The first problem, Salamence supposed, was that Rayquaza was a usurper.
He respected the dissent against this. Rayquaza did, in fact, forcibly take the throne for himself, and Zygarde was the true king. All of this was unarguable.
But he didn't understand not supporting a king that has given you so much.
Salamence lay in silence, his eyes resting on Garchomp. Garchomp was a known Zygarde supporter. Although he fully disagreed with this, he wouldn't dare say it. Not now.
Not while they were so close to their goal.
They were just outside the capital of the Fairy Kingdom. Rayquaza had assigned the four of them to infiltrate the Kingdom and find out whatever they could. Possibly sabotage whatever they could as well.
This mission was detrimental to the Dragon Kingdom's survival. Ever since the Fairy Kingdom was founded, the Dragon Kingdom has been clinging desperately to the territories it still controlled. The fairies took a big chunk of it, and now they were completely surrounded by the enemy, the Fairy Kingdom occupying the entire western border and their old rivals, the Ice Tribe, to the east. And the Kingdom's own inner turmoil didn't help, either. Soon, they would be destroyed.
Unless, of course, the four of them managed to succeed in this mission.
Salamence rolled onto his back. He couldn't sleep. Their resting spot was obscured by several trees, but he couldn't get the thought out of his head that they would be caught.
He turned on his other side and faced Altaria, who was already asleep.
Poor Altaria. When traveling from the Flying Nation to the Dragon Kingdom after the Disaster, she had somehow lost her son, Swablu, in the Normal Nation. Salamence wasn't exactly sure what happened. She didn't like to talk about it. Her regret for losing her son shows sometimes, but she has remained strong. Maybe that's why she was chosen for this mission.
Loud snoring interrupted his train of thought. He looked up, irritated, to find that Charizard had already fallen asleep. Charizard was from the military sector known as the Fire Zone, but he helped the Dragon Kingdom a lot. He seemed to be very fond of King Rayquaza and had a sense of adventure. He was also imperative to the mission due to the fact that he had knowledge in the magic of Fire, as did everyone else in the Fire Zone, and the fairies hadn't figured out a good defense against it yet. He was perhaps the most important aspect of the mission.
And he snored like a chainsaw. Salamence sighed.
He closed his eyes and covered his ears with his claws. He was exhausted, and in almost no time he had fallen asleep.
When he woke again it was still dark. He blinked several times, and once his eyes were able to focus, he saw the figure of Garchomp standing over him.
"…Wha…?" he asked, in a confused daze.
"Salamence!" whispered Garchomp. "Wake up! Someone's coming!"
This startled him. Salamence leapt to his feet. "Who?!" he asked, his eyes darting left and right. "Someone wake Charizard!"
"Already up," Charizard confirmed, landing behind him with a thump. "It's this… small, purple, furry Pokémon. He's coming this way. We need to hurry."
"Does he know we're here?" asked Salamence.
"No idea," said Charizard. "Now come on. I'll watch your backs."
"Altaria!" Salamence called, attempting to shake her awake. Altaria lifted her head.
"Hmm?"
"We need to move! Someone's coming!"
She leapt up in surprise. "What? Now?!" she asked. Salamence nodded and began to run, along with Garchomp and Charizard. Altaria sprang forward and caught up with them, Charizard moving to the back in case it turned into a fight.
"Is he chasing us?!" Garchomp asked Charizard.
"What? How am I supposed to know?!" Charizard responded.
"You're not keeping an eye on him?!"
"No! I'm too busy running!"
"Well stop for a second and check!"
"All right, all right, fine!" Charizard spread his wings and drifted into the air. He came back seconds later.
"Oh yeah, he's definitely chasing us," said Charizard.
"What?!" Garchomp shouted. "Is he calling for backup?!"
"Doesn't look like it," said Charizard. "Seems like he's just another Fairy citizen. You want me to beat 'em up for you?"
"No," stressed Garchomp. "We decided, we only fight as a last resort! They'll find us for sure if we fight him!"
Charizard huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine," he said, and added, "You're no fun."
They continued running until Charizard reported that they had lost him. They stopped in a clearing and caught their breath.
