Although the Clefairy left herself unidentified, her actions have made a significant impact. The Olden Shrine, home to the very first Legendary Pokémon, is also the place in which the very first prophecies are recorded. Armed with the knowledge that the finished prophecy of the Typeless Ones provides, Darien and Serena prepare themselves for what is sure to be a long and filling quest.
"And that's when I came to you, sire," the Kecleon said. Justyn nodded, and bade him leave. He paced the throne room. The Grass Flower had gone. Torn from the Grass Meadows by the root. One of his precious domains had fallen. And yet… he felt nothing.
Don't get him wrong, he felt the loss of his lands. No good king would see their land fall and feel nothing. But the legends, the whispers of the royal halls, suggested… nay, stated that the ruler of his land should know when a type had been lost. And yet he had not felt that loss himself… it had been Kecleon who informed him.
The kingdom had been ruled by a line of successful kings. But when was the last time one of the types had been lost? More importantly, after that time, had the rightful rulers of the land been supplanted by other, less worthy rulers? Was his lineage and history insufficient for these lands? Perhaps he should research the history of his land…
His musings were interrupted by a familiar gentle knocking at his door. His lovely maiden Madeline entered the room, followed by those curious typeless ones… Darien and Serena, their names were. Nice kids…
"You met up with Stanley, yes? And, I presume, saw the destruction of the Grass Meadows as we know them…" Justyn said.
"Yes, we did…" Serena said, clearly shaken.
"The Grass Flower is gone… but we also learned something quite interesting on the way here. Two more verses of the prophecy," Darien said.
"I knew about them… so one of you can read them?" Justyn asked.
"Artemis. Anyway…"
Two heroes, special in might;
Fight for the heart of their home;
Master the power of many a type;
Train by heart, not by tome;
Tough going leads to darkness;
Knight and dame will pierce;
The heart of a dame is powerful;
And the soul of a hero fierce.
"…That's the other half… well… I can't hold it back any longer. I think you guys are in the right here. The typeless ones are the heroes, not the villains. It feels… well… it states that you two oppose the darkness, so whatever it is you guys are doing, I'm sure I can get behind it," Justyn said.
"That's great. So you'll support their endeavours?" Madeline asked.
"Support? I'm joining in," Justyn said, smiling. Madeline nodded, appreciative.
"Well, welcome aboard," Darien said with a hint of irony. "So where next?"
"…The Flying Island. There are two birds there that would come in handy for this sort of quest," Justyn said.
"…So, basically, the same thing we did to recruit Stanley?" Darien asked.
"Basically, yeah. I'm trying to pick and choose everyone I expect to be helpful to reach first," Justyn said.
"Fair enough. Tell them to keep their wings off my Darien and we'll get along just fine," Serena said. Justyn stared at her.
"She's like that," Madeline said. Justyn suspected nothing good would come of that relationship.
"Now, what kind of job do you lot have that brings you to ancient shrines?" Luna asked, looking at her three new recruits.
"We don't have those," Loot said.
"We're thieves, and we're proud of it!" Davuth said.
"Well, I'm not… one day, I hope to take Melody as my wife and live without thieving," Jadit said.
"Good for you, sport," Loot said.
"Yeah, more money for us!" Davuth said.
"You know, you three… you really shouldn't steal from the Legendary Shrines. Most Legendaries get mad when you do that," Luna said.
"…Miss Latias, I thank you for the attempt, but most of us are nearly Dark enough as is. Do you think you can talk Davuth out of gold?" Jadit said.
"Um… Jadit? I think she meant something else…" Loot said.
"Right in one, Golbat. Since you're not Darks… MIST BALL!" Luna called out, firing the Mist Ball attack at Davuth.
"OW! What was that for?" Davuth asked.
"Admit to thieving from Legendaries in front of a Legendary at your own peril, Persian! I'll be taking this up with Regigigas later!" Luna said.
"Regigigas? Who's he?" Davuth asked.
"…The Normal type Legendary?" Luna asked. Davuth shook his head again.
"I think he only knows the Type Guardian," Loot said.
