Chapter 2: A Dire Rage
Hildegard, Jude, and Bernard ambled warily down the cool, cracked stairs of the aged temple. They could see nothing but darkness ahead of them, their footsteps echoing down the shrouded interior. The lucario noticed rows of thick dust along the steps that have been clearly dispersed towards the side, showing that there was activity here recently.
The trio were an odd bunch for sure, but each with their own strengths—that Hildegard was sure of. She could not help but feel disturbed by the malicious aura pouring out from the darkness, unsure of what was to come or what they would even find in such a place. Not only that, but even with their strengths, Hildegard could sense a stark fear coming from her teammates. She just hoped that they would at least be prepared to battle if they needed to. She knew Jude would, as he was always trying to prove himself, but Bernard on the other hand did not seem the type. She never saw the lycanroc fight aside from when he was in his midnight form, and he was not even fully in control of his own body then.
As the team continued their slow pace down the large staircase, the lucario gazed over at the walls and noticed base relief sculptures decorated alongside different, intricate patterns. Everything was formed in such a delicate and impressive fashion. Hilde noticed many of these sculptures depicted humans and pokémon working together. The lucario was able to identify some of these tasks, such as lifting heavy objects, healing others, and there were even some depictions of them playing together.
Hildegard could not quite determine what all of the carvings of pokémon were supposed to represent, but one specific pokémon was appearing in many places. This pokémon was small, about the height of the average human torso. It sported a long tail with a more bulbous end, had short limbs, and was posed to be floating in every instance it appeared. While Hilde could not make out what it was, there was a detail she pinpointed that was familiar to her: it wore a strange sort of tiara.
"I've seen that creature," Jude whispered to Hildegard, talking quiet enough as if he did not want to disturb a single dust mote in the temple.
"In real life?" the lucario inquired. Jude looked confused for a second, then shook his head.
"No, no, I mean, I've seen carvings like in here. When the lopunny took me in, there was another underground temple she guided me into." The two proceeded to stew quietly in their thoughts. "I wonder what it is. It seems like it's important if it appears on a lot of these walls." Hildegard did not have much to say to that, but that tiara caused her mind to swirl in frustration as she failed to recall where she saw it last. Either way, the creature that wore it was unknown to her.
"I wonder how they made these. They're kinda neat," Bernard said in wonder.
"Wouldn't you know? You're a rock type, right?" Jude questioned.
"Who do you think made them?" Hildegard asked the lycanroc, who gazed over at her, appearing blank.
"I don't know. I guess humans? I've seen what sorts of things they can make."
"That's correct," Hilde confirmed, the two other pokémon looking at her intently as if expecting some sort of lecture. "Fleur told me about how the whole Sanctuary and all these buildings were man-made, including the sculptures."
"Wow, then that pokémon must be really important to them," Jude deduced, clearly pleased with himself. Suddenly, the absol grunted, as if he received a sharp pain. Hilde and Bernard stopped, focusing on Jude to make sure nothing was wrong, but there certainly was, as the absol groaned and hunched down awkwardly on the staircase.
"Jude, what is it?" Hildegard asked, Bernard appearing panicky and keeping distance.
"It's that awful feeling, but it's…" Jude huffed as he slowly regained his footing, shaking his head. Hildegard saw his damaged horn slightly glowing, but then losing the radiance only seconds later. "Don't you feel that too?"
"I feel something disturbing all right," Hildegard answered. "Maybe it doesn't hurt because I'm used to sensing all kinds of aura."
"Or you have a thick skull," Jude sneered, wincing as he spoke.
"And you don't?" Hildegard said with a chuckle. "I do have a steel skeleton," she clarified. "And he," saying as she looked over at Bernard, "probably has nothing but rock in that head."