"Okay, okay," breathed Charizard. "We're totally fine. Nothing to-"
A bush rustled and they all turned around to meet their pursuer.
"Who are you?!" the Pokémon demanded, still shrouded in shadow, examining them.
Garchomp stepped in front. "What's your name?" he asked.
"My name is Granbull." The Pokémon stepped into the light, revealing what was indeed a purple-furred bipedal creature, with fangs that could easily rip any of them in half.
The Pokémon suspiciously eyed Garchomp. "Are you… dragons?"
"N…no!" answered Altaria suddenly. They all turned to look at her. "M-my name is Altaria, of the Normal Nation."
She stepped forward with sudden confidence. "We are refugees of the Flying Nation. As you know, there was a mass migration away from the area." She motioned towards Charizard. "This is Charizard," she said. "Of the Fire Zone…"
Granbull suddenly leapt backwards. "You mean THE Charizard, the famed dragon sympathizer?!"
"It's not like that!" Charizard shouted. "You see… I'm, uh, with her. I'm not with the dragons today."
"Exactly!" Altaria shouted. "We're a… uh… refugee support group!"
"…Really?" asked Granbull doubtfully. "Then what about these two…?"
"That's, um…" She went through a list of her refugee friends in her head. "…Braviary and Staraptor!" She knew the darkness would cover them up, and hoped they would at least look remotely like flying types.
"What are you doing in the middle of the woods at night? And why did you run when I found you?"
Altaria's heart picked up pace. "Um…"
"We were so ashamed!" Salamence suddenly shouted. He shoved Altaria aside. "Oh, there's not a good place for a Flying refugee to go! We couldn't meet back in the Flying Nation, and no other land would accept us… we found this thick forest! It's the only place we could meet! Oh, the embarrassment! Oh, the shame!" He then pretended to collapse on the ground.
Granbull continued to look warily at them. "Okay…" he decided, backing up. "Fine. Well… you guys have fun then." He darted off into the trees.
"All right, we have about ten minutes before he contacts some kind of guard to report us," said Altaria. "That should buy us enough time to get out of sight. Let's go."
They hurried ahead. "Altaria!" Charizard exclaimed. "That was incredible! I didn't know you could think on your feet like that!"
"What about me?" asked Salamence. "I think I was pretty good, too."
"Both of you shut up," snapped Garchomp. "Now they know we're here. What are we going to do?"
"Did we have a plan before?" asked Salamence. "We've been sneaking our way towards the capital, but did we have a plan after that?!"
"…I guess not," admitted Garchomp, after thinking a moment. "But it will be significantly more difficult to sneak in now that they know to look for us."
"There!" Charizard shouted suddenly. "Up there!" He pointed wildly at the sky.
Salamence looked up. "You mean that… tower?" he asked. His eyes widened. "Oh! That must be the castle!"
"Xerneas is in there!" Altaria exclaimed. "This is perfect! How do we get in?"
"I wonder if you can sneak around it, Altaria," suggested Garchomp. "You can probably pass as a Fairy, at least more so than any of the rest of us. Try blending in and observing things. Come back and tell us if you see anything."
Altaria considered it a moment. "Okay," she said. "As soon as we find a safe place to hide."
Soon they had reached the edge of the forest. The sun was beginning to rise.
"Let's hide in those trees," suggested Charizard. "They're really thick and I doubt anyone will see us."
Salamence and Garchomp agreed and hopped into the trees. Altaria faced the castle and sighed.
"Okay, I'll go," said Altaria. She hesitated a moment. "Wish me luck," she said.
"It's okay, Altaria," assured Garchomp. "You're not going to get caught. You're a pretty good liar. You don't need to worry."
"Alright. Okay." She took a deep breath. "See you guys later." She walked off.
"Hey, guys," said Salamence after a few moments.
"What is it?" asked Garchomp.
"I was wondering… what exactly was Granbull doing?"
"What do you mean?
"I mean… what was he doing out in the forest in the middle of the night?"
"Aaah who cares?" moaned Charizard. "We lost him now! And I'm freakin' tired!"
