Monsters In Paradise

by Curtis Wildcat

Odd creatures are showing up around Gensokyo, bypassing the Hakurei Barrier completely. As these creatures interact with the residents in various ways, Yukari goes on a cross-reality trip to solve this mystery, seek a means of getting them home, and get reacquainted with a magnificent world. UPDATE: See my profile for an important announcement.

11. Koishi

MONSTERS IN PARADISE

Chapter Seven

By: Curtis Wildcat

Pokémon and the Touhou Project are the properties of their respective owners and copyright holders.

Three things, people. One: Breaking the pattern set in previous chapters, only one character will have the spotlight in this chapter. Yukari's portion here won't be anywhere near as long as hers, comparatively speaking, so I've decided to make up for it by giving her the entire eighth chapter to work with. Two: I'd like to warn the readers that I've never been good at keeping things a secret for long; you'll see what I mean when you get there. In a related issue, there might be a slight decrease in the chapter's humor level. Three: this chapter's the biggest one yet, most of it caused by actual plot development, so getting a snack or something might be prudent. If you live in Michigan by some chance, then I suggest a glass of Faygo.

Locate the reference to Precocious and procure a Cupcake of Bliss. The bake sale is science!

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Swish. To and fro.

Children running and playing. Tussling and laughter.

Here, not here. There, not there. Everywhere, not everywhere. Nowhere, and yet nowhere. A conundrum with a sealed mind.

On a whim, she twirled a little boy's hair and darted away. She listened and gave a laugh, however hollow, when the boy's father couldn't find his son's unexpected playmate.

She never fretted, or if she did she had no memory of it. She never gave in to anger. She never cried with sorrow. Joy and pain were like sunshine and rain... they left and went away without a thought edgewise, always moving on and leaving her behind.

Acting on impulse was the key to her existence, to feeling alive, and Koishi wouldn't have it any other way.

"Strange. A being with an empty head. This is very unusual."

She ignored the faint voice that she heard, dismissing it as a long-forgotten memory. She shuddered, not wanting to relive those times, and lazily flew off in a random direction.

"You."

The voice came again when Koishi was somewhere over the Forest of Magic. She wasn't ready to believe that someone was really trying to talk to her. This wasn't like before; the Mask of Hope she once possessed had long since lost all its power. She was not taking part in a popularity contest. There was nothing in her mind. It was sealed away. Gone.

"You down there."

This time, the voice gave Koishi pause. She drifted to a stop and watched the cloudless skies for any sign of someone approaching her. "Hello?" she called. "Hello? Are you there, Hello-san?"

"I am here."

Without knowing why, Koishi was quietly in awe of this strange, wonderful voice. "Why are you talking to me? You shouldn't be able to try..." she stated, her voice trailing off.

"Would you be interested perhaps... in visiting a new world? A world that I am in the midst of creating?"

A new world to explore. Another place to go. Events to see. Children to play with.

"I am looking for people. People like you... who have no use for the complexities of the mind. People who can appreciate without appreciating. Have I caught your interest?"

"I go where my feet carry me, where the wind delivers me," Koishi said to the talking air. "Half the time I can't tell where I'm going, half the time I don't try, and I have many random encounters along the way... but I go regardless." A quirky smile. "Let me see it. I will walk. I must walk."

"Then walk. Take those first steps. See the world that I want to change for the better, that shall be remade in its entirety...

...the world of Pokémon."

A rainbow road stretched out before her. Not knowing where it led but not really caring, Koishi walked down that road to the destination that awaited her. Along the way she hopped forward four steps and skipped to the left three, vanishing into a side tunnel and dodging the blue shell that exploded behind her.

"...Not what I had in mind, but maybe that will do."

...

...

Mismagius, unseen beneath the artwork of yellows, oranges and reds that covered the towering trees, watched as the portal shrunk and disappeared. Remembering how she had arrived at Gensokyo, the immature ghost Pokémon flew off back to Marisa's home to notify her of what she'd witnessed.

/-/-/-/-/

This one has no detectable knowledge.

This one has no discernable willpower.

This one has no perceivable emotions.

Where did we go wrong? Did we miss one?

They had detected Koishi immediately when she had arrived. It was believed that they were the ones responsible for giving humanity those precious traits many centuries ago, and it was truer than even the most well-versed people realized; not only could they sense the levels of each quality in passers-by, but they could tell when someone was severely lacking... or in Koishi's case, seemed to be lacking... in one of those things. To the Lake Trio, who overflowed with their gifts to humanity, the blank spot that the satori represented stood out to them like a Kecleon's stripe...

...even if it did take precious minutes to get her properly visualized without risking her disappearance. That was something they didn't fully understand yet.

What should we do? Azelf asked his counterparts in a telepathic conference. Should we leave her be?

Mesprit added its two cents. Forcing her to accept us would not be right. Why should we bother her?