Justyn walked along the library corridor, carrying the books he needed, when he noticed a Braixen poring over the tome within.
"Wait a minute… you're one of the Hiwaka girls!" Justyn said.
"That I am, Justyn. What can I do for you?" Amy asked, not even looking up from her book.
"…Why are you reading so much, anyway? Just curious…" Justyn said.
"Isn't it Pokémon nature to crave knowledge? The desire to learn, to expand our horizons are what separates us from the common beast or uncultured Pokémon. I'm simply learning as much as I am able to help my sisters," Amy said.
"Remarkable… and here I am doing some research for rather selfish reasons," Justyn said.
"…What are you reading, anyway?" Amy asked. She waved her stick and, despite Justyn's protests, summoned the heavy books to her lap.
"History of Our Lands… Genealogy of Kings… Lore of the Type Trinkets… History buff?" Amy asked.
"…There is something that struck me as weird. I did not act as a King should act. I'm hoping there is something in those tomes that can tell me why," Justyn said.
"…Mind if I read these? I can find this sort of stuff easier than most," Amy asked.
"…If you think you are able to deduce what happened, go ahead," Justyn said. Less bothersome reading for him, more fascinating reading for her. Win-win.
"Is it true?" Aaron asked. Jadit looked up at him curiously.
"That depends. Is what true?" Jadit asked.
"Is it true you can pierce Steel-type defenses?" Aaron asked.
"…That's not normal, isn't it? I'm going to be having a very long conversation with Davuth about my services," Jadit said.
"…That's not why I pointed it out… I have an ulterior motive of sorts," Aaron said.
"…Well, what is it? I'm used to ulterior motive," Jadit said.
"Not that kind… Mr Skorupi… I'm a Steel type…" Aaron said.
"I've noticed. Very shiny armour, too, though I can see ten different places where I can deal very effective damage," Jadit said.
"Can you teach me how to close them?" Aaron asked.
"…You want me to show you where I can hit you where it hurts, and then help you make sure it don't hurt there?" Jadit asked.
"Pretty much, yeah," Aaron said.
"…I'll take you up on that," Jadit said.
"Darien…" Madeline said, watching him work. Something within him had changed since she first met the little Riolu, and not only did Madeline not know what had changed, she was equally unsure when it happened.
"Madeline," Darien said simply, looking up from his notes.
"Listen, Darien… I know that maybe you're not the best at the whole romance thing… but I really do think you should spend more time with Serena," Madeline said.
"She biting now?" Darien asked.
"…No, she's not being any more possessive than usual. However, it's more of a preventative thing… and it might also make her less possessive, if you took an interest in her," Madeline said.
"Madeline, I'm a Baby. I have no idea whatsoever how to romance. What I am doing is the power of observation and guesswork. By this point, I have huge doubts that evolving will even help," Darien said, somewhat shiftily.
"…Darien, I used to know a little girl. She was a Pokémon that evolved through the power of friendship. She loved a male with all her heart, up to the part where he was the lover to help her evolve. But he never saw her the way she saw him… their relationship got worse as time went on, and by the time he realised what he had done, there was nothing he could do about it…" Madeline said.
"…Let's just hope that time is long after I evolve, then," Darien said, going back to his notes.
"...Wrong lesson…" Madeline said quietly. Darien didn't even hear her talking at all.
Once prepared, Justyn led the group to the Flying Island. It was more of a mesa surrounded by cliffs: Luna admitted to being present when Rayquaza was designing the Flying Type haven. With a giggle, she said he gave up. However, the sight that greeted them was nothing to giggle about. Birds of all shapes and sizes glided around the Flying Island in terror. No one was surprised to see Murkrow, Vullaby and their respective evolutions causing the ruckus. Hoppip, Skiploom, Jumpluff and Tropius did not fight, due to crippling pains preventing them from flight. With a start, Darien suspected what Malachus was doing with the trinkets.
"Justyn, Grass isn't working!" he cried out to him. Justyn looked at the Grass-Flying crosses.
