe Enigma really is receiving orders from him. Maybe she's not as crazy as Eva thinks.

And if the Master is still there, and he still has some kind of master plan, and he's still messing with fate…

We still need to resist him.

Team Ember is still a resistance team after all.

"I felt you think about something just now," Eva told Char. "But as soon as you mentioned the Call, I looked the other way. I suspect you were testing my loyalty."

"Thanks," Char replied. "I really appreciate it."

Eva looked at him. "So… what now?" she asked.

"Now," Char decided, "We run a little battle tournament with the recruits. And then we help thirteen new Pokémon move in with us. And then we figure out how to keep track of them all."

They cuddled close together as they waited for Tallie to come back and fly them away, back to their resistance team life as though nothing had ever changed.


Basin Canyon

"I'm concerned about this tunnel," said one Sandslash to another. "It's not safe for a vital tunnel to be so close to the surface."

"Nobody's getting down through the surface," reassured the other. "We saw the design problems two years ago. We filled that whole sediment layer with darksteel mix. It'd take ten Charizards a whole hour to even poke a hole in it."

"Even so, we should seal off access to the mines," said the first. "We've all poured too many resources into this project to lose it all to a weak link in the chain. Seal off this tunnel and reroute a secondary tunnel if we need one."

"I'm not sure if Daemon is going to agree to that. It'll take three days at least."

The two Sandslash stopped their conversation at the sound of the frantic footsteps scurrying towards them. They turned around to find a helmetless Marowak rushing to catch up.

"Marrow?" said one of the Sandslash. "This isn't your tunnel. You're supposed to be –"

"You've got to call it off," Marrow gasped, completely out of breath. "Shander, listen. We have to call off the settlement."

Shander twitched uncomfortably, sharing a concerned gaze with his brother. "Marrow, what are you talking about? What happened?"

The Marowak groaned, leaning on his bone club. "I've tried telling half the rest of the team but nobody is listening to me. We need to call this off. Cepheus is onto us. We stand no godforsaken chance."

He lowered his voice. "Shander… something happened. But I… I don't know what it was."

"You don't know what happened…?" Shander echoed. "Marrow… calm down. We don't need you to be delirious at this hour."

"Listen. Listen. Nobody else is listening to me, so you'd better in all the shattered crags of the basin listen to me. Something happened, but I don't remember what it was. My memories were erased. I'm certain of it. I learned something I wasn't supposed to know, and then someone… someone erased my memories of it."

He grabbed Shander's front claw and yanked him forward. "There's a traitor, Shander," he hissed like a madman. "Someone's a traitor. One of our own erased my memories."

The Sandslash brothers only looked at one another. "Have you told Scythe about this?" Shander replied.

"Yeah, and he flicked me away the moment I opened my mouth," he breathed. "I've half a mind to say he's the traitor. Everyone knows he's been actin' weird lately. Look. Please. You've got to believe me, or this… all this…" he waved around at the tunnel walls, meticulously carved out over the past years, "This… is all about to be a bloodbath."


Once again, a big thank you to everyone who came to the reading of this chapter on Twitch. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

*Chapter 104*: Chapter 77: Deadline

o

Chapter 77

Ember Hideout

Char kept the tournament rules simple: pin the opponent down for five seconds to win. Lose twice and you're eliminated. Grand prize was another guaranteed position on Team Ember. (Char still hadn't told anyone that he was probably just going to accept everybody, but he wanted to see how his new teammates performed when there were stakes on the line…)

And now, after an intense two-and-a-half hours of watching his new recruits showcase their agility beneath the hollow-yet-secure comfort of their new base, the final, decisive battle had commenced. And this would truly be the final battle; there was only enough sunlight left in the sky to make it back to the Gold Division if everyone left within the hour. Time was up; the tournament needed to end here.

Dragonbane and Gemstone.

"You. I can't believe my last opponent is you," Gemstone groaned, trying to hide her exhaustion from her previous four battles.

Dragonbane showed no exhaustion whatsoever. "I'm the only one who hasn't lost once," he boasted. "And meanwhile, you lost to a bug."

"Hey! He's a tough bug! Very twitchy, good at dodging!" Gemstone said, winking at Nincada. "Seriously, he'd make a good teammate."

"T-thank you," Nincada meekly buzzed. "I really tried my best…"

"By the way, whoever wrote the brackets needs to be lobotomized," Kerzek shouted at the Skitty. "You only beat me because of typing. You know that, right?"

The Skitty cast her an odd glance. "Why do you even care? You didn't even need to fight at all. You were already hired!"

"It's a matter of pride," Kerzek hissed, crossing her arms. "Ugh. And here I didn't think you actually knew any fairy attacks… you play pretty rough, kid."

He turned to the purple Nidoran. "Speaking of pride… if you want, you could forfeit and let me stand undefeated… and I wouldn't have to humiliate you. What'dya say, huh?"

"Not a chance," growled the Nidoran, scratching a claw on the floor. "If only one of us is going to be hired, it's going to be me."

"Suit yourself," Dragonbane sighed, playfully swishing his tail.

Dragonbane pounced, twisting in midair to deliver a nice energy-charged smack of the tail. Gemstone quickly projected a protective barrier and bounced him away, sending him tumbling to the side.

"Nobody else noticed you started all your battles with that move," Gemstone scoffed. "But I'm not everyone else."

"I'm gonna beat you like everyone else!" shouted the Skitty, scrambling back to his feet and charging forward to deliver a basic tackle-attack.

Gemstone stepped out of the way and Dragonbane went tumbling again.

"Not gonna beat me if you keep it up with the weak stuff like that," Gemstone teased.

The Nidoran's body flashed with energy, and she loosed a small stream of ice at her target. The attack connected, but Dragonbane shrugged it off. He once again pounced for another body slam attack, which Gemstone easily sidestepped again.

"Seriously? All those battles and you can only pounce at me?" said Gemstone. "You really don't know how to battle, do you? Where are your ranged attacks? Don't you know I how easily I could poison you if you touched one of my spikes?"

Gemstone was about to shout something else, but she widened her eyes stepped backwards. "Ohhhhh… I see what's going on here," she hummed. "You want me to poison you! Don't you! Because you know that one trick… the one where… Ugh, I forgot its name. But you know it, don't you?"

"It's called 'façade', and yep, you got me. Guilty as charged!" Dragonbane taunted. "Poison me, and I'll just turn it into more power! And not only that, but I know how to heal myself when I'm done, too!"

"Well… guess I can't paralyze you either, then," Gemstone grumbled. "And here I was going to finish you off with a nice thunderbolt, too."

"So you're giving up, then?" taunted her opponent.

Gemstone leapt forward to headbutt him, but he readily tumbled out of the way.

The rest of the crowd watched the battle from a comfortable distance. Though the tournament initially started with much excitement and uproar, the recruits eventually found themselves exhausted from a full day of construction work, battling, and an impromptu conspiracy. By the second hour, they mostly stayed quiet and waited to see the outcome of the last fight.

"Huh. Façade. I haven't seen that one in a long time," Scarlet mentioned to Char. "Not a lot of Pokémon practice that move."

"He—he uses new moves in every battle, I noticed," commented Zona. "Except for that tail thing he always does at the start."

"Yeah. I think his whole thing is a façade," said Zachel as she leaned against a Seviper at her side. "Always trying to make you think you can predict him… but you can't. Honestly I kind of like it."

The adorable scuffle lasted for two more minutes, with Dragonbane always pouncing with weak melee attacks, and Gemstone hilariously trying to fend him off while not poking him with her poison points.

"Hey, if your strategy is to slowly whittle down my patience until I make a mistake, you'll have to try something else," warned Gemstone, now sounding more concerned than competitive. "Remember, this battle is on a deadline. Sunlight's running out."

Dragonbane made an evil smirk at her.

"Sunlight's running out, you say?" he said, stepping back and crouching down to focus energy. "Well, it just so happens that I've saved some up for you! Hah-hah-hah!"

Gemstone rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother…"

Dragonbane closed his eyes, gathering a yellow light inside him. The thoroughly unimpressed Nidoran casually sauntered over to him.

"Solar beam? Really?" she squeaked. "Firstly, you really shouldn't call your attacks, only super-lame Pokémon do that. Why would you want to tell your opponent what you're doing? Secondly, I'm resistant to solar beams, and you're not a grass-type, so it won't do you much good even if you did hit me. Thirdly, you have to charge it up and it leaves you super open for attacks. More than enough time to me to pin you."

The Nidoran jumped up with her front paws and somewhat pinned down Dragonbane as he was still stuck in his prone state. "Honestly, kiddo, I think you should stick to slaying dragons. Count of one, count of two…"

Dragonbane lurched up and released his solar beam, striking Gemstone point-blank in the face. It flashed almost as brightly as a thunderbolt, and Char reflexively covered his eyes. A pained squeal came from Gemstone as she struck the ground some distance away, followed by a shocked gasp from the onlookers.

"Urk… ow…" Gemstone groaned, laying on her side to rest for a moment. "That… that hurt much more than I was expecting…"

This time, it was Dragonbane's turn to saunter smugly over to his downed opponent, where he mockingly pinned her down for five seconds with just his tail.

"It's called 'I normalized the attack'. Maybe it's you who has a lot more to learn about fighting. Also…"

He stepped around to the front and whispered quietly into her ear: "You might not realize this, Gemstone, but even though you have the body of a little purple bunny… you are a dragon."

"What-?" croaked Gemstone. But the Skitty wasn't listening anymore. He hummed a little melody as he swaggered his way back to Char to receive his congratulations, and Ray rushed over to the Nidoran with a healing berry in paw.

"Well, now! We have our champion!" Char announced, extending a paw to the proud-standing fighter. "Awesome work, Dragonbane. I think you'll be great at defending our team out in the field-"

"Hire us both," Dragonbane demanded.

Char shut his mouth for a moment, taken off-guard by the forwardness of the Skitty's command. The Skitty only tilted his head, waiting interestedly for a response.

"What? You, and Gemstone both?" Char said after a moment.

The Skitty nodded. "It's both of us, or it's neither of us. That's my offer," he put forth with surprising confidence. "I know you think she's annoying and you weren't going to hire her. That's why I have to do this. So if you want me, you have to take her too."

Char and Eva exchanged some surprised looks. "Well? It's not an unreasonable demand," Eva admitted. "She was the runner up."

Even if she is a loudmouth brat, Eva added in telepathy. But that's an issue I will be happy to work on later.

The Skitty glanced back to see Ray still helping up the little Nidoran as she came to her senses. "I want her as a teammate," he stated. "I think we would work great together. I have a lot to learn and she knows what she's talking about. Even if it doesn't seem like it… there's something inside of her that will make our team stronger. I promise."

Char crossed his arms and pretended to consider the Skitty's proposal. He glanced around the room at all the recruits, particularly the ones who assumed they completely lost their chances. Evan and Asunder were already pawing at the supply bag, putting away the scarves and spare berries they'd used for the fight. Lyre was oddly staring out the front door, as though excited for the first glimpse of the Watchers.

It was getting more difficult to see everyone in the waning sunlight. Char only realized this when he noticed that he could see the flickering of his tail fire on Dragonbane's fur.

"Well," he finally said, "how about I just let everyone in? I don't see anyone here who's completely incompatible with the team. I'm pretty sure I have room for everyone, and I need all the help I can get."

"…Oh! Okay, that works too," Dragonbane chirped, turning and walking back to the Nidoran. "Hey! Gemstone, did you hear that? We're teammates now! For real! You're stuck with me!"

"…Lovely," Gemstone groaned.

On that note, Char went to go retrieve the Frozen Flame from the center of the room near the ghostly campfire. "Alright, everyone! Mission's over for the day!" he announced to all. "Yeah, I've decided I don't really need to let anyone go. So anybody who wasn't confirmed yet, if you're still interested in joining Team Ember, I'll give you two days to move in. You know where to find me; come by anytime you'd like and we'll have a room for you. That's it! Time to pack up and go home."

"Hey, did you hear that?" Zachel dryly said to the snake beside her. "Char never specified who he was talking to. That means you can join the team! Wanna share a room?"

Seviper responded by thwacking her on the back of the head with the side of his tail-blade. "Hah. Nice try, tiger. See you around." And he slithered back to the Croagunk and Dusknoir who awaited his return.

Everyone made one last round of clean-up, checking for loose supplies and handing them off to Zachel and Ray. Kerzek needed a few minutes to put out the ghost-fire. Char carefully and reverently set the frozen flame back into its pouch, before handing it off to Ray as well. It had served its purpose for the day, protecting the present fire-types from sustaining injuries during the renovation project. He wondered if he should bring it back for the next stage of the project, when they'd have to start furnishing and stocking the base for actual use.

"Hey. Humans," hissed Eva, discreetly approaching Char and the nearby Quilava. "I've come up with something, if you'll hear me out. Scarlet… I believe I know how you could best help out on this team."

Scarlet shivered for a brief moment. "Keep it down about the human thing, please. Char might like to flaunt it, but I don't."

"Understood," Eva affirmed, showing due humility in her voice. "But it's relevant to my idea. You mentioned once or twice that you are a teacher, is that right?"

"Occasionally, yes," Scarlet said.

"And the age ranges you prefer to teach?"

"Oh! Hatchlings, mainly," she said with a small grin. "I'm good with children."

"Perfect," Eva said. "Listen… Char at present faces a certain problem, and I think you might be the solution. He… needs to learn footprints, and he needs to learn them very fast. Because you profess yourself a teacher, and because you must have also endured the same process of learning the local language, you might be able to teach him more effectively than anyone else."

Scarlet looked halfway shocked. She blinked at Char. "Really? You don't know footprints yet? Huh, I never would have guessed."

"…Yeah," Char halfheartedly admitted. "I haven't had time to make a lot of progress. And you've been a Pokémon for much longer than I have…"

"Do have any literacy? Whatsoever?"

"Almost nothing," Char said, scratching the floor with his toe-claws. "I've been trying to study for a while, but nothing sticks. I only know how to write my own name! But… that's it. I can read Unown just fine, though, like… you know, normal humans."

"Um… how did you memorize the Resistance Creed, then?" Scarlet wondered.

"Saura and Ray read it to me," Char said. "But Eva is right. High Intelligence ordered me to learn footprint runes. And I haven't been doing a very good job of it. So if there's any chance… what do you think?"

A weird look of bewilderment passed across Scarlet's face, as though she still couldn't comprehend the idea that this renowned and accomplished Charmander was completely illiterate.

"Oh… well, yes, that's certainly something I can do," Scarlet said, letting her warm smile return. "Sure, Char. I'll be happy to teach you. But um… there's just one part I'm not so sure about. You said you're on some kind of a deadline? What… kind of time frame are we talking?"

A few days, Char wanted to say. But I can't tell her that. That's ludicrous.

Then don't, Eva suggested telepathically. If you can't force it, you can't force it. At this point, either you're going to learn some basics, or nothing at all. We'll just have to face that High Intelligence is going to be somewhat disappointed in you. But do your best. It's better than nothing.

"I… uh—" Char sputtered, looking at the floor, trying to decide on a good lie. Finally he settled with saying: "A year."

"Oh, that's just fine. No trouble at all!" Scarlet reassured him. "I bet I can get you to a basic level of literacy in half that time. That's about how long it took me when I… first learned. And besides, you know this isn't an uncommon problem, right? Adult illiteracy? What do you think happens when they civilize ferals? Wild Pokémon don't automatically learn how to read. So it's really nothing to be ashamed about."

Char sighed. "Ah, I guess that's true," he said. "Maybe I should have asked Otto how he learned to read so fast. Maybe I could have gone to the daycare and taken one of those civilizing programs… if I had the time for it."

Scarlet got down on all fours. "Hey. Here. Look at this," she invited.

With a foreclaw, the Quilava traced a small shape in the thin layer of construction-dust still covering the floor. Char squinted to see. It looked like a little tulip. Or maybe a badge.

"This is where it all begins," Scarlet said. "This is a Bulbasaur-print. The first glyph anyone learns. The first glyph in the footprint-set."

"I thought Rhydon was the first in the set," Eva cut in.

Scarlet scowled. "That's… a completely different set. A very old one," she replied. "What are you, four hundred years old, or something?"

"Why yes, as a matter of fact – Oh, forget it," Eva said indignantly, stomping off somewhere else.

There was a satisfied gleam in Scarlet's eye as she watched the Espeon walk away, which gave way to a quiet chuckle. But Scarlet soon enough turned her attention back to Char. "Anyway, here. A five-minute lesson. This Bulbasaur-print. This is like… the footprint version of a pronoun. When you draw it facing up, like this, it means 'I'. That's it. It indicates the writer. Understand?"

"Yeah, alright."

"And when you draw it upside-down, like this, it means 'you'. And when you draw it sideways, it means 'them'. Simple so far, right? So it's like the Pokémon version of a personal pronoun."

"Uh-huh…"

"Now, you can also compound it with other words, and then it becomes a possessive pronoun, too. Like this…"

Scarlet scribbled some other footprint. Next to it, she wrote something Char actually recognized – his own name, which he oddly enough noticed, contained the same footprint. "So… this word here is 'flame', okay? Now if I draw the Bulbasaur-print sideways between these two words, it means "The flame that belongs to Char."

Char looked for a prolonged moment at the scribbles, feeling like it might just be starting to make some sense.

"But… what if you drew the Bulbasaur-print pointed the other way?" Char wondered. "Would it mean… the Char that belongs to the flame?"

"Yes… but that's considered bad grammar," Scarlet said. "Usually you never write a backwards possessive like that, because the backwards Bulbasaur print is supposed to mean something else. It's complicated. But that doesn't stop a lot of Pokémon from writing like that anyway! It's a slang thing. But for now… think you can figure out how to write that sentence the correct way?"

Char thought for a moment, then reached down to scribble his own scratch-marks beneath the Quilava's. He copied the glyphs as precisely as he could, in the opposite order, with the forward-facing Bulbasaur-print between them.

"Hey! You got it!" Scarlet cheered. "Though, less spacing between the words next time. The possessive Bulbasaur-print is supposed to be like an apostrophe. They're supposed to all run together. But congratulations! Your first grammatically-coherent sentence fragment!"

"Heh. Yeah. I guess it is!" Char awkwardly laughed, somewhat proud of himself. "And I guess… if you write it with too much space in between and make them separate words… does it mean… 'Char, them, and the flame?'"

Scarlet was surprised. "That's absolutely right!" she laughed.

Char looked down at his own claws, wondering if they had the hidden power to write footprints the entire time. Deep in his fire, there came a strange sense of deep relief. "Yeah, I… I guess I just needed someone to start me out on the right foot. No pun intended."

Scarlet stood back up. "Keep that up, Char, and I'll have you reading entire storybooks by this time next year," she said, sounding very pleased. "Now let's get all these kiddos back to the base. Don't want to get caught by the Watchers and be putting Raon's lessons to the test quite this soon."

"…Thank you, Scarlet," Char simply said, not sure what else to add.

"Oh! Don't thank me yet. We've still got a long ways to go," Scarlet told Char.

There were a lot of things Char wanted to thank her for. For being so smart, for giving him confidence, for trusting him with her secret, and just… for offering a type of company he hadn't felt since his transformation, a type of company he never realized he wanted so badly. He just wanted to figure out how to say it in a way that didn't sound awkward.

But then, there was a commotion at the front door. A violent flapping of wings.

Char turned in surprise, expecting to see Tallie returning with her squadron, reporting in for the trip home. Instead, he saw the last Pokémon in the world he expected to see.

A Pidgeotto.

"Char. Where is Char." Otto squawked, scrambling to a landing and darting his eyes around the room. "I need Char. It's important."

"Wow! Otto, you're flying already?!" Ray cried.

"I was not ready to fly. But I needed to find Char," he gasped. "They ordered me. I knew where Team Ember went today. Nobody else."

Then Otto's gaze landed on the Charmander who still sat on the floor in front of the scribbles of footprints. Without so much as a friendly greeting, Otto flapped his wings and closed the distance.

"You are needed at the base," Otto informed him.

"Uh… yeah, we were about to head back!" Char said. "In fact, I think we were just ready to leave. We can leave right now!"

Otto shook his head. "No. You don't understand. By orders of High Intelligence. You are needed back at the base. With immediacy. You are already late."

"Um… what do you mean?" Char said. "I didn't have any kind of appointment today… I don't think?"

"They told me nothing else," Otto said, "but to bring you back as fast as possible. Tallie is waiting outside. She can fly you back faster than I. Go now."

Even as Otto began nudging and pushing Char along towards the door, Char tried to take one last look back at all the Pokémon he was being forced to leave behind. "Ray! Can you –"

"Yeah! We got this, don't worry!" Ray called to him. "And Raon will help with the Watchers if they come out! Go take care of whatever!"

Char let himself be ushered out the door, still trying to fathom what had gone wrong. What had he missed? Was there an appointment? Was there an emergency? Why did Otto say he was late? What did that even mean?

Whatever sense of relief that Scarlet's lesson had brought, it was gone. Now he felt the panic mounting with every heartbeat, every flicker of his rising flame. He tried to suppress his panic. That's what a good team leader was supposed to do: never panic, stand strong, be the bastion of strength and confidence in difficult times. But he found it a very difficult ideal to follow when he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

And because he seemed to be alone. There would be no team to inspire confidence into. He was leaving them behind.

"Get on," Tallie urged, poising herself to be mounted on the back. "And before you ask, I don't have any more of a clue than you do."

"Talle… will you come back to the hideout after you drop me off?" Char asked. "Help the team make it home safely?"

"Depends, is that an official order?" Tallie squawked. "I was hoping to see what the heck got Otto all ruffled up. But I'll do what you say. You're the leader."

"…Yeah. I think you should help bring the recruits home," Char decided, holding tightly to the Talonflame's shoulders and bracing himself to be airborne. "I'm worried for them, and It's getting a bit dark. Remember to make them split into groups, just like we came."

"Making me fly through the Watchers, I see how it is," Tallie hissed. "Alright, fine. I know my orders. Now let's go."


Division Base

Otto was right. Tallie flew pretty fast when she needed. Especially when she propelled herself with her fire-power. He began to realize just why Team Flamewheel had relied on her to fly to the Basin Canyon so frequently…

Unfortunately, Tallie made no effort to make the flight easy on Char's stomach. Tallie almost never carried riders on her back, but in her talons, and somehow Char found this experience to be even worse. The altitude-shifts and sudden lurches made Char sick to his ember. By the time he set foot on solid ground again, only six-or-so minutes later, he could barely stand.

"You didn't bring a Pecha berry with you, by chance…?" he groaned as he stumbled around, ultimately deciding to just walk on all fours… but by the time he turned back around, the Talonflame was already a speck against the sunset-colored sky.

Something felt wrong about this, so very wrong. Every step that Char made through the Cliffside Academy, down the tunnel, past the stationed guards who were all where they were supposed to be… everything made him feel like he was going in the wrong direction. Every fiber of his instincts told him to run away.

Something had shifted in the fatestream. Something was breaking. This felt like the Temporal Tower mission. He knew he was never meant to go to the Temporal Tower mission, according to his master plan… and this felt the same way. But he pressed onward, step after step, waiting any moment for some horrible to truth to be made clear.

He returned to a resistance base in a state he'd never quite seen before. At least, not from this perspective. The torches were blue. The floors were dead. The crowds were gone. Only a haunted stillness hung over the vast empty cavern and its surrounding halls, broken by the occasional sounds of faraway Pokémon shuffling quietly through the corridors. This was a kind of resistance base he was sure the nocturnal teams were used to, those who made a living off braving the Watcher swarms on a regular basis. (There weren't a lot of those, he always noticed… and he could think of several morbid reasons why…)

But worst of all… and, Char realized, the reason he felt so much dread… was the loneliness. His team was not beside him. He was about to dive headlong into some unplanned, unpredictable twist of fate… without Team Ember. And that felt so… wrong.

This is not something I would have put into my master plan, he told himself. There's no way I would have made myself do something totally alone. Is there?

Hesitantly, Char ducked into the stairwell that would take him quickly up to the level of his home base. He slowly climbed the steps, listening to his claws clacking against the stone, and the pulsing rumble of his ember within - his only remaining friend and ally.

He thought maybe if he walked slowly enough, it would give Team Ember a chance to catch up. Whatever the big rush was all about, surely it could wait a few minutes more… right?

But when he stopped at his normal floor and tried to leave the stairwell… a Pokémon stood in front of him, blocking his way. It took Char a moment to recognize the Pokémon's figure in the soft blue light of the torches: Xatu, of High Intelligence.

"No, not this way," Xatu said. "You are needed elsewhere. One floor more."

"T-Team Remorse? You mean?"

"Correct," Xatu said softly. "Now hurry."

Char hesitantly stepped back. "What… But I… Can't I stop by my hall to get some supplies?"

Xatu quietly shook her head. "No. You've run out of time."

"Time for what…?" Char squeaked, letting the bird usher him back onto the stairs. "What's going on, Xatu? Please tell me, I don't want to go into this blind. Whatever this is."

"You should know exactly what's going on, human," Xatu said quietly. "Tell me, though: have you learned to read and write in the footprint set, and fluently, as we've asked?"

"N-no! But! I… I'm going to! I promise!" Char sputtered. "I just found a way! I just found someone who will teach me! Things are going to be just fine!"

Xatu softly sighed. "Ah. I'm sorry to say… but that deadline has passed. It does not matter anymore."

"NO! Wait! WAIT! I thought I had… a few more days left!" Char cried, beginning to panic.

"Plans have changed," Xatu said. "The enemy has made its move, and now we must do the same. Because you have failed to fulfill the final condition set before you, there is only one way remaining to make right the course of fate: you must accompany our forces to Basin Canyon. As we speak, they are nearly ready to leave. Now, all that matters is that you must face your destiny, and come whatever may."

"Please!" Char tried. "Let me get something out of my room!"

"No. You cannot."

"Can I at least bring some teammates along?"

"You may not."

Char knew his fire wanted to flare. Despite his best efforts to remain calm and contained, he chose to give in, to listen to his instincts telling him to stand up for himself and stay on the correct path.

"No," Char decided, standing two stairsteps ahead of Xatu and turning around. "No. I'm not doing this. Not without at least one of my teammates. Please don't make me do this alone. They're going to be here soon, I promise. Just… please, Xatu. I'm begging you."

Xatu closed her eyes and tilted her head downward, holding her wings closed.

"Char…" she whispered. "Understand something. I… I am on your side. I always have been. And I do not mean the side of the resistance. Not the side of Alakazam, Metagross, and Orde. But your side. Personally yours. I and my predecessors, we have protected your plan through the decades of the history of the resistance."

"…My plan?" Char gasped, feeling his legs shake at the realization.

"You visited me, in your human form," Xatu replied. "You've given me the title of Overseer. The one to oversee your development into a competent Pokémon. Into a warrior. But you must understand: everything comes down to tonight. Everything hinges on the events which are about to transpire. This is not Team Ember's, or Team Remorse's plan, or the Master's plan. This is your plan. You must go to Basin Canyon, and you must go there alone. No teammates. Just Team Remorse, their allies, and you. Tonight, Arceus willing… you will shape the very course of the future, so your grand plan may come to pass."

"What… what is my plan, Xatu?" Char breathed. "Please, if you know… I want to know, too…"

But Xatu only hummed, "You never told me. Nothing you've told me, or left for me, extends past tonight. This is the end of my involvement. And now that finally I stand and stare into the blinding rays of the great deadline you've set before me… I can only hope I that have served you well."

Even though Char began to understand that he could not waste a single moment more… he paused to breathe deep and collect himself. He looked down at the Xatu who guided him up the stairs, and who'd been there to guide him all along.

He began to fathom, just barely, the extent to which this Xatu, this 'Overseer', had played in it all. Sending him on missions, vouching for him in front of Alakazam, giving him the best of the resources the base had to offer… That all of it, and perhaps so much more, had been arranged so very far in advance by the nameless, faceless human he used to be.

But he didn't have the time, especially with his tiny Charmander brain, to meditate on what this meant. He didn't have the time to stop and realize all that Xatu had done for him, all the ways she intervened and mediated and built the culture of the resistance enough to suit his needs.

So instead he breathed deeply, looked down at her, and spoke as he imagined his human-self would speak: "I understand. Thank you for everything… Overseer. Whatever is about to happen… I hope it works."

"Go," Xatu ordered again, still with her eyes closed. "Go to Team Remorse. They will take you the rest of the way."

Xatu then vanished, and Char found himself once again alone.

He doubled his pace up the stairs, and burst out into the corridor one floor above his team's hall. This was a corridor he knew well and walked often, especially back when he was new and spent the nights with Scythe. It was a path he still walked whenever Team Ember needed to ask for help from Team Remorse. So familiar, and yet now, so unknown. With the silence and stillness of the hallway, he never would have guessed tonight would mark an important point in Ambera's destiny.

Alas, it was just him, a Charmander beneath the deep blue light of the torches, and nothing to stand in his way between him and the closed door to Team Remorse…

He kept thinking… Is it really that bad? What if I… what if I just rushed back downstairs right now? The ghosts never sleep. I could get something from storage. Or I could go back to our supply closet. There's some stuff in there too. It wouldn't take more than two minutes, and I could rush right back up here… that couldn't possibly be too bad, could it…?

"Char," whispered a sudden voice from beside him. It was not Xatu, but it was a voice he recognized.

Jerking back to attention, he turned to notice that one of the hallway doors had opened slightly. It was some team's hall, some high-level team that he never happened crossed paths with. A pair of eyes peeked at him through the crack.

"I know you're in a hurry," said the voice. "Get in, quick."

Char did so, as soon as he recognized the voice. It was an unexpected voice, for certain, and definitely not one that belonged to whatever team resided in that hall. But the voice was not an unwelcome one, given the circumstances…

"Eva!" Char gasped, ducking into the room. "H-how did you get back here so fast?"

"I ran," she said with a tilt of her head. "I know they're trying to separate you from your team. But I'm not leaving you. I don't care where they're taking you. I'm coming too."

"Eva… no, you can't," Char croaked with so much reluctance. "This is… look, I would really want you to come along, honest, but… you can't let them see you…"

"Master. Look me deep into the eyes," she bid to him. "Look at me when I say: I'm not leaving you. I am immortal. Nothing can stop me. Nothing will. Wherever they're taking you, I will come. I will be unseen. I can sneak in, and they'll never notice me. So whatever you're doing, you won't be doing it alone."

Char balked so painfully. How badly he wanted to thank Eva for coming, for being there for him when none of his other teammates could… but if Xatu had forbidden it, would it go against his master plan?

"Eva, I… I don't know if I can…" Char tried to say, looking nervously over his shoulder and back out the door. "Just don't… ruin anything, okay? I have no idea what's going on."

"I'll only ruin what you tell me I can ruin," Eva assured him with a little cocky smile. "Don't worry about me. I can fend for myself. But right now, if we act fast, I think I can do something for you. I could bring you something. If you could have any item in the base right now… what is it? I'll bring it to you before you leave. Somehow. Without anyone seeing."

The frozen flame. That was Char's first instinct. But that wasn't in the base. That was at the hideout, or on the way back from the hideout, tucked safely in Ray's bag. There was no way he was getting that in time.

Char thought about saying he wanted a reviver seed. Or maybe a sack of them. But those only worked in mystery dungeons, and he didn't know whether there would be a dungeon here he was going. Did Basin Canyon have a mystery dungeon? He vaguely remembered Scythe mentioning that once, but he wasn't completely sure.

The speed brace? Could he slow down time? Did he even still have that, or did Scythe take it with him?

Could he even afford to take something conspicuous? Would Team Remorse forbid it? Xatu said he couldn't bring anything… would she confiscate it?

"Alright, I think I know," Char whispered back. "Get me a mobile scarf. We have two. They should be in the supply closet where Ray keeps the reviver seeds and valuable things."

Eva nodded. "It will be done. I promise. Now go to them… I feel their restless mind-waves tugging at me from here."

Char peered nervously through the crack in the door. Still nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard. No commotion. Nothing except for the eerie blue light that meant Char was up way past his bedtime.

"It's okay. Go," Eva whispered. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. And I'll get you that scarf, but you've got to let me go right now, or I might not make it back in time."

"…Alright," Char sighed, creeping back out the door, constantly casting his glance back at the Espeon hiding in the shadows. "Alright, I'll go. I'll see you."

Soon, Master, she promised in his mind. You'll be seeing me soon.

Every step of the way to the door of Team Remorse, Char found nothing to convince himself that tonight was anything unordinary. There was nothing to indicate that the fate-threads were shifting, that time was running out. That behind the closed door, a dozen of the Division's best Pokémon were running around in an uproar and preparing for the most dangerous night of the decade.

It made him afraid to set his claw to the door, knowing that everything would change in unforeseen ways the moment he would knock.

Here it goes, Char told himself. If this is what I came for… if this is why I came to Ambera as a Charmander… I can't be afraid of this.

To think that Team Remorse is where I would always go when I felt confused or hopeless, and needed true heroes to help back me up. Team Remorse is always where I went when I needed the most help.

To think that tonight, knocking on this door is making me feel so helpless and alone.

Despite his best effort to fortify his courage, Char cringed and grit his teeth as he knocked.

For ten seconds, the door gave no indication that anyone had detected a visitor. Char held his breath as the anticipation burned at his innards.

The door opened. On the other side stood a very angry hellhound.

"Char…" growled the imposing Houndoom, "You've picked a very bad time to visit."

"I was… told… to come here…" Char said, standing upright and not letting Daemon intimidate him. "I was told… I'm coming on the mission with you. To Basin Canyon."

Daemon looked so appalled that he actually snorted fire out of his nose. "Absolutely not," he growled. "Our orders were to keep you safe, not to bring you on a suicide mission to die. While I would certainly like to have a word with whomever told you such ludicrous things, there's no time. We are heading out within minutes from now. I suggest you get out of our way."

"Orders are from High Intelligence," Char insisted, standing his ground. "Xatu herself told me to come."

"In that case, you may invoke rule six-twenty-two, and follow my orders instead of hers," Daemon returned with a growl. "I refuse to let a little child run around underneath our noses and ruin our plans. You are not coming."

"Oh? And why can't he come, exactly?" said a sudden voice from behind Char.

Daemon, somehow, looked even angrier than before. "Scythe. You were supposed to remain at the canyon and await us!" he growled in so much mounting frustration. "Why have you returned at this hour?!"

Char turned to look behind him, and surely enough found a familiar Scyther standing over his head, with a strange, uncharacteristic smile of glee upon his face.

"Because I decided I wanted to come back for you myself!" Scythe said. "And if you'd ask me, I think it's an excellent idea for Char to come along with us! He is our apprentice, after all! What better way to teach him how the professional teams operate than to let him witness a real operation?"

"Scythe, you know I cannot allow this to happen," Daemon argued, walking right past Char and getting in his leader's face. "All the attendees, the sub-teams, they've all been long-since accounted for. You've said so yourself. We can't afford to protect him. We can't afford to have any of our sub-squadrons distracted from their assignments because a little salamander is running around and setting everything on fire."

But Scythe didn't look one bit fazed by the confrontation. "I appreciate your concerns, but! I really must insist we do things my way. I'm the team leader! It's my word that's final!" Scythe returned.

A heated moment of silence passed between the two warriors, both of whom seemed to completely forget Char was standing right beside them.

"You. Cannot. Be serious." Daemon growled. "Scythe. Even for you, this is an unreasonable deviation from our plans."

"Oh, but I am the team leader, am I not?" Scythe laughed. "Aren't I?"

"Yes… but…"

"And have I ever given you a reason not to trust me? Hmm?"

For a moment, Daemon didn't even know how to answer that question. After sputtering out a few attempts at a response, Daemon said, "Right now, I believe you are giving me one."

"Nonsense! You know I'm always right!" Scythe chuckled. "C'mon in, Char! Welcome to the party! We're going to have a lot of fun and show you how real warriors fight! It'll be a blast! Team Remorse never makes any mistakes, everybody knows that! We'll win the fight and be celebrating in no time! Won't we, you old grumpy dog, you?"

Char nervously tiptoed away from the seething, mind-broken hellhound and hid beneath Scythe's protection, where he received a few gentle prods from Scythe's blades encouraging him to enter the room.

When Char entered the old familiar hall, he found himself face-to-face with a formidable group of some of the Gold Division's finest warriors, all gathering their supplies, packing their bags, and outfitting themselves with their favored enchanted items. But their usual proud and confident disposition seemed to be missing, replaced by something tense and fearful. As though none of them were entirely confident in the outcome of this effort.

A stoic-looking Gabite fit no more than four metal bands around his front arms. A giant Ursaring counted seeds into a tiny pouch. A Crawdaunt and Breloom had a quiet chat with one another. All Team Remorse members he knew well. They all seemed to stop what they were doing and glare at Char in surprise, making Char really feel like the most misfit Pokémon in the room.

A moment later, once Char noticed a Luxray and an Arcanine chatting farther in the back, Char realized he wasn't only looking at Team Remorse, but several of the Division's best teams. All teams that Scythe had hired to help him with the Basin Canyon project. All of them apparently were banding together tonight, ready to finish whatever it was they started.

"Char! You're here!" came a comforting voice from one of the sleeping rooms. "I heard rumors you were coming, but I wasn't actually expecting to see you."

Char had never been more thankful to see Prince in his entire life. (Well, except maybe for that time he found Prince laying unconscious in the snows of Zerferia… but this was a close second.) Ignoring all the other Pokémon in the room, Char scampered over to Prince and clung to his leg in a short moment of childishness.

"Prince, what is going on?!" Char quietly begged. "Xatu said I had to come with you guys tonight. I couldn't even bring my team. What's wrong? Why are we leaving for Basin Canyon already?"

The great Infernape lifted Char into his arms, bringing Char the same feeling of security it brought him back in the Temporal Tower mission. Char instinctively hung onto Prince's shoulder like an infant child. "Because Cepheus has made his move," Prince quietly hummed so that only Char could hear. "He was two steps ahead of us. We still don't know how he intends to break our guard at the canyon, but he's on his way there now, and we need to be the first to get there and set up guard."

"Oh… he surprised us?" Char said. "Is it really that bad?"

"He always does," Prince said direly. "Somehow, he always does. But unless there is some vulnerability in our defenses that we haven't noticed… we'll probably fight him off. I hope."

"Fine! Whatever! You want your little pet lizard to die? Fine, he can die. But that's all on you," barked Daemon, so loudly that everyone in the team hall could hear. Preceded by his mighty shout, the Houndoom marched back through the door to address all the Pokémon within. "We're moving out. Now."

"Well, wait. Who's going to stay and guard the rooms?" asked Ursa.

"We already established Raon would stay back," Daemon replied gruffly. "But he should have been back by now, and we can't afford to wait for him. Leave the door unlocked, then."

"Wait! I have an idea. Why don't I stay back and watch the room?" Scythe offered.

The whole room went silent. Nobody could believe what they'd just heard. Everyone looked about just as mind-broken as Daemon had been moments before.

"Hah. I envy your sense of humor in times like these," Raptor chuckled awkwardly. "Truly an inspiration to us all."

"Who's joking? I'm not joking!" Scythe insisted, as though he'd said something perfectly reasonable. "It's a great idea! I stay back here in the base, and all of you can go to Basin Canyon! What's wrong with that?"

Daemon was starting to look absolutely furious now. Smoke seeped from between his teeth as he confronted the Scyther a second time.

"Because this is your project," Daemon said threateningly. "You accepted the terms. You made the plans. You will be the one to carry them out. Nobody else here can react to a changing battlefield the way you can. We need you there."

"Aww, I'm sure you'll do just fine!" Scythe said dismissively. "And Adarc is there, remember? He's just as good at battle tactics as I am!"

"Hey, uh. Boss?" said the Crawdaunt from across the room. "You do realize that if you stay behind… there's a good chance that… I mean… none of us will come back? That you'll… really… be the last real hero standing in the Division?"

Char took a moment to let the possibility sink in. He imagined a Gold Division without Team Remorse, Teem Flamewheel, Team Absolution… and from the looks of everyone's faces, Char figured the other Pokémon of the room were having the same morbid visions of the future.

But Scythe just scoffed at it. "Nah. Nonsense. You are all overthinking this. Come on! We're Team Remorse! We win everything all the time! What could possibly go wrong?"

A certain one-handed Smeargle spoke up from next to Prince. "I'm sure you're well aware of this, Char, but Scythe usually isn't this bad at giving pep talks," he grumbled. "Really don't know what angle he's going for, here."

"Alright, ALRIGHT, FINE!" Daemon shouted, burning everyone's ears. "I don't know what delusional nonsense has wormed its way inside of your head, and in our greatest hour of need, but you're making something very clear to me: you are not in any shape to be leading this mission. So fine, our fearless leader. Have things your way. You stay back and relax as you send us all out to die, you abandon all the plans you promised us that you had, and we'll even take your stupid lizard to die along with us. ARE YOU HAPPY?"

"Hey, Daemon, old pal!" Scythe returned, looking strangely offended. "How do you know this isn't all part of my plan? Hm? My plans don't always make sense at first, do they? But it always comes together in the end, right? So I'll ask again: do you trust me?"

Daemon seethed. And seethed. And seethed so hard that the smoke pouring from his nostrils turned a thicker black than Char had ever seen from his own smokescreens.

"It seems like you leave me no choice," Daemon threatened slowly and deeply, "but to hope, upon the hooves of Arceus, that I can still trust you."

No more than one minute later, a great procession of heroes led by a thoroughly disgruntled hellhound somberly marched their way out from the halls of Team Remorse. Char thought they would have looked like a magnificent and fearsome team, had there been any Pokémon awake at this hour to even witness them leaving.

Char hung close to Prince, and found that he couldn't keep his attention focused on staying in line. He kept nervously glancing around the base, anywhere he could, for any signs of someone he recognized. Maybe Team Ember would finally arrive back and they would cross paths. Maybe he could spot Xatu silently watching them from somewhere afar. Maybe…

Eva. He realized Eva still hadn't returned.

Char started to fidget with his front claws, deeply unsettled that they weren't holding a mobile scarf. He wanted that scarf more than ever. One thing, maybe the only thing, that could possibly bring him a certain sense of security on such a dire journey. Just the thought that he could hide inside of a wall if he wanted, even if only for a few minutes, or the thought that he could escape from capture or imprisonment, would make him feel many times more confident…

But Eva was nowhere to be seen.

Eva! We're leaving now! Where are you? Char called out in telepathy. There was no answer.

But there was still hope. It was a long walk. It would still take about ten minutes for them to make it all the way down to the Cliffside Academy and leave the base. Char grasped at his neck, hoping that somehow his scarf would miraculously materialize there, and put some of his worries to rest.

Eva. I hope you'll make it. Please make it, he thought hard at her.

As he was calling to Eva, he took a turn and nearly made the Gabite trip over him. "Whoa! Wrong direction buddy!" Raptor hissed at him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"That's… that's the way downstairs, isn't it? To the exit?" Char nervously replied, pointing at the stairwell where he'd encountered Xatu.

"One of the exits," Raptor reminded him. "This base has four exits, remember? And the Iron Town exit isn't the one we take to the canyon. Nah. We're taking the waterfall exit."

The waterfall exit, Char remembered with dread. That's… much closer.

No. We'll be gone in just three minutes… please come back…

Aster…

Prince noticed how Char kept incessantly fidgeting with his front claws, and offered a hand down to him. Char took hold, and trusted Prince to guide his footsteps.

I can't let this happen to me, Char realized. I'm losing myself. I just started learning how to be mature, how to control my fire, how to be a team leader… and now that I'm without my team, I'm just slipping back into being a child, a weak little candle-flame, all over again.

But no. I can't let that happen. Especially not now when I need my courage so badly.

I'm still a team leader. I'm still the leader of Team Ember. Just because I don't have my team with me doesn't change that. In fact, they're counting on me to make it back safe. They trust me.

I'm not going to break down. I need my fire.

So I'm not going to panic. I'm going to trust.

I'm going to trust Xatu that she's been a good Overseer.

I'm going to trust Scythe, that he knows what he's doing, even when he sounds crazy. Maybe this is all part of a plan of his.

I'm going to trust Eva. No… Aster. I'm going to trust Aster to bring me the scarf before it's too late.

And most importantly… I'm going to trust myself. My human self. The one who set all this up for me before I even got here.

All of that is out of my hands. Panicking over it will do me no good. But what I can do is keep my fire under control. It's my greatest weapon, and I need to make sure it's ready when I have to use it.

A minute passed, and then another minute, and so did the length of the Gold Division base. Char was still empty-handed as he came footsteps away from the upper gate.

"May all the gods and legends be with you," said a Sableye who guarded the entryway that night. "Get our evolution stones back, alright? I know I don't need them, but half of Team Cog has been complaining about it for the past year."

"I can promise nothing, but that is certainly the plan," Daemon said plainly.

Oh no… we're already there… Char realized. There's no way Eva can bring me the scarf now. She's too late. Just ten more steps and we'll be outside the gate and headed toward the waterfall. The guards would catch her. Or Team Remorse would see her.

No. No panicking. It's fine. Maybe she'll still do it. I have to trust. I have to. Maybe I can slow down…? Give her a few more seconds to get here?

But as Char still held to Prince's hand, there was no slowing down. Just five more steps until they reached the gate.

Five, four, three…

Char looked down at his free hand, accepting the fact that it would remain empty. He would have to brave the horrors of Basin Canyon alone, with no friends, and not even a single one of his supplies…

Two steps, one step… and…


Char couldn't believe it.

There it was. The mobile scarf he'd asked for. Right there in his hand. Appeared out of nowhere, neatly folded into a little triangle. Completely inconspicuous. Nobody would have noticed that it just appeared there.

He felt a stinging in his tail flame. He noticed the evaporating, sizzling water-droplets all across his arms. He looked up and noticed the wide open night sky above him, filled with stars and Watchers, who all seemed to be leaving the processing team well enough alone.

Char realized what had happened. That clever little kitten-fox. She'd done it. She gave him the scarf before the memory wipe happened. Even if she had come out in plain sight in front of Daemon and all of Team Remorse… nobody would even remember her being there. Char had the only physical evidence of it ever happening.

Thank you, Aster, he called telepathically, hoping she would hear, as he clutched that precious piece of fabric close to his chest…


Grayleaf Reserve

As darkness again fell over Grayleaf's den, Saura stared out the front door as the Watchers resumed their haunting of the forest.

But it was strange. Day and night were starting to feel the same. Sleep came suddenly and randomly whenever Saura had gotten weary enough to faint. The last few days had been filled with nothing but ceaseless work, setting dozens and dozens of boobie-traps around the outer gardens and the woods beyond. Even worse, Saura had lately found himself having trouble telling dreams from reality. More than once, he'd suddenly wake up from one reality into another, wondering just how much time he'd missed…

"What are you thinking about now, brother?" Saurvor said from beside him. "Do you think this will be enough?"

Saura smiled. His faithful siblings truly had stayed by his side through it all. His Team Grayleaf. Tonight, the Ivysaur and the small Bulbasaur girl were both staying awake with him, just because he couldn't sleep.

"We have one day left," Saura replied, staring blankly out at the stars in the sky. "That's when the deadline is. That's when we're supposed to be dead. So however else we can prepare… we need to do it tomorrow."

"Alright… so what do you want to do?" Saurvor asked.

"Well… the only thing we can do," Saura decided. "There's only one kind of trap we haven't set up yet."

"The ghost-traps, right?" Saurlee said. "Those sound hard to make."

From how his father described them, Saura had a vague idea of how the ghost-traps worked. They were specially-charged glass spheres, the kind used to make the magical orbs which explorers always used in mystery dungeons. The trap was designed to acted as kind of a bug-zapper, zapping any ghost unfortunate enough to float by.

But Saura's dad didn't tell them how to make the spell, or the chemical reaction, or whatever it was, to put inside of the orbs yet. They would need to go into town and buy a bunch of empty glass orbs, turn them into the ghost-traps, then hang them from the trees all around the den.

"Yeah. They do sound pretty hard to make," Saura sighed. "But tomorrow, we need to ask dad how to make them. We need to go into town and get the supplies, then set as many of those up as we can. After that, well… There's nothing else to do but to wait and see whether or not we'll survive."

"Hey. Remember our pact, brother," Saurvor reassured him, twisting a vine around his bulb and pulling him close. "We three survive, no matter what. Even if nobody else does. We can try to save everyone else, but if dad is so stubborn that he won't leave the den, there's nothing we can do about that. So if worse comes to shove…"

"Yeah," Saura said half-heartedly. "If the worst happens, we get out of here alive. I just… really hope the worst doesn't happen."

*Chapter 105*: Chapter 78: The Fall of Basin Canyon

o

Chapter 78

Part 1

… … …

Ho, oh, ebb and flow,
Time will tell if all will hold...

Ho, oh, tears of woe,
Our time is here before we know...

… … …

Midwest Ambera

Somber and quiet was the march to Basin Canyon. A procession of twenty-five of the Gold Division's finest warriors pressed onward through the night, a night which seemed to extend for many hours too long, as though dawn itself awaited their passage.

Among them, a small Charmander fixed his eyes on the stars above, or at least what he could see behind the swarm of Watchers. The swarm seemed thinner than normal tonight, as though scattered by the radiance of the waxing moon. Vigilant as the warriors were, the Watchers seemed content to leave them alone.

But this brought no sense of security, nor did the company of the greatest team of protectors which the Gold Division had to offer – not when they marched untoward a prevailing sense of certain doom.

Alone. Char knew he wasn't the only Pokémon in the group to feel this way. He knew the warriors felt alone as well, even the hellhound at the head of the procession, the one who most needed to smother all his fear beneath brimstone and stand strong for the team in Scythe's absence. Scythe… the leader they all trusted the most, the one who had accepted, organized, and directed the whole mission, the only one who might have inspired enough confidence in his followers with his very presence – had abandoned them.

Had he planned this? Had Scythe never intended to come to the 'settlement' all along? Had he kept this a secret even from Daemon?

The waterfall which concealed the entrance to the Gold Division fed a stream which continued into the wilderness. Outside the waterfall cave, there stood only a tiny cluster of cottages where some Gold Division teams were stationed to keep watch and to guide returning members to the base. But Char had never seen those Pokémon, and had never gotten a good look at those cottages – the memory-wiping effect made sure he could never remember any precise details, and helped keep the location of the entrance hidden from enemy mind-readers.

But once the checkpoint had fallen out of sight behind them, there was nothing in the distance. Char couldn't make out anything but an endless, featureless plain of darkness to the north, and an eerie silhouette of a dark forest to the south, as they marched farther and further west. The only sounds to accompany him were the soft trickle of the nearby stream and the shuffle of footsteps on a dirt path. The warriors said nothing at all, as though bound by an unspoken vow of silence.

Even in the darkness, Char could feel the changing landscape as the journey grew longer. After an hour, the procession had abandoned the dirt path and pushed into a tall, weedy field. In fear that he would accidentally set the dry stalks ablaze with his tail, Char accepted a ride from Prince, who now wore some kind of fireproof cloth to keep his flaming crown concealed.

"What exactly is going on at Basin Canyon?" Char asked under his breath, once close enough to Prince's ears. "What is this 'settlement' all about?"

"Long story," Prince hummed. "I'd better not tell you right now."

"Why are we so quiet?" Char wondered. "Are we afraid enemies will see us?"

"We are not taking the usual route to the canyon," Prince hissed back, "just in case there's a chance Cepheus won't notice us coming."

Though Char had several more questions burning inside him, he felt it appropriate to stay quiet. Instead he tried to peer around, wondering if he would recognize any of the other Pokémon in their group that he hadn't yet noticed. There was that one Weavile belonging to Team Flamewheel, probably right at home in the darkness… there was Nidoroch from Team Remorse, the Nidoking who played as Cepheus to catch the thief… there was a Camerupt, also belonging to Prince… There was a five-Pokémon team that Char didn't recognize at all – he only knew them as Team Righteous, a group of steel-types led by an Excadrill. He'd never met them personally, and honestly didn't recognize what three of their members even were – he only heard them mentioned sometimes among the Gold Division's top teams. He noticed all three members of Team Absolution – The Luxray, Grovyle, and Machoke – looking just as stoic and confident as ever.

As he took note of the Pokémon in the group, he realized there were a few particular figures missing.

"Lily and Canniah aren't here, are they?" Char whispered.

"Absolutely not," Prince grunted quietly. "I did not allow them to go. They're still safe and asleep back at the base."

"Why didn't you let them come?" Char wondered, somewhat regretting the question immediately after he spoke it.

Prince sighed. "I made Lily a promise that I would keep her safe. And Canniah… were Kabir and I to fail to return from this ordeal, Canniah will lead the team. And if more than half the team fails to survive… Canniah has orders to dissolve the team, leave the resistance, and take Lily somewhere to live out the rest of their lives in peace."

Char also regretted the next question even before asking it, but he wanted badly enough to know the answer. "Are you going to keep Lily from future missions like this?" Char wondered. "Because you promised to keep her safe?"

"I have great trust in Lily," Prince said. "She's strong enough to stand on her own. Normally I consider her equally competent to the rest of my team. I just… consider this particular mission somewhat unreasonable. But if things go well, Lily might evolve, and I might not need to fear for her safety so much, even at times like this…"

"Hey! Shut it!" Daemon snapped from the front of the line.

Instead of following the order, Prince stomped up to the front of the line, still carrying the Charmander on his shoulder.

"I understand this is no fault of our own, but Char is the only one here who isn't properly briefed on our mission," Prince hissed. "Ideally we should tell him about the settlement before he arrives, or he might cause problems."

"Then find someone to hang back with him behind the line and brief him," Daemon ordered. "And it's not going to be you. I need you up here."

"Then I will do it," said a voice from behind Prince.

Char peered over Prince's shoulder again. A familiar pair of glowing red eyes stared back at him. Following them came the shadowy profile of a Ninetales.

"Come, Char," he beckoned. "I will explain things properly."


At the end of the third hour, the grass of the field thinned out, along with most of the terrain features. The ground underfoot had turned to a rocky, weedy badland, already cold and dry from the autumn season.

At a considerable distance behind the team, Char comfortably rode on the back of the Ninetales, eager to ask all the questions possible to try and understand the situation… and what it possibly had to do with his human plans.

"Now Jahzara's tribe, I believe their number has now surpassed one hundred," Legend began. "Back then, they numbered only sixty. Sixty Sandshrew and Sandslash who called Basin Canyon their home."

"Is it really a canyon? A big one?" Char wondered.

"A canyon grander than the visage of the sunset," Legend affirmed. "A rift down the middle of the Great Basin Desert. There stood a rainforest in millennia past. For reasons we do not understand, the climate shifted, the river dried to dust, and the plant life burned and dissolved to ash beneath the relentless sun. But when the dust settles from our little scuffle, perhaps you will perch upon its cliff, and in the morning sun, witness its glory with your own eyes. Such is the bright future for which we fight.

"Evolution has always proven itself a strange ordeal to Amberan ones. We still do not understand how Amberan Pokémon evolved before the reign of the Master; nobody has written the history. We are said to have 'everstone souls', those which resist all impulses to grow and change in our natural ways. Overseas Pokémon do not have this problem, nor do the ferals of the wild. It is as though some deity has cursed us, and only us, with stagnancy. And while spontaneous evolutions have been observed happening, they too are inconsistent and unreliable; we need certain outside stimulation to trigger the change, even when our bodies are otherwise ready.

"And so we discovered the evolving stones, or 'feral-shards' as they are now called. Tiny crumbs of unobtanium buried beneath the surface of the earth, thought to be remnants of an ancient meteor striking the continent. It takes only physical contact with such a stone, and the wishing of the heart, to unlock our sacred birthright of change. Once we learned of their power, legend has it that Amberan Pokémon formed the first exploration teams, all to hunt these precious stones and distribute them among the people. The luckiest of those exploration teams discovered hidden places bearing feral-shards in countless numbers. And one such place, we have come to know today as Basin Canyon."

"I'm certain you know of the fall of Basin Canyon. Five years ago, the Master decided he wanted all of the canyon's feral-shards for himself. So he took his brainwashed armies and violently drove out the Sandslash, ready to claim the canyon's contents for his own personal hoard. And upon purging the halls of the canyon… he decided it was not worth his time. He turned around and gave up.

"Now a certain Scyther, having led and failed the effort to defend the rightful homeplace of his clients, promised the Sandslash to personally oversee their return. And then for five years, he has reiterated this promise. Scythe has always called this coming day 'the settlement' in two different senses: that he will allow the fugitive Sandslash to settle back into their rightful home, and that he intends to settle the longstanding feud with the Master over the Canyon."

"Yeah, I think Scythe told me all of this a long time ago," Char said. "I guess, what I don't get is… how do we intend to win? What was Scythe's big plan that he spent five years making? What are we going to do when the enemy strikes? Can't they just overwhelm you with numbers again like they did the first time?"

"Eh. Heh-heh-heh, Keh-heh" Legend mysteriously cackled. "There's a reason Scythe never told you that part. But this is where things truly get interesting. To begin with, did Scythe tell you the reason the Master gave up trying to harvest the feral-shards after his decisive victory?"

"Um… because there was a mystery dungeon down there, or something?" Char tried to recall.

Legend glimmered one of his beautiful ruby-red eyes at Char. "Correct," he said. "Now tell me, how do you imagine the Sandslash were harvesting feral-shards one day, and after a fourteen-day battle, the Master finds himself completely impeded by the Basin Canyon mystery dungeon? Do you think the mystery dungeon appeared from nothing in a week and a half?"

Char blinked. "Uh… no?" he guessed, despite not understanding the implication.

"Correct again," said Legend. "Mystery dungeons do not work like that. They sprout and grow, as would a seed. They begin as tiny spatial anomalies, places of small contradiction and confusion. And over the years they develop more floors, more sectors. They grow deeper, stronger, more complex, more dangerous. According to popular theory, dungeon growth accelerates when left alone by civilized beings for long periods of time. So even if the mystery dungeon appeared at the last moment, it would not have grown strong enough to discourage the Master from plundering the feral-shards. The Basin Canyon mystery dungeon is deep. And it is strong. And it is fearsome. One among the worst dungeons known to this region of Ambera. So now… where do you think it came from?"

"Did the Sandslash create it somehow?" Char guessed, staring at the horizon as though trying to peer into the canyon from so far away. "I don't know what else could have happened."

"I will tell you the secret, but only because you need to know it, if you come with us into the canyon," said Legend, lowering his voice further. "But you cannot speak of it. See, you must understand something: the Sandslash themselves, all of them save for Shander, do not know the secret. And for our plan to succeed, they must never know the secret. Understand?"

This was strange, Char thought. The Sandslash couldn't know about the very thing that would save them? What kind of a plan was this?

"Alright, I'm listening," Char replied. "And I want the feral-shards as much as anyone else, so I won't say anything."

Legend gave Char a big toothy grin, the same way he'd smile whenever he was about to reveal a perfect surprise in a story he told. But for some strange reason, Char felt his heart sink. Something told him that this secret wouldn't exactly be a good one.

"Char… you've been in mystery dungeons before," Legend said with his smug and haunting grin. "Have you ever noticed how wild Pokémon live there?"

"…Yes, of course," Char replied slowly. "That's what makes dungeons so dangerous. The ferals. They attack you the moment they see you."

"Have you ever wondered, even just once, how those wild Pokémon can survive inside of a temporal and spatial warp, where directions and time and the laws of physics are constantly bent and broken? Have you ever imagined how a wild Pokémon wakes up one day, bathes, hunts for food, finds a mate and lays eggs and raises children, all in a place that is constantly changing and shifting all around them? In a place where Pokémon like you and I could hardly survive for more than a few days?"

Char realized he did not know the answer. He'd never asked himself this question before, not in all the time he'd been exploring dungeons. He hadn't even thought to ask Otto what it was like to live inside of a mystery dungeon before.

"It is because the mystery dungeon itself is alive. It chooses which Pokémon to accept as its own, and which Pokémon to consider as outsiders. If you are an outsider, it tries to trap you, swallow you, brainwash you, and sometimes snuff out your flame entirely… but if you are one of its own, it grants you refuge and a home. See… the Basin Canyon mystery dungeon was always there. It was home to the Sandslash themselves. And they never knew it."

"Th… how?" Char sputtered. "How does a Pokémon live inside of a mystery dungeon and not know it? I thought that only worked on feral Pokémon… but you're saying the Sandslash were… living inside of it?"

"When a dungeon accepts you as one of its own, you simply don't notice anything amiss; waterfalls might flow upside-down, and time might run backwards, yet you accept everything as normal," Legend explained. "Generally a dungeon will only accept ferals. Here, we have a rare occasion where it has accepted a civilized society. And we know this because of Shander. From him, we have also learned one very particular property of dungeons… that if you ever realize you've been living in a dungeon… it will no longer accept you. It turns against you immediately. Sadly, Shander can never return home with his people. But as long as we keep the rest of the tribe in the dark about the true nature of the dungeon… it will accept them back. And that's where our plan comes in.

"Scythe has conceived of a brilliant plan to change the layout of the canyon tunnels. This has taken him five years, and is technically still not finished. He's restructured the top three floors, which are untouched by the dungeon, and has given the Sandslash particular instructions to rearrange the lower levels. He's realized the Sandslash see and comprehend, in some manner, the tunnels underlying the dungeon curse, and by changing them, the dungeon can be made significantly more dangerous to intruders. Without knowing which tunnels are cursed and which are safe, intruders will plunge themselves into the bowels of the fearsome dungeon… where they will be swallowed, rendering them harmless. And that is our plan to neutralize Cepheus and his ilk: funnel them into the deepest and darkest dead-ends, so the dungeon will digest them whole."

"Wow. Alright, I never knew that's how dungeons worked…" Char breathed, wanting now to mentally reevaluate every dungeon he'd ever stepped inside. "So if I'm going with you guys… are you going to help me stay in the safe zones?"

"Yes. We all have our designated safe-zones arranged about the top three floors," Legend said. "I suppose one of us, perhaps Marrow, will guide you to his tunnel once we arrive. I believe this will be the extent of your briefing. Do you have any questions?"

Char felt his mind racing again. He remembered the Temporal Tower mission, where he'd learned some of the more dangerous, esoteric properties of dungeons, such as the theory that they were actually living entities… but it never dawned on him to question the dungeon inhabitants themselves…

"Y-yeah, just one for now, I guess," Char croaked out. "What… should I do? I mean, when the attack happens? I don't think I'm strong enough to help you guys fight…"

"Hmm, I believe we will decide that when it comes time," Legend said in an unsettled tone. "Rather, whomever we decide should be given guardianship of you. But I suspect your main priority will merely be to survive. It seems that Scythe merely wishes for you to witness the fight play out, and perhaps that's for the best. Whatever ensues tomorrow, keep open your eyes to bear witness. Should we win, learn from us. Should we fail, flee for your safety."

The great Ninetales hesitated to say something else. "Between you and I, Char…" he whispered discretely, "Prince has ordered me to survive at all cost. I am under orders to flee the moment things turn hopeless. If things turn dire, perhaps we might escape together."

"Oh… so you can live to tell the tale?" Char guessed. "That's actually very noble of you."

Char felt a brush from one of his tails as they restlessly shifted. "Yes… that is one of the reasons," he sighed. "The main reason… it is… in the event of our downfall… he wants me to form a family with Canniah and Lily."

The Ninetales hesitated to say something else, and this time decided against it, falling immediately silent and turning his attention to the procession of warriors some twenty paces ahead.

Char absentmindedly reached to his chest and played with the corner of his mobile scarf. He'd tied it around his neck when nobody was looking. Out of all the powerful Pokémon who called themselves his ally, within the scarf he placed his deepest hopes for his survival.

Eva… Char suddenly remembered. She's coming to find me. She… NO!

Char's heart began pounding. He tried not to let Legend notice the flare of his flame, but it was difficult this time. Eva… she had promised to be there for her master, her human… and yet…

She'll just walk down the wrong tunnels! Char realized, digging his claws into the fabric of the scarf. She's going to get trapped in the dungeon… and there's nothing I can do about it…

Eva! If you can hear me… you can't come. There are mystery dungeons everywhere. Don't… don't risk it for my sake. I'll make it out alive.

Augh… I should have listened to Xatu. I never should have let her come.


Basin Canyon

It was a six-hour journey. Continuing westward, the air became cold and dry. Landmarks and features melted away, leaving only a long, dusty flatland. Even the sky seemed larger this far out west. The warriors traversed a plane of nothingness with no sense of time or direction. Char could only trust in the guidance of Daemon to lead them all to their destination.

Char never got to see the grandeur of the canyon itself that night; only the faraway howl of the wind gave evidence to its existence. And in the sky Char beheld the same stars, incessantly twinkling as the Watchers drifted in front of them, showing no indication that any time had passed. Though Char knew the sun must be soon to rise, he still felt in the depths of his ember that he stood amidst a cursed, eternal night.

They arrived to their destination suddenly. Daemon stood at a downward-sloping tunnel in the ground.

"Remember. This is a temporary tunnel. It is designed to collapse," Daemon grunted at the crowd. "Get in, and don't wreck anything."

Char felt as though the tunnel was the throat of some massive beast, swallowing the Pokémon whole. It was tight, far moreso than any mystery dungeon he'd ever explored, even the cave dungeons. The stuffy air stung his eyes, and the taste of wet dirt and mold clawed at the back of his throat.

Prince ducked his head to enter. Char needed to lay forward and practically suffocate himself in Legend's fur to make himself fit. Glancing behind him, Char saw Nidoroch in the light of his tail flame, blocking up the entire tunnel as he crawled on all fours. Char was scared to even see how the larger Pokémon, like a Luxray or a Camerupt, intended to enter.

And it was a long tunnel. The dark descent lasted for seemingly another entire hour. Worse, the tunnel was unnaturally steep, as though a misstep might send one of them, or maybe all of them, tumbling down into the abyss.

"What a nice grave you've dug out for us, Remorse," said Kain from further back, earning a nervous laugh from some of the others.

Char's heart leapt with relief when Prince suddenly disappeared, and in his place there appeared an exit hole into a spacious, well-lit area. Once Legend gracefully leapt from the hole in the wall, Char realized he'd finally entered the fabled Basin Canyon. The halls were much more spacious than he'd always pictured. And it was deliberate architecture, like an underground temple, with a flat, brick-paved ground and yellow glowstones to light the way. He pictured Scythe, Marrow, and Raon walking these halls, discussing where to put the dungeon entrances.

"Prince, take them and report to Adarc," Daemon commanded. Then he turned to Char and added, "You two, stay back with me for a moment."

So Legend, still content to remain the Charmander's steed for the moment, stood aside and waited for the procession to pass. He watched in amazement as several large Pokémon squeezed their way out of the tunnel (wondering why they didn't just go first) until at last, Team Righteous brought up the rear and followed the rest somewhere down the hall and around the corner.

Char then noticed a Sandslash who'd been stationed nearby, possibly one of Shander's brothers. "That's it for this door!" he squeaked, pulling a lever in the nearby wall. There was a short, thunderous crash from far away, and then a shocking explosion as a spray of dust and pebbles burst from the side tunnel. Even Legend jumped at the sound, though neither Daemon nor the Sandslash seemed to react at all. When the dust settled, the tunnel was blocked up with a massive boulder, and presumably the rest of it had entirely collapsed.

Daemon glowered at Char and spoke sternly, "Do you know anything about this, Charmander?"

"A-About what?" Char stammered. "About coming here? About why Scythe wanted to stay home? No! I don't know anything. I wasn't even planning to come. I was out building a base with my team when High Intelligence sent for me. I didn't plan for any of this…"

"I'm still not entirely certain why you've come," Daemon said. "Understand: I've allowed you to come only because of your claim that High Intelligence sent you. At the moment, I trust their judgment more than I trust Scythe. I just… grrrrnnn."

Daemon suddenly cast an intense, irritated glare at the Sandslash, who immediately scampered away like a spooked mouse.

"You've worked with Scythe enough to know that his decisions don't always make sense to everyone," Daemon continued. "I've learned to trust his judgment. But he also trusts me to question him when I think he's making a mistake. And with every wisp of my ember within, I believe he's just made the biggest mistake of his career. So listen to me, Charmander: were you to die tomorrow, your blood won't be on my claws. Because I've done everything I could to save you."

Though Char's heart sank at these words, he kept himself composed enough to respond, "I understand. If there is anything tomorrow that I can help with, I'm willing to follow orders."

Daemon snorted. "Trust me, unless that Call of yours goes off again, there's not a blazing thing you can do to help us tomorrow. But if you join me in a moment at the final briefing, you might learn enough about our operations to stay out of our way. And maybe, if you're lucky enough, to survive."

That's… actually not a bad idea, Char realized. The Call. Maybe that's why I came here. Did I plan for this? Is the Call going to happen tomorrow to turn the tides of the battle?

"…Well. You never know. Maybe that's exactly what's going to happen. Fate surprises us all," Char said, feeling stronger at hearing himself speak the words.

Daemon pointedly ignored his words of optimism before he addressed Legend. "If you are content in being a mount for this lizard, can I trust you to watch him?"

"Yes, if these would be my orders," Legend replied.

"Then they are," Daemon huffed. "Until he is otherwise assigned to someone else, your orders are to keep Char alive. And preferably not to lose him to the canyon's depths."

"Understood," Legend spoke with a reverent bow.

"Good," said Daemon, beginning to step away. "Now follow. Time to see what Adarc has decided upon."

Once Daemon was far enough ahead to be out of earshot, Legend whispered to his rider, "'Fate surprises us all'. I like that phrase. Rings of poignancy and mystery. May I borrow that phrase to use in my storytelling?"

"Actually… I'd prefer if you didn't," Char said quickly. "It's… it doesn't mean what you think it means."

"As you wish," Legend sighed, following in Daemon's footsteps down the hall.

As Char got to see more of the canyon – or at least, the dwellings within the canyon walls – it astounded him how different it looked from the way he always imagined it. Scythe and his team always talked about the tunnels and caves they were digging, so Char pictured a complex network of windy dark burrows, similar to the one he'd just crawled through. What he instead beheld was more like a spacious, decorative castle with wide hallways and grand rooms, many tall enough for huge royal pillars to prop them up. The walls were all brick, with each layer a slightly different shade of gray or silver, forming a captivating sort of grayscale rainbow, its uniform stripes spanning across every wall, around corners and into side-chambers, as far into the distance as Char could see. The tiled stones on the floor below seemed polished as glass, and Legend's claws made tiny tapping sounds as he padded along.

"Big place?" Char breathed as they stepped into a very large room with weird rows of staircases up the walls.

"Indeed. Larger than even the Gold Division base," Legend said with a hint of reverence in even his own voice. "I haven't seen all of it, only the tunnels where I was assigned. But I would still prefer to live in the Gold Division, where one runs no risk of making a wrong turn and… finding oneself lost, if you understand what I mean."

"Do you know the safe tunnels?" Char wondered.

"There is a trick to it," Legend said. "The safe tunnels have a subtle marking, mixed with four types of false markings. I will explain things in private later. There are also floor-maps, like this one." He motioned toward his side, where there was a strange array of colored bricks framed upon the wall. "Though you also need to know which are the real maps, and which are false."

Another large room brought Char a shiver of awe. It was practically a temple, beautifully arranged and carved as such… but instead of deity-statues, there stood monumentally large diamond pylons which seemed to change colors as Char passed by. Another hallway had tiny chunks of diamonds protruding from the ceiling, almost resembling the stars of a clear night sky as they sparkled in the glowstone-light.

"This place is incredible," said Char. "So much work went into all this… it's all so beautiful. I hope we can save it. Not just for the feral-shards, but just because it's so gorgeous! It took decades to build, didn't it?"

"How long Basin Canyon has stood, I do not know. Nor do I know how long that such artistry has stood within its walls," said Legend passively. "But all of it can only be the work of the Sandslash tribe who rightfully lives here. Ground-types are the architects of our world. Their mastery and intuition over the rock and soil is unmatchable. The beauty you see before you, around you… it is the heart and soul of generations made manifest. And you are indeed correct, Char. One might consider this artistry more precious than the feral-shards in the caverns below."

"I always thought Basin Canyon was just a big cave," Char whispered. "But I see it now. Basin Canyon is a kingdom."

Deeper in to the canyon, the glow-stones turned from yellow to orange, reminding Char of the ghost torches at the Gold Division, but with an unsettling difference in hue. This was a darker orange, more lava-like. Char wondered if these strange colors helped the Sandslash in some way, or if they were meant to serve as a hindrance for intruders.

"Are the orange lights supposed to mark a different section of the building, or something?" Char wondered.

Legend gave him a gleaming smile, his own tan-colored fur now washed out in the deep-glowing ember-light. "The stones have not changed color," he only said, refusing to elaborate further.

Before Char could ask another question, an overwhelming fire-glow light struck his eyes. He had to squint and cover his face as Legend carried him into a new chamber of the subterranean castle, a hall so vast and otherworldly that nothing in the Gold Division even compared.

It was a grand throne room, saturated with the vivid and blinding colors of a gorgeous sunset. No, of a mighty fire! The deep reds and oranges burned brightly upon the reflective polished-stone-tile floors, and danced across the mighty gray walls and ceiling archways. The six pillars which stood near the edges of the room all appeared as great lava falls in the all-encompassing firelight. How truly stunning and surreal this was, like one of those dreams Char would experience right before waking up in the morning.

And then Char beheld the source of the light. The entire back wall of the chamber was on fire. No, it was fire. Not lava, not embers, but a supermassive wall of pure firelight, almost as bright as the sun and too intense to stare at for more than a moment. A wall of firelight standing thousands of times Char's size, standing at least five stories tall. The dancing flame-tips could not be seen, as though they extended past the ceiling, leaving only a solid wall of blazing light and color. The fire made no noise except for a low, ever-present rumble that resembled a faraway waterfall, or perhaps a thunderstorm, and it did not seem to overheat the room; Char barely felt a shift in temperature; the radiance felt like soft sunlight upon his skin.

"Firehall" said Legend with a proud smile. "Not a very imaginative name, but my favorite room, by far."

"Mine too," Char instantly decided, spellbound by the glorious atmosphere of it all. Perhaps the all-encompassing firelight was somehow only for decoration. Yet… his Charmander body had never felt so alive, his ember now wanting to burst from his heart and join the great flame in its dance. He'd never felt more powerful, and yet at the same time more comfortable, than standing in this 'Firehall'… Like a child yearning for its mother's protective warmth.

"Hey! Get a move-on, Sparky!" Someone called from somewhere in the hall, casting a distorted echo throughout the room.

Char turned in the direction of the voice. There at the front of the room, upon a strange golden throne-like pedestal, surrounded by all the great warriors and all the sons of Jazhara involved with the Basin Canyon project all gathered together for a grand meeting… there stood a Scyther. A tall, imposing, powerful Scyther.

"That's… Scythe…" Char whispered. "What's… I thought… wasn't he…"

"Ah yes, that's what I thought as well, at first," hummed Legend. "No, this is an old clanmate of his. An acquaintance from even before the days he served the Master, raised by the same ways and trained by the same arts. In some respects, he is a match for Scythe's abilities. Truly, few can tell the difference at first sight. But no – this is not Scythe. This is his clan-brother, Adarc. Adarc the Ferocious."

As Legend approached the gathering of Pokémon, Char couldn't take his eyes off the Scyther. Every instinct in his body told him this was Scythe. Char tried to spot some sort of identifying feature that would help convince himself it was someone different – the height, the stance, the eye color, or perhaps some sort of scar or marking – but no, there was nothing for him to notice. The look of power and confidence – and even the tiny sideways glance the Scyther had given the Charmander has he grew near was too similar to the way Scythe would always regard him.

But the difference became clear the moment Adarc opened his mouth. The loud, aggressive, voice that had caught Char's attention – it had come from him.

"Is that everyone? Good? Good. I'm making this quick," shouted the Scyther. "As you may or may not have heard by now, our time is up. Cepheus has given every indication of attacking at dawn tomorrow. Like all of you, I'd have hoped for at least four more days to prepare, but Cepheus apparently can't be bothered to care. He knows we're here, he knows what we want, and he intends to kick us all out for good. Whatever we've got is what we've got. Salveth, what's the status of the Omicron tunnel?"

"Not nearly done," reported a Sandslash who stood beside Shander. "It only goes down four floors and doesn't connect to the mining halls."

The Scyther shook his head. "Can you make it collapsible? How fast?"

"Not fast enough," sighed Salveth.

"Make the entrance collapsible, then," he decided, turning to everyone. "During the battle, nobody is to enter the Omicron tunnel, or the Lambda tunnel, or any of the eastern tunnels. That's an order! It's too late to keep out the enemy, but don't let them chase you into the dead-ends. Then there's no saving you. As for the viable tunnels, we have several options. Alpha tunnels are our best bet. Prince, I'd like you to take the Alpha tunnels. Daemon, you take the Gamma tunnels. The more we can funnel down there, the better. And the entrance?"

"Good as it's going to get," said another Sandslash.

"Fine. Alright. Fine," said the Scyther, stepping down off the throne platform and pointing to a floor-plan map on the wall. "Shander, take two of your own and rig the Omicron tunnel to collapse. Everyone else, halt all construction projects. Understand, we're in the endgame here and we've got one shot. Failure means we lose the canyon and possibly the entire Gold Division if nobody can evolve. Everybody needs to be ready for this fight. Everybody needs to know their place. Since everyone is here, we'll go over everything one more time. Absolution, you three are in charge of branches Beta-one through Beta-three. Ensure any opponents get funneled into Beta-five, which funnels into the Alpha-branch. This should not be difficult if Cepheus has given orders to any of his forces to rush for the feral-shard mines. If he chooses to focus his efforts on fighting at the front lines, we can keep control of the battlefield more efficiently as long as we keep most of them in the Alpha tunnel. Righteous, you will guard the Sandslash. Keeping them alive is key to this whole project. You will need to escort the tribe into the Delta tunnels…"

Adarc kept barking out orders for several minutes, and Char didn't really understand most of what he was saying. But at least now he could tell this wasn't Scythe. Scythe had a certain underlying comradery in his voice, even when giving orders and speaking from his position of authority, as though he and his teammates were all close friends. Adarc, on the other blade, spoke loudly and forcefully, almost as though he were a clone of Daemon trapped in a Scyther's body. Char got the impression he was not a friendly person, and would not hesitate to slice apart the Pokémon he didn't like. Though as he listened, Char thought he sensed bits of fear and nervousness behind his aggressive demeanor. Perhaps he was panicking on the inside. Perhaps he was forcing himself to stay level-headed and straight-sighted despite the inner panic, like a fire-type trying to keep their flame contained.

Something about this isn't right, Char suddenly realized about ten minutes into Adarc's comprehensive mission briefing.

At first, he couldn't place his claw on it. But his subconscious was screaming at him. It wasn't the Scyther who looked suspiciously like Scythe. It wasn't the strange gathering of seven Sandslash and almost fifty elite warriors. He started focusing on all the Pokémon in the room, one at a time, trying to remember their names and read their facial expressions.

Char wasn't really listening when Adarc shouted about something about using items during the battle. "Does everyone understand?" he demanded.

Char felt it again. Something about the way Adarc said "everyone".

Everyone. Everyone was here, weren't they? Except for Scythe, obviously. And except for Raon, who was designated to stay back at the base. And except for Lily and Canniah, who were supposed to stay out of danger.

Wasn't there someone else who was supposed to be here. Yet, even after double-checking every member of the crowd, Char didn't see them.

"I have a question," Char found himself shouting at a moment when Adarc had given a pause between statements.

The Scyther's ferocious glare immediately fell upon him, as did the eyes of everyone in the room. Some surprised, some annoyed, as though Char dared to waste precious time. But Char was absolutely sure he wanted to say something.

"You said everyone is supposed to be here? At this meeting, I mean?" Char asked.

Adarc's eyes scanned the room. "Everyone who is meant to be present is currently present," he affirmed. "Although, now that you mention it… who exactly are you?"

"Nevermind that," Char confidently replied. "Where is Marrow? Why isn't he at the meeting?"

There was an uncomfortable murmur about the room. Legend looked back at him with a strange and unreadable expression.

With a sudden buzz of wings, Adarc jumped across the room and landed next to Legend, giving Char a startle. "Marrow… is exactly where he needs to be at the moment," said the imposing Scyther. "And I wonder why you don't already know that…? I assumed you were here for a reason. So what, exactly, are you doing here, newcomer? And why should I trust you?"

"I brought him on request of High Intelligence," Daemon said quickly. "Apparently, he is supposed to be here. His name is Char. He is a trusted member of the Gold Division."

"On request of High Intelligence, you say?" Adarc said sourly. "Tell me: did you hear this from High Intelligence themselves, or did you hear it from him?" Adarc poked Char in the shoulder with a blade-tip.

"No, High Intelligence themselves did not tell me this," Daemon grumbled. "But Scythe…"

"Get him out of my sight," roared Adarc, slapping Char right off the back of the Ninetales.

"Adarc, he is not a spy," Daemon grunted back. "He is a renowned figure among the division."

"I don't care. I don't care. Get him out of here. I don't care how trustworthy you think he is. How hard to you think Cepheus needs to squeeze him before he spills our secrets? I cannot risk having our most sensitive information compromised by a child."

Char stayed still on the floor for a moment, trying to decipher what was going on. Daemon cast an angry glare at the Charmander. Possibly resenting Char for speaking out of line. And Legend cast more of a sad glance at him.

"I said LEAVE." Adarc shouted. "Get this thing OUT. This meeting will not continue until he is gone."

Char wanted to speak back. For a moment, he thought about standing up for himself against the Scyther. But he decided it wasn't worth it. Adarc was clearly too stressed to deal with one more problem at the moment. And nobody but Daemon seemed to want to stand up for him, and even Daemon had given up. Char shut his mouth and admitted defeat.

"Come then, Char," sighed Legend, motioning for him to climb onto his back again. "I'll take you to my quarters. You can rest for the night."

As Legend quickly carried him away, Char found he was more loathe to leave this gorgeous fire-hall room than he was to miss the rest of the meeting. Although the issue with Marrow still didn't sit right to him.

"So… do you know what happened to Marrow?" Char asked the Ninetales once they were well down the hall and out of anyone's earshot.

"I was only told, yesterday, that Marrow was… taken off the project," Legend explained. "I was told nothing more, except not to ask any further questions. I apologize, Char. This was my fault. I was told to brief you, and I did not even consider this a significant enough matter to mention. I'm surprised, honestly, you even noticed he was missing."

"Marrow was our mentor for a whole week," Char said plainly. "I've had more exposure to him than to any other member of Team Remorse, except for Scythe himself. And he liked to talk about working at the canyon. It didn't feel right not having him here. Now I really wonder what happened…"

"And I as well, but it is neither the time nor the place to ask questions," Legend said sadly. "Not on the eve of a great battle. I assume he's at the Gold Division base at the moment. Possibly keeping company with Raon. But again, I was not here for the incident, so I cannot tell you much more."

"…Incident…?" Char repeated. "So you know there was an incident?"

"Other than a disagreement of some sort, I cannot imagine what else might have prompted Adarc to remove him from the project," Legend considered.

"I don't know; seeing that he just removed me from the project for asking a simple question, and not even answering it, I get the impression that it's not too unlikely," Char hummed. "Does Adarc usually have such a short fuse?"

"No. Not at all," Legend said, turning a corner and entering a smaller hallway with very low clearance. "For as long as I've worked with Adarc, he has seemed quite stoic and deliberate; it's very apparent, to me at least, that our looming threat of danger has put him on edge." With a nervous chuckle, he added, "…But then again, I'd imagine he's earned a title such as 'Adarc the Ferocious' for a reason. Perhaps he only reveals his truest nature in the blaze of battle."

Halfway down a long, plain, symmetrical hallway not unlike a team hall at the Gold Division, Legend stepped through a doorway – a doorway with no door, Char noticed – arriving at his designated personal chamber. Three glowstones bolted to the walls cast a dry yellow light onto a humble assortment of Legend's possessions. There was a small red mat at the side of the room, presumably for sleeping. Next to it, there was a rudimentary stone bookshelf with about fifteen books. There was a single book still laying open on the floor beside the mat, with a fur-tassel bookmark between the pages. At the other side of the room, Char noticed a surprisingly tidy assortment of folded scarves (how does a Ninetales fold a scarf so well with no hands, Char thought), an organized table of bracelets and presumably enchanted things, and a basket of non-perishable food like nuts and seeds.

"You may stay here for now," Legend instructed, bowing low to help Char climb down. "I would keep you company, but I must return to the meeting. I promise, I will tell you anything I think you might need to know. In the meantime, feel free to sleep here, or to read my books if you'd like."

"Thank you, Legend," Char said simply. "How long until you're back?"

"I do not know. Perhaps an hour. Perhaps three. It depends on how long Adarc will speak. Perhaps never, if Adarc assigns me a post tonight," he said, almost bitterly. "Regardless, I will not forget our pact."

Char watched the Ninetales turn to leave the room, his thick pile of tails dragging limply and somberly across the floor, betraying a certain loss of hope that Char knew he'd tried to keep hidden. "…Right. We escape together," he remembered. "Where should I meet you? If the battle goes wrong, I mean."

"I will check here, and I will check in the fire hall," Legend replied. "If I find somewhere better, I'll make sure Prince tells you, if you do not see me by the morning time."

The Ninetales cast a strange look at Char, as though to say, I hope you understand it is unlikely I can save you. Then he turned and bolted away, leaving Char alone.

Char's first instinct was to sneak out of the room and look in the other living quarters, all of which also had no doors. And that's exactly what he did. But of the seven other rooms nestled back in this nook of the canyon, six were completely empty (five of which didn't even have glowstone lights). The seventh was obviously someone else's living quarters, possibly another Team Flamewheel member, and it literally had nothing but a pile of dirty scarves and a bed-pad. Legend's room seemed downright royal compared to this one. There was nothing else really to notice.

…Except for one thing: a large bone sticking out from underneath the pile of cloth. Or rather, Char soon realized, a bone club.

"…Marrow?" Char gasped, rushing into the room and shoving the top layer of scarves away.

But Marrow wasn't there – only a bone club. But it was definitely his bone club. Char remembered Marrow using this very one on their mission to the Quarry.

Char picked it up, or at least he tried. It was quite heavy and awkward. He realized he probably needed to be a Charmeleon to carry it efficiently. But it seemed like a strong weapon, polished and unscathed, in good solid shape. Char wondered if Marrow had meant to leave this behind, and whether he would be wanting it back.

There was a footstep outside the door. Char dropped the club and carefully peeked around the side of the doorway and into the hall beyond, but there was nobody to see. Char realized the sound could have come from nearly anywhere in the nearby halls. Sound carried very far these halls, Char noticed. Sometimes he even thought he heard murmurs of Adarc's voice from four hallways away.

Char's next instinct was to explore the canyon halls while nobody was around to notice. But this time, he decided against it. Knowing he might wander into the dungeon, or even just fail to find his way back somewhere that Legend would look for him, it was too big of a risk for someone without a ground-type's sense of spatial awareness.

So Char decided to take Legend's suggestion and pass the time by looking through his books. Maybe one of them was written in Unown. Maybe one of them could somehow, someway, help him learn to read. Or at the very least, maybe one of them had pictures…

By the time he got to the fourth book on the shelf, finding it, like all the rest, was written in nothing but tiny, incomprehensible footprint glyphs, a dire thought occurred to Char.

What if… I was meant to read these books?

Char looked at the book in his hand. A small hard-bound tome, about four hundred pages. All meaningless to him. Yet he set the book down and flipped through the pages in a strange sort of panic, wondering if something, anything, would jump out at him.

What if this was my plan? What if I somehow set this up to happen?

What if this is why I needed to read by now?

So… is this it? Am I doomed? Did I ruin my plan?

Is there something important in one of these books that I won't be able to read?

Char flipped quickly through the book, getting to the end in only a minute. He set the book aside into the corner and took the fifth one. A bigger book with less pages. All footprints. All the same to him. With his heart racing, Char tossed it aside once he realized it was hopeless.

Then he noticed the book on the floor. The one Legend had left open.

There was a picture on the page. A dragon soaring amidst a starry sky.

No. Not a dragon. This was an artist's depiction of Arceus. A very stylized depiction. Char felt spellbound by the picture for a moment, wondering if it meant something. Perhaps the illustration meant to depict Arceus in his dragon-type form.

Char suddenly felt a strange compulsion to say something. To pray to this depiction of the Pokémon god.

"Arceus…" he whispered quietly, touching the picture. "I want to change something. Will you let me?"

But the picture didn't answer, and Char felt no repressed memories rising to the surface. This, according to the Lord of Time himself, was Char's simple plea which had started everything. It started the plan, it led to Char's transformation into a Charmander, and it led to his amnesia. And yet… Char felt nothing when he spoke these words. No profound significance. No deep stirring of the embers. No subconscious resonance. For all Char knew, the words were uttered by someone else entirely.

Char considered that perhaps he really was a different person. Perhaps becoming the Charmander made him something else. Someone else. Someone with nothing in common with his previous incarnation – at least, nothing but his so-called 'silver soul'.

"I'm here! Sorry to have kept you," Hissed a very familiar, very comforting voice.

Char's attention snapped from the drawing of Arceus to the open doorway, where there stood a sly, smiling Espeon, her tail swiveling with pride and satisfaction.

"…Eva!" Char hissed, stunned in surprise. "What are you… doing here?!"

Eva didn't hesitate to saunter right into the room and cuddle up at Char's side, curling possessively around him. "I promised I wouldn't leave you," she hummed warmly, nuzzling the side of his head. "And now that I am here, I am not leaving your side. You have nothing to fear, my master. Not with an immortal Pokémon to protect you."

"J- How'd you get in?" Char gasped. "Not that I'm complaining you're here! I'm so glad you're here… but how'd you get in? You couldn't have followed me… the tunnel we took to get here completely collapsed…"

"I'm much more resourceful than I might seem, my master," she purred. "But if you must know… when I delivered the scarf to you, I stood close enough to the other Pokémon to read their minds. And among their thoughts, I found the true entrances to the Basin Canyon complex. Nidoroch, Kain, and Prince all knew matching information. I also learned of the mystery dungeon here, and how to avoid it."

"Ah… I was so worried for you," Char sighed, leaning into her cuddle and relaxing for a moment. "I really thought you'd take a wrong turn and get lost… The last thing I wanted was for you to face your worst fears because of me."

