(So sorry for the massive delay of this story. Ideas have been drifting in and out, but I'm still going with this story until the very end... and this isn't it... yet. Please do enjoy!)

Chapter 10: Searching for Answers – Part 2

I remember early on that I said that this journey was going to be dangerous and it just turned out that way as my friends and I faced the PokéDestructor twins for the first time. Since the day they killed my parents, they've been on a secret travelling spree and hunted down more pokémon to attack Machete. As we were on our way to Sootopolis City by means of Steven's custom made submarine, I had so many deep thoughts in my head about all of this and how it's actually getting worse rather than better.

Also, seeing Machete undergo primal reversion for the first time was both terrifying and fascinating at the same time. Gardevanya wasn't kidding when she said that it's like mega evolution, only stronger. He surely wasn't himself as he mutated right before our eyes at that moment. It was like he was a completely different creature and there was absolutely NO control of himself whatsoever! So far, however, only revenge is the trigger for now. Seeing Diancie nearly die before him hard enough, but what if his beloved Eevee was in danger as well? Same for Hyro the shiny sandshrew? It could be a whole lot worse. I shivered at the thought of the outcome and Meadow, who was sitting next to me, was the only one who physically comforted me during our ride.

"Are you okay, Yvelton?" She asked me so sweetly, it made me smile just a little bit as she continued. "Still can't get what happened back there out of your head, huh?"

"No." I replied with honesty. "I've just recently learned about primal reversion from Gardevanya and I've never seen it before until just then. It was triggered by revenge for Diancie's near-death experience. And he explained that the first time was triggered by an adrenaline rush after punching out a single boulder. Meadow, for the first time in my life since I became a certified genius… I'm actually confused… and it feels strange."

"I know it does." The human-lilligant embraced me within her soft arms for even more comfort and I nuzzled against her as a response to the gentle gesture. "It is weird to hear that a genius is confused about something, but it comes just as naturally as someone of average intelligence. Aside from that, though, look at Diancie." I slightly lifted up my head from Meadow's shoulder to do so from across the sub and she was sleeping comfortably in Machete's lap, having his massive armored hands hold her from underneath her now long white gown. Seeing her newly formed legs caught my attention and Meadow saw it in my eyes as she continued. "She's gained much more confidence in him now, especially since after you warned her about the danger of his primal rage taking over him at any moment. She still loves him for all the right reasons and probably believes that he can control his primal self, regardless of the extreme difficulty to do so." She paused again as she looked at me eye-to-eye… deeply. Damn, she's so beautiful. "Why can't you, Yvelton?"

"…I never said I doubted his ability to control." I admitted. "I strongly believe that he can control this inner monster by himself. Once we figure out all these questions about him, maybe a solution will come into focus for him and he can defeat the PokéDestructor brothers without my assistance."

"There you go. That's what I wanted to hear." After that last word, we finally leaned in for a passionate kiss for the first time since our relationship was final and it felt heavenly. Our tongues were practically dancing in our mouths and our erotic moans explained how much we loved the sensation to the others. It lasted for the next three minutes before we slowly broke apart and kept our eyes on each other for a little longer, even as I felt one of her slender soft hands massage my abs and pecs beneath my shirt. "I love you."

"I love you more, Meadow." That's literally all I had to say after that. It was a silent ride the rest of the way, even while Machete smiled at me for the kiss I had just made. It was more like a smug smirk that said 'I can do better than that' and I shook my head with humor as my response to it before he slowly fell asleep as well.

About an hour later, we finally floated up into the lake of Sootopolis and Steven drove it towards the left side island. I was first to step out afterwards and took a minute to look around with just my purple eyes. It's a fascinating place. Seeing it well protected by the walls of a volcano, it's no wonder this place has everything everyone will need. I guess for a long-time citizen here, stepping out here would be considered suicide to them. Several minutes later, the rest of the team came out of the sub, having Steven wasting no time heading up some stairs, gesturing a hand towards us to come along. Meadow and I led the group hand-in-hand while Ash and Meloetta with Pikachu on the trainer's right shoulder was right behind us and Machete walked like a casual darmanitan with Diancie riding on his back behind them.