"Hey," Bernard called out in annoyance. They all snorted and snickered, alleviating some of the tension they had previously felt. With Jude feeling better, they pressed on into the temple's depths until they finally came to level ground, where it was especially dark. The floor was patterned as well, made entirely of rock, of course. Hildegard focused her energy and allowed wisps of aura to emanate and orbit around her body, lighting up the temple slightly with a gentle, blue hue. Her eyes also gave off a blue radiance, a showing of the sheer amount of aura that was within her. The room branched out into other large corridors, but Jude continued to guide them down the correct path, being able to sense the source passively now. Because he was able to do this, it signified to Hilde that they were closing in on it.
"Get ready, everyone," the lucario stated. "Be prepared for anything, anywhere."
"Just tell us if you sense something crazy," Bernard said timidly. "You can do that, right?"
"Jude should be able to as well," she said as she gazed down at the absol confidently. "We'll be fine."
The absol led them down the hallway leading forward until they could see an illumination up ahead. The light was a malevolent purple, which became more evident the closer they got. Within the darkness there appeared to be a strange shimmer that blanketed the opening ahead. The corridor opened up into a medium-sized chamber, and just up ahead was the single opening aside from the one they just emerged from. This opening was covered in an undulating forcefield, and it was clear to Hilde that this was where the sinister aura was coming from. She absorbed the aura that circled her, the light from the forcefield enough to see the chamber in its entirety.
The trio stared for a while at the hypnotic texture, which swirled and churned with a psychic energy. Hildegard was first to approach it, studying the spellbinding energy field. The first impression she got was that it might have been the same type of field that they encountered at the opening of the temple itself, but further inspection gave her a feeling there were contrasting properties about this one. The very feeling she got being near it was different, the psychic energy that she could identify shaking her core.
Understanding the type property of this forcefield, Hildegard looked over at Jude, who looked uncomfortable.
"You might handle this better than me," the lucario said bluntly. Jude was puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
"It's psychic. You're immune to this field," she explained.
"A-Are you sure?" the absol stammered, clearly doubting her.
"Come over and see." Hildegard could sense his strong fear, but knew the absol would come through, not wanting to appear weak. Sure enough, Jude eventually broke and stepped forward, inching closer and closer to the field. A humming noise sounded off of it, a disturbing vibration rustling the fine fur on his face.
Suddenly, the forcefield shone brilliantly, illuminating the room and the cracks within the stone comprising it. The flash faded out quickly, but Jude whirled back, shouting in pain. Belly down, the absol grasped his head, groaning in agony. Hildegard rushed over quickly, reaching into her jacket to pull out an oran berry she stored. She had made a habit of taking some of the Sanctuary's berries, feeling she had the right to considering she recreated the crops. Hildegard felt his anguish and knew he needed healing. Holding the berry out to his open mouth, the lucario waited for Jude to eat it, but the absol continued to shout in pain. She then shoved it into his mouth, covering it with her large paw and forcing him to chew. Swallowing the berry, Jude eventually calmed down, the tension in his muscles relieving quickly. He lied down on the floor, taking deep breaths.
Everything was back to normal. The forcefield appeared like it never changed despite what just happened.
"I knew it wasn't like that!" Jude slammed a paw down, shouting angrily at Hildegard. She was greatly tempted to argue with the absol, but put it aside, looking back at the undulating field.
"That doesn't make sense. I could feel that energy…" Hildegard pondered more on the situation. "I know it hurt. I'm sorry for making you do that." Jude did not respond, and seemed pacified. "What did it feel like? Did you see anything?"
"I'm lucky I'm not blind," Jude grunted. "Other than that, felt like a bunch of needles pricking my brain. It wasn't my sense."
"It wasn't?" Hildegard asked curiously. "Then an attack, maybe?"
"Yeah, it hurt a lot," Jude stated sarcastically. "Never took an attack from some forcefield before. Did it feel like that when you got hit back there?" Hildegard knew he was referring to the forcefield that used to be at the mouth of the temple.
"I can't say it felt painful at all. It was just some invisible force that pushed me back." The three of them stood there, unsure of what to do next. This specific field was very strange if it was able to hurt Jude while having psychic properties. Or perhaps there was something else contained within it.
Hildegard ambled to the field again.