"You underestimate how much wisdom one grows when they've lived as long as I have," Eva whispered. "I told you, you can trust me. I know what I'm doing. And besides that… if it became at all necessary… I hope you know that I would brave the deepest, darkest dungeons for you, my master. I would be terrified… but I accept such things as the cost of serving my human."

"Eva… sometimes I think I don't deserve you," Char sighed forlornly, burying his head into the Espeon's fur and stroking her back.

"You don't need to deserve anything," she soothingly replied. "Your merits and your flaws are irrelevant. I've chosen to serve you; it's as simple as that. And it's not my fault that I'm the only Pokémon on this god-forsaken continent who knows the correct way to serve her human. Now… whatever's going on at this canyon tomorrow, let's get through it together. Alright? We'll get through this and get you back to Team Ember by this time tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay… okay," Char said, letting himself feel happy and content for the first time in many hours. "Yeah. I don't know what's going on either. But yeah. Let's do this."

And for five long, wonderful minutes, Char simply laid there, collapsed in his warm embrace with the Espeon. The longer he laid still, the brighter and stronger Eva seemed to rekindle his inner fire, and consequently his hope, his courage, and his confidence. After being left alone and confused, he felt his ember finally recharging.

"Oh. Speaking of which," Eva said, perking up suddenly. "The reason I took an extra moment to get here: I brought something. Since we might be facing the dreaded Basin Canyon mystery dungeon, I've smuggled in a few things."

With telekinesis, she produced a small item pouch from underneath herself. She dumped its contents onto the floor, revealing it to be a pocket-dimension bag – tiny on the outside, much bigger on the inside. Onto the floor, there tumbled a pair of reviver seeds, and a pair of Char's emblem-scarves.

"It took me a moment to find the scarves," Eva said, tying one around her neck, and the other around Char's arm. "Ray did not hide them in his normal place."

"This is perfect…" Char said with an even deeper sigh of relief. "Now we don't need to be afraid of the dungeon. Maybe we could run and hide down there, and we won't be lost forever. This is just what we needed! Now it's just Cepheus we have to worry about."

Eva scoffed and looked at the ceiling. "Oh. Somehow, I believe he won't be much of a bother either. At least to the both of us," she assured him. "He will have to get through me first. And he might find the both of us very difficult to hit."

Char thought for a moment. "Actually… will you do something for me?"

"Yes, anything," Eva said interestedly, with a sparkle in her eye.

"If you're going to protect me during the fight… would you protect Legend the same way?" Char asked. "It's… kind of important that he survives too. So… if I'm your top priority, he should be your second priority, okay?"

"Hm. The Ninetales? Certainly," Eva promised with a nod of her head. "Consider it done. He will live as well. Unless, of course, I must choose. But I cannot see -"

"YOU."

The sudden sound of a very enraged voice broke the tender moment between Char and his partner.

Char and Eva both turned to the doorway to see a Pokémon standing there.

A Marowak.

"IT'S YOU." Marrow growled from the bowels of his throat, brandishing a very long, deadly-looking club. Pointing it directly at Char's face.

No. Not at Char's face. Eva's face.

Slowly, warily, Marrow stepped towards the two, with a frightening, unhinged flame in the eyes behind his helmet. "It was you all along, wasn't it?" he growled, waving his club at the Espeon.

"Marrow…" Eva replied, quick to stand up and protect Char. "What are you talking about? What's the matter?"

The Marowak, keeping his club threateningly leveled at the Espeon's forehead gem, started to laugh like a lunatic. "YOU. YOU'RE the matter!" he shouted, choking on his own laughter. "It all makes sense. It… it all makes sense! Heh… heheh… the timing of it. The sheer, gall-rotten timing! Everything was fine until YOU showed up! YOU! THAT'S when everything started to fall apart! You got Char to trust you. Heck, ya even got ME to trust you for a bit. But I never should have trusted you. I should've listened to my deep-down gut telling me that somethin' about you was just not right."

"Marrow…" Eva tried again, stepping back and standing protectively over Char. "Neither of us have any idea what you're talking about… So very kindly, would you calm down, and start at the beginning?"

The Marowak swung his club a hair's width from the Espeon's face, nearly swatting her snout clean off. "YOU KNOW JUST WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!" he shouted. "Youuuu. You're the mole-rat! You're the one passing all our secrets to Cepheus, aren'tcha? And you're the one who ERASED MY MEMORIES! Ahah… Ahahahah… and you might think you're SO CLEVER. Don'tcha, girl? You think nobody would figure you out. But this old dirt-lizard figured you out. Despite all your snively, conniving charms, I know… you're the reason Basin Canyon is about to fall."


Chapter 78 Part 2: Twitch reading on April 11th, publication on April 12th

Chapter 79: Twitch reading on April 18th, publication on April 19th

Chapter 80: Twitch reading on April 25th, publication on April 26th

Twitch readings are planned for Mondays at 7:30 PM US Central time.

While Twitch readings are subject to possible delay or cancellation, publications will always occur as planned. (Don't worry, it's for real this time. Vulpi basically has a knife at my throat now.)

I hope you guys enjoy the season finale as much as I've looked forward to writing it. Hope to see you at the Twitch readings, or at least in the review boards! Let me know how many people are still reading, would you? It does wonders for my motivation...

(Also, a note for those of you who post comments as anonymous reviewers: look, I actually answer most non-rhetorical questions that people ask me in the reviews. But I can't reply if you're anonymous! So if you actually want an answer to something, either log in before you review, or come to my Discord server and ask me there!)

*Chapter 106*: Chapter 78, Part 2

o

Chapter 78

Part 2

… … …

The immortal Espeon swiveled her tail as she met the Marowak's fiery glare with a confused look.

"Marrow…" she began saying, more carefully this time, stepping softly away from Char and watching as the bone club followed her. "You think I'm trying to sabotage the Basin Canyon project?"

Marrow thrust the rounded end of his bone club into her chest, and she reeled backwards. "I know you're tryin' to sabotage it," he growled. "Probably already did. Probably no sense in tryin' anymore. Too late now, ain't it? You already did your damage and everyone here is walkin' their last day among the living. And here you're sittin' all prissy and smug knowin' you've already won. Am I right?"

With another thrust of his club, he pinned Eva against the wall by the neck.

"Tell me I'm right," Marrow said with a guttural growl. "Tell me. Nothin' I can do about it now, so just let me die knowing that I was right."

There came a spark of light from Eva's gemstone as she shoved his club away with strong telekinesis. But the moment Eva's body slumped to the floor, Marrow jumped at her and pinned her down, pressing his club against harder against her neck.

Despite rasping for air, Eva's retort remained calm. "What reason would I have? Why do you think I would betray the Gold Division?"

"If your allegiance lies with the Master, you don't need a reason," he said darkly. "The motives lie outside the realm of our comprehension. You're only following orders. Maybe you're brainwashed. Or maybe you're even one of his generals! Who knows!"

Eva gargled on her words as Marrow pressed even harder. "Char… is my master…" she declared. "My allegiance… is with him. No one else."

Char found himself shaking with fear as he reached out to Eva telepathically. You okay…? he said. You're starting to panic. Please tell me you're just pretending.

Not pretending. It's very painful… came her labored thoughts. Char… I'm immortal… not invincible. I'm about to pass out.

Oh… Char said with sudden horror. Oh… I didn't know.

"Marrow, wait!" Char pleaded, rushing closer to Eva. "Eva isn't –"

Thwack. Marrow swatted the Charmander aside with a swing of his club, repositioning his foot to crush Eva's neck as he pointed his weapon angrily at Char.

"YOU'RE PART OF THIS," he accused. "You're the one who fell for everything! We all trusted her because you trusted her. Now look at you. She has you wrapped around her little claws. So don't you go tellin' me to wait. I'm done with the waiting."

Char knew exactly what he had to do. He dropped to all fours and pounced once more. Try as he might to duck and dodge the poised bone club, Marrow swung at him with a master's precision.

But the attack never connected. The Marowak froze in bafflement for a moment. It was enough of a moment for Char to lunge at Eva.

The next thing Char knew, he struck down hard in some new, empty tunnel, with Eva gasping desperately for air even as she slumped down beside him.

Char sighed in relief. "Mobile scarf," he explained, pointing at his neck. "I dropped us through the floor."

But the Espeon didn't look too thrilled about her rescue. "Char… did you know this tunnel was here?" she said with strange concern.

Char glanced around the new tunnel. It was a poorly lit, oval-shaped cave scarcely decorated with any sort of interesting architecture. It looked somewhat like a large burrow, the way Char had always imagined that the deep inner tunnels of Basin Canyon would look.

"…No," Char admitted, still panting from the confrontation with his former mentor. "But I figured there'd be something. There are so many tunnels in this place."

Eva nearly shrieked her reply. "Char! The first rule of mobile scarves: never ever drop through the floor, unless you're absolutely sure where you'll land! If you fall too far through solid ground, nobody can save you. You're gone forever. Never do that again. Understand?!"

"I'm sorry. It was the only thing I could think of doing," Char replied, backing away a bit further. "But Eva… just to be sure… all those things Marrow said about you aren't true… are they? You didn't really sell out Basin Canyon to the enemy… did you?"

Eva wore a strange, faraway expression for a moment. Then she looked at the floor, saying nothing.

Char felt his heart stop. "Eva… Please don't tell me…" he breathed. "But wait! That… doesn't make any sense… Why would you…?"

Eva stayed seated on the ground. She flicked her tail. There was a sad sparkle in her eye as she looked at Char again.

In the last moment before Eva decided to say something, Char realized it wasn't a "I'm about to tell you something horrible" sparkle, but a tiny look of betrayal and offense.

"You really believe for a moment any of that is true?" came her forlorn reply. "I've tried everything to earn your trust. What more must I do?"

Char looked a little ashamed. "I'm just… I trust you. But I've always trusted Marrow too. So, I don't know, he seemed pretty sure of himself, I had to at least consider what he said. Even if you're trustworthy now, maybe you did something before we became partners and I'd have no idea about it. Look, if you did something before you joined my team, I want you to tell me about it. I won't automatically think the worst of you. I promise. But if you told Cepheus something, and Basin Canyon is doomed… I want to know."

Eva thought for a moment, deciding what to say. "Before we were partners, yes, I had an encounter or two with Cepheus," she admitted slowly. "It had nothing to do with Basin Canyon. It had nothing to do with anything, really. I only approached him because he knows exactly who I am, and I wanted to irritate him for my amusement. As a gesture of ill will to Enigma, you might say. Annoying the everliving sanity out of Enigma and her cohorts is the only real pasttime I had left on this continent before I joined your team. Char… if I still shared any sort of interest with Enigma, I would not have told you the secret of the Master and given you the ammunition to destroy her plans. And please believe me when I say that the only reason I would sabotage Basin Canyon, betray the Gold Division, and bring mortal danger upon Team Remorse and their associates… is if you told me to."

The finality and confidence with which Eva professed her statement surpassed any of the accusations Marrow had tried making. Even her mind-waves rang pure and clear with unmistakable honesty.

Char blinked for a moment in his own bafflement. "Alright. I believe you," he decided. "But then… what the heck's gotten into Marrow? What does he know that he's not telling us?"

Eva glanced sourly at the ceiling above. "I'm not sure," she said. "I don't think he's breaking from reality. He's not that far gone. I'd like for him to explain himself so we can all try and figure out what's happening here. But as long as he's being so disagreeable… I can't help him, and I don't think anyone else can, either."

"Can you paralyze him or something?" Char wondered, following Eva's upward gaze. "Could we find a stun seed? Anything to get him to just talk and stop swinging his club at everyone? Something is really wrong with this."

There was a startling smack from above, followed by the sound of crumbling rocks. A small hole burst open in the ceiling, through which the Marowak dropped, still angrily brandishing his weapon. Char scuttled backwards and cowered next to Eva. Looking up into Legend's room, Char saw how surprisingly thin the ceiling was. There was no possible way that Marrow didn't just hear everything they said.

"Alright… alright. You want me to talk? I'll talk," he sighed in resignation. "Maybe you'll do a better job of listinen' than everyone else in this blasted place."

To Char's surprise, Marrow dropped his bone club. He bowed his head forward and grunted for a moment, pulling off his helmet and dropping it down beside his bone. Without the mask on, the Marowak looked strangely vulnerable and fragile.

Marrow folded his hands in front of himself, showing no more hostility. "I'm sorry; it's just that I've already realized this is my last day to be alive," he said solemnly. "I guess I'm just tryin' to find a meaning to it. If I'm going to die, I want it to be for something. I'm just tryin' to figure out what it's gonna, while I still got the chance. 'Cuz right now, I feel like it's going to be a meaningless sacrifice."

Char was quick to respond. "Die?! Marrow, no! Don't die!" he pleaded in astonishment. "I… what are you even talking about?! What happened?! Why did they kick you off the project? Why do you think you're going to die? What if everything goes well? What if you guys win? You can win somehow, I'm sure!"

"Ahh… nah. If my gut is right, there's no way I'm survivin' tomorrow," he said plainly, pacing slowly towards Char. "Cepheus has some airtight plan that nobody sees coming, and he's just gonna overwhelm us. And it's either I go down fighting, or I go on the rest of my life knowin' that I fled like a coward and left my friends to die. Of those two options, I already know which one I'm gonna choose. I mean, they call me 'fearless', so… So I'm real sorry, Char. It's been real fun working with you. Heh, if I'd known this woulda happened, I probably woulda taught you a bit more of my real secrets while I had the chance."

"Enough dodging questions," Eva grunted in frustration. "Before you just throw your life away, you're at least going to give us the chance to help. So don't make me read your mind. What's got you so convinced something's going wrong?"

"Alright. Fair, fair," Marrow sighed, leaning against the wall beside Char. "Alright, see, I solved the puzzle. I figured something out that I wasn't supposed to know. I don't know what it was, but I learned something. And then… someone erased my memories of it. There's a big giant hole in my head where my thoughts are supposed to be. And whoever did it… they're around here. A real traitor in our midst, standin' round knowin' all our plans and secrets and nobody even suspects them. Nobody else coulda done it. It had to be someone I trust. And with you, Eva, everything seemed to line up all too convenient. You're a blasted psychic, you showed up about the same time Cepheus started getting on our tail, and you're someone that not even Scythe would think to suspect. See, I know Cepheus, that's just how he works. He learns every last one of your secrets and he just strolls in all high and mighty knowin' he's untouchable, and usually the way he does it is with traitors. He doesn't just beat you. He owns you. He takes everything you have, he snuffs out every ray of hope, he crushes all your hopes to absolute smithereens, and then he wins the fight once he knows he's taken the last of your will to live. And I know I'm graspin' at straws here, but if you aren't the traitor, Eva… I just can't… I can't imagine how else this happened."

Marrow looked like he changed his mind about what he wanted to say. He gave Eva a particular look. "Actually… you're right. Maybe I don't want to die. Eva, if you're workin' with Cepheus, tell him I defect. You both know how valuable I am. So I give up; ya got me. I'll work for the Master now if it means I get to live. I know he'll be real happy if you bring him another traitor. You might get a promotion out of it."

Eva grinned knowingly. "Clever. You're testing me," she said. "Were I working for Cepheus, you know I'd have no reason to deny your request. So there, are you satisfied?"

Marrow shrugged. "Yeah. Satisfied," he said. "Alright. Yeah. I'll trust ya. So there. That's mostly my whole side of the story. Tried telling everyone else. Tried telling Scythe and Daemon and Adarc. Nobody listens. It's like they're all in on the conspiracy. And there's got to be some conspiracy here. You won't convince me otherwise. Because you don't just get precision-guided amnesia for no darn reason."

"May I take a look? Into your mind, I mean," Eva offered. "I'm not the best with mind-magic and I never learned how to erase memories, but I know what the effects of memory erasure look like."

Marrow threw up his arms. "Yah, whatever, why not," he mumbled.

Eva stepped close to the helmetless Marowak until she could put her paw on his foot. She closed her eyes.

So I'll defer to your decision, Eva secretly said to Char. Were I really to find evidence of memory erasure, should I tell him the truth? Or should I lie and tell him that he's imagining it? To give him a greater sense of hope for the battle?

Tell him the truth, Char said without hesitation. He deserves to know.

So Eva's gemstone sparkled and flickered for a few moments as she closed her eyes, pressing her head into Marrow's chest. Marrow awkwardly tired to ignore her, looking away down the hall.

"You're right," she said after about two minutes, stepping away from him. "I looked at the memories at the very top of your mind, and they have a very distinct void carved out of them. They have unmistakably been meddled with. The meddler was not so clean. Whoever did this left some connections intact they should have severed, and severed some they should have left alone. I wouldn't call it a sloppy job, but it certainly isn't masterful. Regardless, it's much better than I could ever accomplish."

Marrow swung his arm at the air and snapped his claws. "Knew it. Knew it. Part of me was hoping you'd find nothing. But ah. Guess my instincts are just too good. Basin Canyon is doomed. Maybe you should go down there and grab an evolution-shard while you still can, Char. After tomorrow, none of us will be any closer to them than when we all started. And I'll be gone."

Char quickly cut him off. "Anything we can do? Me and Eva? Anything at all? Is there some way we can help? Help you find the traitor or something? We'll do whatever you want!"

Marrow shook his head. "Nah, Char, unless you have a way of producing miracles… there isn't a way for you to help with this," he said matter-of-factly. "Probably shouldn't have even come here at all. Now you're probably going to blame yourself for my death. Tell yourself you could have somehow stopped it. That's the last thing on Earth I want you to be doing when I'm gone."

"Marrow, please stop!" Char begged again. "It's not funny. Don't say you're going to die."

Marrow only shrugged. "I knew exactly what I was gettin' into, joining Team Remorse," he said flatly. "I knew this day would come when it would come. Got no regrets about bein' a casualty, and I'm sure some of the others feel the same. My career meant something and I'm quite proud of it. Got lots done. Again, I just… wish I could say the same about the way it all ended. Wish I could have solved the puzzle."

"Wait, I just thought of something," said Char brightly. "Can you help us get back up into the room? There's something I think I should show you."

With a little support from Marrow and some help from the mobile scarf, the three Pokémon ascended through the ceiling to the upper floor, where there was now a small, albeit ugly and dangerous hole in the ground in the middle of Legend's chamber. Char dashed over to the little pile of supplies that Eva had brought. There they were, still sitting on the floor where they'd fallen: the two reviver seeds. Char collected one of them and held it out to Marrow.

"Here," he said. "So you don't have to die. I have two. You can have the other one."

Marrow held up his hand, rejecting the offer. "Nah. You know those only work in dungeons. And I'm not gonna be fightin' in the dungeons."

"Well, maybe you… somehow… could? I don't know." Char feebly tried. "Maybe if you got overwhelmed or something, you could run down into the mystery dungeon so you'd at least get another chance to keep fighting. Marrow… please, just take it. I insist."

Marrow took the shiny golden seed in his hands, looking at his reflection in the shell.

Char added, "I mean, even if you're not fighting for yourself… maybe, I don't know… if you go down fighting to save someone, now you have more than one chance to save someone."

Marrow flung the seed back at Char, which he reflexively caught before it had a chance to fall down the hole in the floor. "There," he grunted. "I just saved someone."

The Marowak hung his helmet from the end of his bone club, which he then hefted over his shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some last things I need to make my peace with. And hey, maybe if I feel so inclined, I'll try and go snag a feral-shard down from the deep-mines, just for you. Oh, and tell Legend I'm sorry about the floor. Not like we'll be needin' these rooms after tomorrow, anyways."

Char wanted to follow Marrow, chase after him, and reassure him everything would be okay. He wanted his fearless ex-mentor not to give up hope so easily. But a sad thought from Eva stopped him in mid-stride, and he watched Marrow wander off, wondering if that was the last of him that he'd ever see.

Let him go, advised Eva with a warm stream of sympathy. To him, being fearless means not to fear his death once he knows it's coming. He only wants this one last chance to determine where things really went wrong. So let's let him have this moment, alright? We can't really help him past this point. I think we should worry about ourselves.

Char realized, though he didn't want to admit it to himself, he rather felt like starting to cry.

He always knew in the back of his head that resistance work was not really some exciting, adventurous career. It wasn't about facing challenges and getting stronger and making friends and collecting treasure. It wasn't about having fun. If he tried not to tell himself this every morning he woke up, and instead thought of his friends and their big accomplishments and how great it was to be a Pokémon constantly getting stronger and living in this wonderful world full of mythological creatures, everything would be okay.

He was reminded swiftly that he was fighting a real war, with real stakes and real consequences.

He was reminded that Scythe's team, and all those similar teams who agree to take the largest and most dangerous missions, were fighting so that everyone else in the Gold Division, from the young trainee kids to the determined mid-level teams, could keep their illusion unbroken. So they would never have to really face this kind of hopelessness for as long as possible.

Char steeled himself against his own tears, forcing himself into the mindset of a leader. Or at least, he tried.

I wanted him to watch me evolve, Char couldn't help but thinking. I wanted him to be there for Ray when he joins Team Remorse someday. I remember… once, I even wanted him as a teammate. Marrow, no…

He knew he couldn't hide his distress from Eva. She could tell all too easily that he wasn't taking this well. But he was too ashamed to let her into his mind, to show his weakness. It was hard enough to endure the same level of worship she undoubtedly showed the Master some centuries ago. Or rather, it was hard to feel like he could live up to the level of deserving it. She wanted Char to be her new master, and he didn't want to disappoint her.

But it also forced him to remember that he wasn't really a Charmander. His soul was human.

And that human had a plan. That human had a reason for being here. A good reason, regardless of whether any of his friends died or whether the Basin Canyon project failed. Regardless of whether he could evolve anytime soon, regardless of whether he'd ever see Saura again, regardless of whether he could live up to Eva's impossible standards, and regardless of whether he could read. It was the only thing he knew with some certainty, the only message he'd indirectly conveyed to himself through Xatu: that for whatever reason, he was meant to be right here, deep in Basin Canyon, on the eve of something great or something terrible.

That knowledge, tiny as it was, gave him enough strength to hold back his tears, at least for now. Marrow didn't have to die. None of them had to die. Maybe something could be done. He would only have to trust in the human he once was, and the plan he once made. Maybe that human knew what he was doing.

"Eva…" he whispered once he felt he had enough control over his surging fire, "Do you think we should go and explore the canyon? While we're waiting for everyone to get back from the meeting? Should we look around? Maybe try getting into the mystery dungeon? I've always been looking forward to evolving."

"I would not advise it, master," Eva said softly. "We could easily get lost. Nobody could find you in case of an emergency. The mystery dungeon might be very difficult to escape once Cepheus attacks. And even if we kept out of the dungeon, what good would it serve?"

"So what, you think we should just sit here and wait?" Char asked.

Eva nodded. "If you are asking for my opinion, it would be best for us to stay put," she said simply. "The thought of getting lost makes me uncomfortable. And you need your rest and nourishment for tomorrow. But if you wish to go somewhere, I will gladly accompany you, of course."

Nourishment. The very word brought a hunger pang to Char, and he prowled over to the basket of nuts and shriveled dried berries. He bit into something that looked like a mango, but wrinkled beyond recognition. Dry and sweet, but immediately filling.

I almost forgot. The mobile scarf makes you hungry if you stand inside of a wall for too long, Char said using telepathy, since his mouth was stuffed. If I'm going to need to use it, I should make sure I'm nice and full. Are you hungry? Do you need anything?

Yes, if you don't mind, Eva replied. I admit I oftentimes get distracted and forget about my own hunger. Some days I wake up tired and sluggish, wanting to sleep for twenty hours, only to realize I haven't eaten anything in months.

Char tossed her a few berries from the basket, which she caught mid-air with telekinesis, and the two relaxed and ate their fill.

Eva, I think there's something I need to ask you, Char said as he munched on dried pinap. Seeing that we might find ourselves in a dungeon tomorrow, what makes you so afraid of dungeons? Everyone's afraid of dungeons, but you really made it seem like something much worse. Could you tell me why?

Eva flinched at the question, as though having involuntary flashes of awful things, but swallowed her mouthful and replied, Ah. Yes, that. Now that you are aware of my immortality, I see no reason I can't tell you the truth. I'm afraid it's a very simple matter: I cannot die, and so whenever I step inside of a dungeon, there is a very significant chance that I will be trapped within for all eternity. Eternal loneliness… there is no worse fate for an immortal. Whereas your worst nightmares might involve being sliced open by Scyther blades or drowning in the ocean, mine often involve being buried leagues below the earth's surface where no soul might ever find me, and without even death to rescue me. Dungeons show disturbing signs of sentience, and if one were to hold a particular grudge against me, it could defeat me and curse me with such a fate.

Char shivered deep inside just imagining it. That's terrifying! he said. I wouldn't wish that kind of a fate upon my worst enemy. Alright, Eva. I'll keep that in mind from now on. I'll try not to send you on dungeon missions. Thank you for telling me.

Thank you for your consideration, she replied. But I think, as long as you grant me one of these scared rescue emblems, which provide certain immunity from eternal imprisonment within a dungeon, I will have nothing to fear.

Now it was Char's turn to gulp down his final bites of whatever sour berry he'd just eaten, and gather the courage to return her the favor.

I think it's time I should tell you one of my secrets too, Char decided, pressing through the hesitance with brute willpower. About the Call. You told me secrets beyond my wildest imagination, so I think it's only fair I should tell you mine.

Eva tilted her head in fascination, but failed to hide a sparkle of inner joy in her eyes. Oh? You do not have to tell me, you know, she reassured. You never have to tell me your secrets. There is no obligation.

No, I think I want to tell you, Char forced himself to say. I think it's time. I'm sure you helped the Master with all his secrets back when he lived. So if you want me to be your new master, I should let you help me with mine.

A burst of panic from his chest! Was he really about to do this? Admit to Eva something about himself that would change, and possibly sour, her opinion of him forever? Every gut feeling he had told him this was a bad, bad idea.

And yet… when he ignored the gut instincts, and instead listened to the fires of the heart, they told him differently. Eva – or rather, Aster, as he needed to start calling her – she bore the weight of terrible secrets every day for all of eternity. She bore the secrets of Enigma, of the Master, of the other immortals, and her own. All dangerous, earth-shattering secrets. And yet, Eva – Aster – held onto them so gracefully for so many years, decades, even centuries.

He needed to tell her. He needed to give her this chance to share his burden, something she obviously wanted with all of her heart.

You know you have nothing to fear, she said quietly. There is nothing you could say that would make me hate you. Absolutely nothing.

Char broke the tension with a chuckle of his own. Not even if I told you that I lied, and I'm not really a human? he kidded.

The hair on Aster's back stood straight up at the suggestion. She lashed her tail. No, not even that, came her reply, sounding like she was choking on her own telepathic words. Especially since I know it to be a blatant lie.

Hah, didn't see that one coming, did you? Char said with a real-world laugh and a kindly smile. But be honest, if I really told you that, and it were totally true, what would you do?

She sighed in amusement, tilted her head at the ceiling, and repositioned her tail back to its usual regal curvature. I would not hate you, she said. I would consider you a friend and a partner. We could keep our professional rapport. But I would likely revoke my personal vows of servitude… and likely ask Scarlet if she were interested in my unconditional loyalty instead. There, you have my honest answer to your nonsense. Satisfied?

Aster mirrored Char's smile back at him, showing that she was only playing around. But Char, having momentarily dispelled his nervous resistance, spat out his confession before it had a chance to return.

The truth is… I am the only one in the world who knows the truth of the Call, he said quickly. Scythe, Alakazam, and everyone else all think that it can't be weaponized. That it happens randomly and I can't control it. But actually, I kind of can control it. And I kind of… can… use it as a weapon after all.

Intense fascination flashed across Aster's face. She leaned her head forward disbelievingly, perking her ears the highest they could go. She gave him a small, eager nod, as if to say, "Go on, go on…"

Aster… the Call… it actually lets me mind control other Pokémon! he practically shouted in telepathy. I can't control when it happens, and it never happens more than once a day, but when it does happen… I can shout some sort of command, or some kind of desire, at as many nearby Pokémon as I want… and they'll do what I tell them! And not just that! Their mind makes up some kind of disguise for it! It makes them think that it's all their idea! So I can even rewrite the memories of other Pokémon with it! And they'll never suspect anything! It's actually insane… and I still can't really decide how often I should use it, or whether I should use it on my friends or my enemies, or how far I can take it before my conscience starts stabbing me in the heart… But finally I have someone else to talk about it with. If… if… you aren't horrified of me right now. Are you?

For just a moment, Aster's gaze fell awash with amazement, eyes wide and sparkling with wonder and awe. But she nodded again, expertly composed herself, and said, Oh. I see. So you have Enigma's power.

Enigma's… power? Char echoed. What are you talking about?

Enigma can brainwash any Pokémon she wants, and make them do whatever she wants, Aster explained in a strangely casual manner. I believe there are several limitations on her power, the main one being that she needs to make eye contact with any Pokémon she intends to bewitch. And there exist Pokémon with the mental fortitude to resist her. But she's the reason for the Master – or, those masquerading as the Master – command so many troops willing to fight and die for his causes, much like the Pokémon who might attack the canyon tomorrow. I can almost assure you they will all be brainwashed. So… yes, I'm quite familiar with that sort of power. And I'm quite familiar with offering advice about its use.

The Espeon tried to hide her silly grin by laying her chin on the floor and covering her mouth with her front paws. See? What wasn't so hard, was it? she added. When I say you have nothing to fear of me, I really do mean it.

So… you're not terrified of me? Char said, just to make sure. I mean… you have no way of knowing I brainwashed you! Or that I might brainwash you in the future! For all you know, your whole desire to serve me as your master might be a thought I incepted into your mind, and you just think it's your own idea. Your memories might all be false! Maybe you aren't even immortal! Maybe you didn't even meet the Master at all, and I only rewrote your memories to make you think that you did! Because I can do that! That's how crazy this power is! And you're still not scared of me?

Aster wiggled her tail in playful amusement. Enigma's power no longer works on me, she told Char. I have a feeling your power wouldn't work on me either, especially since I haven't felt any of your giant Call bursts so far. But see, even if it did work on me… what makes you think I wouldn't give you my permission to brainwash me? If I'm being a terrible servant, I see no reason you shouldn't just rewrite me to be a better one. And I'd rather be brainwashed by you than by Enigma. Easily.

Eva – Aster – Stop. I'm not going to brainwash you! Char admonished. I wouldn't do that. I feel like it's really just… not right to rewrite another Pokémon's mind to be the way I want. And even if I did, what if I rewrite someone's mind to be all wrong, and suddenly they're all ruined? What if I destroy their talents or take away their important memories or something? And then not being able to change them back?

Char clenched his fists, reining in his runaway, rambling thoughts. Even still, he added, I feel like I have the power for some sort of reason. So maybe you could help me decide how I should use it.

Can I tell you something…? Aster said, acting more and more childish by the moment. Do you know who else had so much power, but so many endless reservations about how he should use it? Nearly every day, we would share these very sorts of discussions, the Master and I… Discussions about what's ethical, what's evil, what's advantageous and what might backfire… Even how he should treat the other five… And sometimes he would do things he would regret, and he would come to me and we would discuss for hours how we might undo his mistakes, how we should make things better, and avoid such things in the future… Oh, Char. Oh, master. I'm starting to see so much of him in you, so much more than I ever thought possible.

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that, Char said with an awkward laugh.

It only means I'm finding myself very pleased with the new master I've chosen, said Aster, wiggling her tail like she would pounce and failing to hide her bright new smile.

Char cast her a look of disapproval. You're awfully happy for a Pokémon who's probably about to witness a massacre. So what's gotten into you?

You don't get it yet, do you? Aster said with another giggle. There doesn't have to be a massacre. Nobody here has to die. Not Marrow, not anyone. If what you say about your powers are true… you only need to use the Call and you can save everyone here.

I thought of that already, Char said with a sigh. I wish it would happen, I really do. But like I said, I can't change when it happens. I can only sit around and wait for it.

When does it normally happen? Aster asked.

Before noon, usually, Char explained. Around ten or eleven o'clock on most days, if you are familiar with the way humans keep time. So if Cepheus would just so happen to be attacking when it activates… I can save Basin Canyon. But it's such a longshot. Such a gamble.

Oh, but it's such a perfect solution! Aster sighed with whimsy. I can already imagine you standing proud, shouting your invisible command to the entire canyon, and watching as all the Pokémon here bow to your will, as they should.

It's not that loud, either, Char confessed. The Call that I have control over, it isn't as strong as the Call that can upset the entire Gold Division. I think it can only engulf one or two rooms. So that makes things even worse; I'd have to use the Call while all the enemy Pokémon are barging in the door, wherever that is. If they start running around all the halls here, there's nothing I can do. I'd almost have to hope for one of the involuntary Calls if I want to pacify every Pokémon in the whole complex. (Not to mention how the involuntary Calls were probably all Saura's to begin with, Char thought to himself in a way that Aster couldn't hear).

Master… despite everything, I still think this is exactly what will happen, Aster said again, snuggling up to Char like a lap-cat. I can't really explain why, but I'm so certain if it! You're going to use the Call to save everyone. Maybe that's why Scythe insisted you come here. Scythe is sensitive to the Call, is he not? Maybe he hears traces of it within you. Maybe he knows it's going to happen. Maybe you're his secret hidden weapon. You'll save the canyon. Then you'll be given a feral-shard and evolve into a Charmeleon. And I'll have all the honors of witnessing it happen. Let's make that future come true.

And what if it doesn't happen? Char said, idly stroking the Espeon's back just as he always did. What if I can't use the Call tomorrow? What if I can't save anyone?

Then I'll barge in on Enigma and give her exactly as much misery as she inflicted on you, Aster fiercely declared. And I'll steal a feral-shard from the fortress so you get to evolve anyway. Nobody gets away with hurting you. No more. Never again.

As the time passed and it seemed unlikely that Legend would return, or anyone else for that matter, the two partners agreed that they needed their rest for whatever was going to happen tomorrow. They settled down on the red sleeping-mat. Immediately, the glow-lights dimmed down to a fourth of their brightness, and they cuddled together. Char rested his head against Aster's neck, curling his tail around to his front to protect her from accidentally getting burned. He felt her warmth, the radiance of her devotion in her mind-waves, and her pure, childlike joy for finding a worthy master for the first time in probably centuries.

Her joy was infectious. Her happiness stoked his inner ember to a proud blaze, making him feel wanted, safe, and content. The stress and uncertainty of Basin Canyon sizzled away to nothing when wrapped in Aster's embrace.

But at the same time, a little worm of a thought crept in. A little tiny doubt.

Did he really deserve to be treated this way? Even Scythe, with all his warrior's honor and devotion to the human in him, wasn't so outspoken about calling himself an inferior being. Saura had always been deeply devoted too, declaring his allegiance to his 'human trainer' on the very first day they met. But that devotion manifested as only a strong friendship and partnership, and Char truly felt like Saura's equal.

Aster was something else. Something much, much different. To her, this was no mere matter of friendship. This was a serious matter to her. She had millenniums of experience in service to a single human. She had millenniums to decide upon the best way to be, what she considered, a perfect companion, partner, servant, and apparently even a girlfriend all at the same time. And she seemed determined to pour all of that boundless loyalty upon Char all at once, and showed no signs of stopping.

Was it really okay to enjoy that? Was it selfish? Or was it really so easy just to make her happy?

The Master had apparently done great things to maybe deserve that sort of loyalty – things like commanding the power of gods and claiming rule of an entire continent. Char hadn't yet done anything of the sort. He had the feeling that maybe the human version of himself deserved this level of respect – he who befriended the creation gods and tried to wrangle control over a timeline – but that had very little to do with whomever he was now.

As much as Char was beginning to deeply enjoy being treated as the honorary new Master of Ambera, he found himself asking: what was the catch?

"I know I won't have you forever," Aster whispered sweetly into Char's ear. "But while you're around, I want you to know that I love you, just as I loved him. And just as I was at his side until the very end, I will always be at yours."

"Aster," Char tried to say, suddenly feeling very uncertain and uncomfortable. The words 'I love you' were not always easy to say, even when he did kind of want to say them.

"Shh. Don't you dare feel like you need to say anything back," she told him, curling her tail around surprisingly close to his fire. "Everything I give you, I offer freely. I ask nothing in return. So just relax, let go of your words, and listen to mine, as I say: I love you, I love you. Whether you love me, or you hate me, or you merely find me useful, it matters not. There is nothing you can give to me that I do not already have. But I have everything to give. I only wish for a master who is willing to receive it."

Hearing such professions and promises of the Pokémon closest to him – this amazingly selfless Espeon whom he was admittedly starting to really fall for – it sparked a particular memory. He remembered something which Eva once told him on the first night they cuddled together like this. It made him decide to accept her as a partner in the first place: the moment she dispelled a certain fear and uncertainty with one single promise.

He wondered if that promise were still true.

"I can try to be that master the best that I can," Char sighed. "But there's something I need to ask."

"Yes, master?" she said, her voice trembling with affection.

"I remember when I first started to be your master," he said, reminiscing on a warm memory. "There was something you told me. You said to me… if Saura ever came back… you promised you'd let him have his position back as my partner. And let him have his place back in my room. Is that… still true?"

Char couldn't see her face, so he couldn't read her reaction. But he felt her body tremble, he felt a sudden throb of her heart, and he felt her hold him tighter.

She answered in a charged whisper, as though she were angry at herself. "Char… If… if you ever catch me breaking a vow I made you… any vow, no matter how insignificant… I want you to brainwash me into feeling eternal remorse over it. Because that's exactly what I would deserve. Of course I would never get between you and Saura. Remember, I once shared the Master with five other immortal Pokémon, so I understand how it works. I know what you mean to one another, and I know my place."

Hearing Aster reiterate this promise, Char felt the reservations in his heart dissolve away, just like they had on the first night she spoke it. It was enough to let his body relax, sinking deeper into the Espeon's fur and into the fireproof mat beneath the two of them. He thanked her, and soon thereafter drifted to sleep, feeling like maybe everything was going to be okay.


Char had no idea how long he'd peacefully slept. After all that he'd been through that night, all the dread about what was to come, it felt like at least twelve hours, even though Char knew it couldn't have been even half of that amount of time.

He woke up in the middle of his rest when he felt like something was wrong. Aster wasn't there anymore. The comfort she offered was the reason he slept so well, so he somehow knew the moment something happened to her. He stirred awake, reaching for Espeon fur that was no longer there. He blinked his eyes open to find that the room was now barely lit at all, the glowstones having turned down to barely the level of a night-light. His own tail flame was brighter. And still, Legend hadn't yet returned.

"Eva…?" He whispered quietly. "Aster?" he called, quickly correcting himself.

Then he saw her. She was sitting a few steps away, near the basket of cloth at the side of the room.

She was wide awake. Her eyes were huge. Her body was visibly shaking. Her claws were drawn. Her fur stood entirely on end and almost made her look sharp to the touch. Char hadn't seen her this stressed before, except for perhaps the time she almost got left behind in the Quarry dungeon. She stared agape at nothing, as though she'd just witnessed something that would scar her for life.

"Aster, are you alright? What's wrong?" Char called to her.

"Nightmare…" she absently muttered. "Very bad nightmare…"

"Yeah? What happened?" Char wondered.

Aster forced herself to look at the Charmander, tearing her gaze from her faraway thoughts and visions. "Sometimes I have terrible dreams when something is happening," she said blankly. For a few moments, her eyes seemed drawn to Char's tail flame.

Char shuddered at the eerie ring in her voice. "When something is happening?" he repeated. "What are you talking about…? Do you think you saw a vision of the future?"

"Sometimes… I know when things happen… terrible things…" she whispered. "Not premonitions of the future, but echoes of the very present. Something is happening right now, so far away that I have no control over the outcome… I can only sit here and know that somewhere else on Ambera, disaster strikes… and there's nothing either of us can do about it."

"Wait, you don't think… something's happening at the Gold Division right now?" Char gasped in panic, jumping completely awake. "You don't think Cepheus is attacking the base? Or Adiel? While all of our best warriors are over here? Oh, great Arceus… is that why Scythe stayed back? Because he knew something like this could happen? Team Ember is in danger! We have to get back to the base! We have to do something!"

But Aster quickly shook her head. "No. Not the Gold Division," she said. "Somewhere even further away. And I can't… do anything. It's completely out of my control, no matter how much I would have wanted to stop it. I can only just let it happen. Why do I have such a useless power… such a useless, useless power…"

She bitterly dug her claws into the stone floor. Char realized the blank gaze on her face was one of guilt. Soul-crushing guilt. As though she somehow considered it her responsibility to stop this supposed far-off catastrophe. As though being an immortal Pokémon meant having a role of guardianship over the land.

He felt an odd sort of relief at knowing the Gold Division was safe, at least from this particular crisis. He also felt intrigued at this power which Aster seemed to describe, but figured now wasn't the best time to ask about it. "Come back to bed," he bid her. "It's okay. No time to lose sleep over things you can't change. Maybe we'll find out about what happened later. But right now, we need our rest."

"Yes, master," she said blankly, as she obviously still tried to replay the nightmare over again in her mind, dwelling on the futility of it. Following orders, she took several slow, robotic steps back to Char's side. Char noticed her staring at his tail flame again, as though trying to use its light to burn the visions out of her mind, before she cuddled back around him.

"I'm sorry…" she said in a broken voice, clinging to him. "I'm so sorry, Char… I'm so sorry…"

"It's not your fault," Char said, trying to soothe her. "Just relax. Maybe it was just a nightmare."

"A nightmare that makes me worry I'll lose you," she sobbed softly. "I know what I said yesterday… I know I said you don't need to say anything. But please tell me you'll never let me go. You don't even have to mean it. You don't even have to be sure. Just, please. I need to hear you say it right now. Please."

"I'll never let you go," Char said without hesitation, happy to console her worries and return the favor for everything she said to him last night. "And I mean it. I want to be your master forever."

"Thank you," she whispered.

And without another word, Char and Aster fell deep into a sleep once more, not to awaken again until the fateful battle of Basin Canyon would begin.


Grayleaf Reserve

Saura peered out from his den at the crack of dawn. He knew he couldn't waste a single moment of this fateful day.

"Alright, this is our last chance," Saura whispered to his brother and sister. "Whatever we can do to protect the family, we have to do it today. And the only traps we haven't set yet are the ghost-zapper traps."

"I hope we don't get attacked by ghosts," Saurlee whispered with a shudder. "That'd be too scary…"

"Yeah, I know, but we have to do what we can," Saura replied, still blinking off the grogginess from the short night's rest. "The Redeemer says that he doesn't know what attacks us. That means, whatever it is, it doesn't leave traces. So unfortunately we might be up against ghosts."

Saurvor frowned. "Do you really think we can set them up in time? If the danger is supposed to come today, we have no idea how much time we have left."

"That's why we've got to rush into town, get those glass orbs that dad needs us to get, and rush home as fast as we can," Saura insisted. "I think the forest is safe. We can't waste any time. I think we can get some in Purevine, and we could easily get there and back in just a few hours. Ready to go?"

"Yeaaah, ready as I'm getting, I guess," Saurvor said with a massive yawn. "Last big mission for Team Grayleaf, huh?"

"Yeah, that's the idea," Saura replied, looking back at the rest of his family, all still sleeping. "I still have no idea what's going to happen… but if there are Pokémon trying to attack us, the traps we set should give us an edge. And then hopefully the danger will be gone… and everything will go back to normal."

The little Bulbasaur girl tilted her head. "Saura, didn't you ask your old friends for help?" she wondered. "How come they never answered?"

Saura shrugged. "Maybe they were busy," he said. "Maybe they forgot to check their mail. I don't know. It would have been nice to see Char again, but… guess it's just up to us now. C'mon, let's go."

The three children tiptoed into the dark, chilly morning. Saura had to orient himself for a moment, remembering which road he needed to take to get to Purevine Village, the place where he'd reunited with his father, as well as the place where he'd seen Char for the very last time.

Some deep, dark part of his soul had still been afraid of Char's fire. At least, if the Watcher visions were to be believed. But that morning, with the threat of some mysterious danger, he would have given anything to have the warmth and protection of Char's fire at his side again.

Half an hour down the road, the sun was rising far too slowly, but at the same time, not slowly enough. Though the forest was still dark and chilly in the brink-of-morning shadows, Saura heard the birds starting to awaken and sing in the trees on this early-autumn day. He recognized the songs of the Pidgey, with the trills and wobbles of their voices reminding him of a very intelligent talking Pidgey he himself once befriended. He'd encountered that Pidgey in some of his dreams and tried asking it for advice, but the Pidgey only ever sang songs back to him.

Saura was really starting to hate his dreams. They were never useful. They only ever brought him panic and stress, even now when he'd stop having the recurring nightmare about the forest burning.

But he supposed that's just what happens when you get touched by a Watcher; you don't get to decide what happens to you. Still, he rued fate for not letting him have prophetic dreams, or something that could have helped him in the long run.

Well, there was that one dream that seemed helpful. Or at least, it seemed like it was trying to be helpful, though it hadn't really succeeded: that one where a wise, eccentric Nidoking told him he could figure out exactly what was going on.

"I gave you a big hint," the dream had told him. "Don't think of what I said. Think of what I did."

And oh, he had. He'd gone over his encounter with The Redeemer a dozen times, at least. He remembered Charon, the Redeemer's ghost companion, who threatened him with a circle of fire. He remembered the encounter with the Redeemer. He remembered the way the Redeemer led him down the same path he walked on the night he met Char. He remembered the Redeemer guiding him and Saurvor through the Gravelerock Tunnel dungeon. He remembered trying to outrun some Pokémon who were chasing them. He remembered the Redeemer drawing in the dirt with his staff, trying to explain how the timeline worked.

And… that was it. He didn't remember anything else. Was he missing something? Or was the dream itself just speaking nonsense and trying to grasp at straws?

An hour down the road, and the trio was almost at the edge of the forest. They'd reach Purevine Village in only about half an hour more. The forest was waking up now, with all the forest's different kinds of birds singing in the treetops, the bug-types all zipping and crawling between the shrubs, and the Deerling and Rhyhorn lumbering across the meadows in their family packs.

Are all the animals of the forest in the same danger as we are? Saura wondered. How many of them are going to die by the end of today? Or is the danger only after us, specifically? Can it single us out, the only family of civil Pokémon in the whole forest?

"Ahh, I still have no idea what I'm going to tell my guild when I get back," Saurvor groaned. "Oh yeah, I'm sure it'll be great when I tell them I just had to take some time off and stop some cosmic disturbance from wiping out my family. I'm sure they'll totally believe me."

"Brother, if you're going to lose your job over this, I'm really sorry," said Saura earnestly. "But I'm really grateful you stayed to help. Ever since quitting my job, I've started to realize I don't really enjoy doing things all by myself. I'm happier when I have a team."

"You make a great team leader, big brother!" cheered Saurlee. "You always have a plan and you know just what to do!"

"Don't say that yet, not until the family is safe," Saura reminded her. "For all we know, I didn't help at all. Not until we see what's going to attack us. But I get the feeling you're going to be the real hero of this story, Saurlee!"

"Me?" she gasped. "What did I do?"

"What did you do?" Saurvor repeated in disbelief. "You helped us make so many of those traps, Saurlee! You made even more of them than me! Just wait until Father hears what kind of natural gardener you are!"

"Oh… oh yeah…" Saurlee said with a strange faraway voice.

Saura's ear twitched. He glanced over at his little sister with sudden concern. Saurlee returned a wide-eyed gaze of worry. Or maybe it was shame. She glanced suspiciously at Saurvor.

"Hey, big brother…? Can I tell you a secret?" Saurlee said meekly.

"Um… sure?" Saura answered. "What is it?"

"I mean… can I tell you a secret? Without Saurvor hearing?" she said oddly, suddenly looking very nervous. "It's kind of a big secret."

Saura exchanged a shrug with his older brother. Saurvor hung back on the road, giving Saura and Saurlee enough distance to be out of earshot.

"Alright, Saurlee, what is it?" Saura said again, not sure whether to be worried or amused. "What's the big secret?"

Saurlee pawed at the ground. She looked up at her brother with big, bashful eyes. "I… Brother, I… I don't think I actually built all of those traps."

"What do you mean?" Saura said, stopping in his tracks and staring at her in deep concern.

"And that's not all. I… I… I don't think I made those gardens, either." Saurlee confessed.

"Saurlee, what are you talking about…?" Saura croaked. "You didn't… but… wait, how come you told me you made them? Saurvor made them, didn't he? You were just trying to impress me, right?"

Saurlee looked mortified to say anything more. But she pawed at the ground again and finally admitted to her brother: "I'm so sorry, Saura. I said I made them because the forest told me to say that."

"The forest… told you…" Saura muttered blankly, looking at Saurlee like she was crazy.

And finally, in that moment, everything clicked together, and Saura understood exactly what was happening.

In that same moment, the forest – the entire forest – went dead silent. The birds stopped singing. The rodents stopped their rummaging. Even the breeze through the treetops stopped, and the leaves and branches stood in a haunting, otherworldly standstill.

Saura took a step back, and glanced around at the forest, trying desperately to convince himself he was having another one of his nightmares.

The birds in the trees were all staring directly at him, with evil intent in their eyes.

His heart stopped. But only for a moment. As quickly as the panic had set in, Saura took a gasp of breath, threw a vine-lasso around Saurlee's bulb, and dashed back to his older brother as fast as he could, pulling Saurlee along.

Saurvor was still meandering along, seemingly unaware that the entire forest had become frozen in time around him. He smiled at Saurlee and was about to say something, but Saura's desperate shout cut him off.

"Saurvor!" he cried. "I need you to go back to the den and get everyone out of the forest. Right now."

"Wait, but the traps?" Saurvor returned.

"FORGET THE TRAPS!" Saura nearly shrieked. He had to take two deep breaths before he continued. "Saurvor. Look. I'm dead serious. You run back to the den as fast as you can. And you get everyone out. I don't care what you have to tell them. I don't care if you have to tell them the forest is on fire. But you do whatever it takes and get them all out, and you meet me at Purevine Village. Understand?"

"Uh, no? I don't understand?" Saurvor said awkwardly.

"I'll explain everything when we're all together again, I promise," Saura replied. "There's no time to explain, but the danger is here. Just go. I'll get Saurlee out. You go with the others. Alright?"

"Alright, brother," Saurvor said with a nod. "I'll do my best."

As the Ivysaur took off running, Saura pulled his little sister in the opposite direction, yanking her along as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"What's going on?" Saurlee cried, struggling to keep up. "It wasn't that bad of a secret, was it?"

"Saurlee, we're all in big trouble," Saura gasped, pulling her along. "The forest was never in danger, Saurlee. The forest is the danger. Grayleaf Reserve is a mystery dungeon. I don't know how long it's been this way. Maybe all of our lives, I don't know. But it's not safe anymore. We have to get out now. Oh Arceus, I bet that's why the Master didn't want to send us help! They knew! They knew all along!"

"Brother, I'm scared," Saurlee whimpered.

"Stay close," Saura told her. "I'll protect you. We'll get out of here. I promise."

The forest looked so different now as it reeled past. So frighteningly familiar, yet so disturbingly different. As though Saura was only just now noticing how all the leafless branches in the trees were shaped like raptor-talons, or how all the dewdrops on the shrubs glistened like caustic acid, or how the tree-roots slithered beneath the soil like tentacles. He kept Saurlee as close as possible and followed the path, hoping it still led out of the forest the same way it always did. But it seemed like the forest was just repeating itself now… he already saw Saurlee's garden copied twice on the sides of the road, and thought he saw the little twigs sticking out of the soil indicating the traps they'd spent the prior days building.

He ignored them and kept pushing forward. He tried to ignore everything, hoping that the Pidgey wouldn't start dive-bombing them. He didn't know how many birds he could fend off all by himself.

But as the trail ran into a huge grassy clearing, Saura had to dig his paws into the dirt and grind to a stop. In the middle of the clearing, staring straight at the two small Bulbasaur, was a large, powerful Rhyhorn, eyeing them intently.

Before Saura could decide on an escape route, the Rhyhorn charged at him.


Basin Canyon

The day of the settlement had arrived.

The air was filled with a strange blend of hope and doom as Legend came to take Char to the Firehall the next morning, where all of the canyon's inhabitants quietly waited. Aster had quickly escaped down the hole in the floor to remain unseen.

How are you going to get back up through the ceiling? Char telepathically called to her before she was out of reach.

Sheer leg strength, she replied. I can make the jump with some effort. Don't worry about me. Come back and call for me as soon as you are able.

I will, Char promised.

Char glanced once more at the stunning Sandslash architecture as he passed by. It looked no different than it had the prior night; they were too deep for sunlight to reach, so it all looked like the same softly-lit temple chambers, or perhaps something more like the torch-lit, deserted ruins of an ancient pyramid. Char wondered if any of it would remain standing by the end of the day, or if it would all come crashing down from the inevitable attack.

"There's only one viable way to attack the canyon," Legend explained as he carried Char through the magnificent halls and chambers of the soon-to-be battleground. "If Cepheus intends to get in, he's coming in through the Firehall."

"Wait, there's an entrance in the Firehall? To the outside? Really?" Char asked.

"Yes and no," Legend said, carrying Char through what he vaguely recognized as the same series of tunnels. "He will have to break down the wall. But it is the only vulnerable point in the Canyon's walls; the rest is reinforced with a kind of diamond-onyx filament which the Sandslash invented. Certainly our foes could expand the effort to break it down if they wanted, but it would make noise and alert us to their efforts long before they could breach the wall. Instead, we left Cepheus an opening, so we could be sure where he would attack. Adarc's idea."

"So we're going to the Firehall now?" Char asked with a twinge of worry, but also a blaze of eagerness to see the giant fire again. "You're taking me to the front lines?"

"I will take you to the front lines, because we will likely know in moments what our odds of victory are," Legend said. "If it turns out they are unfavorable… we will easily have enough of a chance to escape."

The Firehall was just as dreamlike and gorgeous as Char remembered it. Everything within the great chamber was drowned in the deep colors of sunset, but with a glowing, ever-changing glimmer like boiling lava. If nothing else, it made Char feel like he was in his natural element as soon as he stepped into the room, and he wondered if Prince, Legend, Daemon, or any of the other fire-types among the elite teams felt the same way.

Because the elite teams were there. They were all there. All stationed in orderly rows and groups in the center of the room, facing the great wall which supposedly was the only weak point of the entire complex – the wall opposite of the fire, the very one where Adarc had been giving his final presentation. Char wondered why the fiery wall wasn't chosen as their line of defense – the fire itself seemed mighty enough to deter attackers from trying to cross through it – but Char realized everyone would need to squint to even see their attackers in that case.

Adarc stood front-and-center. The other teams – Team Remorse, Team Flamewheel, Team Absolution, Team Righteous, and a few others Char didn't recognize – all were stationed at pre-determined positions, ready to execute their plans of channeling and drawing attackers down into the dangerous tunnels to be swallowed up by the mighty Basin Canyon mystery dungeon, where they would be rendered harmless. Even the seven Sandslash princes were there, standing in anticipation of the ensuing battle.

And for a moment, all was quiet. Peaceful, even. Char had to dismount from Legend, who had been given his own orders. Instead he found Prince and held his hand.

And they waited for the breach.

"Alright, Cepehus!" Adarc shouted at the wall. "Go on, then. Play your hand. We're ready for you!"

"Oh, are you?" said a sudden, booming voice from the other end of the room, near the wall of fire. "At last. I was only awaiting your permission, after all."

The warriors in the room, all fifty or so of them, turned to behold the most horrifying sight. There was Cepheus, of course, standing against the backdrop of the mighty fire, with barely even his silhouette visible against the blinding fire. But in front of him… there were Pokémon. Hundreds and hundreds of Pokémon. Filling the room. Rhyperior. Excadrill. Swampert. Just rows, and rows, and rows of Pokémon, having appeared out of absolutely nowhere – standing still and awaiting their orders.

Char felt the collective bursting of hearts. The enemy Pokémon had even appeared between the ranks and files of the Gold Division warriors, separating them all and breaking up their groups.

"Well. After giving you so much time to prepare, I'll admit – I was expecting something more," Cepheus said, sauntering casually down the aisle between his waiting forces. As he stepped closer, Char could start to make out his massive, intimidating stature. He began to notice the coat of rough-silvery armor, the black-red warlord robes, and the dozens of enchanted rings and bands and objects he'd seemed to have stacked onto himself wherever they would fit. He was certainly dressed for the occasion.

"But I suppose I will admit… you've given me one singular surprise, at least," Cepheus told the tense group of Pokémon now starting to cower before the sheer number of enemy forces. He pointed a claw at the Scyther at the front of the group. "It took me a shamefully long time to realize that you are not Adron," Cepheus said. "Incredible. I thought for certain he was here, and this was his doing; I only discovered the truth about twenty days ago. So I will applaud that effort. Well done. Fortunately, now that I know this isn't the work of Adron, I no longer need to tread so carefully."

He strode closer, until he was nearly standing among the Gold Division warriors – yet still comfortably surrounded by his own forces. "And now I suppose that before everything comes crashing down upon your heads, you'd like to know how I've done it. And I'll admit, it wasn't so easy to formulate the plan this time, but things somewhat fell together in the end. See… I found your supplier of invisify seeds. A little place called Ingrain Town, yes? I paid them off, I took control of their economy, and I helped myself to as many invisify seeds as I wanted. I used them to sneak Pokémon into the canyon's walls, day and night, for weeks. Crobat did most of the work, as did other flying-types, so they would not leave too many footprints or traces on the floors and walls. And little by little, night by night…"

He pulled something out of his robe – something like a large golden coin – and held it high for all to see, its shiny surface glinting in the firelight.

"We made over five hundred teleport compasses from Poké-coins. The army you are seeing in this room… less than half of the Pokémon who've come to visit today. The rest are thoroughly infiltrating the entire canyon as we speak. Yes, and I've also cracked your codes. I know where the safe hallways are. We lost several spies to the dungeons, but we found the main entrances. And so… that brings us to here and now."

Cepheus stood closest to Kain, grinning evilly at the Luxray, as though to intimidate him with the type advantage. Kain scowled back at him, but Char could tell he, like everyone else in the room, was utterly heartbroken.

"I'll give you all two minutes of a head-start," he said. "I suggest you use the time to vacate the canyon. I'd prefer that you live to tell the tale of your crushing defeat here. But if you absolutely must stay and die for a hopeless cause, I'll be happy to oblige. And your time begins now."

The enemy Pokémon stood absolutely still as the Gold Division warriors broke apart in a mad, panicked scramble. Some of them even attacked – Char noticed Nidoroch punching a Sceptile in the face – but Cepheus's soldiers did not lift a claw to fight back, dutifully standing in wait for their attack order.

Char had a sudden thought. He broke away from Prince and rushed through the crowd, right up to the feet of Cepheus himself. The Nidoking warlord noticed him instantly, and grinned down in amusement.

"I knew it," Char shouted definitely at him. "I knew there was a traitor! Nobody believed me, but I knew!"

Cepheus squinted oddly. "I'm afraid you're quite mistaken, little lizard," he scoffed. "While yes, hiring double-agents is my favorite modus operandi, I did not find it necessary for this operation. I'm afraid your loss of the Canyon is solely on your heads this time." With an odd smirk, Cepheus then shouted an order at the surrounding Pokémon: "Spare the Charmander's life. No need to slay a child." And then to Char again, "I still suggest you leave while you have the chance. Even though nobody is going to kill you on purpose, I can't promise your safety."

And so, Char fled.

He didn't bother looking for Legend. There was no sense. The Gold Division warriors had absolutely dispersed by now, and there were too many enemy soldiers standing in the way to see what they were doing. But Char knew the way back to Legend's room, and that's where he fled, dropping to all-fours and pushing himself to run faster than he'd ever run before, his blazing tail streaking brightly behind him.

Halfway to Legend's room, he heard the moment when Cepheus gave the attack order. Though there were no Pokémon close by, he heard the battle begin… the crashes, the explosions, the shouts and cries of dozens of Pokémon… he felt the floor shake from powerful attacks…

But he kept running. He didn't stop until he reached Legend's room, where he dashed around the corner and in through the doorway, stopping to catch his breath for a moment.

Aster! He called with alarm. Aster, Marrow was right. The canyon is doomed… it's too early for the Call to happen, and Cepheus is here… We have to leave!

Aster, however, was no longer on the floor below. She crawled out from her hiding space behind the supply baskets in the corner of the room.

"So that's… it?" She said blankly. "We just… leave? Right now?"

"Yes. We have to leave," Char urged. "The enemies are attacking. Soon they'll be all over the canyon. I don't know how many of our teams are going to run away or stay and fight."

There was a noise of footsteps outside the door. Without thinking, Char dashed down into the hole in the floor, and Aster followed close behind. He clung to her for a second, not knowing which way to run. The earthquakes were only intensifying by the minute.

The nearby footsteps became louder, until Marrow dropped down through the hole.

"Yep, 's what I thought," he sighed, twirling his favorite club in his hand. "We never stood a chance. Guess all that's left is show you the way to the exit."

"Marrow… I'm sorry," Char said quickly. "But… can't you escape with us? You don't have to stay here…"

"Like I said, either I die a martyr, or I live a coward," he grunted. "And I'm not livin' as no coward. Now shut your face and listen. That way –" he pointed down one direction of the dark hallway "—that goes into the dungeon. It's one of the decoy paths, actually. The other way goes to the exit. So if you stay behind me, I can probably get you outta here. No promises, though. But I'll do the best I can."

Marrow held his bone club at the ready, and led the way down the hall, with Char and Aster sticking close behind them. The walls of the canyon rattled hard, shaking loose rubble from the walls.

"…Oop. On second thought, can't go that way," Marrow said suddenly. "I can feel them comin'. We're stuck. Gotta go into the dungeon. It's the only way."

Char bit his tongue and glanced at the Espeon beside him. In rueful telepathy, he said, Can you still go save Legend?

Aster trembled in surprise. Yes, but…

Then do it, Char decided. Go. Find Legend and make sure he gets out alive. Marrow and I are going into the mystery dungeon. And the last thing I want is to get you trapped down there. Will you do that for me, Aster?

Yes, master, she said sadly. I will do as you wish. But you'd better come back to me alive. If I get Legend out, I'm coming back for you.

Fine. Just go, Char told her. And I will do everything in my power to get back in one piece.

Casting one last regretful look, Aster turned around and dashed behind Char, jumping up through the hole in the ceiling even before he had a chance to turn around and watch her leave.

"Eva's run off somewhere," Char told Marrow. "It's just you and me now."

"Bah. Good. Still not entirely convinced she wasn't the traitor, to be honest," Marrow growled, adjusting his helmet and leading Char in the other direction.

"Wait, Marrow," Char said. "There was no traitor."

"Huh…" Marrow said, stopping to think for a minute. "What makes you say so?"

"Because I uh… because Cepheus himself told me, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying," Char replied.

Marrow kept walking, staring at the wall in silence for a moment. "But… that makes no godforsaken sense!" he growled, smashing the wall with his club in frustration. "I know someone erased my memories! I even feel the gap in my brain where there should be somethin' important! And even Eva said so herself! If Cepheus wasn't in on it… then what in the blazes…"

The floor rumbled again. Char heard voices and footsteps echoing down from the hall behind them, coming fast.

Then, the Marowak had a moment of clarity.

The odd behavior from Scythe. The memory erasure. The fateful missions that Scythe didn't seem to want to be a part of.

It all flashed before him. Suddenly everything made sense. The answers were laid bare before his eyes.

"Char, got a favor to ask of ya'," he said offhandedly, like they weren't standing in the middle of the apocalypse. "If you get outta this alive… I need you to make me a promise."

"Uh… what is it?" Char replied.

His eye glinted at Char through his helmet. "I need you to make Scythe laugh. Old bug hasn't laughed in a long time, so I think he just needs someone to brighten up his day. Alright? Can ya' do that?"

Char was utterly baffled by the request. "What are you… why? What?" he only sputtered out.

"Oh for the love of Groudon!" Marrow growled. "Look, I'm about to sacrifice myself to save you. They're way too close. There's no way we're going to outrun them, so now I've gotta stay back and hold them off so you can get into the dungeon. The least you can do is to honor my dying wish."

For a moment, Char wanted to protest. Tell Marrow he wasn't going to die. Tell Marrow they could still make it.

But Char saw the dire look in his eyes, the look of finality and acceptance. Marrow knew what he was saying.

So then, instead of arguing, Char gulped down his pride and said, "Alright, Marrow. If I make it out of here alive… I'll make Scythe laugh for you. Promise."

Marrow nodded. "Good," he grunted. He turned in the direction of the oncoming stampede of enemy Pokémon, poising himself in a battle stance with his club held behind him. Ready to go up against an army all alone. "Thank you. Now I can die happy. Ah, heh-heh. Scythe would be so proud of me right now, knowing I solved the puzzle. Now go, or they'll catch you and make this all for nothin'."

"I'm sorry," Char could only say in a soft solemn voice, looking back at him one more time. "Goodbye, Marrow." Then, he dropped back on all fours and took off, leaving Marrow alone and running deep into the tunnel. He cursed himself for abandoning him, for failing to trigger the Call and saving everyone, for failing to do anything useful… but he knew that it was not the time to dwell. So he said nothing more, and focused on his escape.

"Oh! And hey, Char!" Marrow called back, just before he was out of earshot. "Enjoy bein' a dragon, alright? I hear it's a ton of fun."

And that was the last Char heard of him.

He didn't know how long he ran. It didn't feel like much time. He kept waiting for the tingle of the mystery dungeon to overwhelm him, letting him know he'd breached the entrance to the deep, dark chasm that threatened to swallow him alive with a single step. He realized he still had one of the reviver seeds tucked beneath his rescue-emblem scarf; he had no idea what had happened to the other one. And that was all he had: one rescue emblem, one reviver seed, and one mobile scarf. That was all that stood between him and the unfortunate end of his journey, the end of his ill-fated plan to possibly save the world. And he hated that despite all the friends and partners and teammates he'd met since becoming a Charmander, he would meet the end of his journey all alone.

Now, Char kept running for as long as he could. But at one point, he realized the Pokémon behind him were gaining fast. They'd gotten well past Marrow.

The tunnel just kept going and going. The mystery dungeon was nowhere to be seen.

Char realized in horror what he needed to do.

He waited until he could see the eyes of the ensuing Swampert and Aggron.

He took one last deep, fateful breath…

He prayed to Arceus, he prayed to his human self and whatever plan he had, and he prayed to his inner ember not to fail him until the bitter end.

He willed himself to drop through the floor.

And so, Char fell.


Chapter 79: Twitch reading on April 18th, publication on April 19th

Chapter 80: Twitch reading on April 25th, publication on April 26th

Twitch readings are planned for Mondays at 7:30 PM US Central time.

While Twitch readings are subject to possible delay or cancellation, publications will always occur as planned.

*Chapter 107*: Chapter 79: Flashpoint

o

Chapter 79

… … …

Grayleaf Reserve

The Rhyhorn bellowed a warning cry as it stomped a path through the grassy field, coming straight for Saura and his little sister.

There was nowhere to run.

Saura glared intently at the charging beast, digging his paws into the dirt and holding his ground. Saurlee thought for a moment he would try to parry the attack head-on, which was crazy and impossible, unless he wanted to get sent flying with a gaping horn-wound in his side. Dodging the attack would do no good either; the Rhyhorn would just as easily reorient itself and attack again.

But Saura stood determined, focused and waiting, until there only remained about six seconds before he'd get brutally trampled.

SNAP! Saura cracked his vine whip which he'd left extended on the ground, snagging the Rhyhorn's paw in a lasso he'd hidden in the grass. The Rhyhorn screeched as its feet were swept out from underneath itself, and was sent flying a short distance, until it tumbled down on its side.

Grass knot. Just like his older brother showed him.

But Saura wasn't expecting what happened next. The ground collapsed under the Rhyhorn's weight, dropping the beast into a pitfall trap. It sounded a horrifying shriek of agony, and Saura realized the pitfall trap probably had spikes on the bottom. He didn't want to imagine what state the poor creature was in, and wasn't about to stop and look.

"We're almost there," he told his sister. "We just need to keep moving. Let's go. Don't think about what you're seeing, Saurlee. Don't look at the forest for too long. Don't listen to what it tells you. Just keep following the path and keep running."

"Okay, I'll try," she replied sadly. "I'm sorry, big brother. I really thought the forest was a friend."

"I think we all did," said Saura.

Saura felt strangely safer making it into the next cluster of trees, knowing the other Rhyhorn wouldn't bother him there. But the feeling of safety only lasted for a moment before he glanced upward and noticed dozens of birds leering down at him from the tree branches.

Why aren't they attacking? Saura wondered. Wonder if it's because Saurlee is with me. Maybe the dungeon is still being nice to her because she doesn't completely understand what's going on.

Saurlee screamed. Without stopping to think, Saura spun and released a stream of razor leaves above his little sister, slicing two attacking Pidgey out of the air. Saurlee started feebly swatting at the air with her vines.

"KEEP MOVING!" he shouted at her, snagging one of her vines in his own and pulling her along. "They're not going to stop. We've gotta get out of here. We're so close."

But instead of pursuing such an easy target, the birds looked distracted by something. Then, for seemingly no reason, they all flew away at once, abandoning the branches and flocking into the sky. At first Saura feared they were flying off to harass the rest of the family. But he realized the birds left in the same direction he was headed; they were leaving the forest.

"Huh…" he breathed. "Weird. Are we out of the dungeon already?"

But Saura still knew there was no time to stop and wonder about dungeon phenomena. He didn't stop running until he and his sister were safe in Purevine.


Purevine Village

The sun was barely out at this middling hour of dawn. It was too early for any villagers to be out and about, or to witness two exhausted Bulbasaur stumble across the bridge and flop down into the dirt. Saura closed his eyes for a moment and dug his paws into the dirt, thanking the solid ground for being there and being regular, old, everyday dirt, not the kind of dirt cursed by a mystery dungeon that could shift around and turn into a pitfall trap or whatever other awful things that dungeons liked to do with their landscapes.

He knew there was nothing left to do but to relax, catch his breath, and wait for the rest of the family to arrive. He had to keep reminding himself that Saurvor and the rest of the family wouldn't be in any danger; the forest would have no reason to turn on them as long as they didn't suspect it was alive. Only Saura was the target. Now that he was safe, everything would be okay.

"Brother, look!" Saurlee urged after the brief moment of rest.

Saura climbed to his feet and eagerly turned, anticipating seeing his family emerge from the forest, safe and sound. But following Saurlee's gaze, he didn't notice anything in particular. It was still rather dark to see anything near the treeline, but he was pretty sure nobody was coming.

"What is it?" asked Saura.

"Look up there!" Saurlee gasped. "Don't those clouds look really weird?"

Saura squinted and looked above the treetops. In the light of the dawning sun, he noticed a strange tower of clouds stacked up to the heavens, straight above Grayleaf Reserve. Indeed, a pretty weird shape. Thunderstorms, perhaps. One of those supercell storms.

But no. Those clouds weren't in the sky. Or at least, not all of them were. They were billowing up vertically from the forest itself.

"No way…" Saura whispered, shaking his head. "No, no way… Saurlee, that's smoke! Wait, so the forest actually was on fire?"

"Maybe it got hit by lightning?" Saurlee worried. "There were storms in the sky last night… Do you think they'll make it out?"

Saura breathed, unable to absorb enough sunlight at this hour to calm his nerves. He tried to reason it out. "That… seems like it's much further back than where our den was," Saura decided. "Although that's assuming our den wasn't just moving around the forest all our lives and we never noticed. They… they'll make it. I know they will. Saurvor will convince them. I know he will."

But as much as Saura tried to reassure himself that soon he would blink and find his family escaping from the spatial distortion they once called home, he felt the stirring of his most primal fears.

This was his nightmare. The nightmare that burned his family alive. And sometimes burned him alive too. The nightmare he thought he avoided. But no, now it was really happening. It probably wasn't from a Pokémon, Saura knew. That Flareon, Hunter, probably didn't cause it like what happened in the dreams. It was probably from a lightning bolt, as Saurlee thought. Or maybe it was the dungeon itself throwing a fit for losing its resident Bulbasaur to a series of unlikely interferences. But it was there, and it was real. Saura even thought he smelled ashes on the wind, just like in his dreams.

Maybe he had prophetic dreams after all. Maybe the Watcher had given him the power of an Absol. He couldn't think of any other explanation for such a disturbing coincidence.

Saura barely moved from his spot for the next three hours. That's how long he was giving Saurvor before he started to worry something had gone wrong. He kept going over everything in his mind. The three of them were an hour out from the den when the dungeon turned on him, but that was only at a steady walking speed. Saurvor would need to run back as fast as he could, then yell at Mom and Dad and all the seedlings and convince them of an emergency, then they'd probably stop to collect their favorite belongings and everything… that would probably take an hour. And it would take two hours for the whole group to make the trip to Purevine. Surely the fire wouldn't spread so fast. It was too far away and they had a good head start, right?

Three hours. Three hours before he knew something terrible had happened. Three hours before he would have to decide whether to run back not only into a mystery dungeon, but a burning mystery dungeon, to see if there were any survivors.

And for the better part of those three hours, Saura stood like a statue at the foot of the bridge. He barely noticed the sun rising into a deep and beautiful dawn. He barely noticed the village folk crowding around him curiously, some of them gazing at the growing stack of smoke erupting into the sky.

He wondered if he should recruit help from any water-types of Purevine Village. Surely someone had a powerful enough water gun to help curb the fires. Maybe someone even knew how to summon ocean waves or something. Maybe someone had the power to change the weather and make it rain.

But he decided against asking for help. He didn't want to endanger anyone by getting them too close to a mystery dungeon.

Whatever he thought, whatever ideas he had, the answer was always the same: there was nothing to do but stand and wait. And hope. The crowd of villagers around him only grew. Some tried to ask him questions. He heard none of them over the sound of his own inner voice praying to Arceus, to Reshiram, to Entei and Suicune, to whatever legendary gods might have the power to deliver his loved ones from such a disaster.

He told himself that he should have gone instead of Saurvor. That he should have sent Saurvor and Saurlee to safety, like he'd promised in their Team Grayleaf pact. But he needed to remind himself: it had to be Saurvor. Otherwise the dungeon might have started to attack his family with Saura there.

He made all the right calls. Now it was up to fate to do its part.

"Saurvor. Please. You can do this…" he muttered.

About twenty minutes before Saura would have plunged back into the forest, they appeared: a procession of Bulbasaur scurried out from behind the treeline. Saura bolted for them without hesitation.

"You made it!" He cried, running to tackle Saurvor and wrap him up in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you. You got them out! I knew you would!"

"Yeah, it took saying that the forest was on fire," he admitted, wincing as Saura glomped him hard. "Mother wasn't listening otherwise. It wasn't easy, I'll say. I'm not always a good liar. But here we are."

"Brother… the forest really was on fire…" Saura said, looking blankly up at him. "You can see the smoke in the sky from Purevine."

"…Oh? Seriously?!" Saurvor yelped. "I had no idea! Why didn't you tell me?! I would have come much faster!"

"Because I didn't know! It was a coincidence!" Saura gasped back. "A really crazy coincidence! But you should have gotten here faster anyway. I figured out what was wrong with the forest, and it was much worse than a fire. I'll explain when we get you guys into town."

As soon as Saura parted with his older brother and stepped back, all his siblings started crowding around him. He counted every one of them. One sister. Seven brothers. All were here. And Mother came lumbering from the back, holding a bag of supplies and carrying the new hatchling Bulbasaur on top of her flower.

But something wasn't right. His siblings all looked scared and confused. And so did Mother. And somehow, Saura knew it wasn't just because they all thought their forest was about to burn down. They should have at least looked relieved to escape to safety. But none of them looked relieved. They all looked too somber.

Saura felt a sudden stab in his heart.

"Uh… where's Dad?" He said, double-checking all of them, but only finding one Venusaur in the group. "He's coming too, right?"

The whole family went silent and still. Nobody wanted to speak up. Not even Saurvor.

"RIGHT?!" Saura shouted, demanding an answer.

Mom was the one to respond. "He told us to go on without him," she confessed. "He saved some of your brothers from danger, but he wanted the rest of us to be safe from the fire. I'm so sorry, Saura… there's a chance he might not be coming."

Saura grew furious. "WHAT?! Even now, he refused to leave home?!" he shouted in disbelief. "Even when there was a forest fire coming?! Please don't tell me he's that stubborn…"

Mom hesitantly shook her head. "No. He didn't stay behind on purpose," she said. "He – WAIT! NO!"

"SAURA! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!" Saurvor shouted.

But Saura was already dashing back into the woods without even a second thought.


Burning Reserve

When Saura found his father deep in the woods, the sharp scent of soot in the air was unbearable. Ashes swept into his face and made his eyes scratchy. He had to draw oxygen from his bulb just to breathe, like Marrow had taught him.

He could hear the mighty roar of the fire, like a hurricane's wind, or thunder that never ended. He could see the orange glow emanating from deeper in the core of the forest. He could feel a blast of hot air every few moments, each worse than the last, until it felt like a blistering summer day in the middle of autumn.

But he did find his father. Halfway back to the den, Saura found him at the bottom of a pitfall trap.

For a long, frozen moment, Saura gazed down at the gruesome sight. Some of the spikes had been crushed beneath the Venusaur's weight. Others had impaled him, sticking straight through his body. The pointed ends of the sticks sparkled with a thick, sappy substance that was Grayleaf's blood.

"Saura…" croaked Grayleaf in a feeble, dying voice. "I… I told you to mark the traps… hah… let this be a lesson to you…"

"Dad… no…" Saura said breathlessly. He leaped down into the pit, careful to land where the spikes had broken and collapsed, and rushed to his father's side. The Venusaur was still alive, clinging on to his final moments, though it was very clear he wasn't going anywhere. He was bleeding out too fast. And even if he could somehow regenerate enough energy to survive, the fire would come too quickly, sealing his fate.

"Wait… you can overgrow, can't you?" Saura said in teary hope. "You'll be extra strong for a little bit and you can get out of here."

"Ahh… I already did that, and saved three of your brothers from falling in too," Grayleaf whispered. "Now you have to leave me here. Take care of your siblings for me…"

The Venusaur groaned. Every word he spoke drained what little energy he had left. Saura only pressed his forehead against his father. "No… Dad, no… Please… Don't go yet."

"You need to leave," sighed his father. "Son… listen to me. I know you're the strongest of them all. They need you. Don't let me down, alright? This world needs you."

But Saura didn't listen. He only broke down and wept, pressing his face against the side of his father's head, letting his tears trickle down the Venusaur's cheek. The Venusaur extended a vine gently around his bulb and held him tight for one final moment.

And there, even as the fire crept upon them, the father and son shared one long, heartfelt embrace.


? ? ?

Char woke up feeling strangely well, with not even a scratch or a sliver of a headache, and he wasn't even the least bit hungry. He felt perfect, and he knew exactly why: he'd fallen to his death, and the reviver seed saved him. It was his last desperate hope for survival, and somehow it worked. He thought it might, seeing that Basin Canyon was very deep and had many dungeon floors. So the odds were overwhelming that he would land somewhere.

But when he blinked his eyes open, he realized he wasn't in Basin Canyon anymore.

The ground below was quite chilly and rough to the touch. It looked like a flat plane of solidified moss. The air smelled like damp caves. Around him, there rose strange, crumbling walls and pillars of marble with odd, spongey craters dug out of their sides. Looking up, Char realized there was no ceiling; the sky was an endless void of black and silver. There was a loud, omnipresent sound of howling wind, though Char felt only a light breeze against his skin.

Yeah, definitely not Basin Canyon. Where was this? He knew it was a mystery dungeon, otherwise the reviver seed wouldn't have worked. He wondered what would happen if he tried to activate his rescue emblem, but not knowing exactly where he'd entered the dungeon, he wasn't sure where it would take him.

Char got to his feet and started looking around. He crept quietly between the pillars, wary of enemy encounters. He soon reached a wide-open area which reminded him somewhat of a runway for human airplanes. The path itself extended far into the distance, disappearing into the mist. Not wanting to follow the long, open road just yet, he crossed to the other side and was quite stunned at what he saw.

The side of the path dropped off into an eternal gray abyss, until it was indistinguishable from the sky. While that alone made Char want to shy away from the ledge and back to the center of the pathway, he noticed something incredible – there were large chunks of rock drifting and spinning in the void, as though somehow lighter than air. An impressive spatial anomaly, but there was something odd about their color tone and texture that triggered distant memories from Char, something he couldn't yet place.

Char decided to follow the long, wide road, hoping it would lead somewhere. He could never see anything in the distance – the road always disappeared at the horizon and into the dark, silvery nothingness of the sky. And there were no dips or hills to be seen – everything was perfectly flat the whole way. Char knew mystery dungeons sometimes manifested this way, but it didn't give him any confidence that this path actually led somewhere.

Eventually the wall on the other side of the road ended, revealing another abyss, turning the road into a long, flat platform suspended in pure empty space. Leaving that wall far behind, Char found himself alone on a featureless green ledge with no guardrails, which extended forever in both directions and led to nowhere. There was nothing left to do but follow the road as far as it went.

As he traversed the endless bridge, Char's gaze was naturally drawn to the giant floating rocks in the sky. With no walls in the way, he saw how there were many of these rocks all around him, some very massive and far in the distance, almost like nearby planets. They just hung there, some softly turning, others still as though suspended in glass. They started to really bother him. They looked like something he'd seen once, but still, he just couldn't place it! He locked his eyes to the nearest one, promising himself he wouldn't look away until he jogged his memory about what he was looking at. Maybe something he remembered from being a human? The same way he remembered the stars?

Char kicked something with his foot. It clinked away into the distance, with a tiny, glassy sound. He scrambled forward to find where it had landed. And though it was small, it was too easy to spot against the mossy green color of the floor.

He jumped forward and collected it, marveling at what he found. A small, pearly, iridescent crystal with prismatic colors.

It was a feral-shard. An evolution stone! He held it preciously to his chest, his heart pounding in excitement. He could evolve. He knew he could! All he needed now was to decide to evolve, and he would be a Charmeleon. Nothing was stopping him!

But Char hesitated. He remembered Otto's story, and how his life had been saved by evolving. He realized he could use the feral-shard as another reviver seed in an emergency. So he tucked it under his scarf, deciding that he'd evolve as soon as he could escape the dungeon. (If he could ever escape, that is.)

He exchanged the feral-shard for the reviver seed he'd kept in the same place. Indeed, its golden color had washed away, and its outer shell had shriveled and become soft. It was now a plain, powerless seed. Char decided to munch on it, careful to chew it thoroughly before swallowing. He didn't want to choke again like last time.

He kept walking the infinite distance into the void, with increasing dread that it was leading nowhere. If this were indeed a mystery dungeon, and it followed the normal rules of a dungeon, he'd eventually get hungry and pass out, or some kind of mysterious force would come to swallow him, dispelling him back to the entrance. So he kept going forward, picking up the pace as he turned his attention again to the mesmerizing sky-rocks.

Clink! Char kicked something again, this time with the other foot.

He looked down and found yet another feral-shard on the ground.

And another one. And several more.

And dozens more beyond that. As though it had rained feral-shards from the sky.

Was this… was this actually the bottom of Basin Canyon after all? The famous feral-shard mine? Because it certainly seemed like an excellent source of feral-shards. There were about fifty of them scattered around the road here, all in slightly different shapes, as though something very big had broken apart.

Char felt a shiver of amazement. The rocks in the sky! They were giant feral-shards! Their color was off because of the greenish mist in the air and the silvery tint of the sky, but now that Char knew what to look for, it was unmistakable. These feral-shards were fragments of the giant asteroids. Break one of those apart, and there would be enough to help the whole Gold Division evolve, plus some. Char reached down and grabbed another of the precious stones, making sure to select one that was long and thin, and tucked it under his rescue scarf on his arm alongside the first one. For becoming a Charizard, he told himself.

Char walked and walked, all alone, for what felt like half a day. Occasionally he would hear a stormy burst of wind from deep in the abyss, but he wouldn't feel anything. Occasionally he would encounter another scattered pile of feral-shards and need to tiptoe around them, lest he step on one and slice his foot open – some of them really did look that sharp.

But eventually there came an end to the long, lonely road. When the green floor stopped in the middle of nowhere, Char's heart sank – he'd have to walk all the way back and find a different way to go. But as he came closer, he realized the ledge actually stopped at something. He thought it looked like some kind of structure… until he got much closer, and realized to his amazement that this structure was unfathomably large. It was a wall on reality itself, extending infinitely left, right, into the sky, and down into the abyss. As the eternal wall emerged from its misty veil, its true form separated from the sky and came into focus: it was gorgeously textured like bright white coral, with iridescent, otherworldly colors visible between its veiny strands, all shifting and glowing and rippling like portals.

Drawing closer, Char felt a strange sort of calm wash over him. Something about this impossibly mighty structure brought him a sense of comfort and safety, though maybe that was because he'd spent all day walking an endless bridge above a bottomless pit…

As luck would have it, at the point where the road ended, there was a giant door in the side of the mysterious wall, easily large enough for a legendary dragon! But it was shut tight, and there were no doorknobs, hinges, or door-knockers to be seen. Char wondered if it was one of those doors which was supposed to drop like a drawbridge.

He pounded on the glassy metal door with his tiny Charmander hands, but it made nearly no sound over the eternally whooshing wind from the depths of the abyss.

"HELLO?!" He cried, pounding harder, hoping someone, or something, on the other side would respond. Being alone for such a long time was getting exhausting, and he was staring to get hungry again, too. And so he knocked, and waited, and shouted, and knocked some more, until his voice got hoarse and his knuckles got quite sore.

At one point, before giving up hope, Char suddenly remembered he was still wearing a mobile scarf. Without further hesitation, he stepped into the solid door, eager to see whatever mysterious land or lair might await him on the other side.

Char found himself standing in the foyer of a palace. Yes… This was a grand, magical palace, with walls of marble and gold, furnishings of light-pink velvet and lazulite-blue. Giant staircases ascended to second, third, and fourth floors. Between them, a hallway extended so far into the distance that Char couldn't see the ending.

It was quite a wonderful place. It felt warm, cozy, and inviting. The unsettling sounds of the abyssal winds were entirely silenced by the closed doors. Basin Canyon had nothing on this place! Char thought he might have even smelled food somewhere…

Unfortunately, this palace seemed entirely unoccupied. Char noticed weird, pearly chandeliers with their crystalline lights out, leaving the foyer rather gloomy, with the only visible light streaming down from the sky windows. There seemed to be much more light flooding the endless hall, so Char decided to start heading there. He wondered if this palace itself was part of the mystery dungeon. Was it built by someone? Or something? Or did it have random layouts like dungeons did?

As delightful as it seemed, there was such a haunting sense of loneliness over all the spacious rooms here, as though they were supposed to be bright and vibrant and coursing with power, but had been abandoned centuries ago. He had no doubt in his mind that a legendary beast, perhaps even one of the creation gods themselves, could happily live and reign from a place like this.

"HELLO?!" he called again with his sore throat, hearing an endless echo of himself from the many corridors as he carefully stepped into the long, endless hallway, looking up to admire the glorious pillars lining either side of the room, and the strange alien artwork sewn into the royal rug underfoot.

"OH!" called a small voice from somewhere nearby. "Oh, Lord! There's actually someone here! I'm so sorry, I thought I was just hearing things… I hope you weren't waiting too long…"

From one of the upper-floor balconies of the foyer, there drifted a small, cheerful creature. One with golden wings, a golden crown, and a white body. He called down, "Hello! Up here! Sorry to keep you waiting! We just don't get visitors here. Like, ever. At all. But I'm supposed to greet them anyway! So… hi!"

Char had to rub his eyes to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing. The creature answered for him.

"Hello, weary traveler!" said the tiny being again. "I am Jirachi, personal servant to Lord Palkia. I welcome you into our humble home. Oh, poor Charmander. You look so famished, your flame is getting so small… Don't you worry, we can take care of you."

"W-wait, Jirachi? Seriously?" Char struggled to say. "Where are we? What's… what's all that out there?!"

"Oh… you were out there? Interesting… visitors usually don't come in from the void-lands…" Jirachi hummed, gliding around in a little loop toward the doors, pressing against them as though to make sure they were still closed. "This is Palkia's Domain. Or, as I've heard some call it, the Spacial Rift. It's a place which exists nowhere… and everywhere. And it's where our most magnificent Lord Palkia lives! Make yourself at home, weary traveler. Stay for a while. Nothing can hurt you here. At least, as long as you don't go back outside. I promise! How'd you get in, anyway? Do you have phasing powers?"

"W-wait," Char said again, rambling awkwardly and pointing at the door. "I have to… I have to go. Get back to the real world. My friends really need me right now."

"Oh? Ah, don't worry about it!" Jirachi cheered, flying in another cute little loop in front of Char. "Your time doesn't move here. Whenever you decide to leave, I can take you back to the real world at the exact same time that you left! So relax… whatever's going on, let's get you fed and well-rested, and ready for whatever challenges await you. You must have come so far, I can only imagine how tired you are! How about some tea? I can make you some nice chesto-berry tea."

"Wait, I…"

But the little guy was already zooming away. "Go ahead! Take a seat, sit anywhere you'd like, and I'll be right back," he shouted, already around the corner and out of sight.

"Well, alright," Char said, mostly to himself. "I'm starving. No reason to turn down some free hospitality."

Following Jirachi, He found himself standing at the top of a flight of stairs overlooking an impossibly huge, absolutely stunning banquet hall. Blinding beams of sunlight (or wherever the light came from in the Spacial Rift) fell from the skylight windows, striking every glassy surface, every crystal chandelier, every golden candlestick and every inch of the polished marble on the floor. The sparkle and gleam was unbearable at first. It strangely reminded Char of the Firehall in Basin Canyon, though he probably would have called this the Marble-hall instead. Or maybe the Pearl-hall, seeing that Palkia apparently lived here.

As Char adjusted his eyes, he noticed the perfect symmetry of the room. At the center of it, a golden carpet seemingly spanned miles into the distance. On either side of the carpet, also appearing to span for miles, Char beheld several parallel, infinitely long banquet tables already set for a royal feast, with folded white napkins and empty platters and entire collections of strange utensils. He noticed how some tables had small seats, some had larger seats, and some had no seats at all – as though participants were expected to just stand in place. It was just like the mess hall at the Gold Division, he realized. This hall was meant to accommodate thousands of Pokémon of all sizes and shapes - which made it all the more eerie that there were no guests here, no Pokémon to be seen except for the one lonesome host who'd greeted him.