Salamence sighed. "I guess you're right," he said. Might as well get some well-needed sleep.
…
Altaria scoured the base of the castle. She looked for entrances, but for some reason there didn't seem to be any. Xerneas must have very good security.
She eventually found a door on the side flanked by guards. It seemed to be an entrance specifically for guards to enter and exit from, as those were the only people she saw coming in and out. All Altaria and the others would have to do is pass as a guard somehow and get in.
They could go for the old "beat up a guard and steal his uniform", but they would have to rely purely on Charizard for this. And anyway, these were trained knights, it's not like they'd be easy to knock unconscious.
Maybe Altaria could sneak her way in by passing as a fairy, as Garchomp said. Maybe she can appear to be lost or something.
She approached a guard, trying to hide her shaking.
"Uh, um… excuse me, miss, but is this the g-guard entrance?" she asked.
The guard turned around. She had a grey face and bright orange eyes, and several purple feathers poked out of her helmet. When she turned, an intense, overpowering flowery scent hit Altaria.
"It is," said the Pokémon. "Why're you asking?"
"O-oh." The smell coming from the guard was extremely distracting. She tried to concentrate. "I need to s-speak with the head guard, please," she said, managing a smile.
The Pokémon smiled back. "No need to be so nervous. What's your name?"
Altaria thought a moment. "…Graneas," she answered.
"Aromatisse," the Pokémon replied, patting Altaria on the shoulder. "Let's get you some help."
She lead Altaria through the castle. Altaria scoured the room for possible entrances. Maybe a trap door or something, or maybe they could create some kind of diversion.
Everything was pink. The carpets, the frames for paintings, everything except for the stone walls. Pink flowers sat in pink vases, the smell contrasting that of Aromatisse, and pink statues and busts lined the sides of the room.
She tried not to get too distracted. She had time to look for an entrance later, first thing first she needed a good cover. What was the fake name she had thought of? Graneas? She had to remember. Graneas. Graneas. She was… a simple townsperson. She had a son, Bluneas, and… she was visiting the head guard because… because…
"Hello," a soft yet deep woman's voice addressed her. Altaria looked up. She hadn't realized that Aromatisse had already led her to the head guard.
Before her stood a Pokémon with pure white skin and large leaves coming up from her feet. Her head was surrounded by red flowers, and the room was filled with even more flowers of varying colors. A sword rested at her side.
"This is Graneas," said Aromatisse. "She asked to see you, ma'am."
"What do you need?" asked the Pokémon.
"Uhh… there's a Pokémon acting very suspicious!" she said. "He's purple, and has big fangs… and he was wandering around at night… it was a little suspicious, I mean, you know."
The Pokémon raised an eyebrow. "Why did you feel the need to tell me, as opposed to any of my other guards?"
Crap. "Uh… I-I don't know if they can take him! He seemed very powerful! With big huge fangs…"
"You already said that part." The Pokémon nodded towards Aromatisse. "See if you can find him at… where exactly?"
"Th-the forest… I mean, uh, not the forest. Don't look there. You know… because he knows you'll be looking for him there. I, uh, I told him I'd get the head guard to fight him. So he, uh, he fled. Don't look there."
The head Pokémon chuckled. "Don't be so nervous, Graneas," she said. "I know it can be scary, migrating out of your home and starting a new kingdom, and we're all a little nervous. But I'm sure it's nothing. We're all trying to figure out how Xerneas's new system works. It's okay. Aromatisse, keep an eye out for him. Search around the forest."
Aromatisse walked off and Altaria knew there was nothing she could do to stop her. She thanked the head guard and walked off. What should she do? Should she go back to the forest and warn them that someone was coming? She probably wouldn't be able to come back into the castle if she left. She had to take the opportunity while she had it. The Dragon Kingdom's survival depended on it.
She prayed that the others would be able to forgive her and swore she would help them escape if they were arrested. And then she dipped into another hallway.
…
Salamence was annoyed to be woken up yet again by Garchomp, but after forcing himself awake he realized there was something really wrong.
Charizard was facing off against a sweet-smelling Pokémon in guard's armor. Garchomp had pulled Salamence out of his tree and dragged him a few feet before waking him up.