She is not human. Uxie shook his head. No human on this earth possesses the kind of power that I'm sensing. Her mind is cut off, and even now I am having some difficulty focusing on her... as if there is something keeping us from believing that someone is there. Do you see what I mean?

Azelf followed Uxie's line of sight- - -or lack thereof- - -to where Koishi was stepping lightly down the side of Mt. Coronet, humming an off-key tune and completely ignoring the frigid air around her. The Pokémon native to the area, all of which were the kind that intercepted any intruders they met, somehow kept missing her; she even passed within a meter of a Weavile without it even knowing she was there. That external eye. That's the source of her power.

Uxie nodded. That's what I feel. There's no real method to her actions, and no way to tell what she's thinking... because she's not thinking at all. Everything is done subconsciously. Amazing.

Uxie, is there any reason why that eye is closed? Mesprit wanted to know.

I can't say, not without asking her directly.

I don't like this, Azelf muttered. Something is going to happen soon, whether by her hand or someone else's. Would we be able to get understandable answers from her if we left her psyche alone?

Mesprit pondered this for a minute. It's possible that living the way she does was her choice. If the decision were left up to me, I would leave her be.

There's something else. Uxie's head turned away from Koishi. It was now aimed directly at Mt. Coronet, but it wasn't clear what the examination was supposed to find. That energy spike we felt when she appeared. It has been a long time since we've experienced its power, but...

She was brought here, Mesprit correctly discerned. She is not from this world.

The trio continued to watch as Koishi reached the bottom of Mt. Coronet and waved hello at a week-old Meditite. "Today's the first day of the rest of your life," she greeted it. "Enjoy it to the full, okay?" With that said she lifted off and glided away from the mountain's base, unheeding of the Meditite's awestruck reaction to her flight.

In the far distance, a plethora of buildings of various sizes were barely visible on the horizon. She's going to one of Sinnoh's major population centers. Would her unconscious activity serve her in good stead there? Azelf asked at last, eyebrows raised a little as he watched the satori fly.

We will need to watch her, Mesprit decided. Even if it means doing something that she won't want. We must wake her up and hear what she has to say. If all goes well, we might get a clue as to why we were summoned here today.

Coming to a mutual agreement, the Trio winged (so to speak) away from the mountain and descended towards Koishi. Their eyes, indeed their very beings, shined brightly as they circled above; their bodies shimmered and disappeared to prevent onlookers from noticing them.

/-/-/-/-/

"A world that he wants to change for the better..." Koishi whispered as she flew down the grassy path a while later. "A world... of Pokémon? Those funny little things?" She grabbed a few berries from trees alongside the path, eating as she went and smiling at the taste.

There were many creatures and a handful of humans that she'd seen over the course of the morning, although "vice versa" wasn't typically in play. A flaming monkey and a hilariously oversized nose were having a strange sort of duel, being commanded by kids; it was nothing like the Spell Card combat she was used to. Plenty of animals, whether they be nesting or going about their lives. At one point she'd sped up and gained altitude to shoot past a flock of grayish-brown and white birds, disturbing and confusing them when they didn't know why were being bothered. More assorted kids here and there, whether they were travelling the same path or doing something else. None of them saw her.

It was a quaint little world, and an equally quaint way to live. There wasn't much difference between this world and the one Koishi had just left. Never mind the battling animals, the kids out and about without supervision, the weird fruits. Never mind the grassy plain and dirt road giving way to gigantic dwellings, colorful establishments, and paved streets. And never mind the presence of thousands of people in a given area, the most she'd seen in a long time. No, there was no difference at all.

"And if that's true, I'll eat my hat. Mix it with love and make the world taste delicious... and now I'm getting hungry. Thank you, Mister Singer."

Koishi continued to talk to herself as she went along, slowing down her pace from a slow flight to a slow walk. Her stomach rumbled a little, and her nose caught a scent: somewhere nearby was the source of something delicious-smelling. Deciding to help herself to whatever it was, she steered herself in that direction.

Along the way, Koishi passed a white squirrel embroiled in a conversation with a blue and yellow mouse. She shook her head as she left them behind. "Something wrong with them? They look fine to me. Why does he want to change them?"

They're happy. Why does he think they shouldn't be?

She froze in mid-step, distracted. "Huh?... Did I say something?... I don't remember doing that..."

The sound of clawed feet hitting a cement path reached her ears. Yet, something much more important kept her attention diverted. Did I say something? That's cra- - -...No! I can't be actually thinking these things-

"Hey! Get out of the road, you crazy kid, or I'll run you down!"

Something interrupted Koishi in mid-thought, which in itself was both a novelty and a fearful concept. "I'm not carrying hope anymore," she told herself. "Why is someone trying to get my attention?" And how did I know that?...

She turned around just in time to see a masked man on a three-headed bird bearing down on her, somehow knowing that it really was going to run over if she didn't clear out of the way. She swerved to the left, letting herself maneuver around the bird like she had done in similar situations many times before...