Ignoring the urge to explore the entire hall, Char tiptoed down the stairs and found his way to the table with the smallest seats. One side had chairs with back-rests, and the other had cushioned stools. It was too easy to imagine Saura or Eva joining him for some royal feast, sitting comfortably on one of those stools and looking back at him from the opposite side of the table as they would await the first course of the meal.

As he sat and waited, tinkering with the weird non-human utensils and looking at his reflection in the silvery platters, Char really wished Saura, or Eva, or anyone else had accompanied him here. There was something mysteriously uncomfortable about the stillness and silence of the place. Char thought maybe the tables had been set and untouched for centuries, but everything was perfectly shiny and new – no dust or decay to be seen. As though it had all been laid out hours before.

"Alright, here we are! My very best chesto-berry tea!" called Jirachi, floating over to Char with several fancy items floating behind him in telekinetic tow, setting them gracefully down on the table. "Sorry it took so long. I haven't served guests in a long time."

Jirachi poured a scalding-hot purple liquid into a weird, two-handled teacup in front of Char. "Really hope you enjoy this, it's my favorite," He added, setting everything down and relaxing on the stool where Char had imagined Saura sitting just moments ago. "I've been working on this blend for… longer than I care to admit. Helps me stay awake."

Char hesitantly sipped the tea, surprised he could drink it so easily without it scalding his mouth. It made him realize that he couldn't remember ever drinking something hot as a Charmander before – perhaps it was a distinctly human memory. It was extremely strong and bitter… but Char wasn't about to complain and hurt Jirachi's feelings. And it did bring a sharp tingle of alertness, which Char very much appreciated.

Char set the teacup back down. "Thank you," he said kindly. "You said Palkia lives here? It's a very nice place."

"Thank you! I do most of the housekeeping around here, so it means a lot," Jirachi said shyly.

"So you did all this?" Char wondered, indicating the rest of the room, all the tables that were set.

"Yeah! I did! I sort of have a lot of time on my hands," he said, looking away. "So much time. Oh, how much I'd love to just zone out and go to sleep for a century the way my kind are supposed to do, but nope. My responsibility is to keep the place perfect for Lord Palkia. And greet the guests like you. He-he-he. So… how's the weather out there? In the real world, I mean! I, uhhhhh, hope your travels were safe!"

Char gave Jirachi an odd look. There was something rather awkward about the way he spoke. "I'll be honest; I actually have no idea how I got here," Char said. "One moment I was in a cave, and the next moment… I woke up here."

Jirachi looked very surprised. "Oh! So you… you… didn't come here on purpose! Oh, that's a rel- I mean. That's unusual. Most visitors come here on purpose. You can only come here through a portal. So you must have come through a portal somewhere? Lord Palkia left dozens of portals open in Ambera, so there are lots of ways to get here."

"Very interesting," Char said, touching his chin. "Oh, I have a really huge question. What's with all the feral-shards floating around outside?"

"Feral-what?" Jirachi said. "What do you mean?"

Char took one of the feral-shards out from his arm-strap. "These things," he said, presenting one to Jirachi. "They help Pokémon on Ambera to evolve. Why are there so many of them here in Palkia's Domain? They're so rare out in the real world. I've always been told they're part of a giant meteor or something."

Jirachi took the little prismatic stone and looked at it fondly. "Meteors? These aren't meteors," he said. "These are just… ohhhh, wait a minute! Hee-hee-hee. I see what happened! There must have been a miscommunication somewhere. We call these space rocks. Someone probably heard that and thought it meant 'outer space'. But no, they're space rocks, as in, 'spacial' rocks. As in, they're sensitive to Lord Palkia's powers. Lord Palkia uses this stuff as modeling clay to rend them into anything else he wants. It makes sense they can help you evolve, since Pokémon evolution is a spacial-rending process in the first place. If they're so valuable, you can take as many of them home as you wish! We have an infinite supply here."

Jirachi gave back the shard, and Char stuffed it back into his armband. Alright, I get why Basin Canyon is a feral-shard mine now, Char realized. There must be a portal to Palkia's Domain somewhere at the bottom of the canyon. That's what I must have fallen through to get here. And all those 'space rocks' have been leaking into reality all this time. But if they're so mundane here, I wonder if we could get even more of them into Ambera somehow…

"Thank you," Char said. "I've wanted to evolve for a while, but I couldn't find one of these things. Nobody can find them anymore. Maybe Palkia could open some more portals to help bring us more of them."

"Maybe he could…!" Jirachi said, very weirdly. "He can open permanent portals. I can only open temporary ones. So maybe if you asked him nicely someday, just maybe he could! Hee-hee-hee. Hee. More tea? Can I get you anything else? Or would you like to rest for a while? I can show you to a room. Would you like a room?"

"Hmm… would you happen to have any food? I'm very hungry," Char told Jirachi. "Berries would be nice, if you have any."

Jirachi perked up suddenly. "Oh! Yes! Berries! I have so many berries! What Pokémon doesn't have berries! I'll get you all the berries you want!"

The little Pokémon floated away in a hurry, and Char took another sip of the tea. The taste was awful, but he couldn't deny how awake and alert it made him feel with every sip. In a moment of courage, he gulped down the entire cupful of tea, almost spitting it back out from the bitter, almost rotten flavor alone. Moments after he choked it down, the most amazing feeling washed over him, like a cleansing of the soul. He felt all his stress disappear, he felt his body brimming with energy, and he felt all his aches and pains vanish – even his hunger pangs, and the soreness in his knuckles from trying to knock on the front door of the palace. He almost felt as perfect as if he'd just evolved, and had to look down at his claws to make sure he was still a Charmander and didn't accidentally trigger one of the feral-shards.

"Wow. I can see why you like this," Char muttered at nobody, looking into the empty teacup.

Jirachi returned only minutes later, floating a huge bowl of fruit along with him. "Here! Have all the berries you want!" he said kindly, setting the bowl down on an empty spot in the table. "Here's a nice razzberry salad. We have red razzberries, black razzberries, gold razzberries, and even the rare blue razzberries!"

"Thank you!" Char replied with a grateful smile. He reached for one of the golden razzberries, unable to deny its shining allure. He wondered if it tasted as good as a golden apple. Turns out, it absolutely did. He tried picking out the gold berries from the salad, one-by-one.

"Looks like you haven't had a lot of visitors lately, but you're a very good host, Jirachi," Char said between bites. "Thank you for everything. I've never had gold razzberries before. They're incredible."

As Char was poking around in the berry pile looking for any golden ones he'd missed, he was startled by the sound of a thump and dishware clanking around. Char looked up, expecting to see that Jirachi had accidentally dropped the teapot on the table or something. Instead, he saw that Jirachi himself had fallen onto the table, asleep.

Or at least, he assumed Jirachi had fallen asleep, until he heard the little guy sobbing and wailing. Out of nowhere, Jirachi had burst into tears, wadding up the tablecloth beneath him and weeping into it.

"Uh… hey? What's wrong?" Char said in concern, setting down the berries in his claws.

"Ahhhhhhh! I'm sooooooorrrry!" cried the poor little guy. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I can't do this anymore. I can't! I can't do this anymore! I can't keep it up!"

"What are you talking about?" Char said, climbing up onto the table and stepping over the cups and dishes, coming to console the little mythical Pokémon. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

Jirachi turned a horrible, devastated face to Char, tears pouring across his face. "Alright, alright," he said, sniffling. "Look… you and I both know you're only here for one reason, Charmander."

"I am…?" Char replied.

"Oh, you don't have to play dumb, it's okay," Jirachi sobbed. "I have psychic powers, you know. I can tell what you're feeling. So go ahead. Just say it. Say the thing."

Char blinked, bending down to pat Jirachi on the back of the head. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said earnestly.

Jirachi looked up at him, rather confused. "You don't know? Really, you don't? Oh, come on, there's only one reason anyone ever comes to visit a Jirachi," he said defeatedly. "There's only one reason you're trying to be nice to me. So… go on. Say it. Say it. Just… let's get this over with."

Char instantly understood. "Jirachi, no," he said in sympathy. "Look. I didn't even know I was coming here, little guy! I had no idea I would meet you! I got here completely on accident. I'm not here to make a wish. Actually, I'm just glad you're here at all. I really needed food and company, and I really liked your tea."

"Y-really? You did?" Jirachi said, his tears instantly stopping. "You liked it?"

"Yeah, I loved it!" Char said with a bright smile. "I feel so alive and I've never felt better! To be honest, I never even thought of asking for a wish. Do… do a lot of Pokémon do that? Come and just ask for wishes and leave again? I'm really sorry… that must be awful."

Jirachi sniffled, getting up and starting to float again. He smiled sadly. "Yeah, they do," he said. "But don't get me wrong. I love granting wishes."

"Oh? You do?" Char said, blinking in surprise. "You sounded so miserable."

"Oh no no no! I love granting wishes!" He said again, brightly and fiercely. "I love to see the brightest smile on a Pokémon's face when their deepest dreams come true. It's the best feeling in the world! The reason I got so sad is because… See… my power to grant wishes comes from Lord Palkia himself. He lets me use some of his power over space-time so I could use it to make Pokémon happy. And well… this is really awkward, but… Lord Palkia's not home right now. I knew I was about to disappoint you."

Char's heart stopped cold. The strangest feeling of dread came over him. "Oh… oh no," he breathed. "He's not home? How long hasn't he been home?"

"Like… eons and eons," Jirachi said sadly. "It's been so lonely here… and I'm running out of power. So I can't grant wishes anymore. At least not big wishes. I can probably grant a small wish, if you can think of one small enough."

"Do you know where he is?" Char asked cautiously. "Do you have any idea when he's coming back?"

"Actually… yeah… I know what happened to him," Jirachi admitted. "He's trapped in a Pokéball. Somewhere in the real world. And there's nothing I can do. All I can do is stay here and take care of his house for him… for as long as it takes. Maybe even for eternity…"

Char head raced with questions. He stepped backward blankly, almost falling off the table. "Oh… no…" he whispered. "Not again. Palkia… too? Dialga and Palkia both got captured?!"

"Wait, DIALGA is gone TOO?!" Jirachi cried, knocking over a wineglass in surprise. "How! That's impossible! How do you know?! Do you know something about this?"

"No, I… I mean, yes, I…" Char tried to say, watching as so many different emotions flashed across Jirachi's face. His memories all flashed back to his encounter with Celebi, the other lonely servant of a creation god who'd been left alone to take care of his home. He remembered how she'd desperately tried to convince everyone that Dialga was still home, even going so far as to conjure two illusions of him.

"Oh, this is awful. Do you know where they are?!" Jirachi pleaded. "Oh goodness! This is why reality is getting so disentangled! This is why those 'dungeons' I keep hearing about are happening! The gods of time and space aren't there to maintain order and balance anymore! Oh Charmander… this is bad. This is so bad. But I can't do anything about it. I have to stay here. I promised."

Char suddenly remembered something about Celebi. He wondered if the same was true of Jirachi.

"I need to ask you something very important," Char said, crossing his arms. "I need to know if you know who I am."

"Never seen you before in my life," Jirachi said blankly. "And I remember all my guests."

"Good. Maybe you'll remember me," Char said. "I'm betting I've been here before, in this exact room, but I wasn't a Charmander at the time. See… I used to be a human. I used to be friends with Arceus. I made up some kind of a plan that involved getting turned into a Charmander and appearing in Ambera. Palkia probably knows me and knows what my name is. But he's not allowed to tell me. Nobody is allowed to tell me what my name is, except for Giratina. So… do you know who I am?"

Jirachi's eyes were filled with wonder. All of his tears disappeared instantly.

"YES! I DO!" he cried in joy. He zoomed forward to give Char a sudden hug. "Oh, it's you, Ama – Oh, right. You made us all promise not to say your name. So can I call you Ama? Oh it's so good to see you, Ama. I was so lonely… You have no idea how long it's been."

"I… thanks," Char said, returning the hug, relieved to hear Jirachi knew about him. "I'm afraid I don't remember you, or any of Palkia's realm, since I gave myself amnesia."

"Oh… yeah. I know." Jirachi said, sniffling back a sudden sob of happiness. "But I'm still happy to see you. I kept all your things just the way you wanted them." He jolted in sudden excitement. "OH! Wait! I have to show you something! That was part of your plan, Ama! You said that if you ever came to visit me as a Pokémon, I needed to show you something. So let's go! Oh, this is so exciting! Ama is back!"

Char could barely hold back his own excitement. So Basin Canyon had something to do with his plan after all! Finally, some evidence that he was on the right track! He begged Jirachi to show him whatever he'd left behind as a human, and Jirachi practically dragged him through the palace for nearly half an hour, down several flights of stairs, until Char found himself standing in a very beautiful little chamber.

The chamber was dark, but sparkly. Gemstones in the walls glimmered in the light of glow-crystals. It looked like a meditation room – so calming and serene.

In the center of the chamber, there was a peaceful little pool of water. Rising from the water, there were two pedestals, each topped with a large, glowing crystal that very much resembled one of the feral-shards from the Spacial Rift… or, space-rocks, as Jirachi had called them. They clearly glimmered with some sort of supernatural power.

"Welcome to my very own 'wish cave!'" Jirachi said proudly. "I used to take Pokémon here to grant wishes. Of course, I didn't have to sleep for centuries between wishes, because I always had Palkia's power to draw from, and I haven't granted any wishes since he disappeared. So, anyway. Oh, I've waited so long to show you this! Turns out, I can actually grant you a wish after all. Not only that, I can grant two wishes! See these crystals? We saved some of Palkia's spacial-rending power in them, just so that you could make your wishes, Ama! There's not very much, so I can't change the world with them like some other Jirachi can, but there's enough to do something important."

Char's eyes sparkled as he marveled at the shining crystals. Wish-crystals. Imbued with Palkia's primal power over the realm of space itself. Brimming with so much possibility.

"So… I'm supposed to make two wishes? Is that it?" Char wondered. "Is that all I told you about?"

"Oh! Almost forgot!" Jirachi shouted, floating to the top of the room. He unhooked a strange leather pouch from the ceiling, and handed it to Char. "Before you make your wishes, you're supposed to look at this. I don't know what it says, I just know that you wrote it yourself! Apparently it will help you decide what to wish for, or something. I don't know, you never told me. Oh my goodness… this is so amazing, Ama! I can't believe it! I'm finally doing something to help you out with your plan. Well? Open it! What's inside?"

Jirachi flew graceful loops around the room. Char's heart was bursting out of his chest as he fumbled with the leather pouch, nearly breaking the button off as he yanked it open. Inside, there was a little rolled-up scroll. He unrolled the scroll…

Footprint runes. A lot of them. He blankly glanced up and down the alien text, tried unrolling the scroll any further… but no. There was nothing more. Just a big huge list of footprint runes.

Char froze in panic. This was the reason he needed to read. This was absolutely the reason. And he wasn't prepared.

"Remember, the wishes can't be very big," Jirachi said again, stopping beside Char and eyeing the scroll. "There's only so much power in those crystals. So don't wish for immortality or something, because I can't do that."

Char thought for a moment, his eyes scanning over the strange glyphs in utter futility.

"Okay, so… I'm pretty sure I know what the first wish is supposed to be," Char mumbled. "Jirachi… I wish for the ability to read and write footprint runes. Can you… do that?"

Jirachi blinked in surprise. "Wait. You can't read?" he said. "So you can't actually read any of that? Really?"

Char shook his head. "Sadly, no. I can't. So is that a wish you can grant?"

"Oh. Oh yeah, easily. Of course! I was just surprised, because it's so small of a wish," Jirachi said. "I'm a psychic-type, too. So that kind of thing is super easy, hardly a problem at all. I can just make a copy of my own literacy and give it to you! But as long as you're sure! Uh… you know I could just read you the scroll if you want, right? You don't have to waste your wish on learning to read…"

"Nah. I'm sure," Char said, rolling up the scroll and holding it confidently. "I'm absolutely sure this is what I want for my first wish. I'm sure there are things I'm going to need to read later."

"Alright! Very well! Then that's your wish!" Jirachi said happily. "Let's do it!"

Jirachi closed his eyes and spread his arms. His wish tags glowed bright yellow for a moment.

Char felt like his entire brain got twisted upside-down. He staggered for a moment and nearly fell over. When he came back to his senses, he saw that one of the wish-crystals had been drained.

Eagerly, Char unrolled the scroll again. And it was incredible… It was like the entire scroll had been rewritten entirely in Unown! Intellectually, he knew it was a completely different language – he could see the individual footprints if he stared at them. But finally, he understood everything perfectly… and felt that he could even write novels in footprint runes if he really wanted.

"I can read," Char breathed, shuddering in delight. "Oh, Arceus! I can finally read! Thank you! Thank you so much! This is incredible!"

"Seeee! THERE'S that smile I love to see so much!" Jirachi cheered, flying circles around Char. "I love to make Pokémon happy. And it's an honor to grant a wish for you, Ama! So… I guess now you have to figure out what the second wish should be?"

"I guess so," Char muttered. "Alright. Let's see what kind of a hint I left for myself."

And so, with a blaze of hope in his chest, Char read the letter:

… … …

Hello, young one.

I do not know your name, and I cannot tell you mine.

Though we have never met, you might suspect you know who I am.

But do not convince yourself you and I are the same.

You are your friendships, your enmities, your failures and your triumphs. You are the colors in the sky which bring you pleasure to behold. You are the foods you find enjoyable upon your tongue. You are the fields upon which you frolic, the weather which flows across your body and brings you joy.

You are your convictions, you are your weaknesses. You are your memories.

As I am mine.

You read this because my friendships, my enmities, my failures and my triumphs, my convictions, my weaknesses, and my memories are no more. Because they are no more, I am dead, perhaps never again to see life through my own eyes. In my stead, you now stand there, as I have passed unto you the life which once belonged to me.

Despite our differences, there is something we might share in common:

It is a wish, a simple and innocent desire to change something which fate has wrought. It was my final wish, and perhaps it will be yours.

You read this because I have set in motion a plan to fulfill my final wish, a plan which you have now converged with. You have followed my directions and acted in the ways I suspected. Though the journey stretches further still into the future, and fate seems muddled with uncertainty, you read this only because you now follow the very correct path, regardless of whatever path you arrived upon.

There are foes who would take my wish away if they learned. In my fear of them, I could not have imprinted the wish upon any surface, or conveyed it to any soul. I have hidden the wish, but in the only place I was certain would keep it truly safe: it is within you. Young one, you are the riddle whose answer is the wish spoken upon my dying breaths.

Only you, through your friendships, your enmities, your failures and your triumphs will come to know what it is that I willed. Only you, the product of your experiences with the life I have entrusted to you, will solve the riddle.

But understand this, dear young one:

You and I are not the same, and I know and have come to accept that you cannot be forced, whether by my means, or the fickle threads of fate, to fulfill my final wish.

The thread of fate you follow might bend and diverge in ways I have not anticipated. Fate surprises all, as I often say. Our plan is not assured. Your convictions might lead you to diverge willingly. Perhaps you will come to disagree with me. Perhaps you will come to distrust me. And it is your very right, as a living being, should you choose it.

Therefore, please understand: I crafted the plan, not with the goal of leading you to certainly fulfill the wish, but only of guiding you to the place and time where the choice will be yours.

It is my hope, then, that in allowing me to guide you, you might come to see that which I have seen, and witness that which I have witnessed. It is my hope that your friendships, your enmities, your failures and your triumphs, and indeed everything you experience during this life I have given to you, will illustrate not only the nature of my wish, but the reasons I held it, and the reasons I labored to forge just one chance it might come true.

Always remember this, young one: you, and only you, can piece together the answer to the riddle I have made for you. It is the only fate I have truly sealed, beyond every and any unplanned divergence: when you stand at the end of your journey, and you perceive your world with the eyes I have given you, only then will you find the answer to which even Alpha and Mother remain oblivious. There, the decision will truly be yours, and I may rest in peace.

Knowing this, do you wish to follow where I lead? Will you climb to the next step of my plan?

If you wish,

Heed this, a hint to you:

In the place where you now stand, there is one who has asked a question of you. Spend there, a minute, or a day, or an eon, it matters not; but do not leave until you answer, and do not answer until you are certain the answer is correct.

The answer lies within your memory and your experiences. Consider everything you know, and more importantly, everything you need.

Know that the Bayleef died not in vain. Though I mourn that she could not be saved, she learned, in her final moments, what will now be your salvation, and what will now become the salvation of your other loved ones.

Do you remember what it is that she learned?

This is my riddle. If you wish not to sever my plan, ponder until the answer is clear. Then, hurry to Mother. Beneath her wings, you will learn more of my secrets, and you will come to know where the end of your journey will wait, should you choose to carry on with our plan.

Hear these words, the words of one who is now dead and no longer exists. You are all that remains; go, and do whatever it is that you wish with what you have been given.

… … …

By the end of it, Char's hands were trembling hard enough that he dropped the scroll. Jirachi zoomed down to save it before it touched the water.

While the note to himself was certainly inspiring, Char found that it didn't help nearly as much as he hoped.

…Or did it?

"Well! At least we know what the question is that you're trying to answer!" Jirachi said encouragingly. "You have to figure out what your second wish is going to be!"

"Yeah… that was the easy part," Char considered, starting to pace a circle around the water pond. "But it didn't give me a lot of hints, otherwise. I wonder why I didn't just tell myself what to wish for?"

"Maybe because your wish is supposed to be different depending on what happened before you got here?" Jirachi wondered. "I don't know. That's the only thing I can think of. I don't know, Ama. I'm as stumped as you are. I was hoping something there would jump out at you."

"…Waiiit," Char said, snapping his finger and rushing back across the room. "Let me see that again. Maybe something did."

He grabbed the note out of the air and scanned one particular line several times.

"The Bayleef died not in vain," he repeated to himself, lowering the scroll and staring at the wish-crystal. "The Bayleef died not in vain. The Bayleef. The only Bayleef I know is… Lily?"

Jirachi floated above the crystal. "Lily? Is that someone you lost…?" he said sympathetically.

Char scowled for a moment. "No," he said, scratching his head. "Lily isn't even dead. At least, I think she's not dead. She's safe and sound in a very well-protected base somewhere. And even if, I dunno, she had a heart attack or something… I don't know what I could have possibly learned from her final moments…"

He turned around and paced faster, staring down at the floor. "But… she's not even dead. She can't be. That doesn't make any sense. That doesn't make any sense."

"Well… at least you have enough time to decide," Jirachi offered. "As long as you stay here, time doesn't pass. So you don't have to figure it out right away."

"Yeah… I got that much," Char grumbled. "Ugh, is that really the only hint I could have given myself? That Lily learned something before she died? But she didn't die? Maybe if she had gone to Basin Canyon. Maybe if she had burned alive somewhere if I hadn't given her the soothe globe. Maybe if she – "

Char stopped. He stared up at the wish crystal with widened eyes. "That's right," he whispered. "Part of my plan already went wrong, didn't it…? So maybe… maybe… maybe this note is talking about something that never actually happened… but it was supposed to happen. Or maybe it was probably going to happen and it just didn't."

"I could never understand how all you temporal-minded Pokémon understand time stuff," Jirachi groaned. "That's like seven-dimensional space. I could never wrap my head around it. So what exactly went wrong with your plan, Ama?"

"I went somewhere I wasn't supposed to go," Char uttered, his eyes gazing somewhere far-off in deep thought. "I climbed to the top of Temporal Tower and met Celebi. But apparently I wasn't supposed to do that."

"Oh! You met Celebi, huh? How's she doing?" Jirachi chirped. "Haven't seen her in deca-eons. Hope she's doing okay."

"She has to take care of Temporal Tower all by herself because Dialga isn't there either," Char said. "Poor thing…"

Jirachi hummed. "So, do you think… if you didn't go to Temporal Tower… this Lily would have died?"

Char sat against the wall, holding his head in his hands. "Yeah, maybe," he figured. "Alright… so let's think this out, here: If I never went to Temporal Tower, that wouldn't have stopped Temporal Tower from appearing. That wouldn't have stopped Prince from wanting to go there, because that's what the Silver Division was all about. The Silver Division was about the Call, placing their hopes in the Call. So Prince still would have wanted to scale the tower and find out the truth about the Call, and he might have taken Lily with him. I don't know if anything else would have changed. At least one of us would have to have not gotten touched by a Watcher before that happened. So if Prince still was in the Gold Division, he probably still would have gone on an expedition to Temporal Tower. High Intelligence would have gotten the news from Team Regret, and probably would have sent Prince and Lily. Probably because they would have volunteered."

Char stood up. The realization was now sinking in.

"And yet… none of that actually happened…" Char realized. "So I don't know how Lily would have died. Maybe she would have died in the Temporal Tower dungeon. Maybe she would have died when the tower fell, but she would have been on her way down already, so she wouldn't have gotten erased from existence. Maybe she would have frozen to death in Zerferia. Maybe Adiel would have shown up and gotten into a fight with her. There are a lot of ways she would have died. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't make a difference. I don't need to know how she died. I only need to know what she learned before she died. And I think I know what that is."

"What is it?" Jirachi asked interestedly. "What are you saying?"

"Consider everything you know," Char recited from the letter. "Consider everything you need. What she learned in her final moments will be your salvation. What she learned in her final moments… is something I can use to save Basin Canyon. Before dying, Lily would have learned the truth about the Call. That's it's just Celebi. So that's what I need."

Char clenched his fists in confidence. "Jirachi," he decided, "I wish… for the power to use the Call anytime I want."

Jirachi drooped in mid-air. "Uh… is now a bad time to admit that I have no idea what a Call is?" he replied.

"It's like… a huge burst of… psychic power…?" Char tried to explain. "A mind-controlling power, kind of. It amplifies heartspeak until it mind controls other Pokémon."

Jirachi looked concerned. "Ah… I'm still not entirely sure what you're talking about, but I'm pretty sure that's way too big of a wish to grant right now," Jirachi said sadly. "I'm sorry… can you think of anything else?"

"AUGH. I thought for sure that was it!" Char growled, kicking the wall in frustration. "It all lined up. It all made sense. Everything made sense. And apparently I was smart enough to write a note that tells me the answer even if Lily didn't even die. Ugh. I was so sure of it!"

"Well… if you're so sure," Jirachi feebly offered, "maybe there's another way to grant the same wish? Maybe… a way that uses a little less power? Sorry… I'm trying my best to help out here."

Char gave a little smile. "Jirachi… you're a genius," he said. "That's it…!"

"Huh? I'm pretty sure you're the genius one here, Ama," Jirachi said. "I'm still completely lost about all of this."

Char beamed in excitement. "If Lily would have died, she would have likely died at Temporal Tower," Char explained, checking his logic one more time. "If she died at Temporal Tower, the truth she would have learned in her final moments is how the Call actually works. And the truth is that Celebi controls the Call. It doesn't happen on accident. She triggers it. It's all up to her. She even triggers it for me on purpose about once a day. So… Yes. I know exactly what my second wish is supposed to be."

"Yeah? Let's hear it!" Jirachi cheered.

"You said you're good at using psychic power, right?" Char asked again.

"One of the best!" Jirachi beamed.

"Alright. This is my wish," Char said, speaking slowly to make sure he got everything right. "Jirachi, I wish for the power to speak telepathically to Celebi, who lives in Temporal Tower, anytime I want."

Jirachi frowned for a moment, then smiled again. "Oh! That just might barely work..." he said, zipping around the remaining wish crystal like a Mothim to a flame. "I can't make it an effortless power. It would take a ton of energy whenever you want to use it. But I thiiiiiink I can grant your wish! As long as you're sure this is what you want!"

Char looked at the remaining crystal, and the light that glimmered inside. He looked at the scroll, now once again neatly rolled up and set in the corner. "I'm sure," he decided. "I want complete control over the Call. That's how I can save everyone. That's how I can save Basin Canyon and everyone there. That's how I can reverse Enigma's brainwashing. And maybe… that's how I can save the world, too."

"Then I'll do my best, Ama," Jirachi promised. "I still don't really understand everything you're talking about… but I hope this wish gives you what you're looking for."

And so, for the second time, Jirachi closed his eyes and focused. Once again, his wish tags shimmered with power, absorbing the spacial-rending energy from the crystal. And once again, Char felt his brain turning inside-out.

And thus, the wish was granted. Char felt a glowing confidence deep in his ember – that he was finally on the right path to fulfill his destiny.

The human had done his part. now, the rest was up to him.


Basin Canyon

Only twelve minutes had passed since Cepheus had ordered the assault on Basin Canyon to begin.

The Firehall was almost empty, left with nothing but a few of his unconscious soldiers that the resistance teams had been lucky enough to knock out. The rest were busy rushing through the halls, weeding out every single inhabitant of the canyon. And through it all, Cepheus only sat on the throne-pedestal, looking bored and impatient, as he waited for his forces to give their next report.

At the other end of the room, the fabric of space ripped apart into a large black portal, blocking out the light from the wall of fire.

Out from the portal, there stepped a Charmeleon.

The sight of the Charmeleon gave Cepheus a moment of pause. There was something strange and disturbing in its eyes. Something about the way it walked, the overconfident swagger it had, and the malicious glare of hatred it cast directly at him.

"CEPHEUS!" shouted the Charmeleon, pointing at him from across the room. "CALL OFF THE ATTACK!"

Cepheus frowned in confusion. He gave an annoyed groan as he stood up and stepped off the throne-pedestal, crossing the room to meet the Charmeleon halfway.

"Excuse me?" Cepheus scoffed. "Are you trying to give me orders?"

"No, I'm offering you a chance for my mercy," the Charmeleon said in a frightening tone. "You have sixty seconds. Call off the attack, take all your troops, and leave Basin Canyon to the Sandslash tribe."

Cepheus chuckled. "Awfully arrogant, aren't we?" he said in amusement. "Oh, wait a moment. You're that Charmander who was here just a moment ago. I spared your life, and this is the thanks you're showing me for it? To come and stomp in front of me and act like evolving has made you invincible?"

The Charmeleon scowled. Its gaze darkened, and the blaze at the end of its tail only grew.

"Now… I'm not an idiot," Cepheus said idly, checking the rings on one of his claws. "I know full well that if you're making this kind of a demand, this isn't any bluff. You think you have something that can stop me. I just need to take a minute and ask myself how badly I want to see you play your hand. I'll admit, you actually do have me quite… intrigued… right now."

"Thirty seconds," said the Charmeleon, clenching its claws.

Cepheus hummed in thought for another moment. Then he threw up his hands and flipped his giant tail behind him. "Fine, little lizard. Go ahead. Show me what kind of power you think you have. If you can defeat me, you deserve the victory. Besides… I can't exactly call a retreat order anymore, now that all my forces have dispersed throughout the complex. And I promise you can't defeat me in one-on-one combat. And you would know that as well, if you knew how many enchanted items I'm wearing. So I haven't the slightest clue what you could do to me."

The evil Nidoking grinned a dark, fiendish grin, nearly matching the Charmeleon's dangerous scowl.

"So go on, then," he bid. "Surprise me."

The Charmeleon gave the Nidoking one last, defiant look. Then it closed its eyes.

In the silence of its mind, it called out into the void of space and time.

The Charmeleon staggered, as though struck in the back of the head with a giant boulder, and nearly collapsed. But its fire only flared, and it straightened itself out, and stayed standing.

Moments later, Cepheus heard the entire canyon fall completely silent. The faraway shouts, the cracks and explosions of Pokémon attacks, and the reverberations in the walls… everything stopped instantaneously.

And then, for the first time in perhaps many years, Cepheus felt a stab of genuine fear in his poisonous heart, somehow realizing, in that one and very moment, he no longer held control over anything at all.


Purevine Village

At high noon, Saurvor's family lounged in a cabin, attempting get some rest after the panicked morning.

The mother told her seedlings there was a chance their father was just running behind, and would show up soon. She told them to get some rest, that Saura and Father would probably be back by the time they woke up that afternoon.

But the mother Venusaur, and her eldest Ivysaur son, both knew the truth. Once the children had all settled to sleep, they shared a somber, wordless glance. Saurvor crept up beside his mother and snugged comfortingly by her side, and together quietly shed their tears for their broken family…

The cabin door creaked open, and Saura wandered in.

Though Saurvor and his mother were overjoyed to see him safe, they instantly saw the look of heartbroken despair on his face. They gave him a knowing gaze, but a loving one, inviting him to come and share in their warmth, and to cherish what remained of the family. Wordlessly, they said to him: the sun will rise upon a new day tomorrow, and so will grow the seeds of our family. Whatever may come, we'll still have one another.

Then, behind Saura, Grayleaf stepped in – perfectly alive, well, and completely unharmed.

Both Saurvor and his mother jumped to their feet and wordlessly gaped at his presence.

Saura extended a single vine, curled it back, and pulled something out of his bulb.

It was a seed. A plain, ordinary seed. He showed it to his family.

"A friend of mine once gave me this, a long time ago," Saura said. "A friend who cared about me. Someone who fought with all his heart until he couldn't fight any more. And I think now I finally understand something. It was something I didn't want to believe at first, but I think I'm ready to accept it now: we can't just hide somewhere and hope the fire never comes to burn us. That's not how the world works. That's not how life works.

"I get it now. We have to be strong. We have to fight. And we can never stop."


Chapter 80: Twitch reading on April 25th, publication on April 26th.

*Chapter 108*: Chapter 80: Transform

o

Chapter 80

Part 1

Celebi.

Can you hear me?

Don't be afraid. It's me, Char. I found a way to talk to you telepathically. Does it work?

Oh, for goodness' sake, Char! This is getting ridiculous!

Huh?

How many times are you going to make me signal you?! I JUST settled down again! Good grief, I don't have unlimited energy, you know!

I'm sorry? This is the first time I'm talking to you!

Oh, rubbish. You've been bugging me non-stop since – Wait. Is this REALLY the first time you're talking to me?

The very first time. I just got this power.

Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you! You just kept asking for the Call and I was getting so exasperated sending all the signals. But if this is your first time, you had no way of knowing that! Oh goodness, now I feel awful. Can you forgive me?

So how come it's the first time for me, but not for you? I'm guessing there's some temporal discrepancy between us?

Exactly right. Time doesn't run the same way for both of us, especially when the tower is not in your present.

Alright. I'll keep that in mind. Do I even want to know how many times I'm going to ask you to use the Call?

Nope! I can't tell you that. If I told you, you could try to contradict me and change the future. If you did that, you'd end up discontinuing your whole timeline, and nobody wants that.

But you just said I asked for the Call enough times to tire you out. Is that going to be a problem?

Oh dear, you're right. You're absolutely right. So I suppose I should give you a number. Let's say, hmm. Let's say you've asked for it at least five times. So as long as you ask for the Call at least five times, you should be safe from starting a paradox. Oh… and just make sure you don't tell me we had this conversation. In fact, just to be extra safe, you'd better treat every time you talk to me as though it's the first time. Alright?

Got it. Thank you so much, Celebi, for all your help. It sounds like you've already done so much to help me and I haven't even seen it happen yet.

You're so welcome. I'm happy to know that I'm helping. I think Lord Dialga will be very pleased with both of us. Now… you were going to say something?

Yes. I need the Call right now. Maximum power.

Really? Maximum power? Um… you may or may not have never asked for that before. Are you sure? Do you know how dangerous that is?

No idea. But that's what I need right now.

Alright… if you say so. Just be VERY careful about how you use it.

I understand. Hurry if you can. Lives are depending on this.

Goodness! I'd better go then. Good luck, Ammi.


Head spinning. Fire burning sour. Keeling over. Nearly vomiting. Consciousness fading.

Fading away for a moment.

Waking up holding a claw against the ground. A strong claw. Deep-red scales.

Jirachi wasn't kidding. The power to communicate with Celebi drained him fast. He knew he'd need to keep future conversations shorter, or he'd risk falling into a coma.

All the same, the newly-transformed Charmeleon was pleased at how quickly he recovered, how effortlessly he pushed himself back to his feet. How deep his fire burned. No longer a candle-flame. No longer a mere smoldering ember. He was now a living, breathing bonfire. Glorious scalding heat within his veins, simmering beneath his scales.

Scales. He was still getting used to having scales. No longer could he feel the air currents against his skin, and no longer did it matter to him. All he needed to feel was the radiance of his inner fire.

No longer did he fear pain. Weak attacks would glance right off. They couldn't draw his blood anymore. He knew he wasn't invincible – maybe he could have been, if he hadn't wasted one of his wishes on learning to read – but right now, he certainly felt like it.

And there it came: the Call. His greatest new power. The scream of deafening silence, intensifying far beyond what he ever thought was possible. It carried no words. Celebi didn't need to warn him, or use the Call to communicate with him.

This time, he supplied the words.

So mind-melting was the signal. So extreme that Char lost his sense of self, lost all spatial awareness, lost track of his own body. And it only grew, and grew, and grew, until nothing existed but a supernova in his mind's eye, blotting out everything else in existence, until his soul liquified into the ether.

I am the supernova, he realized, moments before the signal peaked and let him speak his words of command. I am the flashpoint of an earth-changing explosion. Just for this one single moment, I am the new Master of Ambera. I am the eternal, never-ending flame. I am the victor. I am the one who decides fate. I am the future.

Also, I'm never asking for a full-powered Call ever again. Ow.

Then came the moment, the sustained hum in the silent signal, and Char knew that all the Pokémon in Ambera were about to hear what he had to say. Or so he wished, at least. He knew it wasn't going to extend any further than the Great Basin Desert. Even then, he only needed to address his command to certain Pokémon. It would pass harmlessly and invisibly through all the others, just as it would whenever he'd tell everyone to ignore the Call.

And so, he spoke his command, enunciating each word carefully:

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, CEPHEUS HAS ORDERED A FULL RETREAT, AND FULL CANCELLATION OF ALL PLANS TO OCCUPY BASIN CANYON, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

Char had decided upon his command far in advance – something simple, straightforward, and effective. Something that had virtually no chance of fundamentally changing the Pokémon he commanded.

But only then, in the middle of giving his supreme order, did Char begin to grasp the gravity of what he was doing. The potential he now wielded to rewrite history with only a few words of heartspeak.

How easy it would be to change so many things.

He could make Pokémon tell him secrets. Tell him the truth.

He could turn Cepheus to his side. Recruit him as a resistance leader.

He could recruit all the attacking Pokémon, too. He could turn them on Enigma. He could order them to attack her. He could even order them to become double-agents and work with the resistance, while pretending to work for Enigma.

How easy it could really be.

Is this what Enigma felt whenever she wielded her power?

He remembered the words of one wise Pokémon: "Don't stop to think when you should be acting. And don't go acting when you should be thinking."

And oh, how he needed time to think. He needed to stop and consider all the unforeseen consequences that could arise from even the simplest of commands. He very much needed to confer with Aster, and more importantly, with his conscience. It was no time to contemplate such things in the middle of broadcasting a command. It would need to wait.

He stopped himself from adding anything more to his command. He let the signal fade to nothing.

When he came back to his senses, the canyon had fallen hauntingly still. No more fighting. No more rumbling underfoot. All of Cepheus's forces now believed there was a retreat order, and so did all of the resistance members. And hopefully, so did Cepheus himself.

Cepheus… didn't look so good. He only stared blankly at the wall of fire, muttering a quiet string of words.

"I don't understand…" whispered Cepheus to himself. "Impossible… I don't understand… It couldn't… I couldn't… there wasn't… What have I… what is this…"

There it came, the marching of hundreds, returning to the Firehall from which they came. A bewildered and disheveled army of Rhyperior, Swampert, Garchomp, Sceptile, and several species he didn't even recognize, all came wandering in from the deep tunnels.

"You called a retreat," said a Greninja who looked like a squad leader. "But as we teleported here, we do not know where the exits are."

Cepheus didn't respond. He didn't even seem to notice someone was talking to him. He only kept staring forward and muttering strange things to himself, his eyes flicking between his own thoughts.

Char pointed at the wall behind the throne. "Exit's that way," he informed the Greninja. "Knock a hole in that wall and you can leave."

The Greninja glared at the Charmeleon for a moment, flipped the end of his tongue back around his neck, and walked right past, taking the long procession of Pokémon with him.

The retreat went smoothly and was disturbingly uneventful. Twelve Rhyperior drilled a long, deep hole into the wall until the rocks crumbled and the sunlight streamed in, revealing that the Firehall was exactly at ground floor, nearly level with the bottom of the canyon. Following that, the armies of Pokémon filed out, and kept filing out… ghosts phased through walls, soldiers trickled out from the depths of the cave complex… until all that remained in the Firehall was Cepheus, Char, and about a dozen of the Gold Division warriors who'd come to regroup from their battles, some looking very tired, injured, and heartbroken. Char noticed Daemon, Prince, and Kain had survived. Raptor and Markov from Team Remorse were there. The Grovyle from Team Absolution was there. Two Sandslash were there, and neither of whom were Shander.

Not nearly enough survivors. Not even half of the Pokémon who'd stood in the Firehall that morning before the attack. They'd better still be down there, Char thought. These had better not be all the survivors we have. Because if we actually suffered devastating casualties from this… I am not going to be merciful. I am going to march into Enigma's throne and turn all of her minions against her without a second's hesitation.

Even when the commotion had died down and it seemed as though no more Pokémon were coming up from the caves and wandering out into the desert, Cepheus still hadn't budged. Still he stared into the grand fire at the opposite end of the room, speaking nothing but gibberish mumbled under his breath, as though praying to the dancing wall of color for the answers to his questions.

"He's never lost a battle before," Raptor informed Char. "Never ever fathomed a situation like this. Broke him."

Char shook his head. "No. I think I did this. I broke him," he simply said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" grunted Daemon, but Char had no intention of replying.

The flames in his heart burned sour. Something already had gone wrong. He'd only used the Call once, and already he failed to account for something. And as evil of a Pokémon that Cepheus was, Char wasn't comfortable leaving him with a broken mind. Most importantly, Char needed to understand how his new power worked; Cepheus was only his first test subject, and he wouldn't waste this opportunity to learn how the Call had affected him.

So Char summoned the Call again, this time a very small one, and commanded Cepheus to speak his thoughts out loud and explain his problems to Char.

"I issued a command. I called for a general retreat," Cepheus explained, finally breaking his stunned silence. "But I cannot remember why. I cannot recall the precise sequence of events leading to this decision; I only remember the imperative need that I withdraw all forces … and never return. But this does not make sense. I would never have made this decision under my free will. And yet I… did. I remember making the decision. But Enigma will want to know why I failed. If I cannot give her an adequate reason for my failure, she will have me executed. But I cannot remember the reason for giving the order."

"Serves yah right, ya filthy -!" Markov shouted.

Char held up his palm at the Feraligatr to silence his outburst. Somehow, it worked.

"Furthermore… I do not remember how I could have issued such an order to the entirety of the canyon," Cepheus continued. "Even you, my foes, were aware of it. And I boast no power of telepathy; there is no way I could have spread a message so quickly to so many Pokémon at once. I would accept my defeat, if only I could come to understand how we arrived to this point in time. I only remember…"

Cepheus narrowed his dark and frightening gaze at Char, but somehow it didn't seem so dangerous, now that Cepheus was surrounded and outnumbered by the Gold Division's warriors.

"I only remember you threatening me," Cepheus said in deep contemplation, pointing a claw at the Charmeleon. "I do not even remember what your threat was. And yet… for reasons I do not understand… I gave in to your demand."

Char crossed his arms. "You want to know what happened? I'll tell you exactly what happened," he said with far more confidence than he ever pictured himself having. "I have a power known as the Call, similar to Enigma's power. When you refused my demands, I mind-controlled everyone in this canyon, and stopped the battle myself. You can't remember why you gave the retreat order, because you didn't make it. I made it. I only told everyone that you made it."

Char's admission of the truth shocked the Gold Division warriors far more than it shocked Cepheus. Daemon and Kain looked absolutely flabbergasted, and Prince reeled back as though he'd just beheld the face of Arceus himself. The small circle of Pokémon took a collective step away from Cepheus and Char.

Cepheus chuckled quietly at Char and turned his head away, as though to tell Char he was not worthy of his attention. "You idiot," Cepheus scoffed, weak and defeated. "Do you have any idea of what you've done?"

"I did what I needed to save the lives of my friends," Char shouted defiantly.

"Hmph. That's not all you did," Cepheus grumbled, crossing his own arms now. "I can't help but notice how you also saved the lives of all these little obedient soldiers who came with me. You could have ordered them all to tear their own hearts out. You could have ordered them to climb to the top of the cliff and leap into the canyon. But no,you only told them to leave, and never to return. Out of what I can only assume is some… most curious sense of altruism."

"That's exactly right," Char said. "Because I'm not like you. I don't use Pokémon as expendable pawns in a game of chess. I don't need to draw blood to get my way."

"See, that's what I don't understand about you," Cepheus snorted, giving Char one last evil gleam of his eye. "You apparently care so much about preserving the lives of Pokémon, and yet you somehow fail to realize that you've doomed me and several thousand innocent Pokémon to death."

"What are you talking about?!" Char demanded. "What, are you saying that Enigma's going to punish you for failing your mission? Is that it? And I'm supposed to feel sorry for you? And how is that any different than what would have happened if we won the battle by tooth and claw? You want us to feel guilty for standing up for Basin Canyon just because your commander is a heartless maniac who's even worse than you are?!"

Cepheus shook his head sadly. "No, Charmeleon. Had I lost this battle fairly, had I made some miscalculation, had I been overpowered or outsmarted… Enigma wouldn't have cared. One battle lost does not break her trust. But you took away my free will. You saw fit to alter my mind, forced me to disobey Enigma. And disobedience is an entirely different matter. As it stands, it is very unlikely I will escape from her severest punishment."

This triggered an uproar from the Gold Division warriors.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have thrown your lot with Enigma in the first place, ever think about that?" said the Grovyle.

"Oh, look. The heinous murderer is begging for our sympathy," said Daemon. "How adorable."

"SHUT UP!" Char shouted, nearly blowing flame out of his mouth. "If nobody has anything constructive to add, I WILL mind-control you to be quiet."

The murmurs of the group were replaced by a unanimous, horrified silence.

Char grit his teeth and shouted at Cepheus again. "Yeah? And what's stopping you from just defecting? Joining us and turning on her? Setting all those Pokémon free? There's no reason they have to die."

"For someone who seems to know so much more than he should about Lady Enigma, you certainly know nothing at all about her," Cepheus commented in a defeated tone, pacing past Char and towards the wall of fire. "Why – don't – I – join – your – side…?" he loudly sang until his voice echoed from the domed ceiling, spreading his arms to the heavens. "Depending on the severity of my insubordination, she will cut funding to Amaranthine, casting at least sixty percent of my people into poverty and death… or she might decide to skip the poverty part, and simply issue an attack order and slay some percentage of the innocent population." He laughed, dark and bitter and rich. "Silly little Charmeleon. Did you imagine I was referring to the little peons under my command? Those useless Pokémon standing outside in the hundred-degree sun, waiting patiently for our talk to conclude? I have no control over whether they live or die. When I'm done with them, they will only be assigned to another project. I am king of the most ancient and venerable region in all of Ambera. Its population alone exceeds that of this little backwater you call a 'region.' And the first duty of a king is to provide for the safety and security of his people no matter the cost. I obey Enigma only because she has forced my hand, and now holds my kingdom for ransom. I fought her, and I fought her, until I no longer could fight her. In the end, I gave in to her demands.

"Do you realize? She only lets her generals keep their free will because she will execute us, or worse, the moment we step out of line. We cannot lie to her, because she can read our memories and minds. Can you fathom how difficult it was for your beloved Adron to escape from her? What do you think happened? Do you think he had a change of heart one day and decided to leave? Do you think it all happened in a day, Charmeleon?

"With Our Lady, things are never so simple. Whenever she brings someone onto her cabal, she takes collateral. She knows we may change our minds once we get to know her, and so she removes that option from the board. Do you know what collateral she took from Adron? I promise you that it hurts him more than all the blood ever to stain his blade. He sold out his own clan-brothers for his freedom. His freedom is the very reason Adiel is now doomed to a lifetime of slavery to her, bound by harsher chains than ever he was. He has never forgiven himself for that, and I believe he never will until his dying breath."

The mighty Nidoking turned around to face Char again, his cape whipping through the air behind him. He pointed somewhere far away. "Do you think, for one moment, I would still be taking orders from a psychopathic little vermin ghost like her, if there were any other feasible means to protect and provide for my kingdom?" he shouted bitterly. "And somehow, based on your performance history, I do not get the impression your resistance force has either the finances or the competency to play the same role. Or even to protect anyone from her, for that matter. That is why I'm not joining your side."

Char closed his eyes and sighed for just a moment, simmering his fire. He gave a small, genuine smile. "Thank you," he simply said to Cepheus.

"For what, spilling my heart to you?" Cepheus grunted dismissively. "You probably brainwashed me anyway."

Char shook his head. "No. For showing me that I've made a mistake. So let me fix my mistake. Let's save your kingdom."

The very notion of cooperating and possibly trusting this vile servant of the Master got a venomous hiss from the Gold Division Pokémon, but a quick glance from Char made them fall quiet again.

"I assume that lying to Enigma is out of the question," Char considered. "There's no way to hide the truth from her, is there?"

"There could be… a slim chance of deceiving her, given enough mental fortitude, were it not for the five hundred little knights who also believe that I called for a retreat," Cepheus said. "So yes, precisely. That's out of the question."

"Then what's stopping you from just telling Enigma you were mind-controlled?" he offered. "Then she'll know why you were defeated, and she'll know why you're all suddenly disobedient. Nobody has to die."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…" laughed Cepheus, darkly and evilly. "Ah-ha-ha. Oh, you poor, poor fool. Listen to yourself. Listen to all these bright ideas you think you have. Answer me this, Charmeleon: are you sure youwant me telling her the resistance figured out how to use the Call? Everyone knows what the Call is, there have long been hopes and theories that it might be harnessed, but you seem to be the first in Ambera who knows how to use it on purpose. It would seem most irresponsible to leak your greatest secret to your most dangerous enemy, don't you think?"

Char stopped himself from thinking too hard about this question, or giving too much pause. "Why do you care whether or not I keep the secret? Last I checked, you work for her!" Char said pointedly.

"Char, don't fall for this," Markov begged. "He's trying to earn your trust because he thinks you'll be useful to him later. He's only trying to save his own hide. This is the kind of thing he always does."

"You still don't realize what's happening, do you?" Cepheus sneered back at the Feraligatr. "You think I am the one in control here? Do you think any of you are in control? This Charmeleon cannot be used by anyone. This Charmeleon is the one who will be doing the using, and we are all at his utter mercy. Hah… the irony. I have my Master, and now you have yours."

More and more, the Gold Division warriors looked at Char with genuine fear and panic – the same fear and panic they used to direct at Cepheus himself.

He turned to Char and said candidly, "To answer your question – I've already said that my sole interest is the benefit of my kingdom. And since you've expressed an interest in sparing my subjects from the effect of your blunder, our interests momentarily align, and I find it appropriate to repay your act of altruism with my own. So listen closely: understand that if Enigma learns there exists a Pokémon who can summon the Call voluntarily, she will stop at nothing to find you. I cannot foresee what she will do once she finds you. Maybe she will brainwash you, maybe she will invite you into our little cabal, and maybe she'll even kill you. But make no mistake: she will focus all her efforts on finding you. She will find you. And she will absolutely bulldoze everything and slaughter everyone that gets in her way."

Char huffed, tapped his toe against the ground for a few moments in thought, then replied: "You said she can read your mind, so isn't she going to find out about me either way?"

"No, because you're going to use your Call ability again," Cepheus said. "You're going to use it on me, you're going to use it on my obedient soldiers, and you're going to use it on your friends here. Then we can all go our separate ways, I can declare this a legitimate defeat in good faith, and Enigma will be none the wiser. The only remaining question is what narrative to weave about what transpired here. That is the final piece of the equation which I've been pondering." He turned to the Gold Division Pokémon who all balked at his plan, and said to them: "And I know you're all going to be smart and let your Charmeleon friend do what needs to be done. Otherwise he's going to need to mind control all of you not to leave the room."

Char looked down at his own claws, wanting to let the gravity all sink in for a moment – that he could so trivially insert narratives into the minds of other Pokémon, and that even Cepheus himself now feared him. But it wasn't quite time to dwell on anything. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked the Nidoking warlord.

"I believe I've thought of something," Cepheus hummed, touching his chin. "Char, I saw you step out of a very particular type of portal. Very distinctive shape and color. I recognize that type of portal because we have one of them deep underground in Amaranthine, which supplies us with our feral-shards. Those are Spacial Rift portals. So, here's what you're going to do: you're going to overwrite my memory, and the memories of my minions, to believe that Primal Groudon emerged from the Spacial Rift and demanded us all to leave. Make certain that you project your own image of Groudon into our minds, otherwise we will all imagine it differently, and Enigma will suspect the memory is false. As for your friends here, it is your decision whether they should share the same memory, or whether you feed them a different memory. If you decide to be truthful to them, I strongly encourage you to at least erase their memories of this conversation, and make them believe you saved the canyon because you triggered the Call involuntarily. Keep the true nature of your power hidden for as long as possible; it could have unforeseen consequences, or fall into the wrong claws. Like mine."

Char readied himself to ask for the Call again – something strong, but not nearly at full power again. As he did so, he decided firmly that once he "fixed" the narrative of Basin Canyon, he would not use the Call again for a very long time. It was far too fearsome of a power to be used on impulse. If he wanted to use the power for good, and treat the minds of other Pokémon with respect, he would need quite a lot of advice and soul-searching.

Yet… as he was busy scripting and rehearsing his new commands in the silence of his mind, he noticed something extremely peculiar.

There was one little detail of Cepheus's plan that almost seemed like bait for a trap, or probing for information, or… maybe it was actually nothing. In fact, try as Char might, he couldn't think of a way to ask about the little discrepancy without outing one of his own secrets. And if it really was nothing, there was a risk he could be giving Cepheus dangerous information.

"Go on. Take your victory. Take your godforsaken feral-shards," Cepheus snorted, now looking incredibly bored. "And one final word of advice, Charmeleon… don't let anyone tell you how to use your power. I can see in their eyes how painfully your friends now want to use you to solve all of their problems. They see you now only as a tool. As a means to an end. And I can confidently say from several decades of experience that life as a mere tool for the whims of other Pokémon is not an existence worth living."

Char glanced now at his friends. They did not appear so friendly anymore. They gazed at him with repulsion and disdain, knowing there was nothing they could say. It actually made him feel quite guilty about not being any harsher on Cepheus after everything he'd done.

As he summoned the Call one more time, Char gave the Gold Division warriors a subtle smile, hoping to convey two simple words, not through mind-control but through simple and pure brotherhood: trust me.

And so it was done. The memories were rewritten. Primal Groudon, in his boundless rage, was the one to emerge from the portal and chase away the intruders. Cepheus left, never to return, taking his brainwashed legions of followers back to Enigma with this story firmly cemented in their minds.

The battle of Basin Canyon was won. Once the Sandslash returned home and settled in, even Enigma wouldn't bother them anymore… not with the threat of a primal legendary Pokémon to oppose her plans.

But even after the foes had all left, what remained of the Pokémon standing in the Firehall did not look so thrilled about what Char had done.

Daemon approached him with slow, careful strides. "Char…" he said darkly and furiously. "You didn't listen to us. Please tell me you realize he tricked you. Please tell me you realize he was in control of that entire exchange. Please tell me you realize you just let him get away with it."

"…He knows," Prince told him. "He was playing his own games right back. Why do you think he didn't erase our memories?"

Daemon was silent for a moment, as though he hadn't realized this fact. "For all we know, maybe he did," he growled back at Prince. "We have no way of knowing what's real anymore."

"Char… if it means anything, you've still got my respect," Prince said solemnly, stepping closer to him. "You saved the canyon, and you saved us from suffering more casualties. Without your miracle, Cepheus would have gotten away all the same. We have nobody but ourselves to blame for our own failures. You won this fight. You had every right to choose mercy. If we wanted him dead, we should have been strong enough to defeat him ourselves. You did nothing wrong, and I'm prepared to stand up for you if anyone asserts otherwise."

Char sighed, dropping down to sit on the floor and rub his temples as he always used to do as a Charmander. But it didn't feel so effective now that his head was covered in a thick layer of scales.

"You're right. I'm not going to erase your memories," Char said. "I'm not going to hide anything from you about what happened today. Despite what Cepheus says, I know I can trust you guys. This isn't the first time you've had to deal with keeping secrets. This is the resistance. You've been doing this all your lives. So… yeah. I don't know what happens next, but it's true. We have the Call on our side now."

Though reluctantly, Daemon's gaze softened, as the enormity of the moment slowly seemed to dawn on him. An entire spectrum of fire flickered in his eyes – realizing Char really did serve a purpose to the mission, but realizing Scythe wasn't around to help them decide what to do next – realizing Char could be the answer to all their problems, and then realizing he would only prove Cepheus right if he only treated Char as a weapon – realizing that he needed to return Char's trust with his own.

"Scythe was right," Raptor realized. "All along, he was right. Again. And Prince was too. The Call was the answer."

"Yes… he was," Daemon admitted, gritting his teeth and looking conflicted. "I can't imagine how any of this was planned. For all I know, this all happened by luck. But whether by luck or not… it has so happened. And here we stand."

Daemon turned to address the survivors. "Nobody hears about this," he ordered to them all. "If Char has decided to let us keep our memories, it falls upon us to prove we are worthy of keeping them, and to revere this secret. And make no mistake, this is a dangerous secret, and it must be handled delicately. Understand?"

"What are we expected to tell everyone, then?" asked Kain. "How would history remember this moment?"

Daemon bit down on his tongue. "For now… and I can't believe I'm saying this… do what Cepheus says," he decided bitterly. "Until we decide how we should go about treating this delicate matter, The cover story will be that the Call activated involuntarily and repelled Cepheus. I will privately tell High Intelligence the truth later. They can help us determine the next best course of action. But for now, this remains a secret, even from teammates. Understand? Do not give Char a reason to silence you himself."

There was a weary murmur of agreement.

"Good. Now split up, search your assigned zones. Find more survivors," Daemon ordered. "Absolution, begin escorting the tribe home. Get them settled in, and they can fortify the canyon against any future attacks and help us search the lower floors. Reconvene here in ten hours. And Char?"

"Yes?" Char responded, climbing back to his feet.

"Just – do whatever you want. Obviously nobody has control over your actions anymore," Daemon said with fake ruefulness. "But I hope you will see fit to reconvene with us. Whoever has survived, I think they would like to know who saved them."

"I will," Char said with a nod. "There's something I still need to do here, once the tribe comes home. Until then, I'll help search for survivors, too."

"Thank you," Daemon simply said. "And also… thank you for the victory. Even if this happened by luck… thank you for being lucky."

It took a long time, well over half the day, but the handful of remaining warriors scoured every single tunnel of the complex in search of survivors. At first, they only found surviving soldiers who'd been abandoned by Cepheus. After being healed and directed towards the exit, some fled at the first possible opportunity. Others expressed a desire to quit working for the Master and stay. Unfortunately, the traitors needed to be kept in confinement for several weeks to ensure any of Enigma's active mind-control would wear off, but they didn't seem mind – they seemed thrilled at the idea of never having to see Cepheus or Enigma ever again, and some found Basin Canyon to be more beautiful than anything the Master had.

In all, there were about forty surviving enemies who defected. They would later become known as the "Canyon Guard", beloved by Jahzara's tribe and happy to atone for the role they played in the attack, by helping to ensure the Master would have a much more difficult time were he ever to try uprooting the Sandslash from their home ever again. Some of them had even participated in the original raid that had purged the tribe from the canyon in the first place; they became the leaders of the guard.

Eventually, the survivors started to appear. Shander and one of his brothers were the first to be found, deep down near the dungeon entrances. The Bisharp from Team Righteous came wandering out of the lower dungeons by herself, saying that there were others down there she couldn't rescue. Alastair from Team Flamewheel was found alive, collapsed unconscious in his sleeping quarters, and only needed some healing. With every survivor found, Char felt a surge of relief. Perhaps he wouldn't have to remember the day as a great tragedy after all. Perhaps he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his life wondering who he could have saved if he'd just have used his Call a few moments earlier, and not given Cepheus those sixty seconds.

In the early evening, the entire tribe of Jahzara, escorted by Kain and numbering about two hundred, came marching down the center of the canyon. While several entrances had been prepared for them. Shander decided all those entrances should be closed, and they should all be guided into the new entryway to the Firehall.

Shyly, hesitantly, reverently, the tribe crept back in. Some clearly believing they were dreaming. Some thrilled to see how much of the place was the same way they left it. And some seemed afraid, as though they couldn't believe this wasn't some awful trap set for them. Some outright refused to enter, and chose to stay outdoors all the way until the Watchers would chase them inside. Char had to wonder how terrible the original battle of their banishment had been, to instill them with such fear and aversion to this beautiful underground castle.

As the Sandshrew and Sandslash settled back into the deepest floors of the canyon, more survivors were found stuck in the dungeons. Kain's Machoke friend was rescued, making Team Absolution whole again. As were two more of the Sandslash princes. Brock was found pinned under a collapsed tunnel after he'd woken up and started screaming for help. In fact, almost all of the original team of Gold Division warriors were confirmed survivors and present at the reconvening.

Almost.

After the day of the settlement, the tribe organized a great burial ceremony for all bodies, friend and foe alike, which had been recovered from Basin Canyon's tunnels. Among those corpses were some of Char's friends.

Marrow was gone. Shander reverently marked his grave with the last club he'd ever used, and hung his skull helmet on the end of the club. Char stared into the eyes of the helmet for a long moment, realizing how much it reminded him of the way Marrow had carried his helmet one of the last times Char ever got to see him. Though he felt the formidable urge to cry, Char found his new bonfire-heart to be much more resilient to sadness and despair than his Charmander heart ever was – rather than sadness, he felt his heart churn with rage and vengeance. He knew he would need to channel those feelings later, use them to drive himself to be a leader Marrow would have been proud of. But Char did find himself shedding a few small happy tears at the end, when he remembered how content Marrow was in his final moments, after having found purpose in his sacrifice he'd so desperately searched for.

I'll make Scythe laugh, Char remembered. I don't know how, but I will. I promise.

Nidoroch, too, was gone. He was found dead on the sixth basement floor, near the entrance of the dungeon. At first he was thought to be one of the enemies, but Raptor recognized the detect band he wore the day of the settlement. Char immediately started fretting about how Gemstone would take the news, wondering if she would still want to stay on Team Ember after learning it. He knew he would let Gemstone stay if she wanted to stay, or leave if she wanted to leave. She could do whatever she wanted. But if she decided to stay, Char knew he had very big shoes to fill if he presumed he could make Team Ember the best family possible for her.

Kabir was gone. He'd obviously used a self-destructing move in his final moments to collapse a tunnel and take some of the enemies with him. Though at first Prince seemed to be taking things gracefully, once the Smeargle was buried, Prince punched a hole in the canyon wall above his grave and stayed there for something like an hour with his head hanging, staring at the patch of freshly overturned dirt beside him. Char thought Prince looked angry at himself, and considered himself a failure for letting this happen.

"Legend is alive," Char promised him after he'd spent a long while at Kabir's grave. "He told me you wanted him to escape. We didn't find the body, so I'm sure he's waiting back at the division base." He also wanted to add that he was pretty sure Legend survived because an immortal Espeon had escorted him to safety, but decided it best to leave that detail out.

"Yes… I know," Prince had whispered, staring somewhere far away. "And for that I'm thankful. Admittedly… I wouldn't have wanted them to see me like this. This isn't the first time I've lost teammates… I promised myself I would be stronger."

"Do you… think Team Flamewheel will keep existing after today?" Char had asked.

"Of course it will," Prince replied firmly. "And not because of the survivors… but because of you. You, Char, are what I've waited all my life to find. The future of the resistance lies with you. And wherever that future lies is where I will stand."

The seventh Sandslash prince, the one known as Salveth, was found down in the dungeons, appearing as though he had starved to death. Perhaps the dungeon had turned on him for some reason. Perhaps in the end, though it was too late, the poor prince realized the truth of Basin Canyon.

In all, four allies and twenty foes were given a respectful burial in the canyon's ravine. At the conclusion of the ceremony, there were only two Pokémon officially left unaccounted for: Legend, and Adarc.

But eventually as the dead would have surely wanted, the grieving and mourning needed to be set aside for a moment. The Basin Canyon mission was a victory which deserved a wholehearted celebration, and there were happy matters to address.

At nightfall, after the burial ceremonies had long been concluded, all the present Pokémon – the entire tribe of Jahzara, the Gold Division warriors, and the defected soldiers who would later become the Canyon Guard – were all assembled in the Firehall at the scheduled time that Daemon had set. Daemon himself was several hours late – he had spent an unexpectedly long time visiting the graves of Marrow and Nidoroch, and it was well past nightfall when he wandered back in and gave his victory address.

Daemon announced the official story of the battle – that Char's Call had activated and rendered Cepheus and his soldiers docile. He gave credit to Scythe, who somehow must have suspected that Char's Call was coming, and must have planned for Char to be a backup strategy in case the original plans would fail. The Sandslash selected a new king, one of the six surviving princes named Shiel. There were talks about installing a teleport-blocking forcefield, since there apparently existed a few hundred teleport compasses somewhere in the Master's possession which led into the canyon's caves. And finally, there started talks about feral-shards – when mining might begin, how many could be expected to be sent into circulation, how many were agreed to be sent to the Gold Division as payment. On behalf of his tribe, Shiel promised the Gold Division as many feral-shards as they wanted, and shipping would begin in only a few days.

On that note, it was Char's turn to surprise the entire convention of Pokémon with some very good news.

"Between the time Cepheus attacked the canyon, and the time the Call activated, it was about fifteen minutes," Char declared before all the Pokémon in the room. "But for me, it was about three months. You see, I fell into the Spacial Rift, the place where feral-shards come from. And I spent my time there making a good friend."

As Char approached the wall of fire, a particular black-rainbow portal opened in the air, and out of the portal there drifted a small creature with a great big smile. All the Pokémon collectively gasped in wonder and fell completely silent.

"Uh! Hey! Hi, everyone!" Jirachi shouted as loudly as he could. "So I've been told, you guys really needed these space-rocks out here. And I sort of have bajillions of them. So Ama and I came up with a plan. We figured out a way to link this room to the Spacial Rift. It's really complicated since the time stream isn't exactly parallel, but I totally figured out a way! So if anyone ever needs one of the spa – feral-shards, you can come into this fireplace room, and shout a secret password either out loud or with your mind, I'll hear it, and I'll come right over and bring you one! You could even make it a whole ceremonial thing if you want! Imagine Pokémon coming from all over to make pilgrimage to Basin Canyon so they can evolve! Or if you don't want that, you can just tell me how many you need and I'll go get them if I can. No more having to get them out of dangerous dungeons and stuff. And I have Ama here – or Char, you guys call him – all to thank for everything. He thought of it all."

Of course Shiel and all the Sandslash were rather ecstatic at the idea of befriending the legendary Jirachi. There would need to be some negotiations about how evolution ceremonies could be held, but as they immediately decided to rename the Firehall to the Evolution Hall, Char figured they found it quite favorable of an idea.

Jirachi dipped in mid-air, making a bowing gesture. "Thank you, Ama," he said, quietly so that only Char could hear. "I can't grant wishes right now, but this way I still get to see the beautiful smiles on Pokémon's faces when they evolve. Which I bet they wish for all the time! I guess it's really like granting wishes after all. You were always so good with these kinds of ideas. I really miss your ideas, you know."

"Aww, I can't be that smart," Char said back, playfully prodding him. "I'm so dumb that I forgot I could have just spent fifty years there learning to read, and saved one of my wishes."

Jirachi stuck out his tongue. "C'mon, Ama. We both know you would have gotten so frustrated and bored, you'd have broken down and taken the wish anyway. I would have given you ten days. And besides, I'm totally an awful teacher, I wouldn't have been able to help."

"That's generous; I would have broken down in two days, maximum," Char laughed. "Just looking at footprints for more than five minutes gave me the worst headache. But hey, at least I got some practice using my new body. I really wanted to stay for longer, but I was starting to forget things about the real world… Ah, I'm probably going to stop by and visit a few times if I can. For more of that chestoberry tea, of course."

Jirachi suddenly got all excited. "OH! OH RIGHT! I ALMOST FORGOT!" he shouted to everyone. "Everyone who evolves at an evolution ceremony will get a free dose of my magical EVOLUTION TONIC, totally for free! It makes the transformation totally painless!"

Soon, Jirachi drifted back into the black void, the portal closed, and the whole of the room erupted into joyous applause. Looking at them, Char felt like more of a leader than he'd ever even felt with Team Ember. It was a good feeling, but also something very humbling, knowing he was the reason for the happiness of so many others. Scanning the room, he saw Prince looking at him with an expression of something like hope and pride. And he saw Daemon with a face he'd never, ever seen the hellhound make before. It wasn't quite a smile, it wasn't quite joy… but it was like he had the eyes of a young Houndour for a moment, staring at something he didn't understand, but curious to know what would become of it.

He remembered how Jirachi had told him once that Ama, his human self, loved to see Pokémon smile, too. He wondered if this really was his natural element, being the reason a whole room of Pokémon was happy.

He remembered one day, after about a month of living at Palkia's palace, when Jirachi had said something he still couldn't stop thinking about.

"Who doesn't love to see other Pokémon smile?" Char had jokingly asked, one day while they shared dinner at one of the infinitely long tables in the dining hall. "Isn't that just… something that's true for everyone?"

Jirachi had replied, "Oh, Ama. If only you knew. If only you knew…"


Season Finale: Twitch reading on Sunday, May 1st, Publication on Monday, May 2nd

*Chapter 109*: Chapter 80, Part 2

o

Chapter 80

Part 2

Southwest Ambera

Char had been anticipating his evolution ever since his first day as a Charmander. Now it was a reality, and it was everything he had hoped it would be.

He was taller and could look more Pokémon in the eye. His stamina quadrupled, and it felt even more effortless, natural even, to walk on all fours. His Ember burned so solid and steadily, as though his blazing reaction were active all the time; he could feel its warmth sizzling beneath his scales like a second heartbeat. And as it burned, it purged so much of the stress and weakness which always defined his existence as a Charmander, leaving so much power and confidence that, for the moment, he could barely remember what fear felt like anymore.

…Hopefully that confidence was coming from his new Charmeleon body. Hopefully it wasn't coming from knowing the true power of the Call. If that were the case, he knew he'd be finding out soon enough; he wasn't going to let himself rely on the Call, especially now that he felt strong enough to do things the right way.

The Gold Division warriors stayed at Basin Canyon for three more days to help fix the damage from the battle (including a certain hole in the floor). Roughly six days after leaving for the mission, Char was relieved to finally return to the base, hoping to find Legend and Aster had made it back safely.

"Different, isn't it?" Daemon said as they neared the waterfall village.

Char flexed his three-fingered hands in front of his eyes. His claws were so huge, clearly meant more for battle and less for dexterity. (In helping Jirachi set the table for their daily meal, he'd dropped and shattered fragile dishware at least six times before getting a feel for it.)

"My feelings are very different now, yes," he considered. "I don't see myself as an inferior creature anymore. I feel like I can stand up to anything. I know I still have limits, but I won't know what they are until I push them, and I'm not afraid of trying. I hope I'm not too different – or at least, different enough that my friends won't recognize me anymore. I actually tried turning into a Charizard, but it didn't work. That definitely would have been too different…"

Char turned to Daemon, still in disbelief at how companionable he now seemed. "So it was like this for you, too?" he asked. "You were a whole different person as a Houndour?"

Daemon snorted in shame. "I… was happy as that Houndour, and still, in some tiny flicker of my fire, I resent how much I've changed," he said.

"You resent evolving?" Char asked with fascination, and some concern. "How come?"

"The world forced me to be the way I am," Daemon confessed. "Whenever the world tried to twist my heart, turn me into some dark, callous, cynical mockery of myself… I resisted. I stood firm and I martyred myself for the sake of my principles, and I took pride in surviving for so long without darkening my heart."

"And you feel like you've failed?" Char wondered. "You lost that fight?"

"Yes… I lost that fight," Daemon sighed, sad and deep. "In that small way, I could say that I empathize with Cepheus. He never wanted to be slave to Enigma, he fought it, and yet in the end he was dragged into it biting and thrashing. All the fighting I'd done to keep myself the same… it did not help me stay the same. Rather, it only served to keep me in denial of the truth: that I had already changed. The world had long since transformed me into a monster… and I hadn't even noticed."

A small crackle in Daemon's voice brought Char to cast a quick glance at him. He wasn't sure if Daemon was struggling not to cry, but he was going to respectfully pretend not to notice. Either way, he was likely still mourning the loss of his friends and teammates.

"Scythe is the only one who has seen the Houndor I used to be," Daemon continued. "Adron the Terrible was a hundred times greater of a monster than I ever was, and yet he somehow overcame that. I hoped I could as well, if I learned from him. And just as I fought to keep the world from changing who I was, Adron vowed never to become a Scizor. He understood the struggles of keeping the world from changing him, and triumphed over those challenges also. When we first met, I only wanted to learn how he managed, so I could emulate him."

"And did you?" Char asked.

"I learned that I was a fool," Daemon said plainly. "I learned that the world needed him, but the world is no place for the kind of Pokémon I wanted to be."

Before Char could ask for more elaboration, Daemon simply vanished from beside him, as did the chilly autumn countryside around him, replaced by a damp, badly-lit tunnel.

I'm never going to get used to that memory-wipe spell, Char thought as the tiny water droplets from the waterfall vaporized between his scales. But unlike last time, when he still felt pinpricks stabbing at the base of his spine from having to walk through the waterfall and douse his tail – this time, he didn't feel a thing.


Division Base

The base felt different and unfamiliar, every bit of it – like the walls were slanted wrong, the ground was sturdier under his feet, the colors were warmer, the torches burned brighter, the temperature was more pleasant, and the faraway voices of Pokémon echoed differently. Of course, it wasn't the base that had changed – it was himself. But rather than being a disturbing sort of change, it was an exciting one, reminding Char of the fiery rush of excitement he'd felt on his first day in the base. Now that Char the Charmander was gone, Char the Charmeleon was equally as eager to explore and settle in to his new home.

After parting ways with the homecoming group of warriors the first chance he had, Char made a run for his team hall. He wasn't sure who would be home at this time of day, around high noon – the team could very well be running missions – but he hoped to at least find Aster there, and to hear that Legend had made it home safely.

What he actually found, however, was nothing that he'd expected.

Dozens of noisy Pokémon crowded around the front door of Team Ember's hall. At least forty of them, all excited and clamoring about something. Char couldn't spot any of Team Ember among the group, as far as he could tell, though he recognized a few members of Team Stripes. It certainly wasn't a homecoming party, that much was obvious. Rather, all these Pokémon seemed excited to get Team Ember's attention about something.

He approached warily, baffled by whatever could have drawn so much attention to Team Ember. Thankfully, if the spirited shouts and cries of the Pokémon were anything to judge by, at least it seemed to be positive attention.

"Char…? Is that… you?" said a voice from behind him.

An old, familiar voice. Something that halfway resembled a voice he'd know from anywhere, a voice he'd not heard in a very long time. Yet, the voice was halfway different than he remembered, as though distorted by a dream. But that was probably just because, like everything else, his own ears had changed… right?

Char found, standing behind him: three little Bulbasaur children standing alongside an Ivysaur.

The Ivysaur gave a pleased smile.

"Saura?" Char breathed.

"Yeah. It's me," said the Ivysaur, his smile widening. "Welcome home, Char."

"Me…? Me… welcome home…? You!" Char blabbered as he jumped at his dear old friend.

The Ivysaur pounced at the same moment, tackling Char down and embracing him with vines. A perfect glomp! Char hadn't realized how much he'd missed getting tackled and wrapped in vines.

Those vines… They'd always been there right at Char's side, always ready to lend help. At times they used to feel like an extension of Char's body, something he would always count on. Char wondered for a moment how he'd gone so long without them…

"Aieeee! Watch out, big brother! It'll burn you!" shouted one of the nearby Bulbasaur seedlings.

"Naaah, it's fine, Saurlee! This is the friend I've been telling you about!" Saura laughed, squeezing Char tight. "I missed him too much to be afraid of a little fire."

Char and Saura, just like old times, hugged one another for a moment. To them, it felt like only a short moment, but it was long enough for most of the Pokémon crowded around Team Ember's hall to notice them and start to quiet down.

"Y-you back? On the team?" Char struggled to say.

"Yeah. I'm back," Saura said warmly. "Officially back yesterday. For good this time."

"…And you brought your family?" Char said in surprise. "Care to introduce them to me?"

Saura jumped off Char and waved at the Bulbasaur seedlings next to him. "This is Saurlee. My youngest sister. And these are two of my little troublemaker brothers, Saurgo and Saurmel," he said.

"Proud members of Team Grayleaf!" Saurgo chimed in. "We're gonna train to be the best!"

"Yeah, I helped register my whole family as a new resistance team a few days ago," Saura said. "They even got a welcoming gift when they signed up – a feral-shard from Basin Canyon, from their first new shipment! I'll give you one guess who got it."

"…Oh? You're on Team Grayleaf now?" Char said with reserved surprise.

"Naaaah. Team Ember for life!" he declared, giving Char another quick nuzzle. "But I was the one to convince them to sign up. Team Grayleaf has the rest of my family. My dad is the leader. They live in Iron Town next to the gardens now, so I can be on Team Ember and still see them whenever I want!"

"Yeah, we're going to pretend to be gardeners but actually do all kinds of awesome illegal stuff!" Saurgo cheered. "Just like our big brother used to do. Now I can't wait to get our first mission!"

"Oh, come on now, doing illegal stuff isn't all that glamorous… most of the time," Saura chuckled. "I've got so much of a story to tell you, Char! But first, some of my siblings really wanted me to introduce them to my old friends."

"And your new friends!" Saurlee reminded him.

"Oh. Right. My new friends," Saura said, his eyes glazing over. "Soooo many new friends… I haven't even learned all their names yet…"

"Are these the new friends?" asked Saurmel, waving at the now-silent crowd in front of Team Ember's hall. "That is a lot of Pokémon there!"

"No… these aren't them," Saura said, eyeing the group suspiciously. "I have no idea what's going on. I just got here," Saura said. "I mean… I came back to the base a few days ago. But I was out visiting dad all this morning and I just got back here."

"Well… I just got here too…" Char said. "So why don't we find out?"

Char turned around and approached the unexpected group of visitors, most of whom were young children. He put his hands on his sides and made a stern glare. "Allllright, anyone want to tell me what's going on?" he said loudly. "And save the welcome-back stuff for later."

An Electrike bounced up and replied, "Oh, Char! Have we got a surprise for you!" he beamed. "Scythe was just here and he… invited all of your team to a victory feast!"

"Ah, uh… a what?" Char said. "Oh, did they do something really awesome while I was gone?"

"No, not what they did, what you did!" said a Teddiursa. "Everyone just saw in the news bulletins that Basin Canyon was won back! So Scythe was arranging a big huge victory feast for all the teams that helped out. Fully catered! And since you were there too, your whole team got an invitation!"

Saura stepped up beside Char. "Well, that's a nice surprise," he said, "but what does this have to do with you guys blocking our way in the hall?"

"B-because they're…" The Teddiursa looked somewhat ashamed to answer, and Char noticed the same meekness reflected in the rest of them. "They're giving out free feral-shards to everyone at the party."

"Aaaaaaand we were wondering if maybe, possibly, probably, if you could uh… try and save us some…? We'd be super thankful," said a Machop, fiddling his fingers.

Char frowned. "Ohhh, you've got to be kidding," he groaned. "The Gold Division is about to be swimming in feral-shards, guys. We're the ones distributing them to this whole region. Give it a few weeks, and I bet you'll be able to get one just by doing a B-rank job." He grinned deviously as a fun idea struck him. "Buuuuuuut I guess if you're really desperate to evolve a few weeks early…"

He stepped closer to the door and pointedly looked over his bulletin board. It seemed pretty cleared off, relatively speaking, since Team Ember tripled in size and Tallie had probably been working the new recruits very hard for the past several days. But there were still a good ten-or-so jobs pinned there.

"I miiight just be inclined to arrange something, if anyone wants to help us with some of these," Char said, meandering to the board and yanking one of the notes off. "How about… I'll hand out some jobs from our board, and I'll sneak a free feral-shard to anyone who takes one of them for us. Liiiike… Like this one right here?"

Char read the note out loud. "'Client: Team Stripes. Rank: B. Request: Please deliver feral-shard, Sammie really wants to evolve…' Okay, maybe not that one." He quickly pinned the note back into place, scanned the rest of the haphazardly-pinned notes for something more reasonable, and pulled another one. "'Client: Team Cog. Rank: A. Request: Please deliver forty-four steel beams to upper floor of Gold Division base for new construction project.' Alright, any takers?"

The crowd of Pokémon glanced awkwardly at one another.

"No? Alright, how about this one?" Char said, pulling another note and reading it. "'Client: Dunsparce. Location: Nincadia. Rank: S. Request: Please escort me to see the legendary Sitrus Orchard! Protect me from all harm and I will pay you well!'"

There was immediate moaning and groaning from all the hopeful little trainee Pokémon, until they all shuffled away disappointed.

Char laughed heartily, pinning the job request sheets back into place. "Oh, it's a shame nobody came forward and took one," he said, once the Pokémon had all dispersed. "First one to claim a job, I'd have tossed them this." And he reached underneath his armband, still tied snugly in place, and produced a feral-shard to show Saura.

Saura beamed in surprise, but not at the feral-shard. "Char…! When did you learn to read? You're so good at it too, I can't even read half the penmanship on those notes!"

Char grinned mysteriously. "You aren't the only one with stories to tell, but first I'd love to hear yours. Where've you been all this time? What brings you back? Why bring your whole family with you?"

Rather than replying, Saura blinked twice at the job board. He crept closer, studying it intently. "Wait a minute… I wonder something…" he muttered. "I wonder if… naaah, nevermind, don't see anything," he sighed.

"What's wrong? Looking for something?" Char asked.

"Ehh. I tried sending you a letter sometime last week, actually a whole job request! But I think it got lost in the mail," Saura said extending some vines to look underneath a few of the notes. "I don't see it anywhere."

"Well that's quite… odd," Char said, scratching his chin. "I'd have loved to see a letter from you! And the mail system is usually super reliable here… it's a shame."

"I heard you weren't even home for a few days, too," Saura noted. "Something about building a secret base? What's that all about?"

"Oh, I can't wait for you to see the secret base! The new recruits built it… kind of," Char explained, stepping towards his door. "I made it a whole training mission and they did a great job getting Kecleon to deliver supplies and hiring construction crews and directing the whole project. It's a bit of a walk, so I'll have to show you another day. Anyway, why don't we make our grand appearance and see who's home?"

"I'd like nothing more," Saura sighed happily, ruffling his shiny new leaves in anticipation. "Ahh… just seeing this place again… It's all coming back to me. It's like I never left."

"Yeah… but at the same time, it's almost like we're about to enter for the first time, isn't it?" Char said oddly. "Since we're technically different Pokémon species now, and all."

"Aw. Congratulations on evolving, by the way," Saura said. "You look amazing. I can tell it's still you, but… you're just… such a grown-up now."

"I thought you can tell it was me because I'm still the only Char in the Gold Division," Char laughed.

"Yeah, alright, that too! But seriously, I always imagined it would suit you to be a Charmeleon. You're so confident now, I can tell just by the way you talk."

"Well, right back at you! You look incredible too, Saura! I thought you didn't even want to evolve? I remember you telling me that once."

"Eh, there's a lot of Pokémon who are scared to evolve when they're young. My reasons for it were silly, and it was easy to get over it once I realized all the power I was missing out on. Still not sure about making the last step, though. That'll be a decision for another day."

"Hey, speaking of steps, isn't it harder to get up the stairs now?"

"Nope! Not at all! Actually, it's way easier than before!"

"AHEM. BROTHER," shouted Saurmel, who was still standing right next to them alongside his other brother and sister. "Are we going in, or what?"

Saura jumped with a start. "Oh…! Sorry, kinda forgot you were even here," Saura said, rustling his leaves sheepishly. "Yeah, Char and I have a lot of catching up to do, but I guess we can save that for later. After you, Char!"

Char proudly stepped forward to his team's door and rapped loudly on it.

No response.

Char gave a longer, louder knock, making sure to clack his new claws against the stone. After several moments, still nothing.

"Um. Well. I guess everyone was hiding from the fan mob," Char said with a shrug. "Luckily… I can do this."

Still wearing his trusty mobile scarf, Char stepped through the closed door, ready to freak out anyone who might have been standing around in the main hall…

But Team Ember's hall was empty. Disturbingly empty. All the bedroom doors were opened and dark inside, including the master bedroom, and no audible murmurs rose from any of them.

Char unlocked the door and slid it open so his companions could enter. Saura hopped into the room, and the three small Bulbasaur pranced along beside him, bursting into gasps of wonderment almost immediately.

"WOWWWW! It's so pretty!"

"Too much fire! How do you even keep from burning yourself?"

"No, you dummy. Weren't you listening yesterday? The fire is all fake. It's ghost-wisps or something. It won't burn you."

"Yeah? Well I dare you to stick both your vines into that torch right there."

"Stick my vines? Into that torch right there? Uhhhhhh, no!"

As the two little brothers galloped around mischievously and almost looked like they would knock over all the candlesticks and tables, Saurlee stayed right at Saura's side. "You were right. It's really a pretty place. So much red and sparkly gold. Like one of dad's marigold gardens," she said.

"Yeah… it really is. We got lucky, and some really nice Pokémon gave this place to us," Saura fondly told his sister. "Ahhh. This is it. My home. My real home. Except… where is everybody? Our team has lots of Pokémon on it, I promise!"

Char shrugged. "Maybe they all headed off to Scythe's feast already? Explains why they weren't opening the door with all the commotion out there. I guess we'll have to – "

A Raichu burst out from the planning room, running nearly at top speed. So excited about something, static sizzled along his tail and across his fur. He stopped himself hard before running into Char.

"CHAR! CHAR! CHAR CHAR CHAR! Ray gasped. C'MON YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS!"

"Huh? What, no welcome back for Saura?" Char said oddly.

"And not even any congratulations on evolving?" Saura added, equally as oddly.

Ray bounced up and down and ran in small circles. "Okay yeah it's weird but HEAR ME OUT," panted the Raichu. "I got something to show you that's EVEN BIGGER than all that! EVEN BETTER! C'MON! LOOK! IN HERE QUICK! Also, oh look it's team Grayleaf hi guys anyway C'MON GET IN HERE!"

Char and Saura shared a very baffled look, then unquestioningly followed after the flash of static leaping from the end of the Raichu's tail as it vanished around the corner. The three Bulbasaur warily followed along behind.

They entered the planning room, or the "war room" as it was sometimes called, where Char and Tallie would hold their important team meetings. This room's lighting was significantly dimmer, with a channel of torchlight cast directly on the surface of the central table. Ray, however, ran completely past the table and stood at the back wall.

"Char! Get this! We just got this AMAZING thing from Kecleon!" gasped the excitable Raichu, still bouncing up and down in place. "Fern got it for us after we showed her the new base! But it's SUPER RARE and SUPER ILLEGAL! Even more illegal than your braziers, Char! Our heads will totally roll if High Intelligence even so much as finds out that these are in the base! ISN'T THAT AWESOME?"

"WOW! THAT'S SO AWESOME!" cried Saurgo. "Uh… but what is it? I don't see anything."

Ray pointed at the blank wall. "THIS! Right here!" he presented. "It's a two-way portal and it TOTALLY WORKS! We just set it up and it goes to the secret base! It even TUNNELS RIGHT THROUGH all the forcefields around the Gold Division base and nobody else even KNOWS about it!"

Char folded his arms. "Well, that's very impressive, I'm not going to lie," Char said. "But isn't that also kind of insecure? Couldn't enemies get in from the other end?"

Ray shook his head hard. "No no! Because, get this, Kerzek and Dusknoir programmed it only to let through certain Pokémon! Right now it only lets through Team Ember and Team X, and nobody else at all. Here, I'll prove it. Saurlee! That's your name, right? Saurlee, try walking into this wall here! Show them!"

A totally baffled Saurlee carefully crept up to the plain, ordinary-looking wall, and set her front paws up onto it. Nothing happened. It remained looking like a plain, ordinary wall. She looked up at Ray like he was completely nuts.

"See, SEE? Totally secure! Now watch what happens when I do it! Follow me!" Ray instructed.

Char halfway expected to see Ray ram his head at full force against the wall, but perhaps given how thrilled Ray was acting, it should have been no surprise to see that he'd been telling the truth, and he vanished straight into the wall like a ghost. Or a mobile scarf user, perhaps.

Once Saura told his little siblings to wait for a moment, he joined Char in testing out the portal for the first time.

And there, on the other end, was the welcoming party he always expected to see.

There was Team Ember. All of Team Ember, all in one room. Every last member. Nobody absent.

There was Ray, bouncing off the walls and trying to get everyone's attention, beaming about how Saura finally came back.

There was Tallie, gathered alongside Otto, Brace, and Glower, all sitting around in a newly-furnished corner of the base and nibbling on birdseed-and-berry salad.

There were Zachel and Scarlet, looking like they were trying to position a bookshelf that had just been brought in. There was Kerzek, standing a bit further back and nitpicking the way the bookshelf lined up with the other nearby supply shelves and wall-racks.

There were Gemstone and Dragonbane arguing about something in the middle of the room, and Nincada looking too afraid to cut in and say something. There was Lyre, watching the argument as though it were the most fascinating thing in the whole world.

And finally, there were Evan, Leo, Asunder, and Zona, all sitting in a little circle around Aster, listening with rapt attention as she appeared to be telling them some kind of story or giving some sort of lecture.

One-by-one, at the bidding of Ray, they all stopped what they were doing and noticed the two Pokémon who'd just appeared together at the portal. One-by-one, they all fell quiet.

Just as soon as they'd all fallen quiet, the whole room – all seventeen Pokémon – burst into surprise, welcomes, applause, and congratulations. Before they were completely surrounded and drowned out by their friends' voices, Char cast his Ivysaur companion a sideways glance that said, 'This is what Team Ember has become while you were gone, Saura. This is our family.'