"Hey, what're you doing?" Jude called out. The lucario stood close to the forcefield, staring at the hallway ahead. She closed her eyes and focused her mind. The aura feelers on the back of her head raised up as she delved deeper and deeper into her meditative state. The lucario was attempting to sense what was up ahead. Even if they knew outright that the source of Jude's own disaster sense pointed directly to it, Hildegard was hoping there was something else she could pick up—anything. After what seemed like a couple minutes, she thought she could pick up a very faint voice. Hildegard's ears perked up as she tried to listen in.
It whispered once more. "Why did you leave?"
The voice was like a sudden breeze that chilled Hilde down to the bone. She retracted from her meditative state and stepped away from the field, sensing nothing but evil beyond the blockage.
"Hilde?" Jude asked nervously, as if realizing that even she was perturbed by the unknown presence.
"We'll have to go back. No doubt all the commotion we caused alarmed pretty much everybody in Sanctuary."
"Do you think they'll know?" he questioned. Hildegard sighed impatiently.
"Eventually. Might as well get it over with before someone gets hurt down here," she replied firmly. Her direct nature inspired the absol to puff his chest out and cling to his resolve.
"Right, that's a good idea," he agreed. As the two made their way out of the chamber, they looked back to see Bernard was not moving from his spot.
"Bernard?" Hildegard called out. The lycanroc turned to face them, appearing as if he snapped out of a trance.
"Oh, right," the lycanroc lazily strolled over to them, following them as they continued on their path to exit the temple.
Emerging out of the temple's mouth with nary an occurrence, Bernard strutted ahead of the group, bounding off into the forest.
"Hey!" Jude shouted to the lycanroc. Bernard halted in his tracks and turned to face the two, climbing on top of a rock.
"I'll be fine, I just need to stay away," he shouted back in an assuring tone.
"Trust him," Hildegard suggested to Jude. "It's for the best." She then called out to Bernard, "We'll probably be back soon."
"I'll stick around," the wolf-like pokémon said, and with that, he turned tail and continued to bound off until he was out of sight.
Together, Hildegard and Jude returned to the Sanctuary, which seemed rather still for what happened recently. At first it appeared all the noise had not caused much disturbance in the haven, something Hildegard was grateful for, but there was no way that not a single soul heard the destruction. As the two made their way towards the center, they thought they could see a warm light within the cold, darkness of the forest. They made their way towards this beacon, and as they got closer, they found a group of pokémon banded together. More lights appeared as the trees parted, the sources being lit torches that some of the pokémon carried. One of the pokémon in the group was Fleur herself, the sight of her causing Hildegard to groan.
When they were close enough, one of the pokémon, Puru the azumarill, pointed his torch at them, trying to get a good look at the duo.
"Hey, it's Hilde and Jude!" he said, his tone of voice sounding like he was accusing them of something. Inching closer to the group revealed that they consisted of Puru, Sol, and Fleur. It was not surprising to the lucario to see them together; at this point she considered them the main council of the place.
The lopunny looked flustered as she marched up to the duo.
"You wouldn't happen to know what that noise was, would you?" she said, exasperated. Hildegard scoffed and crossed her arms.
"You think we did it?" she asked.
"I know you were planning on going out to continue finding the source. Jude being with you makes that more evident," Fleur sighed, massaging her forehead with a couple fingers. "And that is fine, really it is."
"Well, you're right, except we didn't do that," Jude said timidly, not wanting to incur the lopunny's wrath.
"It was that lycanroc," Hildegard explained. "He came out of nowhere while we were looking. He offered to help."
"You met Bernard? He's alright?" Fleur's face lit up with relief at the news. "Oh, that's so good to hear. But, wait, you met him not long ago, yes? Doesn't he, you know, transform at this time?"
"That's what I thought too. I don't know if he got what he wanted out of that witch," Hildegard shuddered at the thought of Ingrid and what Bernard went through with her. She was still appalled that he was whole even after that. "But he wasn't in that other form." Fleur looked flabbergasted, pacing back and forth and buried within her thoughts.
