Chapter 1: Black Aether

Even days after the violent skirmish, Evelyne's wounds still ached beyond repair. The large cut still resided in her arm, the hardened blood covering the gash of unhealable flesh. The ridge was dead quiet, the voices of distant sections have gone silent, the lake was as still as ever. The slight stinging feeling she had become familiar with, the sign of healing was as strong as ever, but the cuts and bruises persisted. Her actions proved her purpose in this world, it clearly confirmed loud and clear by the constant feelings of being watched, and the little inaudible whispers in her mind.

Eve was resting against a tree with her eyes clenched shut, hoping rest would allow her body to heal in peace without strain. She didn't dare open her eyes, as the constant fears and anxiety wouldn't let her. She rested her head against the hard bark ignoring the discomfort, waiting as she had been doing for days without end. The stinging continued to persist and she grew tired of waiting and opened her eyes. The moment her vision restored she could see someone in the corner of her eyes, someone familiar. Every time she turned to see, the figure disappeared. Never before was she so afraid of simple figments of her own thoughts.

These weren't ordinary thoughts though, rather it was the truth, being presented to her in the only way her mind trained her to create. Fear.

Jasmine's undead presence haunted her every time without fail, appearing to mock her own actions as a lifelong reminder of her own doings. Sometimes she even appeared within her own dreams, making her awaken with a gasp of fright in the dark nights, those spooky sleepless nights for she refuses to fall back into sleep due to Jasmine's visions.

It made life much more interesting, and entertaining at some points. But it eventually grows boring, becoming simply a day of nonstop strolls across the barren lands that used to be known as the Clover Ridge. With her eyes low to the ground, she walked along the path beside the lake's edge, not daring to look around, as Jasmine would make every bright color much darker than it is meant to be. Evelyne almost wanted someone to come along and finish her where she stands, to end the suffering of her and her beloved victim, perhaps heaven would treat them for a better life than this one. Suicide was not her intention however, she wished to press on and seek what else life wished to throw at her.

The Miridae Locale has been oddly quiet lately. Many mourning the deaths of the ones who've fallen to Evelyne's wrath, the Vespiquen and her Combee servants constantly rushing around to care for the citizens within. Unlike Clover, the flowers bloomed and children played together, regardless of their differences as the usual citizens at Clover Ridge now currently reside at Miridae.

One of the many being Morice the Leavanny.

"It's truly a shame, I'm deeply sorry to hear that," said Vespiquen as she picked at her teeth with a strand of grass.

Morice's head lowered. "Indeed… How are we going to take care of all of these people?" asked Morice, glancing at the rather large amount of people by the shore of the lake. "This section was constructed for bugs in particular, not all of us."

The Vespiquen fell silent and thought for a moment. "Hmm… This is a troubling dilemma indeed, and the citizens could undoubtedly agree," she replied as if thinking out loud. Morice tilted her head and listened. "Ah. We'll have to see in the near future, I can't think straight with all of this ruckus."

The Vespiquen began to fly off with her Combee swarm behind her, and Morice simply stared speechlessly. Until… "So your plan is to leave us all to fend for ourselves?"

Vespiquen froze and glanced back, the Combee's looked at her confused. "What did you say?" she demanded, her eyes glowed from the sun's reflection off her crystal red eyes. Morice was unaffected by her stare.

"You know exactly what I said, I demand an answer." She seemed to tremble slightly, before turning and floating away into the trees before she could say another word. Morice simply stood in disappointment, watching as that Vespiquen selfishly left her behind despite her care for the others. "Leaders…"

She turned away from the woods, and Kamori was standing behind her, his wing still tattered from Evelyne's sharp teeth. "What is the dilemma?" he asked, but Morice did not respond, she simply walked past him and sat down at the edge of the lake, staring into the water. He walked over slowly and plopped himself down next to her without speaking. Minutes past and neither moved a muscle, Morice seemed frozen besides the occasional deep breaths that had become religious just recently. Kamori eventually turned back to look at her, and examine her hopeless expression.