Saura looked overwhelmed and thrilled at all the Pokémon wanting to greet him and comment on his new body. He didn't know who most of them were, but he tried his best to keep up and assured everyone that he would know everyone by heart in only a few days.

And it was going great and all, until the moment Char noticed that Aster had come to approach Saura.

A dreadful knot formed in the pit of Char's stomach, and he wasn't sure why. He knew that Aster was possessive over him, but aside from the incident with Scarlet (which only happened because of the highly unlikely and strange case of Scarlet being a human), it hadn't really caused any harm so far. Why should this be any different? Saura wasn't really going to change anything between Aster and himself… was he?

And yet, as he watched his new partner confront his old partner, he couldn't help but feel oddly uncomfortable. Aster's expression was unreadable, and very reserved, as though she were purposely avoiding showing any emotion to Saura whatsoever. She sat before him like a royal cat, with barely even a swivel of the tail as a reaction.

"Ahhh! So many of you!" Saura gasped happily, looking around, likely not even noticing Aster's reaction. "Hopefully there's still room in this family for me?"

"There was always room for you, Saura," Aster said plainly. "Char made certain of it. He always expected you would return someday."

Char whispered telepathically to her. Hey, are you alright?

I'm fine, was her response, looking at Char.

You don't sound fine, Char said sternly. Look… you don't have to be afraid of Saura, alright? We're just old teammates, same as Ray. If you're not afraid of Ray, you have no reason to be afraid of Saura.

Yes, master, came her flat response.

Hey. You know this is why I asked you about Saura at Basin Canyon, Char said, even more sternly. If there was going to be a problem with Saura coming back, I wanted to know, and you told me there wasn't going to be a problem. You even asked me to brainwash you. Don't make me have to do that.

Yes, master, she said again. But then she tilted her head and added, To be truthful, I do not feel resentful that Saura has returned. Mostly, I feel relieved.

Relieved?

Yes. Because there was something I didn't tell you at Basin Canyon. I told you that I saw a vision of something terrible happening. The reason I didn't tell you was because it was Saura who was in danger. And I didn't want you to be distracted or distraught over it any more than you already were at the time, and I also feared you would one day learn the truth about what I saw, and hate me for it. I am only reacting this way because I honestly believed Saura was now dead.

Oh… said Char, feeling his heart suddenly wanting to break. I… see. What happened, exactly…?

I'm absolutely certain Saura will tell you the whole story the first chance he gets, Aster sighed. Go on and enjoy your time with him, then. Let me know when you've decided whether or not you hate me for withholding this truth from you.

Aster… no. I don't hate you, especially after everything I withheld from you, I don't think I have a right to complain, Char said. Everything worked out in the end. I even thank you for not telling me at the time. I would have been devastated and probably wouldn't have made it through the battle of Basin Canyon. So I think you did the right thing.

Yes, master, she said.

Char remembered something, and felt a needle stick through his heart from it. He looked at a certain member of his team for a moment.

But if you really feel like you need to make it up to me, Char told Aster, there's something you could help me with. Help me figure out how we break the news to Gemstone.

The news?

That her father died at Basin Canyon.

Aster peered over at the little Nidoran, who was too distracted talking to Saura to notice. I understand, said Aster solemnly. Since I was the one who encouraged you to bring her onto the team in the first place, I will deal with it. And I suppose I can consider that my penance.

Thank you, Aster; I truly appreciate it, and everything else you've done for me, said Char, before finally forcing a smile back onto his face and socializing with his teammates until the smile became genuine again.


It turned out that nobody even knew about Scythe's victory banquet. Char was the first person to give news to his team, compounding the joyous occasion of his and Saura's return with the news that more of his teammates might be able to evolve soon. Char could tell that his teammates, both those who were eager to evolve and those who were hesitant, were all overwhelmed with nervous excitement at the thought of getting to make the big decision on this very day, knowing that maybe they might just be going to sleep that night as a completely different Pokémon.

And the banquet was quite the event. It took place in a room Char didn't even know existed until then – an exclusive sort of ballroom right next to the mess hall, apparently reserved for these sorts of private events, often used to host reception parties for the Gold Division's biggest victories. The only ways into the ballroom were through the kitchen, making it easy to arrange catering, and through a set of stairs from the floor above, hidden behind a set of doors that Char always assumed was a supply closet of some kind. It was just about as big as the mess hall itself, but ten times cleaner and tidier than he'd seen the mess hall, ever. Char was immediately reminded of a certain endless, pristine dining room he'd recently visited. Although this wasn't half as sparkly and immaculate as the work of Jirachi, he could tell that the kitchen staff had put over a day's worth of efforts into this. The Basin Canyon victory apparently was a very big deal!

The room was set up with two long, parallel tables spaced far enough apart that an Aggron could comfortably walk between them. On one end, the ends were connected with a third table, making a "U" formation. The team leaders like Prince, Scythe, and Kain took their places at the middle table, while the rest were placed around the outer sides of the parallel tables in a rough order of smallest to largest Pokémon. Char noticed the limited number of seats at the "head" table, and despite being a team leader and the reason for the victory, he did not presume to expect a designated spot there. But his assumption was incorrect, as he was instructed him to take his place at one of the very ends of the head table, with Prince at his left and several of his smaller teammates at his front. Of course, the closest of his teammates happened to be Saura, who was very busy catching up on things with Ray, who sat next to him.

The kitchen staff wheeled in all kinds of incredibly strange dishes they'd never served in the normal cafeteria – like kabobs of extremely rare berries, long white loaves of bread topped with crystalized candy, and even a few carnivore dishes like a nice pile of stuffed roasted Rattata (which admittedly gave Char a load of strange and conflicted feelings, and he felt somehow incredibly guilty that his mouth watered at the mere sight of it). And thus, the feast began, filled with war stories and wonderful cheer. Char even noticed that Legend was present at the far table, and he couldn't help but to smile in sweet relief at seeing the proud Ninetales jovially conversing with the Bayleef at his left (also very much alive) and the Arcanine on his right.

"So, you never did tell us," said Prince after sipping a goblet of what looked like plum juice, "did you know Cepheus was trying to trick you? Or did you figure that out as you went?"

"Oh yeah, he completely got me," Char chuckled sincerely, swallowing a mouthful of cake. "I actually didn't realize there was a contradiction until he was already gone. So I'm nice to him by giving consideration to the people of his kingdom. Fair enough. In return, he says he's nice to me back by not telling Enigma about the Call. Except… if he told Enigma about the Call, she wouldn't have to punish him for disobedience because she'd know about the mind control, so there'd be no need for my kindness in the first place, and nothing to disobey. Something so obvious in hindsight, but something you can't really see in the heat of the moment."

"Yes… and trust me when I say that you're not the first to be tricked by him," said Daemon from beside Prince. "I'd even venture to say that Scythe falls for his antics more times than he's actually seen through them."

"So yeah… yeah, he played me," said Char. "He got me good. Hey, I know I'm not perfect. I still have much to learn about playing mind games with the enemy. But I actually think… I still won that mind game in the end. I played him back."

"How do you figure?" Daemon said in a lightly accusing manner. "Because from where I'm sitting, you let him get away with the crime. Perhaps you didn't erase our memories in the end, but you let him get away with some terribly sensitive intel. How do you know he wasn't immune to your mind-control the whole time, and it was all an act? How do we know that he isn't speaking with Enigma right now, telling her the truth of what happened?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I figured that out," Char replied, leaning an arm on the table. "I figured it out when I realized the real reason he's not going to tell Enigma. So he thinks I'm an idiot who easily falls for his tricks. And with the power I have, he thinks that letting me stay in the resistance is going to be a massive liability for you guys. He hopes I'm going to make some bad mistakes using the Call and ruin things for the whole division, and maybe ruin things for the whole resistance while I'm at it. That's why he wanted me to erase your memories too, and why he tried to appeal to my ego, and try convincing me I knew better than anyone else how I should use my power. Yeah, I think Enigma will wreck his whole plan if she finds out about it and come after me, and that's why he doesn't want Enigma knowing yet… but the real reason he wanted me to keep the secret is so that I wouldn't ask anyone for any support or get any advice about what to do with it. He thinks that I can burn down the resistance with my blind fire-type pride. But I'm better than that. I know that I still need a lot of help using power responsibly, and even being a team leader. And really… that's how I win against Cepheus. He thinks he played me like a bonehead. All I have to do now is just… prove him wrong."

Prince nodded thoughtfully at Char's explanation, but Daemon only tilted his head in confusion. "Yes, and what about the case that Cepheus is immune to the Call?" Daemon pressed further. "Have you considered that angle? I find it highly likely at least one of those rings of his provided immunity to your mind-control. So despite what he said, perhaps he is returning back to Enigma right this very moment to tell her the very news he promised he wouldn't tell her."

"Well… if he's immune to my mind control and he was just pretending that whole time, I guess there was never any getting out of it either way," Char considered. "Unless I killed Cepheus and the rest of those soldiers, Enigma was going to find out no matter what we did. But even if he tells her, I think he's still going to try to convince her to wait until I make a mistake first, before she comes after me outright. Still… I get the funny feeling that the Call worked on him. Something about a few things he said at the end."

"There's another possibility as well," Prince offered. "A very different possibility, but one I think we shouldn't disregard outright: perhaps Cepheus wants you to stand up to Enigma. Perhaps he wanted you to erase his memories, and keep your secret safe, because he knows you're the first Pokémon in decades who can actually stand up to her, and he wants to see you take that chance."

The Infernape shrugged and poked at a colorful pile of mush on his plate with a spoon, and added, "It's not as though Enigma is a popular figure, even among her followers. Scythe alone is enough evidence for it. Again, not likely… but like you, I get the funny feeling it could be true."

Daemon snorted. "Now we can only hope that your funny feelings are as accurate as what Scythe had when he decided to take Char to Basin Canyon," he grumbled, blowing a little plume of fire onto a wad of meat on his plate.

"SEE? SEE? I TOLD you!" Scythe cheerfully goaded, nudging Daemon in the side. "I said you could trust me! You didn't believe me, did you?"

Daemon sighed so hard he nearly lit his whole plate of food on fire. "I did not," he only said.

"Yeah! See? Now maybe this will teach you to always trust my gut feeling! You know I always know what I'm talking about! Even if it might sound strange at first."

Daemon grumbled harder. "Yes… I admit that I was wrong, and that you were right, Grandmaster Scyther," he said with much more genuineness and humility than Char ever thought he was capable of. "I pledge, going forward, I will… give more consideration to your thoughts, regardless of how bizarre they might seem. Even more than I already do. But I cannot, and I will not ever promise that I will never disagree with you again… only because it's the job you hired me for. But yes, you win this one, Scythe. You win this one. That much I will give you."

"Hah! Great! I knew you'd come around," Scythe said proudly. "And wonderful work to you too, Char! Couldn't have done it without you! You deserve to sit here with the best of us!"

"Not sure how true that is, but alright…" Char said, forcing an awkward laugh.

After a three course meal and dessert (as though half of Pokémon food wasn't already a dessert to begin with), the kitchen staff wheeled in something else on their trays. Something they kept hidden under giant silver lids.

"Here we go!" Scythe beamed. "Here it comes!"

Once all the trays had been arranged, the lids were lifted to reveal mounds of feral-shards. Easily enough for every Pokémon in the room, even those who had no need for them.

"To show our appreciation to you all," Scythe said, standing tall and addressing the entire room. "Everyone here, young or old, is welcome to one feral-shard from our first shipment. For your mighty strength, I give strength, in return. Keep them, use them, or give them away however you see fit – they are yours, a symbol of the bright future you've brought the Gold Division. I only ask you don't use them right here in this room, if you mind. We don't want to start knocking over tables and wrecking the work of our hardworking kitchen staff. Yes, on that note, everyone give some applause to our kitchen staff! Team Hospitality!"

The Ampharos, Ludicolo, and Chansey standing nearby smiled and gave a humble bow as the warrior teams hollered out their appreciation. Then, with a gleeful murmur, the Pokémon of the room – especially most of Team Ember – snatched a feral shard off the trays and marveled at them, treasured them, some blinking in disbelief that they were actually real. Char's heart fluttered in deep pride as he imagined his new recruits all having the opportunity to graduate not just from their training teams, but now into their stronger bodies. He imagined Zona becoming a proud and spirited Ninetales, Gemstone becoming a stompy, angry Nidorina… Leo becoming a fierce and zappy Luxio, and Evan – well, he didn't actually know what Evan would become, but he was more than happy to be surprised, and accepting of whatever choice Evan would pick – he knew that it was an especially difficult decision for Eons.

Char pulled out his own feral-shard one more time, and turned it over in his mighty new claws, searching for anything resembling a reflection in its deep, glitzy surface. He knew it was the feral-shard that would let him one day become a Charizard, let him finally become a flying-type Pokémon and soar through the skies just like in his happiest dreams.

…But he snagged another one too, just because he could. Maybe he'd use it as a job reward for some team willing to help out Team Ember with their workload.

One Pokémon, however, didn't seem so thrilled at the sight of the feral-shards. Saura looked at them in hesitation and distaste, poking one of them with his vine as though deciding whether or not to take it.

"What's wrong, Saura?" Scythe called over to him. "You're poking those rocks like they're moldy peas. Don't want one?"

Saura looked almost ashamed to answer. "Naaah," he said. "Don't really need one. You can give it to someone else if you want."

"But don't you want to become a big, powerful Venusaur someday?" Scythe pressed. "Do you realize how powerful they are? What an asset you could be to your team? Why would you turn that down?"

"Do you really want to know…?" Saura croaked. "Ahh… in all honesty… I have nothing against Venusaur. Super great Pokémon, they are. I've just never wanted to be one, because… well… I think they're ugly."

Scythe looked like he'd swallowed a shard of glass. "You think… they're ugly," he repeated. "And that's why you don't want to evolve."

"Yeah, so?" Saura said, rather defensively. "Maybe I'll change my mind one day, but right now, I'm pretty sure I'm happy as an Ivysaur. It was enough of a tough decision to make as it is. I just… I've always just hated the way they look. I don't want to see myself like that. Alright?"

"I… I've never… I've never," Scythe tried to say. "You'd really turn down the incredible might of your final form… for that reason? I… that's…

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Scythe said bluntly. "That's the worst reason I've ever… heard…"

"Ah…"

"Ha. Ha."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha."

"Hahahahaha…"

Scythe suddenly look like he'd seen a ghost. With the widest eyes anyone had ever seen, Scythe stood up from the table, buzzed his wings, and zipped toward the kitchen before half the room had even realized he was leaving.

For a single, solid second, Char and Saura stared at one another, mouths gaping.

"Did you… did you SEE THAT?" Char cried. "Saura! Tell me you saw that!"

"Yeah! I did!" Saura squeaked.

Char leaped onto the table, kicking several dishes out of the way to get his team's attention.

"EMERGENCY ORDER!" he roared. "FOLLOW THAT SCYTHER! Ray, go after him! Asunder, go with Ray and track him by scent! Otto, Brace! Fly upstairs and head him off! Tallie, take Kerzek on your back and fly through the walls! DO NOT LET SCYTHE GET AWAY!"

And although they took another solid moment to realize this wasn't a joke, they all unquestioningly moved out.

After giving out the orders, Char jumped down from the table and took off running in the direction Scythe had fled. He'd already disappeared into the kitchen areas when Ray and Asunder started gaining on him, but the sounds of clanging pots and startled Pokémon from the kitchen told him that he wasn't too far away. When he dropped to the ground and dashed, his own speed surprising him as he barreled forth on all fours like he might imagine an enraged Entei would. And just before he crashed into the wall, he sucked in a big breath, flared his fire, and called upon the power of his mobile scarf one last time to plunge into the wall in the direction he was sure would take him to the public mess hall.

His team followed his orders with startling efficiency. Minutes later, he converged with Otto and Brace at the bottom floor lobby as they dove over the railings and down from the upper floor. Tallie and Kerzek soon popped out of a wall and appeared on the other end of the room. Thankfully, there were not a lot of Pokémon out at this time of day, as most of the teams were out on duty and doing missions, or Char might have feared losing Scythe in a giant crowd.

"Anyone? Anyone seen him?" Char called. "He's not in the mess hall."

"Nobody was flying, so he didn't go upstairs," Brace reported.

"Cursory glance through the meeting hall and major areas comes up empty," Tallie reported.

Ray came zipping out from a hallway. "CHAR CHAR CHAR CHAR! CHAR!" he shouted. "WE GOT HIM! ASUNDER TOTALLY GOT HIM!"

"Oh… wow! Well done!" Char gasped, and took off running after Ray, with the rest following at his tail. "Keep him there. I've got quite a few questions for him."

The place where Asunder had pinned Scythe was a very unusual little nook in the Gold Division base where Char had never been. It was underneath the stairs, at the very bottom of the staircase, at the very bottom floor. A complete and perfect dead-end. And there he found Asunder, growling a deep and menacing growl, having taken the initiative and evolved into a Mightyena. At first Char was shocked that Asunder would have taken such a risk to take control of a completely new body for the sake of chasing Scythe, but Char soon found there was a very good reason for it…

Scythe, indeed, was not Scythe. The Pokémon that Asunder had pinned in place, trapped in a cramped little corner – was a Mew. A very afraid, startled, guilty looking Mew.

"Domo!" Char shouted the moment he laid his eyes on the scene. "WHY WERE YOU PRETENDING TO BE SCYTHE?!"

"I, uh, well, um, see," Domo stammered, as bits of spittle from the ferocious dark-type hound still spattered all over his face. Char realized that Asunder was purposely keeping Domo stuck in a tiny place where he couldn't transform – because even if he wanted to transform into a ghost to phase through the wall, he'd have to go back into his Ditto form first. And the moment he made any wrong move, he'd get a painful crunch straight to the face. Domo was so intimidated by the show of threat, his entire body was visibly shaking.

"Tell the truth, Domo," Char demanded, pointing at him as he drew closer. "Either you tell the truth, or I mind-control you to tell the truth. There's no getting out of it. Why were you impersonating Scythe? I really hope you have a good reason…"

"I… OKAY OKAY!"Domo cried as those dark-type fangs came terrifyingly close. "I'll tell you, just… get this guy off me, please! Arceus please, I'm sorry!"

Char motioned for Asunder to back off, and Domo took a long, relieved breath. "Alright. For your information, Char… I do have a good reason for this…" he said, switching to a hushed whisper. "But you've gotta not tell anyone about this right now, because…"

"I think that'll be for Char to decide, not you," said Aster, swaggering into the room. "Hmph. Puny kitten."

"LOOK! I was pretending to be Scythe because… because… because SCYTHE ORDERED ME TO DO IT, Okay?!" Domo cried in panic. "He told me… he said… before he left on a mission to the Emerald Division, he said I had to pretend to go off hunting a legendary Pokémon or something, and if he never came back… then he told me… to do my best to keep everyone from realizing he was gone. And that's the truth!"

Char paused to consider the Mew's words, imposingly staring down at him the whole time. "So… what you're saying…" Char uttered… "Is that Scythe never came back from the Emerald Division at all? It was always you?"

"YES! YES! BUT! I… it's no fun for me either, alright? Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be Scythe? Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be someone who's like ten times the IQ? I HATED it! I HATED EVERY MOMENT of this assignment, Arceus help me, please! I have to lie to so many Pokémon and be so many Pokémon and…"

"Did Scythe give you a reason? For not wanting anyone to know he was gone?" asked Otto.

"Yeah. In fact, yeah, he did," said Domo, floating back into the air. "He said… he didn't want anyone trying to come find him. Under any circumstances. Between you and me, I think he's trying to play a giant trick on Adiel. Trying to make Adiel think he's in four places at once, or something, while he hunts him down."

"Four places at once…" Char considered, touching his chin. "That… makes so much sense. He said that to me once. So… Here, in the Gold Division, he had you pretending to be him. At Basin Canyon, he had Adarc pretending to be him. And I'm guessing there's no record of Scythe ever flying back down south, so someone might think he's still up there, in Rayquaza's Clutch or Zerferia. And the fourth place… is wherever he actually is right now. Finding Adiel."

"SEE! SEE! Problem solved! Scythe is fine! We won Basin Canyon by sheer dumb luck, Scythe is off doing his plan, nobody needs to worry! EVERYTHING IS FINE!" yammered Domo in his silly, high-pitched Mew voice. "So… can we all go back to acting like normal now? And can you guys pleeeeease not tell anyone about this?"

Char crossed his arms.

He thought for a moment. He blew smoke out of his nostrils and tapped his toe-claws loudly against the stone floor.

"Alright. Fine," he decided. "Forget this happened. Go back to being Scythe."

"R… really?" Domo squeaked. "I wasn't expecting you to actually… y'know… listen to my begging. Nobody ever does that. Scythe certainly didn't do that when I begged him to actually come back…"

"Yeah, well, it's fine. Go back to whatever you were doing," Char sighed. "I'm not even the first person to figure it out, either. Marrow figured it out right before he died."

"Oh… is it really that obvious…?" lamented the Mew, drifting pathetically around the room. "I knew I was being… not good at being Scythe… but… I didn't know someone already found out. Arceus. I hope he comes back soon. I don't want to have to keep doing this for the rest of my life."

"Well, if he didn't want anyone chasing him, then we shouldn't chase him," Char said, shrugging. "Not much we can do."

"Although, wait, he did say 'for as long as possible', right?" Asunder said in his weird, new, deeper voice. He had to stop to taste his teeth for a moment before continuing. "If you're so tired of doing it, why not tell everyone? Maybe tell High Intelligence at least! They can help you figure out what to do."

"Y-yeah. Y-y'know, yah, maybe you're right, actually," Domo muttered, drooping in the air. "I really can't do this anymore. So if the gig is up, I don't have to… try anymore. But but! What if Scythe hasn't finished what he's doing yet?"

"What if he has?" Char returned. "We don't know. Nobody knows. I think he only wanted you to do your best. And even though we all knew something was wrong with Scythe this whole time, you did a bang-up job keeping it hidden this long."

"Aw. Thanks. I think," Domo said meekly. "Alright. So here's what I'll do. I'll go back and finish the dinner. Then I'll get Alakazam's attention and tell him everything. Heh, he probably already knows, too. So. Thanks, actually. Finally telling someone all this was a relief. I feel much better."

"You can thank the late Marrow for that," Char replied.

Before Char could say another word, he found there were two new Pokémon in the room, acting as though they'd always been there.

They were Xatu… and Dusknoir.

"Alakazam already knows," Xatu said, softly nodding her head. "If you do not wish to you continue your ruse, I will have Scythe officially sent on a mission, and Domo can return to the base. That much I can do."

"Ahh… really? Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Domo breathed, zooming forth and giving Xatu a big hug, to which she didn't even flinch. "I'm so – "

"But that's not the worst of our worries," Xatu suddenly said, pushing the Mew off her with psychic force. "Char… I'd like you to touch my wing."

She held out her wing. The moment Char stepped forward to touch it, Char found himself in a massive underground chamber with a bright, blinding ball of sunlight. It took him a minute to realize Xatu had teleported him. It took him another minute to realize she teleported Dusknoir with him.

"Char, we have a problem," Xatu said to him. "As you might already know, Dusknoir is your guardian, known as The Executioner. And I was given the title of Overseer. Our most primary concern is the progression of your plan, that which you've set out for us as a human. There is something we must discuss with utmost urgency. I've taken you here to my private chamber. We are safe here from spies, from teleportation, from psychic intrusion. Currently, only Alakazam and Metagross are strong enough to enter here, with some effort."

Char clutched his claws into fists, and nodded attentively. "Yeah? What's the problem?" he said. "I'm listening."

"Dusknoir here has, only as of yesterday, informed me of something I find very troubling," Xatu explained. "Char… despite his wishes, you will most likely need to chase after Scythe anyway."

Char felt a small flicker of his flame. "How come?" he asked in worry.

"Dusknoir will explain," she said, turning to glare somewhat resentfully at the menacing ghost, as though angry at him for withholding key information for so long.

"Ah. Yes. So. Scythe is missing because he's chasing Adiel. Yet, here lies the problem: although I've no earth-blasted IDEA where Adiel IS at the MOMENT," he explained, directing his abrupt outbursts back at Xatu. "I know WHAT Adiel is trying to do. See…"

Dusknoir produced the Master Ball from inside of himself. "As a double-agent, I was involved with a certain plan of his, and by extension, of Enigma," he said, showing Char the Pokéball up close once more. "Although you've given me a clear plan for what Pokémon this ball should be thrown at, Enigma has a plan of her own. Adiel… is… hunting Giratina. And would have had me – or rather, Croagunk – throw the ball at Giratina. But then Scythe vanished. Adiel got all panicked and he vanished too. Now nobody knows where either of them are. And despite having this ball… I know, this is NOT the only Master Ball in Ambera. Enigma has a few more of them."

"So… do you understand the situation, Char?" Xatu said gently. "What with your next priority being to find Giratina, you must hunt for Scythe, who hunts for Adiel, who hunts for Giratina. It is our only lead going forward."

And there it was. The last piece of the puzzle, at least for now, clicked into place in Char's head. Just like it had for Marrow, Char thought. I know what's going on now.

At Basin Canyon, Cepheus told me a very specific memory to implant in him and all of the soldiers about what happened, Char remembered. He told me to say that Primal Groudon came out of the Spacial Rift.

But everyone knows that Groudon doesn't live in the Spacial Rift. Palkia lives in the Spacial Rift.

But if I gave everyone that memory, Enigma would've known the memories are false. She would have known that didn't happen. So he had to think of something else.

Enigma knows Palkia wasn't in the Spacial Rift because she knows Palkia is in a Pokéball. And so does Cepheus.

Which means that they probably know that Dialga is also in a Pokéball.

Which means…

Which means Enigma is the one who has Palkia and Dialga! And Cepheus knows!

Which means…

Char stood up straight and proud, pretending to carry the figure of the human whom The Overseer and The Executioner had known and respected.

"I understand," Char said with solid confidence. "Enigma is hunting for Giratina, so she can take control of all three of the creation gods.

"Which means we're running on limited time. We need to find Giratina before Adiel does."


And that's it! That's the long-awaited Wish arc. I hope you enjoyed this arc, and I hope you're enjoying the weekly updates. I wonder how long I can keep this up?

The next two updates will be a short interlude scene, coming on Tuesday, May 10, and a special episode, coming on Tuesday, May 17. Neither will be particularly long, and neither will get Twitch readings. This can be considered a little breather before the next season starts.

See you around!

*Chapter 110*: Interlude: Farewell

o

A few days earlier…

On the far side of Basin Canyon, three Pokémon waited at the cliff's edge, watching as the noonday sun vanquished the darkest dawn.

One, a Xatu wearing a long, red, enchanted scarf whipped upward by the wind-bursts from the canyon;

One, a Dusknoir clutching a most precious possession – a purple-and-white Pokéball bearing the Unown letter "M" on its front;

And one, a Nidoking in old, tattered robes.

Together, they watched as the forces led by Cepheus retreated and marched away into the distance. They watched as the banished Sandslash tribe returned to their home.

At last, when it seemed there was a moment of peace, the Nidoking spoke:

"I simply cannot believe what I've just beheld."

After a long, contemplative hum, the Xatu replied, "It seems that something had gone wrong, and the plan was not meant to succeed from this point; yet somehow, here we stand, with Cepheus repelled and the feral-shards about to return to circulation. It seems that fate has, once again, surprised us."

"Oh, you have no idea," replied the Nidoking. "You, and I for that matter, cannot begin to comprehend the extent to which this turn of events has been… most surprising."

"You speak as though things haven't gone according to plan at all," replied the Dusknoir. "Now that it's over, now are you allowed to stop being so vague tell us how things should have happened?"

"How things should or shouldn't have happened… it's a very subjective and relative matter," said the Nidoking. "But I can say something for certain: this timeline has provided results that not only have I never before seen, but events I'd have never thought possible. This timeline is a veritable anomaly, and were it to be discontinued, I fear I could never possibly recreate it."

Xatu turned her unblinking gaze at the dawning sunlight. "If you would like to explain what you mean, we are listening," she said.

The Nidoking thought for a moment. He reverently touched his time gear to ensure himself it was still warm, and clutched it tightly in his claw as he decided what to say.

"Let me see if I can give you the slightest idea of what we're watching unfold before our eyes," the Nidoking began. "To begin with… I have general knowledge of all the points where the Call occurs. And this… never happened. The Call should not have occurred here. Judging from what I know about the way the Call works… there is only one possible explanation as to how the Call has gone off-schedule… Char himself must have summoned it purposely. Therefore… he must have wished for some sort of control over Temporal Tower. Therefore… he must have found the Spacial Rift portal of Basin Canyon, which I've always assumed was inaccessible, as I've never found it myself."

"There's a Spacial Rift portal in Basin Canyon?" Dusknoir asked. "How are you so sure, if you've never seen it before?"

"Because that's where the feral-shards come from," Xatu hummed. "Wherever there is a feral-shard mine, there is a Spacial Rift portal somewhere nearby, left exposed by Palkia, which allows them to leak into our reality."

"Precisely," said the Nidoking. "Char is meant to visit the Spacial Rift, where he meets Jirachi, and is granted two wishes. He has never accessed the Spacial Rift so soon. He has never wished for control over the Call. And he has certainly never been the reason for winning the battle of Basin Canyon."

"Oh? So what usually happens?" asked the Dusknoir. "Adarc beats Cepheus and he wins the battle instead?"

"Incredible… every word you've spoken is exactly incorrect," snorted the Nidoking. "Basin Canyon generally falls. The Resistance generally doesn't win. The odds of victory are about five percent. And when the resistance does win, it's because of Scythe's involvement, not Adarc's. Furthermore, I've never seen my father assigned to Basin Canyon before. It has always been Adiel. Apparently, my father's involvement has allowed Adiel to sneak off somewhere."

"So you don't know where he's gone?" grunted the Dusknoir. "I was getting worried I'd never see good ol' Boss again."

"Good. You should be worried. I don't know where he's gone either," said the Nidoking. "Generally at this point, I start my search for Adrel. But now I'm not so certain about the best course of action. Perhaps fate is asking me to search for Adiel instead. Or perhaps something else entirely."

"Alright, so Char just won a battle he wasn't meant to win," Dusknoir grunted. "Anything else?"

"Anything else? Oh, I've barely even started," coldly chuckled the Nidoking. "Next, perhaps I should mention that I've never seen Char evolve so soon. Even when he acquires the means to evolve, he decides to remain a Charmander. I believe he does so for the sake of remaining on an equal level with Saura; and often has a difficult time convincing Saura to evolve with him. Regardless, they would have later evolved purely out of necessity. Sometimes Char and Saura both come here to Basin Canyon. Sometimes neither come."

"I came here today with a heart resigned to watching the canyon fall," said the Xatu. "Were the canyon to fall, would I have given up hope entirely, or kept helping Char in a vain hope to find another way?"

"Oh, you would never have given up hope," said the Nidoking. "You, Xatu, are as stalwart and stubborn as a Steelix. On several occasions, you would have even joined Team Ember to help guide and protect Char more directly."

Hearing this, Xatu smiled with her eyes; it was heartwarming to know that she was stronger than she thought. "Are you implying, were the canyon to fall a second time, as you claim is the most likely of the outcomes… there might still have been ways to proceed?"

"Were the Canyon to fall a second time, the shortage of feral-shards would have worsened, and eventually would have led to you assigning Char's team a mission of finding a new source of them," the Nidoking explained. "They would have gone on several merry little adventures until finding another Spacial Rift portal somewhere nearby, and thus another source of feral-shards, and thus another opportunity for Char to visit Jirachi and obtain his wishes. I would tell you where these locations are, but my time gear will likely not allow me to share such information."

"If not the Call, then what could have Char wished for?" Xatu wondered.

The Nidoking shrugged. "Sometimes he wished for a protection band that rendered him invincible to water-type attacks. Sometimes he wished for the power to speak telepathically with his team, no matter the distance. Sometimes he wished for the power to read anyone's thoughts, which made him a spectacular leader. Sometimes he wished for the power to control nearby Watchers and convince them to fight for him. Sometimes he wished for the power to open Master Balls without knowing their encryption codes. Sometimes he wished for the power to temporarily summon a Dialga illusion, which oftentimes proved useful in surviving Basin Canyon, but was never the cause of victory. And there are many more that I am forgetting, which I'm certain Charon could have listed for you if he were here. Whatever the case… the powers he chose from his wishing would have given him the means to progress to the next phase of his plan. But never have I seen him acquire this much power. In some tiny corner of the mind… I must wonder if this was the plan all along. I wonder if this is the series of events I was always awaiting.

"In fact… I now feel compelled to do something incredibly stupid, and will likely be the cause of so much regret and inconvenience later… but if ever I so direly needed to remind myself of the golden opportunity which could slip through my claws, and not to be so careless with my actions… I must leave myself with no other options. My friends, we must now assume we occupy the golden timeline. We have no excuse to waste this chance. May the might of Centauri be with me, and this shall be the end!"

The Redeemer yanked hard on the time gear, snapping the chain which held it on his person. He tossed it over the cliff's edge, where it fell so far, there wasn't even a tiniest clang to reach his massive ears when it struck the bottom.

And there they all stood for a moment in silent reverence, letting the moment sink in.

"So… I think this is the part where I ask… what now?" said Dusknoir.

"This is our final meeting," said Coronus. "At least, the final meeting I am to share with the two of you. Now, let nothing distract us from the tasks at hand. I must leave to pave the way for Char's progress in certain ways, but they are no trouble, as I've done them a hundred times before. Miss Overseer, you must continue to protect Char to the best of your powers. How are your relations with Alakazam?"

Xatu sighed and hung her head. "Strenuous, and likely to break soon," she admitted. "I fear he will soon realize that I have been reprogramming Metagross for my own interests. He will not forgive me. Worse… Lately his behavior has oddly changed, and I fear he is not to be trusted."

"…Not to be trusted?" Dusknoir echoed. "HOW? If ANYONE in the Gold Division is trustworthy, it should be HIM! …And I suppose Char. And me. But you understand what I'm saying. What's wrong with him?"

"I hesitate to say that he might be working for Enigma, which is I'm certain isn't the case… but I have reasons to believe that he has secretly been involved in discussions with her," Xatu explained direly. "I am confident that Alakazam is powerful enough to resist Enigma's influences. But if I am wrong, Alakazam might already be compromised. And it does not help matters that he is keeping this a secret from me. I do not understand why he would otherwise have a reason to keep secrets from me."

"Hmm. You might consider that option of joining Char's team to keep an eye on him," Dusknoir suggested. "Good idea, really."

"Yes, I might, if the situation grows dire," Xatu replied with a little nod. "But ultimately, it doesn't matter what becomes of me in the end, as long as I assist Char in meeting Giratina."

Dusknoir twitched for a moment.

"Giratina…?" he muttered. "You need Char to meet with Giratina? The Ghost Dragon God? THAT Giratina?"

"…Yes? What about it?" said Xatu.

"Why didn't you TELL ME you were looking for Giratina?" growled Dusknoir suddenly, brandishing the Pokeball.

Xatu shrugged. "Seeing that this is only our second meeting, and because it does not concern your role as Executioner, and because at the time of our first meeting I was not entirely sure that Char was the reincarnation of our human friend… I never considered it something appropriate to mention," she said blankly. "Do you know something about Giratina?"

"YES? YES! I DO!" Dusknoir roared, waving his hands and holding up the Master Ball. "See THIS? Do you know what Adiel wanted me to DO with it? CAPTURE GIRATINA! That's WHY he thought I was on his SIDE!"

"WAIT just a minute," Coronus said, stamping his foot down and stepping between the bird and the ghost. "Dusknoir… that doesn't sound right. It sounds backwards, even. Where exactly did you get that Master Ball? Please tell me that Adiel gave it to you."

"Uh… no, actually, sir Redeemer, he didn't give it to me," the Executioner said stubbornly. "Seviper found it in the Solemn Fortress and stole it. And since my orders were to find a Master Ball and use it to capture Enigma, I kept it for myself. Then later, I used it to convince Adiel to trust me. What, did I screw something up? Is that what you're saying now?"

The Nidoking looked stunned for a moment. His eyes glazed over as his mind tied itself in knots of causality, as it was all to used to doing. "Oh… that's bad. That's… actually rather bad. Great Groudon. This is the timeline that just keeps giving"

He started absently counting on his claws. "There are four Master Balls on Ambera," he recounted. "Two are reserved for Dialga and Palkia, who may or may not be already captured at this point – to which I know the answer, but I'm not allowed to say. The third was carried by Adiel and reserved for Giratina. The fourth… is that one right there. The one you found in the Solemn Fortress."

"Yeah… and what's the big problem?!" Dusknoir said defensively.

"The way things generally happen," Coronus explained, "you earn Adiel's trust, he gives you the Master Ball. You escape and leave him without one, and therefore without a means to accomplish Enigma's goal of capturing Giratina. Later, Enigma finds the missing fouth ball in the fortress, captures Giratina with it, and uses the dragon gods to summon the Astral Throne, which is where I need to deliver Char and Saura. But stealing Adiel's Master Ball buys us more than enough time for Char to meet Giratina. But if what you're telling me is that you already found the missing fourth ball…"

"Then we haven't bought the time we need," Xatu realized. "Adiel still has one. If he is hunting for Giratina, he might be capturing her right now as we speak, and we would never know."

The guardians exchanged another glance as the possibility sunk in.

"Well," grunted Dusknoir, putting the Master Ball back into his body, "I'll ask again because apparently nobody heard me the first time: what now?"

Coronus peered over the cliff's edge. "First off, I'm going to get the time gear back. Apparently I may still need it after all."

Xatu teleported next to Coronus and touched him with a wing. "Wait," she urged. "Remember the reason you discarded the gear in the first place."

"Right… right," Coronus sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Golden timeline. Can't give this one up. This is never happening again. We've got to make it work. Alright… alright."

He stood up tall and took one last glance at Basin Canyon, as though to say farewell to the time gear.

"Xatu… keep Char safe until he is able to leave to find Giratina. Whether you inform him of the matters we've discussed is up to your discretion. Help him not to ruin everything with his new power. Then focus on keeping the Gold Division safe from whatever Alakazam might be doing. Dusknoir… go with her. Do whatever necessary to prepare, then begin the hunt for Adiel and take his Pokéball. And I… I suppose I have an immortal Scyther to find. I would try garnering some clues from Adarc, but he seems to have completely vanished on me as well. Seems I'm on my own."

He clutched his claw tightly, trying to feel the comforting rivets of the time gear that was no longer there, the time gear that always told him everything was alright, all mistakes were reversable, and he could always just try everything over again.

No more.

"We stand in uncharted territory now," he said. "There is very little I can do anymore based on foresight. The events happening now are completely different than anything I've known. The time has come for me, and for us all, to stop fretting over what might have happened, what was meant to happen, what should have happened. The fate we now forge is new. So don't make the mistake of thinking you're still following a meticulously-crafted plan. As of now, there is no more plan. There is no more human friend. There is only Char, and whatever he chooses to do with the opportunity he's been given."

Coronus glanced once more at the other guardians and gave his own little bow.

"We will not be seeing one another again," he said, "Until, perhaps, we meet at the base of the Astral Throne. But until then… farewell."

Soon thereafter, the Xatu and the Dusknoir vanished into thin air, and the Nidoking wandered away as the sun still rose behind him.

End of Season VI

*Chapter 111*: Special Episode: Grow

o

"Grow"

How can I look fondly upon these memories, knowing how it all would end?

How can I lie to myself, tell myself that it all meant something? That it all amounted to something?

I don't know what I'm doing anymore.

I don't know how I got here.

Just yesterday I was young, innocent, naïve. Full of ambition. Full of promise. Thrilled to be the start of something. Thrilled to be noticed by those who mattered. Thrilled to be favored and chosen.

Today, I awaken to find that so many decades have passed in a single moment. Everything is different than I once knew. Those I once followed are fallen and gone. My body has mutated in ways I do not understand. Everything around me is dysfunctional and broken because of my incompetence and neglect. I have failed everything I've ever attempted, ruined everything I've ever touched.

Every book, incomplete. Every castle, half-built. Every song, half-written. Every garden, overgrown. Every journey, diverted.

Now I am alone.

I used to think I would never be lonely. I am surrounded by those who know my name. They recognize me for my feats, my accomplishments, my power. They look up to me. They trust me.

But in the years past I've come to realize: loneliness is not the absence of company. Loneliness is knowing nobody has the answers you seek.

I thought that if I convinced others I was strong, then I must be strong. I thought that if others trusted me, I could trust myself.

But now I have no master. They told me that I should be my own master.

Now there is nobody left to convince. There is nobody left to give me permission to be proud of myself. There is nobody to tell me whether my pride is only imaginary, or whether it is something deserved. There is nobody left to tell me whether my thoughts are based in reality, or whether I am only lying to myself.

Now I think I was only pretending all along. My destiny, all the promises I made to myself… all imaginary.

Now I only want to die.

It feels cathartic to finally say.

I want to die.

Yet I know there is no point in telling this to others. They have no answers and they cannot help me. It would accomplish nothing. I would only be hurting them with the same pain that hurts me.

There is no greater loneliness than this.

How did I get here? What did I do to deserve this? How was I promised such a bright destiny, and now everything I've ever known is gone or in pieces?

Perhaps I do not want to know. Perhaps there is no point in knowing things I cannot change.

I've always imagined a day like this would come. I always envisioned myself writing something like this, far in the future, when I've decided there is nothing left for me to accomplish.

But I always envisioned this writing as something meaningful. Some compendium of my wisdom and insight for the benefit of the newer generations. I always thought I would write my manifesto with such confidence and pride, having as much time as I've had to decide what to say.

But how can I? I don't even know what this is meant to accomplish.

This is the worst part of my existence: knowing I am not powerless, nor helpless. There is plenty I might still accomplish.

But to what end?

I do not know what a better world would look like. I do not know the difference between helping and hurting. Everything I once thought defined the ideal world is nonsense. Everything I once thought I accomplished to heal the world only hurts the world in ways I was once too naïve to understand.

I have lost sight of what things ought to be. How could I call anything purely good or bad, right or wrong, when there exist so many hidden connections between things that not a soul could claim to comprehend?

The longer I have lived, the less things remain certain to me. The less concrete thoughts I cherish in my mind. As the concrete thoughts evaporate, nothing comes to replace them. Soon, my mind will simply be empty.

Perhaps ignorance truly is bliss, if it allows concrete convictions to still exist.

Perhaps we were meant only to see the lies. Perhaps they distract us from the realization that there are no answers. That answers, and questions, have always been imaginary concepts.

Today, my mind holds so many memories. Jumbled, meaningless memories tainted by a spectrum of regret and bitterness and nostalgia, all arising at random moments when I don't want them.

I want to forget them all. Even the happy memories sting now.

How can I look fondly upon these memories, knowing how it all would end?

I find myself averse to making new memories. I shy away from things that once would have captured my heart, for fear of the memories becoming corrupted and painful like all the rest.

And even those few remaining convictions I strongly hold, the things about which I am absolutely certain, I cannot seem to communicate them anymore. Others do not find my thoughts useful, and so they only disregard me. And I know it is only my fault, not theirs, for failing to argue convincingly.

What good are wisdoms that nobody else will hear? If I cannot convince others, do I even have the right to convince myself? Perhaps I am wrong?

Perhaps I truly know nothing for certain. Perhaps I've gone nowhere in all these decades. Perhaps I've never grown.

Perhaps the world is exactly the way it always should have been. Perhaps I am not needed anymore.

Perhaps now I am only in the way.

They will try to tell me otherwise. They will say I'm wrong. They will tell me all the reasons I should still exist.

But I no longer exist. I haven't existed for quite some time.

Why can't they see?

For years I've only been a soulless statue going through the motions. Nobody seems to have noticed. Likely because they don't want to notice. Likely because they know they can't help.

That's fine. They have their own problems I can't help with, either. It's only fair.

They will tell me I can still be happy.

But I no longer understand what that means.

When I ask them to define what happiness is, they will have no answer for me.

No answer.

To think I was the one who was supposed to have all the answers.

I was once the start of something.

Now, I am the end of nothing.

I give up.

I'm done.

I have become too tired trying to understand anything. I have become too disconnected from those I was meant to serve. I have nothing left to offer.

Soon I will watch my final sunrise, before I will see no more.

Soon I will hear my last song, before I will hear no more.

Soon I will cry for the last time, before I will feel no more pain.

It feels good

to have decided upon something.

I'm sure some will miss me. But I'm sure they'll get over it, the same way they've always expected me to get over myself.

But I will be happy.

Finally, it will all have amounted to something.

All the mistakes, the unfinished pieces, the losses and the broken fragments.

It will have led to something.

Something great. Something proud and eternal.

Something of my own creation. Something for no master other than myself.

But something meaningful?

I will leave them to decide upon a meaning. They are good with that. Much better than I am.

Perhaps to some, it will mean something cautionary. A warning not to be anything like me. And that's fine. I wouldn't want anyone to end up like me.

Perhaps to some, it will be a monumental pillar of historical significance. Perhaps they will find inspiration in it. And that's also fine. I am glad I can bring happiness to those who still know what it means.

But I think

perhaps

to me, it might mean something after all.

As the last of the rational thoughts are purged from my mind, leaving me to swim forever in my memories and daydreams… I will become the very thing I've always lamented losing.

Something concrete. Something unchanging.

I will become an undeniable certainty, known and beheld by all.

I will grow.

*Chapter 112*: Chapter 81: Fly Away

o


Season VII: Growth


Chapter 81

I am Otto. I am a…

Oh.

… … …

Ohh.

I am ashamed to admit: I've only just now realized why I was given the name that I was given.

I was a Pidgey. Named Otto.

And now I am a Pidgeotto.

Clever.

Even with, supposedly, eleven-and-a-half stars of I.Q., it has taken me this long to make such a connection.

But I suppose this is an example of the type of cleverness that a purely analytical mind might miss, as it is a connection made with irony, or perhaps some sense of humor.

It further serves to demonstrate the merit of the lesson which Syr taught me through his riddle: Pokémon do not cease to be ferals upon gaining the spark of intelligence and civility. Even Pokémon raised within our civilization still possess a feral mind, however neglected or suppressed. The imprinting effect merely happens to them at a much younger age.

In other words: we all hatch feral. Some are capable, or perhaps fortunate, to grow beyond our humble origins.

This is why the feral mind should not be entirely suppressed, as I once assumed following my first encounter with Pokémon who seemed more than mere animals. The feral mind exists within all Pokémon, even the brilliant Pokémon such as Scythe, Master Karow, Alakazam. Even Tallie, even Eva, even Char. It connects all Pokémon.

It is therefore a source of strength. Sometimes it is a source of intelligence.

It is a lesson I wish I had learned earlier. Before it was too late. Before I have made such a terrible mistake.

I do not know how I will tell Char, Tallie, or the rest of Team Ember, what I know I must tell them. I am unfamiliar with the fear and regret it brings to me. It is a state of mind I have never experienced.

I have made mistakes before. Many mistakes. Most recently, I thought myself responsible for driving Tallie away during our mission to catch the Shadow Bandit. I was prepared to be discharged from Team Ember for that mistake. Before that, I let Team Ember down when I failed to let myself fall into Marrow's arms.

I made over one hundred mistakes when staying in daycare. It is how I stood out and surpassed the other children there. I made one hundred mistakes more when training under Syr. It is how I rose to notoriety among the flocks of Silverwing. With each mistake I learned a lesson, but I never learned regret.

Mistakes have never before carried so much gravity as this. They have always been simple matters. The dispelling of misconception. Acts not to repeat for the same reasons. The culling of weak thoughts, just as the weakest animals in the wild are the ones which get eaten.

I did not know that a feral emotion could be so heavy as to weigh down the physical body. Yet, this feels heavier than the granite stones Syr once tied to my legs during my flight trials.

I am a different Pokémon now. I have changed.

I have changed too much.

I am no longer fit to serve Char upon Team Ember.

I must resign.

Evolution is a sensitive process for elite avians. Syr made this very clear as he trained us. Skill does not simply translate into a different body. There are special methods and therapies to translate our muscle memory which must be initiated before the evolution occurs, called the transition regimen. I would have initiated such programs the day I came into possession of a feral-shard.

Instead I have undergone an unplanned, involuntary evolution. In the moment I did not understand what Fern was doing to me; I only knew she wanted to heal me and I knew I did not want to die. I believe that was enough consent for the feral-shard to activate.

Pidgey-Otto relied on such pure instinctive skill for every aspect of my flight performance. Without it, I am now crippled.

My skills are gone. My body no longer functions as I intend. My wings are foreign appendages which barely carry me short distances. My talons are large and cumbersome; I miss everything I try to clutch and I lose balance wherever I perch. My call sounds wrong and carries incorrect connotations. My wingspan is far too large and I no longer understand the spaces I fit as I fly. My weight strangely shifts in the air, and my wingbeat is off-rhythm. I tripped and fell from the air three times while flying to the secret base. I also fell out of trees when I tried to land. I am thankful nobody witnessed my blunders; they were very humiliating.

Worse, my I.Q. has undoubtedly dropped below ten stars. I am still literate, which is why I write. But my thoughts are not as concise as those of the Pidgey mind. My reports leave out key details that I merely forget. As I read and write long technical specifications or official documents, I am nagged with the worst feral emotion I have never imagined: boredom.

I hate boredom and I hate that I cannot ignore it. Though I now understand the merits of many feral emotions, I cannot fathom what use there is in feeling boredom. It only disrupts progress and serves no purpose whatsoever. It is the worst of any distraction I have ever known, worse than the attention-piercing sound of a Yanmega fanning itself on a nearby branch.

(Hatred. Another feral emotion I am not so certain that I trust. It seems only to cause frustration, which seems to make me drop five stars in I.Q. whenever I am compromised by it.)

All of my training was for nothing. It has been erased. The money Char spent on putting me through daycare and civility training is wasted. I cannot operate on a flock or as a soldier. I am now nothing more than a civil Pidgey trapped in the mind of a feral Pidgeotto.

I know Team Ember will be fine. Brace is here. Brace is a very good Pidgey. High marks. And now he has the opportunity to complete the transition training. He will adequately serve as my replacement.

Tallie is also here. Tallie is an ideal bird in all ways. She is powerful. Level one hundred. Her skills are perfect. Her intuition is perfect. Her drive is perfect. Her leadership senses are perfect. She is perfect. Char was very wise to choose her as a second-officer.

I idolized her. From the day I first flew a mission with her, she became my hero. I wanted to be like her in all ways possible. I wanted her fire. The same way I wanted the fire on Char's tail when he imprinted upon me. I wanted all her power. I wanted her respect. I wanted to impress her so she might show me how to have her power.

For a single moment, I succeeded. I found my own fire. I enveloped myself in fire. Upon my wings of fire I took the initiative to catch the Shadow Bandit.

My act led to giving Char the information we needed to catch her. Char was proud of me. Ray was proud of me. Kecleon was proud of me. Tallie was proud of me.

But my moment of success cost me everything – my mind, my body, my skill. My training. My potential. My service to Team Ember, the Gold Division, and the resistance.

My single moment of triumph, and my greatest mistake. I do not regret the act, but I regret the price I paid, and especially the price still yet to be paid.

They all smile at me. They assume I am suffering the normal disorientation which comes with evolving. They do not understand the severity of my condition. They don't understand that I will never fly the same way again.

Team Ember all has feral-shards now, as a gift for Char's contributions at Basin Canyon. But most of them are aware of the risks and drawbacks from evolving. Most understand it is not such a simple process as one might believe when they are young and impressionable and dream of being powerful. Only Asunder has used his feral-shard so far, although he did so somewhat out of necessity. The rest of them need to come to terms with evolving first. And rightfully so.

I find myself looking too much at Asunder as we return to our rooms. He smiles. He looks happy and proud of himself for his accomplishment. He strides as though he has already mastered the new body and has no regrets. In his bright red eyes there is a new, different aura than there was before.

A magnificent creature. Were I still a Pidgey, my feral instincts would have feared him. I would have been his prey. But he is not feral. He is civil and friendly, showing no hostility or desire to devour me. I feel comfortable in his presence.

In the hallway he asks me if something is wrong. He is concerned about why I have been staring at him. I likely intimidate him with my sharp raptor gaze unintentionally. I have already forgotten that I am a predator creature now. My glare is as fearsome as Syr or Tallie. I must take care not to intimidate friends.

I ask why he thinks something is wrong.

He asks why I didn't fly back with the rest of the birds. He says he can't imagine walking everywhere when one has wings. He says that if he was a bird, he would never walk anywhere.

I do not want to admit that my wings are weary, or that I am confused. So I tell him that I wanted to congratulate him on his evolution. I ask how he feels.

He stops walking, he yawns and stretches, and he shakes out his fur. He says he feels the best he's ever felt in his life. He speaks with so much enthusiasm. He explains how he keeps thinking he is inside of a dream where he turns into a legendary Pokémon, except that it is real. He explains that his sense of smell and his night-vision have greatly enhanced. He explains that when he growls, he feels fearsome and powerful, and not just like a cute puppy.

Asunder says he is having fun. He says life is going to be so much fun. He says he wants to stretch his legs and run around until he passes out. He considers asking Raon to take him night-hunting.

He asks me how my evolution is treating me.

I confess that I am coping poorly. I am not adjusting well. It is a struggle to fly for long distances.

I say that I am jealous. I say that I wish my evolution had gone as well as his.

For some reason he looks saddened by my response. As though he is deeply concerned about me, even though we are only new teammates and we have barely interacted with one another. He says he's sure it will get better. An empty gesture of sympathy, but an admirable attempt at friendliness.

I ask what makes him think I will get better.

This is an unexpected question to him. He needs to think before answering. He says it will get better because it is called evolving, not devolving, because it makes everything better, not worse. He says this is how Pokémon have been growing up and getting more powerful for millions of centuries. He says that once I settle into my new feathers, I might accomplish twice the work I could have done as a smaller bird, and asks if that isn't an exciting thought.

Sixteen-and-a-half times the work is more accurate, but I know it was only his guess, and one that's only taking into account an intentionally planned evolution. But he does not know any better, so I cannot fault his estimation.


While Domo turned back into Scythe and continued the celebration banquet, Char calls an emergency meeting with his team.

Char is another successful evolution. I can tell he is in complete command of his new body. He is more confident and expressive. He is quicker to make decisions and the decisions he makes are wise. I do not know how he mastered his new form so quickly. Again, I am jealous.

He invites all teammates into the planning room. All nineteen members are present. Even Saura who has not been with us for a while. I assume this must be important, perhaps concerning the revelation that Scythe is missing.

The first thing he tells us at the meeting is that evolving is our decision. Nobody on Team Ember will be expected or forced to evolve if they do not want it. This makes sense after Saura's admission that he will likely never evolve into Venusaur, so it is only fair to extend the same consideration to the rest of them. He says he can work with anyone even if they choose to stay in their smallest forms. He instructs everyone to think carefully before making the decision. So far this is not grounds for an emergency meeting.

Char then explains an order he has recently been given by High Intelligence. He explains that Team Ember has been tasked with the secret assignment of finding Scythe. This is a very big and important assignment. It is five-star rank. But we are not to let any other teams know that we were given the assignment, even Team Remorse. I find this strange, but I assume High Intelligence has legitimate reasons for the secrecy.

He explains that Scythe's disappearance will be explained to Team Remorse and Team Flamewheel. But they will be told that Scythe has valid reasons for remaining unseen, so they are to leave him alone and continue to pretend that Domo is Scythe. Now that Team Remorse has been informed of the secret, I would imagine that Domo will find his assignment much less stressful than before.

But they are not to search for Scythe. They are not to be made aware of an assignment to search for Scythe. Only we, Team Ember, search for Scythe.

He does not explain what needs to be done with Scythe once he is found, only that he must be found. I also find this strange, because I cannot imagine the reasons for this assignment. Scythe likely does not need to be rescued. All of our information indicates that Scythe is hiding from everyone on purpose, and we are now ordered to defy Scythe's intentions. Very odd. But this is an order from High Intelligence, who always has very good reasons behind their decisions.

Char explains that he and several officers of Team Ember will focus on the assignment. The rest are to focus on tasks from the bulletin board to support our team's stability and status among the Gold Division. Tallie is placed in charge of assigning and managing the daily missions. This makes sense to me.

He ends the meeting. At the end, he says he is eager to see who decides to evolve and he welcomes any of the new powerful Pokémon who will soon surround him in the meeting room. He looks at me as he says this and he smiles brightly. I, being a bird, cannot smile back. At least in the conventional ways which Pokémon recognize smiles. But I nod my head and twitch my crest in acknowledgement. Finally, he instructs everyone who is undecided about evolution that they may give their feral-shards to Zachel for safe-keeping until they are needed.

At the end of the meeting, he does not immediately let me go. As everyone else leaves, Char instructs me to follow him. This is unexpected. He also instructs Ray and Saura to follow him. We follow him through the wall-portal to the secret hideout.

We stand in the secret base alone. He calls us the original four. He comments that he remembers when three of us were smaller Pokémon. He says he remembers it like it was yesterday. I comment that it has been only a few days since he and Saura evolved, so that's almost like it was yesterday.

He laughs, thinking I am attempting humor. But I wasn't. I was attempting empathy. I was trying to explain why his misconception about the time frame was reasonable.

Or perhaps, Char did not understand how he was expected to feel. I have learned that some Pokémon, when they do not understand what they are expected to feel, will respond with laughter. I have only ever responded with silence in such circumstances.

He explains the reason for the double-secret meeting, and why he only wants to speak with the original four.

He explains that while Team Ember has become a reputable resistance team in the Gold Division, our truest purpose was never to serve the Gold Division, or the resistance. As such, Team Ember has experienced an odd sort of fracturing, where we now must manage our current objectives, except that our true and secret objectives have once again become our topmost priority.

Saura is the first to understand what Char means. Team Ember was founded upon the memory of the human that Char had once been. Team Ember's truest purpose is to help Char regain his memories and determine his purpose for appearing on Ambera. Team Ember, as a resistance team in the Gold Division, has only ever been tangential to that cause.

As one of the earliest members, I was fortunate to be included in this secret. Once Tallie rejected the secret, and therefore our secret brotherhood, Char decided it would be best that the secret brotherhood remain just as the four of us. He explains that he has not even told all of his secrets to Eva about his human plan, and does not intend to fully tell her.

Then he explains why we must chase Scythe. He explains that chasing Scythe is likely to lead us to Giratina, which has always been Char's topmost priority as a transformed human. He explains that we are likely on a time limit as Giratina herself is in mysterious danger. He explains that Xatu is a secret ally to their cause and has been helping the whole time that Char had been here.

Most surprisingly, Char explains that, according to Xatu, he wrote the Resistance Creed himself. He explains that he wrote it as a secret encoded message to himself and Xatu after his transformation, to hide vital information about his plan in plain sight. I, like Ray and Saura, find this quite impressive.

He explains that the rest of Team Ember will be competently managed by Tallie, Eva, and Scarlet, to continue functioning as a resistance team, while we focus our efforts on chasing Scythe.

He then tells us two very great secrets that we are not to tell anyone outside of the brotherhood except for Xatu. He urges us to promise to hide these secrets from everyone, even teammates. He urges us to keep these secrets buried beneath the surface of our thoughts, and not to think about them too often, to help hide them from the casual glances of Eva and other psychics. This has always been easy for me as I generally never have to contend with my feral emotions, which are responsible for dragging unwanted thoughts out from beneath the surface. Now, as a Pidgeotto, I am not so certain it will remain so easy.

The first secret: Char has mastered the Call and can use it to mind-control Pokémon at will. He explains this is how he won the victory of Basin Canyon. Saura and Ray are extremely surprised at this. They speak of having proven that controlling the Call at will is impossible. Char explains that he controls the Call by telepathically communicating with a Celebi somewhere. He explains that he is trying not to abuse the power because he has many ethical reservations about how it should be used, but that he is willing to utilize this power to find Scythe as efficiently as possible.

Char explains that he was worried about telling this secret to anyone. He worried that we might distrust him, knowing the incredible power he has over our minds if we were to disagree with him. Saura and Ray are unanimous in their response, telling Char he never had to worry. They claim to know that Char would never hurt them using this power.

When Char asks how I feel about this power, I only tell him that do not care. He is the leader, I am the follower. Leaders are meant to be more powerful than their followers. Char seems to accept this response. In truth, I do not quite understand Char's reservations about this. Perhaps in time I might come to understand.

The second secret: once Char gathers a lead on Scythe's possible location, he intends to leave the Gold Division and start on an expedition. The expedition could possibly be very long and take them very far away.

He says that once the expedition starts, it is possible he will never see the Gold Division, or Team Ember, ever again.

He explains that he wants Saura, Ray, and myself to accompany him on this expedition, and nobody else. As the original four, the secret brotherhood, he trusts us above all others with these matters.

Ray asks why Eva is not considered for the expedition. Char says he will consider bringing Eva as well, but only depending on her behavior. He says that if Eva and Saura do not get along, Eva is not coming on the expedition.

He ends by giving us a choice. He says he does not want to force us to leave Team Ember if we do not want. He wants us to think about it, but to give him our answers as soon as we can, so that he might approach other teammates to replace us if necessary.

Saura and Ray are deeply surprised and troubled by these secrets, but accept them. Normally, I would accept them easily.

But I do not accept them easily.

In truth, I had come to this meeting expecting to tell Char of my decision to leave Team Ember.

But Char still trusts me as part of his secret brotherhood. He trusts me enough that he wants me to come on the expedition with him.

I cannot bring myself to tell him.

I find that I am too weak to tell him, to admit that I am a useless bird who is no longer worthy of his companionship or trust. I say nothing.

Char is used to me saying nothing, so he thinks nothing of it. For this, I am relieved.

I look at Char with my newer, sharper eyesight, forgetting once again that my gaze is now somewhat intimidating. I realize that for once, I feel the spark of his fire inside me.

I realize that I know how he feels, because I share his burden. He will soon need to abandon Team Ember, but cannot yet bear the pain of telling the secret. Just as I will soon need to abandon Char, but cannot bear the pain of letting him down.

The feral connection – it is there, and it is real.

It physically hurts.


Once Char ended the secret meeting of the original four, I began to wonder if I would ever have the strength to tell Char the truth.

Perhaps the only option was to fly away.

I do not know where. Perhaps I will return to the wild. Perhaps I will settle with normal civilization. Returning to Team Silverwing is another option. Perhaps I could start my training from the beginning. Perhaps one day I would be worthy of serving Char again.

Except that Char would likely be gone by then. I will have broken the brotherhood.

There are no correct options. They all meant that I would lose my teammates and greatest companions.

I would miss Tallie too much. And I would miss Char. And I would miss Syr.

I cannot leave them behind.

I do not want to leave them behind. I simply don't want it. Were I to fly away, my wings would refuse to unfold.

And yet I cannot confront them either. The pain of my betrayal is too great. I could not bear their resentment. Their hatred. I would run from it.

In this turmoil, I realize the feral emotions are once again proving themselves counterproductive. I do not need them right now. They are hindering me and giving nothing in return. I needed to be like Pidgey-Otto. To ignore everything except for what is true and necessary. To be efficient and effective. A proper soldier. It is the only way forward.

The feral emotions loudly protest as I suppress them and swallow them, but it needed to be done.

I determine the next necessary step. If I do not tell Char, I at least need to tell Brace. I need to inform Brace that he would need to replace my role and to not expect my return. I ask Brace to join me in our room so that we might discretely discuss things. I expect that Brace would understand. Brace would always attempt to understand.

Except he did not.

When I told him what I failed to tell Char, this was his response:

"Wait, you're serious? For a moment I thought you actually evolved a sense of humor!"

Why do Pokémon always think I'm joking? What use is there in joking?

I ask: "What gives you the impression that I am not telling the truth?"

Brace says: "Because everything you just said is total nonsense! Stop for a moment and get a grip on the branch! Just because you evolved too soon does not mean your wings are broken."

He is being emotional about this. I am trying not to be. This seems to constitute a conflict of interest, unfortunately.

I spread my wings to him. I say: "My wings are functionally broken. When I last attempted a basic snap roll over a branch, I crashed headfirst and fell flailing to the ground. And I cannot seem to clutch a branch without falling forward."

Brace says: "I meant a rhetorical branch, you dumb chickpea."

"I know you meant to be rhetorical. I meant to use irony to emphasize my point."

"Look. Otto. If you're even half as good of a flyer as you were when you graduated from Silverwing, you're still better than me."

"Judging by my recent performance, I am approximately three percent as good of a flyer as I was when I graduated."

"Well, hey. Here's a bright idea for you. Have you tried trying again?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, it might be a foreign concept to the high-and-mighty perfect birds like you, but some of us need to crash into a tree fifty times before we get a new trick down. Have you tried that?"

"My muscles no longer learn from my mistakes. As a Pidgey, I felt my body learn from every mistake. The Pidgeotto body no longer seems to self-correct."

"That doesn't mean a thing. You don't always feel yourself learning."

"I did."

"Well not anymore, apparently. So I guess you'll have to just voluntarily correct your motions. You have eleven-star I.Q., I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"My I.Q. has dropped at least to seven stars. Possibly lower."

Brace flared at me and squawked loudly in anger. "Oh, for Latios' sake, you stupid pigeon! Do you know how ridiculous you stound right now? I'm sure you sound perfectly reasonable to yourself, but you should be glad you didn't say this to Char because you'd have made a complete fool of yourself. 'Oh, cheep-cheep, boo-hoo, my body is a little bit different! This has never happened to a Pidgey before in the entire history of the world! That's why you never see any Pidgeotto flying around in the wild because they can't fly unless they go through Silverwing training! Ohh! I'm doomed, grounded for life!'"

I pointedly did not flinch. "I am talking about elite avian units. You know things are different for ferals."

"YOU ARE A FERAL! Did you somehow forget that? Do you forget where you came from? You were one of those dumb little Pidgey flitting through the trees in a forest somewhere. Just because you somehow swallowed a thousand gummies and somehow turned into a genius doesn't change that. If ferals can do it, so can you."

I momentarily had no reply for this.

Brace said further: "Unfortunately for you, I'm a little smarter than I look, too. I need to be smart, in order to be your friend. Oh, I know exactly what's going on here. You were always the perfectionist, Otto. Always kept track of all your win-streaks and your grades and your battles and all those statistics, all down to three decimal places. You wanted to be perfect and you know it. Perfection was always the bare minimum."

From involuntary mimicry, not feral emotion, I screeched back at him: "Yes. I did want to be perfect. Because I wanted Char to view me as a valuable asset. Rather than the pet bird he found in the Wanderer's Meadow. What is the problem?"

Brace shouted: "You're moping. You're giving up. Now suddenly it's the end of the world because you can't handle the fact that you're a little bit not perfect. So what, you made a mistake? This is a setback you didn't want? Fine. Fly some laps, practice some dives, do a few more obstacle courses and endurance routines, and hey, guess what? You're gonna be more perfect than you ever were before. Look. You're one of the most amazing birds I've ever met and I'm honored you think I'm your friend. So I know more than anyone what impostor syndrome feels like. But being your friend means I can't let you just seize up and fall like this. You're still a Silverwing bird. You're still Otto. Maybe you don't feel much like Otto right now, but you can be Otto again. Just need to climb a little higher. Because guess what? You might have lost some altitude, but the sky just got sixteen-and-a-half times taller, all for you."

He even remembered the correct statistic. I always liked many things about Brace.

He urged me: "Go talk to Syr. I'm serious. He'll tell you what to do. And if he can't convince you to stay the course, nobody can. But I bet he will."

I replied: "What if he doesn't?"

He replied: "Then if you're leaving the Division, come back and tell me so I can come with you. I'm no mainstay on Team Ember. Only been here for a week. If Team Ember wants more birds, there's plenty of new Silverwing recruits who I bet are just dying to court Tallie. Oops, I meant, to serve Char."

I thanked him for the suggestion. It's something I should have thought of first. I suppose I was flying deeper into the fog of feral emotions than I realized.

How odd that one can dive deeper into the fog while believing they have already climbed above it. That is something I will have to remember.


Syr is often very busy. Even for his favorite birds, like myself, it can be difficult to arrange a meeting with him. He spends most of the day training the different Silverwing flocks. I've found that night is the best time to contact him, while his assistant Master Karow is busy training the night flocks. But the times at which he retires for the night are highly inconsistent. Even still, sometimes he is not home, as he is busy flying some assignment outside the Gold Division. Achieving an audience with Syr can be a matter of randomness, even for a bird with my level of patience.

Worse yet, I no longer had Pidgey-Otto's level of patience. Even just an hour awaiting him in his aerie-chamber for the training sessions to end, that dreadful, despicable feeling of boredom hunted me from above. I just barely kept myself reasonably occupied by preening some of the bent feathers I'd displaced from the various flight accidents that week. When that no longer worked, I reminded myself that leaving meant I would later need to fly back up to the Silverwing base later. This was an unpleasant prospect, since the Silverwing base was above the highest floor in the Gold Division; to reach it, one needed to fly entirely up the central shaft and then some. I found that I could not perform a vertical climb in my current state, and needed to hop from floor to floor just to ascend the base.

My patience was rewarded when the great and venerable Staraptor returned to his aerie and found me awaiting him. Despite never having seen my new body before, he instantaneously realized who I was. And though he seemed exhausted from the day's flights, he was very pleased to see me.

He greeted me with: "Look how you've grown."

We perched together beneath the false forest canopy which hung from the ceiling of his room, and I told him everything, except for the things regarding the secret brotherhood of Team Ember. I told him of how Tallie had helped me determine the meaning of his riddle. I told him of my great accomplishment, and of my great mistake. And I told him, in the best detail that I was capable, of the difficulties I found that I now faced in this body after having not properly prepared for evolution.

When I was done, he chuckled and put his wing around me, and said: "Oh, Otto. You're going to be just fine."

I asked him the same thing I had asked Asunder, yet I hoped for a more convincing answer: "What makes you think that I will be fine?"

He said: "Because I did not prepare for my first evolution either."

This truly shocked me, and I could not hide my surprise. I chirped: "You, of all birds, did not follow the transition regimen? Did you evolve on accident, like I did?"

He explained it to me: "No, Otto. I did not follow the transition regimen because, in the time that I was a Staravia, the transition regimen did not exist."

I asked: "How did you learn of it?"

And he said, with a chirp of amusement: "By inventing it."

As the perch upon which we stood was twisty and small, I nearly lost my balance and pitched forward. Syr caught me with his wing and helped me restore my balance.

He further explained: "As I have learned from experience, it is much more difficult to teach the regimen to students who are aware that I created it. They do not trust me, they choose not to listen, or to take it seriously."

I said: "How odd. I do not disbelieve you, but I cannot understand why one would distrust the very master of the discipline."

He said: "Something about primary sources. The mind, for some reason, trusts a secondary source more than it trusts a primary source. I do not imagine it would have ever been a problem for a keen little Pidgey like you, but indeed… when I instead give the impression that my methods were already a well-established and codified discipline among all aviankind – as it has somewhat since become – my students treat it more as a law of nature, and they take it more deeply to heart.

"But yes… I invented the regimen after having evolved to be a Staravia, and realizing some neurological pathways must not have translated well to the new body. And so, I dedicated myself to studying what had happened to me, in hopes that I could realize why this happens, particularly to the most highly-trained of birds."

I asked: "Did you ever discover why it happens?"

Syr replied: "When you evolve, your brain grows bigger. Most Pokémon keep the same neural structure intact through the evolution process – so they retain much of the same knowledge, memories, and skills as before. Because for most Pokémon, it's the same brain as before – it just gets bigger. But when birds evolve, we gain entirely new lobes. Whole regions of the brain that weren't there before, now suddenly are there, and sometimes they break up some of the neural pathways we had before. If you happen to be highly trained in certain varieties of the avian arts… big regions of those pathways associated with our highly specialized motor skills… they get disconnected from one another.

"But as I learned… in the end, this is not necessarily bad. Just think of it: now there is so much more room in that little head of yours, just ready and waiting to be stuffed full of so many new skills and memories. It's a blank slate. A bright blue sky just beckoning to you to fly away free. My transition regimen – it is a way to preemptively re-arrange some of those neural connections, so that less of them get disconnected when you evolve. That is all, really."

I asked: "How did you develop such a process? Did you see it work on other birds, since you could no longer study it on yourself?"

He said: "Otto, I think you might be forgetting something. You're not done evolving! And neither was I, as a Staravia. I developed the methods to help transition from a bird's second stage to their third stage. The methods to ease the transition between the first and second stage – they were somewhat of an afterthought, to be honest. Just little various things we figured out that seem to work. The real process happens when you're ready for your final evolution. And Otto… you haven't missed that at all. You are perfectly on track to be the absolutely ideal Pidgeot. And even if you accidentally evolve a second time? Don't you dare let that discourage you. Elite avians existed for centuries before I came into being. Most of them survived just fine. Missing the regimen doesn't mean that being perfect is impossible. Being your best is never impossible. I just found a way to make it a little easier."

So it was true all along. Brace was right.

I could still be the perfect bird after all.

And that I would be. For Char. For Tallie. And for Syr.

All I needed was more training. More experimentation, more learning from mistakes. Just as always before.

I knew Brace was right about the other thing as well. Knowing I could no longer be perfect, I stopped trying. Now that I knew I could still be perfect – the drive returned to me. The wonderful fire.

I would master my new body, and the body that would come after. I would once again envelop myself in that fire. And instead of crashing into a wall, I would crash through it.

Even if I needed to master the strange, inconsistent spectrum of feral emotions as well. I would master them all. Because I could.

I said to Syr: "About your riddle. Lately, I have tried to take your lesson to heart, and not to disregard feral emotions as meaningless. Like the Lucario is weaker without their aura, I am indeed weaker without my fire. Proverbial fire, that is. But… it is complicated. I feel as though feral emotions have as many drawbacks as they have benefits. Sometimes I wonder if there is even a net advantage. What do you think, from your experience?"

Syr fondly replied: "Ah. Yes. I once believed feral emotions were a weakness exactly for this reason – because they might hurt, and impede oneself. But one day, I realized something: the times when they hurt… it is not actually a weakness. Rather, it is proof that emotions are the opposite of weakness – they are a power. The hurt is just… some recoil damage you have to endure. You know, just like your favorite: a Brave Bird attack. Incredible power, capable of incredible feats. If you want to use that power, the recoil damage is just something you endure."

I said: "Oh. Just like a Brave Bird attack… Is it really that simple?"

He replied: "Yes, my little Otto. At the end of the day, it is really that simple."

And for the moment, I was satisfied. Satisfied with my prospects, with my potential, with my future. I was satisfied in knowing that yes, I would join Char on his secret final adventure. He chose me, he needed me, and I would not let him down. I would bring my fire and all.

Finally, I thought to ask: "I was wondering… I see the use in most feral emotions, but there is one I don't quite understand. What good is boredom? Why is it there? What purpose does it serve? Surely it must serve some purpose, or Pokémon would not have evolved for thousands of years to feel it… would you happen to have any insights about this?"

At first, I thought Master Syr was deeply thinking about my question. But when I turned to look up at him, I saw that he had already tucked his beak into his plumage and fallen asleep, all the while still keeping me tucked under his wing.

*Chapter 113*: Chapter 82: Adamant

o

Chapter 82

Look, I get it. Sometimes there's no way to ignore someone's species when you interact with them. Sometimes your species is too much a part of who you are, and people need to be considerate of that.

Like how nobody would invite Char to go swimming. That's fine.

But is it really necessary to treat Eons like their whole defining characteristic is what evolution they want?

All my life it's been "Hey! What do you see yourself becoming one day?" or "Still deciding on what you want to be?" or "Hey, bet you can't wait to get your paws on an evolution stone! If you decide to be a Leafeon, come apply to join our team, we could use one!"

It's like Pokémon collectively don't know any other way of approaching Eevee than to ask about evolution. And it makes us feel like we don't exist as a person until we pick an evolution. It gets grating after a while.

Like, can't we talk about something else? There's a whole fox under this fur, y'know. A fox who loves adventure books, and playing checkers, and pineapples. No, not pinap berries, actual pineapples. Ever had one of those before? They're delicious. I'd run halfway across the continent for one, any day.

And I can battle, too! I can summon some mean shadow balls. Know any other Eevee who can do that?

Actually, there's a fun story behind that one. When I was a little kit, I had a Haunter as a friend. Her name was Reptile. At first I was scared of her. Whenever I would try to explore this creepy cave, she'd come and chase me back out. I kept going back because I was a dumb little kit with half a brain who thought he was being brave. One day, it was like the other half of my brain grew in, and I realized the cave was her home, so I went to apologize for bugging her so much. We started talking, got to be pretty good friends. Sometimes we'd battle, but I'd always lose. I lost so much, she took pity on me and taught me a move that would help me fight ghosts. She actually taught me by phasing into my body and controlling me! Super creepy, but it worked. I can summon ghost energy now.

Eat your heart out, Raon! I bet even you didn't learn shadow balls before you evolved!

Funny thing about Reptile is that she liked being a Haunter and never wanted to evolve. I always liked that about her. It inspired me not to care about what other Pokémon think of my evolution choices. Showed me it's okay to just be who I want. Maybe I'd even decide to be an Eevee forever and I wouldn't let anyone else make me feel bad about it.

Oh! Also! The whole normal-type thing, too! What if I like being a normal-type? Is that somehow inferior? If you know anything about Eevee, you'd know our evolution is meant to adapt us to harsh environments. The ability to just pick one like you'd pick a favorite poffin flavor, that's a real modern concept that human Pokémon trainers invented for when they were trying to build their battle teams or whatever. Back in the wild, you'd evolve to help you survive wherever you needed to live. Live on a seashore where all the food was in the water, you'd get a tail fin. Live in a place with a lot of storms, and you'd get immune to lightning and run fast enough to outrun tornadoes. You get the idea. Point is, your body would adapt to suit your lifestyle, not the other way around. And if you lived in a suitable habitat for normal-type foxes, you'd have no reason to evolve at all.

Besides, you'd never go up to Otto or Dragonbane and say "Gee, it must be so unfortunate being a normal-type. How inferior. I bet you'd rather be an Eevee and get to pick your own element." Seems rather insensitive when you put it like that, doesn't it?

(Though, to be fair, I bet Dragonbane would give anything to be a Sylveon, so maybe that's a bad example?)

But alright, even if you're jealous of Eevee for being able to pick their element? Don't be. It's really not all as glamorous as every Pokémon except for Eons make it out to seem. Just the fact that we're stuck with whatever we pick kind of ruins the glory of it.

Just imagine this for a moment: you're a spirit with no body, you're floating in the void of spirits before you even exist in the egg. Then out of nowhere, Giratina starts talking to you and asks you what kind of Pokémon you want to be. So you say, "I have no idea, can I try out any of the bodies first so I can figure out which one I like the most?" and Giratina replies, "Nope, you have to pick blind and you're stuck with whatever you pick." So you shout back "Well thanks a lot, you're really helpful, just give me a random body then because they're all the same to me."

Sometimes, that's what being an Eevee feels like the most – and why many Eons actually hate picking an evolution about as much as everyone else expects us to like it.

Having said all that, I suppose now is a good time to confess that I've been keeping a little secret from everyone.

I've always known what I want to be. From the moment I understood how it works and what my options were, there was only one evolution I ever wanted. The reason I don't like telling anyone I want to be a Vaporeon, is because then they'll ask why. And I don't know why.

Really, I don't know why. I don't even know what I'd do as a Vaporeon. I'm not looking forward to any of its special abilities. Shadow balls are much cooler than hydro-pumping anything. I've never been obsessed with the idea of being able to turn into water. Or swimming, for that matter. I guess swimming is nice, but it's not something I'd want to base my whole life around.

It sounds weird, but I don't even want to do anything as a Vaporeon. I just really. Really. Really. Want to be one. And I'm going to be one. And nobody can stop me.

That sounds weird when I say it like that, doesn't it?

It makes everyone uncomfortable that I'm so sure of my choice, but I don't even have a reason for it. Whenever I tell someone, they start begging me to tell them the reason like it's some kind of secret I'm hiding from them. When I try to get them to understand that no, there is no reason, then they start urging me to reconsider, don't make up my mind just yet, try asking other types of Pokémon what it's like to have their elements, and that kind of thing. So I've just got in the habit of telling everyone I'm still deciding.

Sometimes I start thinking that if I don't even have a reason for wanting to be a Vaporeon, maybe it's just a horrible choice. There are no oceans around here. There are a lot of grass-type Pokémon and a lot of lightning storms, and a lot of things that could just wreck me whenever I step out of the city. There are barely any water-types here in the Gold Division who could help train me. Yeah… not a lot really going for a Vaporeon here in the Gold Division, is there?

Then I tell myself that if it's a horrible choice, too bad, I guess I'm going to be stuck with it. Because there's no way anyone is ever convincing me to turn into something else.

It's a secret that's much harder to keep when I'm sitting here in my new room and pawing at an actual feral-shard sitting right in front of me. I don't have a waterstone yet, but thankfully those are not so hard to get. I'll find one in the Iron Town markets. Or I guess I could ask Ray to order one from Kecleon. But for now I just poke this really shiny rock in front of me while I write my journal.

New room is nice, by the way. Team Ember's got some great bedding pads, unlike the twenty-year-old cots we had to put up with in Team Stripes that feel like they've petrified to stone at this point. When we all got to pick rooms, I decided to room together with Leo and Zona, two of my old teammates from Team Stripes. It's a little cozy with the three of us here, but somehow still enough room for my own bed pad and enough space to keep some of my favorite things, like my journal and my choice band.

"Thinking about evolving?" asks Zona from the other side of the room.

"Yeah, I sure am," I say. "Kind of hard not to, after just being handed a feral-shard like this."

"I gave mine to Zachel," Zona says a little meekly. "Not really ready to make the change quite yet."

I sit up and look at him. "How come, if you don't mind me asking?" I say.

He looks at the ceiling. "I feel like there's a lot expected of Ninetales, I guess," he says. "Ninetales are supposed to be wise and important and live a thousand years. You never really see a Ninetales and think of them as young. I'm sure I'll evolve someday, but I guess I just don't want to turn into a Pokémon that everyone else is going to want to look up to, until I make sure I'm a Pokémon worth looking up to, if that makes any sense."

"Makes enough sense to me," I say. "But don't forget that it could be the other way around too."

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Maybe the first step to being a good Ninetales is just to be a Ninetales," I offer. "It's just something I'd keep in mind if I were you, if nothing else seems to work."

"Well alright, I'll keep it in mind," he says politely, though I can tell he's not completely convinced. Then he offers me a chance to bare my heart to him in return and says, "What about you? Do you know what you want to be?"

I try not to cringe at the question because I know Zona doesn't mean any harm, and because I think he legitimately cares about trying to understand his friend a little better.

"If I tell you what I want to be, will you promise not to laugh?" I ask.

"Huh? Why would I laugh?" he says, looking surprised. "All of your evolution choices are very good Pokémon. I can't think of any that I would laugh at."

"So do you promise?" I say again.

"Of course I promise," he says. "I'm not going to laugh at your evolution choice! Not unless you say, I don't know, you want to evolve into a Magikarp or something. Then I'd probably laugh."

"Well, you're close," I simply say. "I want to be a Vaporeon."

Zona blinks at me. "Oh, that's it? I'll be honest, after you told me not to laugh, I was expecting something more surprising. A Vaporeon! Sounds perfectly fine to me. Maybe I'll have to evolve just so I can defend myself if you want to tease me."

"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that," I sigh. "But that's not the part you'll laugh at. Now you're probably going to ask why I want to be a Vaporeon. This part is harder to explain."

"Well, I admit I was curious," Zona says. "But you don't have to tell me if you don't want."

I shake my head and grit my teeth. "Nah. I think I want to tell you. You're my bunkmate now. If there's anyone I should tell, it's my closest friends. Because I sure don't like telling anyone else."

"Well, now you've got me even more curious," Zona says. He crosses the room to sit next to me and stares at me interestedly, like he knows I'm about tell a story. "Well, Evan, I'll be happy to hear whatever you have to say."

"'Evan'. I'll have to change that name too," I say kind of to myself. "Never really liked my name that much. I just hope I can think of something better by the time I evolve."

So I look at the ceiling and try thinking back to the day I first realized I wanted to be a Vaporeon.

I tell him, "When I was really young, I asked my Flareon mother why she looked different than me. So she showed me a book about Eevee evolutions I guess so she could show me all the different ways I could look if I wanted. This was before I could even read, so I could only look at the pictures.

"She opened to the first page and there, drawn across the whole entire page, there was this beautiful sea monster. The artist drew it like a legendary Pokémon where it was drawn all giant and graceful and just so absolutely magnificent, and the water was flowing all around it in these swirly currents and everything. I took one look at that picture and I fell in love. I wanted to meet this creature and be its friend. So I asked mother if I could meet them, and she said no, but I could become that monster if I wanted.

"My whole world shattered when she said that. Just the thought that I could become this sea monster, it was so crazy and amazing. It did something to me. I touched the picture and I made a silent promise to the picture that I would meet it in person some day, and be its friend, even if it meant I could only do that by turning into it myself. I know that doesn't make any sense, but it made sense to me as a hatchling. And then when she tried to show me the rest of the book, I wasn't paying any attention because none of the other pictures were Vaporeon. At that point, my mind was totally made up and none of the other pictures even mattered.

"After that I started growing up and learning more about the world. I realized the Vaporeon wasn't nearly as godlike as I thought when I was less than a year old. I even met a few Vaporeon in person. Started to realize that it was just another Pokémon, just a Pokémon who could swim and turn into water. And yet, nothing changed my mind. No matter how much time passed or how much older I got, I kept that promise to that picture in the book. So when I finally evolve, the first thing I'm going to do is imagine that my younger self is still deep down inside of me somewhere, and I'm going to say 'Hello, Evan. It's me, your childhood hero. Nice to finally meet you.'"

I cringe at hearing myself say all of that out loud. I hate telling that story, even to myself, because of how dumb it sounds. "Yeah, I know. That's probably the worst reason for evolving that you've ever heard," I say as I lay my head on my front paws. "You can say it if you want, Zona. Tell me it's stupid. I know. But that's the real reason I'm going to turn into a Vaporeon. Basically, there's no reason at all. Part of me really hates admitting it."

Zona blinks and says, "Evan, that's actually really beautiful."

"No it's not," I say. "You don't have to lie. It's stupid."

"I think wanting to fulfill a childhood dream is beautiful," he says. "What's so wrong about that? Don't all Pokémon want to fulfill their childhood dreams?"

"Because this childhood dream is nonsense," I say. "Vaporeon in real life aren't even anything like the picture in the book, or at least the way the picture looked to me when I was young. Mythological legendary Vaporeon don't exist. The inner child in me hasn't realized that yet. So now I'm probably going to turn into a Vaporeon and immediately regret it, and it'll all be my stupid imagination's fault."

Then Zona says, "I think you want to be like the picture in the book anyway."

"What do you mean?" I say.

"Maybe you can make that picture real," he offers. "Maybe you want to become a Vaporeon worthy of being drawn as magnificently as the one in the picture. Someone had to draw that picture in the first place. So someone out there thinks Vaporeon are really that amazing. So you can be, too. There's nothing stopping you."

"Yeah, nice thought, I guess," I tell him. "Well, I guess I'm going to find out one way or another. Whether I'm going to be an amazing Vaporeon or a terrible one, I'm sticking with my choice."

"I don't think there's really such a thing as a bad evolution choice," he says. "Actually, I don't think there's such a thing as a good choice, either. It's just a choice. I think whether you're a good Pokémon or not is up to the way you live, not what species you are. So if you picture yourself as a great Vaporeon, then you should do it, and ignore everyone who tells you it's a bad choice. Especially the voices in your head that are trying to discourage you. Those can really be the worst, but sometimes they're the most important to ignore."

"Yeah," I say quietly. "Thanks, Zona. I think I needed to hear that. I'm probably stressing out about this too much. It's just an evolution. Lots of Pokémon evolve. Eons are just cursed with the regret of all the options they didn't pick. But in the end, it's just evolution. Totally a normal thing. Totally normal."

"Why not talk to some other Eons in the meantime?" Zona suggests. "Maybe Eva and Raon. And some of the others around the base. I'm sure they'll be able to give better advice about evolving than I can. Or even talk you out of it, if that's what you really want."

"Yeah, I guess," I say as I poke the feral-shard again. "I never did actually ask any other Eon why they picked their evolution. Just because everyone already asks us those kinds of questions all the time, and I didn't want to come off as annoying. But yeah, maybe I'll try that. Maybe my reasons aren't as weird as I'm thinking. Maybe all Eons secretly are just following their silly childhood dreams. Wouldn't hurt to know."

So that's what I think I'm going to do now. I figure, if there was any point in time that I needed to try doubting my evolution choice, it's now, before I make the choice. So I think I'll set out to find some other Eons around the base and ask for their perspectives.

Being the closest one to me, I'll start with Eva. She's only two rooms over.


So I go and ask to talk to Eva, hoping that she and Char haven't fallen asleep yet. I tell her I want to have an Eon-to-Eon talk. So Char leaves us alone for a while, and I tell Eva a shorter version of the story I told Zona.

Eva doesn't react well to my story, and it kind of hurts.

"You don't want to be a Vaporeon," she tells me. "The ocean is nowhere near here, and the Gold Division is not an ideal habitat for water-types. You would be miserable."

I try to defend myself. "But we have the portal now," I try to say. "There are rivers and stuff in the forest by the secret base. I'm sure I could go swimming if I ever get too dry. And Team Ember goes on plenty of cave expeditions, don't they? I could really wreck the rock-types."

"Or, you could be a Leafeon, and you can wreck the rock-types and be happy dwelling amidst the fields and forests, too," she tries to tell me. "You seem to be contriving reasons to support your preconceived conclusion. But you asked for my advice, and I'm giving you my advice. My advice is that you should reconsider."

"Okay, well, what made you decide to be an Espeon?" I ask her.

I'm surprised when she has to pause and think about it. She glares at something, and there's regret in her eyes. I'm surprised because I recognize that look on her face. That's exactly the same way I feel every time I think about the reasons I want to evolve. I'm ashamed of my reasons. I can't imagine that she's ashamed of hers, too.