"Very strange," she breathed out. "But good! That's good," she said, smiling warmly. "I hope he was able to fix that."
"Well anyway," Hildegard veered the subject back to the commotion earlier. "About that noise. Bernard pretty much destroyed an entire cliff face. We were out of bounds of the Sanctuary and found another temple." Fleur's eyes widened.
"Another?"
"It was well-hidden by an illusion, and—"
Fleur interrupted her, "Outside bounds? What sort of temple was it? Did you go inside?"
"I'm getting to that!" the lucario snarled. "But yes, we went inside. I'm fairly sure the source of Jude's disaster sense is buried deep in there." Fleur's expression became grim at the reminder of this calamity looming over their heads.
"That's good to know. I'm glad to hear you guys made progress on that."
"Speaking of which, that illusion at the temple's entrance…" Hildegard started, thinking about it for a moment, "it might be the cause of a zoroark."
"A zoroark? You mean," Fleur trailed off, understanding who Hilde was referring to.
"That's all I can guess that made something like that. They specialize in illusions." With this having been said, the group stood there for a moment, ruminating on all that had been revealed.
"Let's return to Sage's temple," Fleur suggested hurriedly.
While Sol and Puru went out to look for anymore disturbances, Hildegard and Jude walked back to Sage's temple with the lopunny mother. They entered the temple, finding Xerxes on a different table deeper within the building. The zoroark appeared like he recovered a little since last time, no longer writhing and groaning in agony. He looked more relaxed as well, resting soundly.
"Mei Li did a wonderful job," Fleur said as they watched over the zoroark. "I would be lying if I didn't worry at least a little bit about her finishing him, but I felt I could trust her this time."
"That was pretty reckless then," Hilde said disapprovingly. "He's supposed to be a good source of information."
"That's true, perhaps it was reckless on my part to entrust such a task to her, but at some point we had to test her loyalty." Fleur shook her head sadly. "Even with my master gone, that mienshao did everything in her power to continue supporting the Sanctuary. She wants to atone, I can see it in her eyes."
Suddenly, the zoroark stirred, coughing multiple times. He was still quite weak, unable to maneuver in any other fashion. They all watched him intently, waiting for him to say something. He was awake now, that was for sure, but he did not speak. He could hardly keep his eyes open.
Fleur decided to break the silence. "Are you feeling any better?" Xerxes appeared tense at first, but Fleur's warm voice calmed him, allowing the zoroark to lie at ease despite his suffering.
"Barely," he croaked, coughing again. Fleur breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good sign that he was able to speak, as it meant progress was being made in recovery. The lopunny ambled closer to the zoroark, whose eyes were glued onto her, the gap between his eyelids just wide enough to make out his irises.
"Can you tell me where you think you are?" the lopunny asked. Xerxes looked around. While he was clearly not familiar with where exactly he was in Sanctuary, his nonchalant countenance showed he still knew he was in the haven. He had known where he was crawling to. Regardless, he did not answer, just staring into the wall. Fleur asked another question. "Alright, well could you at least tell me why you came back here?"
"I was dying," Xerxes stated emotionlessly.
"That's true, you were in very bad shape. I suppose you banked on us helping you, even if we knew what you did?"
"Basically," he replied, coughing in the middle of a chuckle. "Though if you hadn't come, those haven dwellers of yours would have surely finished me." He talked in a drawl, his speech slow and a clear struggle for him.
"What did he do?" Jude asked curiously. Fleur sighed, hesitant to say, but Hildegard answered for her.
"There was a raid here not too long ago, and he was a part of it. It got Ignatius killed," she explained. Jude's eyes widened as he pressed his lips together, knowing now how sensitive of a topic it was.
"I did it all for her," Xerxes clarified, a little emotion starting to be heard in his ragged voice. "For her approval." He stirred again, but Fleur put a hand on his chest, calming the zoroark and encouraging him to remain lying down.
"Who?" the lopunny questioned, a little more stern now.