"This looks…" Justyn started. Luna, Artemis and Loot leaned down, and Darien, Serena and Justyn hopped aboard. The three shot into the sky, while the others focused on trying to trace the opponents and shoot attacks. It would've been easier had Dark types not happened to be immune to Psychic.
Justyn, riding Loot, guided Luna and Artemis to the women of the hour. A Swellow was tearing holes in the opposing army's force, while an Altaria punched holes in the armies behind her. A Togetic was using Fairy Wind, Ancient Power and Metronome in equal amounts, but her moves did little. Metronome also revelled in hurting her friends more than her foes.
"Come on… you can do it…" the Togetic said. She used another Fairy Wind, dealing pitiable damage. One Honchkrow took notice of her, and approached her. Artemis fired forward, allowing Darien to jump, Force Palm the Honchkrow to the ground, and jump back on Artemis. Artemis drifted up to sit beside the Togetic.
"Are you all right, miss?" Darien asked.
"Yeah… I'm still new to this…" the Togetic said. The Altaria flew up beside them.
"You all right, sis? This guy bothering you?" the Altaria asked.
"I'm fine, Indira. He was just helping me, that's all…" the Togetic said.
"All right. Riolu, would you be so kind as to go check on Asprey and the Flying Feather? My sister Angela is trying to get there, but these infernal Dark birds are making that very difficult," Indira the Altaria said.
"Sure thing," Darien said. Artemis looked around, chose the correct direction, and soared.
"No!" Darien cried out. A Salamence was soaring away from the Sacred Spot of Flying. A small shrine was present in the centre of the spot, and Darien didn't exactly have to be a genius to notice that there was no Flying Feather on it.
"This is bad…" Artemis said.
"…On a scale of one to ten…" Darien asked, looking at the Grass-Flying types.
"I'd say forty-four," Artemis said bluntly.
"…Curses!" Darien said. Before Artemis could turn and soar back to the others, a shrill whistling noise sounded. Artemis turned briefly before being knocked out by a Pidgeot's Sky Attack. Asprey's harsh light stopped emanating, and he turned to Darien, who had jumped onto the floating Sacred Spot. She cawed loudly, and charged forward.
"Oh no you don't!" Darien said. His Force Palm struck Asprey, but her Brave Bird made contact. Darien was sent flying back, nearly falling from the Sacred Spot. He clambered up nervously, only for Asprey's Gust to blast him into the Flying Feather's place of rest.
A mystical feeling seeped into Darien. His soul felt huge at that moment, and his arms were growing a light blue colour. Asprey prepared her Hurricane attack, but Darien was ready. He took aim, and clawed at the air. A series of incisions into the very fabric of the air rent the skies, eventually making it to Asprey. Asprey flinched, and Darien performed another Air Slash. Asprey dropped to the ground, smashing into a fine light blue powder.
"…That's a new one on me…" Darien remarked, looking down where Asprey was last seen. He fired an Air Slash into the air, suggesting that the group wrap up what they were doing.
Darien looked at the three birds he had saw fighting together. Angela, Indira and Sierra, the Sisters of Pegasus.
"We understand that you are on a journey to amass the ability to take down Malachus," Angela the Swellow said.
"Who explained that one?" Darien asked.
"The Kirlia, Absol and Latias gave me bits and pieces of it. It makes the most sense to me," Angela said.
"Well then, yeah. We'll be going to all… seventeen Sacred Spots that aren't Dark. Even if Malachus beats us to every single one, which he won't, me and Serena have both learned new moves from them. A prophecy has claimed our abilities can be used to take on Malachus and take back the Type Trinkets," Darien said.
"…Good for you. Let's just hope it's that simple," Indira the Altaria said.
"Yeah… not even a week ago, I didn't know what a Type Trinket was. I was living happily in the Village of Castes with my brothers and sisters. That time is gone, thanks to Malachus, and now he's going down," Darien said.
"Yeah! And we're joining!" Sierra the Togetic said.
"Sierra… er-hem. We would be honoured to assist in your endeavour, Darien. We will take back the Flying Feather, and restore the wingbeat of our brothers and sisters. You have the support of the Flying type," Angela said.