"We need to go now," Garchomp whispered.
He heard Charizard yelling. "Hey, I'm not always working for the Dragon Kingdom! We're not doing anything, ma'am. Those two over there are from the Flying Nation!"
"Look, Charizard, I've gotten a couple conflicting reports. Someone reported dragon activity in this area, while someone else insisted that the first Pokémon was not to be trusted. If there really isn't a problem, you wouldn't mind being taken to my higher-up Florges to get this all sorted out."
"Like I would trust you!" Charizard shouted back. "I'm an enemy to this kingdom! You'd arrest me at the first chance!"
"Which makes it all the more suspicious that you're here," said the guard gruffly. "Come with me. That's a legally-binding order."
Suddenly Charizard blasted a large flurry of fire at the Pokémon and she yelped. "Let's go!" Garchomp shouted, grabbing Salamence by the arm, but then a white ball of light knocked him over. Salamence, too startled to run, paused for a second, which was just enough time for Aromatisse to fire another moon blast at him.
"Garchomp! Salamence!" Charizard shouted after them, and was then hit by yet a third moon blast. He took it mostly unharmed. He blasted fire at her again, but this time she blocked it with a force field. Another moon blast was able to take Charizard down, and he fainted.
…
Altaria wandered the halls of the castle, although they were large and confusing. She found herself in the kitchen about two or three times now, but fortunately no one questioned her. She kept thinking about Salamence, Garchomp, and Charizard, and how she left them behind. It reminded her of Swablu. She wondered if he was doing okay, if the family he was left with had been good to him, and if he missed her. Not a day went by that she wasn't guilty about leaving him behind, but she knew it was necessary. One day she'd be able to get him back and bring him into the Dragon Kingdom, but for now he had to stay within the Normal Nation, at least until she could give him a good life in the Dragon Kingdom.
Deep in thought, she accidentally bumped into someone. The Pokémon was fluffy and pink, with long ears with black tips. "Who are you?" they questioned in an unexpectedly deep voice.
"I-I'm just looking f-for the court room!" Altaria stuttered. "I'm h-here to perform… for the king?"
"Up the hall to the left, then take the second right from there," said the Pokémon. Altaria thanked them and quickly sped up the hall and took a left.
She couldn't just burst in and fight Xerneas, that would be madness. So what was her plan from here?
As she was asking herself that, she noticed a locked door with a chain over it. She heard faint humming behind the door. It sounded like some kind of machine, or possibly some sort of magic. Figuring there must be something important behind that door, she tried to figure out how to unlock it. She had no idea how to lock pick, however, and there was no way she could break it. Even if she could, she would probably get caught doing so.
Suddenly a short, almost cotton-candy-looking Pokémon sped past her and into Xerneas's room.
"Sir! We have a problem. We think that we've captured three dragon spies trying to infiltrate your kingdom."
"What?!"she heard Xerneas shout in a strange and ethereal voice. "Where did you find them?"
"They were in the forest nearby," said the Pokémon. "They may not be spies, we haven't found out for certain. Our only source is apparently disreputable, so we're not entirely-"
"Find out what they're here for. If they truly are spies, send them back to their kingdom and put them on a watch list."
"Alright." The Pokémon hesitated. "Are we not going to throw them in the dungeons? We surely cannot go without punishing-"
"I founded this kingdom with the intention of peace,"said Xerneas. "They will be punished with a second attempt. But otherwise, no. I refuse to be a king that punishes all who offend him."
"Y-yes sir," said the Pokémon, who then scampered out of the room.
Altaria's heart was racing. Fortunately, nothing bad was going to happen to the trio. That was very, very lucky.
Xerneas seemed to be… unusually kind. Why had he led such violent campaigns against the Dragon Kingdom? His decisions here seemed so… unlike him.
Altaria rushed to the same direction of the Pokémon messenger and was fortunately able to keep him in sight. She followed close behind him. He eventually went behind a door, supposedly into the dungeons. Altaria smelled the sweet scent of Aromatisse when the door opened. It slammed shut behind him, and she quickly pressed her ear against the door to try and listen to the conversation.