Xerxes was reluctant, but eventually gave in. "The mewtwo, Malice." The name sent shivers across all in the room.
"Mewtwo. That's what the creature is called, huh?" Hildegard said.
There was a disturbing silence for a few moments, but he continued. "Back at that human building, I managed to escape the binds you wrapped us in. I took Malice with me someplace safe, hidden behind an illusion."
"That underground temple hidden behind that cliff?" Hildegard brought up with intrigue.
"Yes," Xerxes said. Fleur appreciated the zoroark's compliance and willingness to talk, though this also might have signalled he had given up on his ways and motives. "I took her there. She was still unconscious, and oh, so cold." Xerxes shivered. "I thought she might die right there, but I felt something else being near her. I felt something in the air...became thicker each time I went back into the room."
"I felt it too," Jude spoke up. "Hilde and I. It's like some kind of evil aura."
"You could call it that," Xerxes chuckled. "But I don't know for sure what it is. All I know is that I made a mistake."
"A mistake?" Fleur inched in closer, morbidly curious in what else he would reveal.
"I loved her," Xerxes' voice choked as tears started forming in his eyes. "But that aura. It radiated off of her, getting stronger. It never affected me, so it must have been of a psychic nature." Xerxes breathed out, his voice trembling. "Something was contributing to it. Before I could figure it out, Malice...she…" The zoroark, his eyes widened, had to stop, as if remembering a traumatizing event. Everyone in the room were on their toes, waiting. "Malice turned into a demon."
"A what?" Jude asked.
"That's a word humans use," Hildegard explained.
"She nearly killed me," Xerxes said fearfully. "I barely escaped the temple. I had to cover the entrance with an illusion, bend the light so I could trick her."
"That's enough," Fleur said firmly, standing up straight. "I understand this is very stressful for you. I need you to relax and get some rest."
Xerxes did not object but asked, "Why did you not let me die at their hands? I know the pain I helped cause to you all."
Fleur sighed again with her head bowed, a hand grasping her chest.
She replied, "That's what Sage would have wanted. I'm going to carry out his dream for a haven of peace."
The three pokémon left Xerxes to rest, meeting up outside the temple. Fleur was clearly very bothered, but doing her best to collect herself.
"That's who it is, isn't it?" Fleur asked Hildegard without turning to face her. "That...mewtwo is the source?"
"Very likely," Hildegard answered. She gazed down at Jude for approval and he nodded.
"My sense was pointing towards that hallway, deep into the darkness. We couldn't see her, but we could feel her," the absol explained, attempting to sound confident.
"You guys couldn't actually see her?" Fleur questioned, her back still turned towards them.
"We couldn't go any further into it. There was some kind of crazy barrier," Hildegard explained with exasperation. "We couldn't break through the damn thing. I feel we should just let that lycanroc bury the creature."
"No," Fleur stated sternly, finally facing them with resolute eyes. "That temple is sacred, just as every other structure in the Sanctuary."
"That is outside of Sanctuary bounds," Hildegard pointed out. "You would prioritize sanctity over everyone's lives?"
"There has to be another way," Fleur said with optimism. "It is not always apparent. There's a weak point in everything, or perhaps another path not clearly seen…" The lopunny mother was brainstorming aloud, pacing back and forth as she normally did.
"I don't want to say there isn't any other way, but who knows how close we are to disaster?" Hildegard challenged. "Perhaps it's a rash move, but one that may be necessary."
"Hildegard," Fleur interrupted, walking up to the lucario. "Take me to this temple."
The trio arrived at the entrance of the underground temple, which looked about the same as the way Hildegard and Jude left it. The illusion was gone for good, the gaping mouth now obvious even in the midst of the denser vegetation. Hildegard could tell rather quickly that Fleur was able to sense the disturbing aura that permeated the interior. The lopunny treaded slowly and carefully down the stone steps, taking lead in front of the gang.
Her eyes trailed to the temple walls and she was suddenly fixated, the bas relief catching her interest. She walked over to the walls, scanning the sculptures intently while running her fingers across the dust-caked stone.