He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly the sound of something large skidding to a stop behind them. They both jumped startled and flipped around to find it's source. Morice stood up and watched as two black jeeps pulled into the area, each with a strange gold emblem on it's doors. The bugs quickly rushed out of the way and stood, almost forming a line, at the edge of where they parked, awaiting the ones inside to come out. They both tilted their head and quickly made their way behind the line of bugs. The doors of the cars opened and men in black uniforms and a mask stepped out, followed by two more wearing a white one, each with a gold badge on their chest. One was short but looked awfully old, while the other was noticeably taller yet young.

They looked around at all the Pokemon and smiled. The shorter man laughed. "Haha! This place never changed one bit! Wouldn't you say?" he laughed, the other chuckled along with him.

"Glad it hasn't, but we know what we're here for," replied the taller man. Suddenly a pink butterfly emerged from the crowd and flew to him happily with a charming chirp. "Ah. Vivillon! I'm glad your safe." He smiled and held out his arm, and they landed on it and rubbed it's forehead against his.

"Alan, you have to make friends everywhere you go?" he asked dejectedly.

Alan chuckled. "I like to make a lasting impression," he replied whilst stroking Vivillon's forehead. It closed its eyes with a smile on its face as he did so.

"You're unbelievable," he scoffed, before turning to find a scornful Leavanny standing before him with her cutters on her hips. Kamori was watching nervously from the sidelines, unable to talk her out of this one. They traded stares of disapproval, before he bent over to her height and held out his hand. "Hello, my name is Professor Theodore Valerian, we're here to make sure everything is alright."

Morice tilted her head, having never done or seen a hand-shake before. She found herself looking towards Vivillon, who mouthed something she couldn't quite understand. Valerian put away his hand and examined her from where he stood. She didn't move, she just watched so he didn't try anything. It wasn't long before he noticed the skin on her chest was peeling and seemed to be slightly charred. He stood up straight and leaned over to Alan, who was thinking the same thing. "Hmm…"

Alan let Vivillon go of his arm, and he knelt in front of Morice so he was at her height. He looked around at everyone and took a deep. "The look on your faces alone is enough to inform me that you want answers… and I have them," he said, before looking back directly at Morice. "But I need you to assist me." And then he went on, everything was explained. The canister, the uniformed men and their presence. This wasn't just any visit, rather an extraction, of something much bigger.

"What are they looking for? I couldn't quite hear," Kamori said, he rushed beside Morice with a confused expression as she began to pace away from the crowd.

She grumbled. "Maybe it's time you settled down, old man," she replied grimly. He tilted his head. "Going deaf so soon?" His confusion grew steadily with every word out of her mouth. She clearly changed, her tone, her attitude, it was all foreign. He took a deep breath.

"Focus on me another time, I would prefer the important information about our home, Morice?" She stopped and her face darkened and he took a step back.

For a moment, she looked flustered and about to burst with frustration, instead she sighed and looked down. "They are going to look for Ja- Evelyne. And they want me to help since I was the last Pokemon who saw her," she explained. "What they plan on doing with her is beyond me." As she said that, the jeeps blared to life and the lights shined in their faces. Kamori opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the shouting of Alan in the distance.

"Hey Leavanny! It's time!" he shouted from the car door. She nodded and started towards them.

She glanced back at everyone. "I'll see you soon." And she hopped into the back seat of the jeep, and Alan closed the door behind her before hopping into the passenger seat, with Valerian at the wheel. He looked back at Morice, as if he wanted to say something, but her blank stare discouraged him from even trying.

He looked back forward and the car began to back up and turn towards the path along the coast, and he hit the gas and drove down the path with the others following close behind. Morice stared out the window in amazement, the bumpy ride wasn't very scary but she never imagined moving at such high speeds without even placing a foot on the ground. She rubbed her chest and rested her head on the side of the window to watch as she passed by what was once her home. Everything else seemed to zoom by, in reality it was not very fast, but a life of walking and running for transportation made this experience dizzying.

They drove until the center area came into view, as barren as the lake itself. Morice sat up, expecting to stop, but they continued past and followed the shore. She tilted her head and leaned forward to grab their attention.

"The ridge is that way you two," she said. Alan flipped around in surprise to see her. He smiled softly.