"Xerneas says you should release them back to the Dragon Kingdom if you find them guilty," said the first Pokémon.
Aromatisse chuckled. "That sounds like him," she said. "This one did quite a number on me, I had to heal afterwards. He's strong. But I guess Xerneas is right, we've sent a message to them. Thanks, Swirlix, you can go."
Altaria quickly moved away from the door and hid in the shadows in a corner. The door swung open and Swirlix hurried out. It closed again.
Altaria went back to the door and heard Garchomp waking up. "Finally," said Aromatisse. "That took quite a bit."
"Where are we?!" demanded Garchomp. "What are you fairies going to do to us?!"
"Relax. We need to do some questioning first. The less resistance you offer the better."
Altaria heard Salamence groan. "What happened?" he asked. "Where are we?"
"According to a source, you three may be spies for the Dragon Kingdom. However, according to another source, that first source is lying. We're going to sort everything out."
She heard the clank of chains. Charizard started talking. "What the… hey! Why am I chained to the wall while the others are tied up with rope?!"
"You attacked me! The others didn't!"
"…Alright, I guess that's pretty fair."
Aromatisse paced the room a few times. "My first source should be here any minute to sort this out."
Just then Altaria heard footsteps behind her. Granbull walked into the room. "Hey!" he shouted. "You're one of the spies!"
The door swung open. "Graneas?" Aromatisse shouted in surprise. "We've been looking for you. We need to ask you a few questions."
"She's one of the spies!" Granbull shouted. "She was with the others!"
"What? No!" Altaria yelled back. "He's lying! I-I don't know what he's talking about! I haven't even talked to him before! Aromatisse, this is the guy I was talking about! With the fangs!"
"Come in here before I arrest you both," demanded Aromatisse. "Now, Graneas told me that she saw you acting suspicious by the forest last night. Is this true?"
"No!" shouted Granbull, shutting the door behind him. "I never went to the forest last night!"
"Then how did you know these three were in the forest?"
Granbull began to sweat. "I… I was just outside the forest. I saw them enter it, and I confronted them. B-but they escaped!"
Aromatisse narrowed her eyes. "What did you see, Graneas?"
"I saw him… acting suspiciously! I heard him by my house, my son Bluneas and I were trying to sleep, and he walked by… it woke us up. I didn't know why he was walking around so late at night, so I followed him… he was looking around suspiciously and caught me following him. He started threatening me, and I told him I was going to contact the head guard of the kingdom and have him arrested, and then he ran… the nerve to threaten a young mother such as myself! And now he's trying to spin it like I'm some sort of spy… I'm horrified that he would do something like that!"
Aromatisse nodded. She turned to Garchomp, Salamence and Charizard. "What's you three's side of the story?"
Altaria looked at them, and then hit her forehead with her wing. "Oh gosh, was the meeting last night?" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry. These three are the members of my refugee support group. We fled the Flying Nation after, you know, the Disaster, and we've been meeting up in the forest at night. As you know, Charizard has flying ancestry, and he was against meeting in the Fairy Kingdom forest, as he was afraid this exact situation would happen… I'm so sorry, miss, but I'm friends with these three. They're innocent."
"Is this true?" she asked. They all nodded. "That's what I was trying to tell you!" Charizard shouted.
"Alright. Let's get this straight. One of two things happened: Either Granbull was taking a completely innocent stroll through the woods very late at night and happened upon you four planning and scheming, or Granbull was doing something suspicious and illegal and ran into you four trying to catch him."
"The second one!" Charizard yelled unhelpfully.
"Granbull, you're aware you already have one strike on your record for fighting in secret Pokémon battle rings, right?"
Granbull grumbled. "Fine! Okay? I was fighting again! But I really did catch these four scheming while on my way there! Just look at them! They look like dragons, don't they?!"
"Granbull, you know that's not acceptable," said Aromatisse. "Fighting for money can result in serious injury and even death. You're under arrest for your offense."
"Why would I lie about them being spies now?!" Granbull insisted. "I have nothing to lose! I swear I'm telling the truth!"