"Familiar?" Hildegard asked while ambling towards the lopunny mother. Fleur did not respond for a bit, as if attempting to digest what she was seeing.
"The pokémon on here," she trailed off, humming thoughtfully.
"Yeah, we noticed it before," the lucario confirmed.
Jude piped up, announcing, "I saw something like this in that place you took me underground." Fleur nodded, turning her head to eye the curious absol.
"It is recurring across the whole area. I figured this area was out of bounds, but perhaps this was a part of the civilization that once made up the Sanctuary."
"You think so?" Jude questioned with intrigue. Fleur nodded again.
"This pokémon is called Mew. Sagefox told me about this creature and what he knew about it," Fleur explained, taking in a breath. "It was a while ago. I don't remember everything, but I recall how he said it carried the title of 'mother' for all us creatures that walk the earth."
Jude and Hildegard were flabbergasted, never having heard anything about this creature. If it were true, how could word of such an important pokémon not have reached them, even in their times with their trainer?
"That's crazy," the absol finally spoke up. "A mother to us all? What about humans?"
"I don't think he mentioned anything about them," Fleur sighed in exasperation. "I wish I could remember all the details. But I know for sure she is considered a pokémon, you know, like us. Humans are different." They all thought about this as they continued their trek deep into the temple once again.
As they made it further, Hildegard opted to lead the group, using her aura again as a light in the suffocating darkness within. Eventually, they reached the forcefield in the medium-sized chamber, which was still present and demeaning as it loomed over the trio tauntingly. Fleur approached the barrier as Hildegard and Jude kept their distance, knowing what it was capable of.
"Be careful," the lucario called out to her. Fleur shot out her arm, fingers outstretched and gesturing for her to keep quiet. "Well, I tried," Hilde said in a whisper, huffing. The lopunny continued walking forward, getting closer and closer to the imposing shield, which almost appeared as if it were undulating in response to Fleur's approach. She closed her eyes and sensed a voice deep inside the corridor ahead.
"You were the only one," the voice said, wisping forth like a breeze blanketing the lopunny. At first, Fleur took pity on the voice. There was a genuine sadness behind its tone, a feeling of hurt and betrayal. In the midst of this voice, however, was another one that sounded like it was trying to break through and grasp Fleur's attention. Her senses began to flood with one very familiar—the smell, sound, and general feeling of it almost caused her to cry out in relief.
"Fleur," it said.
"Sage," she responded under her breath with a smile. This was not the first time she heard him after his demise, but it was certainly the closest she felt near his spirit. Fleur knew he had watched over her all this time. Though comforting at first, Fleur suddenly grew concerned over why he had made his presence known with such closeness. She felt he had something important to say, and just as she thought this, she heard him again, his voice ghostly and filled with caution.
"Beyond...her…" Fleur's eyes snapped open. After hearing this, she felt an overwhelming swelling of emotion. Her body grew hot with anger, her breathing becoming rapid. This was not what Sage intended, but she could not help herself. She understood now. Beyond the barrier was the murderer that took him away and caused so much grief. Sage's presence as well as the testimony of Xerxes confirmed this for her.
"Fleur, what's wrong?" Hildegard spoke up with concern, detecting Fleur's fast-growing rage. The lopunny ignored her, starting to see red. Her emotions engulfed her to the point where she had only one objective: to confront the remorseless killer.
The lopunny marched forward, but before she could interact with the energy field directly, something happened. The forcefield started to ripple violently, unexpectedly glowing a horrifying red. Jude yelped in fright and ran the other direction and out of the chamber.
"Jude!" Hildegard yelled after him. She was now in a dilemma and gazed back at Fleur. The barrier flashed another time and radiated brightly, sending out a strong force familiar to the one before, but with an aura that shook the lucario to her core.