Along the way, we did attract quite the crowd. We never made eye contact with them, but we heard so many murmurs of comments from all over, even from some children as young as 5 years of age. We are quite a group, though. A few minutes of that peaceful walk later, Steven finally stopped us at a beautifully decorated entrance to a cave and turned towards us for his utmost attention.

"This is the Cave of Origin." Steven started. "Groudon sleeps here and he won't be awakened without the Red Orb. I'm pretty sure the PokéDestructor brothers don't have that just yet, but we do need to keep our eyes out for it. Aside from groudon sleeping here, this is also where I found the theory behind Machete. The info you already have was only half of it. The rest is found just before we reach groudon." Hearing that last sentence shocked my human-lilligant lover, Ash, Meloetta, Pikachu, and even Diancie. Machete and I showed seemingly dark glares of expectancy as the Hoenn champ continued. "I know it's unbelievable to hear, but trust me. There is a lot more about Machete that's shrouded in history. The many questions we have about him are about to revealed to us and to us only. If the PokéDestructor twins get their hands on this information, Machete will be in much more danger than before. Are you ready to learn more about yourself, Machete?"

More than ever. The dartrog replied with tons of confidence as he led the way inside the cave with Diancie still riding on his back. The rest of us followed not too long after, having Steven, Meadow, and I ahead of Ash, Meloetta, and Pikachu. After several minutes down the spiral path of the cave, Machete purred loudly and that sent chills down all of our spines, especially Diancie since she was on his back. We all turned towards the wall he was staring at and there was nothing but a hole at the size of a quarter before us. It baffled us for a moment, but only Machete knew what to do with it. He didn't waste any time spreading his arms out, automatically telling us to stand back with him and we obeyed for three steps before we just stood at the our current positions while the dartrog got up on his two legs with his tendrils holding on to Diancie for support before he made a bowlegged run towards the wall with a Toxic Punch ready to attack the hole. Afterwards, only that wall caved in, revealing cave carvings and paintings of the dartrog, the numerous lileep, cradilies, and the story behind it all written in a special pokémon language that a polyglot like myself would kill to translate, but again, Machete kept us back with looking at us and it just fascinated us to the max as we just stood back and allowed him to read about himself.

(Machete's POV)

I just couldn't believe all of this was still here after my temporary extinction. As I massaged my massive hands upon the wall, it was all coming back to me within my mind. Before I knew it, I was somehow travelling back in time to the day of my demise… and my beloved Diancie was with me to see it.

I saw myself in the distance and I saw that I was looking depressed about something. With me and Diancie being transparent and invisible towards this time, I was able to casually approach myself and I saw that I was holding something within my hands: a pair of baby blue tendrils that matched the same exact length as my own… and I was crying silent tears as I was staring down at them.

Why don't I remember this?

Diancie cried silent tears with my past self, but I kept a dry-eyed observed stare as I continued to watch and see what would happen next. That same cradily that nursed me into my kind nature approached my past self and started speaking to him:

"Machete, what's the matter, my son?"

"…he's gone." My past self replied. "He got too close to the volcano near our cave and just… melted away. I tried to pull him out of it by his tendrils, but this is all I could save."

"…oh, no… that's horrible! At least, you tried."

"There's more to it, Cradily. Groudon dragged him in when he got way too close and threatened him to leave the cave because we were an invasion of our home. After that, I guess he was satisfied with the kill and just fell asleep." After that last word, Diancie gasped with horror. I never turned towards her, but I listened in as she asked me:

"Who is this you speak of that groudon killed?" I couldn't respond right away as I continued to watch this.

"I should've warned you both: Groudon is not to be challenged by those who are weak against his power. He rules this continent by his strongest authority and nobody shall oppose him for any reason, even just for invasion of privacy." Cradily replied towards my past self as he was weeping even more. "In other words, retaliation just won't do, if you tried. You'll die with him. Let's bury those tendrils instead. It's for the best." After that was said, the past dartrog gently placed down the tendrils and dug up the perfect hole for them. He then laid them inside the same hole, covered it up, and just walked away from the burial site… right through me and Diancie.