...or so it should've worked out. Koishi's perception of the world sharpened, becoming crystal clear; her brain was fully functioning again, as it had been when she and her sister had first come into being. Normally this would have been a good thing... except that she had a good reason for living her life in a blur, for not being fully aware. The suddenness of having her mind reawakened, including the deluge of thoughts from everyone on the street (least of all herself), threw off her balance and reaction time, the latter by just half a second...

"Driooooo!"

"Wha-oooof!"

...which was enough for the bird to plow right into, over, and past her without any sort of drop in speed. Koishi stayed conscious long enough to count the swirling birdies over her head, figuring there to be five, then shut her eyes- - -all three of them- - -and blacked out against the pavement, the impact and the bird's taloned feet conspiring to do her in.

...

Azelf? Uxie?

Yes, Mesprit? the two of them asked.

It's time we added a new word to our mighty lexicon.

What would that be?

"Oops."

The three of them shook their heads, silently agreeing that this mistake in timing was one thing humanity should never know about them. They had mystique to maintain.

/-/-/-/

Elsewhere in the city, there had been a theft in progress.

The owner of a cozy little shop had special-ordered a set of Poké Balls custom made in Johto, straight from the hands of a well-known craftsman. Upon receiving them he had made preparations to raffle them off in several days.

Of course, someone couldn't wait that long. A troublemaker that had been causing trouble in Hearthome City off and on for the last two years snuck into the shop. While the owner's back was turned, he quickly swiped the assorted Poké Balls but was spotted on his way out the door. Wanting to escape before the police caught up to him, he took out his Dodrio, seated himself and ordered it to hurry off as fast as it could.

The thief had winced just a little when Dodrio had run the girl over, but he justified it to himself by saying that she should've known better than to have wandered into the middle of the road. Besides, Pokémon trainers were a hardy lot; she'd recover given time, and if anything she'd helped his cause by temporarily taking some of the cops off his tail. They'd have to check and see if she was alright and get her to the hospital if she wasn't, and by the time they could return to the chase the thief would hopefully be long gone. Sadly (for him), the outcome was not the one he desired.

By the time that the thief was caught an hour later, the girl was forgotten about entirely.

/-/-/-/

Joy and pain.

...Are like sunshine... and rain.

That was Koishi's first thought as she woke up. Of course the fact that she was actually thinking disturbed her, but she set that aside for the moment and took in her surroundings instead.

She found herself in a nice comfortable bed, similar in size to the one she had back at her sister's palace. Her eyes flicked around, taking in the overall brightness of the room and the large window above and to her left. A five-drawer counter, painted gray with a vast multitude of miniscule black and white specks, was set up along the far wall. A vent near the ceiling blew warm air into the room, and some momentary curiosity bade her to look at it. "It was cold earlier, so I know I was outside when I was hit... did someone bring me in here?" she asked herself.

-/-She's recovering quickly. Very quickly. That's... are there any levels beyond "bizarre"?-/-

A nice-looking chair next to her bed, upon which her clothes were folded and piled up. A quick look at herself told her that she had on some kind of soft two-piece cyan-colored outfit, although she felt that whoever put it on her must have had difficulties dealing with her Third Eye and the artery-like tendrils that connected it to her. "They must never have seen it before," she whispered, too quiet for anyone- - -if there was anyone close by- - -to hear. "Is that good or bad?"

-/-It's a remarkable recovery she's going through... still, I should ask the doctor if we should keep her here the next few days.-/-

Koishi didn't need her sight to know that there were bandages and traces of ointment on her stomach, chest, and face, or that there were still occasional jabbing pains there. She wasn't worried. She was a youkai, a satori. Injuries like those were nothing, and they would probably be gone before too long. Common sense (of all things) told her to stay still and let herself recover, though, so she heeded its guidance and remained in bed.

-/-All I want to do is celebrate, every time we've been together its been great. ...Man alive, that song's catchy.-/-

-/-There was no identification or Pokédex on her. Is she an orphan? ...No, that doesn't make sense...-/-

The physical injuries were nothing, anyway...

"Those... those voices," Koishi whispered, giving them her full attention. "Why am I hearing those voices? What's..." She sat up and looked down towards her Third Eye, focusing on it directly...

...and saw it wide open for the first time in ages. Her literal heart skipped a beat as her uneasiness grew.

-/-May as well check on her again and see how she's doing. Maybe she's awake, maybe not.-/-

-/-Koishi...-/-

-/-They're thinking of creating a hockey league in Sinnoh? Took them long enough.-/-

A young silver-haired woman in a white uniform and carrying a thin board of some kind entered the room, distracting the satori. Both the woman and the giant purple butterfly on her shoulder seemed pleasantly surprised when Koishi was seen to be awake. "Ah! Good afternoon. Are you- - -"

"- - -doing alright? I think I am," Koishi said reflexively, then flinched and quickly shut her mouth in the hope that her faux pas hadn't been noticed.