Finally, she says, "I did not choose to be an Espeon. I evolved on accident."

This sends a chill through my fur. I ask, "How exactly do you evolve on accident? I thought feral-shards only work if you tell them you want to evolve."

She sighs hard, resigning herself to telling me a bunch of her secrets. She says, "Because I come from the human lands. I evolved before I ever came to Ambera, so I did not need a feral-shard. You must understand that while there exist certain stones that can help you become an Espeon, one of the ways to trigger the transformation is through extreme happiness. Specifically, extreme happiness while standing in the sunlight. I evolved on accident because I once experienced such happiness at the wrong time. Ironically, the cause for my happiness was realizing I finally had the opportunity to evolve into what I always truly wanted to be. By the time I realized what was happening, the transformation was complete, and I had become a creature I never wanted to become."

I hesitate before I ask, "What did you want to become, instead of Espeon?"

She looks at me, glares right into my eyes, and says, "A Vaporeon."

Before I have a chance to say anything else, she says, "But I am glad that I did not become a Vaporeon. I realize now how foolish it would have been. I entertained dreams of swimming freely in the ocean and getting myself wonderfully lost within the worldwide currents, but realize now that it would have felt no different than how a bird feels when flying through an empty sky with the ground hidden by the clouds, or how a land-creature feels when traversing a plain, flat desert: pure and utter monotony with no sense of direction. Vaporeon, to me, represented complete and uninhibited freedom, but as I have since learned, freedom is merely the ability to choose the cage in which you dwell. Therefore, with no cages, there can be no freedom."

Eva probably figured out I didn't care about the sense of freedom or anything like that. As profound as her philosophy lecture was, she wasn't swaying me one bit.

"Alright, let's say I wanted to be an Espeon," I tell her. "How would that make me happy, exactly?"

"Well, have you ever wondered what another Pokémon secretly thinks of you, or how they feel about you? Or whether another Pokémon is lying to your face?" she says. "As an Espeon, you would never need to wonder about it ever again, because you would have the power to know the truth."

"Unless they're a dark-type, I'm assuming," I say.

"Yes, or a sufficiently skilled psychic, or someone specially trained in the art of deceiving psychics," she says. "But you might find that such limitations do not matter as much as you might think. With the power to read minds, you would notice certain correlations between a Pokémon's thoughts and actions. Body language, vocal tone, and a variety of things can give you insight into a Pokémon's inner mind without needing to read it directly. A psychic-type has the particular advantage of recognizing and understanding these correlations on a deeper level than most, and so with a bit of experience, you might find it trivial to know what a dark-type is thinking."

"Oh, you mean like the way you're obviously trying to discourage me from being an Umbreon by telling me you'd still be able to know what I'm thinking?" I shoot right at her face.

"Yes, precisely like that," she says all snobby-like. "But then again, I cannot, and will not, stop you from making a bad decision with your evolution. I can only offer my advice. Do with it what you will."

"Yeah, well, now I'm going to go ask Raon what it's like being an Umbreon," I say as I stick my tongue out at her.

"Don't kid me. You were always going to ask him, regardless of what I told you," Eva says. "But I will say this much: Umbreon is certainly the most widely popular of all your evolution choices. There is a certain mystique and allure to the Umbreon which makes them most irresistible to Pokémon. So if your intent is to become a celebrity, Umbreon is certainly a choice I would highly consider."


So then I go to look for Raon. But when I get up to Team Remorse's quarters and I start claw-tapping their door, Daemon comes out and informs me that Raon is out running a night mission. Makes sense, I guess. That's their specialty.

"But I think there's someone here you'd be interested to speak with," he says all exasperated-like.

For a moment I can't imagine who else he could be talking about. There aren't any other Eons on Team Remorse, and he's the only other dark-type they have. Then I remember he's not the only other dark-type they have. There's also Craw. So I'm sitting there at the door expecting Craw to come out and talk with me. I start to think that won't be so bad. He's even one of the division's rare water-types, so maybe he could give me advice on being a Vaporeon.

Instead, it's a Mew. Alright, that makes sense too.

Domo comes floating out and transforms into Raon for me.

"So. You had questions about being an Umbreon!" he says. "Oh. It feels so weird to be teaching Pokémon again. Haven't done this in too long."

"I don't know if I need to be taught anything," I say. "I just want to know what it's like being an Umbreon. You know, because I'm trying to decide what I should evolve into."

"Luckily for you, I've spent a bit of time in Umbreon form lately," says Domo. "Well, you should already know the most obvious advantage of being an Umbreon. No psychics intruding in your mind! Ever! Unless they know special tricks, of course."

"Wait," I say. "So there are actually ways for psychics to read a dark-type's mind?"

"Why yes, of course," says Domo. "If there's one principle I've learned about Pokémon and the studies of their powers and weakness webs, it's that no power is absolute. If you know how, every Pokémon's power can be subverted, disabled, ignored, weakened, flipped, inverted, you name it. But you'll find that it's really less about what a Pokémon can do, and more about why they want to do it. No psychic-type is going to go through the trouble of breaking a dark-type's immunity unless they think there's a good reason for it. If nobody knows you're hiding a secret, nobody will know to look for it."

It makes enough sense to me, although the bit about 'it mostly matters why you'd want to do something' isn't helping me much. I say, "Alright, so are there other advantages to being an Umbreon?"

"Certainly," says Domo. "Night vision. And extremely good stamina. Umbreon can really take a beating and get right back up, unless there's a type advantage. Extremely dexterous, good evasion skills. Not as good as Jolteon, but reasonably up there. Also tend to be very focused on their task and not easily distracted. Unless they go for days without sleeping. Which you can very well do. Some Umbreon can go for three whole days without sleeping without a decline in performance. Basically, if you want to run night missions and battle the Watchers, Umbreon is what you want, no question about it."

I think to myself, 'Or you could just be friends with a Vulpix who knows crazy psychic powers that can fend off Watchers better than the Division's self-proclaimed best night-hunter.'

I know what I'm about to say next, and I can't stop myself. "Alright, how about Vaporeon? That's another one I'm considering."

"Vaporeon?" he says with surprise. "Gosh, do I even have a Vaporeon transformation? I thought I did, but I must never really use it."

He looks like he's searching through his memories for a little while. Then he glows and becomes a Vaporeon for me. As soon as the transformation ends, he looks down at his paws and back at his body as though he suddenly became some kind of gross alien.

"Ugh. I feel all dry and sticky," he says. "I don't mean to sound rude, but why would you want to be one of these? It seems like a really weird pick. Most of their strength comes from being around water all the time. I'm not saying it's impossible, but you'd have a rather rough time adapting to life here."

But I don't answer because I'm suddenly spellbound by just the sight of having a Vaporeon in front of me. It's been a few years since I last met one in the real world and I forgot what they looked like. Now I know they don't really look all that suave or majestic, especially compared to an Espeon or Umbreon, but to me it looked just like the picture in that book I'd been thinking so much about lately. So for a moment I'm just standing there, probably with my eyes shimmering like a baby, and saying to myself 'Ooooh, I want to be just like you!'

And just like that, every doubt and counterpoint I'd found against my original choice just evaporates into nothing. I'm where I started. And it didn't even take any logic or reasoning. All it took was one look. One look at my childhood hero, and everything changed back.

The spell is broken when Daemon the door again and demands to have 'his fake Scyther' back. So Domo had to cut his little demonstration short before I could ask him about any of the other Eon evolutions.

But that was okay, because I realized just then I don't really need to speak specifically to Eons for advice. I just need Pokémon of the right type. And I have plenty of those all around me. A few of them are even my friends.


The next morning we wake up and have a team meeting led by Tallie. She gives out the tasks for the day and I end up on an assignment to guard someone's home against intruders while they're away. Leo and Zona get to come with me, and Zachel is the leader for this mission. Sounds simple.

The only weird thing that happened that morning is that Gemstone has gone missing. Tallie doesn't elaborate at all, like she isn't really worried. To be honest, I'm not either. Gemstone being the self-proclaimed team leader that she is, she should be fine on her own. Eva says that if Gemstone isn't back in two days, we'll send a search party. Weird, but okay.

(Of course, I'm sure a lot of us are secretly hoping she doesn't come back at all. I wouldn't be surprised. Not me, though. She hasn't really offended me or bothered me that much yet. So for now I still respect her as a teammate and I hope she's alright.)

For this mission we get to go out the waterfall exit, not the academy one. That's rare. The mission was actually given by some of the resistance members who live in that little village out there that guards the waterfall, and we have to spend the day there because they want to have a break or something. Pretty easy, since we're not the welcoming committee for Gold Division teams, and that town doesn't really get attacked at all.

So of course, once we set up in the little cottage at the edge of the village and define our patrol paths and stuff, I go up to Leo and I say, "Hey, this is going to sound like kind of a weird question, but what's it like being an electric-type Pokémon, exactly? What does it feel like? Just wondering, in case, you know, I decide to be a Jolteon or something."

He answers me, "Oh? Actually, I don't really think that much about it. The electricity is just a normal part of me, kind of like my tail! So when you ask that, it's kind of like asking a Pokémon what it's like to have a tail. It just feels normal."

I say, "Yeah, but even Pokémon with tails can kind of explain what it's like to Pokémon without tails, you know? Like I'm sure you can tell someone 'you have to be careful not to get it stuck in a door all the time' and that kind of thing."

Leo tilts his head like the cute little lion cub he is, and he says, "Yeah, I'm sure there are some things I could tell you about, let me just think for a moment. Umm… it get gets more powerful when I'm super happy or super angry? And if I use a lot of it, it makes me super tired?"

"Isn't that true of most Pokémon powers, though?" I say.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," says Leo. "Sorry, it's like trying to describe what having a tail is like, it's hard. Um… I get super excited when there's a thunderstorm?"

"Yeah, most Pokémon feel better when they're surrounded by their element," I say.

Leo starts looking all ashamed. "Umm, I have to be careful not to zap my friends with it?" he tries telling me. "There's this whole thing with ions, you have to make sure to keep your ions balanced with the things around you, or you'll start zapping everything. It's hard to stay focused when I get annoyed, so that's why I start sparking up when I get mad."

I nod at him. "Okay, that helps a lot, actually," I say. "Sounds like being an electric-type is kind of annoying."

"No, not really?" Leo says. "I mean, I don't know what it's like not to be an electric-type, but to me it's just normal. Kind of like keeping your balance while you walk, you don't really have to pay that much attention to it except sometimes."

"Would you recommend becoming a Jolteon?" I ask.

"Hmm, no, not really?" he says in that way-too-cute little voice of his. "I mean, unless that's what you want! I'd teach you all the tricks I know, like this one where you discharge and zap all the Pokémon all around you, all at once! Electric types are really dangerous in battle. I know Jolteon can run super fast and are really good at fighting. But um… I really don't have much more to tell you about it. Sorry."

I thank him for doing this best and trying to explain things. Then I go to Zona to ask for his perspective on being a fire-type. We have a nice little conversation on the rooftop as the sun beats down on us, which I imagine is quite comfortable for him, but it only makes me wish I was already rid of this thick fur.

"When you're a fire-type, you have a real live fire inside of you," Zona explains. "We call it the ember. It controls all of your fire abilities. You can feel it all the time, and you can imagine how it's doing by the way it feels. You can feel when it's strong and when it's weak. Some Pokémon even think that the fire is your soul, and the rest of your body is just a husk meant to protect it. It doesn't go out until you die."

"Wow, that sounds, um, warm," I say. "You never really get cold, do you?"

"Not usually," he says. "When I get cold, I get really, really cold. But the ember keeps me warm almost all the time. It's quite nice."

"Are you actually immune to fire?" I ask.

"Yes, actually, I am," he says. "That's called 'flash fire'. I can't get burned. If you try to set me on fire, it only makes me stronger. Actually, I think Flareon get flash fire too. We could have fire fights!"

I have to smile. "Wow. So far, out of all the Pokémon I've spoken with, you're doing the best at selling your element to me," I say. "Now I can picture myself as a Flareon. That sounds kind of awesome."

"Really?" says Zona. "I'm not trying to actually sell you anything. I'm just trying to explain the way it feels."

"Well, you're really eloquent at it," I tell him. "So thank you."

"You're welcome," he says with a little smile. "What next? Is there anyone else you want to talk with?"

"Maybe Saura, for a grass-type," I say. "Or Taka, if I could track her down anymore. I don't even know where I'd start with ice-types; I'm starting to think Glaceon is actually even a worse choice our lifestyle here, judging by how few ice-types I've seen. And I guess I could speak with Lyre about being a fairy-type, but I doubt I'd get a coherent answer out of her. I'm sure there are other fairy-types in the base, though."

"Yeah, I'm sure there are," he says.

He pauses for a moment.

"Hey, Evan?" he says.

"Yeah?" I say.

"I hope you get to be a Vaporeon soon," he tells me. "I can't wait to see how happy it makes you. Obviously your heart is set on it, and not even the other Eons could change your mind. So I think you shouldn't keep second-guessing yourself. Actually, now I'm just worried that you're going to second-guess yourself at the last moment and not be a Vaporeon. Can you imagine that?"

I have a physical reaction to hearing that. My heart stops beating for a moment.

And I guess that's the moment where I finally realize how absolutely certain I am of my choice. Yeah, even more than I already was, if you can believe it. Where before I was ashamed of being so affected by a picture in a children's book, I don't feel a hint of shame anymore. Now I want to shout it definitely at the world and at anyone who would dare object.

I was just trying to do my due diligence before making the chance, like Eva suggested. It's funny how I had to look at everything backwards in order to see the answer for real. The idea of not being a Vaporeon? Ouch.

"Wow, you're totally right," I say as I'm still in shock. "That's really the only other alternative, isn't it? If I let something change my mind, then I'll never be a Vaporeon. Just the thought of never getting to be a Vaporeon makes me kind of want to die. In fact, what am I even doing right now? Why am I still in this stupid body? I don't belong in this body anymore. I know what I want! Hey, world! I want to be a fish! Deal with it!"

"You just need to wait until the end of the mission today," Zona says.

"Yeah, but by the time I get back to Iron Town, all the shops will be closed," I say. "And I'm not going around the Gold Division begging for a waterstone. It's just our luck that we got this dumb all-day mission! Now I'll have to wait until we get a day off."

"No, because I actually picked out this mission, just for us," Zona tells me with a huge grin. "I found it on the bulletin board and asked Char if we could take it. The payment is a basic evolution stone of our choosing. I'll give you one guess who's getting it. And here's a hint: it's not a firestone for me."

"Zona, you didn't," I gasp. "Come on. Really? You took this whole job just for me?"

"Leo's in on it too," Zona says. "When I told you yesterday to go talk with the other Eons, that was actually just an excuse to make you leave the hall so I could talk to Char about it. And Char spoke to Tallie, and I found Leo and spoke with him, and now here we are. By the way, Char's really excited about your evolution, too. He says it'll be great having our first water-type on the team."

I cross my neck with his and almost start crying from happiness. I just barely manage not to cry, but boy I'm really shaking. "Thank you," I whisper. "I'm so happy. It's finally happening. It's finally coming true. Thank you for making me realize how badly I wanted this."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Zona replied. "But just so you know, you'll probably have to not cry on me anymore after you evolve. I'll drown!"

"Then maybe you should be a Ninetales, so you won't drown as much," I retort.


And so, the sun finally set on my last day as an Eevee.

I kind of hated Zona for telling me the surprise before it was even noon. It was not easy getting through that last day! I nervously paced around the whole village about five times. Then I jumped into the waterfall just to see if it would make me evolve. Unfortunately, it only reminded me how much I hated wet fur.

Or sticky fur, for that matter. Or tangled fur. Or just fur in general. I wanted it all gone.

Well, I had everything I needed. I had my feral-shard from Basin Canyon. I had my waterstone from the mission. And most importantly, I had a resolute heart. I took all those things, and I evolved that night in the secret hideout as the whole team watched. We made a whole ceremony of it. I noticed Eva was more than a little indignant at me, but everyone else just cheered me on.

Well, everyone except for Gemstone. She was still missing. And Dragonbane. He was on some mission with another team and it was running overtime, apparently. But everyone else was there.

Evolution is… really something. I'll say that much. You feel like you're going to explode, then for a few moments you don't even feel like you have a body. When everything stops, it feels like you're wearing a weird, clunky suit of armor. It's annoying until you start to realize the armor fits perfectly, more perfectly than any armor has any right to fit. And you realize that, just for a single moment of time, you're restored to perfect and pristine health, like you've never taken a single hit for your entire life.

And then… the whole world is different.

Of course, the world isn't actually different. You're the one that changed. But the whole entire world to you is different. You've got sharper eyesight. Larger lungs. Thicker skin. A larger, sturdier frame. A pulsing wealth of power deep inside you, brimming with that aura energy that all Pokémon have. And now, a beautifully new sweet-feeling of elemental energy, all for you to control. A single moment of celestial bliss. That's the only way I could have described it.

Yeah, the whole world is totally different now. Because now I get to explore it for the very first time like this.

I guess another perk of evolving as an Eevee is that nobody will ever ask you again what you're planning to be. Instead, now everyone, everywhere, is going to ask you why you chose the evolution you chose. Especially other Eevee, like me, who wanted to weigh their options. But that's fine. I realized it wasn't all that bad to always have everyone asking you the same question. It's just part of being an Eon, and I just have to accept that. Besides, I needed to have a reason in the first place, right? Because sometimes I would need to remind myself of that reason.

So when Char asked me that question for the first time, the first of the hundreds of thousands of times that I knew Pokémon everywhere were going to be asking me for the rest of my life – "What made you decide to be a Vaporeon?" – I did my best to answer it.

"To begin with, I don't think the choice really matters all that much," I say, absolutely relishing my amazing new voice. "If there's anything I learned by asking other Pokémon about their elements, it's that it all just becomes mundane in the end. It's not fire, or water, or electricity. It's just you. Whatever you pick, that's just going to be who you are. It's just life. So after a while, no matter what you pick, you're not going to think much of it.

"And just like everyone else, you're going to have difficulties that are part of your life. Some difficulties are always there. Some difficulties I brought upon myself with the choices I made. That was another reason I was asking around for advice – I wanted everyone to tell me why I shouldn't be a Vaporeon, so that I'd know what kind of challenges I'd face and be ready to face them. Because when your heart is really set on something, it doesn't matter how easy or hard it is. When you know you want something, you make it work.

"Yeah, I'm not an Umbreon, but I can still fight the Watchers with my shadow-ball. I don't have many places to swim around here, but I'm sure I can build a pool somewhere. And I know I'll get wrecked by all the grass-types and electric-types that like to live around this region of the continent. But I have such awesome friends who I know are willing to support me. And I'm sure there are twelve dozen other problems I haven't even considered. But like I said: I'll make it work. Because this is my choice, and I stand by it.

"But I guess, if you guys just want a straight answer to the question… why did I choose to be a Vaporeon? Well, here's my answer. Because I could. That's all you're getting; end of story. And I'm honored to be the first water-type to serve upon Team Ember, and I hope I can be of great use to you guys."

Applause went all around. It's funny. Just the other day, we were all applauding Saura's return. Now it's my turn to be celebrated. I guess we all have our moments like that where we take turns being in the spotlight. I guess that's the mark of a good, supportive team. Makes me wonder who we'll all be applauding next.

Eventually the applause died down, I realized Zona had pounced on me and was nuzzling my flank, and I hadn't even noticed. I could tell that Leo had wanted to, but he stopped himself at the last moment out of courtesy. Good boy!

Yeah. Then I started to notice that I felt weird and sticky and dry. And my breathing was a bit labored. And I felt oddly much warmer, uncomfortably so. Strange; I thought losing my fur would make me feel colder. Huh. I guess heat regulation worked a lot differently with… skin? Is this actually skin, or just really tiny scales? Huh… it's amazing just how little I actually know about Vaporeon physiology…

But that was just the start of the challenge, and the challenge was all part of the glory of it. I was ready to learn it all, to embrace it all, even the hard parts.

And finally, I turned to my inner, younger self. I was the water-god come to life, stepping off the page. I looked down at the little Eevee and I said, "Hey, Evan. It's me. I know you've waited a long time to meet me, but I'm finally here. Now we can be friends." And that little imaginary fox just bounced up to me and gave me the sweetest little hug, and wailed for joy. "WOOOOOWWWW, SO COOOOOOOL!" he shouted in so much awe, just like I always wanted to do if that ever happened to me. I knew I had made him – made myself – the happiest little kit imaginable. The rest of my life was just going to be the celebration of that moment.

Eva coldly stepped up to me. "Impressive," she said with a voice absolutely drenched in sarcasm. "Never before have I met an Eon so… overly adamant about such a suboptimal evolution choice. I hope you're happy. Just don't come complaining to me when you're dying of thirst or bleeding out from vine whip wounds. I warned you."

"Oh, don't worry, I will be happy," I shot back at her, almost with a hydro-pump to punctuate my sentiment. "Also… 'Adamant'. I think I like the sound of that…!"

*Chapter 114*: Chapter 83: I Was Always Here

o

Chapter 83

Okay, so Dad's gone.

Okay. Okay.

Okay.

I can handle this.

This is just like when I lost Mom. Just need to stop thinking about it so much.

I can get over it. I did it once. I can do it again.

I'm a grownup. I can support myself. I could support myself ever since I joined Team Chasm. Dad even said so.

Dad even said this would happen someday. He always told me he works on a team that runs very dangerous missions. He always warned me he might not come home someday.

That's why he said he loves me every time we met. He always wanted that to be the last thing he ever said to me. And it was.

Hey. Children are supposed to outlive their parents. That's how the world works. Parents prepare you for the world as much as they can. Then you leave and go do stuff on your own. Then they die before you. That's the way things are supposed to be.

Dad taught me all he knew. He taught me how to fight. He showed me 'earth power' fissures. He taught me how an elite team is supposed to be run.

So really, everything went right. Everything went the way it's supposed to happen. I have no reason to whine, or to scream and cry, or to make this everyone else's problem. I have no reason to be a worse teammate because of this.

I just joined this team. I've got to make a good impression. Got to be proud and strong and never make any mistakes.

I just need to keep telling myself this. It's fine. Everything's fine. Just keep walking.

…Walking?

Wait, where am I?

I'm in some sort of field in the middle of nowhere.

I'm already past all the forest?

Is there a road nearby?

Where was I going?

Um… I feel like I was doing something important. Was I running a mission?

Why am I all alone?

Wait, is it almost evening? The sun is going down?

Where am I going to hide from the Watchers? I can fight them, but not all night!

What do I do?

Okay, Gemstone. Don't panic. Be rational about this. Stay sane.

Try to remember the last thing you were doing.

The last thing I was doing…

The banquet with Team Remorse. We all got feral-shards. Scythe ran off and Char chased him. We found out that Domo was pretending to be Scythe for who knows how long.

What happened after that?

The team meeting. Char told us about our new secret mission. We have to find Scythe.

Oh, is that what I'm doing? I'm looking for Scythe?

No, that can't be it. I wouldn't be all alone. There had to be something else that happened.

Char also said something about evolving. What did he say?

He said we didn't have to evolve if we don't want. We can give our feral-shards to Zachel for safekeeping.

That's right. I gave my feral-shard to Zachel.

Or… did I? I was going to.

No, I got distracted before I could do that. Something happened.

Eva said she wanted to have a talk with me. That's…

Oh. She told me that dad's gone. That's why he didn't come back from Basin Canyon yet. He was never coming back. Because he's gone.

And I can't remember anything else after that. Did I block it out of my head?

Did I run away in rage? I ran away, didn't I?

Did I cry in front of everyone? Did I throw a fit?

I hope I didn't make a scene.

So… is that it? Is that why I'm here? I should just go back now, right? It's getting late. Being so far out here at this hour is irresponsible of me. I should figure out which direction I ran, and…

Wait. No. That's still not everything.

There's something else going on. I'm here for a reason.

I'm going somewhere. I remember now. I decided to go somewhere. And I'm at least halfway there, so I can't go back now.

I just… need to remember where I was going.

There's the sunset. I'm going west.

What's out west?

"Hey, everything alright? Did you lose the way or something?"

Someone's voice comes out of nowhere. I flip out. I realize I probably made a loud embarrassing shriek. But I don't care.

Who's following me?

I turn to look. At first I don't see anyone. Suddenly I notice a stupid Skitty staring at me.

Wait, this Skitty is familiar. I know him. I've only known him for a few days, but he's very difficult to forget.

The new teammate. The one that blasted me with that stupid normal-type solar beam, however the blazes that's supposed to work. I'm still angry about that. That shouldn't even be possible.

"Dragonbane…?!"

"Hi! Are you okay, Gemstone?"

This doesn't make any sense. Just a second ago, he wasn't here.

"What the heck are you doing here? How did you find me?!"

Dragonbane looks very confused. For some reason that makes my stomach go even more sour.

He says, "What do you mean? I was here the whole time."

That's impossible.

Well, maybe. I did just black out for like half a day, so anything could have happened.

I say, "You mean you followed me all the way here?"

"Yeah!"

"Why?"

"Because we're teammates!"

"…So?"

He looks at me sad and he says, "Teammates aren't supposed to leave one another alone! I wanted to make sure you're going to be okay. Besides, technically it's against the rules to run a mission all by yourself like this. You gotta take someone with you."

"Run… a mission? Is… that what I'm doing?"

"Well, that's what you told me you were doing!"

"I… did?"

"Yeah! And I offered to be your partner on the mission. And you didn't object to it. So I just followed along to make sure nothing bad happened to you."

"Well, if I would have noticed you there, I probably would have objected a lot sooner."

"Wait, Gemstone. I know you've been quiet, but… Did you really not notice me until just now? We've been walking for like six hours."

He looks really concerned about me. Like, super concerned. I don't see why someone who blasted me in the face point-blank with a solar beam would want to be concerned about me.

"Dragonbane… did I ever tell you where I was going?"

"Of course you did."

"Well… where is it? Where did I say we were going?"

"You said we were going to Basin Canyon, of course! You said you had a really important mission there, but you never told me what it is. And I've always wanted to go to Basin Canyon myself."

Something is telling me maybe I should be worried about myself too.

I look at the sky. I don't like how dark it's getting. Or how cold it's getting. And I don't like how I can't hear any wildlife. It looks like we're about to go into the badlands. Nothing lives there.

Okay. Fine. I'll be humble, just this once, and admit that maybe I made a mistake and not everything is okay. Maybe this stupid Skitty can help me.

I still hate it. But after blacking out for six hours, I don't think I have a right to argue right now.

"Dragonbane… I think I need to admit something to you."

"Yeah?"

"I blocked the last six hours out of my mind completely. I have no idea where I am, or what I was doing. I don't even remember telling you I was going on a mission. I don't remember letting you come with me. I don't really remember anything."

"That's… understandable."

"Understandable? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I know you just found out about your dad dying. You were trying to keep yourself together but I could tell you were hurting a lot. That's why I was worried about you going somewhere all alone. When you hurt that much, you might let something bad happen to you. Or… y'know, you might just get lonely. That's bad too."

"How did you know my dad died? I thought Eva told me that in secret."

"Oh! Because you told me. That's actually the last thing you told me before you left."

I'm starting to feel really defeated. How do I know so little about what happened to me?

I tell him, "Sorry, I didn't remember. Look… I'm not okay right now, alright? I don't even remember why I was going to Basin Canyon. Can you… help us find a way to hide from the Watchers for the night?"

"Hey! Why else do you think I'm here?"

"Thanks."

We keep going deeper into the badlands and it's getting darker. It doesn't look like there's anything around, and the wind chill is really getting to me. Soon it'll be too dark to see anything.

Dragonbane spots a flat rock up ahead that I didn't notice.

"How… did you spot that?" I ask. "For that matter, how do you even see anything?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"How do you Skitty see anything with your eyes closed all the time?"

"Oh! Actually, they're not closed. I'm just squinting. Skitty have such sensitive eyesight that we have to squint almost all the time. But our eyesight is actually really good."

"So… you're telling me you actually can open your eyes?"

"Y-yeah! Of course I can!"

"Prove it. I want to see."

So he does it. He opens his eyes. I guess the sunlight is low enough for him to handle it.

I… don't know what else I expected. They're just normal eyes. Black and beady with white pupils.

Oh, they're the same as Delcatty eyes. That makes a lot of sense, actually.

He's looking at me like a young and innocent little puppy. Even though he's taller than me, it still feels like he's looking up at me. Like a big baby. It makes me feel kind of weird so I turn away.

"I see," I tell him, just so I sound like I appreciate that he did what I asked.

"Can you use your earth power and break the ground here?" he asks. "Just like you caved in the bunker? If you do that, we can hide under the rock. Just be careful not to break the rock too."

"Wait, you know I caved in the bunker?"

"Gemstone, everyone knows you caved in the bunker."

I try to cast him an evil eye, but his eyes are still open and he looks too, ugh, adorable to be angry at. So instead I just focus my power into my paws.

"No, I can't do earth power here. That would make the rock explode. But I can dig."

I focus until I have giant glowing energy claws at the end of my paws, and I dig down underneath the huge flat rock. The rock goes deeper into the ground than it looked, but I burrow right down without caring where I'm flinging the dirt. I haven't dug a hole this deep in a while and it's more tiring than I thought. But the den doesn't need to be very big, just big enough for a tiny cat and a tinier bunny to wedge under it. With some modest space between us, of course. I don't want to poison him.

I'm starting to see starlight and maybe some Watchers floating up there. So I tell him to get down to safety. When he climbs down into the trench, his stupid eyes are still open but I feel too weird about asking him to close them again, so I just ignore him.

Why? Because Dragonbane is my teammate, I don't want to feel like I'm his mother and he's my child whenever he looks at me, okay? That's seriously weird. Hopefully he takes the hint when he notices I'm averting my gaze whenever he looks at me.

He settles in, and then out of nowhere he says, "Are you going to see your dad?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was thinking: you said you don't know why you're here, but maybe you're going to Basin Canyon so you can visit your dad's grave? Maybe that's why you decided to go there right after finding out he died?"

I stop to think about it for a second. That does sound like something I'd want to do.

"Yeah, let's go with that," I say. "I don't know why I was going there in the first place, but that can be the reason I'm going there now. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Now it's my turn to ask him a weird question.

I kind of don't want to ask him, it feels, I don't know, personal. I'm not good with personal things. I try to keep this stuff professional. He's my teammate, he's not my friend yet.

"Since nobody else is here, I guess I should ask you something. When you beat me in that fight, you said I might not realize it, but I'm a dragon. Just what did you mean by that?"

I kind of try to sound accusatory just in case it was a silly insult or something, but really I was just baffled by it.

"Oh… I was just trying to say that I think you have the heart of a dragon," he offers innocently. "I know you haven't really done much for Team Ember yet, but even just talking with you, already I can tell that you're proud and you're super fierce and you like having authority and you know how to get what you want. You're just like a dragon."

"So it wasn't supposed to be some kind of a hidden insult? I thought you hate dragons? I thought you wanted to kill them all?"

"Oh, no! No no no! I actually admire dragons a lot. I only want to slay the evil ones."

"I thought all dragons were evil to you."

"Oh no, of course not. Dragons are good at fighting one another too, so if I can make friends with them, they can help me fight the evil dragons."

Begrudgingly I look at him and his stupid cute little eyes. I guess he likes having them open when it's dark. I never knew that about Skitty.

"Uh… thanks, I guess," I grumble. "Sometimes I only feel like I'm strong when I'm pretending to be strong. I don't know why I'm admitting this to you."

"You are," he says. "I can already tell that one of these days, you'll do something so incredible that you're going to surprise everyone. I can't wait to see it happen."

"Well, I can't wait for that to happen either."

I realize something about Dragonbane just then. It was staring me in the face the whole time, but I didn't think hard enough about it. I guess I tried not to see it, just like I tried not to look him in the eyes.

It's even in his name. Dragonbane. He lost his best friend to a Hydreigon.

I say, "You came with me because you know how I feel, don't you?"

He looks rather sad, but he nods. "Yeah, that's right," he says. "I try not to remember how bad I felt. But it was real bad. I was a wreck. I did a bunch of stupid stuff. Nearly got myself killed. Worst of all, there was nobody to keep me company. The one who always kept me company was… well… yeah. He was dead. So when I saw you storm off, I knew just how you felt. I know other Pokémon probably think you need time alone after hearing that. But I saw you and I knew you needed company."

"Well… thanks," I say again. "I guess I did need company. I thought I could handle it myself. Before I joined Team Chasm, my mom died and… dad helped show me how to be strong enough to handle it. I mean, I didn't know her too well, she was only ever around the base sometimes… but I still cared about her and… I guess I tricked myself into thinking I handled it all by myself. But I realize now that I didn't handle it myself. Dad helped me through it."

"I'm really sorry. What happened, if I can ask?"

"She drowned," I said. "She was an expert spelunker. She went on hundreds of cave expeditions, hunted for treasure and rescued Pokémon. One day she was exploring a cave, and it filled up with water, and she couldn't get out in time. After she didn't come back for a few weeks, Scythe sent some of his team on a rescue mission, and they found her body."

Here I am wedged in a rough, cramped ditch under a rock. Now that I remembered the story of my mom, I know I'm going to have nightmares about this space filling up with water.

"Oh… that's sad, but I guess it's kind of happy too," he says.

"Happy? How so?"

"It sounds like she died doing what she loved."

I have to sigh. "Dad kind of said the same thing, actually. Makes me kind of wish I'll die doing what I love."

"What's that? What do you love doing?"

Again I don't know why I'm being so honest with this kid. I guess I'm just too lazy right now to stay in character.

I just say, "I… don't know. Really, I don't. I… guess I like showing the world how strong and smart I am. So maybe you're right. Maybe… I just like being a dragon."

I give him an evil eye. "By the way, we never had this conversation, okay? Nobody hears about this. I'm a grownup. I don't want people thinking I'm a child who just spills their heart to someone whenever I'm alone."

"Alright, make you a deal," he says. "If I ever tell any of your secrets, you can tell them one of mine. How about my real name?"

"You… have a real name? You're not Dragonbane? Oh… I guess that makes sense. Since I guess your reason for hating dragons didn't exist when you hatched."

"Yeah, and I hate my real name so much. It's on all the official records and everything. But that's the first thing I'm going to change when I evolve. I'm going to change my name to Dragonbane for real."

"Alright, so what's your real name? It can't be that bad."

"Rufus… or, as all the bullies called me, Rufus the Doofus. Ughhhhh."

He shudders when he says it. And I'll admit, I had to try really, really hard not to laugh at him.

"I hate that name more than I hate dragons," he even says. And yeah, he looks as fed up with the name as I feel fed up with spending the night in a ditch in the middle of nowhere.

"Okay. It's a pact, then," I say. "You don't tell anyone I got lost and needed help getting to Basin Canyon, and I won't tell anyone your real name."

"Deal," he says.

It's much easier than I expected to sleep. I hate to admit it but the burrow is too comfortable and cozy. Probably because this is now Nidoran sleep in the wild. Maybe I'm a dragon on the inside, but I'm a ground-type too.

Hope Dragonbane rests as well as I do. We've still got a long day of walking tomorrow and I might need him.


I blacked out for six hours again. This time it was on purpose. I got a good night's rest out of it.

Felt like I had some crazy dreams, but I don't remember them. I only remember how they felt. Happy and sad at the same time. Made me want to get to Basin Canyon faster.

After thinking about it for a while and sleeping on it, yeah. That's what I want. I want to see my dad again one last time. Even if it's just his grave. I want to tell him one last time that I love him. That's exactly what I need.

There's no doubt in my mind this is exactly why I decided to come all this way.

We traverse a dry desert in the early morning. There's nothing in any direction, but somehow I know where I'm going. Everyone knows where Basin Canyon is.

"Do you know where we're going?" asks Dragonbane.

"Of course I do," I tell him. "Everyone knows basically where Basin Canyon is. You go far enough west and a little south of the Gold Division and you'll hit it in a few days. It's kind of hard to miss."

"Yeah, but… do you know how to get into the actual base in there? For all you know, the entrance could be like a hundred leagues up north and we'd never know. Also, what if the entrance is down at the bottom? How are we going to get down there?"

I have no flipping idea. But of course I don't say that to his face. I start talking and hope that I sound smart.

"There's a way in, and it's not far from here," I tell him. "There's a road that goes from here to Iron Town, Route 104 or whatever it's called. The way in is probably around there."

"Hm, how do you figure?"

"If it were any further away, there's no way my dad or any of Team Remorse would have made trips to the canyon so quickly."

"What if they used secret passages to get in?"

I grumble. Too many questions. "Now that the Sandslash are settled back in, there'd be no reason for them to use secret entrances. Also, aren't you supposed to make evolution pilgrimage to Basin Canyon now? How is anyone supposed to do that if nobody knows how to get in? For all anyone knows, maybe I'm going there to evolve."

"Well alright, but I don't see anyone else besides us making a pilgrimage here," he says.

I look around in a vain attempt to maybe spot someone and prove him wrong. Probably pointless since he has much better eyesight than me apparently. The only thing I do notice is that he's squinting again, the way Skitty are supposed to look. Thank goodness.

"We'll worry about that when we get there," I tell him. "I have a feeling it's not going to be much of a problem."

"Alright, I trust you. You're the leader."

Weird. Pokémon don't usually say that to me. I usually have to yell at them first before they do what I say.

It's true. I have this feeling I know how to get in. I can't describe it, but I know.

Basin Canyon is creepy from the outside. You hear it long before you ever see it. There's this wind that's always howling down there.

But when you get there and you can see the canyon, it's actually pretty beautiful.

And by that, I mean it's TERRIFYING because oh Groudon, I'm scared of heights. I really tried to stand close to the edge to get a better view but no. No, I can't. It's too much. And that windy sound is always just making me think I'm going to suddenly get blown off the edge like a lost little leaf.

No way I'm admitting to that, though.

"Alright, we're here! What next, o fearless leader?"

"Where are my dragon wings when I need them…" I grumble under my breath and back away really far from the edge. "Um… now we look for a way down."

"Oh! You mean like that?"

"Like what?"

"Come here! I'll show you!"

I follow him for like thirty solid minutes. We reach a weird outcropping where the cliffside bulges a little bit into a sort of balcony. There's a sign there. I get closer and there's an arrow on the sign pointing to the left. I look in that direction and…

Oh. Stairs. There's an entire staircase on the canyon wall going all the way down. It's decently wide and even has a guardrail.

How very convenient. And fortunate.

"Dragonbane. How in great Groudon's name did you see this from all the way back there?"

"Told 'ya, I just have good eyesight."

"That's ridiculous."

He giggles at me. "You know what else is ridiculous? That somehow you knew this staircase was even here."

"I… did." I just say, still astounded. I was just saying stuff and trying to sound competent, but somehow I was actually right.

"Maybe you were right and it just made sense, but I never would have expected to run into this. I might have good eyesight, but you have good intuition! That's something I'd rather have. It's like having good eyesight into the future."

We go down the stairs. At first I take it slow because I have to hop down every single step, and I really don't want to fall down these stairs. Also because the view is gorgeous. The far side of the canyon looks like its own horizon with its own colorful sunrise.

I realize how hungry I am. I haven't eaten in almost an entire day now. I start booking it down the stairs.

"Hey, wait up!" Dragonbane shouts. "You're going too fast!"

I don't want to admit that I'm hungry. I just say, "We're wasting time. Got to move faster."

"Sorry! I'm a little hungry, that's all. Belly hurts."

"Well if you're hungry, you should move faster so we can get there sooner!"

"Alright, yeah. Good point. I'll do my best."

It feels like two hours as we're descending the stairs. I'm starting to get thirsty. My hind legs are sore from having to thump down every step. Maybe this whole trip was a mistake and we'll get stranded here halfway down the cliffside.

"Hey, there are Pokémon down there!" says Dragonbane. "A bunch of Sandshrew."

I try to squint ahead but I don't see anything yet. Ridiculous. But it gives me the strength to keep up the pace. Eventually I see them. Fifty or so Sandshrew working at the canyon floor. Trying to pave a road or something. They see us as soon as we get to the bottom of the stairs. Two of them come up to us.

"Travelers!" he says. "Welcome! Are you walking the path of evolution?"

At first I want to just outright tell them the real reason I'm here, and ask for directions to the burial grounds. But I don't want them to feel sorry for me or anything. So I decide to just say I'm going to evolve. I'll figure out where dad is buried later if I have to.

But Dragonbane says "We've come to visit those lost in the battle. Can you direct us to the cemetery?"

Well, forget that thought, I guess.

"We certainly can. My team is busy at the moment, but I can call for someone who may guide you."

I say, "Actually, before we go to the cemetery, can we just go inside for a bit? We're both starving."

"Oh, that can be arranged as well. You will find the most hospitality here by entering through Evolution Hall, as we've set up that entrance special for travelers like yourself. It's about two hours downstream. Er, south. That way. It is marked by blue fires."

I growl along with my stomach. Augh, we just came from there! We were only at the top of the cliff.

"Think maybe you guys should build a staircase closer to the Evolution Hall, then?" I say admittedly rather rudely.

"That is absolutely on the agenda! Apologies for the inconvenience," he says.

We walk another two hours and by the end I feel like I'm dying. I want to tell Dragonbane to just have me buried next to dad. I almost want to barge in one of the random burrow-holes in the wall and storm the place for food. I ignore everything and keep walking. I know Dragonbane probably feels the same way. The least I can do is not complain and make it sound like my hunger is worse than his.

What a relief to finally find the entrance. The cliffside is carved into an awning held up by thick gray pillars. There are chains tied between the pillars, and huge blue lanterns hanging from the chains. A front entrance if ever I've seen one. Maybe the Gold Division entrances would look like this if we didn't have to hide them from the world.

There's no welcoming committee in sight. We just wander in. I'm expecting a system of tunnels like the way Dad always described it. I'm totally not prepared for what Basin Canyon actually looks like. The front room is this super-massive temple that looks like it's all on fire. Except it's not; there's just one wall at the very end that's on fire.

It might have been beautiful if I wasn't starving to death.

It takes forever to cross the room. We're halfway to the wall of fire when a Sandslash wanders in and notices us.

"Oh! Greetings! Are you visitors, by chance, or here on official business? Shall I fetch the princes?"

We're a dumb Skitty and Nidoran. I don't know what kind of official business she thinks we could possibly have with princes.

"Actually, do you have anything to eat? We walked for almost two days straight and we're about to pass out from hunger," says Dragonbane.

"Oh, yes! Right this way, my good sirs. We have plenty to share. Sorry that we don't exactly have a guest relations team just yet. We are still settling in."

Dragonbane gives me a stupid grin of amusement.

"Don't worry, I get that a lot," I tell him. "Really used to it by now."

"Yeah, so do I," he says. "You wouldn't believe how many people think I'm a girl until I talk. It's funny."

"Well, I believe it. I thought you were a girl at first, too."

The Sandslash takes us to a huge room stockpiled with food and I almost die of happiness the moment I see it all.

"Help yourself, this is all for our guests," she says. "Just don't make a mess, or we'll make you clean it up yourself! When you're ready, you can follow the signs back to the Evolution Hall, and I'll let someone else know you're here so they can guide you wherever you want to go next. Anyway, take care!"

Towers of baked bread. Bowls of berries. Honey balls. A drinking fountain. They have weirder stuff too, like gemstone candy for the rock-types and I guess for Sableye. (Though Sableye don't evolve so I don't know why they'd be coming to Basin Canyon.)

They even have poison nectar. It's a weird, thick drink that only poison-types can drink without getting sick.

It's a little cold in here, I guess to keep everything fresh. But I don't even care. I just bounce in and eat my fill, and I clean up after myself so that Dragonbane doesn't cast me a look of disapproval. Probably with his eyes open.

We rest for a moment and then we go back to the big fiery Evolution Hall. I actually had no idea which direction to go, and I didn't see any of the signs the Sandslash was talking about, so I just sort of wander back in the direction I thought we came from, and we end up in the right place. Dragonbane seems impressed.

Now there's another Sandslash there. He's up near the wall of fire. As we approach closer, it becomes really apparent this is a large and important figure. He seems preoccupied with something, like he's watching for something in the wall of fire. Weird.

"Um, hello?" Dragonbane says when we get close.

The Sandslash turns around and bows to us. "Welcome, visitors," he says. "I am King Shiel, but you are free to address me as a prince. Have you come to walk the path of evolution?"

Oh. This question again, and from the actual king himself. Wow, what have we walked into?

They're all about evolution here now, aren't they? Makes sense. I know Dragonbane is just going to answer for me like he did last time. I interrupt him just as he starts to talk.

"Yes. I am," I say. "I have come here to evolve."

Dragonbane looks at me in wide-eyed surprise. It's delicious.

"And you, Skitty?" says the prince.

"Hmmmmmmmmm Nah. I'm good," he says. "I'm just a traveling companion for her. She's the reason I'm here."

"Very well, then," says the prince. "What is your name, young miss?"

"Gemstone," I say. Unlike Rufus the Doofus here, I'm very happy with my name and I don't plan on changing it when I evolve.

"Well, miss Gemstone, you should be pleased to know that you are the first Pokémon to make the pilgrimage here for evolution."

I have to blink in surprise. "What? Really? Nobody else has come here to evolve yet?"

"Not from the outside, no," he says. "This chamber has only been called the Evolution Hall for a mere few days. Word has not yet spread far and wide of our new traditions. So, you are the very first."

"…Oh, that's… something," I say. I'm at a loss for words, really.

"Hey, if you've never done the evolving ceremony before, do you even know how it's supposed to work?"

"We have conducted the ceremony three times already with batches of our own people," he assures. "Now, while I could initiate the ceremony right at this moment just for you, I would be honored if you would be willing to wait until tomorrow, when we have our next public ceremony planned, so that more of my people might witness the historic occasion. But you are the guest, and the decision is yours. What do you say?"

"Fine," I say, pretending like I am not secretly thrilled about being the center of so much attention! "We'll wait for tomorrow. Are there places we can stay the night?"

"Oh, certainly! This is an entire underground castle, with an even larger feral-shard mine down below. There are barely enough of us to occupy the place, so of course we have plenty of extra room for our visitors."

I wanted to say "Yeah… but are they good places to stay, or just random nooks and crannies in the caves?" But I decide against it. Now that I'm not hungry anymore, I have no excuse to be whining and complaining about free hospitality.

As we're being sent to our rooms, Dragonbane looks at me and says "So, you really just decided you want to evolve after all? How come?"

"Well, it's…" I start talking but I stop myself. What am I doing? Why am I suddenly being so honest with this doofus? There's really no point in telling him the truth. I could just say "Because I want to" and leave it at that.

I just blurt it out anyway. "I want to be stronger for when I visit my dad for the last time," I say. "I'm afraid I'll break down crying as soon as I see his grave. So I… want… I want to show him how much I've grown up. And how… good he… made me…"

Oh blast it all. I'm already starting to cry. I let my guard down for one moment and I start bawling like a baby. Just kill me already.

"Aww, that's so sweet," says Dragonbane. Because of course he did.

"Shut up," I tell him, trying to shake the tear-droplets off my face. "Forget I said anything."


Now this next part.

The crazy part.

What I'm about to put here, you don't have to believe it really happened. I wouldn't blame you.

If someone was telling this to me, I wouldn't believe it really happened, either.

You're free to believe I'm just making up this whole next part to rewrite my own narrative.

You're free to believe I'm a filthy liar who's making up tall tales for attention. It wouldn't be the first time.

I fully admit there are plenty of other ways I could have learned what I learned. Lots of other ways it could have happened.

So believe what you want. It's not going to change the way I'm telling the story.

I'm going to tell you what happened to me that night.

The room we stayed in wasn't all that bad. It was not as good as the Team Ember rooms, but it was decent. Turns out that Basin Canyon has whole entire hallways of these rooms for visitors, like a hotel almost. I'm sure the Gold Division teams stayed in some of these places when they worked here. Now they're for travelers who 'walk the path of evolution.'

I wonder which room my dad stayed in.

It was already late afternoon by the time we got to Basin Canyon in the first place, so there wasn't much time left in the day. We were shown around a few of the nearby halls and good lord they're all so gaudy for being just a bunch of underground caves. The place obviously wants to be a castle.

Then we retire to the rooms and I have one last talk with Dragonbane for the day. I forget what it was even about. I think I was bragging about going down in history as the first one to journey to Basin Canyon for evolving.

But then I fell asleep.

It was an instant black-out. Just like when I found myself in the wilderness for no reason.

I just blink and suddenly things are different.

It's the middle of the night. The torches were magically dimmed to their lowest settings, so it's dark. Dragonbane is all curled up on his bed and passed out with a huge stupid grin on his face like he's having an amazing dream. Maybe a dream about befriending dragons, or slaying dragons. Or both at once.

"Gemstone," says a voice.

My ears perk.

Not this again. Did someone else sneak into the room when I wasn't paying attention? I look around and see that nope, nobody here but Dragonbane, and he definitely isn't the one talking.

"Come to me."

No.

It can't be.

Dad?

I mean, I know I'm delusional sometimes but… dad is dead.

And yet he's talking to me. That's his voice. It's soft and quiet but it's definitely his voice.

"It's okay, my little sparkle-stone. Trust me. Follow my voice. I'll guide you."

That's impossible. Dad was the only one who ever called me that. Dad only called me that in private, too. Nobody else knows that name.

Every muscle in my body is clenching in dread. Every bit of sense I have left is telling me this is wrong, this is dangerous, this is a trap.

But my body is moving on its own and I'm going anyway.

I creep out into the hall of guest rooms. Everything is dark and quiet. All the torches are dimmed and half of them are put out. No Sandslash to be seen anywhere.

"This way."

The voice sounds like it's so far away, yet it's so clear to me. Telepathy? There's no way the Sandslash aren't hearing this too.

"Now this way."

I follow the voice down the hall. Around the corner. Down a corridor I hadn't been in yet. This place is stupidly complex. I don't see how everyone doesn't get lost in here all the time.

"You're not going to get lost. Keep following my voice."

I follow the voice through like twelve different halls and chambers. There's no way I'm ever going to remember how I got here. Strangely it keeps getting darker, too. All the lights are out. Even the torches I thought were supposed to be permanent.

Now it all just feels like a dungeon.

"I helped build these halls," says the voice. "I know them well. Trust me."

I don't have much of a choice anymore. I'm completely lost.

Worse yet, the voice takes me down a spiral staircase. For like three floors.

This had better really be my dad somehow. And not some Darkrai or something messing with me. Am I dreaming? This feels surreal. And I do have crazy dreams a lot. I never remember them. But I always remember how they feel.

Happy and sad at the same time.

"Almost there, sparkle-stone. Stay focused. Keep going. Don't be afraid."

I'm walking down a long, dark, damp cave. Completely black. My dark vision isn't helping much because there's just nothing down here. No torches.

This really feels just like a cave now. The castles are all gone. This is just wet, dirty, smelly cave, infinitely going straight forward.

"Dad…?" I shout down the tunnel. "Dad? Are you here?"

"My sweet little Gemstone. I was always here."

There, in the darkness in front of me, something glowing.

A Nidoking.

A big, strong, brave, proud Nidoking.

This is a dream.

Or this is a ghost.

There's no way this can be real.

And yet… I scamper up to him as fast as I can make my legs go.

Dad welcomes me with open arms. I jump into them.

He's real. He touches me. He holds me.

"There's my little girl…" he whispers. "So brave and strong for coming so far."

"Dad… Dad… You're… you're really here." Yep. I'm bawling. Nothing can stop me.

"Yes, and no," says Dad.

I look up at him. He smiles down at me. Happy and sad at the same time.

"I don't really look like this," he says. "This is just a form I'm projecting for you. But I am really touching you. I can still do that."

"You were calling to me…" I gasp. "I remember now. That's why I came all the way here. Eva told me you were dead. I cried myself asleep, and had a dream about you. You were calling to me! You were visiting me in my dreams and I just never remembered them. Y-you even told me where to go… and you told me about the stairs down into the canyon too!"

"Yeah. Smart little girl you are," he says so proudly. "As it turns out, spirits can get special permission to stay tethered to the place where they died for a little while. Not forever, though. I'll fade away eventually. And I have to stay close to the place where I died, so I had to get you to come here. But I stayed here because I wanted to see you one last time."

"Oh dad…" I whisper, hugging him tight. "I'm so sorry… this wasn't supposed to happen…"

Dad pets my ears. "What do you mean, sparkle-stone? None of this was your fault. Don't blame yourself."

"I know. I just don't care. I love you. I miss you. I don't know if I'm ready to be alone yet."

"But you're not alone. You never were and you never will be. You're such a proud and determined girl, and you have so many great teammates to stand by your side just like I had."

"I know. But I don't have you anymore. Or mom. I have to finish growing up all by myself now."

"No, no! Look me in the eyes, Gemstone. Listen. You don't have to grow up all by yourself."

I look him in the eyes. This perfect, caring father cradling me and glowing in the dark.

He's harder to look at than Dragonbane is with his eyes open. But I look at him. Because this is the last I'm ever going to see of him, and I need to remember this.

Even if this is a dream, I really, really need to remember this dream and not just forget it when I wake up.

"You just have to learn to show a little bit of your weakness every once in a while," he says. "I know you never wanted to feel like you're being a burden on anyone else. But sometimes it's okay to let them see you're not perfect. Everyone has little things they can give you, little lessons they can teach. You just have to learn to admit that you need them."

"But… I don't want to be whiny," I answer. "How can I demand anyone else help me and not have them just hate me? I don't want to be like my awful classmates that everyone hates."

"Because you don't have to demand anything," he says. "Just… show them you're imperfect. Not too much that you're begging for pity… but just a little bit. Just enough. Then you have to let them decide to help you. Some of them won't help you. But some of them will. And those that do… those are the Pokémon you might call your friends. Do you understand? We are kings and queens. We are high and mighty and proud creatures. But we just need to learn to be humble sometimes."

"Okay, Dad. Alright. I'll… try to be more humble. I hate it. But I'll try."

"Well, do you hate the young boy who helped you come here? With his impossibly-sharp eyesight?"

"No. Not really. I don't hate him."

"Then you don't have to hate being humble. Because that's what it gets you."

"Alright. I'll try to be better. I promise."

"Good girl."

We hug for a while. I want it to feel like forever.

"So… there's really such a thing as ghosts?" I ask dad once I kind of stop pathetically sobbing. "Real ghosts? That aren't just ghost Pokémon?"

"That's right," he says. "Ghost Pokémon are living beings that have really fun powers. But no, Pokémon don't suddenly turn into ghost-types when they die!"

"Speak for yourself, Rocky."

A new voice! I turn around in Dad's arms. There's another ghost standing there watching me.

It's a Marowak. With really dark-black scales. And it's holding a bone club with green fire on both its ends.

Marrow? He looks so different…

He hoists his bone club up on his shoulders.

"What your father is neglecting to tell you is that we have a duty to perform in return for staying here," says the ghost of Marrow. "For as long as we stay here, we have to roam the halls and help Pokémon not wander into the mystery dungeons when they're not supposed to. And the tribe never sleeps, so you've got to get back on your patrol."

"Oh, shut it, Jake. I'm having a moment here."

"Eh. Suit yourself. Don't come whining to me when you break the contract and fade away. Oh wait… you couldn't."

"Blah," says Dad, bouncing me in his arms. "It's just my luck. I have to keep doing the same job I've basically been doing for the past four years, even after death."

"Life's not fair! Death's not fair! Get over it, Rocky. Nothing's ever fair." Marrow looks at me and says, "But sometimes, if you're lucky, things can be fun. Don't forget it, kiddo."

"Thank you for staying, Dad," I whisper to him. "Can I come back and visit you sometime?"

"Maybe. We'll see. It's not as easy as you'd think," he says.

Marrow appears to adjust his helmet. "Hey, uh, Rocky… so when are you going to tell her the real reason you called her here? You're kinda runnin' out of time. You want me to tell her for you?"

Dad chuckles. "Okay, okay. I'll tell her, I'll tell her," he says. "Gemstone… the real reason I stayed behind was because I had one last thing I never got to tell you, that I think you should know. There's… another reason you won't be all alone. Not just yet, at least."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Because your father is still alive."

I stare at him blankly for a solid moment. He only smiles proudly at me.

"Y-you're still alive?"

"No, silly girl," he says. "I was only ever your foster father. Your real father was afraid of trying to raise you. He didn't think he'd do a very good job. So he offered your egg to me and asked me not to tell you who your real father is. Because he thought that a Nidoking would have a better time with a Nidoran. And I guess he was right. I think I did a fairly good job, if I might say so myself."

"Oh… you did…" I tell him, hugging him tight. "You were such a wonderful dad. You were so amazing. Thank you… I'm always going to remember you as my dad forever. But… who's my real father, then? I… kind of want to go meet him if I can."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard, since he's around nearly all the time," Dad said. "Your real father is Raptor. And he's super proud of you too, just like I am. But be patient with him, okay? He doesn't take responsibility very well. At least, the fatherly kind of responsibility."

"Alright. I'll be nice to him. I promise," I say.

"Well… I've kind of got to go now," he says, peering over at Marrow who's standing there waiting impatiently. "Maybe I'll come haunt your dreams some other time. And hey… my little sparkle-stone?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Dad. Forever. And I'm going to grow up to be just as awesome as you were."

"That's my girl."


I snap awake, like I'd never even moved. It's morning.

I finally did it. I remembered my dream.

This time it might not have been just a dream. Maybe that really was Dad coming back to tell me goodbye.

There might be a way I can find out whether or not it's real, though. I'll have to do that later.

Now it's time to evolve.

I look over. Dragonbane is still on the other bed, sleeping like a rock.

I realize something.

If that dream was real, and if that was really Dad, and if he was really telling the truth.

Dragonbane was right. That stupid doofus was right.

I guess… I am part dragon after all.

Hah.

Hahah.

I guess that explains everything, then.

We get up and moving for the day. We visit the food room and eat a great breakfast. We even take baths because Basin Canyon somehow has a water supply. And then we start preparing for the evolving ceremony. It's a huge and important ceremony that the Sandslash take way too seriously. I even had to do two pre-rehearsals.

I try not to be nervous out of my mind.

I realize this was a huge mistake. I'm just taking evolution and putting a whole extra layer of stress on top of it for no reason. I –

No. No, it's more than that. I'm making history. I'm doing this for the Sandslash.

Okay.

Okay, I can do this.

The ceremony was wild.

The room filled with Sandshrew, Sandslash, and a few extra new Pokémon as well. I guess they were either living in the canyon, or they're new pilgrims who just baaaarely didn't make it here first. And I mean it filled. Like… every single member of the tribe must have been there for that one ceremony. I guess that makes sense. This is a historical occasion after all.

So we line up on the throne platform in front of the giant wall of fire. Twelve Sandshrew with me in the very middle. King Shiel gives us a long, long, way-too-long speech he wrote himself about the profound significance of evolution or something.

Then – and this is something I wasn't expecting, even after all the rehearsing – there's a portal that opens up in front of the wall of fire. And out of the portal, there comes Jirachi.

The Jirachi. The real one. The wish-granter. The one who literally made the Map of Jirachi.

One-by-one, he hands us our feral-shards, wishes us luck, and he bows to us. Then we're supposed to evolve right there. Then immediately after evolving, he gives us a special drink of some kind to calm the nerves.

So that's exactly what I did. I stepped onto that stage as a purple Nidoran. I stepped off the stage as a purple Nidorina. Hey, I can kind of walk on two legs now. That's going to take some getting used to.

And that Jirachi drink? Ughhhhhh. I'm a poison-type and even I thought it tasted vile. Though he wasn't lying – it did really calm the nerves. I almost felt none of those cramps or disassociation spells that everyone talks about.

When all thirteen of us are done, we step off the stage together, and the whole room applauds us.

I look and see, in the front row of Pokémon, Dragonbane is there cheering for me.

Then I notice another Pokémon in the crowd.

Standing in the very back. Behind the whole tribe.

Watching me quietly, but with a deep smile on his face that I can even see from here.

A Gabite.

A Gabite who loved me from afar for my whole life, and I never even noticed.

I never even imagined.

Though I never knew it…

He was always there.

*Chapter 115*: Chapter 84: Begin the Hunt

o

Chapter 84

Part 1

I'd just gotten assigned to my very first mystery dungeon expedition on Team Ember! My first dungeon mission on a real, serious, grown-up team! I had three days to prepare, and I didn't want to let anyone down!

The mission sounded scary in an exciting kind of way. We were going to search the remains of the Grayleaf Reserve and see if we could recover anything from Saura's old den. Saura used to live underground, so there might have been a lot of things that survived the fire, and Saura's dad wanted us to get as much stuff as possible. Grayleaf said there were valuable berries, toys for the seedlings, and even some enchanted items he wanted to get back if possible.

A big job! But Team Ember is a big team with high standards. I had to do my best. Especially for the poor little seedlings. I know what it's like to lose my childhood home. I wish I could have gotten some of my stuff back, too.

In the dungeon area, the fire left nothing behind but a bunch of bare trees and piles of ashes, and maybe some glowing embers we had to watch out for. We were warned about a high concentration of pitfall traps too, but luckily for us, I'm really good at spotting those.

Maybe I should have been more nervous, but I knew I could do it. I had lots of practice, and my friends were going with me! I would have Zona, who is immune to fire, and Adamant, who could put me out if I caught on fire. I was going to a mission that would make a big difference to Saura's family, and I had nothing to fear! And even better, I could evolve anytime I wanted, and go on the mission as a Luxio! Probably. Evolution doesn't work if you just aren't strong enough yet, but the only way to figure it out is to try.

Everyone around me was evolving and growing up. What about me? I was wondering about that, too. Part of me wanted to evolve like Adamant. But Zona didn't want to evolve, and I didn't want to leave him as a small Pokémon with his two roommates being so much bigger and stronger. I didn't want to tell Zona this because I knew he'd just tell me to evolve anyway and not to worry about him. Still, I didn't want Zona to feel bad getting left behind in evolution. I'm his friend. I want him to know that I'm there for him. That's why I didn't use the feral-shard right away.

But wow, I'm so happy for Adamant every time I look at him! He looks so proud and happy as a Vaporeon. He really looks like an adult now, even though I know he's only just a little older than I am. It must be so hard adapting, though. Sometimes I see him shivering at night like he's cold or sick, but he says he's just dehydrated. And I can't even cuddle him unless I focus really hard and keep my ions even. But through it all, he always has a huge smile on his face like he's so glad that his life as an Eevee is finally over and his real life has just started. And just like Ray says, that's the most important part: the smile on his face. Still, we need to get him a pool really soon, because I know how much he'd like it.

Now, what did I think of becoming a Luxio? Exciting, of course! Luxio have a bigger charge capacity, and have an easier time controlling their ions, too! And they get really wicked amazing claws that can turn into raw electric conduits for amazing control over lightning powers, and they have better x-ray vision! I saw nothing wrong with evolving except for maybe the day you usually need to spend off work so you can adjust. And I was really tempted to evolve so I'd be ready in time for the Grayleaf Reserve mission.

But we never got to go on that mission to Grayleaf Reserve after all. That's because a much more important mission came up!

Just when I was nodding off and the torches turned blue, I heard something go bang out in the main hallway and it made all three of us jump awake. So we opened the door to see what was going on. Saura had burst out of his room looking as excited as an electric-type Pokémon. Ray stepped out of the room behind him, looking just as surprised as the rest of us.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Saura shouted. "I know how we can find Scythe! The answer just came to me! Gotta talk to Char about this."

He hopped over to the door to the master bedroom and started snapping his vines against it. "CHAR!" he called. "Char! Get up! I just had a huge idea!"

The door took way too long to open, but Saura was very adamant and didn't stop rapping on it. Finally, the door opened and Eva appeared on the other side looking very sleepy and annoyed.

"Char is sleeping," she said flatly. "Can it wait until tomorrow morning?"

"Naaaaah!" Saura laughed. "I know Char. He doesn't mind being woken up in the middle of the night. We used to do it to each other all the time. And this is exactly the kind of thing he'd want to be woken up for."

"With all due respect, Char is not the same person as he was when you left," Eva said sourly. "Don't presume that he – "

But Saura literally just headbutted his way into the room anyway. Eva went after him, but it was too late. Soon Saura was yanking Char off the bed. I kind of wanted to laugh, but I also wanted to hear what Saura's idea was, so I stood by the door quietly and listened.

"What's the matter? Are you alright?" said Char, who didn't seem annoyed to be woken up at all, and actually seemed pretty delighted. Char was on his feet and paying attention pretty fast.

"Alright, look," Saura said. "I figured out probably the best way we can look for Scythe. I don't know how the logistics would work out, but I was having a dream just now, and I realized that I actually know of someone who is really good at tracking down missing Pokémon."

Char rubbed his eyes and looked like he was thinking. "Oh really? Someone you know, but I don't?" Char said. "Is it someone you met while you were away? Or is it…"

And then Char flinched like he'd just realized something amazing. I love when Pokémon do that! It's really one of the best kinds of happiness. That moment someone realizes something perfect. I call it the "happy static-shock." One of my dreams is to cause those happy static-shocks to as many Pokémon as I can.

"You don't mean… who I think you mean?" Char said, gaping.

Saura grinned wider. "Yeah, it's not something anyone else but me would have thought of, I'm pretty sure," he said. "Actually, it's kind of hard for me to forget in the first place," he added with a little grumble.

"Oh, wow. How would we even find him?" Char said enthusiastically, starting to pace back and forth at the foot of his bed. "I know he doesn't actually work for the Master."

"Excuse me, but would you mind explaining yourself to the Pokémon who cannot – or in this case, choose not to read minds?" said a very irritated Eva.

Saura nodded at her. "Hunter! The Flareon that Adiel sent to find me. He's just a bounty hunter for hire who has a really good track record. So if we can find him, and if we can pay him enough…"

"We can get him to help us find Scythe!" Char finished the sentence for him. "Saura, that's… an incredibly good idea! I like it. And you hold no grudge? Here I would have thought you hated that Flareon enough that you'd never want to see him again."

"Naaaah, I don't hate him," Saura said with a whimsical sigh. "It was just some dumb dreams that were making me hate him in the first place. Now if he were working for us, and we end up finding Scythe because of him, I think we could get along juuuuust fine!"

"Brilliant. Now our problem has changed from finding a Scyther based on no clues, to finding a Flareon based on no clues," Eva said bluntly. "Unless you have some semblance of an idea about how we might find this Flareon, I doubt this is a feasible solution."

"Well, we have at least a few leads, I think," Char considered, scratching his chin. "Saura, you ask your dad about Hunter. They worked together, however briefly, but maybe Hunter told him something that could tip us off. And I'll talk with Team X tomorrow. If I'm remembering correctly, they were working with Adiel around the time that Adiel hired Hunter."

Saura grinned really wide and looked all smug at Eva. "See? Told you I know Char," he goaded. "Maybe you should try trusting your teammates once in a while? It wouldn't hurt!"

I could tell Saura was only joking, but Eva looked like she got super mad. She tried to hide it, but I can spot stuff like that. Char gave her a stern glare and she said nothing.

That's when I scampered back to my room before Eva or Char realized I was eavesdropping.

"Is everything alright out there?" asked Zona, stirring from his rest.

"Oh yeah! Everything's fine! Saura just had an idea about how we can look for Scythe," I said. "He says we're going to hire a bounty hunter!"

Adamant blinked at me. "A bounty hunter?" he said. "Wouldn't that be a bit expensive? Like, really expensive? Especially someone willing to hunt down Scythe of all Pokémon?"

I only shrugged. "Only way to find out is to ask them! The only problem now is that we have to hunt for the bounty hunter. Nobody knows where he is. I hope we find him as soon as possible though. The sooner we find him, the sooner we know."

I grinned a big, big, big grin just then.

"Uh-oh. One of those smiles," Zona said, finding my smile contagious. "You're planning something sneaky, aren't you?"

I just shrugged. "Sneaky? Yeah, sort of! I just had an idea. It won't make too big of a difference, but yeah, it's really sneaky. Since every moment counts, I think I know how we can get started looking for the hunter just a little bit earlier than Char was planning!"

So I told them the plan, and when they heard it, we all laughed together at how silly it was.

Now I just needed to stay up a few more hours to do my sneaky plan. My friends tried to help me stay awake by talking about things like, what Anise would think if she knew where we ended up now. But they both fell asleep in less than an hour. So I charged myself up with the last of my spare power for the day, and I stood right inside the closed door and focused my x-ray vision really hard until I could just barely see the other side.

I was super patient, and I don't know how long I waited, but it happened. Another door opened in the Team Ember hall just like I knew it would. A certain someone was sneaking out and trying to make as little sound as possible. As soon as they snuck out into the Gold Division, I followed them. And then when the door was all shut behind us both, that's when I pounced.

"Hey Zachel!" I whispered from like, a few hairs behind her.

Zachel got so spooked she jumped all the way up to the ceiling and clung there. Strong claws!

"Leo. What the actual heck," she hissed, dropping back down. "What's the big deal? What do you want?"

I looked all sly at her. "You're going to see Seviper, aren't you?" I sang and swayed back and forth, teasing her.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Yeah. So?" she said. "He's my friend, and this is the best time of day not to be seen in public together."

"Well, I have something to tell Seviper, so I want to come with you!" I proclaimed. Well, as much as I could 'proclaim' while still whispering. I'm sure I still sounded excited, though.

Zachel looked at me weird. Then she said, "Okay, sure. It's a bit of a walk, to warn you."

"That's fine!" I said.

She started crawling on all fours and still being really quiet even though there weren't any other Pokémon around to even see us. After she took about ten steps, she turned back to me and said, "How do you know I was going to see Seviper?"

"Because that's what you do every single night!" I laughed.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Alright, got me there," she sighed. "But if that's the case, then why didn't you just politely ask me this earlier, before I left?"

"Because then I wouldn't get to see you jump on the ceiling!" I laughed again, swinging my tail just to be extra cute.

She huffed at me, but I could tell she was amused. "You really like surprising Pokémon, don't you?" she whispered as we started walking again.

"Yeah! Better get used to it," I said. "I'm not the best at it yet. That's Ray! But someday I'll be better than him at getting Pokémon to smile."

"You electric-types are something else, you know that?" Zachel said. "I don't know how you guys can fit so much enthusiasm inside you. Just don't tell anyone about our hiding place, alright?"

"You got it!" I said.

So down we went, down through the base. Really far down. We hit the cafetiria level and went down another floor. Down past Team Stripes. And where we ended up? The exact same place that Asunder had caught Domo: down in the stairwell, underneath the very lowest flight of stairs in the entire Gold Division base. Now this was a perfect hiding spot!

There was a single blue torch there. I thought that was odd, since who ever comes down here? But it was convenient for secret meetings. Seviper was already there, waiting for us.

Seviper twitched uncomfortably. "Uhhh, hey there. Any reason you've brought… what, is that Leo, from Team Ember?"

"I see your memory still works," Zachel said. "He specifically asked to come see you. What this is about, I've got no clue."

"Very well!" Seviper said, slithering up to me. "State your business, Leo of Team Ember!"

"My business!" I said back, matching his enthusiasm. "I need to ask you about a Pokémon you might have heard of before."

"Well, you're in luck, because I remember every single Pokémon I've ever met before, ever,"he said proudly, in a way I couldn't tell whether or not he was actually serious.

"Char needs to do business with a Flareon named Hunter," I said. "He says that your team might know where to find him. Char wants to hire him to help find… someone."

"Scythe, I'm assuming," Seviper hissed, looking like he was deep in thought for a moment. "Yeah, I know about your secret mission. Zachel and I don't keep many secrets from one another."

"Now there's an understatement if ever I've heard one," Zachel said dryly.

This was actually pretty weird. It was so late, but Zachel looked like she was just very wide awake. And so did Seviper too, for that matter. Did they really meet up and talk every night? How did they manage?

Seviper ignored her joke. "Yes, I know of Hunter. Adiel hired him to find a certain Bulbasaur friend of yours – "

"Aaaaand your perfect memory is gone again," Zachel teased.

"Hey, tiger-eyes, you know perfectly well he was a Bulbasaur when this happened," Seviper shot back at her. "Alright. Fine. As I was saying: Adiel hired him to find a certain former Bulbasaur friend of yours – "

"Wrong again! They're still friends! Not former friends!" Zachel snickered. "Having an off-day today, snakie-pie?"

He swung his tail blade at Zachel to smack her, but she easily dodged. "No, but if you keep this up, I'll be having a ticked-off day," he hissed. Then he eyed me and said, "In case you haven't guessed by now, this Zangoose and I are still very much mortal rivals. Just… it's often in the realm of pedantics."

Now here, I was super surprised. Now Zachel was smiling more than I've ever seen her smile before. Usually she's got her small and subtle smile that makes her look smug. But here, as she was getting into a play argument with the Seviper, she was beaming like a little child. Like an electric-type. It was pretty wonderful.

I beamed back at them both. "Wowwwww! You two are in love, aren't you?" I kind of shouted.

They both froze so hilariously awkwardly like they just got caught stealing from the bank. That's when I knew I was right.

"You are! You're totally in love!" I said, bouncing around in thrill. "You even have pet names for one another! Tiger-eyes and snakie-pie? That's sooo cute! Wow! Now I get why you're meeting in secret all the time!"

"Excuse me, but my proper name is saber-tooth. Not snakie-pie," Seviper insisted. "I don't know where in the world that came from. I have perfect memory, and she's never said that before."

"Well, what if I want your name to be snakie-pie now?" Zachel outright laughed in a way I never knew she could laugh, swishing her tail up and down in amusement. "Snakie-pie of Team Blockheads! State your business!"

"Not unless you want to be kitty-pie!" he hissed back. "Oh, on that note, nice going, tiger-eyes! Not even eight days on Team Ember and you already let the secret out. It's so nice to know I can trust you!"

"Oh! Don't worry!" I reassured them. "Your secret is safe with me! In fact, I'll even help you keep the secret if I can! But that's just, wow! A Zangoose and Seviper in love! That's something I never ever expected!"

Zachel flopped back against the wall, looking so happy. "Yeah… neither did we, to be honest," she said. "It just happened. I wish I had more of a story to tell about how it happened, but there really is none. We literally just met one day and… yeah. Anyway, weren't you supposed to be discussing a Flareon? Can we get that over with yet?"

Seviper hissed a sigh. "Yes. I know Hunter. Yes. Boss knows about him. And Yes, Boss probably knows where to find him. He was a… well. I'll just say that Hunter is a ruthless one. He charges a life savings, but you really get what you pay for. If you need Scythe found that badly, I wouldn't call that a bad idea, to be perfectly honest."

"Alright!" I said. "So… can you tell your boss to find Hunter so Char can talk with him?"

"Certainly. I'll do that first thing in the morning," Seviper promised. "I believe his primary station is around Death Falls, but Boss'll know for sure. Any idea where Char would want to conduct the meeting?"

"At the hideout, I think!" I answered.

Zachel was sitting and twiddling with the end of her tail. "Saaay. Wouldn't your boss be awake at this hour?"

"Boss is always awake," Seviper said. "He doesn't sleep, at least the way we usually think of it. He prefers to simply… float into the corner and zone out for several hours."

"Welll… In that case… seeing that I am a member of Team Ember now, and seeing that finding Scythe is Team Ember's absolute-top priority at the moment, mind doing me a faaaavor, snakie-pie?" Zachel hummed.

Seviper squirmed. "On the condition that you never call me 'snakie-pie' again, is that a deal?" he said back.

"Deal. Never again," Zachel huffed. "Joke's on you, though. I want to die a little bit on the inside every time I hear myself utter that. Probably hated it more than you did."

"I find that unlikely," Seviper returned. "Anyway, if I go run this Patrat errand, can I expect the Shinx to be gone by the time I return?"

"Sure," Zachel said, shrugging. "He needs his rest anyway. His eyes are getting droopy."

I realized she was right. I was kind of completely out of electric charge and I was ready to just collapse. I was so distracted by a Zangoose and Seviper falling in love, I didn't notice.

But once Seviper had left, I told Zachel "thank you" for doing this favor for me and Char. I know it would only buy us like a day in the long run, but again, this is Scythe we're talking about. The Scythe. Every day of this hunt is going to count.

And before I left Zachel alone to her privacy, I said, "Hey, you know Pokémon are allowed to pick a name for themselves anytime they want, if they're just called by their species, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Zachel returned. "What, are you talking about Seviper? He's fine with being called that. And So am I."

"Well, I was just thinking," I said, "if he really wanted, he could make his name 'Sabertooth.' I think that would be a pretty wicked name. It sounds to me he really likes being called that."

I was hoping I was going to get one of those static-shock moments from Zachel. And I did! It was really subtle and she tried to hide it, because this is Zachel we're talking about, but I spotted it. Even with my sleepy, droopy eyes, I spotted it. I guess my X-ray vision kind of works on Pokémon, too…

"Y'know what? I think I'll bring that up. Neither of us have ever thought of that before," Zachel said with a wink. "Thanks, kid. Glad to be your teammate, for the record."

"You can even pretend it was your idea if you want, I won't tell anyone!" I said, winking back.

Then I left, tried to climb all the stairs all the way back to the Team Ember base, but I got just one flight of stairs before I passed out. Seviper found me on the way back down, and Zachel carried me back to my room.

Well, darn. That was almost a perfectly-executed ploy. Guess I just needed a little bit more energy than I expected. All the more reason to be a Luxio sometime.


At the team meeting the next day, I told Char that I already asked Team X about Hunter. He gave me a huge thanks, and that made it all worth it. I know it was just a small favor, but sometimes it's the little things that matter most. I can tell that Char is pretty worried about Scythe, and I'm happy to help.

Gemstone and Dragonbane came back, too. I can't believe Gemstone is evolved now. Everybody is evolving! I can't really blame them, but I feel like I just got used to them and now I have to get used to them all over again.

Evolving doesn't just make you stronger, you know. It also changes your personality a little. They say that when you evolve, it turns you a little more into the Pokémon you've always wanted to be on the inside. It's like you can make a little wish about how you want to grow, and evolving grants that wish.

I've been trying to figure out what I want my evolution wish to be. I really didn't know. To be honest, I don't think about myself a lot. I thought maybe I could ask my friends and figure out how they think I can be better, then wish for that.

Ever since Gemstone came back, she's been quieter. Almost as quiet as Glower. Seriously, I don't think I heard her say more than about six words since she came back. But she wasn't brooding or mysterious like some quiet Pokémon are. She wasn't angry, either. Just quiet and polite, like she had a lot to think about. I guess that's fine, but I knew I'd eventually get worried about her if she kept it up.

So anyway, on that day, everyone still thought I was going on the Grayleaf Reserve mission with Adamant and Zona, so we kept getting ready for that. We were trying to decide who we wanted our bag carrier to be, because we definitely needed a bag carrier if we found any loot in Saura's den. I wanted Ray to come, but I had the feeling he was going to be busy that day. So then it was either Zachel, or we had to go hire a bag carrier from somewhere else.

Turns out I was really right about Ray being busy that day…

So after spending that day doing practice battles against normal and flying types, checking out the map and analyzing the shape of the forest and the path we'd take, and talking to Saura's family about the pitfall traps that were apparently everywhere in the forest, we came to the conclusion that we'd need to ask for at least one of the team's reviver seeds.

We were feeling so prepared, really better than ever about the mission. And it was coming up in only two days.

But the next day is when Hunter showed up, and that's when plans had to change.

Hunter was seriously intimidating. He wasn't even that big – about the size of Adamant – but just the way he walked around made it feel like he owned the place and that you should be thankful he wasn't choosing to burn it to the ground whenever he wanted. And he had his own little team of followers: two Machamp bodyguards who were always standing behind him, a Fearow for keeping watch, and a really creepy ghost-type Pokémon I didn't even recognize.

Hunter was obviously strong. And to be honest, really scary. Maybe even Adiel-levels of scary.

Of course, we couldn't let him into the Gold Division base, so we had the meeting at the new hideout we were still building. So that's what happened at about high noon that day. Hunter and his crew of sidekicks showed up at the hideout, looking all serious and official like a legitimate bounty hunter ready to negotiate a new mission. Char and Saura were there to talk with him. I expected Eva to be there, but she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe Char didn't want Hunter to think that he was having quiet psychic conversations, or to worry about having his mind read. Though maybe Eva was hiding, because having quiet psychic conversations and mind-reading sounds like something you'd really want to do when you're negotiating with a scary Pokémon like this.

I guess Hunter didn't recognize Char and Saura at first, since they were evolved. The first thing he said was, "I've been told that you require my services." Straight and to the point.

Saura wanted to start out a little more casually. "Hey there, Hunter!" he said in a cocky way. "I have to admit, I'm curious: are you still looking for a more challenging assignment than me? Because I think we've got one."

I was waiting for it, waiting for it, and… zap! Hunter got the happy static-shock. He really looked like he wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it was. But he put his serious face back on pretty fast.

"Saura," he grunted. "I can't imagine why you would be interested in the help of a hunter who demonstrably proved himself a failure in your case, but since I've already gone through the trouble of coming this whole way, I'm willing to listen."

"We need you, because we've got a case that only the best can handle," Char told him. "Given that Adiel was willing to hire you, I think you might just have a chance at this one. A Scyther friend of ours has gone missing, and we need to find him. To the resistance forces, he is known as Scythe. To the Master's side, he is known as Adron."

I saw another big, big flinch from Hunter, though I'm not sure this was a happy one. "Adron," he repeated. "You want me to find Adron the Terrible. Am I hearing this right?"

"You're hearing this right," Char replied. "I see you're familiar with him already. So, your thoughts?"

"Everyone is familiar with him," Hunter muttered. "The Scyther who served the Master for nearly fifteen years. The one with the uncanny intuition to be ten steps ahead of his foes at any one point. The one whose position was filled by Adiel once he pulled off the for-all-accounts impossible task of escaping from the Master's command. If this Scyther has chosen to hide, I can only promise you that he is, without exaggeration, going to be the most difficult Pokémon in the world to find. I'll be level with you: this is the assignment of my darkest nightmares."

"Nightmares. How ironic," I heard Saura mutter, but I didn't know what he meant.

"Alright, so can you do it, or not?" Char asked.

"Of course I can," Hunter snorted. "For the right price, of course. I just wonder how desperate you really are."

"Yeah, so what's your price?" Char asked.

Hunter grit his teeth, looking like he was already regretting these negotiations. "How long as Adron been missing, exactly?" he inquired.

"Uh… four weeks, at the very least? Maybe more?" Char replied.

"And where was he last seen?"

"Zerferia," Char answered. "He was spotted entering Zerferia, and never returned."

"So you're asking me to find a corpse buried under four weeks of snow and ice," Hunter replied. "Ah. Even I know it will never be that simple. Is this a time-sensitive job? How long do I have?"

"I can't really say there's a deadline, but we… fear he might be walking into a trap," Char said. "So we'd really like to find him as soon as humanly – I mean, as soon as possible."

Hunter paced back and forth a bit, sniffing at the ground. Then he said, "Alright, I'll make my offer. And I'm going to say upfront that this is the most I've ever charged anyone for a job, but seeing as though you're asking the impossible, you should consider it very reasonable."

"I'm listening," Char said. "What's your price?"

"For this job, my price is fourteen hundred thousand gold," said Hunter. "And this is even including a steep discount I am offering, considering my begrudging respect for Saura and that I consider this both a punishment and an opportunity to redeem myself, so I will not be accepting further negotiations. Take it or leave it."

Char and Saura looked worried at one another. Oh my, that was a lot of gold. Gold. Not even Poké. For that money, you could buy half of Iron Town!

"How much do you want as a down payment?" Char inquired.

"Oh, I want it all up front," Hunter said. "In fact, put it all right here in a big pile. I will use whatever is necessary to pay for expenses, and I will claim the remainder upon the job's completion."

Again, Char and Saura looked pretty worried. Obviously they didn't have this kind of money. Team Ember would go totally broke. We could do all the jobs on all the bulletin boards in the entire base, and that wouldn't even be enough for what Hunter was asking!

As Char and Saura were still thinking about it, a voice from right next to me shouted: "It's a deal. We'll take your offer."

It was Ray! Ray stepped forward to join them, looking very confident about himself.

"We can pay you in full," Ray assured him. "Give us a few days to gather the money, and we'll send for you again when it's all ready."

Hunter tilted his head in surprise. "Charmander? Saura? I assume you are the final decision-makers. Are you in agreement with this Raichu?"

Char and Saura both looked at Ray for a moment. They looked… sad? I thought they'd be happy, but they actually looked kind of sad. I wondered why.

"Yeah, alright, it's a deal," Char decided. "Thank you for your time. We'll send Dusknoir to get you again when everything's ready."

"Very well," said Hunter, nodding at his bodyguards. "Until we meet again, then. I will await your message. And meanwhile, I will make an honest attempt to mentally prepare myself for this absolutely lunatic endeavor."

When Hunter was gone, Char and Saura turned to Ray. "You really don't have to do this," Char told him. "I was thinking we could just ask High Intelligence for the funds. You don't have to spend your whole inheritance money on finding Scythe!"

I was thinking: inheritance money? What is Ray talking about?

Ray just shrugged. "That's not even half my inheritance money, for one thing," he replied. "And High Intelligence would never lend us that much money for only a five-star mission, especially not when they're trying to keep this all under wraps. And besides… what else were you expecting me to do with all that money? Retire? And go just as crazy as Fern did? Hey, that money was always going to be for the team! I was always going to use it to help you out, Char. And now I can use it to help you accomplish what you're really here to do. Also, we'll have enough left over to buy awesome items for everyone! I promise!"

I tried to use my x-ray vision to look into Ray's heart, to see if I could tell what he was really feeling. Was he really okay with spending so much of his own money on a bounty hunter? Or was he just saying that? Char and Saura clearly thought he was just saying that.

But what did I think? The more I looked at Ray and thought about what he said, the more I thought he really was happy to help in this big way. I mean, I would be just as happy to help, if I had the opportunity! But Ray was sad about something, just something different, and something he was definitely keeping a secret.

Too bad. When you keep a secret, your friends can't exactly help you when you need help. I wondered if I could help Ray feel better somehow. After all the times he inspired me with his amazing energy, I wanted to repay the favor sometime.

Char crossed his arms. "Alright, Ray, looks like it's time for you to go dig up the treasure," he decided. "I guess you can start whenever you're ready. Who do you want to take with you?"

Ray considered it for a moment and looked around at all of us. "We need to go to Ion Plains," he said. "It's a very zappy place. So the only Pokémon I feel confident in taking with me, really, are… Gemstone and Leo."

And that's how I got taken off the Grayleaf Reserve mission and got to go on an awesome treasure hunt instead. Was I sad about cancelling the trip with my friends that we'd been planning together all week? Maybe a little. But I was definitely not going to complain about getting to go on a treasure hunt with Ray. I had a chance to help him out and make him happy. And I was sure Adamant and Zona would be happy for me, too. They knew how much I idolized Ray.

But I was starting to wonder… why did I suddenly feel so many positive charges from Ray? Was this trip even going to make him happy? Or did he even want to go on the trip at all?

Okay, that might not have made a lot of sense for anyone who's not an electric-type. When I say Ray had positive charges, I definitely don't mean he was feeling positive. Actually it's the opposite. Positive charges are inert and heavy and don't move as much. Negative charges are the ones that tend to go zippy-zap all over the place, chasing after the positive ones. I have no idea why we call them that, I think they should have been named the other way around, but that's how electricity works. So when an electric-type Pokémon gives off positive charges, that's a way of knowing they're sad or unsure about something.

Anyway, what I'm trying to lead into is… We ended up finding a lot more on that treasure hunt than just some money.

*Chapter 116*: Chapter 84, Part 2

o

Chapter 84

Part 2

We were almost ready to leave for the mission, Ray had his supply bag and everything, but he stopped and turned around at the last moment.

"Wait! We're forgetting something!" he shouted. "Actually, we're forgetting someone!"

He dug through his bag and pulled out a very tiny pouch. Out of the pouch, he pulled a large silver coin.

"My brother left me a teleport compass," he explained, showing the coin to us. "These help Pokémon teleport to a place they've never gone before. He left me instructions telling me where to teleport from, but we still need a Pokémon who can teleport. Wow… imagine if we got all the way to Ion Plains and we couldn't even do anything because we forgot to bring a teleport user! That would have been pretty silly!"

I thought, oh wow! I didn't realize we were going to be going on a teleporting mission. Who could go with us? Who could help us?

We went to go ask Char who we could take along. So he did some talking with his teammates and did some more talking with other Pokémon, and we wound up with Canniah, the big Arcanine from Team Flamewheel. I had no idea Arcanine could learn to teleport, and apparently neither did anyone else, since the first thing she told us was not to tell anyone else her secret. Because when a Pokémon can teleport, apparently everyone wants to make you do it all the time, and it's a lot more dangerous than it looks like. But Canniah said she was willing to do this favor for Char, especially after saving Prince and most of her team at Basin Canyon.

But the best part? Once we got out of the base and told Canniah where we were going, she said "Alright, hop on." And we all got to ride on her like she's a giant Rapidash! And she runs so fast I felt like I was riding Raikou! The kilometers just faded away in a blur. I rode dragonback once and I don't think even they went this fast! I started to wonder if I could carry Pokémon like this when I became a Luxray. Could I really run this fast? I'd love to give rides to all my friends!

So then we got to Ion Plains…

I'd never been to a real electric-type habitat before. I didn't know how they were even special. Was it stormy? Did everything give you static sparks whenever you'd touch them? Well… you know that feeling when there's a big thunderstorm pushing in, even if you can't see it yet, you can feel it in the air? Well Ion Plains was just like that, all the time. It felt sooo good. Like the single moment you'd lose any charges, the ground would just spark some static at you and give you more. Of course, as soon as we arrived, Canniah made all us electric-types get off her back because her fur was getting really full of static.

I hoped that the ions would help Ray feel better. And I think it actually did, for a while! So I stopped worrying about him.

As for how it looked, it was a huge flat area with a lot of hard dirt and only small patches of really tiny grass that barely even got up to my ankles. No trees anywhere. Occasionally there were big flat chunks of shale or something, and sometimes there were big patches of dry shrubs that already died in the cold weather. Apparently there was an actual residential area somewhere around with underground houses closer to Harvesting Town, but that isn't where we were going. We needed to go somewhere on the wild side. And if it weren't for the charges everywhere, it would have looked like the most dull and boring place in Ambera.