"You obviously want to take them down with you," explained Aromatisse. "Look, I've met Graneas. She's a sweet, shy housewife, not a spy. She doesn't look remotely like a dragon, anyway. Charizard does, and he's not even from the Dragon Kingdom. When it comes down to it, their word is much more trustworthy than yours."
"But- but-… that's not fair! You can't do this!"
Aromatisse grabbed his hands and tied them as he thrashed around. She untied Salamence and Garchomp and unlocked Charizard's chains. "You're free to go," she said, and showed them out the door.
When they exited, Charizard coughed. "I think I would have vomited if I had to spend another minute in that room with that sickeningly sweet smell. Bleh."
"Thanks for that," said Garchomp. "I think we owe you something."
"You're welcome," she responded, blushing. She took a deep breath. "Okay, let's get to business. I found a suspicious room near Xerneas's chamber. We need to find out what's up with that. The problem is, there's a big chain over the door, so I don't know how to get in."
"Leave that to me," said Charizard. "I can probably melt the lock."
"Show us the way," said Garchomp. The trio followed her up the stairs and towards the king's chamber.
After a few minutes, Altaria turned her head. "Hey…" she asked, "Do you guys think what we did was wrong?"
"What do you mean?" asked Salamence.
"Well… I heard Xerneas talking, and he said if you were found guilty he would have just released you to the Dragon Kingdom. You wouldn't have gotten any punishment, you would just be put on a list. Instead we had that guy arrested."
"Wait, really? We wouldn't have gotten punished?" asked Salamence in surprise.
Charizard scoffed. "I don't believe that for a second."
"Hey," said Garchomp. "It's okay. Now we can come back and do this again in the future. It's a win for the Kingdom. And Granbull was a criminal. There's nothing wrong with outing him."
"I guess you're right…" said Altaria. She turned her head back. "Anyway, the door is just up the hall. But be careful. Xerneas is near."
"Don't worry, I got this." Charizard stretched his arms. He grabbed a bit of the chain and heated it up with his hands.
"Hurry," whispered Altaria. "I think we're within earshot of Xerneas."
"Hey, I said I got this." Despite his statement, Charizard looked unsure. He used his tail's flame against the chain, and then began breathing small puffs of smoke at it.
"It's starting to bend!" Charizard whispered gleefully. Suddenly, the link gave and the lock clanked to the floor.
"Quickly!" Garchomp whispered, pushing the other three through the door. He closed it behind them and prayed that they hadn't been heard.
Behind the door was a staircase that lead far down. There was an apparent humming sound, and a faint glow emanated from the bottom of the stairs.
They walked down carefully, trying to make as little sound as possible. Garchomp stayed in back, wary of whatever dangers lay ahead.
At the bottom of the stairs was a large room full of large containers the size of dumpsters lining the sides and tables containing different tools like beakers and microscopes. On every table and filling every container was the same thing: small, perfectly round, white stones. The soft glow seemed to be emanating from the stones.
"What… are these?" Salamence asked, craning his head around the room. He slowly approached a table.
"Salamence, NO!" Garchomp yelled, but Salamence picked one up anyway.
Salamence then began to wince, and the hand he was holding the stone in began shaking violently. They could all hear a low rumbling.
The stone began to glow brilliantly with rainbow lights. It turned a light grey color, and a blue and red streak appeared in the middle. Salamence yelled as the light engulfed him and wisps of rainbow fire started to emirate from his body.
The light and fire then burst outward. The other three shielded their eyes. When they looked back up, Salamence had drastically changed.
His wings had become a crescent-moon shape, and the spikes around his head had grown. His jaw had turned red and his forelegs had shrunk, fitting inside what used to be his underbelly, but was now a vest-like armor that encircled his body.
The others stared in shock and awe. "Salamence…" said Garchomp.
"What…" Salamence started. "What the heck are these things?!"
"I don't know…" said Garchomp, making his way past Altaria and Charizard, who were still stunned silent.
Garchomp reached his claw towards one, and hesitated. "Try it," urged Salamence, still a bit stunned.