We turned around and followed him until he approached… a random boulder. He then stood up on his hind legs and snarled with anger as he used Toxic Punch to release his anger, but then, he continued to roar and snarl with extreme horror as he was slowly transforming into the same primal form I had recently turned into as revenge on what happened to Diancie. We both gasped with absolute shock as my past primal self was just on an emotionless rampage all over the place, destroying everything and everyone that got in my way, including that same cradily he just spoke to… but not before he performed some kind of rocky conservation on the buried tendrils, turning it into a fossil. Pretty soon, the entire land began to split apart and that's when Diancie and I were back in the modern time in the Cave of Origin. We ended up just standing there with shock on our faces towards the same wall I touched and saw the event drawn there itself. That's when Yvelton and the others approached us as I read what the images were saying as well as tell them what exactly we saw.

(Yvelton's POV)

It was puzzling to see them just disappear for just five short minutes, but as soon as Machete and Diancie returned, the dartrog didn't even waste one second to tell us exactly what he saw:

Diancie and I traveled back in time to the moment before the earthquake that killed me. I was mourning the death of someone, but I didn't say who it was. Neither did Cradily. I was holding a pair of baby blue colored tendrils that looked exactly like mine and, after I buried them, that's when I punched out that boulder and got into my primal rage.

"…whoa." Ash muttered alone while the rest of us were just stunned. Diancie volunteered to continue.

"He had declared that the primal groudon killed whoever it was." She slid off of him and immediately, the diamond on her neck began to pulsate a brighter shade of the color. "And Cradily preserved them in a rocky capsule."

"I reckon you know where it is, then." I said to her before she about-faced towards a bare area at about the same distance as her height, which was four feet. Meloetta looked towards that same area and the two myths never ceased to amaze us as they both went towards that same spot, got on their knees before it simultaneously, and started digging through with their bare hands, not caring if they got dirty in the process. Machete watched the two with curiosity as he approached them and stopped right before their backs.

Three minutes later, Diancie did the honors of cracking open that rocky egg and…

"…I stand corrected." The Diamond Domain Princess declared as she pulled out her findings and showed it to us all: a pair of the same baby blue tendrils. "They're still here, Machete. These must belong to-"

My brother… Machete's groak was solemn and depressing as he took those tendrils from his lover and just allowed them to practically hug his hands as he did so. We just couldn't believe our eyes! My memory has been partially restored now. These tendrils belonged to my shiny twin brother. His name was Midas.

"Midas?" I repeated as I got closer to take a good look at them. "Was it that moniker because… he had golden armor with baby blue skin?"

Those are the shiny colors of a dartrog. Yvelton… Machete paused as he turned towards the rest of us with Meloetta and Diancie standing next to him on his left and right respectively. …Midas is the reason why those PokéDestructor twins are after me. They plan to kill me, resurrect my brother in the same manner, and train him to be the most dangerous pokémon this universe has ever known… all for greed and fortune. We CANNOT let that happen! Please, Yvelton… I need you to revive my brother so we can defeat them together and keep Diancie and all of you safe.

"…mm!" I was speechless after that. I needed a moment to think about all this. Back on my fourteenth birthday, Steven never mentioned any of this when I got his letter. I looked over at the rest of our team and Meadow nodded in agreement before she proudly declared:

"That's the discovery that motivated the twins 100 percent. Even my parents knew it the whole time." All I had to say after this:

"…damn it all."

Several minutes later, outside the Cave of Origin…

"I'm so sorry I didn't mention any of this to you sooner." Steven confessed to me as we continued down the same path we came. He was walking next to me opposite of Meadow on my right. I was carrying the fateful blue tendrils within my hands. "It was for your own safety. If they knew that we knew about Midas prior to their unexpected challenge back at Mossdeep, Machete would've been dead right then and there. Personally, I want these two brothers to die at the hands of Machete and Midas… and ONLY them. It's the only way."