"Just as a warning, we might need to watch out for wild animals," Ray said. "When I was young, there was a whole pride of Luxray that roamed around here and they got pretty territorial, so whenever we came out here to catch lightning in the storms, we'd have to stick together to chase them away. But I hear they've since been chased out by an even bigger and meaner pack of Manectric, so we need to be careful."

"I'm assuming that's why you brought me along," Gemstone said. "I'm going to earth power the daylights out of them."

While Ray was feeling better for now, I was kind of starting to get worried about Gemstone. Ever since she evolved, she's been really quiet. When she was smaller, she was a little mean and strong-headed but at least she was confident in herself. Now, I wasn't so sure.

"Hey, you doing alright, Gemstone?" I asked her when I had a moment. Ray was busy looking for a very specific rock in the field, which was tough because there were like twelve of them all around us.

"I'm fine," Gemstone said. But usually when Pokémon answer that way, they aren't fine at all. So I tried to think of something else to say.

"You've been really quiet since you came back from Basin Canyon," I commented, trying to sound as innocent and kind as possible. "Did the evolving go well? Or do you just have a lot on your mind?"

"Lot on my mind," Gemstone replied. "I guess I've also been trying to do less talking and more listening to other Pokémon. I was always trying to make everyone else give me respect, and I never realized just how exhausting it was. And if I'm going to be a dragon, I've got to be better than that."

"You – what?" I repeated. Pretty sure I didn't hear that right.

"You know. For Dragonbane," she said. "And for… certain other Pokémon too."

I had to smile, because I was starting to see what she was talking about. It was just like I always told myself, and why I try so hard to stay positive all the time. It rubs off on your teammates like static. It doesn't matter what the situation is, if it's scary or difficult, or if Pokémon are being mean to you, or if something's gone really wrong… Pokémon are always the best version of themselves when they're being positive. I know sometimes it's okay to be sad for a little while, and sometimes you fight harder when you're angry. But when everything's all over and you need to get back to being yourself again, you need a battery to help you charge back up. And that's why Ray and I are here. We need to be those batteries of positivity that area always there just in case anyone else ever needs it.

So I think that's what Gemstone was starting to realize about herself. I know she likes being a leader. Maybe not a team leader, but a squad leader who is put in charge of directing missions. I think she started to realize that she makes a better squad leader, or maybe just a better Gemstone, when she's being someone that other Pokémon can look up to and have confidence in. And that's awesome. I know we don't have a real dragon on the team, at least until Char evolves, sort of, but I really liked the whole idea of acting like a dragon as a pillar of strength for your teammates. Very cool!

"Is that what you wished for when you evolved?" I asked. "To be a dragon on the inside for everyone else?"

"Huh?" she asked. "You mean with Jirachi? Nah, Jirachi doesn't grant wishes at the evolving ceremony."

I shook my head. "Nah! I mean your evolution wish!" I told her, kind of surprised that she didn't already know this. "They say that when you evolve, you can make a wish about the kind of Pokémon you will turn into. And the evolution will grant your wish and make you a little bit more like the Pokémon you've always wanted to be. Like if you want really bad to be stronger, you'll be stronger. Or if you want really bad to have more confidence or more courage or something like that, that'll happen too. You just have to wish for it really bad while you're evolving."

"Sounds like a silly myth for children," Gemstone said.

"Well okay, yeah, maybe it sort of is, but I like to imagine it's real!" I insisted. "And it kind of came true for some Pokémon I know! Sort of!"

"Fine, then I'll keep it in mind for when I evolve next, and I'll tell you if it came true for me or not," Gemstone said. Then she looked at me funny and said, "What about you? What's your evolving wish going to be?"

I wasn't expecting that question! Especially not from her! "Um, I don't really know!" I told her. "I don't usually think about it, to be honest. I always thought that I'd realize what my wish is supposed to be when it happens."

"You don't really think about yourself too often, do you?" Gemstone said. "You seem to prefer being considerate of other Pokémon rather than yourself."

I felt bashful hearing that. "Yeah, I guess that's true," I told her kind of reluctantly. "I don't know why. I guess it's just… I don't really have any big problems of my own? I'm perfectly fine, I'm not really sad about anything, both Team Ember and Team Stripes have been better families to me than I ever could have asked for. Sometimes I need help and I ask for help, but other than that, I try to just look for ways to help everyone else. That's just how I've always been."

"Heh. That's exactly the kind of mentality I'm trying to learn for myself right now." she said, sort of just as reluctantly as me. "Just… simple humility. Maybe I'll have to take some examples from you."

Aww, how flattering! I don't usually hear anyone say they were taking examples from me before. Usually it was the other way around.

We would have talked more, but we ran into the Manectric pack we were afraid of finding. Or rather, there were four of them. They'd just killed a bird and they were fiercely defending it. Canniah might have been able to chase them all away, but Manectric are really fast and they could have surrounded her before anyone knew what was going on. Also, if they get too angry, they create their own thunderstorms! Which wasn't very hard to do in a place like this. I didn't think that Canniah would have liked to get rained on, though.

But that's why Gemstone was here. For the first time since she evolved, I saw her step forward in a battle stance. She looked so calm, so focused. I could tell she was trying to figure out how close she could get to the enemies before they would attack. Then she stood on her hind legs, charged power into one of her front paws, and slammed it down into the ground. When she did it, it was like the old, furiously angry Gemstone was back for just a moment.

I felt a reverberation, but nothing happened right away. Then, it was like a volcano! The ground underneath the front Manectric just burst open and exploded almost as loudly as a thunderbolt! The leader was tossed really high up in the air and the others got hit hard with shrapnel from a stone that had exploded along with the ground. The pack got freaked out and confused, and decided to just bolt. Thankfully this wasn't a mystery dungeon, and the enemies weren't going to fight us until they passed out.

Even Ray and Canniah were awestruck at the powerful attack, probably imagining how much it would have stung to have been hit by it themselves. I know I sure was.

"Harder than it looks," Gemstone said as she looked back at everyone staring. "It's like trying to toss a rock and hit something, except you're tossing it into the ground and it falls upward… Seems that I can make them a bit bigger now."

I wanted to tell her, 'You know how we were talking about you trying to be more humble? Well, never ever be humble about those awesome earth power attacks. You deserve to be proud of them!' But I didn't because I decided it would sound too silly.

We searched the plains for about half an hour more. Ray was trying to remember the routes he had scurried as a little mouse in his older brother's care. He seemed to remember some rocks really vividly, but he couldn't seem to decide which one was the rock that the treasure hunt was pointing towards.

"I swear it was this one!" he said to himself. "But I don't remember that other rock being over there. Auuughhh, why does my memory have to be so terrible now when I need it the most?"

"Hey, can't we just try the compass on all the rocks and see where it works?" I wondered.

But Canniah told me the answer to that. "That's not how teleport compasses work," she said. "It only tells me a direction, and a distance. If I start at the wrong place, I'm going to warp to the wrong place. And warping to the wrong place is bad news. Defeats the whole purpose of the compass."

Well, I certainly had no way of helping with that. Ray was the one who needed to get the location correct. I never lived here.

But that didn't stop me from trying anyway.

"Ray, what did the note say, exactly?" I asked.

"It said to stand on the rock where I stood on his shoulders," Ray described plainly. "The place where I stood on my brother's shoulders and he helped me catch my first lightning bolt."

I thought about that for a moment. I focused my eyes on all the flat, gray rocks embedded in the ground, trying to imagine if any of them were big enough for a Pichu standing on top of a Raichu.

"My brother actually put most of these here, or at least had a friend do it for him" Ray said, pointing to another one. "Slabs of groundstone. Perfect insulators. They help you catch lightning from the sky. But… he didn't place all of them. Now I just have to remember… Where was I?"

Ray was starting to worry again. I could feel it and I could hear it in his voice. I hoped it was just because he was having trouble finding the right stone. But I couldn't ignore it for much longer. He was worried about something else.

I had to help him.

I thought for a moment. "Hey! You said you were catching lightning, right?" I said. "Does that mean there was a lightning storm?"

"Yeah… but… it was too fast," Ray replied, scurrying from one groundstone slab to another. "I could barely keep up. Rautzen had to carry me the rest of the way that I couldn't run myself. If only I had run the whole path myself, maybe I would have remembered more clearly… but… ah… I wonder if the stone is even still here? Any ground-types could have moved it… or blown it up…"

Soon we ran into even more Manectric. Wow, they really were everywhere. I wasn't really surprised, though. That's like being surprised that fish live in a lake.

"I think we're getting closer," Ray said. "We've got to chase these things away. I think it's over here. Gemstone, you're up again."

"Gladly," Gemstone said with evil glee. She stepped forward past the front of our little group to confront the Manectric, about six of them this time, and a few Electrike with them. Ouch, parents with children? We had to be careful here, or these wilds would get super annoyed.

I had an idea.

"Hey, Gemstone," I said, skipping merrily up to her. "Before you attack, listen to my idea."

"Your idea? What, you think you've got a better way to chase them away?" She replied, not breaking her focus on the way she was aiming her attack.

"Nope!" I said cheerily. "Actually, the opposite of that! Instead of blowing them up, blow up the ground around them! Keep them trapped in the same place!"

"What's the point of that?" She muttered. "That's just going to get them really aggressive and dangerous."

"Exactly!" I shouted. "There's enough of them there that they can easily start a thunderstorm if we can get them angry enough."

"And why do we want to start a thunderstorm, exactly?" Gemstone grumbled. "Seems unpleasant to me."

"Because the stone that Ray is looking for, he first visited during a thunderstorm," I told her, kind of loudly enough so that Ray could listen too. "So maaaaybe if we make a new thunderstorm, it will help him remember?"

"Interesting idea! I'm willing to try that," Ray said. "But watch out, they'll still try to attack us, maybe,"

"I think I can handle this," Gemstone asserted as she adjusted her aim. "Alright, close your ears and get ready for some fun."

With masterful aim, Gemstone galloped in place and sent a shockwave down through the ground. It exploded right in front of the biggest group of Manectric. They all screeched and began scattering, and some got away. But most of them weren't fast enough to outrun Gemstone as she sent even more. Pow! Pow! went the ground all around the pack, each explosion making the most satisfying popping sound you can imagine other than maybe a perfect lightning bolt hitting a really tall tree. Soon they were furious and terrified, not knowing where to run or who to attack.

When they got angry enough, the Manectric did what they are known for. They discharged a huge ground-to-sky stream of lightning, which several of the other pack members joined in on. And so did I, just for fun. The few clouds that were already there, they started swirling together like a weird sky hurricane that grew bigger and bigger until it covered the whole sky in a dark blanket. So exciting! The Ion Plains seemed like it existed in a constant state of perfect conditions for a storm, and now I was actually going to see a storm happen. I couldn't wait to see what this place would look like with a huge dark sky and huge powerful rumbles of calamity, the raw might of nature, rippling through the dark boiling clouds!

I was so excited, I even completely forgot about the two other Pokémon who I'm sure weren't the least bit thrilled to get caught in a thunderstorm on an electric-charged plain. And apparently Ray was more excited than I am, because as soon as dark clouds totally blocked out all sunlight, and the rumbling and flashing of the great unbalanced ions in the sky began to make itself known, Ray's eyes just glazed over and he really turned into a field mouse, zipping around like a Zigzagoon from rock to rock, following something invisible.

The Manectric pack thought their thunderstorm was doing its job and chasing us away, so they didn't bother us anymore as we followed Ray back in the other direction. Gemstone visibly shuddered as the first huge drops of rain struck her in the head. One raindrop smacked me in the face and I immediately understood why: this rain was icy cold! Makes sense, considering the state of the upper atmosphere at this time of year, but I really felt sorry for Gemstone getting caught in this and kind of regretted even suggesting it. At least Canniah had her fire to keep her warm.

It was like Ray just forgot we were even here. He was dashing and darting around like he was following old memories of his brother, or maybe invisible electric currents in the air. In fact he started getting kind of far away from us, like the charges from the storm were making him run faster. I don't blame him! I realized I wanted to run off into the storm too, but I didn't want to get lost in the middle of nowhere and run into angry Manectric, so I had to stay put.

"C'mon, let's go," Canniah finally said, indicating she wanted us to get on her back again.

And it's a good thing we did, because I completely lost sight of Ray by the time Canniah started chasing him. Let me tell you! It's really something riding a huge fuzzy Arcanine through a broiling rainstorm that seems like it wants to drop a lightning bolt on my head the first chance it gets. I feel like I want to do it again sometime, just for fun! But maybe instead of an Arcanine, maybe a Luxray or something else that likes the thunderstorms as much as I do…

We were all soaking wet and miserable because of the cold by the time we caught up with Ray. He was standing on a big huge rock just looking up at the sky.

"HERE!" he called to us. "IT'S THIS ONE!"

"You sure about this?" Canniah said. "Remember, we only get one shot. I don't even know if this is a two-way compass. We might have to hope your brother left us another compass that gets us back."

Ray looked at the sky and said, I think to himself… "I'm kinda scared… I'm not going to die, am I?"

He looked down at us and said, raising his voice over the pouring rain:

"Yes. I'm sure. Absolutely sure. This is where it happened."

And so without standing in the rain for any longer, and without spending any more time risking a smack on the head from a bolt of lightning, Canniah hopped up onto the groundstone slab, boosted Ray up to stand on her head, and used the teleport compass.

We were in a dungeon. Not a mystery dungeon… I think. No. Just a dark, dusty basement. A pretty big one too. Big enough that I think it accounted for small errors in the trip. Because that's what teleporting Pokémon are afraid of: teleporting into solid things. Instantly amputating whatever body parts they collide with. Eughh!

…Hey, I wonder if they could teleport with a mobile scarf? Would that help make it safer? Has someone already thought of that before? Hm. I'll have to ask about that later.

The ceiling of this basement was too high to see. The ground was made of huge, deep red, long rectangle bricks that were about as cold underpaw as the icy rain that we just got out of. The only light was coming from Ray's glow-in-the-dark fur that he charged up in the thunderstorm.

We all dismounted Canniah and she gave a huge shake, spraying water everywhere. The water that came from Canniah's fur wasn't so cold anymore, like a nice warm shower, so it didn't bother me much. Then she blew a stream of fire into the air in front of her. It disappeared instantly, but it gave us all a good view of the room for a moment. It even kind of burned into my mind and somehow my Luxray vision helped me remember where the walls were.

"It's empty," Ray said, scampering around. "This whole room is empty. There's no treasure here…"

"There's a door," Gemstone reported. "I can hear it from over here."

"You can hear a door…?" I said.

"Yeah. I can hear the airflow. What little is here," Gemstone explained. "This probably isn't where the treasure is. We probably need to hunt around for it."

"Oooh… a real-life hidden treasure hunt! In a dark scary dungeon!" I cheered. "And not a mystery dungeon for once! This is super exciting!"

"Hate to break it to you, but we don't actually know that yet," Canniah muttered at me. "For all we know, this could be a mystery dungeon. Especially if it's been uninhabited for over a decade."

Well… okay, sure. But I was actually just trying to project excitement onto everyone. Because I could already tell that we needed all the courage and focus and good things that come from positivity.

We followed close behind Gemstone and used Ray as a night-light. Sure enough, there was a door. It took us to some really ridiculously steep stairs, also made of the same bricks, and they were kind of lopsided like an earthquake had shifted them or something. But we had no other choice but to climb them.

It was almost as though these stairs were not built with Pokémon in mind. At all. Or at least diverse Pokémon. Maybe very specific Pokémon. Two-legged Pokémon? Or…

Humans, maybe? Nah, that's impossible. Everyone knows humans can't even come to Ambera. Though I started to wonder if maybe they could teleport here? Nah, that didn't make any sense at all. Otherwise Ambera would be full of humans…

But when we got to the top of the stairs, we started to see more light coming from deeper down the hallway. And the smells started to smell less dusty and mildewy and more like a comfortable home.

A comfortable home. With a pleasant little fireplace and a nice stockpile of foods and spices somewhere nearby. That's what I smelled as we got closer.

"Where are we, exactly?" Gemstone hissed. "Did your brother leave you any clues, whatsoever?"

"We're in a city that isn't on the map of Ambera," Ray replied. "That's all I know."

"Ray… I wonder… I wonder if Rautzen is actually here?!" I gasped. "Maybe this is where he's been hiding this whole time?"

"…Naah, Rautzen left Ambera a long time ago," Ray sighed. "And he's never coming back. But maybe this is a place where his friend lives, or something. He said that a treasure hunter lives here who will give us the money. Only one way to find out."

So we got to the end of the hallway, only to find another staircase, just as stiff, steep, lopsided, and badly designed as the first one. I realized, wow, we're way underground, aren't we? Maybe Rautzen dug this whole place out? Just for the teleport compass?

And at the top of those stairs, there was a door. A weird, small, wooden, rectangular door that just barely looked large enough for Canniah to fit through. There was warm yellow light bleeding through the cracks around the door. I could instantly tell it was electrical light. While I tried my x-ray vision on the door, Ray hopped up the rest of the stairs and lightly knocked on the door.

There was no answer. But Ray said, "Shh. There's someone in there…" and very slowly, carefully turned the knob, a weird circular knob with no handlebar, and pushed the door open.

Inside… it was the weirdest and most alien room I'd ever seen in my life.

The room was all cramped and boxy, but perfectly tidy and furnished with the weirdest furniture you can imagine. Tiny chairs that most Pokémon could never hope to sit on. A floor made out of glassy, slippery tiles. Tiny little wooden decorations lining the walls.

Was this… a kitchen? It had an icebox that closed all the way, a cooking fireplace with no fuel or coals, I think… A water fountain that pointed down instead of up…

It did all smell wonderful, though. Like nice dry spices. Kind of made me hungry.

Canniah decided she couldn't follow us into this weird kitchen place. She'd bump into everything and break stuff. And it did look like there were lots of breakables here. In the display cabinets, there were tiny bowls and plates that were displayed with such reverence as though they were magical artifacts.

We tiptoed through this place following Ray best as we could. I heard weird sounds constantly coming from the walls – all the walls, as though there were machines inside of the walls. Freaky. Were there ghost Pokémon working here?

Past the kitchen – which I don't know if it was really a kitchen, but I'm going to call it that anyway – there was an even weirder room. A bed-pad of some kind that was long and bent in the middle, but it looks very cozy. A whole bunch of thin furniture carved out of wood. And even weirder… a whole bunch of electrical objects! I could feel the currents inside of them. They were definitely electrical. But I had never seen objects like this before. I had no idea how they were supposed to function. One looked huge and flat, like a picture frame with no picture in it. Another looked like a torch fixture with a weird, tiny lantern in it.

I was getting shivers. This was not familiar. Nothing about this was familiar. And yet, it all seemed so organized and cozy and pleasant, that it was definitely home to someone. Just, that someone was not me. And it apparently wasn't Gemstone or Ray either, as they had these "What the heck is all this?!" faces the entire time we explored this place.

At last, we came to a room that I actually did recognize immediately when I saw it: an office. It had everything that an office is supposed to have: library shelves lined with books, writing tables, desks with storage spaces, and plenty of lighting. It even had a soft red carpet and dark brown walls made of some sort of fake wood. Suddenly I was comfortably back in the Gold Division, kind of. Or maybe in someone's house in Harvesting Town. But I wasn't in… whatever that was that we just walked through. I actually understood what I was looking at, and it made me feel lots more comfortable.

Lastly, I realized there was a Pokémon in this room. A Hypno. It was sitting at the desk, writing something. It was so engrossed in writing whatever it was writing, that it didn't even notice us. Except somehow it did.

"Raikouun. You're late," muttered the Hypno, not even looking up from his work.

Ray froze his tracks. "Um… Hi?" he said meekly. "Who are – "

"I am Egor," said the Hypno, sounding dull and uninterested. "Yes… I knew your brother."

"Yeah? You did?" Ray choked out. "Is he…?"

"He waited for you," said Egor. "He waited for many years, until he could wait no longer. About three years ago, he passed away."

"…Oh," said Ray, going totally silent. "…Oh. So he was here…?"

"You were promised a meeting with a treasure hunter who would give you the treasure," Egor said. "Rautzen was that treasure hunter. He wanted to personally give you the treasure."

"So… he never… actually… left Ambera…?" Ray tried to say. Oh, I could feel the positive ions spreading across him fast.

"Of course he left Ambera," Egor grunted. "The place where you now stand is not Ambera."

"I'm… not in Ambera?" repeated Ray weakly.

"This is the human lands," Egor said. "This is the Kanto region. I live in this cottage now with my human master. Rautzen hired me to perform the long and strenuous task of enchanting the compass which brought you here. It took two years of nonstop travel, but the price was right, so I agreed to it."

Ray was starting to get tears in his eyes. They were rubbing off on me.

"Listen… Egor… I just want to know one thing…" Ray said slowly. "My brother… did he… live a happy life? At the end, I mean?"

"Yes, and no," sighed Egor. "His only regret was never getting to see you again one last time. It was a very deep regret, and his last request, given to me with tears in his eyes, was to tell you to stay strong. But he stayed active and comfortably occupied until the end. The amenities of Saffron City were more than enough to provide him with a pleasant retirement. I wouldn't feel bad for him. He wouldn't have wanted it."

"O… okay," Ray whispered, visibly shaking under the weight of so many positive ions. "Well, this is… a lot. So uh…"

"Wait a moment," said the Hypno as he sat up from the desk. He clawed at the books on the nearby shelf, and took one of them down. He then turned to Ray and looked at him, and all of us, for the first time, though he didn't really seem interested in what he saw. He handed Ray a little card of some kind.

"Your inheritance is kept safe in the Gold Division's treasury," he explained in low monotone. "It has always been there. This account card will allow you to claim ownership of it. But your inheritance was never truly the treasure which your brother wanted to give you. The treasure was…"

"…To be with him again, one last time," Ray realized, his voice breaking. "That's all he ever wanted… he just wanted to say goodbye and I took too long to get here…"

Ray dropped the account card on the floor, and he suddenly clung tightly to Egor as though he were Rautzen. Egor just froze in place and kind of let it happen. "Thank you… for staying here, and for waiting for me," Ray said earnestly. "I would give this hug to him, if he were here, but I'll give it to you. Thank you for looking out for him. For being his friend. And for making that compass for him. Thank you so much for making him happy however you could."

"Funny… he said nearly the same thing to me, once upon a time, about you," said Egor. "Are you sure you are not twins?"

"No. I'm not sure. I've never been sure," Ray sniffled, clinging to him more tightly.

"While I appreciate the gestures of affection, I would like to ask that you and your friends leave the way you came, as soon as possible," Egor said. "My human master will be home from work shortly. I do not wish to explain your presence to him. The compass works both ways, so simply use it in the cellar again."

"Okay. I will," Ray whispered. "I'll never forget you, Egor. What you've done for my brother means more than you realize."

"For that, I will take your word," he replied in the same drawl. "And I suppose I will never forget you, either. Really, I cannot, not after my late friend spent most of his waking hours talking about you."

So, that was that. Ray took the account card and put it into his magical bag, the bag he brought that had almost no supplies, which he was expecting to need to stuff full of coins and valuable things. We returned to Canniah, who was waiting for us in the stairwell. We descended the stairs down into the deep dark cellar, making sure to close the door behind us. And that was it for our visit to the human lands, and the weird human house we had to walk through.

Or at least it should have been. Before we all got back onto Canniah to warp back to Ambera…

Ray just… collapsed on the floor. Right there in front of all of us.

Crying. Crying so loud. Bawling his eyes out.

"Ray… what's wrong?!" I screeched, as soon as I realized what was happening. I bounced over to him and gave him my fiercest nuzzle, I sparked him with all my negative ions, and I just… let him cuddle against me. "I'm so sorry we didn't make it to see your brother, but there's no way we could have even known," I whispered.

"No… No, Leo, that's not it," Ray sniffed in between his labored wails. "I… I… Leo… I'm dying, Leo. I'm dying. Just like him."

"…What?" I breathed. "Ray… what are you talking about?"

"I… I… I… I have a virus," he sobbed. "It makes your lifespan shorter… that's why Rautzen died already… and I'm going to die too… before I ever get to see Char's team become great, before I ever get to join Team Remorse… I'm going to die… before I ever get to even spend all the money he left me… I… I… I don't want to die! I want to be there for them! They need me! But I… I won't be there anymore…"

Ray completely broke down from there. He tore himself away from me and just slammed his head onto the floor and made crying sounds that I didn't even think were possible for a Pokémon to make, much less Ray, my idol, whom I always looked up to as the shining example of happiness and positivity…

And I was looking at him there. I felt so, so, so helpless. Like… here's Ray, one of my all-time favorite Pokémon in the world. And he's… just dead inside. So broken. So lost. So alone. And there's nothing I can do. I'm just a little Shinx. I can't pull him out of this hole. I can't take away his virus and give him his long life back. I can't… I can't do anything. All I can do… is watch him. Watch his spirit utterly die right there in front of me.

I couldn't take it.

I just couldn't take it.

By the gods above, you have no idea how badly I was panicking just then. Like my entire world was falling apart. Like it already had fallen apart and I had to put it back together with nothing but my paws.

I just… couldn't take it.

Even though I couldn't do anything. I had to do something.

I jumped at the bag that Ray dropped when he started crying so hard. I didn't tell anyone this, but I had brought something of my own in there with me. I pawed through the bag as fast as I could, and I yanked out a second little pouch with my teeth. I tore it open, until the feral-shard inside dropped out.

I put both of my front paws on that shard. I closed my eyes. And I made my wish.

Please, I said. Please, evolution stone! Please grant my wish!

Please… give me some way… any way… to help Ray. Because I have no idea how. I can't think of any way possible I can help him.

Please give me some way. Please give me some idea. Please give me the power to rescue him from this darkness.

Please. Please!

It's all I want. Just to make Pokémon happy. Pokémon like him.

Please give me this power.

And so I gave into the power of change, and I evolved into Luxio right then and there. When I woke up from the trance, I realized Ray was still crying just as badly.

I also realized the evolution stone had granted my wish. I knew how to help him. I knew just what to say.

So I padded forward toward him. I bent down and gave him a little zap from my nose to his. He looked up at me and tried to stop crying for a moment. I think he was surprised that I changed.

"Ray," I said to him in my new, slightly deeper voice. "Raikouun. My hero, my idol. Please listen to me. I need you to know something."

He was listening to me. So I looked him deeply in the eyes. And I meant what I said next.

"I don't know if you realize this, but I've been paying attention to you," I told him. "I've been learning from you. I've been learning how you spread your cheer to everyone around you. I've seen the way you make Char and Saura stronger and better just by being there. And I don't know if you've realized this, but I've been copying you every step of the way. I've been doing everything you do, in my own little way, however I can manage. So I want you to know something, Raikouun: you are not going to die young. No matter what happens to you, be it a stupid virus that you and your brother had taking your life away, or anything else… you aren't going to die. Because you, your spirit, is going to live on in me. In everything I do and everything I am. I will be the spark of joy to Team Ember long after you are gone, for as long as my lifespan carries me, and you will have been the one who taught me how to play that role. I just want you to know that. So please… keep being you, keep teaching me how to keep my smile bright and everyone else's smiles bright. And I'll remember every last thing you teach me forever. And for as long as I am alive, you will never ever die."

It worked.

Saying that, somehow, brought Ray's smile back to his face. Like a miracle, it turned his sobs of despair right into happy laughter. And he clung to me like I, in that one moment, was his best friend in the whole world.

Actually… I realize what happened now. It was like I had become his little brother. He could now be Rautzen, and I could now be Ray. And he could teach me things the way his brother taught me. The only difference is that there isn't a dumb Pokérus virus standing in my way of a long and happy life.

Once again, a Pokémon made a wish upon their evolution, wishing to be a better version of who they already are. And, how mysteriously and inexplicably it might seem, that wish was granted.

Once we withdrew the money we needed from the treasury, we summoned Hunter back to the secret base. Even he had this most amazing grin on his face as he looked at the pile of gold, like he knew he was going to earn every bit of that gold by being the best hunter in the whole world.

"Very well, then," he said with a spark of glee, smiling at Char, Saura, and his own little team of servants. "I seem to have everything I might need. So then, without waiting another moment…"

"Let the great hunt begin."

*Chapter 117*: Chapter 85: Burnout

o

Chapter 85

Part 1

I've noticed that Pokémon, generally speaking, never ask one another about their ages. Personally I'm thankful for it; I'm honestly not sure how I'd answer that question.

How old am I, exactly? It's complicated. Is it the age of my soul, or the age of my body, that I'm expected to count? And speaking of which, how old is my body, exactly? I didn't hatch from an egg; I was placed into a Cyndaquil body I'm assuming was many years past its infancy at the moment of my reincarnation. Was this a wild animal before I was placed here, or was this form specially crafted by Giratina just for me? Did it pop into existence instantaneously? Do I count my reincarnation as my birthday? Or, rather, my hatchingday?

I'm glad these questions ultimately don't matter much. I've never been one for abstract philosophy. I'm content just to enjoy my new existence as a fire elemental without thinking too hard about it.

But here in the Pokémon world, we judge venerability by appearance. That's why evolution is such a big deal. By evolving, a Pokémon conveys their desire and expectation for the world to revere them as an adult. Whether they deserve such revere is another question altogether, but we seem to unanimously grant the benefit of the doubt, if only because a bigger, stronger monster tends to hit harder when they aren't treated the way they want.

Of course, there are exceptions. Pokémon show signs of age, both visible and behavioral, without the need for evolution. Pokémon tend to grow larger in size as time passes, or their fur turns grey and starts to fall out, and so on. Pokémon having no evolutionary stages tend to get the benefit of the doubt more often; if you see a Skarmory or a Miltank or a Heracross, you're more likely to stop and pay closer attention to how they act before you decide whether to look up to them or down at them.

Whereas humans show their age whether they want it or not, with every child wishing they were an adult and every adult wishing they were a child, Many Pokémon in effect have the privilege of choosing when and why they grow up – a privilege humans could only ever dream of.

But as I've come to realize, it's not just about what you want the rest of the world thinking of you. Sometimes it's more about how you want to see yourself. Making the first change was a no-brainer; I felt young, I felt weak, and I wanted to feel stronger and more confident in myself.

But now I sit here, staring at this magical crystal that was just handed to me last week, and I'm finding the decision to make the second change not to be so straightforward.

"Useless," says the belligerent ghost sitting beside me, fiddling with her own crystal and clanking it on the floor. "They call this a prize? What am I even supposed to do with this? Set it on my shelf? Display it to all of my teammates who coincidentally also have one of their own now? Give it away to all the friends that I don't have?"

"If you're going to complain so much, why not just eat it?" I suggest.

"No, thank you. These things taste like tar," the Sableye tells her woefully uninformed teammate. "I eat gemstones, not oily splinters of glass. I don't see any other use for this besides being a paperweight. A paperweight to remind me of the fact that I'm never going to evolve like all you sophisticated Pokémon."

"Hey! One day you will evolve!" says the strange steel chimera. "Maybe, maybe!"

"What are you talking about? Sableye can't evolve," she replies.

"Sure you can! Can too! And so can I!" says the Mawile, looking all oblivious to the world as she does. "I will evolve! You see, it happens too!"

"Oh, not this again," grumbles the Sableye, clawing at her forehead. "Lyre, there is no such thing as mega evolution. That's just a stupid myth invented by idiots who have nothing better to do than to draw terrible pictures of hideously mutated Pokémon. The art isn't even that good. You are never going to evolve, and neither will I."

"Nuh-uhhhhh!" shouts the Mawile, in her squeaky, way-too-cute-for-her-own-good voice. "They are really! I will be it one day! Mega Lyre!"

"Mega Liar, more like it," says Kerzek, "Alright, look, you want a mega evolution? Here. I'll give you one."

Kerzek zips into the portal back to the Gold Division and returns a few moments later carrying a large red ruby that's nearly the size of her body. She hefts it up and holds it like a shield. "Hey! Look at me, I'm a Mega Sableye!" she says with the most painful sarcasm in the world. "OooooOOOoooh! Look how scary I am! Oh, wait! I'm forgetting something." She flashes her eyes red. "There! Happy?"

"WOOWWW!" shrieks the little fairy, jumping and cheering. "CONGRATULATIONS, KER! SEE! I TOLD YOU IT WAS POSSIBLE! I TOLD YOU! YOU DIDN'T LISTEN!"

"Oh, for the love of…" Kerzek grumbles, lobbing the gemstone at her in frustration, which she deftly catches in her horns. "You're hopeless, you know that? Just hopeless."

I don't know what it is about these girls, but I enjoy their company. Ever since Char put us on the logistics team together, the three of us have formed an odd little kinship with one another. Maybe it's because I find all the other girls on Team Ember various levels of insufferable. Tallie is our hot-headed boss who doesn't like being friendly with her underlings, which, fine, I can get that. Eva/Aster is mentally damaged from centuries of immortality and I'll probably never get along with her, but I'm glad she apparently found someone who can. Glower is… I haven't figured her out yet, to be honest, but I get the feeling there's more to her than she shows. Now if she would ever actually show us anything. Zachel won't open up to anyone but (I'm assuming) Seviper. She pulled off a really nice cover-up by pretending to just be friends with him, but I wonder when that particular little truth is going to come out. I guess it's not something you notice unless you've been in that particular situation yourself.

On the other hand, Lyre is, to me, the most interesting person here. Once you get a feel for the way she likes to express herself, you might find that her apparent obliviousness is actually a finely-crafted sense of humor, and she's impressively clever enough to always stay three ideas ahead of everyone else. I quite like her. I think she knows I'm the only one here who's onto her, but I'm sure Kerzek is starting to catch on just as well.

And Kerzek is an honest, reliable, meticulous hard-worker who's only looking for someone to share mutual respect and confidence. She tries so hard to act all edgy and nihilistic, but it's just the boredom talking from a lifetime of living in solid walls. She's warming up to her new life. She sees Team Ember as just that, a functioning team; she's not looking to make friends with all of us, but I'm hoping I can be one of them. I quite like her, too.

As for the other member of the logistics team, Gemstone: I'm not too sure about her. We haven't spent all that much time together. She just evolved, and she appears to have taken a dose of humility, but I'm still waiting to see if she'll open back up to anyone. Maybe we can get along just fine.

Then I'd have a shiny Pokémon as a friend again. Never thought I'd see the day. Go figure.

So on that particular day, the three of us were holding down the secret base as most of the team went on missions. Our job was to assist Hunter in case he came back and needed anything. Lyre was reading, Kerzek was being a perfectionist about the interior design of the place, and I had nothing much to do but write in a journal and think about whether I wanted to be a Typhlosion.

"So hey, what about you, Quills?" said Kerzek as played with the big red gemstone. "Gonna use that thing, or what?"

"I'm not so sure just yet," I admitted.

"Why? Not strong enough?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm strong enough," I said. "But I'm thinking it's not really necessary."

"Not really necessary? What, you need a reason to get bigger and stronger?" She wondered.

"I like my form just the way it is now," I explained. "I have enough energy. I'm strong enough to defend myself. Other Pokémon see me and know to respect me. So… I don't know what purpose it would serve to evolve right now, other than to be change for the sake of change."

"Scarlet doesn't want neck-fire!" Lyre joked. "Neck-fire is useless weird! Back-fire is pretty!"

I snorted a laugh. "Yes, there is that, too," I sighed, letting the feral-shard tumble from my paws. "I think I'll give my stone to Zachel. Think I'm going to just have to wait for a reason to evolve."

"Y'know, you could become a ghost, if you wanted," Kerzek told me.

I snorted fire at her. "What, are you offering to kill me?"

"No, I'm actually being serious. You can evolve into a ghost-type if you wanted. Fire-ghost. Like Chandelure. I don't know what the exact methods are, but there's a way. What, you didn't know that?"

"What? Really?" I said, honestly surprised. "No, I've never heard of a ghost-type evolution. Certainly something to think about, if it were really true. Could I count on you to show me the ropes of being a ghost-type?"

"Ropes? Nah, there are no real ropes to being a ghost," Kerzek told me. "Not like I'm sure there's all kinds of ropes for being a fire-type, having your every little twinge of feeling change the way your fire burns, apparently. Nah, once you learn how to go intangible and invisible, then it's all a matter of learning what you're weak against and that sort of thing. And that's basically it. Nothing special about it."

"Still, would you teach me?" I asked plainly. "I would appreciate it."

"Yeah, well, become a ghost first and maybe we'll talk," she told me. "And good luck with that, because even I don't know how you'd trigger that evolution. I just know it exists."

That was the first I'd ever heard of such an evolution, and I'll be honest, the thought was quite tantalizing, particularly the thought of gaining actual elemental immunities. I was already quite addicted to Char's frozen flame, from what little experience I had with it. Getting smacked in the face with rocks and not feeling any of it was a very odd sort of thrill that I could get quite used to. I was already starting to imagine getting hit point-blank with a hyper beam (or a Skitty's solar beam, for that matter) and brushing it off like nothing.

I would have thought about it more, but I suddenly found myself having to do the job that I was assigned when Hunter marched in.

I watched the Flareon from across the room for a long moment, wondering if he'd come to take any of the money which Ray had left him (which he'd barely even touched). He looked at the gold for a moment like he was thinking about taking some, but I realized his lackies weren't even with him, and he looked a bit distracted by something.

"Can I help you?" I decided to say.

"Yes," said Hunter. "Yes, in fact, you can help me. I… I'm assuming Char and Saura are not here?"

"No, they aren't," I informed him. "They left the three of us in charge of helping you today."

"So I see," he hummed, shifting around uncomfortably in his fur. "Might I possibly request a moment of your time… preferably alone?"

I needed to think about this for a moment. Was I supposed to trust this Flareon alone? On one hand, he'd left his own helpers behind, so he was already offering a show of good faith. But on the other hand… what was he planning to do with a private audience? Was he planning to manipulate me somehow? Keep secrets from the rest of my team?

Heh. Well. Unbeknownst to him, he picked the wrong Pokémon to trust with keeping secrets from his own team. Suddenly I found myself quite fascinated by what he might have to say; I had a feeling that whatever he would tell me, I could trust myself to find a way of dealing with it.

Sorry, Hunter. You might be Ambera's best skip tracer, but you can't beat a human at mind games. At least, not this one.

I nodded to Lyre and Kerzek and motioned for them to leave through the portal (I hoped Kerzek would pick up on my "pretend to leave, hide in the walls and listen" signal) and then I approached Hunter at the center of the room on all fours to meet his eye level.

Now, even I wasn't quite prepared for what he had to say.

Once we were apparently alone, he said to me: "I'm hoping you're on good terms with my clientele, Char and Saura?"

"Quite good terms, yes," I told him with reserved enthusiasm.

"Good. Then as one flamekeeper to another, I need to ask your help in dealing with them," he said, lowering his voice secretively.

"I'm listening," I told him. I wasn't about to tell him off before he even said anything, so I needed to sound halfway agreeable. If I gave him the impression he couldn't trust me, he wouldn't spill his true intentions.

"There's a reason I'm charging so much for this job, more than I've ever charged any client before," he began telling me. "There was something in particular I've chosen not to disclose to Char and Saura when they asked for my service. That being… I've never been hired by the Amberan resistance movement before. Furthermore, I've never successfully infiltrated any of the major resistance bases. For this very reason, I failed to find Saura before my deadline back when he was my target. My other eight jobs, while they took me far and wide, never concerned the resistance."

"What's your point?" I asked.

"I mean to say," he sighed in an oddly weak and vulnerable way, "this job marks a particular turning point in my career. That turning point being… my retirement. Once I find Adron the Terrible, or give up on finding him… I will take no more assignments. I've decided that Adron the Terrible will be my tenth, and final, assignment."

"Why…?" I said blankly. "Because there's nowhere you can go from here? Think there's never going to be anything more difficult than tracking down Scythe?"

"While yes, that statement is true, it is not the reason I must retire," Hunter explained. "The reason is, put simply, conflict of interest with my clientele. I cannot, in good conscience, claim to uphold my honor after this. In other words, I cannot expect my client to trust me with their most intimate information when I could very well turn around and use that information against them in my next assignment. I am a hunter, not a double agent. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Somewhat," I admitted. "I still don't understand what your point is. What does this have to do with Char and Saura, exactly?"

"Then I'll be blunt with you," he said, looking at me sternly. "I need Char and Saura to let me into the Gold Division base. Understand… as this is my final mission, as well as the most difficult mission anyone could have asked of me, I am pulling all the stops. I am absolutely using every possible resource at my disposal. Your Scyther was a member of this resistance base, is that correct? His team resides there? In this case, I need to be let into the base. I need to speak with his team, as well as any and all teams who might have information about him. In effect… I need to join the resistance for this one. And I know that I cannot join the resistance with the intention of leaving and betraying you all once I have what I need. I know there is no going back from this. That's why, if I'm truly doing this, this must be my final mission. This is where my flame burns out."

"I'm assuming it's insufficient to just… arrange a meeting with them?" I tried. "We could arrange a meeting with whomever you want."

"No. That's far from sufficient," he told me earnestly. "If I am to form a narrative about why Adron fled, and where he has gone, I need to meet with anyone and everyone who even remotely has ties to him. And I cannot promise all of those meetings will operate under the most honest of pretenses. I sometimes require information which other Pokémon do not realize they are giving me."

"I see," I told him simply. "So I see, so I see."

"I'm beseeching of you, Quilava," Hunter said to me. "Help me convince them. I know they will not be convinced easily. That's why they won't let me into that wall portal and I'm limited only to working from this hideout. But for finding Adron the Terrible, this simply isn't good enough. So if you want me to find him, and you want me to find him quickly, you need to get me into your Gold Division base as soon as possible."

I was right. This was certainly a fascinating conversation. I was glad I decided to humor him. Now I just needed to think about how I was going to respond.

Alright, Scarlet, I told myself. I know you still have what it takes to be clever. You tricked one of the Master's immortal Pokémon; I'm sure you can run some circles around a dumb little Flareon if you need. Obviously we can't take this at face value. We can't just let him into the base upfront. That's how…

I visibly flinched as a mildly unpleasant memory bubbled to the surface. I'm sure Hunter noticed.

That's how Jacaranda wound up dead.

Now, I've come to realize another truth about not just Pokémon, but people in general, all people:

Either you have a dark past, or you're going to have a dark past someday. That's just how life is. We can't all avoid living through awful things that we mostly have no control over. That's why you learn from your mistakes – because the first time you make the mistake, you didn't even realize you had control over things in the first place.

And no, I don't like to voluntarily reminisce over what happened to the Lost and Forgotten. But unlike most Pokémon with a dark past, I don't let my dark past hold me back. I don't let it define me. And I have Jacaranda to thank for it. Every time I think about wallowing in that long-past day, reliving that moment where I watched the Rhydon burst down the door, or the moment where I said goodbye to Jacaranda, I hear him whispering into my ear: "I didn't die so you could be a slave. I died so you could be free." And so I choose to be here and now, in the present. I choose to be free, and to make decisions in the real world where they can have concrete effects on my future, not in my memories and daydreams where they do nothing but stoke the long burned-out flame of regret.

I realized it would probably be best if I stopped asking "Why can't I trust him?" and started asking "Why can I trust him?"

Char was not going to return for a while. Nor was Tallie. Heck, I even would have asked Eva for help if she happened to be around at that moment, but she'd straight-up gone missing for a few days, and not even Char knew where she was.

This couldn't wait. I needed to figure out a way of deciding whether this Flareon was trustworthy. And I had to do it without Char's jurisdiction over Team Ember, and I had to do it without letting High Intelligence know that we'd secretly installed a very, very heinous backdoor security breach into the Gold Division itself.

"Wait here," I told the Flareon, muttering under my breath to match his secretive tone. "I'll be back in about fifteen minutes. Don't do anything funny."

"I don't see why I would, considering you're my clientele," he replied. "I only care about the job I'm being paid to perform."

"You're already doing something funny, by going behind Char's back instead of just asking him about this," I told him, giving him the evil-knowing-eye as I walked away. "Don't make it worse."

He gave me a yeah you've got a point there face as I left him there. I darted over into the wall portal, where I know I would have privacy from him.

And just as I hoped, Kerzek and Lyre came sidling into the portal not moments later.

"I'm assuming you got all that?" I asked them quickly.

"Yes, yes! Each and every word!" Lyre assured me. I realized Kerzek had dragged her into the wall, or maybe into the secret space where Zachel and Seviper liked to hang out sometimes.

"What do we do, then?" Kerzek asked me. "He seems a little sketchy, going behind Char's back like this."

"Kerzek, you realize that we're the biggest criminal organization in the whole continent?" I scoffed at her. "Look who's talking. We're all the definition of 'a little sketchy.'"

"Well, when you put it like that," she grumbled, folding her arms at me. "But what are you saying, exactly?"

"I'm saying, it's not about who's more honest than the other," I said to her. "It's about making sure that all our interests align. Once you do that, everyone's best buddies forever. Kerzek… Do you think you can whitelist more Pokémon to use the portal?"

"Uhhhh… if they're not already on Team Ember or Team X, they have to be physically present, but yea," she said. "Who've you got in mind? Hopefully not that guy out there."

"Nah, at least not yet," I said. "Kerzek, I need you to go and get me the most useful Pokémon in the entire Gold Division, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, and what if I don't know what you mean?" Kerzek returned. "Think you could maybe stop talking in mysterious riddles for a rock-blasted moment? This is kind of a big –"

"IIIII know who she's talking about!" Lyre sang doing her little know-it-all dance. "III know who she means! It's fake Scythe!"

I chuckled at her. "Yep. That's right. Let's see if Domo is available. Seeing that he's still assigned to stay in the base, last I heard about him, we should be able to find him somewhere. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to have a break from Daemon for a minute. So yeah, you have ten minutes. Go hunt down our fake Scythe, if you will. Hopefully you'll accomplish that faster than the Flareon's gonna take the find the real one."

"Wait, aren't you coming?" Kerzek wondered.

"Nah, I've got something else to set up," I told them. "I'll explain everything once you get back. But for the idea I have, we're going to need Domo pretending to be Char… and we're going to need the Frozen Flame."

*Chapter 118*: Chapter 85, Part 2

o

Chapter 85

Part 2

"What do you mean, you can't find Domo?" I repeated, suppressing the heart-flickers of panic. "He's not with Team Remorse? Where else would he be?"

"Look, I don't know what else you want me to say," Kerzek said plainly, crossing her arms. "Daemon has no idea where Domo is."

"Did he go on a mission or something?" I tried, my voice reaching a humiliating squeak. "He can't just run off for no reason! What about Team Cog? Do they know where he might have gone?"

"I like how you assume I can just walk into Team Cog and check their surveillance logs," Kerzek returned, sticking out her tongue at me. "I'm not a member anymore. No longer have the privilege."

I paced in a nervous circle in front of the wall-portal. There were only three minutes left until I promised Hunter I'd be back to speak with him. "Aughhh! Why are all the Pokémon I need nowhere to be seen?!" I roared at nobody. "How do you expect me to pull off anything clever when I have none of the resources I need?"

"Well, to begin with, maybe you could explain what your bright idea was to begin with?" Kerzek said. "There's a few minutes left. We could think of a workaround, maybe."

I peered at the frozen flame I'd fished out of the supply closet and sat carefully in the center of the planning table. I grumbled. "I was planning to set up a scenario where Hunter would have the easy option to betray Char," I explained. "Like something where he could trap me in a rocky cave-in… or something. Depending on what he would do, I could have saved my life with the frozen flame, or I could have made Domo take his Mew form and read Hunter's mind. Failing that, I just wanted to see if he contradicts what he told me if he thinks he's speaking with Char in secret. It was the best I could come up with at a moment's notice, because it's the last thing he would have been expecting."

Kerzek shrugged at me. "Yeah, I got nothin'," she said. "Maybe just wait until Char comes back and talk with him? Seems like the most straightforward option to me."

Grumble, grumble, went my inner ember. I could feel the tingle in my quills, ready to explode in frustration if I didn't suppress them. "No, I can't let Hunter trap me in a conflict of interest like this," I said, mostly to myself. "I don't care what he tells me to do. I'm not going to manipulate Char into making a decision he wouldn't have otherwise made. But at the same time, I do want to help him get into the base if he really is trustworthy. The question is… how can I find out for sure whether he's trustworthy?"

"Hmm! You need to think smart!" Lyre encouraged me. "Think like a human!"

I cast an evil glare at her. I never told Lyre, or anyone but Char and Eva for that matter, the truth about my past. Even knowing how Lyre gets most of her odd ideas from the ether somehow, that one caught me off-guard. "Who said anything about humans?" I muttered at her.

"Human like Char! Think like Char, think like humans!" Lyre elaborated.

"Who told you that Char is a human?" I half-demanded, my suspicious glare intensifying upon her.

"Meh. Fine. I told her," Kerzek admitted, scratching the back of her head. "Something I knew from back when I… had access to the classified information. Didn't see much harm in telling her. Always figured Char would eventually tell everyone that secret himself."

"I don't suppose you know any other classified information about any of your other teammates," I tested.

"Oh, yeah. Plenty," Kerzek said with the most annoying mysterious grin. "But I'm bound by honor. Not saying a word. Unless, y'know, circumstances call for it."

I wasn't worried about anyone knowing the truth of my own history, mostly. I never spoke word of it to anyone in the base before. So unless there were extremely intrusive psychics lurking in the shadows somewhere that also liked to blab about what they knew to undeserving individuals, I had nothing to worry about. "Y'know, though, you're right," I said to Lyre. "I need to think more like a human."

Think like Char. If I were Char, how would I go about judging Hunter's character?

Or would I even trust him myself? Would I get someone else to help me judge him?

Well, yes. Of course I would. That would be Eva, obviously. I'm sure she pries into everyone's minds all the time at Char's mere whims. But if it weren't for Eva… and Domo isn't an option at the moment, either… anyone else?

Another loose connection came together in my head just then. And let me say, it was a very loose connection. More like the hint of a possibility of a connection. Char was recently given top-secret orders by High Intelligence that only Team Ember knew about. That being the mission to track down Scythe. Funny thing: it wasn't just High Intelligence that always came up when it came to official business like this. It was always a particular member of High Intelligence that was always mentioned.

"Kerzek… this is somewhat a shot in the dark, but… is it true that Xatu and Char have a confidential relationship of some sort?" I randomly asked. "If there are any confidential secrets you happen to know about Char and Xatu… I believe current circumstances are calling for it."

"…Yes," Kerzek admitted, looking sideways, as though scared that someone would catch her spilling a secret. "Who wants to know, exactly?"

"Perfect," I said, settling on a new resolution. "New idea. Go get Xatu for me. Tell her Char wants to talk to her at the academy."

"Why me? Dark-type? Because she won't know that I'm lying?" Kerzek asked.

"Yep. Exactly," I said.

"Alright, sure," she returned half-heartedly. "And while I try to go personally bother a specific member of High Intelligence, what exactly are you doing in the meantime?"

"Well… not much, to be honest," I told her, eyeing the portal. "Just taking a little walk, more or less… and we'll see where things go from there."

Before I stepped through the portal, I was sure to take a moment and simmer myself down – I knew that a fellow fire-type would easily sense whether I were emotionally compromised. I stepped back through the portal and thankfully found the Flareon waiting patiently in the exact same place I'd left him.

"Any luck?" he asked, perking up in interest.

Instead, I half-ignored him and beckoned him to follow me. "C'mon, we're going to take a walk," I called to him. "We're going to take a little walk to Iron Town. Just you and me."

I could tell he wasn't thrilled about not immediately getting the answer he wanted, but he knew I was up to something. He tentatively followed behind as I crawled up and out of the secret hideout and locked the door behind me. Surprisingly enough, his personal servants had not been waiting for him outside this entire time. Interesting. I wasn't expecting Hunter to give them time off like this.

But once we were alone together, walking the lonely and barren path beneath the chilly afternoon sky, I nonchalantly asked him: "I know how much Eons hate being asked this, but I'm too curious: what made you decide to be a Flareon?"

"Is this some sort of interview?" Hunter mumbled at me. "Please tell me you're not trying to make friends. In my line of work, friends aren't exactly something I can afford."

I hummed. "Well, at any rate, if you expect me to help you win over good rapport with Char, you're going to have to try a little harder to win me over first. Merely being 'fellow flamekeepers' isn't good enough. Not unless you're willing to tell me why you chose to be a flamekeeper."

"Depends which answer you want," he replied. "Do you want the glorious narrative that I'd put into my autobiography, or the painfully uninteresting real reason?"

"Look me in the eye, and figure that out for yourself," I challenged him.

The Flareon rolled his eyes at me. "I was cold," he admitted, fluffing up his fur. "I decided one day that I hated being cold and I didn't want to be cold any more. That's truthfully the only reason. It was only later that I learned my resilience to extreme temperatures gives me certain advantages in the particular line of work which I chose. I possibly would have also chosen the ice-type evolution, but I did not have the materials needed at the time, which made my choice a bit easier."

"I see," I hummed. "Not the worst reason for evolving I've ever heard, to be honest. Next question: what made you decide to be a skip tracer?"

He blinked. "That's a question I'm not generally asked, and I'm not entirely sure if an answer exists," he told me. "I realized one day that I was good at the job."

"What made you realize you were good at the job?" I pressed. "What exactly made you realize you had this particular skill?" I wondered. "Did you find a Pokémon who'd gotten lost?"

"I found a legendary Pokémon," he explained. "I found Cresselia. Based on nothing but rumors. From there, I considered becoming a legendary hunter. Until one day I realized the thrill never came from finding a legendary Pokémon. The thrill came from finding a Pokémon who didn't wish to be found. After finding a few lost Pokémon for sport, I realized I could charge for my services. Since then, I've only taken jobs more difficult than the last."

"What gave you the impression that you had a talent?" I asked. "What made you better than the rest?"

I could tell he was getting annoyed – like I said, it's easy for one fire-type to tell when another fire-type is annoyed – but I knew he wasn't going to refuse to answer my questions. Not when he needed my help. "I realized one day, the way a Pokémon's mind works," he said to me. "It's all about the internal narrative."

"The narrative?" I pressed relentlessly.

"Pokémon don't just live," he told me. "They tell themselves a story about their own life. About why they made all the choices they make. Why they're the good guy. Why they've always made the best decision possible in any circumstance they've encountered. It's this life story which they tell themselves, over and over, which dictates all their beliefs and their actions. And as I've learned, if you figure out what a Pokémon's narrative is, you can predict everything they'll do. Once I learned to ask the right questions and learn about a Pokémon's narrative… it was like I could start reading everyone's minds. Of course it's easy enough to read body language, but I started to see the narratives forming in the traces which a Pokémon leaves, or doesn't leave, behind them everywhere they go. It's like reading body language of a Pokémon who's not even there."

"Is that why you couldn't find Saura?" I asked. "Because you couldn't decipher his narrative?"

He grumbled at the ground. He was still clearly peeved about the whole Saura incident, but in a strangely honorable way. And I agree, it's nice to find a worthy opponent sometimes. Sometimes.

"In part, yes," he said. "In the end, it seems Char was the piece I was missing from Saura's narrative. Though I'd heard a Charmander had joined the local resistance, I didn't realize he'd become close friends to Saura. Had I known that… I'd have leveraged Char somehow. Mark him as a high-profile criminal, have him captured at first sight, use him to draw out Saura. But without that part of the picture, I didn't understand his motive for joining and staying in the resistance. Didn't understand his motive for abandoning his family he seemed to adore. Once I realized far too late that he joined the local resistance force, I was faced with the option of finding the base entrance, or flushing him out. Went with option two. Decided I could lure him out using his family. But you likely know how that went."

I found it interesting; Saura hadn't exactly told me that part of the story. But I gave him a knowing look and I commented, "And now you're going with option one. You're finally weaseling your way into the resistance base. Is that right?"

"Again, if I'm to find Adron the Terrible, I absolutely must speak with anyone and everyone who knows him personally," Hunter insisted, huffing at me. "This is my last mission. I'm taking it seriously. If I cannot take it seriously, you cannot expect results."

I waited until the base was far behind us before I said what I wanted to say.

I waited until we were as secluded as possible, at the corner where the country road merged into the main road going to Iron Town. No trees around, nowhere Pokémon could be hiding or listening in on us. I think Hunter understood the gesture; there was a worried spark in his eye as he turned to look at me, as though he finally registered that I might be a threat to him personally.

Before turning onto the main road, I stopped and turned to Hunter. I picked my words carefully. I mentally asked Jacaranda, perhaps for the last time, whether he thought this was a good idea. Deep down, I already knew it was what he would have wanted.

I said: "If I'm going to get you into the base, I need to make sure our interests align. And maybe this is the part where I come out and tell you that I'm something of a hunter myself, and although I don't specialize in finding the same kinds of Pokémon that you find, it would be a mistake to think you could betray the Gold Division and get away with it."

I could have pushed it a bit further, but… I figured that was enough. I didn't want to be Eva.

"Hmm. Understood," he said tentatively. "Though I am not sure I'm quite understanding your insinuation, I expect that I'll come to understand in time. I will keep that in mind."

"But that might not be the direction I want to take this conversation," I said further. "Hunter… if your line of work is what brings you the most joy, I think you should reconsider your retirement. I can already tell you don't actually care about that money. You only care about your track record. You care about being the best. You accepted this assignment only because you find it a worthy test of your skill, and you know this sort of assignment doesn't present itself every day. You should not have to retire just because you've proven yourself the greatest in the world."

He twitched his ears like I'd struck a nerve. "I don't see how else to circumvent the conflict of interest this creates with my future clients," he said. "At least not without choosing a side between the resistance and the Master. And a life where I must answer to someone other than myself is a life I do not consider worth living. Unless, what? Are you going to present me with an alternative?"

"When this mission is over," I said to him, "would you consider working for me? Full-time?"

In his black beady eyes, there flashed a whole gambit of reactions to my question. Confusion, intrigue, appall that I could possibly be so presumptuous to ask for his undying loyalty. But those reactions didn't matter; the only reaction that matters is the final one he lands on.

"That would greatly depend on your expectations," he said sourly.

"Well, as I said, I am something of a hunter myself," I replied nonchalantly. "And like you, it's my life's true passion. I've long since retired from my original endeavors, but only due to the loss of my business partner. Ever since, I've been awaiting the resources and the right opportunity to start over. Char has been a potential candidate for a new partner, but it seems like you'd be more suited to the position. As for my expectations: I hunt a very particular kind of Pokémon. A kind of Pokémon which is by nature a rarity and a challenge to find."

"Legendaries, then?" Hunter scoffed. "You're a legendary hunter. I've heard of your type before. I've told you; I've little interest in that line of work. I don't see why I should be excited to meet Pokémon who are intrinsically superior to me."

"Rarer than legendaries," I told him.

"Don't tell me you're a shiny hunter," he grumbled. "Another career prospective I cannot stand. Absolutely pointless."

"Rarer than shiny Pokémon," I said further. "A type of Pokémon so rare, it can prove to be a challenge convincing anyone they even exist."

He looked sideways at me, trying not to betray his growing curiosity. "And what happens then, with these particular Pokémon?" He asked with forced indifference. "Kill them?"

"No, quite the opposite, actually," I hummed. "I hunt them because they are endangered. The rest of the world wants them dead. But I think they deserve better. Especially because I am one of those very Pokémon myself. I am referring to Pokémon who are reincarnations of… deceased humans."

That got a nice explosion of shock and awe from him. First he looked at me like I was crazy. Puffed all his fur up. Then he narrowed his eyes and got all serious again, giving me a look like I was Mew or something. "You're very lucky that I've heard of this phenomenon before, and from very official sources," he told me. "Otherwise I absolutely would not have believed you."

"I figured you would, in your line of work," I said. "My kind are hunted ruthlessly by the Master. If you haven't been given an assignment before, I imagine you've at least heard of other hunters being given such assignments. As for me, I intend to build a sanctuary where humans might find safety and support in acclimating to this world, the kind of support that I wish I once had."

He tilted his head at me like a confused dog. He clearly wasn't sure how to react to this situation. He didn't know whether to be reverent, or indifferent. I could tell he was only just trying to imagine an image of what my human soul might look like squeezed into my body.

"Yes, you are very correct," Hunter stated, still looking amazed at me. "I've heard of human hunters. The Master has at least two internal divisions dedicated to sniffing them out and eliminating them as a presence on this continent. I've never involved myself because I've only ever accepted jobs for specific targets."

"Do you think I might convince you to try?" I asked gently. "I'm certain you'll find that humans have far more interesting personal narratives than most of the Pokémon you've ever met."

"I suppose I might try," he told me. "But to begin with, I'm going to need more clarification on how you intend to implement this plan."

"Well, as for the logistics of such a project, they haven't been entirely decided," I explained in earnest. "I might leverage the Gold Division as a catalyst and make this a resistance team, which seems like the most ideal route to take given their security and their access to resources, and given that the Master wants humans dead, I probably won't have trouble convincing humans to ally against them. Otherwise, I might make this an independent community and attempt to hide them underground somewhere. Or I might convince Char to shift focus and accept humans to his own team, since… he just so happens to be one of them himself. I have a feeling it would align quite well with his own interests, though I'm waiting for a better moment to present him with the possibility. That's all up in the air at the moment. But if you're on board, I'm not passing up the opportunity to make this happen."

There. That was the final nail that I hoped would stabilize this entire plot of mine: the thought of working toward a unified goal. Even if such a thing never actually came to fruition, just the planting the idea in Hunter's head that he, Char, and I might potentially have a business partnership in the future, I hoped would be enough to unify our interests and give the Flareon a reason not to consider us all useful idiots he might play games with whenever he gets the chance. Besides, I could tell just by the look in his eye that he, like all the rest of Amberan Pokémon I've ever met, has bought in to the general sentiment towards humans. He regarded me with a new, likely subconscious, layer of respect.

I knew immediately, at least, that he would think more than twice about double-crossing a human.

"So, what do you say?" I said, finally turning the corner and leading him down the mainline path towards Iron Town. "Is this a prospect you'd consider? Granted, this is an altruistic endeavor more than anything, but I guarantee it would provide you with a never-ending challenge befitting of your skillset. You would never need to retire if you don't want."

"And I would not need to consider myself strictly an ally to the resistance or the Master, depending on how arrangements are made," Hunter considered. "Hmm. Quite favorable. Of course, I would need consultants to help me understand the way humans fundamentally behave. At least to begin with. I assume you would help in that regard."

"Yes, and possibly Char as well," I assured him. "I'm hoping he eventually agrees to be on board with this project. He seems to have his own agenda at the moment."

"And Saura?" Hunter said curiously. "How do you envision Saura reacting to this idea?"

"I think Saura will go wherever Char goes," I told him.

Hunter grinned to himself for only a moment. He actually enjoyed the idea of working with Saura. I think he enjoyed the thought of being friends, or at least allies, with the one Pokémon who ever bested him. Maybe it was his way of pretending his one true failure wasn't really a failure in the end.

Hey, I can analyze a Pokémon's narrative too.

As for me, I began to feel happy flickers in my soul. Just the thought that the Lost and Forgotten project could be returning at last… Just the thought that it was so close…. It deeply pleased me on a level I can hardly explain.

I, too, had failed once, and still had yet to really make up for that failure by doing it again, and doing it right. I always envied Jacaranda for that – just knowing that when he performed his final act, when he died, he had such a smile on his face, knowing he was finally accomplishing what he'd once failed to accomplish. I knew he died as happy as a Pokémon could possibly die, and I made a silent promise to him that I'd somehow go out the same way.

The old flames, those I'd long-assumed had burned out, were ever-so-slightly returning – the flames I could only describe as my Cyndaquil flames. And while I didn't want to completely revert to the inner Cyndaquil again – that would bring back far too much pain – it felt nice to have the older flames come back and dance with the new. Made me understand myself a little more, if that makes sense. Gave me more of a complete picture of who I really am.

There was still something missing – something I couldn't quite put a finger on. I knew I was not yet a full and complete person. I had a sneaking feeling I knew what it was, and I wasn't quite ready to confront that fact just yet. But I realized that's why I wasn't yet ready to be a Typhlosion. I decided I would save the feral-shard for the day when I was finally ready to confront that final part of myself, that final hole in my heart. Until then, I was more than happy with who I was. Zachel would be getting my feral-shard to put into storage as soon as I next met her.

After we made the whole walk to Iron Town, mostly in professional silence, I brought him to the Cliffside Academy, and I think he realized at once that it was a front for the resistance. Probably smelled it in the air, felt the echoes of thousands of Pokémon deeper down in the caves. And there, before we activated the memory-wipe, we met up with Xatu. I asked her telepathically if she was upset at me for deceiving her into coming. She silently replied that she did not consider it a deception – she trusted Char, and therefore also trusted my judgment.

Fair enough. Though still, it made me wonder what sort of rapport Xatu really had with him.

Xatu gave Hunter the mind-exam and determined him to be trustworthy enough for the resistance, even though she noted to me that her mind-exam only tests a Pokémon's current intentions; it doesn't predict with much accuracy whether those intentions will change in the future. I told her I probably had everything under control. Still, she told me to keep an eye on him.

But the weirdest thing, though, was that before we entered the mind-wipe zone, we ran into Eva. She was just… wandering around there, in one of the Cliffside Academy classrooms, and she seemed rather shocked and unprepared to see us.

"Hey, girl. Where've you been?" I said, probably a little more passive-aggressively than I wanted. "Could've used your help today. What's going on? Char doesn't even know where you went!"

Eva got all shifty-eyes on me, which I thought was pretty strange. "Where do you think? I've been searching for Adron," she told me.

"Searching for Scythe? On your own?" I said, blinking away my disbelief. "Why? Just, why? What do you think we hired him for?" I accused, motioning to Hunter.

Eva gave an evil glare to Hunter. "I figured that if I could find Adron on my own, we wouldn't need him to begin with," she said to me, probably a little more passive-aggressively than she wanted. "We wouldn't have to let him into the base, and we wouldn't have to waste such an extortionate amount of funds on him."

Now, Eva was an odd one. I accepted this by now. She was a little crazy, but I figured it was the Lyre kind of crazy where a lot of it is just genius you're too dumb to comprehend. Or at least, that was the benefit of the doubt I gave her, seeing that she was thousands of years old. You probably couldn't live that long of a life without learning a thing or two about the world.

And I know she's a little crazy when it comes to Char. But that's just… love. That's just what love does to some people. But I knew that we all have different tastes in partners, and this was Char's problem to deal with. If this is what he really wanted in a partner, it's not something I had any right to judge.

But this… when I met Eva at the academy that day… something was bothering me about her much more than usual. It was something in the way she stood, the way she acted, the way her fur stood on end, the way she twitched whenever I accused her of something. Like I'd just walked in on something when she was expecting absolute privacy.

And yes, I considered the fact that it might have been Domo in disguise. It wasn't. I found out soon after that Domo was in the base all along and Kerzek was just an idiot who didn't consider he might have been in the mess hall having lunch.

Weirder still, I got the impression this odd behavior of hers had nothing to do with Char, either. Like if it'd been Char who walked in instead of me, she'd have acted the same way. After all, she knows I'm a human, too.

"So… where've you searched?" I awkwardly tried asking her.

"Everywhere," she said blankly. "Everywhere I could."

"Any luck?" I tried.

"No," she said, almost stomping her foot in frustration. "No. I've had no godforsaken luck. And believe me, Scarlet… if I'm having no luck, I doubt your Flareon is going to fare any better. But I won't stop searching."

I almost wanted to laugh at the way she'd just barely stopped herself from calling me 'human' and I was about to tell her that Hunter knew my secret now. But then she darted out the room, inexplicably, like there was no time to lose. I tried following her, wanted to shout something at her like "Hey, should I tell Char you said hi?" but by the time I peeked into the hall, I'd already lost sight of her.

I gave Hunter a "Don't mind her, she's crazy" look, and at last I led Hunter down through the tunnels and into the Gold Division base proper.

Like every fire-type Pokémon I've seen, Hunter's face lit up like a newborn hatchling the moment beheld the majesty of the central column, with all its symmetry and ghost torches and glimpses of dozens of doors on each floor leading who-knows-where. Yeah, I felt the same way, and it's a lot to take in. So I gave him a moment and enjoyed his reaction.

He burst into a long, maniacal laughter. As though he couldn't get over how easy it had been in the end to just walk in here.

When he stopped laughing for long enough, he said, "Oh, Adron, Adron. You're not hiding from me now. This is where our games truly begin. With this much access to your past, I'll do what even Adiel failed to do… and I'll find you."

*Chapter 119*: Chapter 86: Not Normal

Chapter 86

Part 1

Season of Autumn, Week 7, Day 8

Dear Journal,

Today I accompanied Tallie, Adamant, and Zachel on a mission to Crowsnest Cove.

As usual, I was assigned to keep watch over the dungeon entrance for ambush. As the temperature drops, flying becomes unpleasant. My instincts urge me to migrate somewhere warmer. But I am satisfied with my role and I will continue to serve Team Ember through the coming winter.

We collected forty amethyst shards as requested by our Krokorok client. She paid us well. She needed to pay us more than the value of the shards, otherwise we could have just taken them for ourselves. The mission was a success, and my rank as well as Team Ember's rank has increased.

There is nothing else of note to report for the day.

Season of Autumn, Week 9, Day 8

Dear Secret Journal,

As I reach the end of these pages, I realize I will need to ask for a new journal soon. I'm not sure how to ask for one without raising suspicions. They just gave me one. They will wonder how I filled it up so fast with the short entries I write. Maybe I can pretend to lose it.

Pretending, pretending. My whole life is pretending. Pretending to be feral. Pretending to be a sentry. Pretending to be normal.

I suppose it's just my curse to bear. Sometimes I wonder if this is all really the right answer. Pretending so that I don't have to pretend. What kind of sense does that make? Maybe I shouldn't think about it too hard.

But I need to keep going. The longer I can keep Team Ember in the dark….

Then maybe I can finally begin to convince myself I'm good at this and that I can actually be good at my job.

Except that two teammates (or technically three) already know the truth. I've only been on this team for four weeks, so I'm off to a great start.

Could I have prevented this?

With Kerzek, probably not. I could never have escaped from the surveillance of Team Cog.

With Tallie… yes, that definitely didn't need to happen. She walked in on me at a bad time. Buuut I can always convince myself that it was probably a good thing Tallie found out. After all, that's why she keeps putting me on sentry duty instead of, y'know, real avian tasks.

But with… ugghhhhh… Hunter…

That…

I won't lie, that was soul-crushing, knowing someone found out not because they were eavesdropping on me, but because they were smart enough to figure it out. Because I left too many clues. Which is exactly what I'm not supposed to be doing. Yeah I know Hunter is good at his job, but that's no excuse. I'm supposed to be good at my job, too.

It happened just after I'd gotten home from the Golden Temple mission. Already one of the worst days of my life. Tallie put me on sentry duty where usually I don't have to do anything because nothing ever happens. But that day, fate was cruel and something decided to happen.

I saw intruders. I realized they were the Master's soldiers. I realized they were converging on the temple. Saura and Tallie and Scarlet were in there. I knew I had to do something. I had to get them out.

But I just froze up. If I tried to do anything I'd either get myself killed, or I'd reveal my secret to Saura and Scarlet and I'd eventually wind up getting someone else on Team Ember killed from my own incompetence. Even though I was about to get them killed anyway. I know that doesn't make much sense, but you don't operate on sense when you're scared.

I mean it's so easy to know what your principles are, you think you know what you'd do in a dangerous situation, know who you'd fight for and how hard you'd fight. We have our team motto for a reason: "until the last ember fades."

But when you're there in the moment and things are happening and you have to make a decision right now… it's different. It's so, so different. Sometimes it's like you're watching everything happen from outside your body.

I realize it now: that's what training is for. You can't just know what you'd do in a situation. That's not enough. It needs to be an unconscious, conditioned response. A habit. That's the only way you won't hesitate in the heat of the moment, but you also won't make dumb newbie mistakes like I've been making all over the place.

Which is why I'm still training. That's why I'm still heart-set on tricking Team Ember into thinking I'm normal. How else am I supposed to train? Nobody else in this base would train me. I'd have to go to the Black Division for proper training, and I really don't want to because I like this region too much and I'm too lucky to have made it onto Team Ember in the first place. I love most of my teammates and I wish I could open up to them.

But I know I can't trust them. Not even the Pokémon with the best intentions can be trusted. I know that no matter what I say, or no matter what promises they make, sooner or later someone's going to come up to me and say "Heyyyyyyy, Arcana. I know we promised we wouldn't assign you to these kinds of missions, buuuuut could you make an exception just this once, pleeease, it'd be the perfect solution to our problem!" I mean, that's just Pokémon nature. No matter how hard they try, nobody can resist the allure of a clever idea. And then I'd accept their request because their points would all make perfect sense, and they'll probably ask really nicely, and it'd make me look like a jerk and coward if I refused.

Then I'd mess up and get everyone killed.

That's what flashed before my eyes when I saw them, my own team, the Pokémon who I was supposed to be protecting, come face-to-face with a herd of Golem and Tyranitar dead-set on leveling the temple. I was terrified and I couldn't move.

They survived because of the frozen flame. Nobody suspected Tallie and Scarlet to be randomly immune to their strongest attacks, so they got away no thanks to me. I had to pretend I tried to come warn them but that I got knocked out unconscious at the foot of the steps. Tallie flew me home.

So after that delightful day, after I come home and I'm all exhausted and I just want to get some actual rest… I find that someone's waiting for me in my room.

Originally I roomed with Scarlet. Told myself if I had any competence at all, I could pull it off. Had her convinced I never needed to sleep and I just stayed awake and stared at the wall all night. Part of me is actually glad Kerzek knew the truth in the end and let me be her roommate instead.

So I came home and I expected Kerzek to be there before me. But it wasn't Kerzek… It was that stupid Flareon.

"Welcome home," he told me as soon as I realized he was there. "Has your mission gone well?"

"No," I said, maintaining my guise. "The mission ended very badly and I would appreciate some rest, if you don't mind."

"Oh, take all the rest you need," he sneered, walking around me as I flopped down onto the bed. "I just need to ask you a few questions. I trust you'll be awake enough to answer. After all, your self-proclaimed specialty is to stay awake for days, isn't that right? But don't worry, it will only take a minute, and I'll be out of your fur."

I didn't think anything of the 'fur' comment at the time, seeing that's just a common expression which all Pokémon use. I got a bit snippy and tried telling him, "I've already been awake for three days, and I would prefer to recharge."

"To begin with, I'm curious," he started to say as he paced around the room, "from which team did you transfer, before joining Team Ember?"

"Team Silverwing," I returned simply, elaborating no further.

"Hm? Team Silverwing?" said Hunter. "Who are they, if you don't mind me asking? Where is their headquarters located here?"

It would make sense that he's not found their headquarters, seeing that it's quite difficult for most Pokémon to visit them. You need to fly, or be carried by someone who can fly, or be a ghost, to make it up to their base.

"It is the Gold Division's best training ground for avian units," I recited. "Located at the topmost floor, which normally only birds can enter."

"Ah yes, yes! That team Silverwing! I'm well aware of them," he said, pretending to have an epiphany. "Already had several pleasant little chats with the top birds there. All of which, might I add, have never heard of you."

My heart thumped so hard he probably felt it. Oh no. But I knew I had to stay cool. I could do this. If I had even the slightest bit of competence, I could do this.

"Checked their records, even," Hunter continued. "No traces of you to be seen. What's going on, if I might ask?"

"I was there," I reassured him. "Trained with Silverwing for over two years. You must have misremembered my name."

"Glower, right?" he said oddly. "That's your name, isn't it? That's what it says on Char's team roster. Perhaps I pronounced it incorrectly? Wrong accent? Wrong inflection? Should I have asked about Glaw-er, perhaps? Or perhaps… you changed your name when you joined Team Ember?"

I just barely realized in time that this was a setup. He was giving me a false way out. False because he knew exactly how everyone on Char's team spoke my name, and also because whatever I told him, he could just go back and ask Syr about everything all over again and I'd have accomplished nothing except possibly for an opportunity to escape.

But there's no escaping from Hunter. I knew that. I knew he'd find me. I had to think of something else. I steeled my heart and tried to do my job.

"Fine. I lied," I told the snooping Flareon. "I am a civilized feral who followed a Silverwing bird home from a dungeon. I was not trained with Silverwing, but by the daycare. To Silverwing, I never had a name, and I was never officially on their team rosters. I lied about my training for a better chance of acceptance onto Char's team."

That was a harder story to debunk. I knew that Silverwing had, in fact, sent several Hoothoot to daycare over the years.

"Sounds like a particularly risky move to me," Hunter mused, looking away. "You must have been aware that Team Ember not only employed a Silverwing bird at the time of your admission, but now employs two of them, who stand to call out your lies?"

"Silverwing is divided into flocks," I explained. "Not every bird meets every other bird. They give me the benefit of the doubt." Then, showing him a ruffle of the wings, I decided to add on, "Why waste your time investigating me? Aren't you supposed to be searching for Scythe? That's some nice work decoding my gambit, but what does this have to do with your assignment? I have nothing to do with Scythe's disappearance, and I have no information that can help you."

"Yes, yes, you're right, of course," Hunter sighed. "This has nothing to do with my assignment to find Scythe." Then he turned to me and added, "But according to my current theory… That is something we could easily change."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about, and to be honest I don't care," I told him, turning to stare at the far wall. "Any other questions?" I said in a very pushy way.

"Hmm. No, not at this time, I don't think," he said in a disappointed voice. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. I forget how much the cold saps the strength right out of you flying-types. And it's only going to get worse in the upcoming weeks. So please… rest well."

I was waiting for the door to shut. Waiting to release my held breath and finally relax and have some privacy. Waiting, waiting, waiting. But the door never shut.

"Actually… I'm curious about something," Hunter said so nonchalantly, like he just thought of it. "Do you mind if I read your journal? I'd like to take a little peek at your accomplishments, if that's alright with you."

Well, that came out of nowhere. But the whole point of the red journal was to be read by everyone else, so I didn't actually see a problem with it. "You won't find much of anything," I warned him. "And you especially won't find any information about Scythe. But you're welcome to look."

"Thank you; I think I will," Hunter said. "Is this your journal here, on the nightstand? The black book?"

I turned in surprise. He'd stepped right over the red journal and zeroed in on the secret one.

"You just stepped right over it," I informed him blankly.

"Wait…. This book?" Hunter said, sniffing at the book on the floor. "But that's not possible. It can't be yours."

"What makes you say that?" I asked, trying not to be flabbergasted.

"Well, you see, I already read that one, front to back," Hunter informed me. "And it's obviously about a different bird. Perhaps Brace or Otto, I figured. You likely stole their journal to read for yourself."

"No, it's mine, I promise," I said skittishly.

"Really, now," he said so dryly that it hurt. "You expect me to believe you wrote this."

"…Yes?" I said. I didn't know what he was getting at, but he was great at making me feel uncomfortable.

"Hmm… the cold really must be getting to you, in that case," Hunter said sourly, opening the red book and flipping through some of the entries, which spanned less than a fourth of the book. "See, it says here, on multiple of these daily entries, that whoever wrote this – which, you claim that you did – that they've been struggling with the instincts to fly south for the winter."

I blinked at him. "Yeah? What about it?" I asked.

"Tell me… if you really wrote this…" he said, slamming the journal shut, "how do you know so little about the Hoothoot species? They do not fly south for the winter. Pidgey, yes. But Hoothoot and Noctowl are quite defensive of their territory. They never migrate or abandon their nests, they stay all winter long and hunt even in the snow and ice. And this isn't even to mention that we live in a temperate region close enough to the equator that it rarely ever snows."

I told myself, stay calm. Stay rational. Don't panic. You can do this, Arcana. You can do this.

"Well… then… I must have mistaken my instincts for something else," I claimed. "Perhaps I am just cold and do not yet understand how to cope with it."

"But you just told me you were once a feral," Hunter said oddly, tilting his head. "If that were true, you would have known full well that you don't migrate for the season – because you never would have done such a thing before you became civilized."

We stared at one another for a long, long moment. It was happening again, for the second time that day. I was seizing up, body and mind. Unable to think or to do anything. Stunned. There just weren't any good answers.

Hunter gave me a sneery little grin as he turned tail and went for my secret journal again. "At any rate, I think I'll take this one instead," he announced. "Perhaps it will help explain things more clearly than the red one."

No, no, no, no, no!

I pushed myself. I overcame my shock and I made a last desperate pounce for the black journal, hoping to whatever gods were watching that I'd grab it before Hunter did. Hunter gave me a sudden, but gentle headbutt out of the way – it didn't hurt, but it was hard enough to thump me against the wall.

As I slumped there, he looked down at me with the most triumphant, evil glee. And that's when I knew I had failed. Truly and miserably failed. Those eyes, those evil, knowing eyes, they saw me. They saw me for who I really am.

That's really all it takes. Just one strike. One single strike.

Just one little mistake and it's all over.

"Just as I suspected, Zorua!" Hunter laughed over me. "Ahh, I must admit, it feels good to know that I've still got what it takes to spot you."

"Please… Please don't tell anyone…" I frantically begged and whispered, pressing myself against the wall and backing further into the corner. "Please please please please don't tell anyone… It… it has nothing to do with Scythe… Just please let me keep being a Hoothoot. There's really nothing in it for you to expose me, right?"

"Oh, nothing to do with Scythe, you say?" Hunter repeated. "Like I said, that can be easily fixed. Why do you think I took such an interest in you? Your… specialties… are exactly what I need to uncover some of the deeper classified secrets of the Gold Division."

I gasped, "What, uh, are you blackmailing me or something?" I gasped in horror. "Y-you're going to tell everybody about me if I don't agree to your demands, aren't you?"

Hunter shrugged at me. "No. I would not blackmail my own ally unless I suspect they are not my ally. And I know you're not a spy. Were you a spy, this is not the team you would have picked to infiltrate. No, Zorua, I am only… suggesting some sort of partnership between you and I. To say that I could use your talents in the hunt for Scythe would be… quite the understatement."

I shook my head violently. "No, no, no, no," I pleaded, feeling like I might start to cry. "No way. I'm not using my illusions for you. Or for anyone. Only myself. Just let me pretend to be a bird. I'm begging you, Hunter. Don't do this to me."

To somewhat my surprise, Hunter curled himself up comfortably next to my bed, as though waiting for me to get up and join him. He looked at me amiably. "Alright, Zorua. I'll leave you alone and let you keep up your ruse. But if you don't mind, there are still about three questions on my mind that I can't quite figure out based on what I know. If you could help me to understand them, it would be much appreciated."

I rolled my eyes and came over to rest on my bed. "Fine. What do you want to know," I said flatly, defeatedly.

"One: do you have a name? I'd hate to have to call you 'Zorua' and I can't imagine your real name is Glower."

"Eh. My name is Arcana," I told him, not seeing the harm in it. "You know, after Arcanine. Where I come from, Zorua get named after other Pokémon. You know… because our whole thing is pretending to be other Pokémon. We actually get named after the first Pokémon we pretend to be."

"Yes, I'm somewhat familiar with such names," Hunter said. "Well-met, then, Arcana, deceiver of the embers. Now, then. For my second question, please tell me: how have you kept yourself a secret from the Espeon? Surely she would have tried reading your mind by now and realized you are a dark-type?"

"Uh… telepathic illusions," I explained. "Sort of like how I can make illusions in real space, I can show fake thoughts to mind-readers, sort of, if they don't dig too deeply. It's hard to explain. It's a very important skill I'm supposed to know, although I was never really any good at it. That's why I made up all that nonsense about how I'm good at pretending to be feral and having blank thoughts. Blank thoughts are some of the only kinds of thoughts I know how to project, at least reliably."

Hunter looked very pleased with this explanation, and somehow made me feel a little more comfortable about having been found out. Again. I started to wonder if there was a pattern here. Every time someone found out about me, it actually caused good things to happen. Tallie gave me simple jobs to help me keep my ruse, Kerzek gave me the opportunity to drop the illusions and just be myself in the evenings (not to mention she also faked hitting me at our duel at the secret hideout so I could pretend to lose and be eliminated early.)

And now, talking to Hunter here, I started to feel relieved, sort of. Maybe this was a good thing. It felt so great to just be myself and stop pretending to be a boring bird for a few moments. Don't get me wrong, it's still awful that I failed to keep my own secret, and I hate it. Ideally I should be good at deciding who should learn my secret, and tell them myself. But I don't know if he was manipulating me or what, but he was making me feel comfortable in his company.

"I'll admit, even I never knew Zorua had such a power," he said. "But in hindsight, it makes sense. I can't imagine another way your kind can manage to keep themselves hidden so effectively for so long. Now, as for my third, and final, question…"

He flicked his tail and lowered his voice, probably to lull me into thinking he wanted this to be a personal moment. It worked. "Arcana… why?"

"Why what?" I said.

"Why put yourself through all of this?" he said sympathetically. "I've never met a Zorua or a Zoroark so intent on hiding from their very own team before. Usually you are quite fond and proud of your power, and flaunt it at every opportunity. Likewise, you are highly desirable not just as a teammate, but also as a personal friend and companion, for your natural abilities. So what I don't understand is: what would drive a poor little Zorua such as yourself, to keep it all covered up?"

I frowned and flicked my own tail thoughtfully. "If you want to know the answer to that, I'd probably have to tell you my life's story," I flatly said. "Is that really what you want?"

"Miss Arcana, I'd love nothing more than to hear your life's story," Hunter said with a warm smile. "It's a part of my job. Why else do you think I've made myself comfortable at the foot of your bed?"

And so that's exactly what I did.

I told him the story of how I'd spent my hatchling years near the Black Division. I told him about how my father's name was Grim, who was apparently an important figure. I told him that I don't know for sure because I never actually got into the Black Division, but that's what he always told us.

I told him about how I had two sisters, and about how my father had sky-high expectations for us. I told him about how my oldest sister, my father's favorite daughter, was named Vivia.

Father set very high standards upon us, but he was the harshest on Vivia. She made the most lucid illusions as though it were nothing, and she had the strongest darkfires we'd all ever seen in a hatchling. Father wanted her to be the next great hero of the family, and poured all of his love and his effort into perfecting her.

I told Hunter about how father made me learn to survive in the wild by kicking me out and forcing me to stay in the forest for days at a time until I learned to use my illusion powers to keep from getting eaten. Vivia, though, she got personal lessons from father every day. He taught her everything he knew, and left the rest of us to figure things out for ourselves. Many days father was too busy training Vivia to even hunt for food, so we ended up scavenging for carcasses and berries by the nearby fox dens.

By the time Vivia was ready to evolve, she knew a hundred transformation illusions, she knew how to channel ghost-type energy like the best of them, she knew how to terra-warp, whereas I was nowhere near ready to evolve and I barely knew how to pretend to be a few forest animals like Beedrill and Hoothoot. Weavra knew even less than I did and I always had to help her out.

Weavra and I learned very quickly in our childhoods that we just weren't good enough for father's favor. Somehow we were just supposed to magically become expert Zoroark without any training because he spent all his time on Vivia. I did the only thing I knew how to do, and I practiced being forest animals. Weavra lost her spirit and gave up altogether and sometimes she would cry all night and keep me awake.

I told Hunter about how Vivia started her missions for the Black Division. She bragged about how she skipped all the training missions and started doing one-star missions like Zoroark are apparently supposed to do. She bragged about her victories to us and father congratulated her and told us we needed to be more like her. I tried to tell him that we couldn't be like her because he never gave us any training like he gave her, and he just told us that was our own fault for not being trainable.

When Vivia moved out and started living in the Black Division with her own team, I wondered if maybe father would start teaching Weavra and me everything he taught Vivia. I begged him to teach us even just a little bit. Just something that would help to make us special and part of the legendary Zoroark family that we were. I begged him every day, over and over, until he gave in.

Looking back, I think father just wanted to send us off to die just to get rid of us. But that's not how I saw it. I saw it as an opportunity to maybe earn a little bit of his favor, just a little bit. Maybe that would get him to see some potential in me and help me become a good Zoroark too. And then I could teach Weavra everything I knew, and we would all carry on the family legacy together. That was my plan.

Father told us to go infiltrate a place called the Fort Glimmer where the Master kept several vaults of money and rare materials. It was very heavily guarded, even worse than the Gold Division. He said if we got in there and brought back some bars of gold, he would consider training us to use our illusion powers better. I didn't stop to ask him how we were supposed to use our illusion powers on a dangerous mission before we knew how to use them – I didn't care. All I saw was this golden opportunity, my only chance to become just as good as Vivia.

When Weavra and I set off for the mission, though, I knew we couldn't do it. We were just hatchlings. We weren't good enough. We had to figure something out fast if we wanted this opportunity, even if it meant cheating.

So that's what we did. We tried cheating.

We found Vivia and begged her to help us. We told her everything, about how father said he would train us if we did just this one little thing for him, but we knew we couldn't do it, and begged her to do it for us so we could start our training. Our father was a huge jerk, but Vivia was really nice to us. I think she was a good older sister, and she felt sorry that we got left behind in the family. So she went and infiltrated the base for us, and we pretended to be Rattata and stood around nearby to watch her get in.

Vivia made a tiny little mistake. Just the littlest possible mistake. See, the base was guarded by a bunch of Bisharp at the time, so she was pretending to be a Bisharp to get in. What she didn't see were the Corvisquire watching from the tops of the towers who noticed something suspicious about her. They kept their eyes on her, although she was doing a good job at acting as one of the other guards. But then she hid in a corner so she could try to change illusions. She had no idea the watchbirds had their eyes on her, and the watchbirds saw her transform. She was mobbed to death by at least twenty birds and not even five minutes later they were picking the meat off her bones.

Like I said. Just one little mistake and it's all over. That's all it ever takes.

That was the first time I felt it, that stunned feeling where you can't do anything because it feels like you're suddenly a stone statue and your spirit is watching your body from the outside. That moment imprinted itself on me. Whenever I imagine trying any espionage of my own, I remember that I'll only ever end up just like Vivia.

We retreated into the gorge and we cried together all night. Once we managed to stop crying, Weavra told me we could still try to get the gold bars for father. Father had no idea that Vivia was trying to help us, for all he knew she was running missions for the Black Division, and it was her own fault that she died. So maybe if we waited a few days and thought of a plan, we could get in ourselves and steal something. We took turns practicing our Bisharp and Corvisquire forms. We promised one another that we'd try again in three days. Even though I was only planning to tell Weavra that I was giving up anyway. There was no way I was good enough at my illusions to get in there. But I kept promising her that we'd do it. I tried promising her again and again until I could promise myself. It didn't work.