Accompanying it was the voice, furious now, "LEAVE ME ALONE." The lucario and the lopunny fell back in utter shock, scrambling to escape the chamber right after Jude. They ran until they had emerged into one of the other chambers connecting to the hallway. The two breathed fast, trying to catch their breath as they kept their eyes glued behind them, making sure nothing had followed them out.
"What the hell was that!?" Hildegard snarled. Fleur was no longer angry, as if all of the emotion had been sucked out of her, and that is exactly what may have happened.
"I don't know what came over me," replied Fleur, who looked equally as bewildered. "Once I realized it was that mewtwo, I just got so mad. I felt like something else took control of me, then just…" she trailed off, feeling greatly uneasy from the event.
"It glowed red," the lucario stated, scoffing in confusion. "Seconds before that, I felt your anger. I never sensed so much rage from you before." Hildegard stood upright, crossing her arms. "And in that moment where it burst, it was no longer there."
"That really happened? Do you think it used my emotions?" Fleur asked, looking away perplexed.
"There is a lot I know about aura," Hilde assured her, "but a barrier feeding off your anger? That's new to me."
A frightened shout from outside alerted the two pokémon. Looking at each other for a moment, they proceeded to bolt towards the exit.
Emerging outside, Hilde and Fleur could see nothing out of the ordinary, but there was certainly something wrong. Jude was nowhere in sight, but the lucario could sense an aura, one that was full of mischief and cunning. The lucario held her nose up high, trying to locate the source, which emanated from above. Turning around, she saw a figure falling from the sky. Without thinking, the lucario grabbed Fleur and flung them both to the side, the falling object hitting the ground with a resounding THUD.
Quick observation revealed it was not just an object—it was Jude! The absol was near fainting, beat up rather badly.
"Jude!" the lucario stepped forward to care for the injured dark type when another figure flashed right in front of her. Before she could comprehend what she saw, it disappeared again, flashing from the corner of her eye. All Hilde noticed in that instance was that the creature sported brightly-colored fur. Whirling around, Hildegard heard Fleur grunt as she blocked an incoming tackle attack. The creature was very quick, making its way above Fleur by jumping and kicking off of the bewildered lopunny's body.
The creature plummeted down, its legs outstretched downward as Fleur crossed her arms, bracing to guard the impact. It fell down on her hard, bringing the lopunny to her knees. Hildegard took this opportunity while it was balanced on her arms and jet forward with Extreme Speed, combining it with a blinding fast Bullet Punch that hit its mark, sending the creature flying back while grunting in surprise.
It landed gracefully on the ground, and Hildegard was able to study its figure while it recovered. The creature had white and pink fur, its body decorated with strange ornaments that turned out to be a collection of bows and ribbons. One of the bows was placed on its left ear, while the other was on its chest. Each bow had two long ribbons flowing from them in a manner that suggested that they had a mind of their own. The chest bow in particular had ribbons wrapped around the bow in a way that looked like a "tie," which was something a human would wear with a fancy suit, as Hildegard remembered. This creature may have been the "sylveon" she had heard about in the past, though never actually seeing it with her own eyes until now.
Before she could study it further, the creature struck a flashy pose, laughing triumphantly as its body radiated a blinding light. Hildegard shut her eyes, growling in frustration. This was the third time this has happened on the very same night. This attack was different, however, and carried a property that Hildegard could sense was attributed with Fairy energy. The move was in fact Dazzling Gleam, the lucario taking the move well, but feeling its raw power sear through her flesh and reflect off of her steel bones.
The light subsided and Hildegard quickly positioned herself for battle, but the creature was gone. Hildegard and Fleur, slightly hurt, looked around frantically, anticipating an incoming follow-up attack, but nothing came except for an obnoxiously familiar voice.
"It's good to see you're still friends!" Hildegard and Fleur followed the voice to the top of the stone pillars that adorned the temple entrance. They discovered the creature was up there, gazing down on them with brilliant, sky-blue eyes, his ribbons waving gracefully in the breeze. "We can almost consider this a reunion of sorts!"
The smug smirk on his face filled Hilde with dread. She did not want to say it, but it came out regardless.
"Malgam?"