"Sorry bud, but we don't understand you," he replied. She tilted her head in confusion. In her eyes, she really thought they must've been deaf to not hear her when she was sitting right behind them, even with her loud voice.

So she tried once more, Valerian glanced at her. "I said: the ridge is that way!" They both shook their heads again.

Valerian spoke before Alan could explain it himself. "Listen Leavanny, humans do not understand Pokemon. It's a shame, but that is how it is unfort-"

"Look out!" Alan shouted, the professor quickly turned to face forward and slammed on the brakes nearly hitting a fallen oak on the path. Morice nearly went flying out of her seat, but she managed to grab the seat belt before it could happen. The cars behind them skidded to a stop. Once they all recovered, Alan let out a deep breath and opened his door to step out. The tree was indeed fallen, but there seemed to be more to it. Morice fumbled with the door handle and pushed it open and hopped out of the car. She approached the tree base.

Valerian rolled down the window. "It probably got struck by lightning," he said.

Alan looked up at him. "This was positively not struck by lightning Val," he replied in doubt. He and Morice looked closer at it and the answer was rather simple. "Someone took down this tree, and it was no lumberjack."

He shrugged and pulled the key out of the port and stepped out of the car. "I'm assuming we're making progress here?" he asked as he made his way around to Alan. He nodded.

"Yup." He ran his finger down the bark, it was slightly wet. He wiped it on his jacket. "This saliva is fresh, it must be around here somewhere."

Valerian nodded, before raising his arm in the air and waving towards the other cars. They all shut off and men in black uniforms stepped out, each armed with a rifle-like weapon. A group of four approached them two and Alan frowned. "Val, do we really need tranquilizer guns just to catch one Pokemon?"

"You really shouldn't have skipped the meeting with Lusamine yesterday, then you'd understand," he remarked with a smirk. He turned to the group standing before him. "Let's keep this simple." He pointed two fingers at a pair. "You two there, I want you to find the capsule." They nodded and walked past them with their weapons low. Valerian turned towards the next two. "As for you two, I'd like you to scout out the area, if you find anything out of the ordinary, report it to us as soon as possible." They looked at each other and shrugged, before walking into the woods with their rifles on their back.

"And what about us?" asked Alan, with Morice at his side with her cutters on her hips. He grinned.

"How cute. You're feeling left out ain'tcha." He lifted his hand to rub Morice's head, but she swung her arm at his arm. He let out a *gah* and a scratch formed on his arm. Alan didn't seem to have any protest to such a violent action, instead he seemed skeptical about her behavior. Valerian wrapped his hand around his arm in pain and grumbled. "Alright fine, you two can… go wherever you think is necessary."

"That's it?"

"Just get out of my face already!" Alan sighed.

"Alright come on," he said, nudging Morice on the shoulder. "Let's get going then." She grumbled and they both began to walk away, not entirely sure where to. Alan simply followed the path, Morice stayed with him, since there was really no instructions nor any motive besides finding out what had happened in the recent couple of days. But Morice knew all too well of what happened, and if it weren't for the lack of reliable vocal communication with humans, the search likely would have easily been settled much sooner.

"So… What is your life like around here? I mean… before all of this happened," asked Alan, breaking the usual silence.

She shrugged, reaching far into her memories to find a good answer. The past events threw her into a whole nother life she couldn't quite comprehend. "Simple really, nothing too special," she replied, hoping he would be able to hear her. He simply chuckled.

"That's great! That's really great actually, I wish I had it like that," he replied cheerfully, kicking a branch out of the way. "Mine is… I really love my job and all, but it's far from easy. But it's the Pokemon like you that keep me going."

She tilted her head. "Oh?" A job. People in the ridge have roles and jobs, what his could be began to wander her mind. The thoughts were drowned out by the sound of something vibrating from Alan.

"Oh! One moment," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a walkie-talkie and pressed a button on the pad. "Alan here, what is it?"

A voice came out, it was a masculine voice, and they sounded slightly disturbed. "This is the first squad, there's a dead Luxio here by the berry trees," they said. Alan's face quickly changed to a confused and worried look.