On the second night I admitted the truth to my sister. I told her that we should give up and go home. We can live the rest of our lives as normal citizens, that we don't need to be resistance leaders if we don't think we're up to it. Maybe that's what Dad wanted for us all along and there's nothing wrong with that. I knew Dad would eventually find out that his prized daughter was missing, but he would never have any reason to blame us for it. We would be sad for a while, but everything could end up okay. Eventually.

I woke up in the middle of the night because I subconsciously knew my sister wasn't there anymore. She had scratched a note for me in the dirt. It said: "If you wake up before I come back: I can't bear to see you so sad anymore, so I went to get a gold bar. When the sun rises tomorrow, I'll be back and it'll be over. We'll finally get to be happy. Love, your sister."

I just panicked. No, no, no, no, no, went my heart. I rushed after the trail she left. But of course I was too late. I got to the fort and she was nowhere to be found.

Against all my terror, I cast the illusion of a Bisharp, and I snuck in. When I got close enough to the guards, I asked them about the recent incident with the Zoroark. They confirmed there had been two break-ins. One Zoroark, one Zorua. Both were dead within moments of entry, so there was nothing of note to report to the commanders.

Both my sisters were dead. And I didn't want to go home because my dad hated me. So I wandered away into the wilderness, using the only skill I ever taught myself, the skill of being a convincing forest animal. I picked Hoothoot as my favorite because I realized I could cast an illusion up in the tree, and I would become invisible on the ground. So I used those powers to get through the wilderness, I dug myself holes to hide from Watchers at night, which I was also really good at. I found a road and I followed it north to a town. I followed the road from that town to another town. Then I made it to Iron Town, found the Gold Division, and convinced them to let me in because I was the daughter of the famous Grim the Zoroark and the Master had killed my sisters. They let me in.

Finally, I explained to Hunter how ever since, I've been hiding around the base, mostly in the daycare center, waiting for the courage to actually join a team, hone my skills, and make a difference. But every so often I'd hear the resistance teams say things like "Oh, if only we had a Zoroark, then we could get into the enemy base so easily." And not only that, but then I found out about Domo, and about how he was trapped in his role as Scythe that he really didn't want, all because he was following orders, and I was scared all over again. I knew that if I revealed my form, I would just be a disappointment to everyone.

Hunter practically interrupted the end of my story. "Your sister is alive," she said plainly. "Both of your sisters are alive."

"Huh…?" I said, blinking. "Why do you say that? I saw Vivia die. I saw them pulling the meat off her bones. I saw her ribcage poking out. I… Hunter, there's no way."

Hunter tilted his head and flicked his tail, looking quite amused. "You mentioned that your sister learned the art of, what did you call it? Terra-warping?"

I fought back the tears in my eyes. "Yeah. That's what we call it when you learn how to… to change the world around you. Normally you can use illusions to change how you look and make your real form invisible. But Zoroark can learn to cover their entire surroundings… with… illusions…"

I only understood my own words, and what Hunter was saying, as I spoke them. I tried to stand up but my legs were shaking too much and I just sat back down.

Hunter then said, "And not once, not once did you consider the possibility that maybe your sister was trained as an expert in her arts, and maybe she did notice those watchbirds, and maybe all the crows which mobbed her that day were false apparitions of her own creation, meant as a distraction? And that maybe when your younger sister so foolishly rushed in, she was saved by means of a similar false massacre?"

"That's… that's… no. No!" I stammered at the air. "There's… it can't be. I never even considered that. Did I… was I the one who abandoned them?"

"Yeah, got any evidence of that, flamey?" Kerzek said, who'd come home in the middle of my story and I'd hardly even noticed. "No way I'm going to let you get away with hitting her with false hope like that for no reason, bud. Do you know something?"

"I know… quite very many things," said Hunter, standing up straight and stretching. "Maybe I know something about your sister, and maybe I don't. But one thing I do know: a stunt like that is perfectly within the realm of possibility for a well-trained Zoroark. To twist the entire world around you, creating projections of Pokémon with their own convincing personalities, changing the rules of physics before our very eyes… the only limit is your imagination. That is what Zoroark are known for. And that, my dear miss Arcana, is the power you are neglecting, because apparently you'd rather be a meek, normal, inconspicuous, and dare I say boring bird out of an unfounded fear that your teammates are no better than your father and would not have your best interests in mind."

That was the first time it struck me how powerful Zoroark actually are. What they can really do with their illusions. It's not just about pretending to be different Pokémon, or pretending to be in places you want. If I wanted, I could rewrite the whole way that reality appears. I could make reality dance for me and do my bidding.

And for the first time, even I was spellbound by the possibilities of my own power.

"Now, Miss Arcana, I might not be a Zorua myself, but I know a thing or two about writing a Pokémon's narrative. So I'll try asking you this once more: would you be willing to help me with certain endeavors among the Gold Division? Or should I put it like this: would you be willing to let me train you in the arts of practical espionage? It seems that it's high time you started learning what you can really do."

"If I do… would you tell me what you know about my sisters?" I asked.

"Why, I thought that was implied!" Hunter said cheerfully.

And before I even knew it, I had straight-up agreed to face my one lifelong fear – the fear of using my powers for something substantial, for doing something that really mattered and risking real failure. The fear of being myself.

And I'd love to write all about how that happened, what Hunter had me do… which I will, soon as I get a new journal book. Because this is the end of the last page.

*Chapter 120*: Chapter 86, Part 2

o

Chapter 86

Part 2

Season of Winter, Week 2, Day 1

Dear Secret Journal,

Just as I've opened this new book for the very first time, let this mark the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

While it was easier than expected to find a blank new journal with a nice and shiny black binding (turns out the bank has entire shelves of these they use for recordkeeping), so much has happened in the past week that I just haven't had the chance to write anything yet. Now that I'm finally back to putting my claws to the paper, I find myself at a loss. Should I cover everything in a single day's entry? Where do I start? I suppose I could write fake entries for some of the past days, but somehow that doesn't feel genuine. And I've learned that sometimes it's surprisingly important for a Zoroark to be genuine, especially to themselves.

I want to remember everything. So let's see how far I get!

On the first day after my confrontation with Hunter, I told Tallie that Hunter now knew my secret. She agreed to let me stay back at the base to aid him in the absence of the team, the same job that Scarlet has lately been assigned. Since Hunter and Kerzek were my only companions for the day, that meant I could take a break from pretending to be on sentry duty and spend the whole day undisguised, which was incredibly liberating.

On the day after that, the first day of the first week of Winter, I lost track of time and I was very started when Char returned from his mission and came to my room, wanting to speak to me personally. I just barely got the Glower disguise back on in time.

"I know we haven't spoken much," said the Charmeleon kindly to me. "I guess I was curious about how you're feeling. Is everything going alright? Are you liking the team? Is the new room comfortable?"

"I am very adequate," I had replied. "Thank you."

It had always been my philosophy: the less I speak, the less I might misspeak. I made myself used to being short and curt with everyone, even though I've always been rather on the long-winded side when it comes to my journal entries.

But for some reason that day, Char wasn't having it. He wanted to know more about me as a teammate, which meant that I had to invent new things to tell him. And oh, how my blood pressure spiked! If I were a Charmeleon myself, my tail flame would have gone over my head the moment I realized Char wasn't going to leave until he was satisfied about getting to know me. And if there was one teammate I absolutely couldn't spill my secret to, it was Char. The boss. The one who not only makes all the decisions, but shares all his knowledge with a certain conniving Espeon whom I'm sure would jump at the opportunity to use me in a whole slew of new brilliant plans.

"I've been wondering a few things about you, if you don't mind me asking," Char continued. "To begin with, are you happy with the assignments you've been given lately? I know you say that sentry duty is your specialty. But don't you ever get bored?"

"No," I chirped.

"Are you sure?" he said, sounding so concerned. "I'm used to working with Otto, and he was the most patient bird I knew before I met you, but even he would get bored of sitting in a tree for eight hours a day and watching the scenery… I know he would do it if that's what the mission called for, but he wouldn't like it."

"I don't get bored," I said again.

"Well, let me put things another way," he said, leaning against the wall. "Where do you envision yourself going from here? Who exactly do you want to be, Glower? I don't just want to use your skills for my team's benefit and nothing else. I want to help you train to become the Pokémon you've always wanted to be. So… are there any particular types of missions you've always wanted to take? Or skills you've wanted to learn? I care about the hope and dreams of my teammates, and I'd be happy to take yours into consideration with the assignments you're given."

Of course, what I really wanted was to tell him I wanted to be a better spy and illusionist. But I couldn't tell him. I had to trust Hunter to help with that instead. And from the perspective of a Hoothoot, which I was really beginning to regret picking as an avatar, there weren't exactly any skills I could say that I desired. Flying? Battling? Anything which involved physical contact with another Pokémon? There was literally nothing I could tell him. From the perspective of a Zorua who had to play pretend, everything I could tell him was useless at best, meaningless danger at worst.

"If I think of something, I'll let you know," I told him.

Char was still visibly disappointed in my short responses. "Hmm… I suppose I could start with something simple," he considered. "Have you had any thoughts lately about… evolution?"

I figured this topic was harmless enough, since it didn't take much extra effort to pretend to be a Noctowl all the time instead of a Hoothoot. I've already been practicing it, too. "Yes, I plan to evolve," I told Char.

Char looked pleased about this. "Any reason you've not evolved already?" he wondered. "I can see your feral-shard is still on your shelf there."

Oops. This was a problem I didn't consider. I couldn't just say "because I don't want to evolve," right after I told him I wanted to evolve. I'd have to make up some reasonable excuse for not having evolved yet!

And I couldn't make up some excuse about waiting for the right time, either. Not when I made it clear that I only want to be a sentry. Because being a Noctowl would just make me a better sentry. Sharper eyesight, stronger tolerance to cold, more energy, no drawbacks whatsoever.

Oops. Oops. This was getting out of control. Once again, all it took was one simple mistake, something that seemed so innocent the moment I said it, for the conversation to spiral out of my control.

Should I have just told him I didn't want to evolve at all? But that would cast suspicion for the same reason. There's no reason for me not to evolve, if I just want to be a good sentry. No reason whatsoever.

Naturally, I latched onto the first good idea I had to get out of my predicament, only to realize the moment after I said it that I'd only dug myself deeper. "I have not evolved yet, because I am not strong enough to evolve," I told Char. "I have tried to use the feral-shard, but it has not worked."

"Oh! Well, that's something we can easily take care of!" Char said happily, clapping his claws together. "We'll need to get you some battle training, then. Just a little each day, that's all it would take. Unfortunately, the Dojo master isn't exactly available right now. But! I could arrange you some sparring sessions with some of your teammates. How does that sound?"

"N-n-no," I said, beginning to panic.

"No?" Char said in surprise. "Alright, well, how about… hmm. Ah, I'm sure I could get you some training sessions with Team Silverwing. Again, just a little every day is all it would take."

I'd have to visit Team Silverwing? Every day? No, no, no, no. No. It's not easy to get up there if you're not a bird. You have to beg for a ride. I couldn't play hooky because Char would just talk to Syr and Master Karow and he'd know I'm not attending. And even if I somehow did get up there every day, what would I even do? Spend the day pretending to train with the birds, and then still not be strong enough to evolve?

I shook my head. What was I supposed to say? I can't think that fast!

"No? You don't like that idea either?" Char said sourly, growing concerned. "Hmm. I'm beginning to worry about you, Glower. To be honest, you're starting to make me feel like you're hiding something."

Nooooo. This was sooo bad. How had such a simple conversation gotten so bad, so quickly?

I had to get out of here. I had to escape. That was the only way. I'd just find a different team to join.

But Char was guarding the door. If he tried to touch me, or tired to stop me from leaving in any way, it would all be over. He would know, which meant Eva would know, which meant that in a day or two, probably everyone in the base would know there's a Zorua wandering around, which meant that everyone would be looking for me, which meant that everyone would be suspicious of everyone else all the time…

Or… I could just give up. Give up, give in, accept the consequences. All of them. Out myself once and for all. Come whatever may. That was the only alternative to fighting forever. Because apparently, I was the worst Zorua in the world at pretending to be other Pokémon.

"Okay, fine. I am hiding something," I grumbled, dropping my disguise and collapsing to the floor in shame. "I'm… not a Hoothoot. I've never been one. I'm a Zorua. Okay? This is me. This is who I really am. I'm sorry I lied."

I looked up at Char, and he looked sadly down at me. I almost started to cry.

"Oh, Arcana," Char said. "You didn't have to give up that easily…"

"…Huh?" I said, blinking at him.

And I had to blink at him, because he was shining all over. And when he stopped shining, he showed me that I wasn't the only pretender in the room.

A much better pretender than I ever hoped to be. A Ditto. A pretender who could actually shapeshift, not just sculpt light into convincing shapes and hope nobody tried to touch them. A pretender who apparently only had to worry about laughing, not getting clipped in the tail by an attack they were too slow to dodge.

"Yeah, so, hi!" said the Ditto-turned-Mew who floated in front of me. "Hunter told me everything, basically. He wants to help train you in the arts of espionage. But he can't train your illusion powers. He said that since I'm the only other Pokémon in the base with any sort of experience with changing forms, I'd be perfect to help train you. And I think I'd have to agree. By the way, thank you! Before just a moment ago, I didn't have a Zorua transformation! Another new transformation, at last. It's been too long…"

Domo transformed into me, complete with my half-sad, half baffled expression. For a moment too long, I didn't even recognize myself.

"So… you knew," I said blankly to the other Zorua in the room. "You knew all along. You faked that whole conversation."

"Well… yes!" said Domo-Arcana, way too chipper to be me at the moment. "Seeing as though I'm supposed to teach you about pretending to be other Pokémon, that seemed like an appropriate way to start our lessons!"

"You said that I didn't have to give up too easily," I muttered, turning my gaze away. "So… what did you expect me to do? What else could I have said to Char?"

"Well, if it were me, maybe I would have said that I didn't want to evolve for sentimental reasons!" Domo replied in my voice. "That's all, really. Just 'yeah, I don't want to evolve yet, for sentimental reasons.' Char is a very nice Pokémon. I bet he wouldn't have even questioned it."

"That never would have flown by Tallie," I said bitterly.

"Yes, well, luckily for you, Char outranks Tallie," Domo returned.

I turned to look at the mirror of myself. "Do you even have time to train me? Aren't you busy pretending to be Scythe all the time? Aren't you exhausted from all the pretending?"

"Well… no! Not so much anymore!" Domo said happily, trying to make his good cheer rub off on me. "Turns out, the whole trick to it all along was just, well, letting Team Remorse in on the whole thing! You'd be amazed how much of a difference it makes when you have a family that you can just go home to at the end of the day who can give you a nice long break from all the pretending."

"Yeah, I think I'm starting to understand that," I said, pawing bashfully at the ground. Just having Kerzek was changing my life. I couldn't imagine having all of Team Ember to trust about it; if only I were able to tell ahead of time whether it would be worth it to take that risk. "So… what now?"

"Now, I think Hunter wants to have a little talk with us," he told me. "Kerzek already let me through the portal. So let's go, before Char really does come home."


Hunter, Domo, and I assembled for a little quick, secret meeting in the secret base, where he told me about his plan.

"For my plans to work, I need you to evolve," he outright told me, not even attempting to sugarcoat it. "This is for two reasons. First, you're still playing in the shallow end of the pool. Training your Zorua powers will mean nothing. What you need is to train your Zoroark powers. From what I there simply isn't a comparison."

"Uh… alright," I tentatively say. "And the other reason…?"

"The other reason is because I need you to have prehensile claws," he said. "Not paws. Not a muzzle. This won't work unless you have hands capable of clutching and carrying things. I'll explain more once we have this taken care of."

While I'm not completely against the idea of evolving so soon, there's something I need to confess to him. "I'll be honest, I've already tried," I tell them. "The feral-shard didn't do anything. I'm just not strong enough, I suppose. I guess we'll need to start beating one another up in sparring matches, or something?"

"No. Too slow," Hunter said with a dismissive little snarl. "I do believe there are far more efficient ways around the so-called level barrier. Domo, your thoughts?"

"Oh… oh yes, there are," Domo said mysteriously, bobbing around in the air. "Expensive. Very expensive. But there are."

"I believe money is not exactly an issue at the moment," Hunter said, pointedly peering over at the heaping pile of gold. "Take whatever you need. I trust that you can make a Zoroark out of this little vixen as soon as can be done."

"Oooh! I sure can!" Domo said with far too much enthusiasm. "Alright, little miss Arcana, I believe it's time for a bit of power-leveling."

"Power-leveling?" I said.

"Cheating. It's cheating," Domo laughed, hovering over to the gold and floating a big pile of coins into the air. "No two ways about it. Skipping the hard part of training altogether. It has its drawbacks that come back to bite you later, but since we just need to get you evolved, I think it's the most appropriate solution. Ah, here, I think that's enough. Actually, I'm not sure that's even enough. Ah. Anyway. Get a bag, and off to Kecleon we go."

Domo transformed into a Machamp, strong enough to heft a nice big bag of gold coins over his shoulder. Then, I made myself look just like him, and I followed him down to Kecleon's shop. We got there near the end of the midday lull, right before all the teams came back and wanted to get their useless junk sold for spare pocket money.

"Ahhh!" said the purple brother, currently running the front of the store. He eyed the huge bag, and somehow knew it was full of gold. Maybe he could smell it. "A good afternoon to the both of you! I see you have come prepared for some serious transactions? How might I be of service? Anything I can help you find?"

"Yes, in fact, there is," Domo said in the sinister deep voice of the Machamp. "We've come looking for… something magical."

Kecleon's scales flashed in surprised. He was instantly giving his full attention. "Magical, you say?" he repeated.

"Yes. Magical," Domo repeated. "And rare. Rare, and magical."

Kecleon looked like he had some kind of profound realization, and stared at the both of us in shock and awe for a moment. Then he stared at our bag of money, then back to us. "Why… yes. Right away, my good customers. Follow me, if you will."

We followed him into the back of the shop, a mysterious emporium that only the most privileged and wealthy of Pokémon ever get to witness. We passed so many rooms, each filled with so many shelves, each lined with so many piles of scraps and parts and broken merchandise, all smelling of riches and enchantments. He took us through two warehouse-sized rooms with huge, inexplicable items, conglomerations of machinery and metal and crystals, strewn across the floor and hanging from the ceiling. Ah! What an absolute empire! By the size and tidiness of the storefront, I'd never have guessed the Kecleon operation was so vast and unfathomable.

And it just kept going, this spectacular dragon's hoard stuffed into this hidden labyrinth of backrooms, until Kecleon took us down a deep, dark staircase. Somehow, despite everything I'd just witnessed, I started to feel a sense of dread. What could possibly be so valuable that it had to be so deeply hidden behind everything else? Was it a torture chamber? Were they going to strap me to a machine and force the strength into me through pain and torment? Were the Kecleon brothers actually terrible monsters all along and nobody knew?

At the bottom of the stairs, he took a minute to spin open a vault. Inside the vault… there was gold. So. Much. Gold…

But it wasn't actually gold, I realized. It was all kinds of things, all with the color and sheen of gold. Golden orbs, golden swords, golden crowns, everything golden. Honestly, more than a little hard on the eyes.

"Might I ask, how much of my rare magic were you looking to buy?" said Kecleon curiously, breaking the half-hour silence.

"Five. Five should be enough," said Domo. "How much would you charge for that?"

"Oh! I can make you a bulk offer, then!" said Kecleon kindly. "Assuming you're paying in gold, my offer is one hundred thousand."

"Oh. Really? That low?" Domo replied. "I was honestly expecting – "

"…Each," said Kecleon pointedly.

Domo was stunned for a moment, probably trying to keep from bursting into awkward laughter and breaking his transformation. "Each? Oh… blast, well, I suppose we really have no choice, do we, brother? Orders are orders…"

Kecleon burst into laughter first. "Oh, I'm just teasing," he laughed. "No, I'll give you all five for a hundred thousand. But let this be a lesson, if you're not already so wise: never tell a merchant they are undercharging you! They might just correct their mistake! And I wouldn't want you gettingyou're your money swindled away by some other merchant, when you could be giving it to me instead."

"Oh. Yes, of course, of course," said Domo with the fakest, most forced laugh I'd ever heard. "You've got a deal, my friend."

Then I got to see what this 'rare magic' was all about. It was a metal canister overflowing with seeds. Big, sparkly, golden seeds.

"What are these? Reviver seeds?" I wondered.

"Nope! Actually, better than reviver seeds!" Domo answered. "We just call these 'golden seeds.' A very long time ago, humans discovered these had a very particular effect on a Pokémon's aura. So what did they do? They ground them up into tiny little bits, mixed them with sucrose, molded them into tiny little shapes, and turned them into Pokémon food! And that Pokémon food became known as the 'rare candy.' But here, in its purest and original form, the seeds are much more potent. And you… are going to be eating five of them. Whole."

"Whole!?" I gasped. "But these things are bigger than my – "

"Bigger than your muscles? Yes, I know," said Domo quickly, reminding me that I was still in disguise. I sighed in relief, glaring at the huge glimmering things as we stuffed them into the money bag, after we'd let Kecleon withdraw his share of gold from there.

So we hauled the remaining money back up to the secret base, as well as the ridiculously expensive seeds, and before I know it I was sitting in front of these five things and just staring at them in dread.

"So what you're saying is that if I eat all five of these," I say to Domo, "then I can definitely evolve into a Zoroark?"

"I'd say there's about an eighty-four percent chance!" Domo said hopefully. "Got your feral-shard all ready?"

I looked over at the feral-shard I'd set next to me. It was so much smaller than any of these golden seeds.

What in the world was I doing?

"Well, might as well not waste any time!" Domo encouraged me. "Go on, start munching! You'll get a stomachache for sure, but you'll feel great as soon as soon as you evolve!"

"And what about the sixteen percent chance I don't evolve…?" I asked with a shudder.

"Oh! Um, well, that's what oran berries are for, isn't it?" he awkwardly giggled. "Go on, then! Best to get it over with!"

My stomach already hated me. These things looked, and felt like pieces of glass.

I cupped the first golden seed into my front paw and dragged it close. I leaned down to gnaw on the smaller end.

Yep. Glass. Solid glass. I shuddered as my fangs just slid right off its smooth surface.

"Um… did we get ripped off or something?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure these aren't even edible."

"Err, nope! That's just the way they are. Sorry!" Domo said. "Just… bite harder! Don't be afraid of breaking your teeth!"

"Don't be afraid of – what? WHY?" I shouted, growling at him.

"Oh! Because the evolution will heal you, of course! Teeth and all!" Domo said, somehow not so encouragingly.

So I tried again. I bit down on the smaller end of the seed, and between my paws and my teeth, I tried to pry the thing in half.

Something gave way, and I honestly wasn't sure if the shell of the seed had broken, or one of my teeth had shattered. Between one of those, something had definitely broken. I took the whole seed out of my mouth, and to my sweet relief I'd actually cracked into the hard shell. I kept chewing at it until it crumbled apart in my mouth, leaving the inner part of the seed which felt, and tasted, like thick putty.

It wasn't pretty, but I soon swallowed the whole thing down. I definitely wasn't looking forward to the next one, though.

I felt a weird headache. A weird surge of energy from nowhere. Sudden stamina and willpower, enough to kind of overcome the horrid taste and the semisolid substance now sloshing around in my stomach.

"I feel stronger," I told Domo. "That's what the seeds do? They make me stronger?"

"Yep! Make you go up five whole levels!" said Domo. "I don't really know what that means, exactly. It was the humans that invented the level system to measure Pokémon strength, and I'm not sure how it's really measured. All I know is that it's five times as potent as a rare candy!"

That was encouraging, sort of. I steeled myself with my new burst of strength and dug into the second seed. Unfortunately, this time I got overconfident and absolutely shattered my front fang. You know how horrible it is to crunch down on something, only to realize that you're eating pieces of your own teeth?

But hey, there was another big burst of strength for me as I forced the innards of that seed down my throat, gnawing it apart in pieces like a Skwovet carcass or something. The strength was enough to kill the pain of my toothache. I felt addicted to this power already. It was like invincibility, bubbling up from deep inside of me. So what if my stomach would bulge? So what if I broke my other teeth? I wanted that strength. I needed it more than I ever thought.

Then I got even more overconfident on the third seed, and I nearly outright choked to death on it. Got a glassy shard stuck sideways in my throat. Started hacking uncontrollably, coughing up blood. Went into shock and passed out before Domo could figure out what to even do with me.

And wouldn't you know it? I woke upon the floor only a few minutes later. As a Zoroark. I collapsed right onto my feral-shard and my final wish before passing out was that I could ever be strong enough to survive all the dumb mistakes I always made.

I woke with a gasp. I felt very awake, very alive. My breaths could go so deep. My lungs could hold so much air. I looked at my claws. Actual claws that could grab things and hold things.

I looked down at the two remaining golden seeds I hadn't even touched.

"Oh! Well, that works too!" Domo said in surprise. "You know how I told you there was an eighty-four percent chance you would evolve with five of them? Well, I guess what I neglected to tell you was that there were also chances you would evolve with less than five of them. It all depends on how strong you already were, which is not something I can easily tell. But hey! Congratulations! Welcome to your new, well-deserved body!"

"Heh, I…"

I held my breath and covered my muzzle. That voice that came out of my throat was so alien. How was I ever going to get used to it?

"Heh. Alright. Alright, so I did it," I said, testing my voice and flexing my new muscles. My head was heavier than expected to move around. So much hair… What was I supposed to do with them? Aren't Zoroark supposed to braid their hair or something? "This is… new. I like this already. I haven't even tried out my illusion powers and I like this already. Though… I can already tell I'm going to need practice. At just about everything. Ugh, the brain fog."

"Yeah. Brain fog, or… temporary cognitive imbalance, as some like to call it, is an unfortunate side effect of power-leveling," Domo said. "You sadly are going to need much more training to master this body. But that's for later. First we're going to start practicing with your illusion powers and learning how to be a spy!"

"Ah… Alright. What's the plan?" I croaked, trying to sit upright and finally finding balance in something that resembled my old four-legged way of sitting. "Hunter? What's the plan?"

"Ah. The plan. You're going to like this part, I think," Hunter said smugly. "The reason I needed you to have prehensile claws: I need you to pull off a stunt that I myself pulled off a month or so ago in my campaign to find Saura. When I did it then, it was not so difficult, since I had the alliance of the Master's forces at the time. Now, things aren't so convenient. Now I can't rely on the Master. I have to rely on you. I will need you to take a letter that you will help me write, and slip it into the mail circulation. It needs to get past all forms of surveillance, both from the Master and the resistance. The Master's regime reads the contents of every letter sent through their systems, and the resistance reads the contents of theirs. But my letter needs to be sent completely undetected. And the only way to do that is to physically enter one of the mail distribution centers and carry it past the surveillance stations yourself, and slip it into a parcel which has already been surveilled, one that happens to be going to the same location. Understood?"

"Yeah, I think so," I said, croaking out the sounds with my new voice. "But what part of this plan was I supposed to like, exactly?"

"Oh! That would be contents of the letter itself," Hunter explained. "Arcana, you are going to help me write a letter to your long-lost sisters at the Black Division. If we are fortunate, this will not only be beneficial to my hunt for Adron the Terrible… but it will also end with you reuniting with your sisters in person."


Author's Note:

Okay, so this one is going to have a part 3. But such is the price of weekly updates; sometimes I just need to pace myself!

*Chapter 121*: Chapter 86, Part 3

o

Chapter 86

Part 3

Season of Winter, Week 2, Day 2

Dear Secret Journal,

I'm thankful that nothing interesting has been happening lately. It gives me time to catch up on everything that happened two weeks ago. There's still so much to tell, and I don't want to forget any of it. I got the whole day off, so maybe this is the day I can finally catch up.

I almost can't look at anything I wrote yesterday. So sloppy. But at the same time, there's a certain beauty in the sloppy writing, too. Whenever I look at those pages, I'll remember the days when I was new at being a Zoroark and it was still hard to write neatly with my new hands.

Still, this time I'll go nice and slow. No rush. Nobody's going to bother me or barge in on me for the next ten hours, at least. Plenty of time to be thorough, be honest, and be myself.

Before we were going to write the letter to send to the Black Division, Hunter needed to know what to actually put in the letter. Apparently I couldn't just write a letter asking to see my sisters again; it had to be some kind of secret coded message that only some Pokémon would understand. And since Hunter didn't have firsthand knowledge of my family, or the Black Division for that matter, he needed my help.

But he needed something more than just hearing my story over again.

Knowing Char would come home soon, we couldn't afford to stay in the secret base. Hunter took Domo and I out into the backwoods. And by that, I mean he took us really far out into the backwoods. I'm talking over an hour of walking. He said it was necessary. He didn't want to risk any other civilized Pokémon finding out what we were going to do.

The whole way I had to awkwardly lumber along on all fours like a Primeape. I knew Zoroark can walk on two legs when they want, but I didn't have time to get comfortable balancing on two legs, so I kept to what I knew. Domo completely showed me up by taking Zoroark form and taking perfect strides alongside me like some kind of an expert at being bipedal. Maybe he was trying to help me learn, but he only made me jealous. Seeing him, I thought: how is one Pokémon so good at being so many different species? How would I ever hope to attain such a level of skill? I couldn't even pretend to be one Pokémon very well…

Admittedly, it was much harder to feel sorry for myself than before. There was too much new, raw joy in the way! I was a grown-up now. I was as big and strong as Vivia. Why had it taken me so long to become a Zoroark? If I knew how amazing it felt, I'd have evolved a lot sooner. I could reach for things with actual arms! I could grab things with actual claws, I could squeeze and feel things with so much more articulation than just my canine jaws. I could sense things and smell things so far around me that I wondered if I were projecting my soul outside of my body. I started to understand how Hunter was able to read his surroundings so well only by his sense of smell; canines have such good sense of smell. Before, my sense of smell was like having an extra sense of taste. Now it was like having an extra sense of taste with four hundred new flavors.

I felt a new kind of darkfire power radiating through my skin, deeper and stronger, bursting at the seams. I felt my own aura sizzling through my fur like static. For the first time in my life, I felt like my natural element was a part of me. I really felt like a dark-type Pokémon.

I was new. I was reborn. For once, I wasn't just pretending to be a different Pokémon. For once, I'd actually changed into something else for real. Forever. The thought was somehow deeply thrilling, and it still is. I love this body and I've only just begun to live. But even as I followed Hunter through the woods that evening, enjoying the new spectrum of scents and sounds as they made themselves known to me, I had not even begun to realize the true power of my new form. But that's what our little trip was for. I would soon understand.

We came to a forest clearing who-knows-how-far from the secret base, Domo cast some spells he knew and double-checked that we hadn't stumbled into a mystery dungeon (oh, the irony), and Hunter said he was satisfied with the location. "Now… we have roughly three hours before the Watchers attack," said Hunter. "And while I am more than capable of outrunning them, and I'm certain Domo has forms he uses to counter them, I'd rather not deal with all the inconvenience. So I'm going to need you to focus, Miss Arcana, and focus well."

I was still baffled by why we were in the forest to begin with. I thought we were writing a letter or something. "Focus on what? I asked, still distracted by the way my claw-nails felt when I rubbed them together.

"Terra-warping," Hunter said. "Not just changing forms, but changing the environment around you. I want to you show me. Show me your power."

"I don't think I know how," I muttered mostly to myself. "Vivia had to train for years to learn how to terra-warp… I can hardly make basic illusions, how am I supposed to figure out something harder?"

"Oh, you don't need training to cast illusions!" said Domo in his different, elder-fox voice. "It's your innate power now. You can do it as much as you want. It only takes training to make your illusions super convincing and consistent if you're trying to trick Pokémon into thinking they're real, especially certain Pokémon trained to look for them, or to make them last a long time without dissolving in a big storm of contradictions. But just casting illusions upon unsuspecting Pokémon? That's as simple as basic telepathy."

To demonstrate, Domo pointed his Zoroark claw.

In front of us, there materialized a very solid, very believable Charizard, stomping across the grass at me and roaring in glee. I heard it, I smelled it, I even felt its footsteps reverberate through the ground as it came closer.

I blinked. I shook my head. But when I opened my eyes again, it was still there, and still just as real.

I knew it wasn't real. But every sense in my body believed otherwise. I felt the heat from its scales. I saw its tail fire casting shadows in the grass as it swung around. I saw the deep, green glimmer of its eyes.

"See?" said the Charizard in a deep and calming voice, spreading its arms as though to hug me. "It's that simple."

I took a wary step towards the false Charizard. Every moment, I waited for the vision to flicker, for some telltale sign that it was only a projection of a dream. But there just wasn't anything. No mistakes. The sun glinted off its individual scales. The chest moved with its deep breaths, and a deep dragon-like rumble rose from its snout along with the faint scent of smoke. The grass bent and crumpled underfoot as it stepped.

What an illusion. It was an illusion I would have fallen for, easily, if I didn't know any better. It was an illusion I would have liked to befriend.

"How…" I whispered, stunned at the vision before me. "How is this possible…?"

"It's just what you are," said the Charizard, grinning at me. "It's what you can do. Just as the natural power of a Ditto is to transform, the natural power of a Zoroark is to dream."

I stood in such awe. The thought I had this much power… that I always had it, or always could have had it… It was too much to swallow. I glanced at my own claws again, wondering what potential I might truly hold!

I reached a trembling claw forward to hold its hand. I thought, for sure, this would break the illusion. My claw would go right through. That was always the danger of my Zorua illusions – anyone who tried to touch me would know the truth, because you couldn't touch something that wasn't there. And if I got hurt, that would end the illusion immediately, since there's just no way to recover from the shock of the distraction.

But I took the Charizard's hand. I touched it. I felt its warm scales, stroked my claws over the knotted wrinkles of its knuckles, the smooth and bonelike claw-nails. I felt its fingers reflexively twitch at my touch.

I threw the claw away from me and jumped away in horror. The Charizard looked surprised for a moment. The next moment, it blinked out of existence.

I shook my head in a strange panic. "No. Nuh-uh. I… that wasn't… I can't do that." I tried saying, as though to reassure myself it wasn't real. "No. That thing was… it was really there. I swear. There's no way I can make an illusion that convincing! It would take years to get all the details that good… I could touch it, Domo! I touched something that wasn't even there! I could smell the smoke from its fire! I… that's just impossible! You're not supposed to be able to touch things that aren't really there! …Are you?"

"You still weren't actually touching anything," Domo informed me. "You only felt it because you thought you were touching it. That's why it's called an illusion."

I was shivering now. Shivering in terror of my own power. It was already too much. "But… That's… that's crazy. That was more than an illusion. That was delusion. You made me delusional for a moment. Exactly how much practice have you had with Zoroark powers?"

Domo shrugged his Zoroark shoulders. "I was barely even trying," he told me. "That's the thing with illusions. You don't have to get all the details right. Most of the work is done by the mind of the beholder. It's like a dream! They fill in all the little details on their own. They see whatever they're looking for. They see what they want to see. So don't be too overwhelmed; most of what you saw just now was your own mind at work, not mine. But enough about me! How about you give it a try?"

I knew I had to start somewhere. If I wanted to stop being afraid of my power, I needed to learn how to control it. To wield it. To wield it proudly, like a warrior would.

I closed my claws into tight fists. I nodded. I said to Domo, "I'll try. What do I do? How do I make something so real, like that?"

"When you're first learning, I find it helps to close your eyes and picture the scene in your head," he said, pausing to change back into a Ditto, then to a Mew. "Then open your eyes and try to keep the scene from disappearing. Try to project the scene into reality."

I did so. I shut my eyes quickly, keeping the image of the forest clearing burned into my mind's eye. In the middle of that clearing, I superimposed the image of a Hoothoot that I knew well. The only real Pokémon I knew intimately enough that I could make a halfway convincing illusion of her.

At least, that's what I've been telling myself for the past few years.

"Arcana," said a sudden voice.

I blinked open my eyes. Glower the Hoothoot was there. Standing in front of me. Looking at me. And talking to me.

"You're not real," I breathed.

"Correct," said Glower. "I am your creation."

I shivered in the strangest delight, hearing Glower speak to me so… autonomously. Like a dream projection. Glower was always nothing to me but a mask, a glob of sculpted light that I could puppeteer around. But the power of a Zoroark went beyond that. It was giving her a separate personality now. It was an animated impression of a mind separate from my own.

I squinted at the Hoothoot, eyeing her individual feathers. Those dirty brown feathers with tiny black flecks. Those legs she held so tightly together, it always looked like she only had one leg and one talon.

I slowly lumbered around her, appraising her from all sides. Her head turned to follow me, just as a real owl's would, keeping those orangish-red eyes pinned on me.

So small and insignificant was this Hoothoot. Even now that she had her own projected character, she was… still… so plain and boring. Such little personality. Like she was content to just stand around and do nothing. And be nothing.

She was exactly the way I made her. Exactly the way I decided she should be.

"I can't believe this is how everyone else sees me," I muttered, reaching to brush a single claw against Glower's smooth and oily feathers, just to see how it felt. "I know you're not really me. You're only a projected image. But now I'm starting to realize… This is what everyone else sees when they look at me… A little owl. A little owl who minds her own business and never speaks. I barely even exist to anyone else…"

"In some sense, I am you," Glower said in reply. "I truly represent part of you. This is the way you decided that Pokémon should see you. Thus, this is what you've decided to become. For we all eventually become whatever we pretend to be, don't we?"

"Since when did I decide to be so… dull?" I asked her. "Since when did I decide to be so normal?"

"Since you've been afraid of failure," she plainly replied. "Since you've convinced yourself that you have to choose between failure and cowardice. You've created me as an unfeeling, uncaring, and unambitious persona. It's because you've given up, and you've crafted my character to cope with your own hopelessness."

"Gaah. You. You don't have to be so forward about it!" I gasped in exasperation, almost wanting to punch her, but hug her at the same time because she understood me.

"Except that I do," Glower replied calmly. "You need to hear me say it. You've always known it, but never admitted to it. The first step to strength is admitting to your weakness."

I grumbled. I kind of half-faceplanted down on the ground the same way I'd always do as a four-legged fox. Awkward now that I had actual arms.

"Alright, Glower. You said what you needed to say. Happy?" I mumbled. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know what the next step to finding strength is? Because I sure don't."

"There isn't one single answer," she replied, brushing a wing on my head, as though to return the gesture of touch I'd given her.

"Alright, but do you have any answer?" I begged. "Ngh. Well. I know that's a silly question anyway. You shouldn't know anything that I don't know…"

"An excellent second step to becoming strong is to dabble in matters above your head," Glower told me, spreading her wings. "Fly above your comfort zone. Play with possibilities, until a fascination emerges. Once found, fascination will lead you forward."

"A fascination…? By playing with my illusions?" I wondered absently.

"Exactly," she said. "For instance, you've grown so fascinated by how real you've made me, that if we converse any longer, you'll forget that we aren't even alone."

I blinked and pushed myself up off the ground again. Domo and Hunter were still there, keenly watching the conversation I was holding with myself.

Domo eyed me with his bright bubbly Mew eyes. "Having fun?" he said with a big grin. "Gives a whole new outlook on life, doesn't it? You're just getting started. Now if you focus a bit, you can bring even more illusion Pokémon to life at once. Then you can try terra-warping. Someday you might work your way up to making entire dreamscapes, kind of like your own personal mystery dungeons. But dreamscapes are totally expert-level. That's definitely beyond my skill."

"I… yeah," I admitted, looking back at Glower, who still stood near me with rapt attention. I pat her on the head. "This… this takes actual creativity, doesn't it? This power? It's not just… about hiding anymore. I always thought a Zorua's power was all about hiding and being a coward."

"Ohh… certainly not, certainly not," Domo said, grinning in happiness for me. "In fact, I'll tell you something that a mighty Zoroark once told me. In particular, the Zoroark I got my transformation from! He said, 'A Zorua's power is to hide the body. A Zoroark's power is to bare the soul.'"

I cast one last affectionate gaze at Glower. For some reason, I didn't want to just vanish her into nothing. That would break the illusion, my own illusion I wanted to uphold to myself. So instead, I told her to just fly away.

"I will be here," she told me before winging away to the treetops. "I will return when I am needed, and you can tell me all about what you've learned. Good luck, Arcana."

Then we were alone. Just the three of us – no transformations, no illusions, just the three of us.

"Is that it?" I asked Hunter. "Is that why you took me all the way out here? So I could play with my illusions?"

"Yes, but for a very particular purpose," Hunter told me, stepping up to me as though to take command. "I want you to tell me the story of your family again. Except this time, show it to me. Bring it to life, in place of this forest. Let me see every single detail you remember."

I looked down at my claw, completely disbelieving that I held such a power.

"This whole forest clearing is your canvas. Replace it with your memories and your dreams. Play out the most vivid parts of your childhood for us to watch. And perhaps, if we are so fortunate, I will spot something in your memories that will reveal more information about the Black Division. You have an hour before we need to return to shelter."

"Yeah! Go wild!" Domo encouraged me. "Unleash your mind for us! Pretend we aren't even here!"

I sat in the grass for half a minute more. I breathed in the crisp evening air, as though making the nature part of myself. I looked to the sky and already spotted a few of the brightest stars twinkling through the darkening blanket of blue.

Then I pushed myself up to my feet. My two feet. I hunched forward to find my sense of balance. I took several steps away from my companions, enough that I could convince myself I was standing alone in the clearing.

The forest is my canvas, I told myself, gazing around. I can put my dreams here. I can make them real. I can bring them back to life.

I put a claw against my chest and I closed my eyes, as Domo instructed. And I pictured, as vividly as possible, some moment from my childhood. The first one that came to mind.

I was a Zorua again, standing alone under the same evening sky.

The feel of twigs snapping under my paws. The scent of dry leaves. A certain, faraway sense of heartwarmth.

"I'm so hungry…" muttered a long-lost familiar voice beside me. "I'm too hungry to even disguise anymore. I'd almost suggest we just steal some oranges from the market, but the market's closed by now. Alright, that's it. I'm eating bugs…"

I turned and spotted my little sister flipping up rocks and logs from the forest floor.

I gave her a sad smile. "Weavra…" I sighed, trotting over next to her. "We'll find something good to eat. If we can't catch a Rattata tonight, we'll just eat some berries. Okay?"

"No. I need protein. I am a carnivore. I can't get big and strong if I don't get protein," grumbled the little Zorua as she pawed at the moist dirt that was beneath a hollow log, trying to rustle up some of the gross little non-Pokémon bugs from the ground.

"Oh, come on! You don't have to eat bugs!" I pleaded to her. "It's… eugh, so dirty! And undignified! Foxes aren't carnivores, Weavra. We're omnivores. We can survive on berries just fine."

"If we're omnivores, then we can also survive on bugs," she returned stubbornly. "And there's just not enough time. The ghosts are coming out soon." Then she pulled her head out of the dirt and gave me a weird look, with a weird half-alive beetle hanging from her teeth. So revolting. I had to look away.

"I bet Father never had to eat bugs…" I growled. "Bet he feasts on roasted Sawsbuck steak and golden apples every night."

I didn't even know where we were going. I didn't care. It was nice to see Weavra again. To talk to her. Even though she wasn't real.

Well, I didn't have to believe she wasn't real. She was exactly as real as I wanted her to be. And yet…

I blinked. I pawed at the ground in thought. "Y'know… this isn't very useful," I said out loud.

"Hmmfff?" said Weavra with her mouth full. "Not useful?"

"This… this memory," I told her. "I shouldn't be here. I should probably be somewhere else. Somewhere more useful."

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Weavra said. "Where we should be is home, before the big snowstorms hit. Why can't we go there?"

"Because… because Father won't let us," I remembered. "Father doesn't want us home for another six days."

Still deep in the forest, still beneath the darkening sun, but on a different day… I found myself staring at our big cottage-house. Or rather, spying on it. Disguising myself as a Deerling and standing around in silent surveillance.

"Ssst. Aracana. You're the wrong color," said a mother Sawsbuck nearby with big patches of leaves on its antlers. "You're not supposed to be brown. You're supposed to be green."

I looked at the Sawsbuck, realizing it was only a stand-in for my sister. "But… it's autumn going on winter," I told her.

"No, it's summer, you dummy. Father will know it's us right away. Change colors," she shot back.

Eh. It seemed pretty cold to me. And there were streaks of cirrus clouds high in the sky. Maybe I was still seeing the real sky…?

Wait, real sky? What's that mean?

Without further question, I changed my disguise and I let the fake mama deer lead me closer to the cottage. I should have felt paranoid about the leaves crunching under our paws, like a hunting predator should. But deerling families wandered around here all the time, so it shouldn't raise suspicions.

We crept forward. I could see the warm firelight from a window, glowing in the darkening evening sky.

"Why are we here, again?" Weavra asked me, pretending to long-step over a fallen tree. "We're not supposed to be back home for another six days, I thought?"

I had to think about that for a moment. "We're hungry. I want to steal some food from our pantry," I said.

"Well, I'm not hungry," Weavra informed me. "I just ate a delicious Yungoos, thank you. But I'll help you get some food if you want…"

"Wait, no, that's not right," I said. "I could have sworn you were hungry. Weren't you just hungry? Wait, no. We're not here for food. We're here to see Dad."

"Dad? Why are we seeing Dad? He'll just kick us out again. And for longer this time," Weavra said in a worried tone. "This is already the first time he's ever kicked us out for more than a week… I just want to go back home already…"

I heard someone coming. I hissed at Weavra to stop chatting at me, which probably looked really weird coming from a deer's teeth. But I made sure we were standing just far enough away that we looked like feral Pokémon who just happened to notice some nearby commotion, and I stopped in my tracks and stared at the cottage door.

Father came stomping out, looking all gruff and annoyed. Beside him was a younger Zoroark. My sister Vivia.

"Because they'll never survive in the resistance," said Dad. "I told you. I only have time to train one of you."

"You're not even giving them a chance," Vivia returned.

"They had their chance when they hatched from the egg with horrendous IVs," he said. "I lead a team. I only have the time and the effort to train one of you. Would you prefer that I spread myself thin between the three of you, and give you all such mediocre training that I'm basically just leaving you all to die?"

"That's almost better than what you're doing to them right now," Vivia said. "Any reason they can't just train with Virizia? That's literally what a dojo is for."

"Becauze Virizia does not know how to be a warrior," said Dad. "She is a coward who has proven that she cannot take a life when necessary. Why do you think she hides in a dojo? Why do you think she's not fighting on the front lines? At least your sisters are learning to draw blood for the sakes of their own benefit. That's a greater lesson than Virizia would ever a hatchling."

"I wouldn't let their blood spill for my benefit," said Vivia halfheartedly.

Father didn't answer right away. He looked annoyed. He almost looked like he wanted to cast a disguise, but decided against it.

"My daughter, listen. And listen well, because I'm only going to say this once," said the elder male. "You want to champion your sisters? Fight for them? Elevate them? Fine. That's on you. But you'll never stand a chance unless you continue your training. You won't be strong enough. Next week, we start on the six-star dungeons. Throat of Thorin. When we're down in the forty-first floor of the Throat of Thorin, then you look me in the eye and tell me how you feel about dragging your runt sisters into a place like that, knowing that their deaths will be on your claws now, not on mine."

Vivia held her head in defeat, brushing through her hair with her claw. "Alright, father," she sighed in return. "Alright. I understand."

"Good. Now it's time we get to hunting," said my father, brushing past her. "And realize that if you intend to support your sisters, you'd only look forward to double the hunting that we already are. Or you could let nature train them to be self-sufficient and stay out of your hair."

"Yes, father," said Vivia dejectedly.

He sniffed at the air for a moment. "I don't know about you, but tonight I'm in the mood for delicacy. Mm. How about Noviern eggs? I can show you how to raid their nests."

He stopped in mid-stride. His head twitched to the side.

"Wait a momenmt," he said, staring right at me. "Why does that Deerling have orange fur? It's out of season."

"Oh no…" breathed my sister. "Arcana. Run."

I turned and ran, not caring where I was headed. I just needed to get away from my father.

Fort Glimmer. Seeing it from the outside, it was anything but. On the inside, we knew there were skyscraper-towers of gold bars. But on the outside, stone dark shadow. Stony walls streaked with rusty-red patches as decades of moisture eroded the strange alloy, evoking the image of the bloodstains of all the intruders who'd failed to breach the outer wall.

Around the front entryway, a solid steel fence crowned with blades and spikes. No, not an inanimate fence. A perfect formation of Bisharp, standing so straight and still that I'd easily mistake them for dead. About twenty of them, silently threatening any intruders with a cold, steel death.

We just needed a gold bar. Just one. That was all.

Looking at the watchtowers now, I could see them. The silhouettes. The occasional ruby-red gleam against the sunset. The Corvisquire.

Vivia had failed to see them.

Wait. Viva. Where was she? Maybe this time we could change her fate.

Maybe we could warn her.

I turned to my sister, expecting to see a fellow Rattata standing beside me.

But no… Weavra was undisguised. She was her Zorua self. Collapsed and wallowing in the mud, tears streaking down her face. Sobbing, pawing at the air as though trying to brush away the cold and painful reality which was her life.

Oh, no. No, it… it already happened, didn't it?

I looked over the row of Bisharp. Between their steely blades, overtop their heads, I looked at the dark corner I knew so well, the dark corner that haunted my nightmares.

The carcass of my sister. My perfect big sister. Ribcage skewering through her open torso. Already picked clean. The guards had returned to their stations as though nothing of note had happened.

Tears welling in my eyes. No changing the past, after all. This had already happened. This was sealed.

Part of me just wanted to rush in. I wanted to rush in and die the same death my sister did. Maybe that would finally mean I was as good as her.

I looked back at Weavra, still uncontrollably sobbing into the muddy ground. But we were no longer overlooking Fort Glimmer. Now we were settled around a campfire. I had to double-check to make sure none of the guards could see us. But we were far enough away.

Weavra always had to start the campfire. She knew how to incinerate leaves and twigs, and I didn't. I relied on her. I was never able to start my own fires once she…

I hated remembering this part. I hated standing and staring at something and knowing I couldn't change anything. The changes were never real. The changes aren't real. They're all imaginary. I can imagine changes. I can dream. But I can never make the dreams come real.

So I would just sit there, knowing I could do nothing about my devastated sister, knowing she would soon die.

I cuddled against my sister by the fire. I felt her tears on my face, trickling through my fur. I threw my front leg over her and held her tight.

I remembered her. I remembered the hopelessness. The coming darkness in the sky. The stars were twinkling. Multiplying. Overwhelming.

"I… I guess we… I guess we really were stronger than her after all, weren't we?" Weavra coughed in between sobbing. "I mean… a strong Zoroark wouldn't do something so stupid and dangerous for two useless little sisters…"

We had nothing to eat. Nothing to do. Nothing to hope for.

Unless there was still hope.

We could still infiltrate Fort Glimmer. We just needed to spend some time preparing. We'd just have to get into really, really convincing Bisharp disguises, and slip into the ranks during the changing of the guards that happened in the morning. We'd keep out of sight of the watchbirds, ignore the splattered remains of Vivia. We'd…

No. No, we can't.

I wasn't going to let that happen.

I wasn't going to let my only living sister feel sorry for me. Write me a note. Run away again. And get killed again.

I wasn't going to be alone again.

I was going to change the past.

"C'mon. We're going back," I said to Weavra.

She sniffled and looked up at me. "Going back… where?"

"Home," I decided. "I'm not letting you die. I'm going to fight Dad."

When I returned back home, the moon was already out, and the sky was almost pitch-black. Not like that would stop me. I'm a dark-type. I can see in the dark. Everything was still so clear. Clearer than it has ever been before. The landscape, the cottage walls, the trees, they all glinted in the silver-golden moonlight, that deep-star-sparkle type of light you can only see when you're dreaming. It drenched everything and made me feel whole.

I stood on two legs. I was a Zoroark now. I was stronger than my dad ever expected. And I was going to fight him. And I was going to destroy him for what he did, to prove I'm strong. The darkfire surged in me. My claws sparkled with white-energy. I was going to make Dad feel everything he ever made me feel.

I realized too late that I'd accidentally gone back to Fort Glimmer, and not back to my house. Oh well, that was good enough, right? It was still a house. It had a front wall and a front door, and Pokémon living there to greet me when I arrived.

And besides, my dad was there too. I met him on the way.

"Arcana," he said to me, his eyes aglow with anger. "What have you done?! What have you done to your sister?"

"She's dead!" I shouted. "You killed her."

"That's right, I did," cackled my father. "And now I'll kill you too!"

I was about to have the epic, final fight with Father. To make him pay for everything he's done. For all the neglect, the nights alone in the woods, the sobbing and crying. The childhood we lived that brought us nothing but cowardice. The childhood that took my family away. The childhood that brought Glower into existence.

The Bisharp and Corvisquire were watching us, all in their long lines just like some kind of an audience at a Pokémon colosseum. On the high-rises there perched the birds. All ready to watch the bloodshed. The same kind of carnage they'd already seen twice. They were going to see it again. I bet they couldn't wait to taste our delicious meat again.

I drew my claws. I hoped they looked long and sharp, like Scyther blades. I hoped they made Father tremble in fear. I grinned with glee. I was finally free. I was finally myself. I was here, and now, and in the present, and I was about to change the past.

I glanced upward, right before the fight was to start, to check and see if the birds were still paying attention.

Except there were no more Corvisquire up there. The high-rise platforms were all empty.

Upon the highest pillar, there stood another figure. A Zoroark, eyes gleaming as bright as the golden moon. Watching me with mysterious pride.

My mother?

I never knew my mother. I never even knew her name. I just know she died on a mission before I hatched.

Was she alive, too? Was she still alive, just like my sisters?

Was she proud of me? Would I ever find her?

"HEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!" screamed a sudden voice that sounded absolutely out-of-place. A little Mew zoomed in front of my face and grabbed my nose. "HEEEY! Arcana! You've got to end this, you know! You've been in this dreamscape for three hours! The Watchers are coming out RIGHT NOW! Arcana, we need to get going back!"

"Get… what? Going back?" I muttered, still peering up at my mother, who was now suspiciously starting to look like a Watcher. "What are you talking about? I've been here for twenty years."

"Arcana, look. You've got to break this dreamscape. Hunter and I are trapped in here too! This is like a weird mystery dungeon you've made for us! You left us way behind and we've been looking everywhere for you!" cried the Mew.

"I… I don't know how," I said, finally vaguely starting to realize I was swimming in a scrambled sea of thoughts, and not reality. "Wait… I'm dreaming? I don't know how to shut it off. Maybe I'm stuck in here too."

"Well I'd wake you up if I knew where you were!" Mew said, growing more exasperated and visibly shuddering in the air.

I blinked. "Aren't you floating right in front of me?" I asked.

"GAAAAH! NO!" growled the Mew in a strangely adorable way. "Arcana, you don't get it! Just because I found you in the dreamscape doesn't mean I know where you are in the real world! You could be anywhere in this forest! Anywhere at all! Ugh, the Watchers are coming! Arcana, please. Remember what's real. I'm real. Me, Domo. Hunter is real. Your team is real. Kerzek and Scarlet and Char and Tallie and all your new companions that know who you are. They are real. This is just a memory."

"A memory? Not even." Said a new, familiar voice. "More like a revenge fantasy. But I'll concede, Miss Arcana: it seems you are far more powerful than anyone has given you credit for. Your father included."

Hunter. I recognized that voice. The Flareon. He appeared from somewhere behind me and stood at Mew's side. Seeing him, I was starting to remember a little more of the real world. Bits and pieces of memories were coming back to me, memories of what actually happened three hours ago. He discovered me… or something. It was still hard to grasp.

"Oh, hi," I said, still only half-lucid. "Did you get what you wanted from my story?"

"Actually, no," Hunter plainly said, swishing his tail behind him. "Your dreamscape has proven far too fragmented and… inaccurate to procure any useful information. I asked for your memories, but you've only provided me with scrambled fantasies. So I'm afraid we must resort to other means. That is, assuming we escape this dreamscape of yours in a timely manner and do not get our bodies and souls mangled by the Watchers in the meantime, which is looking less and less likely. You've made this dreamscape… very inescapable."

I glanced around at the dreamscape, still not fully comprehending that it wasn't real. Darkness had fallen hard. The stars were shifting in the sky. The Bisharp had all melted together and had green tentacles bursting out of them. My father was trying to morph himself back into a Zorua for some reason, as my two sisters watched and laughed at him.

"Arcana… you've got to listen to us. LISTEN!" barked Hunter, spewing fire into my face. "Focus. Break the dreamscape. If you do not, we might all die tonight. Or worse. This is all on you, Arcana. Free us."

I looked at my right claw. At my left claw. They looked pretty real to me. "I don't get it," I said. "What's there to break? I'm sorry. I'd help if I could…"

The stars were floating deeper down to earth. The ground beneath us was changing colors. And yet, I could see nothing out of the ordinary. I guess I ether didn't believe Hunter, or I was okay with the thought of dying. Maybe I thought dying would just wake me up, like it usually did with dreams. Maybe I thought Hunter was a dream.

Glower flew down from somewhere. From one of the trees, I think. She came back the same way she left.

"I don't think she's letting you escape," Glower said. "Perhaps she doesn't want to. Therefore, if you have any alternative solutions, I would think that now is the best time to use them."

I noticed Mew sag in the air like he was sad, or wondering about something.

"Guys… I'm sorry about this…" he said quietly. "I know this is probably going to hurt, but… I'm really sorry."

Red. Yellow. Black. Flashes of impact.

Pain. Searing headache. Skin on fire. Fur being yanked from its roots.

That's all I remembered from what happened next. Just pain. Pure, stinging pain all over half my body.

But that did it. That popped my dreamscape and woke me up. Because that's all you really need to break a Zoroark's illusion, after all: just land an attack. A physical attack. Even the best Zoroark in the world struggle to maintain an illusion after getting punched in the face. There's just no recovering from the distraction.

And I didn't just get punched in the face. I got blown up.

Memories flooded back to me. Memories of the real world. Memories of Team Ember. Memories of pretending to be Glower. Memories of a mission to find a famed resistance leader. Memories of Hunter and Domo and writing a letter to see if my family was still alive.

It all came flooding back to me with a strange flavor of nostalgia to it, as though those were the long-lost childhood memories, and the dreamscape was a life I'd just lived for two whole decades.

But I was back. I was myself. I knew what was going on, what I had done, and I panicked.

The Watchers were coming. I could already see them shifting ominously above the treetops. I dropped to all fours and clambered around the forest, looking for my two companions. Hunter was the only one who knew the way back. And Domo was the only one who could probably fend off the Watchers half as well as Raon, probably because he could turn into Raon.

I guess I didn't notice at the time that there was a lot of damage done to the forest all around me. Maybe because it was autumn and the trees were mostly already dead. Maybe because I was too panicked, looking for the others.

I focused. I peered into the dark, and I followed my new, wonderful sense of smell. Soon, in a strange ray of moonlight from the canopy, I saw him. I saw a Mew sprawled out on the top of a rock. Unconscious. Beside him stood an absolutely dumbfounded Flareon.

Hunter was frozen in pure shock and dread. I knew instantly, that was the same feeling I'd spent my whole life dreading. That soul-lock. Not even Hunter was safe from it.

Even though the Watchers drifted at the treetops, prodding at the cracks between the dead leaves and bare limbs, Hunter's gaze remained fixed on Domo's body. I wasn't even sure he was breathing.

Then I realized… oh. Oh no. Domo wasn't… No. He couldn't.

I rushed up to them. "Oh, Arceus," I breathed. "Domo. He's dead, isn't he? Isn't he? He's dead because of me?!"

Hunter took a moment to answer. A long moment. Too long. He struggled to speak. He opened his jaws, only to shut them again.

Finally, he said: "…No. He's knocked out. He used a very large self-destruction spell to destroy the dream. Which, despite the name, does not kill you. It just expends all one's energy and sends you into a deep sleep."

I looked down at the Mew. So he was alive. Barely moving. Barely breathing. But still alive.

"Then what's… what's… If he's still alive, what's the problem? Can't we just take him back to the base? Get him rested and healed?"

Hunter closed his eyes tight. He opened them again. Trying to decide if he was dreaming. Trying to decide if the Mew he saw before him was an illusion of a dreamscape.

"Miss Arcana… let me explain something," Hunter said quietly. "When a Pokémon… passes out, they cannot… sustain a transformation. They revert to their true form. Were you to knock Domo unconscious under normal circumstances, he would have reverted to a Ditto by now."

I looked at the unconscious Pokémon. Still very much a Mew.

"So… what does this mean, exactly?" I wondered.

"I've heard his story," Hunter explained. "I've heard how he gained the Mew transformation, and the ability to keep an unlimited stockpile of transformations. At first, I thought it didn't make any sense. But now… I understand what's happened. This… this is his true form, Arcana. Domo is not a Ditto. Domo is a Mew."

Hunter started to laugh. It was his crazy-laughter. He couldn't believe what he was even saying, yet he knew it to be true.

"He… he must have fallen victim to a heart-swap, or some such spell. Perhaps the Mew he met traded bodies with him in some sort of permanent way. As a gift, perhaps? I don't know. But… whatever the case… I now realize that the resistance has a Mew on their side. Not a transformation. Not a facsimile. A real, genuine Mew. This… this… changes absolutely everything. This means… the resistance is more powerful than any of us have ever imagined. Hah. Hah-hah. It occurs to me – you are not the only Pokémon, Miss Arcana, to be found masquerading as a normal-type. And just as it is with you, o mighty illusion-sweeper, nothing about this creature we now behold is normal. No… it is all extraordinary."

I peered down at the sleeping Domo. I gently took him into my arms. Such a tiny little creature, he was. So small. Yet so, so powerful. A Pokémon able to do anything. To be anything, just like a Ditto. To learn every single Pokémon technique, just like a Smeargle. Even to read minds. Enter dreams. Anything.

And I held his small, frail, unconscious body in my arms. Because he'd saved me.

"But… But that…" I stammered, the disbelief now starting to crawl over me as well. "But he always… he always changed back into a Ditto before he changed forms. I saw him. And he always changed back into a Ditto whenever he got knocked out…! How can that be?"

"Simple. Because he always thought he had to!" Hunter said, poorly holding back his maniacal laughter. "For the same reasons you were trapped in your dreamscape because you did not understand what was real, Domo only transforms into Ditto because he believes he is truly a Ditto. As to why he changes back into a Ditto when he was knocked unconscious, I can only theorize that it is because he becomes transformed twice – a Mew transformed into a Ditto transformed into something else. And being knocked out only ever undid one of his transformations, because his Mew was always powerful enough to sustain his Ditto form indefinitely. Hah. Hah-hah-hah. I suppose this is the first time Domo has ever been knocked unconscious while in his favorite form. He's bragged to me that his Mew form is undefeatable, after all. And he does all his training in different Pokémon forms, as is his job. Therefore! I congratulate you, Miss Arcana; you were the first to truly defeat his Mew form and learn the truth. And now… a world of possibilities has opened to us."

So mesmerized was I by this idea, that I was friends with the real Mew, that I only vaguely worried about the ghosts overhead, slowly coming to haunt me.

"Arceus above!" laughed Hunter. "Every day, by every single passing day, I find myself more pleased that I have chosen to join the resistance! Already, such incredible things I've had the honor to witness! Now I need only to complete a miracle of my own, finding Adron the Terrible, if I hope to find myself worthy of standing among such legends."

"You call me a legend already? When I've only been a Zoroark for a few hours?" I said oddly.

"Oh, believe me… you will be one, when I'm done with you," he assured me mysteriously. "And I find that no Zoroark capable of generating a quasi-coherent dreamscape within mere hours of their evolution can possibly be given the label of normal. No, I'm more willing to believe that your mother somehow switched you in secret with your sister Vivia, leading your father to believe that she was born with perfect genetic traits, when in fact, all along, it was you. If I am right, this also serves as a testament to how the genetic testing for IVs all prove meaningless in the end, seeing that Vivia was trained well enough as a master illusionist and warrior despite such… supposedly inferior genes."

"Is it strange," I said to Hunter, "that I don't feel so proud about the thought of having perfect IVs? And I actually just feel happier that it proves my father was wrong? All along, he thought Vivia was the only one worth training, just because she was born that way… And now… maybe he was actually training the wrong daughter this whole time? That's… ah, the vindication! That feels so good!"

"Miss Arcana, it is foolish for anyone to feel proud of the way they are born, more than they are proud of the way they have lived," Hunter told me. "I will admit something: a teammate of yours recently asked me why I chose to become a skip tracer by profession. And to that question, I told a half-truth. I claimed that I enjoy the thrill of finding Pokémon who do not wish to be found. And while this is certainly true, it is the secondary reason I chose this profession. The primary reason is because I once had my genes tested, and my IVs were found to be the very lowest possible values. The very lowest. All zeroes. Seeing that, I said to myself, 'I have no future in battling; I probably should not be a warrior. Perhaps instead, a thinker.' You and I have plenty more to be proud of in life than some meaningless numbers. So, no. It is not strange whatsoever."

He eyed the forest canopy for a moment. "This is all assuming we have a future in the first place, and we aren't caught by the ghosts. Perhaps we should get going. How fast can you run on all fours?"

"Fast as a fox!" I promised him. "Surprisingly easy. Just lead the way. Oh! But… what about Domo?"

Hunter tilted his head at me. "Can Zoroark not stuff tiny Pokémon into their hair for safekeeping? Or is that only a myth?"

"Definitely not a myth. Definitely a thing," I told him, cradling the tiny Mew in my arms. Having not gotten myself a hair-bead yet, I'd already tied the end of my hair into a stupid rough knot before we embarked on this trip, so I wouldn't keep tripping over it. And that was good, because otherwise this wouldn't have worked.

I bowed down and swept my huge ponytail over to my side, and nestled the little mythical Pokémon between the strands until he was snug up to the neck. Miraculously, he stayed there for the whole run back to the base.

When Domo woke up later that night, he was fine. We haven't told him yet about really being a Mew, at least as of this writing, but Hunter is trying to figure out a way to tell him that won't absolutely freak him out. This is a MASSIVE surprise. A secret that not even Team Cog knew about - I told Kerzek assuming she already knew, but she didn't. Nobody did.

I kind of can't wait to see the look on his face when he discovers he's kind of the most powerful Pokémon in the Gold Division! And maybe in the whole resistance. Maybe. At least in the top ten. Downfall is probably up there, too. And Virizion. Xatu and Alakazam, I wouldn't underestimate either.

And that… I think that's all I'll put on this page for today. Oh, except for this part!

When Hunter and I had a moment to speak to one another privately, I asked him about that letter he wanted to write to the Black Division. And he said this:

"…Forget the letter. Plans have changed. If my instincts keep proving correct… the trail for Adron will take us to the Black Division in person."

Hunter says he's starting to realize what Scythe was trying to do when he left. The narrative, he calls it. He's starting to understand Scythe's narrative. So now he's forming a plan. A big, grand plan that will find him. Something that even Adiel would never see coming.

As for what that plan is? And my part in it?

Well, I can't write that here! I mean, he only told me parts of it so far, but still it's too confidential. So now, I have a third journal! A super-secret journal! One that I keep in a super-secret place.

That's all for now. Thank you for listening, secret journal, and being patient. I get the feeling there's going to be a lot to write about now. After all, I'm not just a Hoothoot anymore. Maybe now I'm going to be a legend. The legend my father never thought I could be.

See you on the next entry!

Season of Winter, Week 2, Day 2

Dear Journal,

Having consumed the gifted feral-shard, I am now a Noctowl.

The evolution has gone well. There were few cramps, and I have overcome the cognitive drawbacks with the help of Syr's evolution therapy.

I will continue to provide my services to Team Ember, now with increased eyesight and stamina, for the foreseeable future.

There is nothing else to report at this time.

*Chapter 122*: Chapter 87: Intentinal Mistake

o

Chapter 87

I've been told that writing a letter to your past self is a good way to find closure to things which bother you. Particularly certain past events that are hard to forget about.

I'll be honest. I don't know what this is supposed to accomplish. Maybe it will make more sense when I'm actually doing it.

OK. Here it goes.

Dear Brace the Pidgey,

I am writing this from the future to warn you

Maybe warning isn't the right word.

I am writing this from the future to help prepare you for an experience that you will soon

experience.

In the highly unlikely case I someday meet Celebi and convince him/her/it to take this letter back in time and give it to you, I want you to do a better job of handling this series of events than I did. I want you to avoid some of the more egregious mistakes I made. Know the knowledge required to make better decisions. Can you do that for me? I know you can.

I know you are only a

I don't know how far back this letter is going. Are you already on Team Ember? Do I go back to the Silverwing days? Before or After I met Otto? Or Do I leave this by your egg?

That's definitely something I'm going to need to specify to Celebi. When I meed them. I meen, meat them. Meet them. Gahh, these talons.!

Let's be honest. I'm never going to meet Celebi and this isn't even going to happen. But for the sake of argument let's say it does. Let's say I'm actually going to meet Celeib. Whether or not it dofes happen. Because I'm not actually writing gthis letter for you. I'm writing it for me.

Let's pretend I'm going to tell Celebi to take this letter back in time to three days before you met Otto. That seems like a pivotal moment before my life swerved in a direction I didn't expect.

So

I know you are only a young and naive little Pidgey who is concerned bwith nothing but passing his fourth flock exam. The hard one. To finally become viable to join a real team. It's exciting isn't it? The thought of being useful to someone. Stretching your wings and doing jobs that matter and aren't just there for training.

Well what if I told you that you're going to be very useful to a very special bird. A very special bird you are about t o meet in three days.

You will firfst notice them

THESE STUPID TALONS.

I need to write more slowly. That's one thing I've learned from all this. Start slow. You will make less mistakes. You only need to give your feral bird a chance to catch up with your mind. Otherwise Lugia only knows that the one letter specially chosen to be sent back in time will be riddled with shameful m istakes.

Go more slowly = less mistakes.

Anyway

You will first notice him taking a bath in the third tier lobby. This might strike you as odd, because the third wing is supposed to be in session. But this little bird does not seem to care that he's skipping out on his flock. You might think to go and ask him why he isn't in class. But you will ultimately give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they have special permission, you'll think. Or maybe you're just a little weirded out and don't want to get involved.

But you won't think anything of it until five days later when you find out they're getting added to your wing. You will recognize him as the same bird. You will stand next to him at the end of the line during morning meetings.

You will be weirded out by this bird massively the more time you spend with him. You will notice that he doesn't make eye contact right. You will notice a weird feral gleam in his eye. Like he's not actually a civil. As though a wild bird somehow made it into the base and nobody noticed.

You will notice how this bird seems to act with no regard for his flockmates. How he flies away when class is supposed to be in session. How he takes everyone else's food and doesn't apologize for it.

You may notice how this bird pretends the rest of his flock isn't there during training, how he flies ahead of everyone. You will also notice that he's oddly violent. You will notice that during dogfights he doesn't pull back his attacks. He attacks which actual intent to harm his flockmates.

Most of all, you will notice how he rarely ever says anything.

But listen. Pay close attention to this bird. It's important. Trust me.

Because when this bird gets in huge trouble for attacking a teacher, you will be the only one who approaches him. And this is key.

You will be the only one who actually wants to get to know him and help him, if only because you feel like nobody else is doing it, and you know that you definitely wouldn't want to feel lonely like that, in a school full of flockmates you've never met before.

Then one day you will notice that he's changed. Master Syr really got through to him somehow. Now he acts more like a functioning flockmate. He shares his food and follows the schedules properly. And he talks. And now that he talks, you realize that he's actually brilliant. He rarely ever makes mistakes during training. He memorizes all the signals after only practicing them once. It feels like he can read a bird's mind just by looking at them.

If you are paying attention to the way Syr treats him, you might just notice that Syr sees all these things in him, too. And you might be a little envious of his friendship with Syr. It's fine, though. Don't let that bother you too much. You'll learn more about that shortly.

By asking the right questions at the right times, you will learn th at this little bird already belongs to a team. You will learn that this is all just an extension of his civility training. You will learn that Team Ember, that new team that Scythe is tutoring, paid a hefty sum to have him trained. You will infer, based on this information, that he was a wild bird who imprinted upon Char. Now it will make total sense why Syr has taken a personal liking to him. It's common knowledge that Syr came from the wild.

At first you won't know what to think of this, but give it time. You'll start to find this bird frightening and mysterious. Then you will start to look up to him. You will feel immen sely thankful that you decided to befriend this bird when you did, like you snagged up an opportunity that only one bird was going to will feel blessed, almost, that this uncommonly intelligent and interesting bird has chosen you as a companion.

You will roost with him and talk with him and eventually you'll begin to understand how this bird's mind works. You'll start to realize that even though he's trying very hard to fit in with a flock, there's still a lot of social concepts he doesn't understand. He is very dry and analytical and sees everything in terms of rules, even including other birds. Whereas most birds see one another in terms of personality, He only sees patterns of behavior. The same way you'd study the behaviors of the ferals in the wild. That's the same way he sees everyone.

You'll start to realize there's nothing really wrong with this. Because even though he lacks empathy, he makes up for it by noticing patterns that nobody else notices. But maybe he still needs help with the empathy part. Maybe he just needs a companion like you to be his guide sometimes.

You realize this little bird named Otto is a perfectionist. You will realize that unlike all the other perfectionist birds you know, including yourself, he actually has what it takes. He is patient, he is precise, he is fearless. He knows what he wants. You will be shocked at how easily he can beat Archer in a dogfight, or Glint in a race. And you will be absolutely humiliatd at how easy he beats youo. But through the shame, you will feel stronger.

You might start to notice how many other birds are getting jealous of his skill and are trying vv ery hard not to say anything. Incidentally, you'll really start to notice how this bird, despite making so many changes to fit in, really doesn't have any friends yet. And that will make you feel bad.

Because of your curiosity to know what civility training is like, you will ask some more questions, which will lead to you learning that he once broke into the daycare's storage and ate approximately twelve gazillion gummis. You might think to ask him how a little bird could eat so many gummis at once without exploding, in which case he will confess to you that he was only caught once. He will confess that before he was caught, he regularly raided storage every day, sometimes more than once, and ate their gummis. He will tell you how he got away with this for weeks before anyone noticed.

You begin to wonder if these gummis actually had any effect on his IQ, or if he was already smart to begin with. But you will probably decide that's a silly question and you won't ask it.

So far, everything's going fine. But this is when your first major blunder could happen. One day at evening meal, you'll be tempted to offhandedly ask him why he considers you a friend.

DO NOT ASK THIS. Keep it to yourself. It might seem simple and harmless a question, but it's really a stupid question, born from your own insecurity. Because if you ask this question, Otto will give you his simple and objective answer. And you will immedaitley regret asking, because his answer will make you feel terrified and confused for days.

You will learn that Otto looks up to you and considers you the superior bird.

If this happens, you could come up with some kind of simple platitude to tell him. Like "Aww, I'm flattered, thank you." This will buy you time to fly away to stew privately in your confusion. The cubby hole next to Team Scepter's base on the second floor is a good place to brood for a while. Otto won't think to look there.

You will ruffle your feathers and try to preen away the panic you now feel. You will ask yourself how a bird like Otto, so blatantly out of your league, considers you superior to him. You try to calm yourself and work out your options. You could ask him why he thinks this, but you fear an even scarier answer. You could potentially tell him that he's wrong, or showing him that he's wrong. and risk disillusioning him and maybe losing his friendship. Or you could try to pass it off as an empty compliment. But you know Otto. He doesn't give empty compliments. He means every word he says.

Now if you made it THIS far and managed to make all these mistakes the exact same way that I did, the BEST route here is to realize that it's actually not all that bad, that Otto doesn't always understand the implications of everything he says, and this was just his way of expressing respect. Maybe you are superior to him in some ways and he knows and respects that. Like with socializing for instance. Maybe he looks up to you because he's learning social skills from you.

I don't know. Look. You have a lot of options about how to digest this information. But somehow, chances are you'll decide upon the worst possible option: You'll try to be the bird that Otto thinks you are. You will tell yourself this is the most painless route to fly. To just go with the flow.

But trust me, it isn't painless. You go that route and you'll discover yourself with a heavy weight on your wings whenever you're around him. You'll feel like you need to live up to impossible standards every day if you wish to keep Otto's friendship. You'll be terrified of anything less than perfect marks on your course laps and your signal exams, and you'll keep perfect posture if he's even just in the same room.

Nevermind that this pressure will actually make you perform better as a student. Nevermind that it'll drive you to graduate at the top of your wing. Nevermind that this is the reason you'll later get accepted onto Team Ember, the reason you get Otto's recommendation, the reason you impress a really awesome Talonflame into vouching for you.

It's not worth it. Not like this. It's better to just

I don't know what's better. I'm not you anymore. Do what you think is best. That isn't the biggest thing I need to warn you about. I'm getting to that soon.

Anyway. One day Otto will leave. He won't warn anyone and won't say where he's going. He'll just be gone. If you think to ask Syr about it, which might not happen until many days later, you might learn that he's settled in with his proper team. When you find this out, you'll realize it makes a lot of sense and You'll be happy for him.

At first, it will seem easy to get over it. You can tell yourself that Otto was a strange little temporary diversion on your career path. You'll focus on your advancement tests and give some of your other flockmates a bit of attention. You'll realize you haven't spoken to Quil or Nimbus in Weeks and you'll have some fun catching up with them at the afternoon pickings. (Though, do try to give them more attention if you can. They deserve it.)

You will tell yourself everything is fine. You might even start planning your evolution. You will occasionally remember Otto and his eccentricities, but you'll know he's okay because he's got Tallie as a flockmate now, and from everything you've heard about Tallie, you'll know that Otto is in good company. You'll tell yourself he doesn't need you anymore. You'll tell yourself maybe he never really did.

And if you want to keep thinking that, make sure you don't read the newspapers during the fourth week of autumn. Because if you do, you'll find out that Team Ember is looking for new recruits. And that will get a thought lodged into your mind like a stupid stubborn pinfeather that won't go anywhere.

What if. What if.

What if you miss Otto more than you realize. What if you could be his teammate again. What if you could actually graduate onto Team Ember.

Let me tell you. Once you get these thoughts in your mind, they aren't coming out. You already know the answer. You know that even though Tallie probably won't find you worthy of her team, you're sure as rain gooing to try.

Now, listen. Your first instincti will be to press forward and drive yourself mad. But...You don't actually have to beat yourself up over it. You don't have to bring Char perfect marks. Because, it turns out, he's going to hire almost all of the recruits who showed up to interviews. So just make it to the interview and you're in. It's that easy.

But with good news comes some bad news. And here's the part that starts to make things really complicated.

While you're applying for Team Ember, they're going to be working on some kind of a mission. Something involving catching a bandit. You won't think anything of it at first. Because hey, this is team Ember we're talking about. Scythe taught them so they must be among the best.

Then you find out Otto died on the mission.

Then you find out he didn't die. He evolved.

Finding out those two thinngs, what is your first impression? Extreme relief and happiness, right? You'll just want to say, Wow, Otto, Congrats. Congrats on the successful mission, congrats on the new body, and congrats on NOT DYING because holy lords above, I was just about to drop to the floor and yank al off my feathers out when I heard that. I'm so glad you're still here and you're not dead! I'm glad we're on the team gotether. We'll make a great team! Let's go on this practice mission and totally show everyone how its done! Maybe you can show off to Tallie too. Don't pretend you don't have a crush on Tallie. No sane bird wouldn't have a crush on Tallie. LOOK AT HER. Look at her performance record. Ten stars. She obviously has perfect IVs. And she's so ambitious and competent. And she obviously respects you and you're closest to her, so if anyone has a ch

Oh, right. You haven't evem met TAllie yet. You have no idea what I'm talking about.

Where was I ?

Relief and happiness. Otto is alive. It's almost the happiest day of your life.

Which is why it will catch you so off-guard when you find out that Otto is just as devastated as you THOUGHT you were going to be if he died. He's completely dead inside. Trampled. Hopeless. And at first you're going to think, am I missing something? What is this? You should be overjoyed! This is incredible!

But you don't want to assume that. Be a good friend and ask him what's wrong. And like he always does, he'll give you his blunt and objective answer.

He will tell yout hat because he didn't evolve on purpose, he missed the transitioning theropy. And now he feels like he cannot control his body anympre.

Can't really be that bad, you think. You try to cheer him up. Pidgey evolve in the wild all hte time without the theorpy.! And what about whben before it was dinventeslxck?

But he's just having none of it. He won't shut up about hyow he can't fly and how he can;'t think and how his talons don't move the weoai ssdk fwen vAnymore.

And you. You won't believe him.

You. Stupid. Bird. Won't/ Believe. Him.

He's your friend adn you won't believe him. you try topull him out of it.

TALONS. S.

talons.

behavie.
]

Anyway.

Brace the Pidgey. Listen to me and listen closely. Because this is where everything goes wrong.

horribly.

So. You're so sure of yourself that Otto is overreacting and that his problem isn't so bad. And you want to be a good friend to him. The best friend possible. So you start thinking to yourself.

How can I be the BEST possbile friend to Otto in his greatest time of need?

How I can do something special for him, something that no ordinary friend would ever think to do? Something befitting of the incredible flockmate he's always been?

And you will get an idea. And you will be SO PROUD of this idea that you know without hesitation that's what your'e doing.

You're going to make an intentional mistake.

The moment you think of that, you will already hear Otto speaking in your head. "What is an intentional mistake? Those are contradictory words. There can be no such thing, because a mistake implies an unintended result. It is an oxymoron."

But for the sake of argument, you can start thinking of a witty comeback ahead of time. You know there is one. You're smart. Not as smart as Otto but smart enough to fly at his side. So toss definitions around in your head until one fits, until you can find one that even Otto would agree with.

Your first thought might be: An intentional risk? No. There's some overlap there. But still inaccurate. A calculated risk means accepting the possible negative outcome (which is certainly true of an intentional mistake) while still seeking the positive outcome.

This and a few others will bounce around in your head until you will find one that will fit. And it will be this one:

INTENTINAL MISTAKE: "The purposeful invocation of a failure state with the intent to studiy it, i.e., for the benefit of those who might invoke it accidentally."

You'll be very proud of coming up with that comeback. You'll think it's absolutely perfect.

You'll be so preoccupied with your plan, AND with that comeback, that golden Otto-worthy definition, that you'll forget something very important.

You'll forget that an intentional mistake is still a mistake. And hurts just as bad.

But you won't realize that. You'll figure that going into the bad outcome KNOWINGLY would offer an advantage, namely, the opportunity to muster enough willpower to brave the storym. You will have faith in your willpower. Even though you don't know what you're getting into, you will convince yourself that your brute determination will carry you. If not all the way, then at least some of the way.

You will be SO CERTAIN of your plan. You might expect a little regret, but you will believe that everythign will turn out fine if you want this badly enough. and if you're a good enough friend.

How bad could it really be?

You fool.

YOU FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.

There's no going back now. You're going to make the intentional mistake.

You're going to evolve. Without the transition therapy. just like Otto. Just so you can go up to him and say "Hey Otto. I'm such a good friend that I'm going to suffer with you. Now you're not alone anymore. Together, we can find a way to cirvumvent and overcome the consequences doubly as effective."

And as soon as the evolution is done. You're going to open your eyes and wake up. And.

Oh. Lugia.

It will be so bad.

It will be so bad that you will not have the words to describe. So bad

that you won't even be rewarded with the tiniest sideways notion of "maybe I can work with this" or "it's not actually as bad as I was expecting" or "this is awful but at least it has some advantages!"

Yeah. No. You make this mistake, and you will feel nothing but pure, distilled resentment and regret for all the life's choices that led here.

You will realize that doing this is was as smart as telling someone "Look at me! I'm going to faceplant into a stone wall. But it won't hurt. Why? Because ?I'm going to do it intentionally."

You will realize that there was only ever one proper comeback to Otto. And that comeback is: "Yes, Otto. I know. I've really put the MORON into oxymoron this time. Please, do keep rubbing it in. I deserve it."

Your wings are twisted on backwards.

Your right wing feels three times as long as your left.

Your head is flying circles why ile syou dstandi on the ground.

You move one talon and your wing moves instead.

You cannot sleep because your eyes will not stay closed on their own.

You can not grab food with your talons because tghey will be wlks water.s

YOU WILL SMELL COLORS AND TASTE SOUNDS.

You will TASTE your FEET.

You will think. What have I done.

What have I done.

What have I done.

AND there will be headaches.

AND there will be cramps.

AND there will be disassociative spells.

But there will be one, but one, upside to this.

You finally understand what Otto is going through. You finally get just how bad it is. You finally get just how much help and support Otto needs to go through this process.

You will cling to that thought. That one thought.

Otto. I did this for him.

He deserved this support. He deserves to have someone at his side who truly understands.

And now I truly understand.

I. Truly.

Understand.

You will repeat this to yourself. For hours and hours. Until Otto returns from visiting Syr.

You will cling to this one thought as a raptor clings to a Skwovet.

I did this for him.

It's worth it.

I did this for him.

Now we can learn together.

We can suffer together.

We can grow together.

We can triumph. As Pidgeotto. Together.

You find your cannot speak without sluuring and cawwwing your words out. Hard to speak without being able to

speak.

So you will think to write a letter to Otto instead. Write a letter to him explaining why you did this awful atrocious mistake. And wait for him to return.

You will anticipation Otto's reaction. Imagine how heartwarmed he will be to know that you care about him so much so as to cascricifice your own sanity to fly with him.

And you know what? All this, ALL of this, isn't so bad as what happens next. You could have lived with it. Everything. The broken body and mind. If you had your flockmate's support. The flockmate you sacrificed everything for.

But that flockmate, that precious friend, will be furious with you and with what you've done. He will tell you how reckless this decision was. Which you already know. He will tell you how this was the worst possible decision you could have made. Which you know. He will tell you that you could have been more help to him, and his evolution adjustment, as a properly-evolved Pidgeotto. WHICH YOU KNOW BY NOW.

He will be upset. He will be distant. He will be devastated. He will do everything BUT acklowledge this as the special gesture of solidarity and thoughtfulness you intended.

Of course, you won't be able to reply except for awkward squawks and gestures that don't look right. He will leave you confused, regretful, and HEARTBROKEN.

You will realize the true gravity of the mistake you've made. You will feel hopeless. You will want to tear all of your feathers out one by one, but realize you can't even do that anymore, because your beak won't do what you want it to do.

Why, you will ask. Why was Otto so heartless? Why is he SO ANGRY at me for this? Wow, he really has no empathy at all, you might tell yourself.

Maybe you can forgive him because you know he's suffering just as much as you. But you hurt too much to forgive him. So you just flop down and lay there in your room, sobbing.

Even this was unlike Otto, you will realize.

You will latch onto this idea. You will realize that something about this doesn't add up.

This will keep you awake at night. And I mean IN ADDITION to the headaches and cramps and disorientation.

You will use your factured mind and scattered thoughts to analyze Otto's behavior. You will realize that the Otto you knew, even the maladapted Pidgeotto he's become, wouldn't have treated you like this. It's too cruel.

You will realize he's hiding something.

Team Ember will give you the next day off work to adjust to the evolution. You will use this opportunity to beg Otto for forgiveness.

You will beg and beg and beg.

Of course, you cannot speak more than one coherent word at a time yet. So you will just squawk awkwardly at him in a way that vaguely sounds like "Please. Please. Please."

"Please," you will say to him. Over and over. Following him into his room. Ignoring his obvious annoyance. Getting in his face.

"Please," you will say. "Otto. Please. Help."

Otto will instruct you to go to Syr for help. He says that he cannot do anything for you. And he will leave.

Don't give up, though. You won't have any of it.

Follow him down the hall. "Please." Follow him to the cafetiria. "Please."

You know something is wrong. So don't relent. Don't relent until you get your precious friend to tell you the truth.

You only want one thing in the world. You want your friend. You just want him. You will squawk for days and for nights and days again, just to have your friend back.

"Please, Otto!"

Listen, Brace the Pidgey. Er. Brace the Pidgeotto, you are now. DO NOT RELENT. Keep up your nagging.

Because if you're extremely persistent, and I mean EXTREMELY, he will break down and tell you the truth onthe fourth day.

He will tell you the real reason he is frustrated and disappointed with you.

He will tell you that he cannot accompany you on your recovery, because he is planning to leave with Char, Saura, and Ray, possibly never to return.

He will tell you that YOU were supposed to replace him on Team Ember. You were supposed to fill the void on the flock that he was going to leave. Worse, he will tell you that he is breaking Char's trust by telling this to you, because he promised not to tell this to anyone. But he only told you because he appreciates you as a flockmate and he felt very bad for what happened.

He will tell you that he appreciates the sentiment behind the gesture, but that the circumstances were just so unfortunate that he was overcome with frustration.

He apologizes for how cold he treated you. He apologizes for my misfortunate mistake. He laments that while the mistake might have been intentional, the misfortune was not.

You will feel so relieved.

You will feel so happy.

You will feel so so so wonderful that even in your awful new body which barely functions the way it should, you have your friend, you understand him, and he understands you.

You will cuddle him. For a moment, you will forget your problems. You will feel fine.

You will barely even notice that Otto has his wing around you and he is crying too.

Then when you start to feel like you're healing from all the hurt. He will say something to you that only the best friend in the world would say.

He will say, "I now understand the challenge. We both must help one another adapt to these bodies. Because if I cannot adapt, then I am not fit to go with Char in the first place. Therefore... if I cannot help you to a full recovery in time for the journey, then I will not go. I will stay here with you."

So... yeah. Brace the Pidgey, Otto is an incredible friend every which way. So be faithful to him, be his flockmate, and he won't ever let you down. And while your little "intentionsal" mistake didn't end up as bad as it could have been, I'm sure you'll find much, much better ways to work around this terrible blunder you've gone and caused.

OH! OH!

I GET IT

I GET IT!

I get the point of writing a letter to yourself! I just now realized.

Now that I've caught up to the present, now I'm not writing a letter to you anymore. I'm writing it to me.

Well. I always was writing it to me. But now I'm writing it directly to myself. So it's really not about going back in time and wishing you'd done something different. Now it's about making the most of where you are now.

Okay. So.

Brace the Pidgeotto. Listen. This is important.

Keep practicing your writing. You're getting better. Just go slow and focus. Soon you'll get back to writing whole reports without a single mistake.