He gripped it in his claw. For a second, nothing happened. It felt like any old rock, round and smooth, nothing special.
And then he felt the surge of power. It shot up his arm and was a bit overwhelming when it first hit him. He could feel waves of electricity flowing from the stone and directly through his body, but it somehow wasn't painful.
As the stone began to glow brighter and brighter, he saw fire streak up his arm. He felt it, too- but it didn't burn. It didn't really feel like fire. Instead, it felt like some kind of concentration of adrenaline, and rage, and power.
Once it reached his eyes he couldn't see, but he could feel himself physically changing. He felt stronger, and more capable, and powerful.
When the light faded, he saw that his wing-like-fins had become blades and his claw was gone, which cause him to drop the stone. He had spikes lining his underbelly, as well as additional large red spikes jutting from his knees. His jaw and shoulders had become more defined and sharper.
The door at the top of the stairs creaked open. Someone rushed down the stairs. Altaria yelped and jumped out of the doorway, as did Charizard.
The intruder was none other than Xerneas himself. The four of them paused in shock.
Xerneas's face gave no indication as to what he was thinking. His eyes darted from Salamence to Garchomp to Charizard to Altaria.
"The stones…" he said, sounding as if he was at a loss for words. "How did you get them to work…?"
Other footsteps were heard behind them, and Garchomp realized they were cornered. There was no way they could fight the king of the fairies and his guards…
"Quickly! Grab as many as you can!" Garchomp shouted, grabbing his own stone in his mouth. He began slashing at the wall. Salamence quickly caught on and helped him blast a hole. Garchomp leapt onto his back and the two of them flew off.
Altaria quickly grabbed a stone, just as the guards went in for the attack. Fire blew every direction and the fairies stepped back and shielded their eyes. When the light dimmed, Altaria's tail had grown and the ribbons on her head had shrunk, being replaced by puffs of clouds. She had fully defined wings and her chest was showing, while the fluff usually covering her body had moved to her back and grown double in size.
She grabbed a second stone and darted out with the others.
Charizard blew a blast of fire to distract the guards and grabbed a stone in each hand and raced out the exit.
The stones didn't seem to affect him. There were no lights or fire, and he remained unchanged. He looked back and saw guards gathering at the exit hole.
Altaria and Salamence zipped through the sky with little difficulty. Charizard lagged behind them, hoping the guards wouldn't get them. He looked down at the stones in his hand.
"C'mon," he said. "Why aren't you working?"
He looked back again and saw that he was out of range of the guards. He sighed in relief. He turned his head back and realized that he had lost the other three. Fortunately he knew the way back to the castle on his own.
Upon arrival, he found the other three already in a conversation with King Rayquaza.
Altaria was handing her unactivated stone to Rayquaza. The king looked at it quizzically.
"The fairies were making these?" Rayquaza asked.
"Yes," confirmed Garchomp. "They seem to hold a lot of power. They also seem to latch onto anyone they touch."
Rayquaza recoiled his hand. "Anyone? What happens when they latch on?"
Charizard stumbled into the room. "Sorry, you guys were a little fast for me…" he said.
"Charizard!" said Altaria in surprise. "The stone didn't work on you?"
"Guess not," said Charizard. "Xerneas said something about them not working, though, so I guess they don't work for everyone…"
Rayquaza grabbed the stone, flinched, and saw that nothing happened. "Thank you for this," he said. "This gives us some insight into what they're up to."
"Great. We get payed, right?" asked Garchomp through gritted teeth.
"Of course," said Rayquaza. He then paused. "Actually, Garchomp, I was wondering if you could stay with me for a little bit. I want to study the effects of these stones."
Garchomp sighed. "Yes, my king," he said begrudgingly.
"Same with you, Charizard," said Rayquaza. "I want to know how these things work."
"Sure," said Charizard. "You gonna try to activate one with me?"
"Definitely," said Rayquaza. "I hope to activate one for myself, as well." He turned. "Salamence and Altaria? You two are dismissed. You will find your payments at the door. I hope to make some developments with… what should we call these?"
They all thought a moment. Then Salamence spoke up.
"Mega stones," he said.