"Well, first of all, Steven…" I paused as we finally got to the clearwater lake and I faced him with assurance. "…your apology is accepted. I just find that good to know that Machete wasn't entirely alone after all. He had a family… something that I don't have anymore. Having them kill the PokéDestructors will be enough closure for me."

"What about their pokémon? What will happen to them?"

"Just leave that up to me. In the meantime, while they still have no idea about these…" I paused as I held up the blue tendrils. "…we're not too late. Can we revive these fossils here in Hoenn?"

"Yes. We'll need to pay a visit to Rustboro City. My father's company, Devon Corporation, has a fossil revival center on the second floor of their building. Getting there will be quite the challenge, though. My skarmory knows the move Fly, but he's not strong enough to carry all of us."

"Meloetta could get us there." Ash proudly proclaimed as he gave his melody lover a few pats on the back, making her blush as she felt how close to her butt he actually was. Believe me. I saw it myself. "She's got more than enough Psychic power to carry all of us. Right?"

"Yes." Meloetta replied expertly. "With all of you combined, you should be light as a feather to me. We'll get to Rustboro in no time."

And she wasn't kidding! With her power of Psychic, Meloetta was able to easily fly and carry us simultaneously towards Rustboro. It didn't take not even fifteen minutes. During this flight, it was actually quite peaceful. From up here, Hoenn actually looks beautiful. Now I can see why all of these flying types get a thrill out of flying through these skies.

By the time we finally made it before the Devon Corporation building, Machete held us back with one massive arm while he allowed Diancie to walk alongside him this time, giving her the honors of carrying Midas' blue tendrils within her slender arms. Before she and Machete walked in, however, somehow my keystone activated on its own, allowing the anthro jewel pokémon to only grow taller to her max height of 7 feet and 9 inches, approximately two feet shorter than her poison dart lover! It was a permanent change and, to be honest, she looked like a true princess, matching the same beauty as my beloved Meadow and Ash's elegant Meloetta. That white tunic she wore in her normal form as now turned into a royal white gown fit for a queen with a V-neck collar that had an excellent display of her cleavage of her C-cup sized breasts. The diamond crown on her head flowed like hair, despite them still keeping the appearance of pink diamonds, having the twin ponytails flow all the down to her knees. And finally, just like with Meloetta, she had a 99 percent human appearance with no feet. Overall, she was stunning towards all of us and we just couldn't look away… all except Machete, of course. He was focused on the major task at hand and was not to look at Diancie's new look until Midas was revived… and we had to wait patiently outside as they finally walked inside together in perfect sync.

(Machete's POV)

Everyone inside the building just couldn't look away from us as Diancie and I headed up to that second floor with all the determination our hearts could hold. I did feel that my beloved jewel pokémon mate did make one more drastic change in response to her love towards me, but I never looked at her during our slow and steady walk that took us about five minutes to complete. When we got to the very top of the first flight of stairs and stopped with a single loud step coming from me, every scientist, male and female, looked over at us with curiosity, not even cowering in fear for a millisecond as they did so. It took another thirty silent seconds for them to finally see why we're here and a seemingly young male scientist that had the skin tone that was as brown as chocolate approached us while adjusting his round glasses as he took a good look at the fossils Diancie held. That's when I looked at her for the first time since her transformation and… wow… she… she looks absolutely stunning! She says that she's 'Princess of the Diamond Domain', but at this rate, I'm calling her a queen. My queen.

"Steven told us you were coming with this fossil." The scientist started in a male voice that sounded like he was quite an expert for a youngster. "You must me Machete the dartrog and Princess Diancie." We both nodded twice in agreement. "Well! It's truly an honor to meet you both, but let's not waste any more time. Those PokéDestructor twins are dangerous; not just to us, but to you pokémon as well. They vow to destroy everyone and everything that gets in their way in order to get to you, Machete… and we support you every step of the way. All of us!" The other scientists lightly applauded in response, making us feel honored. "So, let's revive your brother and stop them once and for all." At that last word, Diancie handed over the baby blue tendrils and that young man went right over to his fossil restoration chamber, gently placed them on the floor inside, and got to the machine's controls. After he typed for a few seconds, the machine started and the rest of us just couldn't look away, even while I stood right in front of the chamber with high anticipation. Diancie admired me with a pleasant smile from the crowd of scientists as I did so.