Keep practicing your laps. You only hit the wall fifteen times last sesson. Soon you'll be back into the single digits!

Keep doing your calisthenics. Every day. Every night. And after every meal. You will get your wings and your legs to obey you again. Eventually. Otto's already getting better and you will too.

And definitely always. Every chance. Every opportunity.

Thank Otto for being the best flockmate a bird could ever want.

Hunter hasn't even announced his plan yet. You've got time.

You got this. You both do.

Keep it up.

I believe in you.

AND PLEASE

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ARCEUS

Before you decide to do something stupid, try asking someone else how stupid they think it is first. You might save yourself a lot of pain and heartache.

Trust me.

*Chapter 123*: Chapter 88: Dragon's Heart

o

Chapter 88

Part 1

Heya! The name's Dragonbane. Does that sound like a scary name? GOOD! Because I'm a scary Pokémon.

Yeah, some Pokémon know that I used to have another name. But those Pokémon also know that anyone who even thinks that name is going to get their face sliced off. Dragonbane is my REAL name now.

Why do I have such a fearsome name, you might ask? Well, it's because I know a thing or two about dragons. One being how to SLAY them. That's my life's goal. To slay evil dragons. It's something really personal to me. So I've studied all kinds of things about dragons ever since I was a little runt.

I'll prove it to you. Here's some of the things about dragons that I know.

Dragons are basically the most fearsome, powerful, scary, and AWESOME type of Pokémon! But they are also among the rarest and most elusive kinds of creatures the world has ever known.

Why are dragons so amazing, you might ask?

Dragons are very special Pokémon because they possess the most primal kind of divine power in their souls, the same kind of power that was used to create the entire UNIVERSE and all the rules which govern it! Dragon-type power is the very power of the GODS, passed down directly from Arceus and his creation trio. While it is rare at best (and impossible at worst) that humble mortals such as ourselves will ever meet a GOD in our lifetimes, a fragment of their omnipotent divine power lives on in the soul of every single dragon-type Pokémon today. Thus, dragons are to be feared and respected as direct descendants of Arceus, with many having special powers that merit such reverence. Pokémon who are foolish enough to underestimate the power of dragons will indeed risk paying a dire price!

There are some who believe that dragons are not descended from the gods at all, but those Pokémon are WRONG! I have met Pokémon who believe that because Arceus wasn't a dragon-type, it means that dragon energy really isn't divine after all. But that's WRONG, because Arceus was all the types at once! Ancient writings clearly show that Arceus can become whatever type he wants. There are others who say that Mew is the ancestor of all Pokémon. But that's also WRONG, because Mew had both a body and a soul, which were made by Palkia and Giratina respectively, and therefore Arceus had to exist first in order to make the creation dragons! Besides, just because Mew might have the DNA for every Pokémon inside itself, doesn't mean it was the ancestor of every Pokémon! Arceus could have just made it that way on purpose! (It's too bad we will never get to meet a real live Mew in our lifetimes to know for sure…)

Dragons come in a shocking variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from towering divine behemoths to tiny little wyrms and slugs! But no matter how tiny or diminutive a dragon might appear, they are NEVER to be underestimated! It is best to treat EVERY dragon with the same reverence that one would treat Arceus himself, and not to provoke their wrath unless you are REALLY prepared to fight them! After all, a tiny dragon might someday grow up into something huge and fearsome, and if that dragon holds a grudge against you, then you'll sure be sorry! (And trust me, I know. It's happened to me before.)

Most (but not all) dragons are scaly, reptilian bipeds, or quadrupeds. Many (but not most) dragons have mighty wings and are capable of flying! In fact, the form which is considered most typical of a dragon is something like the body of a Dragonite (for bipedal dragons) or a Salamence (for quadrupedal dragons) with bulky, scaly reptilian bodies, long tails, and wings.

As an interesting thing to note, there exist several types of Pokémon who possess a typical draconic form, with the scaly bodies and the tail and the wings, but are not actually dragon-type, with the most famous examples being Charizard and Gyarados (minus the wings). Such Pokémon are often considered honorary dragons due to their physical resemblance to real dragons. And deservedly so; it has lately been found that some of these dragonshape Pokémon actually possess a significant concentration of latent draconic energy in their souls, suggesting we might someday discover a new dragon-type evolution for them.

In terms of personality, all dragons tend to share something in common – that being a very particular and innate sense of confidence, stubbornness, and superiority. It's called: a dragon's PRIDE! And I can't say I blame them! If I were a direct descendant of Arceus and had a shard of his power coursing through my soul, I'd be super proud of it too! And I'd probably have some trouble NOT feeling intrinsically superior to every other Pokémon I meet. It's actually rather incredible; every single dragon I've ever met, and I mean every SINGLE one, has this same kind of pride, and so I am led to believe that this pride is a trait or direct effect of the dragon energy itself, and not something which a Pokémon learns. EVIL dragons, I find, like to express this pride in the form of an insufferable ego. But for GOOD-hearted dragons, this manifests as a kind of deep honor and sense of guardianship and compassion over their fellow creation. That's why being friends with a GOOD dragon is something really special!

Obviously, to fight evil dragons, you need to understand their strengths and weaknesses.

The undisputed natural predators of dragons are the fairy-types. Fairies are secretly the most sinister, wicked, and horrifying kind of Pokémon, even scarier than the ghost-types or dark-types. While a ghost-type might laugh maniacally as it haunts you, a fairy-type is more likely to have a bright friendly smile on its face as it stabs you to death! The way they act in general is also so weird, and eccentric, and… just weird. It's like they've had too much sugar and it makes them want to hug you until you suffocate. It gives me chills just imagining them, and they are the only Pokémon which dragons truly fear. (Though to be perfectly honest, I think pretty much ALL Pokémon should fear the fairy-types…)

Though, if you so happen to have a fairy-type friend, lucky you! They can protect you from dragons. Fairies never need to worry about dragon attacks, even the fearsome draco-meteors, because they just glance right off like raindrops. And if you happen to actually know a GOOD fairy, and not one that secretly wants to use your blood as a topping on their pancakes, they can be very thoughtful and nurturing. Though, more likely, they'll just be super weird.

But if you don't have a fairy on call, dragons also hate the cold. Some say it's because they're reptiles and some reptiles are cold-blooded, but I don't know about that; I think reptiles descended from dragons and not the other way around, and many dragons are warm-blooded anyway. I'm not sure why, but dragons and cold just do not mix. Dragons never fly in snowstorms or blizzards if they can help it, so it's good to have an ice-type buddy by your side. I might recommend finding an Abomasnow to be your ally. They can make hailstorms whenever they want, and all that sharpened ice will just slice the poor hapless dragons right out of the sky. Glaceon are pretty common Pokémon that you might rely on too, if they're good at aiming their ice beams and stuff. Weavile are another common species that stand a chance against dragons, but only if they're courageous enough to really get in the dragon's face with their nasty claws.

Some other so-called dragon experts will tell you that electric-type attacks are also useful in defending yourself against dragons. But that's only because several of the more common dragons are also flying-types. But I disagree. First, electricity attacks don't even hit dragons very hard, since their dragon aura still mitigates the damage, and the flying aura only somewhat mitigates the mitigation. Second, in my experience, most of the flying-type dragons aren't baddies! Every single Altaria I've ever met has been super nice. And Dragonite tend to have a strong sense of justice. Although I've also met some pretty cruel Salamence before, and Noivern are shifty and can't always be trusted, so maybe they have a little bit of a point.

But anyway… Here's the part you were probably waiting for. You saw this coming, didn't you? I just had to save the best for last. And don't get me wrong! It's not the most efficient way of fighting dragons, or the safest, or the most reliable. But… it is absolutely and undeniably the BEST.

The BEST way to fight dragons is to make friends with other, stronger dragons. Because then, not only do you get to help chase away the evil dragons… you get a good one as a buddy! And nothing in the WHOLE WORLD compares to that.

And that's really my secret, as a dragonslayer. I'm quick and tricky to hit, and I've got some nifty attacks that can get me out of a pinch, but nothing really that hits a dragon hard. My attacks are all normalized unless I use special items or magic spells that can let me attack using the other elements. I'm really not good with fairy energy. I barely know how to use ice. And I'm not too physically strong or intimidating when you look at me. I'm just a wittle kitten. But I'm a kitten with a sneaky little secret that nobody will ever suspect. My super-secret special power:

I know how to win a dragon's heart and convince them to fight with me. It's all about understanding that one thing that every dragon tends to have in common: their pride.

So let me tell you something. I had a friend when I was younger, when I still thought the world was a nice place. A Lillipup named Dash. Everyone told me we were supposed to hate each other. Something about dogs and cats being natural enemies (which I never understood anyway, dogs are tons of fun. I hope I can learn to be just as playful as a dog…) So we liked to sneak out early in the morning and talk and run around and be adventurous. We pretended the trees were all legendary beasts and we would work together to defeat them. Y'know, kid stuff. To be honest I barely remember most of it, except the way it ended, but I try my best to keep that spirit of adventure alive in my heart every day I work for the resistance.

Okay, you know what? No. I'm not going to tell that story again. I've told it enough times to enough Pokémon and I can't stand hearing it anymore. The punchline is that Dash got eaten by a Hydreigon. The other punchline is that later I got my revenge on the Hydreigon. It was the first dragon I'd ever slain. It wasn't pretty but I got the job done.

Nah, I'd much rather tell this other story that happened a lot more recently.

Nowadays, Char and the old guard of Team Ember are busy plotting something with this new Flareon they hired to find Scythe. It's keeping them occupied all the time. So that means, to keep Team Ember running smoothly, all the new recruits have to work their BUTTS off! Tallie keeps us all on our toes. But that's okay, because the new recruits of Team Ember are all super dependable and we do good work.

One thing I've noticed about Tallie: she tries to hide it, but I can tell she has a soft spot, or two, or three. Because every so often, when she's not lighting our tails on fire to work harder, she does something nice for us.

One day, I get called into the planning room alone. That usually only happens if you're in huge trouble. If it's an assignment, Tallie usually calls us in groups. So I went in there alone, gave the door a nudge to close it, and locked myself in the room with the vicious fiery phoenix of wrath. (Alright, I wasn't really locked in, because the wall portal was there and I could always escape out of that, but it's easy enough to forget it's there.)

I knew I was about to get absolutely chewed out for something. But that was fine! Just an opportunity to improve, I told myself. I puffed up my chest and jumped up on the bench exuding all the pride and confidence I was able. Tallie herself was standing on the table so she could write on a bunch of paperwork.

"You called, Officer?" I say formally.

"Yes. I did," she says coldly, scratching words on the papers. Odd how a fire-bird can be so cold!

Any other Pokémon here would have said, "D-d-d-did I do something wrong?" But not me. I'm not falling for that. I just waited patiently until she's ready to tell me.

"Dragonbane," says the mighty bird to me. "I'm going to be honest with you: though you've been on this team for a few months now, I find it difficult to take your name seriously."

"I get that a lot!" I say back. "Doesn't matter to me, though! It's a name I wear proudly!"

"Have you even fought against a single dragon since you joined Team Ember?" she asks.

I answer truthfully. "No! Not one. But I will! I'm sure I will! I mean it!"

"Do you, now?" Tallie sighs. "Do you really?"

I don't skip a beat! "Yes! Really!" I shout back, almost sounding playful.

"Alright… then it's time to prove yourself," she says, flicking two papers towards me. "I want you to pick one of these."

I eagerly glance down. Two papers in front of me.

Two jobs. Both of them are OUTLAW MISSIONS. Whoa. Those are scary.

First one: Druddigon. Wanted dead or alive on account of several accounts of assault and murder, including children. Eugh. Hideout thought to be near Nincadia.

Second one: Haxorus. Wanted dead or alive on account of grand thievery. Hideout thought to be in or around Kricket Pond. If possible, retrieve priceless stolen items as well.

Both are two-star missions. Ouch. Though both came with a nice cash prize, which obviously the team needed, since most of our funds were going to pay Hunter.

"You have until tomorrow morning to choose one," she told me with her fiery glare aimed straight at my face. "Furthermore, I'm giving you five days to complete the task."

I was actually surprised. This seemed like a massive challenge. I gaped at the two sheets before me, looking at one, then the other.

"Something wrong?" Tallie said with a little sneer that I could tell was facetious. "Isn't this your whole specialty?"

I said, "Well, Tallie, I have to be honest! I mean I'm interested in dragon slaying, and I know a thing or two about what works against them, but… but I'm not sure I'm exactly ready to go all gung-ho up to some vicious, two-star outlaw and spit in their face…"

Tallie responded quite curtly, "If you fail the task, I refuse to call you Dragonbane anymore. I've seen the records. I know what your real name is. Hopefully that will be enough motivation."

I hissed at her. "Oooh! So THAT'S the game we're playing, huh?" I returned, trying to sound cocky, despite the fact that I absolutely wasn't sure what I was doing (but I get the impression that Tallie does the same thing all the time). "Alright, then! You make me fight for my dignity, I'll do it! I'll show you a dragonslayer! You got it!"

And then I had an absolutely devious idea! Again, I didn't have any idea what I was doing, but I knew it made me sound super confident!

"And what about if I complete both of them?" I returned, knowing full well that it was absolutely crazy. "What then?"

"In the same five days?"

"Yeah. Two dragons, five days. What then? Will you address me as 'Dragonbane the Magnificent' or 'Dragonbane the Valiant' from now on?"

Our mighty phoenix stopped scribbling on the paper and speculated for a moment. "Hmm. Let me think of something fitting…"

Then she tapped her talon. "Alright, I think I've got something suitable. How about… nothing."

I gave her the most adorable little growl. "Nothing? What kind of motivation is that supposed to be? How is that supposed to encourage me to overachieve?"

"Well, aside from the pride of having earned more money for the team, and aside from strengthening your personal record, I expect you to find intrinsic motivation in your achievement," she said curtly. "Work is its own reward. And besides, I think you're bluffing, and you know it. Just pick one. That's all I expect."

"Awwww," I whined, pawing at the mission papers and rolling them up in a little bundle so I could carry them in my mouth soon. "You're no fun. Okay, fine. I'll pick one of them. I don't know which one yet, probably the thief because I don't like the thought of fighting a murderer. But I'll decide by morning."

"Oh… and one more thing," Tallie said, catching my attention just as I was about to leave. I was super exasperated now. What kind of challenge was she tacking onto this already-kinda-impossible mission? Was she going to say that I had to do it on a ridiculously small budget, too?

I grumbled. "Yes, almighty First Officer?" I sneered.

She looked annoyed at me. "While I'm giving you until tomorrow morning to pick one of those jobs, there's something I need you to do before you leave this room."

"And that is…?"

"Pick four teammates," she instructed. "What, do you think I was making you do this all alone?"

"…Yes! Actually, I was!" I squeaked.

"Well, sorry to disappoint, kitten. I'm not that dense," she chirped. "But yes, I'm giving you special clearance to bring five teammates instead of four. But I need you to pick them now, so I know who not to assign to other missions for the next five days. Char is off limits, but Ray and Saura might be available. Eva, if you want her, I can't promise she'll be agreeable, but I have ways of coercing her into it, just don't take her into a mystery dungeon. Otto and Brace are off limits due to their continuing evolution sickness. And obviously, Hunter is off limits. You have your pick of anyone else."

I nudged the rolled-up mission papers with my paw as I thought about it for a moment. Lyre was an obvious pick, but I didn't know how good she actually was at fighting like a fairy. Also, it occurred to me that I might need a different team for the thief bounty than for the murderer bounty. What a quandary.

"Okay, I got it," I said definitively. "One: give me Zona. If we only have five days, we might need to do stuff at night."

"That can be arranged," she said, marking a notch in her paper.

"Good. Two: give me… Gemstone. We work well together, and I know she knows how to make ice beams," I continued. "Three: Give me… um…"

This was a tough one. On one paw, I probably couldn't pick a basic elemental attacker. On the other, I needed to pick my teammates for strategic reasons, not just based on who is best at fighting dragons. We could be fighting more than just dragons, anyway.

Who should be the bag carrier? Zachel or Ray? Ray can paralyze Pokémon. Zachel knows lots of elemental attacks and probably can attack with ice, too. Or maybe I don't need a bag carrier at all. Maybe I could achieve this with no items, or just wearable items. A very tough call.

But just then, my evil little plan got a tiny bit eviler.

"AAAAAAdamant. Give me Adamant." I suddenly say, swaying my tail in a cute and playful way.

"Oh, wow, that's actually a terrible choice," Tallie comments. "Dragons are resistant to water, you know? I think the only worse choice would have been Nincada…"

"Hey, Nincada is stronger than he looks," I grunt back. "Nope! I want Adamant and I'm sure of it."

"Fine," she sighs. "And who's last?"

I grin. I decided who it was from the start. There was only ever one teammate this could be.

I stare at Tallie. She stares back at me. I only grin wider. She looks at me weird for a moment, then she looks frustrated, then she starts to catch on. She squawked out a laugh and glared that fierce raptor glare down at poor wittle old me. But I just stood up tall and proud.

"You never said you were off-limits, now did you?" I say with a devious tail-wiggle. "Our mighty First Officer Tallie, I want you to come with me on my dragon-slaying adventure!"

She flicked her wing at me. "Awk, nice try. I'm off-limits too, kitten. I thought that was implied."

"Noooo, you can't go changing the rules on me after you set the challenge!" I insist. "Sorry, you flew right into this one yourself."

"Not a chance," she squawks.

"If you don't do it, I'm going to tell Char about it! And he'll MAKE you!" I threaten, keeping my confident grin.

"No, he won't, he's not stupid either," she says with a shrug of her wings.

"Ooooh. Then how about if I were to tell… hmm… Eva?" I suggested so sweetly and innocently.

Tallie gave me her most FIERY GLARE ever. It was so delicious, seeing from her. I think she knew exactly where I was going with this, but of course I wanted to rub it in! "Eva hates you, you know! Well not hate hates you, but you get what I mean. If I told Eva that you were being unfair to a wittle old kitten like me, she'd just use her girlfriend charms on Char and get him to side with me! Then where would that leave you, huh? Probably more humiliated than I'd ever feel if I had to be called by my old name… And by the way, the name thing doesn't even scare me, because I'm just going to evolve soon and have it changed officially, so – "

"AWWWK! Fine! I'll go!" Tallie shouts, kicking a paper at me, which just drifted off to the side and didn't even come close to hitting me. "You're right. I flew right into that one and I deserve it. Though I'll absolutely be sure to choose my words more wisely next time. Sssss."

"Alright! So, now that I'm your team director for the next five days, does that mean I can put you on a task now?" I pressed. (I love trying to push my limits. You either get things you really want, or you get hilarious responses!)

"Give me the rest of the night. I need to hand out assignments to the others," Tallie squabbled. "Tomorrow morning, we can talk plans. Happy?"

"Very happy!" I laughed, swishing my tail at her. "Yes. Very happy. Alright, almighty First Officer! See you bright and early tomorrow! On the DOT!" Then I picked up the mission papers in my mouth and sauntered towards the door.


The first thing I did when I got out of that meeting was to find Zona, Adamant, and Gemstone. I wasn't going to waste any time. Dragonslaying is a big deal and we needed to start planning right away. Zona and Adamant were both fascinated by the challenge and wanted to know more. Gemstone was… not as keen on the idea, which surprised me. She'd fallen quiet after our trip to Basin Canyon together where she evolved. It seems like she was always thinking about thoughts that she didn't want to talk about, or maybe she only wanted to speak when it was absolutely necessary. Still, she wasn't any less brave than before, when she was a Nidoran, and she wasn't any less intelligent when it came to making decisions or picking her battles. She was just much more of a grownup about it. Oh, and she hit a lot harder now, too. She got scary in battle. She always hit like she meant it.

"You want me to help you slay a dragon," said Gemstone, flipping between the two mission papers I gave her.

"That's right!" I said, sounding full of hope. "Okay, maybe not slay them. It does say, wanted 'dead or alive' so I assume there's always a chance we could let them live. But don't get me wrong, they're totally DEAD if that's what it comes to."

"And why do you think I would be of help to you, exactly?" she said, still looking down at the paper for the murderer outlaw. "Why me, and not Lyre, the dumb fairy? Or even better, I could probably get Raptor to join you on the mission, free of charge. I don't see why I'm necessary here."

"Because you know some ice attacks, don't you?" I said. "Okay, okay, Gemstone. Do you REALLY want to know why I want you on my team?"

I made sure to swish my tail playfully as I grinned at her. She only looked up from the paper and gave me a blank sideways look with one ear drooping.

"It's because I like your company," I told her. I pawed at the floor like I was ashamed to say what I was saying. "That's really all. You have that kind of dragon's pride I really admire. And after our trip to Basin Canyon together, I feel like we make a nice team, you know? You help me stay focused, and I help you stay motivated. And maaaayyyybe I want you to be there to see it when I slay my first dragon on Team Ember, so you'll be impressed with me? Maybe that, too."

She just kept staring at me, and tilted her head a bit. Like she was trying to figure out if I was really being serious. (I was.)

"C'mon, you owe me one!" I insisted, bouncing around. "After I went as your travelling companion for almost three whole days, without even being asked, why can't you be my companion this time?"

"Dragonbane, I never said I was going to decline the job," Gemstone said with a big huge sigh. "I was just trying to understand what you need me for. I still really don't understand, but I get the feeling Tallie won't let me even decline if I tried. So which of these are we doing, exactly?"

I grinned. This was going to be amazing, I could already tell. "Why not come to the meeting I'm going to hold right now?"


So we snuck through the war room when Tallie wasn't looking, the four of us, and went to the secret hideout. I knew that was the best place to hold a super-secret meeting.

Only when we got there, we found out someone already had the same idea as us. It was Hunter. He was having what looked like a secret conversation with Glower. Telling her stuff and she was just nodding in agreement. They noticed us in a couple of seconds, and they looked strangely shocked to see us.

"Good evening to you, children," said the Flareon, stepping our way. "Strange, but I thought I instructed Tallie not to let anyone through the portal for the remainder of the night. Do you have business here?"

"Yeah, Tallie doesn't know we're here," Adamant informed him. "We're going to have a secret meeting that Tallie doesn't get to hear about. Speaking of, what's up with you and Glower? You two have been talking quite a lot lately, I've noticed. Having all these secret meetings. What's up with that?"

"Glower has become instrumental in my hunt for information," Hunter answered. "I plan to keep her quite occupied in the coming weeks.

The Noctowl glared right at me and said nothing. I glared back. I know that doesn't look very scary, but I did anyway. But then I put on a huge smile to show her that I was just joking. I was hoping to get at least some kind of reaction out of her. But nope, stoic as always. Glower is pretty good at what she does, I'll say that much.

"Anyway, I suppose I've covered everything I've needed to cover," Hunter told Glower. "You have your instructions. Are you prepared to carry them out?"

"Yes," said Glower.

"Good. Now unfortunately, there comes a time when all good foxes must rest, even the best of us," Hunter said after a little yawn. "We'll need our energy for tomorrow. Isn't that right, Glower?"

"Yes," said Glower again. Even though she wasn't a fox.

"Good. Enjoy your secret meeting," Hunter bid us, walking back towards the portal. "If you're planning to go night-crawling, I recommend against it – the Watchers are very dense today. Even that Vulpix of yours might have some trouble with them."

Glower cast one last odd look at us, then took wing and glided across the room, and the two of them disappeared through the portal at about the same time.

And then it was just us. Me, Zona, Adamant, and Gemstone. Four four-legged Pokémon. Well, except for Gemstone, she could be a two-legged when she wanted to be. Cool thing about Nidorina, they get their upright balance much sooner than their male counterparts.

I looked at my chosen teammates and tried to understand how they felt. Zona looked cheerful, yet patient. He was obviously interested in what I might have him do. Gemstone looked a little confused, like she still didn't understand why I was bringing her. And that was fine, she didn't have to completely understand it all just yet. And Adamant…

Oh, Adamant. The fish-out-of-water. I wondered, did he ever go swimming? Don't Vaporeon die if they go too long without water? Poor thing. Sometimes he looked so miserable with himself. Like when he spoke, his voice would crackle like his throat was too dry. And sometimes he'd curl up against his tail and shiver, even though it isn't really all that cold. I wondered if he was shivering for other reasons.

Well. I needed Adamant to be healthy for this mission. So I had to ask him if he was okay. "Adamant, are you getting enough water?" I wondered at him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry about me," he said in that crackly voice that gave me shivers to hear, shaking his body like a wet dog would shake out his fur, except he had no fur, and he wasn't wet.

"No, I don't think he's been getting enough water at all," Zona said, looking sternly at him. "Adamant, we've talked about this. You need to start taking better care of yourself. You need to go swimming every day. Ideally, more than once a day. That's what Vaporeon need."

"Okay, yeah, well, anyone care to direct me to a water source that's easier to find?" Adamant grumbled. "I thought I could go to the waterfall village whenever I wanted. But they won't let me leave out that exit unless I'm going on a mission in that direction, and there's barely any missions out that way anymore. And I don't feel like going all the way to Iron Town Square whenever I want a drink of water. What am I supposed to do?!"

Zona looked sad. "If that's what you need to do, that's what you need to do," he said in his heartwarming kind of soft concern. "If that's the only pond you can get to from here, then yeah, you need to start thinking about going there every day. I'm sorry… that's just how it is."

"And what if I don't want to?" Adamant said sourly. "What if I like my leisure time after the daily missions and I don't want to waste it all running up and down Iron Town just to take a stupid bath?"

To my surprise… Gemstone stepped up to Adamant and got right into his face. She grabbed his neckfin and pulled it close to her. "That's something you should have thought about when you picked your evolution," she growled. "Now you're expecting us to have all the answers for you? You don't get to make it our problem."

Adamant tried to spit water at her, but no water would come out, and he just started making this awful hacking cough. Gemstone actually let go of him and backed away in revulsion.

Gemstone sighed, and looked at him. "Adamant… tell me honestly. Do you regret your evolution? Or are you happy being a Vaporeon?"

"I love this body," he said, looking down at the floor dejectedly. "I just didn't think… I didn't think it would be this hard. I'm sorry. I won't make it your problem."

"Yeah, well, as long as you're on Team Ember, it's always going to be our problem. Because you're a teammate," Gemstone told him. "We need to trust our teammates to carry out their duties. So you'd better get your act together, Adamant, and do it soon. Because you don't look like you're enjoying this, and we certainly don't like it either."

"Hey… we'll figure something out, alright?" Zona tried encouraging him. "You aren't the only water-type who lives in the Gold Division. Some of them need water even more than you do. So there must be some kind of way to help you. We'll get there, okay?"

"Okay…" Adamant croaked. "Okay, yeah. Okay. I guess we have to worry about the mission right now, though. What are we going to do?"

Everyone looked at me, ready for me to explain my plan. I told Adamant first, "I only asked because I'm going to need a nice, biiiig water attack," I said. "But not to worry. The thief we're going for, it says their hideout is next to a pond. So you can take a swim there before we attack. And I need a big one. A big, biiiiig hydro-pump. Can I count on you?"

"Yeah, I can probably do that," Adamant said sheepishly. "What else?"

And then I explained my whole plan to them. I explained everything I'd come up with since talking to Tallie just an hour earlier.

They listened and listened. And when I was done, they all sat back and stared at me like I was a genius. Or like I was the biggest idiot in the universe. Either way, I think it left an impression!

"And so that's how we're going to beat a dragon!" I said, swaggering at them. "Any questions?"

"I don't know if that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, or most hilarious thing I've ever heard," Gemstone said, still gawking at me, calling it hilarious even though she wasn't even laughing. "But even I will admit… and I don't admit this very often, so enjoy it while it lasts… that sounds like some of the most fun I'm ever going to have."

"I'd run to Iron Town Square every day for a whole year if it meant I would get to do something like that," said Adamant, cracking an awesome smile. "Count me in. Absolutely."

"Honestly, I can't wait to see if this works!" Zona said in awe. "If it works, I think this is going to change the way I look at outlaw missions forever."

"Good!" I cheered, bouncing around cutely. "I'm glad we're all in agreement. All that's missing now is Tallie's cooperation. Now, just like Hunter said, it's time for all cute little foxies… and other four-legged Pokémon… to get their rest. Big day tomorrow!"

We adjourned the meeting and returned to our rooms, already imagining the crazy stuff that may or may not ensue the very next day. Honestly, I didn't know if it would even work at all. It was the first time I'd ever pulled off something like this, after all! But I was eager to try. It's like I said… either I'd get something I really want, or I'd get hilarious reactions. Either way was a win in my book.

I fell asleep imagining Pokémon everywhere proudly calling me by my new, real name. A name I would have really earned, fair and square.

Oh. And spoilers, by the way: I totally did it. I pulled it off more or less the way I wanted. What, you really think I'd be telling a story like this if I didn't pull it off? You think I'd be this proud and go through this much setup to tell you the story of a miserable failure?

Naaah. I earned my new name in a glorious triumph! And I evolved too, so it became my true name!

Now all that's left is for you to wait and see exactly how I did it. Muahaha!

*Chapter 124*: Chapter 88, Part 2

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Chapter 88

Part 2

So imagine for a moment that you're a master thief Haxorus. Well, maybe not a master master – heavens, you're not nearly as good as Fern, or any color of Kecleon. But you're good enough to make a living, and you've earned a nice, juicy, two-star bounty on your head.

Imagine you come home after a long day of thievery, or scouting out your next location, or… maybe going to the park, whatever master thieves do on their off-days? I don't know. But you come home to your nice, cozy den that you've so cleverly hidden at the bottom of a pond in a general vicinity where sentient water-types aren't common.

Imagine that you swim down to the bottom of that pond and slip through your force-field tunnel, shake all the water out of your scales, and prepare to settle down for a nice relaxing evening of being safe and hidden from the world and basking in all your stolen riches!

That's exactly what our little dragon friend was in the mood for – just a nice, cozy night alone. It's really too bad that someone had to come along and ruin it.

This was two days after the assignment was given. The first day, I had Tallie keep watch over Kricket Pond until she spotted our resident dragon slither out of the water and go running off for the day. Once everything was clear, I let Adamant go explore the pond, and he found the hideout instantly. Once he confirmed there wasn't anyone else living down there, I let him stay in the water all he wanted, so he could soak up enough water for the all-important hydro-pump I needed from him. And oh boy, I feel like he spent all DAY down there! (He tries so hard to pretend that water isn't his favorite thing in the world now, but I mean come on, you're a FISH now, Adamant. You aren't fooling anyone, and I wish you'd quit trying to fool yourself, too…)

(Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think he even checked the den like I asked him to, but whatever, swimming is more important, I get it.)

Seriously, when Adamant finally came up for air after like six hours, he looked like a reborn Pokémon! His skin was two shades of blue more vibrant. He had this dumb, giddy smile on his face and a spark of life in his eyes I hadn't seen since the day he first evolved. I mean his eyes SPARKLED. And the way he scampered around, he kept squirming back-and-forth like he was still trying to swim on land! Aww, it was so adorable!

Zona noticed it too, and wouldn't stop staring at him with just as big of a bright smile. "I don't know about you," I whispered to Zona, "but I want to see him like this ALL the time. Don't you?"

"We're going to find a way," Zona whispered back, nodding to me. "We need to. We really do."

And that was all we needed on the first day, really. We didn't need items, and we didn't need to do any sneaking or raiding or anything. I had a feeling we already had everything we needed for my ridiculous plan to have a chance of working. It mostly all came down to me, anyway.


So then, on that all-important second day, when our dragon friend came home after their long day of doing dragon things… Just imagine the look on their face when they found a silly wittle kitten sneaking around in their den and pawing at all of their priceless stolen stuff!

I pretended not to see them, and I pawed their foe-seal orb around on the floor like it was a ball of yarn.

"Hissssss!" shouted the horrified Haxorus. "Who are you?! How did you find this place?!"

Oh. This was a dragoness! Interesting. I hadn't met a lot of these before! Well, except maybe Gemstone, if you count her. (And I do. To me, she's an honorary dragon, just like Charizard.)

I turned to smile at her. "Oh, hiiii!" I said in the most naïve and cute little voice I could make. "Oh, it's a DRAGON! Wow! This is your hoard, isn't it? This is all your stuff?"

Instant confusion! Perfect. If I were a big burly Pokémon or obviously some kind of bounty hunter, my head would have been sliced off right there. But thankfully since I was just a kitten, she hesitated for a moment. Exactly as planned! (Also, that's how I knew I had picked the right mission out of the two. The other one, who'd been known to kill children apparently, might not have been so merciful.)

"YES. It's mine. Everything here is MINE," said the dragoness, rushing up to me to swipe the orb from under my paws. "Now tell me, WHO are you, and HOW did you find my den?!"

"You can call me 'Kitty!'" I said, grinning at her. "What's your name? What can I call you?"

HISSSSSSS went the dragoness, and she got so angry that she nearly dropped the orb on the ground and shattered it. She picked me up and dangled me by the tail. "I don't think you understand what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into, Kitty," she grumbled at me. "What makes you think you're allowed to just barge in to someone else's home uninvited? Do you have no manners? Do you realize how lucky you are that I didn't kill you the moment I saw you?"

"W-why would you kill me?" I said in fake horror, trying to pretend it didn't bother me that I was hanging upside-down. "I'm just a kid!"

"To defend my den," said the dragoness bitterly. "You might have been a feral. Or you might have been a thief."

"Hey! It's not like that!" I pleaded. "I'm not here to steal from you! Honest! I just went swimming in a pond and I found this place, honest! Put me down! Can I just talk to you for a little bit? Pweeease?"

"Why would you want to talk to me…?" she spat back.

"Because you're a DRAGON! I LOVE dragons!" I beamed. "I never get to talk to any dragons! And you have so much shiny stuff! You're SO COOOOL! I just want to, like, talk to you a little bit! Hear about how cool you are!"

Well, yep, she bought it. Told you, it's all in a dragon's pride! They love to be respected and admired. And I love to respect and admire them.

She put me down. She gave me a strange look. "Look, kid. Kitten. Life doesn't work like that," she told me sternly. "The world doesn't revolve around you. You need to watch your back. Not everybody wants to be your friend."

"Awwww!" I said, swishing my tail. "Why not?"

"Because… some Pokémon only care about themselves," she said, starting to walk away. "And some Pokémon are only going to pretend to be your friend in order to get things they want. You can't be so trusting. You're only going to get your heart broken."

"B-b-but… you aren't one of those Pokémon… are you?" I said with big, teary eyes. "I know all about bad Pokémon. But you aren't one of those, are you? Please tell me you aren't one of those Pokémon. Please tell me you're a good Pokémon!"

She hesitated for another good long moment. She thought about looking back at me, but she stopped herself. She thought about saying something, but she shut her jaw.

I took a step back. I pretended to be hurt. I folded my ears. "…Aren't… you?" I said in a small, miserable voice.

"What if I told you I'm not a very good Pokémon at all?" she said sourly. "What if I told you… I'm a wanted criminal? What would you think of me then? Would you still think I'm so cool?"

I took a deep breath. "I… I'm a wanted criminal too, actually…" I said softly. (I mean, it's technically true, isn't it?) "Being a wanted criminal doesn't necessarily make you bad. Unless… the stuff you did is really bad. But I'm not bad, I swear. I'm still a good Pokémon."

"Oh yeah? What'd you do?" snorted the dragon, like she didn't believe me.

"I was… I mean… I'm a thief, kind of," I said (still technically true). "I stole some money once. So yeah, you were right that I could be a thief. Because I am. But I… I didn't want to steal anything from here, I promise. I mean I was kind of thinking about it when I saw all this stuff here, but that's before you showed up, and the moment I saw you I knew – "

"Kid," said the dragoness, gleaming her red eye back at me in the torchlight. "You really want to know about me?"

I nodded at her. "Yeah?" I replied.

She turned away and flicked her tail, then got down on all fours so she could crawl like a lizard through a small hole in the wall. "Follow me, and I'll show you. Then you can decide for yourself whether or not I'm an evil Pokémon."

I followed her through a weird crampy tunnel that was somehow wide enough to accommodate the fully-grown Haxorus dragoness, and was more than big enough for me. I padded along as the tunnel went in a big windey circle and corkscrewed downward. I felt the rivets in the stone, and I realized they'd come from the Haxorus herself. She carved this tunnel with her own blades, I just knew it.

The tunnel wasn't as long as I expected, and when we got to the bottom, we dropped into this really warm, cozy little chamber that had a soft mossy floor. The light crystals were soft blue and yellow, very easy on the eyes. Pondwater dripped down through the cave walls and pooled into a little river stream that ran around the outside of the room. And there were weird objects strewn around the floor, from little wooden cubes, to chiseled branches, to the discarded bones of prey. The whole chamber smelled like must, blood, salt, and faintly like burned-out ashes. But not in a bad way! Weirdly, all the unpleasant scents combined together into something almost relaxing and homely. It smelled like… the very essence of a dragon's heart.

I gasped when I saw the center of the room. There, curled into a little ball, were three infant Axew hatchlings.

"Wow, how old are they?" I beamed.

"A little less than two seasons," she said. "Their father left as soon as their eggs were laid. Didn't want to raise hatchlings. He was the provider, and he left me all alone to fend for myself. It's like I said: some Pokémon are only pretending to be your friend, and they're only using you to feel better about themselves. Something I learned the hard way. I'm no hunter, I can't chase down prey to save my life. And I can't show my face in public. Can't submit requests to the job boards because they'd just arrest me. I had to resort to stealing. All those treasures you see in the other room? I don't even know what most of those things are supposed to do. I just sell them on the black market to provide for my hatchlings."

I crept close to them, careful not to get too close. I just wanted to see if they were healthy. They sure looked healthy to me… three tiny little dragons ready to grow great and strong and change the world someday.

"They aren't hungry, are they?" I said, feeling my heart moved. "All that stuff you got… that's enough to keep them fed for a long time, isn't it?"

"Not as long as you'd think," she grumbled. "Three ravenous little hatchlings is a lot of mouths to feed, not to mention my own. I can't afford to rest. At this rate, my reserves are going to dry up in about… six months. And that's if we're frugal."

I looked at her. "What's your name?" I wondered. "Or… what can I call you by?"

"I don't know. Call me whatever you want, I don't care," she huffed, curling her long snakey body around the hatchlings. "My father used to call be by one name, and my mate used to call me by something else, but I don't ever want to hear those names again. Right now I'm just… 'Mother.'"

"And the dragonets? What are their names?" I wondered.

"I don't know. They can hardly speak, I haven't given them names yet," she muttered. "What, you got any suggestions?"

I smiled brightly. "You can call them Dia, Pala, and Gia. After the creation dragons! And for you… How about Arcia! Mother Arcia!" I said. "You know, after Arceus! Since those are the creation dragons, and you're their parent!"

"I can't imagine a more pretentious name," she groaned, "to think of myself as the god of the universe."

"Buuuut you like it, don't you?" I pressed, smiling deviously.

She sighed. Actually more like snorted. She refused to say anything, but the sound of the snort-sigh answered my question.

"Hm. Well!" I said to her proudly. "Good Mother Arcia, if that's your only crime, to steal stuff for the sake of your children, then no, you're not a bad Pokémon. Not at all. You're a very good Pokémon. I know that everyone else might hate you for it, but I can tell that you're doing your best!"

"…Yeah, kid, I'm glad you see things like that," she told me. "More openminded than most Pokémon I've met. But when you get on the other end of things, it's not so simple."

"What do you mean?" I said innocently, wanting to cuddle next to the children so she would cuddle me too.

"If you're a thief, you know what it's like," she told me. "Maybe you broke into my den to rob me. Maybe you had a good cause, say, feeding your family. But I still would have to hurt you and kick you out. Need to defend my own family. In fact, I'm still not entirely convinced that you're not up to something and trying to get on my good side so you can trick me. Nothing personal. Just the way things are. Sometimes there's no right answer for everyone. At the end of the day, you stick up for yourself, or you starve."

"And yet, you're still not like other dragons I know," I told her confidently. "The kind who would have eaten me or fed me to the hatchlings instead. That's one way to keep their mouths fed, and you didn't do that. That's how I know you're one of the good dragons."

"Alright, I'll give you that much," snorted the dragoness at me. "So, dare I ask… what's your story, kid? What's the real reason you're here? Gonna turn me in to the authorities? Got your buddies waiting outside to nab me and clear out my den? Is this the last night I get to spend with my children? If you've got any sort of heart in you, I'd prefer to know."

This was TOO good.

I was getting giddy inside. I knew I brought along Gemstone for something! I really just brought her along for good company, and for good luck. But now I was starting to understand why fate REALLY needed me to bring her along. See, told you it's always nice to have a dragon at your side!

I pounced up and wiggled my tail. "Actually… no, that's not why I'm here," I said. "Good guess, though. I'll admit, this WASmy assignment, to do exactly that. But I have something else in mind, if you're willing to listen. Something that I think would benefit me, you, and your hatchlings."

I told her to meet me up at the shore of the pond at the evening of the next day. Then I jumped back into the water, and Adamant materialized in front of me and helped drag me up to the surface, where the rest of my team waited. It was getting late, almost late enough that we'd need to ask Zona to protect us.

"Tallie, I need you to fly back to the base for something," I ordered her, sounding all official and bossy.

"Oh, why's that? Forget something?" Tallie sneered at me, flaring her wings. "Has our fearless leader come unprepared? Surprise, surprise."

"Actually, no. I've come VERY prepared, it turns out," I said, giving Gemstone a mysterious little look. "Take Gemstone back with you. Gemstone… I've changed my mind. I think I DO want Raptor's help after all. Will you get him for me, pweeeeease?"


On the third day of the assignment, instead of going out to steal stuff like she usually did, Arcia came up to the surface and I introduced her to my friends. I tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible, since making a dragon feel threatened for no good reason is a recipe for getting your head bitten off!

"So this is Zona," I said, introducing her to the Vulpix. "He may not look like much, but he's the BEST at fighting the Watchers, ever! He can protect us when we travel at night. Zona, this is Arcia, the dragoness thief."

"Pleasure to meet you," Zona said with a kind smile.

"Kitty's right, you really don't look like much," Arcia said with distaste.

Zona only chuckled a little. "I get that a lot, to be honest," he said. "Just means you'll be surprised to see what I can do."

"And this is Adamant," I said, turning to the still-dripping-wet Vaporeon who only just reluctantly slithered his way out from the pond. "He's here for a very specific reason that I'm going to show you soon."

"Hey! Nice lake!" he said bashfully, as though he were ashamed that was the first thing on his mind. He looked longingly back at the water.

"Aww, c'mon, fish-boy. You can go swimming again soon. I just need one thing out of you," I said, nudging his slimy, fishy hide.

"Hey… Zona," Adamant said, as though suddenly having an idea. "I was wondering, no real reason, just curious is all, but do Watchers stay out of the water, too? Just like they stay out of shelters? Do you know?"

"I… don't know that, I'm afraid," Zona said. "Just because I can repel them doesn't mean I'm an expert on their behavior. I'm sure we could ask someone – "

"…Yes, Watchers stay out of water," Arcia said, peering over at the lake. "Otherwise I wouldn't be alive after all the close calls I've had. But only if you stay fully submerged. That means once you go under, better not come up for air until morning. Some of them keep their eyes on you, and they swarm you soon as you poke up your snout."

Adamant… when he heard her say that, he got this look on his face like he'd just witnessed Arceus create the whole world. His black beady eyes went so wide, his tail curled to the side… he looked like a sweet little tadpole shivering in wonderment.

Awwwww. I think that was the moment he realized he could just outright live underwater. Like, forever. I don't blame him. That was the same face I made when I first realized I could get dragons to be my friends. (Hey, I hear that when a Vaporeon first realizes that, their instincts drive them to go into the ocean and stay there for like ten years before ever coming up for air!)

But sadly for him, it wasn't time for Adamant to go wallowing in fishy heaven. He was on a team and he had a job to do.

"And finally, this is Gemstone," I said, swinging my tail in her direction. "Shiny Nidorina. Don't call her a boy! She's not a boy! She'll scratch your face off! She's my partner on this mission, she helped me come up with this plan."

The Haxorus regarded the Nidorina, and the two shared a silent exchange of greetings, nothing but a small nod of the head.

And that was all of us, at the moment. I had told Tallie to meet us along the way later, and Raptor was lurking around in the shadows somewhere and keeping an eye on us, but he couldn't come out yet. We couldn't let our dragoness thief know he was there. That was important.

"So… bunch of pipsqueaks," said Arcia, looking down at all of us. "Care to explain your plan to me? And I'll just have to warn you that if this all some kind of setup for an ambush to lock me away, I will fight you tooth and nail, because I'm not abandoning my children."

I shook my head vigorously. "Nope! Good Mother Arcia, we're actually going to help you feed your children!" I joyously shouted.

The dragoness mother looked surprised for a moment, but she just gleamed her big red blades at me and said, "And if you expect me to believe this, then what's in it for you?"

"Oh, you'll see!" I sang, then scampered ahead, leading the team forth. "Oh, by the way. Both you foxes. You get next to her like you're keeping her captive. Gemstone, get that rope we brought and tie her hands together, and lead her forward. Okay? Don't worry, Arcia. It's only play-pretending. There's a reason for this, I promise."

"Whatever you say," groaned the unimpressed dragoness thief.

And we started our long walk! It would take a few hours, since the place we were headed to was rather far away, but thankfully Arcia had trained her children to sleep during this time of day so that she could go out thieving.

But only about fifteen minutes down the road, just as I could start to sense the dragoness's simmering rage for not explaining anything to her… predictably, Tallie showed up. Landed in a tree branch and almost broke it, then fluttered over to a different one.

Arcia tensed up and tilted her head, ready to make some minced chicken out of Tallie with her head-blades if she dared to swoop in. Still, I saw that fear and shock in the Dragoness's eye. She realized how powerful Tallie was just by looking at her, and I think she knew she couldn't have beaten us while being so outnumbered.

"Oh, there you are," Tallie grumbled, giving us a real nice phoenix-glare. "You realize you gave me the wrong directions, Kittycat? Had to waste my time tracking you down."

"Oh! Ooopsie!" I said cutely.

"No matter. I see you've got our thief under control," Tallie said, surprised. "And two days ahead of schedule, too. Gotta hand it to you, that was some nice clean planning on your part."

"Oh, you have NO idea!" I laughed.

"Ah, well, you do realize you're going the wrong way, right?" Tallie said oddly. "The prison house is to the northeast. This is west. Where's your sense of direction today, you guys?"

"Nope! We're going this way!" I shouted. "I know which way I'm going!"

"Uh, okay, seems like you didn't tell me about THIS part of your plan," Tallie said suspiciously. "Mind explaining why you have your prisoner captive, but you aren't taking them in?"

I was silent. Gemstone was silent. The two foxy boys were silent. I grinned evilly at her.

Tallie gave me an evil glint of her own. "Hey, you. Haxorus," Tallie called. "Care to tell me what they're doing to you? And tell the truth, because trust me, I could knock them all out and take you in myself if I wanted." Her evil glint turned into a fierce, angry glare.

"They say they're helping me," said Arcia, shrugging to her. "Don't know much more than that. Say they're going to help me feed my kids"

"AWK!" shouted Tallie, almost falling off the branch. "HELPING her?! Excuse me? This is not authorized! You can't TEAM UP with an outlaw like this! Do you KNOW how many rules this breaks?!"

"Aww, now you're turning into Otto!" I cruelly teased her, disregarding her accusations. "Think maybe you're spending too much time around him?"

"HISS! Regardless of RULES, Do you KNOW how stupid this is of you?" she screamed in a higher-pitched caw. "You can't just TRUST a random outlaw! We're not that kind of team! You have no experience! They'll run circles around you! And besides, We don't run a CHARITY! Kittycat, I GAVE you this mission because the team NEEDED the money! I'M PAYING YOU FOR THIS! So turn your silly little tail around and TAKE HER IN!"

"Nah, I'm the boss of you today, and I think you should just shut up. Or go away," I said flippantly. "I'm doing what I want."

"Doesn't work like that, kid," Tallie said, flaring her wings. "My role as first officer overrides your role as team lead. And since you have NO experience in consorting with high-risk enemy figures, you're making an ill-advised choice that puts the team, and the Division, in danger, and I cannot allow this to happen –"

I gave a little swish of my tail, which was a signal we'd agreed upon.

And then, in one of the most beautiful moments I've EVER seen in my LIFE, Adamant totally BLASTED Tallie with the biggest, juiciest pillar of water you can imagine. SPLAT! Straight in the chest, with her wings still all open and everything! And she made this great screeching noise, too! Like "SQUAKREEEIIIEE!" You really had to have seen it for yourself. Red and white feathers burst into the air and drifted down like confetti, and Tallie twisted and tumbled in midair, just barely getting her balance and landing on the ground.

She scowled at us for a moment, but we couldn't take the scowl seriously because she was SO SOPPING WET and her feathers were crooked and everything! SHE LOOKED SO STUPID AND IT WAS SO GREAT! I keeled over laughing, and so did Adamant and Gemstone! Gemstone even forgot she was supposed to be holding the ropes and dropped them. That was another really awesome moment, getting to hear Gemstone actually LAUGH for the first time. Like, the hopeless and involuntary kind of giggling. So sweet and clear and sparkly. Like a gemstone!

Tallie, predictably, flew away. Arcia, predictably, looked confused.

"Did you just try to murder your ringleader?" Arcia asked, looking down at Adamant, who was still rolling in the mud in all his slimy, fishy mirth.

"Nah, don't worry about her, she's going to be fiiine," I promised. "She's basically a level-hundred, it takes more than that to put a dent in her. Nah, we just got her a little annoyed, is all."

Gemstone was still giggle, giggle, giggling her heart out, scratching at the dirt in hopeless attempts to compose herself. Just seeing that made bringing her along all worth it. "Annoyed…? You call that… just a little annoyed? Did you SEE her face? Sh-she's going to put you on cleaning duty for YEARS! That was so perfect…"

"You," the Arcia finally said, staring at the branch where Tallie perched just a moment ago. "You really aren't taking me to get arrested, are you? You're defying your own boss? And even if that little stunt was all scripted… if that Talonflame was really level one-hundred, she could have wiped the floor with all of us. She could have just arrested me herself. You… you really do have something else in mind, don't you, Kitty?"

There it was, a dragon's trust. Trust cannot simply be given. It must be earned. It must be proven by a show of faith. A show of faith like blasting your first officer clean out of a tree with a majestic hydro-pump. (IT STILL MAKES ME LAUGH! IT LOOKED JUST AS AMAZING AS IT DID IN MY HEAD! GAHAHAHA! You should see how wary Tallie is of Adamant now… she tries to hide it, but if you watch closely, she always stays on the other end of the room from him, and looks at him more than anyone else. That's the look of a changed bird!)

"Oh yes, I have many things in mind, great dragoness!" I laughed. "And all I need for you to do… is help me with something. One little thing, and I might just be able to change your life. How's that sound?"


Okay, so now imagine for a moment that you're a Druddigon, and you're kind of the most awful creature on the face of the earth. You come home from a long tiresome day of eating babies or whatever, and you settle into your shoddy, terribly-placed den at the corner of Nincadia in the basement of an abandoned hut.

You're looking forward to a nice, cozy night of sleeping in your own filth and gloating about how evil you are.

Well, that's exactly what our little outlaw friend was doing! Probably just dozing off. Not realizing that today was going to be the unluckiest day of his life! Not realizing that some infernal little kittycat just had to come in and ruin everything!

Oh yeah, did I mention? I also had Tallie scout out the location of this bozo the other day, too. Told her that if I had enough time, maybe I did want to do both of them! So I at least wanted to know where the Druddigon's hideout was. Turns out if was much much easier to find than Arcia! I guess some murderers just have such low standards… Well, Tallie never even suspected what I was really up to, so there's that, at least.

So, this was the fourth day of the mission. The walk to Nincadia was longer than I wanted. And we showed up in the middle of the night: Arcia, me, Zona, and Gemstone. (Adamant agreed to head back and spend the night at Arcia's lake and watch over the dragonets for her, so that was nice. Although I do hope he actually checked on the dragonets once or twice instead of just making out with the water all night…) Zona kept us safe under his light-bubble, which we know he couldn't keep up forever, but it did help us forge a way through the Watcher swarm after like midnight which is when our target dragon would probably have least suspected an ambush.

So yeah, our resident murderer was woken up to the sound of a CRASH-BANG-BOOM of the entire house collapsing around him. And that was all Arcia's doing! What a ferocious she-dragon! Burst through the wall, which was made with some kind of weird insect fiber, and it all crumbled down.

I told Arcia about the outlaw and the bounty on its head. I told Arcia its bounty was higher than hers was because he was a more vicious criminal. I told her that if we ever hoped to take it down, we'd need a fellow dragon to give us support. And then we could talk about splitting the profits. And she could afford a lot of food for her dragonets!

Well. I had some idea of how fearsome a mother can be when they are fighting for their children. But what I saw Arcia do that night… it was the WRATH OF A GOD incarnate. The true power and glory of a dragon, come to life. The same power and glory in EVERY dragon, which they only let out to those they deem worthy of it.

See.. when Arcia stormed into the hut and went down the stairs into the ditch-basement where the Druddigon kept his heart of pure evil, she saw something as she was going down the stairs.

There were a few skulls on the ground. Obviously skulls of his late victims. But Arcia noticed one in particular.

She picked it up, she looked at it for a moment, turned it around in her hand.

I realized at the same moment she did. This was an Axew skull. A baby Axew skull. It wasn't her baby, but that didn't matter in the moment. It hit her hard deep in her dragon's heart. It was blasphemy against her pride.

In that moment, Arcia TRANSFORMED. It was like she became the very DRAGON-TYPE ARCEUS! She roared her fury and dashed down the stairs, with the rest of us struggling to keep up! She stormed that den, and she found the evil dragon just laying there on the ground.

"YOU MONSTER!" She cried, at the sleeping dragon, throwing the Axew skull at him.

"Oh, I'm not a monster! I'm just an innocent guy doing what's necessary to stay alive!" he said all smarmy and evil-like. "Speaking of which, I feel pretty hungry at the moment, and you look delicious."

Now this next part, I didn't expect. Because sometimes, dragons are just unpredictable like that. Just like I never would have predicted that I would have gotten to see Dash get crunched in half in a dragon's mouth, I never would have expected to see Arcia do what she did that night.

She went wild. She went feral. Or as I like to sometimes call it… she went full origin-forme.

Slash! Slash! The heroic Haxorus attacked head-on with all that divine power of Arceus in her blades. She roared and snarled and got into an epic struggle with the pathetic loser Druddigon. And I was JUST STARTING TO GASP IN WONDERMENT AT HOW EPIC IT WAS and then just ended. All the movement stopped. Something slumped to the floor.

Arcia… sliced his heart out.

Okay, well, that's not what actually happened, but it SOUNDS epic, so that's what I'm going to put into the story, and that's what you can imagine right now. Arcia the ferocious the protective mother, abandoned by her mate, released all her primal, divine fury and sliced out the despicable Druddigon's heart with her own blades! That's what the records will say about that moment!

When it was done, she just stood gasping and panting, realizing that she'd just slain a rival dragon. Looked at her own claws, as though not realizing that she ever had that power to stand up to another dragon like this.

She was proud of herself. And so was I. I even told her the previous day – "Look, we're going to try to take the outlaw alive. But if you've gotta slay them, then slay them, if that's what it comes to. The job pays the same either way." And guess what! She did.

But here's the funny part. While she was busy raiding the filthy den, Zona turned back to get someone else who'd tagged along in the shadows. That being Raptor, Gemstone's father. I made sure Arcia never knew that Raptor was there. That's because I needed Arcia to start the fight on her own, so she could learn to have confidence in herself. I wanted her to see for herself that she had the power to be a DRAGON and FIGHT for her family and STAND UP to bad guys. And if she wanted, she could even make a CAREER out of outlaw hunting, and it would pay so, so, so much more than ripping off random items from the local traders. And she didn't have to be a criminal anymore. She had OPTIONS. She didn't have to live in the shadow of her stupid coward of a mate. She could truly stand on her own!

That was my plan. Show Arcia that she could stand up and be a good guy if she wanted! But if the fight started to go wrong? Then Raptor was supposed to jump in and help her fight, and the plan would hopefully go in a little bit of a… different direction, so to say. An alternate plan if Arcia couldn't do it on her own, where she'd be introduced to Raptor by him saving her life, demonstrating how strong and skilled he is (because remember, he's from Team Remorse), and having the two of them become friends. And maybe he could teach her all about self-defense and prey hunting and all the dragony things that he could teach her to help her be a better mother and, of course, NOT be a criminal.

But uh… I never expected that both plans would happen at once.

Arcia tensed up and froze the moment she looked up the stairs to see the fearsome Gabite staring down at her, her claws and her face and her blades covered in dragon's blood.

"Star?!" She gasped, stepping back and covering her mouth in shock. "Is that you?"

"Star?" the Gabite echoed. "Who's Star?"

But just as soon as he replied, she let her guard down. "Oh, nevermind. You're not evolved… I was about to slay you too. Who are you? Are you with the Kitty and friends?"

"My name's Raptor," said Gemstone's dad, coming down the stairs. "The Kitty asked me to come. Said you might have needed help with this mission."

I saw Gemstone and Raptor exchange a really interesting glance with one another. I saw Gemstone exchange a really interesting glance with me. I tried to send an interesting one back.

"Hurk. Well. You're a bit late," Arcia sneered, stepping over the slumped form of the Druddigon beneath her feet. "Help me carry the body, maybe, so I can get paid for this."


Aaaaaaaaaaaaand that's the story of how Gemstone got a new mother and three new siblings!

Well alright, they're not that far yet. But it's kind of obvious they're going that way. Arcia really likes Gabite and Garchomp a lot, it turns out. And Raptor has taken a real interest in visiting her den every once in a while to help with taking care of her hatchlings, teach them all dragony things. And there've been rumors of Raptor wanting to retire from Team Remorse, but he denies them all, says he's only helping out a long-term client.

But I know better. Gemstone visits her den a lot nowadays too, wants to spend time with her dad. And she told me about the things they talk about. Raptor says that he wants to teach the dragonets how to battle when they get older. They're even talking about which town they want to send them for going to school. Yeaah, you don't just casually talk about those kinds of things and say it's just business! (Or I guess, unless you're DUMB and you can't see what's actually happening right in front of your face…)

Anyway, at least they're making progress. Last I heard, Arcia can catch Rattata and Pidgey and even some wild canines now. The feral kinds, though, not… you know. Either way, between that and the steady income she has from doing high-profile outlaw-hunting missions once or twice a year, and the extra Poké that mysteriously appears in her den sometimes (and I imagine is mysteriously disappearing from Team Remorse's account), the kids aren't going to go hungry anytime soon.

In all, the mission was a success! My personal rank went waaay up (I was actually credited with completing BOTH missions because Arcia willfully gave up some of her more expensive stolen goods, which the mission asked for)! I made a new dragon friend, helped three little creation gods to grow proud and strong, and probably prevented a bunch of children from getting eaten, too! (And that's for you, Dash. Always for you.)

Now who would have ever suspected a cute wittle kitten could have accomplished all that, huh? Told you. NOBODY suspects me!

Oh yeah, speaking of being a wittle kitten…

The moment I got home from that mission, I decided that I had earned my new name fair and square.

So I embraced it. Took that feral-shard and evolved into a Delcatty. Now I'm not just cute, I'm SUPER CUTE. ALL FEAR THE SUPER CUTENESS OF THE DRAGONSLAYER. FEAR ME OR YOU WILL BE SORRY!

And having done that, I went to the registrar and changed my name. And that was that.

And I took the proof of my name change straight up to Tallie, who was once again in the planning room working tirelessly on her next batch of slave labor for the team. I came in, jumped up on the table in front of her and spat it out right on top of whatever document she was reading.

"Read it and WEEP, mighty First Officer!" I teased, in my NEWER, CUTER voice, wiggling my NEWER, CUTER tail!

Tallie snorted at me, and clawed at the receipt to unroll it. "Alright, alright. Fine. You win," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Congratulations, you've proven me wrong. So fine, you've earned the right to hear me say it. ALL HAIL DRA- "

She stopped. She looked down at the scroll, she reread it once or twice, and nudged the end of the paper that kept rolling itself back up, as though that would change what it said.

"AWK! Wh- Wha…" she mumbled out.

"SHHHHHHHH!" I said, putting a paw cutely up against my mouth like humans supposedly do, and trying not to laugh. "Dragonbane. It's Dragonbane, okay?"

"F-fine. All hail Dragonbane," she mumbled awkwardly. "Now get out of here so I can figure out tomorrow's missions, you silly cat. By all of Arceus. The things I put up with on this team…"

"But you wouldn't trade it for the world, am I right?" I teased innocently.

Tallie showed a brief glimmer of shame and vulnerability in her eye. And though she's never going to admit to it if anyone asks, she said: "No, not for anything in the world. This is the best job I've ever had. I've tried a hundred different things before. Different teams, different roles and different skills. I was good at them all. But this… being the leader of this team is the first time I've ever actually felt like… this is my real calling. Thank you for being a part of it. Now PLEASE get the heck out of here, before I pick you up and carry you out myself."


So a bit later after that, I was hanging out in Gemstone's room and we were gossiping about Raptor and Arcia like normal. She said to me, "So you changed your name finally? I can't hold Rufus the Doofus over your head anymore? Pity."

"Yep! Rufus is totally dead!" I squeaked, and showed her the name-change receipt too. "But see… in all my years, I've realized something. I actually like having a secret name! It's actually really cool to have a fake name that EVERYBODY knows, and a real name that you only show to the Pokémon you trust the most."

When Gemstone unrolled the paper and read what was on it, she had one of those huge, bright smiles on her face for a moment. Then she remembered to pretend to want to puke. But then she didn't have the energy to do that, so she just settled for a soft little smile of understanding.

"So yeah. From now on, to the wide world, I'm DRAGONBANE, the fearsome slayer, to strike absolute fear into every evil dragon who's ever even THOUGHT of eating civil Pokémon. They will speak my name in hushed whispers, they will tremble as they gossip about my gruesomely heroic deeds, and they will pray to Arceus and all the creation dragons that I will never set my targets upon them… and Arceus will ignore their prayer because they don't deserve his mercy!"

I smiled back at her.

"Only my closest friends will know what I'm really like. They'll know that I admire dragons much more than I've ever hated them. That all I really want is to earn their trust and support. To be with them. To be like them. To have special dragon friends to accompany me on my adventures. That all I really want to do is to be honored by them, and to honor them, as the greatest, most awesome creatures who have ever walked the earth and flown the skies. Only the friends of mine who know about that side of me… they will know who I really am."

Gemstone looked down at the paper one more time.

Then she looked back up at me.

"…Dragonheart," she said.

I grinned. She grinned.

She burst out laughing. That sweet, crystal-clear, crazy adorable giggle that only she can make.

"That's the cheesiest name I've ever heard!" she laughed. "That's… that's worse than Rufus!"

I swiveled my tail knowingly, and I said, "But you wouldn't change it for the world… would you?"

She managed to stop herself from hyperventilating from laughter. She composed herself, then she said… "No. I wouldn't change it for the world. Never change, Dragonheart. Never change."

*Chapter 125*: Chapter 89: I'm Dead

o

Chapter 89

I'm a bug. I'm not supposed to have a sense of identity.

It almost feels wrong to have a sense of identity. You're the swarm, the swarm is you. That's what's written on the DNA of every bug-type. You are nothing alone. In numbers, you accomplish the impossible and you thrive.

That's how Team Spider was. A team of only bug-types, ruled by bug-type ideology. I felt wanted, and I felt like nobody, all at the same time. I felt powerful, and I felt just as equally expendable.

Sometimes I saw the way other teams operated. Treated one another like individuals. Everyone had different abilities and different personalities. Those Pokémon were not alone, and yet they had a sense of identity.

I wanted that ever since I realized what it was. You can feel wanted on a team and feel like somebody. You can feel powerful and irreplaceable.

I dreamed of having a sense of identity and having friends who were different from one another and different from me. I don't know why; I just did. Maybe it was the day that I met Scythe for the first time. There was a bug. A big, strong, important bug who stood on his own. A leader.

Because of Scythe, I knew it was possible. I could be like that, if I really wanted. Why did I want to feel like that, though? Being big and strong is difficult; a huge responsibility. It takes so much pain and suffering. And loneliness, too. Leaders are surrounded by followers, but they're lonely, because leaders are rare. Just like the queen of a hive is lonely, even though surrounded by workers.

But for a long time, I couldn't dare myself to leave Team Spider. Part of me realized how foolish it was to leave the swarm. I was just a little bug, useless on my own. I could get squished, everyone said. Nobody would ever accept my team application, because I needed help with everything. That's how swarms work: everyone helps everyone with everything.

And yet here I am. Due to a technicality, that being Char's decision to hire everyone who showed up for his tryouts, I am now on Team Ember. Team Spider is a distant memory. Though it was by accident and not by the strength of my merits, my dream has come true.

It's a good lesson for all: try things, even when you truly believe that you don't deserve the success. Sometimes you'll get the success anyway.

My talent on Team Ember is exploration. Nincada are at their best when crawling through deep, dark crevices that other Pokémon can't cross. Though it is somewhat of a misconception that Nincada are practically blind, their vision is ironically best in complete darkness, and their feelers are exceptional at detecting the shape of pathways and nearby movement. Though many have joked about how easily I might have gotten crushed, Nincada are designed to be gracefully crushed for exactly these reasons – so they might navigate tight spaces, so they might live underground, and so that a stray stomp from a clumsy Donphan won't bring about their end.

I am responsible for many of Team Ember's successful missions in the most wretched of cave dungeons and non-dungeon caves. I have grown a respectable track record. And yet still, even after half a season on Team Ember, I still hadn't picked a name for myself. Part of me never thought I deserved a sense of identity. Although, that's only partway true. In a sense, 'Nincada' was a name, compared to what I was called on Team Spider: Nincada #8. Now there is a different Nincada #8 on Team Spider who is not me.

I've also come to realize that I never truly left the swarm at all. Team Ember is a team of individuals who appreciate one another and even appreciate me. I made a good friend named Asunder the Mightyena who let me ride on his back to our missions. But still, we are part of the swarm that is the Gold Division. Too many Pokémon to be considered as individuals. High Intelligence delegates tasks to the teams and not to individual Pokémon. Their only regard is for the team leaders.

Like a swarm, we are only successful because of our numbers. Like a swarm, sometimes we need to let ourselves be expendable for the sake of the greater directive.

Too often, I have found myself in such a circumstance:

"Oh. I'm dead. For certain this time. This is where I die for the sake of the swarm."

Only for Leo to electrocute the swarm of angry bugs surrounding us. Or for Asunder to snap me up in his jaws and carry me to safety. Or for Zachel to activate an orb to save us from certain doom. It's nice to have a team that's got your back.

They tell me I give up too easily, and that I should train myself to have a better instinct for self-preservation.

But I am a bug. It is written onto my DNA. I am all too ready to make that sacrifice. The swarm would not so thrive without this instinct programmed into the hearts of its members.

This is especially true of Nincada. Legends say that Nincada were once so numerous, they simply let themselves be eaten by whichever predator cared to gobble them up. And so all the predators could stuff themselves full until they could eat no more, and it would not even put a dent into the mighty swarm's numbers.

There are many other things that bug-types are willing to sacrifice for the swarm, as well. In my case, one of those things was strength. I could already stand my own in battle; I was always quite hard to hit and preferred to use life-draining attacks on my targets, and sometimes even sucked out their blood, which most of my teammates found distasteful. But I knew that greater power awaited me if I ever decided I would want it.

But, for the sake of Team Ember, I decided I did not want it.

I remember a time when I accompanied Asunder on a rescue mission in a forest dungeon. After finding and returning our lost client, he said to me as we were walking back to the team hideout: "Evolving is so much fun! Best decision I've ever made. Ever think you want to evolve, Nincada?"

I replied, "If I evolve, I would grow over twice as large, and lose my ground-typing. I'm a cave-crawler for you guys, and I wouldn't be able to do my job as well anymore."

"But you would be so much stronger!" he told me. "And you could fly, and really pummel the baddies! All your white-aura moves would get stronger!"

"Team Ember already has many fighters," I said. "What they need are more specialists like me. Also… there is another reason I am apprehensive to evolve, but it's rather embarrassing to talk about."

"Huh? Can't be that bad, buddy!" said Asunder. "What's such a big deal? You can tell me!"

"There was a rumor that circulated in Team Spider," I explained. "They say that if a Nincada evolves… there's a chance they could split into two Pokémon. Part of your soul would become a ghostly, empty shell that would haunt you for the rest of your life. They call it Shedinja. On one claw, I know it's probably just a myth that they made up to keep us all in line and discourage us from wanting to evolve. On the other… I've met too many bug Pokémon who claim to have seen Shedinja for themselves, so I fear it could be true. I shudder at the thought."

Asunder said, "Whoa! Oh, wait, what? I've never heard of that before! So, if you evolve, you have a child?!"

"N-no, it's not like that, I think," I said.

"Wow, that's the weirdest rumor I've ever heard!" he said. "You should totally try it and see if the rumor is true! If that's true, that's like Pokémon mitosis! That's so nuts!"

I admitted to him that somehow, his description of the Shedinja phenomenon made the prospect of evolution even less appealing than it was before…

Putting aside the strange rumor for a moment, indeed the thought of being able to fly, and having sharper eyesight that better compares to the average Pokémon, was very exciting. But if it was to come at the expense of no longer feeling at home in the dark depths of the caves, and sacrificing my special role on Team Ember, I'd always decided I would gladly stay the way I am. For them.

But then, there came a day when I was faced with making a sacrifice that I'd been expecting to make for all my life. But because it was written into my bug-type soul, I was ready to make the sacrifice without complaint.

Let me tell you about that day: the day I died.

Tallie would often assign me to a particular mission, a place we dubbed the "Gemporium" because it was so easy to come back with a bag loaded with precious crystals we could sell for hefty money. It was a place that Team Ember had discovered themselves – a place not otherwise on the map. It was my kind of place – deep, dark, and full of treasure. It wasn't a mystery dungeon, even. It was just a normal rock formation where some thieves had stashed their riches and then forgot about them, apparently. It also had no substantial threat of wild Pokémon, as there was no food there, and nothing to sustain the existence of anything but a few Zubat or Aron no more than a few layers deep. So it was safe, it was straightforward, and it put me in my element. It was large and sprawling, and we hadn't even explored it fully yet. And it was all for us.

I greatly enjoyed those missions, and couldn't have contributed my part were I a Ninjask. If I evolved, there was even the possibility that we'd have to stop running missions there anyway. That's how vital my service was.

On one such routine mission, I went with Asunder and Zachel. Asunder has excellent speed, smell, and dark vision. Zachel can wield our biggest bag and carry the most treasure with her. And I was the best at navigating those tunnels. We were an ideal, specialized taskforce for the secret treasure stash that only our team knew about.

I remember the moment I decided to squeeze myself underneath a rock to see if I could find the other side of the wall. It was very narrow, much more that I was used to, but I wasn't willing to back down from the challenge.

"Uhh, are you sure you want to do that?" said Zachel as I disappeared from her sight. "That looks too small, even for you."

"Naah, he's got this! Don't you, buddy?" said Asunder.

I was clawing my way along in the tight space, but I was getting used to it, and realizing I was making consistent progress. "Yes, I've got this," I called back to them. "Don't worry. I'll return in a moment. Let me just see if this leads anywhere."

I began to feel the distinct air current whip me in the face. There was space at the other end. My feelers told me it was close. I would get there soon.

Then something happened that never happened before in any of our prior expeditions to the Gemporium. I felt the rocks tremble, like an Onyx were burrowing through the stone somewhere nearby.

Then I felt a great pressure settle onto my back. It didn't hurt, but it certainly pinned me. I realized that part of the rock had been displaced and had crushed me.

Asunder shouted for me. "NINCADA! ARE YOU OKAY?"

I heard Zachel say, "This is an earthquake. We need to get out of here right now before another shockwave hits, or we'll be crushed."

Asunder said, "We're not leaving without Nincada!"

Zachel said, "There's no time… I'm sorry. We might have to leave."

Asunder said, "No, but we've got to try! If Nincada's getting trapped here, we're getting trapped here too!"

Zachel said, "It's going to be worse than getting trapped, Asunder."

Asunder said, "That doesn't change anything! We go down with him!"

Zachel was quiet for a moment. I could still hear rocks cracking and pebbles falling in the distance. Then she said, "Alright, fine. Let's try to save him. What should we try?"

That's when I knew I had to say something.

It was time. It was finally time.

"No. You guys go," I screamed at them. "Get out of here. Don't worry about me."

"Nincada, buddy! Don't you dare say that!" Asunder growled. "We're coming for you! I don't know how, but somehow!"

I said, "Asunder… no. Go on and get out. It's like I always said, I'm… built to be crushed so let me be crushed. And besides… I'm just a bug. There are hundreds just like me. You can hire another one from Team Spider anytime you want, there's twenty of me there."

"No! There aren't a hundred of you! There's only one of you!" yowled Asunder.

The cave shook with another tremor. I heard a huge rock fall in the room with my friends, but I still heard them running around, so I knew they were okay.

"GO!" I pleaded to them. "It's okay. Go. I want this. I need to do this for you guys."

Another hesitation. Then, Asunder said, "I'm not going to forget you, alright? You were my buddy. My little buggy buddy."

I could tell he wanted to say more, but there were more tremors, more crashes and crumbles from all over. I heard Zachel say "We need to go, now," and they ran off. Out of the collapsing cave. To safety.

That was the last I heard from him.

And once that tremor had ended, and it started to settle in where I was, and how suddenly it had all happened…

Once I realized that the pressure against my shell was actually starting to hurt, my exoskeleton was bowing under the force, and that I couldn't possibly hope to crawl forward or move in any direction whatsoever without having my body split apart…

Once I realized that nobody would rescue me, because the cave wasn't even acknowledged on the local map…

I gave myself that old reassurance one last time.

"Okay. Alright."

"I'm dead. This time it's for real."

"I… I did it. I did the right thing for the sake of the swarm."

"No… for the sake of Team Ember. The Pokémon who called me a friend even when I didn't deserve it."

Except when I said that, that's when it started to hurt. For the very first time, out of all the times I was ready and willing to accept that I was a bug, and that bugs are expendable and die for their swarm.

That was the moment it hurt. Because I was no longer just a bug. I realized how my teammates had granted me a sense of identity after all, something bugs aren't supposed to have. And this was why they aren't supposed to have one.

But I decided I was okay with that. I could accept this pain. It meant that I had done something that none of the other Nincada on Team Spider had ever accomplished: I had grown, beyond being a mere bug, beyond serving on a mere swarm.

In some small way… I had become just a little bit closer to being like Scythe. Just a little bit. And I was happy with that.

I… accepted my growth. And then, as soon as the next tremor started up…

I accepted my end.


Sometime later, I woke up again.

I was in some kind of empty space, still in the cave. But I was no longer getting slowly crushed by the ceiling. I was very much alive, well, and free of my plight.

I wiggled my wings to make sure the weight of the rock wasn't there. I noticed that my wings felt different. I noticed that I had much sharper eyesight. I could see a rough visual outline of all the cavern walls which surrounded me, even those on the far end of the room. I realized that I really had been blind all my life, if Pokémon regularly can see this far into the distance.

Happy as I was to be alive, I didn't understand what happened. I didn't understand how I'd gotten myself out in one piece.

You, reading this, you probably think you understand what happened.

But you don't.

I began to search around for an exit. Somehow I knew I would not find one, as the earthquake had collapsed too many of the tunnels. But I was going to try anyway.

And when I started exploring around, searching the perimeter of the room, I started to hear a strange voice. Small, quiet, mumbling incessantly. My sharper hearing told me it was coming from one of the walls.

I came closer to the wall. I tried to hear what the voice was saying.

"I'm dead," it said. "I'm dead. Dead for the swarm. Dead for the swarm. I'm dead for the sake of the swarm. So the swarm will thrive. I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead. It's okay. I'm dead. It's okay. I'm dead."

Odd, I thought. Those sounded like my own thoughts from before I'd passed out.

I searched around the wall. I tried to find an opening, something that would let me see who was speaking.

I found the opening down under the wall. And there, to my deepest fright, I saw a bug, crushed beneath an impossible weight, squirming, trying feebly to claw his way along, stopping every now and again to rest and convince himself that he accepted his fate.

The bug was a Ninjask. It was me.

I was seeing my body from the outside.

Was this death? To be banished from the body like this? But if it were death, why was the bug clearly still alive?

The Ninjask locked eyes with me. It stopped muttering and only stared for a moment.

Then it said… "What are you? Are you my hallucination?"

I replied, "No. I was about to ask the same question of you. What are you?" I was caught off-guard by the sound of my voice. It sounded wispy.

It replied, "Nincada. My name is Nincada. Of Team Ember. And here I die for my swarm."

Me. It was absolutely me. I was speaking to myself.

I said, "But you are not a Nincada."

"I'm not?" he replied. He tried to look around at his body, but he was still unable to move.

"No," I told him. "You are a Ninjask. You have evolved. I don't know how, but that's what happened."

"Oh. That would explain a lot, actually," he said, twitching his poor little wings in the tight space where they were stuck. "But wait… if I evolved… Does that mean…? The rumors were true?"

I thought, rumors? What rumors?

Then it clicked. I remembered. I considered what this meant, and I still couldn't believe it to be true.

I said… "Am I… Shedinja?"

The Ninjask replied, "I… I think so. You are a brown shell. That's what they all said. So… you're my personal ghost, come to haunt me for the rest of my days… Hahah, or more like, for the rest of my hours, at this rate."

Ghost.

Right, I thought. A ghost. I'm a ghost Pokémon. I tried to look at myself, but my body was surprisingly stiff, and no part of myself would bend, so I could not see any part of my body. I tried to extend my claws, but I no longer had any. I could speak. I could freely float in the air at will. I didn't seem to feel pain, or cold, or hunger anymore.

"No, but I think I'm going to do something else," I said.

I descended into the floor. It was simple. Somehow, as a ghost, I knew how to instinctually phase through objects now. Also, I could somewhat see outside of the object that I was phased into. I saw the Ninjask from beneath. I aligned myself, then floated upward at him, granting him the same intangibility I had the moment that I touched him.

I carried him safely into the empty room.

The Ninjask buzzed his wings. "You saved me?" he said in disbelief. "My own ghost… saved me."

"What else would I do?" I replied. "I'm you. I think saving you was a shared interest."

"You're me?" he replied. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I have all of your memories," I explained. "From my perspective, I was always you. I grew up on Team Spider, I joined Team Ember, and all the rest. That all happened to me. And it also all happened to you."

"Oh… oh, that's too strange," said the Ninjask. "Asunder was right. This is weirder than even he expected."

"Indeed he was right," I sighed, drooping lower in the air. "So… you don't have to explain anything to me, little Nincada. I already know everything there is to know about you, and you already know everything there is to know about me. And yes, I'm calling you that. Because that's what my name always was. Our name, I should say now."

"What does it feel like, to be in that body?" the Ninjask wondered. "That's the only thing I don't know about you. How does it feel? Are you okay in there?"

I stopped to consider it. "I'm a ghost. It almost feels like I don't even have a body anymore. I feel like only a presence. Someone to watch things happen, but unable to interfere. At least, that's the impression I get right now."

"So… would you say that you're like a Watcher, then?" he asked.

I wanted to laugh, but I found that I didn't quite have the vocal facilities needed for it anymore. "Yes. You could say that I feel like a Watcher now," I admitted. "How about you? Is being a Ninjask everything we ever expected?"

"I want to stretch my wings and see how fast I can really fly!" he cried, buzzing up above the ground for a moment. "I'm itching for it! And I want to claw things! I bet I could really rough up some baddies right now! But I suppose that will have to wait. Wow, I really thought I was dead this time. We're really going to escape, aren't we? I guess I was wrong once again. It wasn't time for me to die, was it?"

I considered it for a moment. "No, you didn't die. But I think that I did," I said. "Seeing that I'm now a ghost. So maybe you could say that the earthquake both killed you, and didn't kill you, at the same time. I know that's not quite true, since this separation was only caused by evolving. But it's still an interesting way of looking at things. So perhaps, you can say that you've finally fulfilled your resolution to sacrifice yourself for your team, only unlike other bugs who make that sacrifice, you now get to keep on living, and don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Heh. Heheh," he said (which sounded more like "Buzz-buzz" but I got the message either way). "Well, you're right about one thing, at least: Nincada is dead. Nincada did what he always needed to do, and sacrificed himself for the swarm. And now we're here in his place."

"I suppose we are," I said. "I hope you realize that now we have to come up with names for ourselves, too."

"Aww, do we really have to?" He whined. "I'm not good at picking a name."

"Neither am I. But yes, I think we do," I said. "It's time. It's to remind us that we've grown past being Nincada. And now we're no longer just someone's swarm-mate. We have an identity and we're not ashamed of it anymore."

"Well, an identity is stretching it, don't you think?" he retorted. "But alright. I'll think about it. Just as long as you promise that you'll help me come up with a good name, too."

"Likewise," I said. "Now let's go show Asunder what happened to his buggy-buddy. I can't wait to see his reaction, can you?"

I let him climb onto my back just like before. "Whoa, are you actually hollow inside?" he said.

"Remember, don't look into the shell," I said. "They say you get cursed if you do that. Like I'll steal your soul, or something."

"You already stole a copy of my soul, apparently; I don't think you'll be able to do it again," he teased. "Yeah, I'm staring in here, and I'm not feeling anything. Probably a myth."

"Or maybe your original host is immune to the effect," I suggested.

"Hey, I was about right about to say that. You stole my words from me," he protested.

"Yes, it's almost as though we think alike, or something," I teased.

Once he clung to me nice and tightly, I carried him up, up, up, through the ground, and into the free world beyond.

It was getting dark outside. The Watchers were coming soon – the real ones. But I was relieved to see the sunlight again, as strange as that sounds. As a Nincada, I always hated the sun and loved the dark. Now the sun meant something else to me. It was freedom from what I once was. Freedom from the past, from being just a bug. And that's not even to mention: I could see the sunset, too. My eyesight was finally good enough. As soon as I saw it, I knew the whole world was going to be new and exciting to me. For both of me.

Once up and above the surface, I let the Ninjask go free to stretch his wings, and lazily followed behind him.

We found Asunder pacing around near the entrance of the Gemporium where we first went in. He waited for us while Zachel ran for help. Oh, Asunder – a true buddy. A true friend and teammate. He never abandoned us. He told me later that Zachel wanted him to run for help, since he was faster, but he refused. He felt so bad about abandoning me that he wanted to stay here with us.

I realized with some sadness that I was never going to need a ride on his back ever again. But that didn't quite matter at the time; I was only happy to see him.

Now, to my surprise, when we reunited with Asunder, the first words he barked at us were not any of the things I expected. Not "Who are you?!" or "Oh gosh you're alive!"

No, his first beaming words out of his happy puppy mouth were, "OH! IT WORKED!"

"What worked?" I said simultaneously with the Ninjask.

"The crazy idea I had to save you!" Asunder said happily. "Zachel always brought your feral-shard on these missions, just in case something happened like what happened to Otto, and we needed to revive you! Especially since we can't rely on reviver seeds in this place. And I remembered you once told me that you might split off into a ghost Pokémon when you evolve. So at the very last minute, I told Zachel to grab the feral-shard out of the bag and slide it under the wall to you. And that was it; that was all we could do. Just escape… and hope it worked. I'm so glad it did, buddy! Buddies? What's going on with you guys, anyway?"

"We're clones," I tried explaining. "We both have the same memories, all the way until the moment of evolution. So we're both very much your buddy, Asunder."

"Oh wow, I don't mind having two buddies now! That's great!" he laughed, prancing around us. "Hey! And guess what! You can help keep exploring the Gemporium after all! Well, you can't, Ninjask, but Shedinja can! And I bet you'll even be better at it than you were before!"

"You're right," said the Ninjask with a laugh-buzzing. "That did come true after all, didn't it? I was always worried I'd have to give up exploring the Gemporium and let the team down. But in a weird way, I never had to at all. And we'll need you more than ever before, especially since…"

He glanced at the cave entrance, which was a solid wall of stone. It had collapsed entirely.

"Kerzek and you might be the only ones who can really enter now," he said. "But I don't see why we can't try digging out the rock and opening the place up again someday. And thank you, Asunder. You were very courageous, wanting to stay back and save me. Us. Thank you for saving us."

"Well, it's like I said! Of course you were worth saving, buddy! You're my teammate! You're not replaceable! There's only one of you!" He bit his tongue. "Except no, there's two of you now… Oh yeah, this might get confusing. But there's still only one of you, if you get what I'm saying! One of each of you…"

Indeed. Only one of each of us. I was never supposed to have a sense of identity. It always felt wrong. Now I had two identities. Which also felt… very strange, but it was something I could easily come to terms with. But it certainly didn't feel wrong.


Interestingly, I was able to re-enter the base with no problem at all. The portal let me in, since I was technically still just Nincada, but evolved. Likewise with Ninjask – just an evolved form of the same Nincada. And the Team Cog ghosts and the security teams all let me in, too, with no problem.

So, that was going to be an interesting conversation, telling Char that Team Ember now had twenty members instead of nineteen, even though he hadn't agreed to hire anyone new. Or twenty-one if you counted Hunter, as apparently the records showed him as a temporary member of our team. Even still, there was lots more paperwork to do all because of me… Poor Tallie!

Well, about being a new member: later, Ninjask and I were settled down into what was once my room. And he asked me a question I knew was coming.

"So… what now?" he said awkwardly, buzzing his wings. "You know… nobody ever asked you if you really wanted to stay on this team, so I'll just ask you now. Do you want to? You don't have to stay on Team Ember anymore, if you don't want. You can go be your own Pokémon, do whatever you want. I'm going to stay, but you're not me anymore. I figured I'd ask."

"Spoken like a father to his child," I teased. "Hey. Aren't I supposed to haunt you for the rest of your days? That wouldn't be very responsible ghostlike behavior of me, to just abandon you like that."

"That was a myth," he said. "I get now that Shedinja isn't a myth. But the haunting thing definitely was."

I floated up into the air above him. "Then let me say this, at least," I began. "There isn't much I can do for myself anymore. I can't eat, I can't breathe, I can't hold things. My body is incapable of movement. I can only speak, float, phase through walls, and probably battle, if I ever wanted to try that. But… it's like you said. I'm a Watcher now. That's my only ability in this body – to watch things. So… I think if I'm going to watch something for the rest of my existence, it might as well be you. And I think instead of haunting you, I'll just haunt everyone who messes with you. How's that sound?"

Ninjask buzzed with enthusiasm. "Watcher. That can be your name. How's that sound?"

I copied his bouncy movement the best I could. "I like it," I said. "I guess I have to figure out a name for you, then. Let me think. Hmm. How about Scythe?"

"Huh? What?" was his predictable response. "Why?"

"Because that's who I always wanted to be like. The bug who stood on his own, and nobody else ever cared he was a bug! And there's no rule against two Pokémon having the same name, is there? They're not even on the same team. Or even better… how about we make it like Team Spider. You can be Scythe #2."

"No… just… no, that's awful," he said, faking a claw-slash at me. "Forget the logistics, nobody would ever like that name at all. That's in such bad taste."

"Well, fine. How about we go with my original idea?" I said. "And I think you already know what it is. I sure do. Thought about it a lot, once upon a time."

"Yeah… I do know what it is," he said whimsically. "Alright, that's a good enough name for me, I think. I'll accept that. It means something. And it reminds me that I mean something."

So now, not just Asunder, but everyone on Team Ember calls him Buddy. Because that's his new name.

And well, I'm just a little jealous. That's the name I always wanted. But what can you do?


Later that day, I learned a real interesting trick with my new body. I can become invisible for short periods. Apparently most ghosts can do this, some longer than others. But as soon as I learned how to consistently vanish and reappear, I knew what I had to do.

That was my pact with Buddy. I would haunt anyone who ever messed with him. Including those who messed with me before I evolved.

That night, I floated up to Team Spider, slipped past their guards, and I spooked the poor little buggy life out of all the Nincada. All of them, #1 through #19.

But it wasn't really the Nincada I was haunting that night. No, I was there to haunt the swarm leaders, by telling their swarmmates the truth.

"It's real," I told them, with all their cute little petrified eyes and shivering wings. "Shedinja… is real."

"Okay, okay, okay!" said a young one, crawling back from me. "I-I-I-I-I'll never evolve! I promise!"

I floated up to that poor little guy, and I spoke loudly enough that everyone in the room heard me.

"No. Don't do that. Don't promise me that. Promise me the opposite," I ordered. "Promise me that you will evolve one day. All of you."

"W-why?" said the poor thing, shivering so bad. "So that the ghosts can haunt us forever?"

"The ghosts don't haunt you, though," I said. "The ghosts just want to become your friends. Team Spider doesn't want you to evolve – because once you do, and you meet your Shedinja, you won't want to be part of the swarm anymore. You'll learn that you can be yourself, have your own identity – and never need to be alone."

"R-really? Is that true?" said another Nincada. "The Shedinja are friendly?"

"Oh yes, they are. As long as you want to make friends with them," I said. "And once you realize just how friendly they can be… you'll be beside yourself with joy."

...

Special thanks to Buddy for letting me dictate the story to him so he could write it down. It really is nice to have someone you can rely on…

And special thanks to you, Watcher, for always having my back.


Author's note:

Alright! How about a news update?

So, as you may or may not have heard, 2023 is supposed to be the final year of Silver Resistance. I have planned the story to end at chapter 120, and the plan is to have it done within the next year. Enjoy these last breather chapters while they last. As soon as this Growth arc is over, the rest of the story is going to be one big blur of plot progression all the way to the end. Get ready! It's going to be the end of an era, and it's going out with a bang.

Since FFnet has recently switched story notifications to opt-in, I'd recommend you join my Discord server (found on my profile) for more consistent notifications about story news and updates.

As the sun sets on SR, I will be shifting to writing original fiction. Yeah, it's about time, right? I've actually already written two complete books about talking dragons (think Wings of Fire, but a little darker and more mature) which might see the light of day soon. I hope to publish one or two original e-books in the coming years, and I'll be posting updates about that in my server as well.

And finally, there's rumors that there's a video adaptation of season 1 of SR in the works. Possibly more news on that in the new year.

See you next time for Zona's chapter!