It was a bit late for that; her visitor was already giving her an odd look. The woman shrugged it off after a few moments and spoke again. "Well then, excellent. You probably know why you're in the hospital, I'm assuming... um...?"

-/-He says he loves me? He doesn't even know me!-/-

-/-Got a tune in my skull, and it ain't goin' away. Dig it.-/-

"Koishi Komeiji, Moon-san. Because I didn't have enough sense to get out of the road before a bird flattened me... The police summoned an ambulance, whatever those are, to take me to a hospital and get me cleaned and treated... I'm older than I look, I don't have any Pokémon, and you want to get some mochi during your lunch break." The answers to questions both spoken and unspoken flew past her lips. With a mortified squeak she clamped both hands over her mouth as the nurse looked put off.

It's happening to me again...mouthing off before they're done speaking what they're thinking. This is why I didn't like being a satori!

Bad memories that her closed heart had allowed her to ignore for centuries began to resurface, and she shuddered violently; even as they came to mind, a developing cacophony of thoughts made her squeeze her eyes shut. Koishi ignored the woman when she spoke to her again, the words "treatment" and "recovery" the only ones to get past the questions she was asking herself. What's going on? Why is this happening to me now? Did the voice that lured me here set some kind of trap? Why me?

-/-What's wrong with her? Is she sick?-/- "Miss?" the woman asked, suddenly alarmed. "Something wrong with you? What is it?"

-/-He mixed Cheri Cola with Oran juice? That's just wrong.-/-

-/-I wonder what's for dinner tonight?-/-

-/-My dear Drifblim will teach that rookie a thing or two! Oh-hohohohohoho!-/-

"No..." Koishi whispered. "Come on... Get these images out of my mind! Stop thinking at me!"

-/-What is she talking about? And what in blazes is that purple thing connected to her? Children these days, always doing their own thing...-/- "Miss? Miss!"

-/-Koishi...-/-

-/-These Poffins are delicious! I'm getting the recipe!-/-

-/-Who are you calling so small that he gets lost in the seat cushions looking for change?!-/-

"I don't want to hear them! I was happier not hearing them!" Koishi tried to force shut her Third Eye, but whatever it was that had opened it was being stubborn: the eyelid refused to move. She ducked her head, covering it with her arms. "I don't want people to hate me! I don't want anyone near me! I will not relive that past again!"

An alarmed gasp. -/-Something's seriously wrong with her!-/- "Butterfree, get the doctor in here immediately! Miss, please calm down! Listen to me!"

-/-Koishi!-/-

-/-So I want to do something like this, but with more success.-/-

-/-Okay... I didn't know the Champion was an ice cream addict.-/-

"They're everywhere... it's happening! It's happening all over again! The thoughts... the thoughts won't leave me alone," Koishi whimpered. "Please, just leave me be!"

-/-KOISHI KOMEIJI, STOP YOUR WHINING AND LISTEN WHEN WE'RE TALKING TO YOU!-/-

Like a slap to the face, the mental scream shocked Koishi into silence. She looked up, seeing but only faintly hearing members of the hospital staff clustering around her, talking to her and going about their business. Someone out there could hear her, and as she waited for them to continue speaking she noticed that the thoughts in the area were slowly being smothered by an enigmatic presence... No, there's three of them...

Three of them. They had to have been sprites, or at least some sort of small youkai the like of which she wasn't familiar with. They were actively blocking the space around her Third Eye with some sort of strange power, both keeping her from closing it and lowering the volume of all the thoughts around her: she could still hear bits and pieces of them, but they were mostly lost beneath her own heartbeat. No one else in the room seemed to have detected the sprites...

And why does everything aside from them look so... gray?

-/-You are Koishi Komeiji, are you not?-/- asked one of the sprites. The pink one, probably.

Even as she nodded, Koishi made her displeasure known. "Why? Why did you wake me up? I was just fine as I was. Why are you subjecting me to this again? And who are you? Tell me!"

None of them seemed bothered by her going on the offensive. -/-Because we seek answers from you, child,-/- the yellow sprite answered calmly. -/-Coherent ones, free of empty-headedness and haze. We want no-nonsense replies, and we will have them.-/-

Koishi started to speak, but the blue sprite was a step ahead. -/-We already know that you are not human, Komeiji. There are few, if any, humans in the world that can survive for long with your sort of mental disability, and none that can survive on solely subconscious actions. ...All that, and you have an extra eye where it doesn't belong.-/-

"It's not a disability," Koishi told them coldly, ignoring that last comment. "I made myself that way. Now before I tell you anything more, answer my question: who are you?"