"What? Come on, this is no time for jokes."

"Negative, the Luxio is indeed lifeless, its head was crushed by… something." Morice felt that one. She tugged on his jacket and he looked down at her.

"I know it! It's Eve! She did it!" she exclaimed excitedly. Alan looked back up nervously, listening for more info, but nothing came along.

"That's great, but just give me a second, this is super important," he replied nervously, turning away from her. She was shocked, he couldn't hear her true voice, not one bit.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another voice, but this one was foreign from the other, as it seemed to have jumped onto the line with Alan and the other squad. "A corpse here, a Mawile, this one's been cut open," said the voice on the other end.

"Wh-" Another call came in.

"Here too, another Mawile. Arceus, someone torn it apart!" Alan was speechless, and Morice had nothing else to say or do now, just stand and look like she knows something he does not. He turned around, and she had her signature look of I'm-waiting-but-you're-ignoring-me on her face. "What do we do with them sir?"

He simply let the radio drop to his side with his hand, and they both traded diverse stares. He knelt down in front of her. "Look, I know you have something to give us, but I just… can't understand you," he said. "It's unfair, but that is how we were made to be."

"Alan! Quit messing around and get over here!" Valerian's voice boomed from the radio, they both jumped. Morice tilted her head and watched as he fumbled with it and put it to his ear.

"I'm here. Wh-"

"Just get over here, go to the car, and take a right from where it's facing, you'll find me there. Hustle!" Before he could give any acknowledgement, he hung up. Disgruntled, he put it back into his jacket pocket and got back on his feet.

"Come. Let's go." He turned around and scanned down the path. "I think it's this way," he said, pointing behind them and starting to walk forward. Morice followed attentively, looking back and forth. It all came back to her awfully quickly. She hastened herself to catch up and tugged on his jacket once more, he stopped. "What? Make it quick, we have to get moving." Without waiting for his opinion, she dashed through some bushes on their left. Without much thought, he dashed after her. "Hey! Leavanny! Now is not the time!" He pushed through the bushes, maybe ran through some webs, and eventually he bursted through the shrubbery and the cars were lined up right there, and Morice was waiting patiently for him in front of the hood. He put his hands on his knees and panted for breath. "You could have just- Never mind. He said this way, so unless you have any other shortcuts to take."

She shook her head and walked next to him. He sighed in relief and followed the directions he was told. They walked in silence, listening for voices, but none were heard. And it wasn't as if he didn't have any subjects in mind, Alan simply didn't have the breath to say it. Soon enough, Valerian came into view and a group of armed men at his side, in a field of pink grass and an unnatural patch of soil in the center. The mysterious capsule lie in the center, busted open as before.

Valerian raised his finger over his lips and shushed them, before waving them over. Alan nodded and slowly approached with Morice following close behind. "Did you find something?" Alan asked quietly.

Valerian answered with a single nod. "We did," he replied with the same voice volume. He pointed to where the group was standing, noticeably gathered around whatever was there. "You're the Pokemon expert, so this is where you come in." He snapped his fingers twice, and a man turned around and nodded, and made a path for him to see what was within. Morice gasped at the sight of the wounded Mawile, still bearing the cut from her blade. Fortunately she was asleep, but was seemingly not enjoying her nap, with a pained expression on her face and clenched teeth. Her jaws seemed to move on their own. Alan lifted an eyebrow, and Valerian gave him a light push towards it. "Go do your job."

"Alright alright." He slowly approached Eve, with each of the men having their guns pointed at her. With each step, he began to notice how unnatural she looked, with her odd pale coloring, the wounds no Pokemon could possibly live with. He took one more quiet step towards her. She twitched, and moved over onto her side to get comfortable. Alan looked back at Valerian, he gave him a wink of approval and an amused smile. Morice was standing close behind the men, with a mixture of worry and fury.

He turned back around and Eve whimpered and moved over, as if having a nightmare. Alan put his best comforting face and placed his hand on her head and gave a soft head rub. For a moment she smiled, and it quickly transformed back into a frown. She twitched again.

Her veiny eyes suddenly shot open with a gasp.