Approximately three minutes later, the process was complete and I heard nothing but stunned gasps all over the room, even from Diancie. There he was… floating before me in that sea green development fluid… my brother, Midas. He was a shiny dartrog with pure 24 carat gold as his armor with the same black stripes upon his side, back, and forearms and his skin was the same baby blue. I just couldn't look away and hold back my tears of happiness as I gently placed an open palm upon the glass as his molecules were currently charging. That's when he opened his eyes and they were the same solid blue as his skin, just like with my eyes and skin! Midas saw me and jumped as he was just astonished to see me after so long. He took matched my palm upon the glass with a smile that said that he missed me and still loves me as a brother. Seconds later, we nuzzled against the glass with our heads, even though we couldn't feel each other physically. That made everyone else around us let out one harmonic…

"Awwwwww!"

…all over the place. It didn't disturb us for a moment as we continued on for what seemed like forever. It actually went on for ten more minutes before we heard that the molecule charging was complete and Midas was completely disinfected from any prehistoric bacteria before the water finally drained. By the time the glass chamber opened, he didn't waste a moment and gave me a hug that was literally millions of years in the making. Our tendrils connected for a short while during that time as well, showing everyone around us that our brotherly bond was never broken after all these years. There was also one other thing about him that I had forgotten about. You know how I groak to speak to others? Well, that's not the case for Midas. Somehow… even while he was extinct…

"Machete, it's been too long, brother." He speaks to me in perfect human speech and his voice matched the deep voice of my trainer, Yvelton… only slightly higher. "How did you even find my fossils?"

A human named Steven led me there. I replied in my usual groaking. He… somehow knew of your burial here and the written history behind it all. Midas frowned at my groaks and I sensed it as I gently grabbed my neck. Unfortunately, I never gained human speech like you did.

"I see… and I just feel awful about it. Fortunately, you can gain it yourself, now that you're here."

I can?!

"He can?!" Everyone repeated, including Diancie on my left side. Midas was taken aback by her goddess-like appearance and smiled as he took a bow as best he could, sensing royalty within her soul.

"Yes." He replied. "And I must say that you are quite the beauty to become a mate to Machete. What is your name, Your Highness?"

"My, my… what a gentleman for quite the powerful pokémon." Diancie replied as Midas looked up and gently took her hand with honor, kissing it tenderly afterwards. That made me feel a bit flustered, but in a good way. He's just as polite as I am and that made me feel so proud. "My name is Diancie. Our passion towards each other started with a near-death situation, unfortunately, but let's not talk about that right now." My brother stood up on all fours, looking as good of a frog as I usually do. "You say you can get Machete to enunciate human speech right here? Well, let's see it. His owner, Yvelton, will be most pleased to hear it."

"Yes, ma'am. Right away. Machete, step into the chamber." I did so without hesitation and the same chocolate-skinned doctor got right to the controls in no time afterwards to begin the harmless procedure. It literally took only three minutes and I stepped back out after the glass chamber went back up, standing before Diancie and Midas. "Well? Say something, baby brother."

"…This feels much better." I said my first words of human speech. My voice sounded exactly like my older twin's. We were truly identical in every way, except our colors. "Now, I can finally say what I've been itching to say since I met Diancie…" I paused as I turned towards her, held her gently by her love handles, and continued as I looked deeply into her glowing red and pink eyes: "I love you, Diancie."

"Awww, Machete!" She was in the happiest tears I've ever seen since we first met. "I love you, too!" We then got into a passionate kiss that was tender and a little bit wild within the confines of our mouths with our tongues literally wrestling each other for the next minute, our moans probably arousing a good majority of the human crowd within the room. After the kiss was complete, we all looked out among the same scientists for just a few seconds as a silent way to say thanks and made our way back downstairs together, having Diancie riding on my back once more to make room for Midas and I. I just feels fantastic to have my brother next to me after all these years of his death. Hopefully, we'll still be unstoppable as a team, like we were before.

To be continued…