-/-When we first flew, people gained the ability to express themselves...-/-

-/-...to learn...-/-

Blue. -/-...and to act. Azelf, embodiment of willpower.-/-

Yellow. -/-Uxie, embodiment of knowledge.-/-

Pink. -/-Mesprit, embodiment of emotions.-/-

All three of them clustered together and spoke as one: -/-And we, young one, are Pokémon. That shall never change.-/-

Koishi could feel one of the people in the room gently pushing her back into the pillows, could see her saying something. She almost wished that the "embodiments" would let her hear the humans' voices, if only to confirm whether or not they really wanted to help, but it was not to be. "...You're right... perhaps we do need to talk. But you're going to start things off." Her green-eyed glare focused on each of them in turn. "Starting with why I was forced awake when I was minding my own business."

-/-And your business was...?-/- Uxie asked, a thin eyebrow arching.

The satori opened her mouth to say something... only to find that she didn't have an adequate answer. "Um... ...uh... I guess I was just hungry," she confessed, letting her hands rest on her Third Eye's tendrils. "...But you still shouldn't have done that! Do you have any idea how much it hurts to think about the past? Do you?"

-/-Many apologies, young one,-/- Mesprit said, closing its eyes for a few moments. -/-But what we have to ask you about is of great importance to us. We would have left you alone if it were not, I assure you.-/-

From what little passed through the Third Eye's temporary shielding, Koishi could tell that their words were truthful. For the moment, at least, she decided to trust them. "Then talk to me. I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability."

-/-Alright. ...How was it that you came to be in this world?-/- Azelf looked at its fellows for a moment, nodded, then rephrased its question. -/-To be more precise, who was it that brought you into this world?-/-

Koishi hesitated. The edges of Azelf's question had been lined with wariness and caution. Thinking back, the voice that had invited her here had said that he was looking for people who could "appreciate without appreciating". Aside from that, the statement that continued to lurk in the background was that he wanted to change this world for the better, to re-create it.

To re-create it... with her still on it, maybe? That didn't sound very promising. Some might've thought of it as akin to gaining the power of a god, but Koishi didn't want any of it. Meeting new people around Gensokyo, taking care of what few pets she had back home in the Underground, and spending time with her new friends at the Myouren Temple... she liked being able to do those things, and wanted to do them as much as possible. Sure, she could become one of the mightiest beings in the world, but at what cost?

And what of the worst-case scenario: one where re-creating the planet meant not unlimited power, but a gravestone forever unmarked?

Now that she had complete control of her brain once more, she realized that she had stumbled onto something big far, far from home. Something that would potentially prevent her from seeing her friends again... and from seeing her older sister again, her sole surviving family.

Appreciate without appreciating?

Not a snowball's chance in an onsen.

...

...But none of that changed the fact that she was still hungry. "Excuse me, you three... but before we continue, could I talk to these people real quick?"

/-/-/-/

While Koishi and the three Pokémon conversed, the hospital staff assigned to her- - -not seeing the Lake Trio at all- - -worked to insure that their patient was doing alright. Their confusion at the presence of her Third Eye remained, and they wondered why she suddenly freaked out... only for her to snap out of it just as quickly. Afterwards her lips were slowly moving, as if she were trying to speak, but no words were audible to them.

They were just starting to believe that her damage was more mental than physical when Koishi finally spoke aloud, refraining from sitting up in her bed. "Excuse me, but... my stomach's telling me that it's lunchtime. Could I have something to eat, please?" she asked, covering her mouth with one hand as soon as she finished.

The woman she'd originally spoken to breathed a quiet sigh of relief, her Butterfree following suit. Whatever issues she has, they don't seem to be bothering her at the moment. Still curious about that bizarre eye, though. It looks so real...

Nonetheless, this was a strange case in their eyes, and it would only get stranger by the time it was done. What patient willingly asks to have something to eat at a hospital? The poor girl didn't know what she was getting into.

In any event she wanted lunch, and lunch she would have.

...

Distracted as they were, none of them saw the look Koishi directed at the woman before everything went gray again. She'd heard the woman's last thought and she wanted to give her some sort of answer, figuring she owed her that much after her freakout, but she knew it wasn't the time for that. There was something she still needed before she could talk to her.

Courage.

/-/-/-/-/

Somewhere, in a place where time, space and reality had no hold, the voice that Koishi had dubbed "Hello-san" spoke again to itself as it watched events unfold.

"... ..."

A quiet beep from the depths of the darkness. The temperature dropped several degrees as the source of the voice grimaced. This will not do.

"... ..."

The repetitive krrr-ink of a rotary telephone being manipulated.

"Your job and hers are almost done. Once this is finished, I will have what I need and you will be free to do as you wish. Send Hearse the signal, and I will handle the rest."

The voice that answered him was male, calm, cold and flavored with the slightest touch of arrogance. "You're a very cruel man, but because of your wonderful charisma we will follow your orders one last time. I will hold this honor in my heart forever. Good-bye, Hello-san."

The phone hung up, leaving him to wonder how much of that reply was meant to be taken seriously and how much was sarcasm.

-GAP-

It was remarkably easy trying to locate Yukari. Before leaving Mauville, Merril had made a quick stop at an abandoned storage facility that the Violet Vigoroths used as a meeting place, borrowing a bicycle that had taken every member of the gang to pay for. After that, all she needed to do was follow the wreckage west. She had to go through the cave instead of over it, so she had little choice but to try and evade the Whismurs she came across, but on the whole she made good time and rolled into Rustboro while Yukari and the Harrisons were having their discussion at Wally's pizzeria.

After satisfying her hunger urges and such, Merril sat down on a bench and popped open her laptop to see if anything had turned up regarding the cause of all that wreckage. Again when she found what she was looking for, the improbability of what had happened staggered her mind. That whole mess happened because that Yukari lady lost control of her Mach Bike? What's that thing made out of, unobtainium? Bicycles are not meant to deal or take that much damage!

Merril put her laptop on Standby and put it away, slouching in her seat. Well, whatever. The trail ends at the library. If I can find an excuse to meet up with her, I can get my information straight from the Ponyta's mouth. After that, we'll see how things roll...

An odd feeling passed over Merril, but it quickly passed. Strange. I just had the weirdest urge to sample some red wine. What in blazes for? I'm still underage, so I've never touched the stuff...

...Eh, whatever. It ain't important.

Deciding she'd had enough rest, Merril got up and gathered up her belongings before walking the few short blocks between her and the libary.

-GAP-

When the group returned from lunch, Amber was immediately set upon by several browsing trainers who had trouble finding some missing books. Before she left to assist them, she reluctantly suggested to Yukari that if she needed help finding anything, "just ask my daughter. She knows the Dewey Decimal System better than my assistants do." Ellen muttered something about "...indoctrination" and "...free range children", but she didn't protest.

Although it wasn't yet clear to the overseer why Amber had been loath to go about her work...

Although her inability to ride a bike didn't speak much for her experience, Yukari hadn't lived this long without knowing the ins and outs of a library. She gravitated towards an aisle of books that dealt with mythology and the islands' histories, selecting a few and taking them back to Ellen's desk to read. It was nice to have some quiet company now and then; Midori, recalled to her Poké Ball, didn't count.

Amber returned to her desk twenty minutes later, shaking her head. She seemed a bit relieved for a moment when she saw them, but it quickly changed to irritation. "I don't get it," she was muttering. "I just don't get it."

Yukari didn't look up. "Don't get what?"

"I brought in a book written by Professor Oak and properly filed it away this morning," Amber complained. "Brand new, had a plastic cover and bar code on it, stamped it and entered it into the system, everything. Out of the books those people were looking for, that was the only one I couldn't locate. It's infuriating."

"Maybe someone upstairs took it," Yukari suggested, not truly interested in the librarian's problems. This section on the legends of Dialga and Palkia was much more entrancing.

"That was my first thought, but there's no one upstairs aside from a few kids from the Trainer's School and one of my assistants. None of them reported seeing the book."

As with Yukari, Ellen didn't look up from her reading material as she spoke. "...Might have just been misplaced. ...You sometimes get someone who takes a book or two, then ignores the sign saying: 'Do not re-shelf these books. Staff will replace'."

"I checked that entire aisle, Ellen." Amber leaned on her desk, resting her head on her arms. "I found nothing. Sure, they might have stuck it in another aisle by accident, but is anyone really that forgetful? Surely they can tell the difference between Pokémon care and human genetics."

"A wise person considers every possibility, Mrs. Harrison." Page flip. "Even the obscure ones."

Amber snorted softly. "I'd call that paranoia."

Yukari smiled the smile of the ancients. "In my experience, there's no such thing as paranoia."

The librarian mistook the smile of the ancients for the smile of the entertained. In her defense there wasn't much difference between the two, at least where Yukari was concerned. "Look, Mrs. Yakumo- - -"

"Miss Yakumo. I never married."

"You don't know what you're missing. Anyway, I've done my part in trying to find it. I've already directed my assistants to notify me if they locate it. If it turns up, it will; if it doesn't, then I'll know soon enough- - -"

"...Alternatively," Ellen softly interrupted, "it could've been stolen. Our rogue bicyclist's entrance damaged the sensors, too. It would have been child's play for someone to sneak out unnoticed."

"Rogue bicyclist?" Yukari sniffed. "I beg your pardon?"

"...Look. Be happy that I didn't call you a rouge bicyclist, okay? Proper pronunciation and that."

"You're right. That would've been more insulting."

Twenty long seconds passed before Amber sighed and stood up, ignoring their odd remarks. "Why do you have to plant these doubts in my head, Ellen?" she complained as she left to take another look.

Yukari turned to the small girl, curious. "Okay, I'll bite. The library has sensors?"

"...Top of the line, straight from Devon. ...They're programmed to go off if someone walks out with a book without having it scanned at the front desk first. ...Most libraries in Hoenn have them now." Those brown eyes looked up at her. "...Level with me, Mrs. Yakumo- - -"

"I said that I never married, Ellen."

"... ...Could have fooled me. ...But regardless of honorifics, is it really true that you know nothing of Cyrus and Team Galactic?"

Yukari put down the book she'd been reading, thinking. She had been going to dispense the information to those willing to listen in the hopes that they would be able to help her in some way, like she had with Kevin and Harmony, but as long as she was here... "I'll answer your question if you answer one of mine."

"...Whatever it is, it's probably none of your business."

"Then your curiosity shall remain forever unsated." Yukari's eyes had a seemingly devious glint in them as she spoke, one which Ellen could not have missed.

"...It isn't as if it's a big deal to me. I'd just like to know. ...News reports out of Sinnoh about three months ago explained that there was a tremendous disturbance caused by Team Galactic at the region's highest peak." Ellen set her book down and fully focused on Yukari for the first time. "...Whatever it was, it was big. The news and the region's police were close-lipped on that topic, but what they did say indicated that Cyrus and those loyal to him were too dangerous to remain free. ...Team Galactic's top officers, sans Cyrus himself, were arrested and convicted on multiple charges." The child took a deep breath as she finished speaking, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

Yukari took those seconds to fully absorb what she'd been told. "I'm sure that's important somehow, but why should I be concerned with- - -...oh," she finished, looking down at where Ellen's finger was pointing:

Straight at the youkai's book, and the illustration of Sinnoh's legendary dragons of time and space splashed across its' pages. Yukari swallowed and nodded, realizing the lead that she'd been given. "Of course. ...Thank you, Ellen. I'll have to look into this some more before I commit to anything, but I think I know where I'll be going once I have my license."

Another deep breath. "...So... your answer?"

Another smile, this one more congenial than the one Yukari had given Amber. "Bluntly, no. Before your mother brought them up, I had never heard of them. Satisfied?"

She could tell by looking at the child that no, she wasn't satisfied. But at the same time, she seemed happy enough to leave things at that for the moment. "... ...You had a question?"

"It's not important," Yukari said, picking up her book and continuing where she left off. "It's a bit personal, anyway. Think nothing of it."

Ellen's eyes narrowed. "...Ask me the question. I'll decide whether it's too personal to give an answer to."

"Suit yourself. Just remember that I warned you." The overseer again turned away from the book, waited until a scraggly-haired passer-by was out of earshot, then continued. "What's it like to be so... different from everyone else?"

It took Ellen a full minute to think over her response; when she finally answered, Yukari could detect the raw bitterness in that calm monotone. "...She told you, didn't she? Mother told you everything."

"Yes. Yes, she did."

Ellen rested both hands on her knees, staring down at the ground. "...Can I trust you with this? ...I mean really trust you with this? ...You're a complete stranger. We have your name and nothing more, and for all we know that name could even be fake. We're no fools; we know the myths surrounding your namesake, and we know that she vanished well before I was born. ...What makes you trustworthy?"

Yukari sniffed scornfully. "I resent that, little girl. An admitted manipulator I may be, and I have no qualms with lying if it will accomplish my goals, but never once in all the centuries I've lived have I ever lied about who I was. I have never needed to."

"...Centuries?..."

"As I told you both at the pizzeria, I am a youkai. I have outlived your ancestors, and I will outlive your descendants. You think I'm kidding?" Yukari bent down in her seat, bringing herself down to Ellen's level. "Look me in the eyes, child. One glance was all it took for you to decide that I wasn't 'good people', and rightfully so, but that was when all you knew about me was that I was a monstrous and lazy trickster. I have depths, the same as everyone else, and they are far deeper than someone as young as you can comprehend. Now check again, and tell me: in light of what we've talked about until now, what do you see?"

Another minute passed. To Ellen's credit, she neither protested Yukari's claims nor wilted under her stare. The overseer resisted the urge to grin. If nothing else, this shows that she can't be accused of making any hasty decisions. ...Still, I sort of wish she would hurry it up. My time here is precious.

Ellen finally sighed and got up from her chair, closing her book and holding it beneath her arm. "...This isn't the right place to hold a private conversation. Follow me upstairs, please," she intoned, gesturing towards the stairway even as she walked towards it.

Shrugging, Yukari did as she was asked.

... ...

The pounding of feet against the stairwell faded as the two of them made tracks for elsewhere. Eagerly, Merril- - -the passer-by that Yukari had witnessed earlier- - -lowered the technology magazine she'd been using to conceal her face and carefully stepped on up after them.

... ...

Amber approached her desk five minutes later, grumbling all the way. "Book's gone missing, can't find it anywhere, scoured the shelves until they..." She trailed off, glowering as she noticed that Ellen and Yukari's seats were empty. "...If this weren't a library, I'd scream right now."

Both of Amber's hands tightened into fists as she imagined assorted scenarios involving their disappearance, ranging from kidnapping to assault. She had barely known Yukari for four hours or so. She might have felt at ease enough to have a decent conversation with her, but she trusted no one aside from her family, assistants, and the gym leader to be alone with Ellen without disturbing her. She hadn't even wanted to help those trainers if it meant leaving her child alone with a stranger. I should've known better. One lapse in judgment, and the woman walks off with my child! That cursed trickster!

Amber's voice went from raspy to a cold hiss. "If that incorrigible woman does anything other than talk with my baby girl, there shall be a reckoning."

With that utterance out of the way, she stormed off on a search of a more personal kind.

-GAP-

Somewhere within the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, in an empty slot on a bookshelf normally reserved for Metal-element spells, a colorful light shined for a brief moment. When the light faded out, the missing book Amber had been looking for was in its place.

Koakuma entered the aisle a minute later with the intent to put away a certain tome that Patchouli had just finished with. Doing a quick double-take when she saw the book, she set the tome down and pulled it out for a quick look.

The book's cover had a plastic jacket over it that crinkled at the touch of her fingers. Judging by its width, the book was probably about 140 pages in size. She popped it open for a moment and took note of the words ink-stamped on the first page: 'Property of the Rustboro Public Library, Hoenn Region'... and then she closed the book and saw the title emblazoned across the front.

"...A Traveler's Guide To Pokémon Care. ...By Professor Samuel Oak...?" A question mark appeared over Koakuma's head. "I wonder what this is doing here..."

The question mark shifted to an exclamation mark. "Wait... Pokémon care?!"

Quickly shoving the tome she'd come to put away into place, Koakuma flew off with her discovery in hand. Patchouli would know what to do with this.

-GAP-

The conference room that Ellen led Yukari to wasn't terribly big. There was a rectangular table, six wheeled chairs, and a digital clock and a Beautifly painting on opposite walls. White tiles bordered the green carpet that took up much of the floor space. Some old invitations for a party of some kind were scattered about the table. Large glass windows along the other two walls helped people see both into and out of the library.

The two sat across the table from each other. Ellen already had her book open, unwilling to make eye contact with the older woman. Yukari leaned onto the table and clasped her hands before her face. "Alright. Any particular reason for the secrecy? Our endless exposition isn't considered classified by the Pokémon League, you know."

"...They wouldn't believe this any more than my parents would."

"And why is that?"

"...Because it's completely unnatural. You know that as well as I do. If I told people about this, I'd be carted off to the nearest asylum."

"Is magic really seen in that bad a light around here?"

Eye contact was now achieved. "... ...Is that what I've been imagining? ...Terrific. Just terrific."

Yukari withdrew her fan from her sleeve and opened it, concealing her amused expression. "Do tell, young one. Do tell."

Ellen sighed. "...I really don't want to tell you this. I hope you know that."

"And I'd rather be sleeping in luxury right now. We all have to do things we don't want to do."

The child gave her a weird look. "...A day sleeper, are you?"

"You could say that."

There was a trace of amusement in Ellen's voice. "...That would explain a great deal."

Yukari frowned. "I don't want to know. Just start talking, please."

"...Little Miss No Fun," Ellen murmured, then cleared her throat when Yukari glared at her. "...Right. Let's see: how to explain..."

-GAP-

Yukari listened to it all: the imagery that ingrained itself into Ellen's mind, and the ability to discern the differences between them and call them what they were from infancy on... the boxed-in world that no library on Earth could hope to become... the conclusion that the girl had reached, that there was something not right about her intense drive to absorb everything there was to know but lacking the will to change that path... and the dreams she periodically had, seeing life through unfamiliar eyes. Everything she had seen had made the child wonder whether there was more to the world than what her limited perspective was telling her, and she yearned to see the rest of the world directly... but something was keeping her rooted in Rustboro, right here in this library. Her "glass is half-empty" view of life was brought on by her frustration as a result.

Ellen finally stopped talking after a while. Unused to heart-to-heart conversations, she had eventually quit taking her time between sentences and just let the words pour out one after another. Once her explanation was done, she slumped against the table and focused entirely on trying to catch her breath.

The overseer already knew what had troubled the girl all her life, and she suspected it to be a similar case with that Blaziken trainer she'd met yesterday. Ellen was this world's analogue of Patchouli Knowledge, and she was receiving some of the feedback from the youkai's life course. It was irritating, but not impossible to deal with: Yukari had seen cases such as this enough times over her long life- - -not that they happened often- - -to know that tweaking the local subjects' boundaries a bit kept them separate from their counterparts elsewhere in reality, letting them go on with their lives without interference. She didn't have that option here, though, at least not while her boundary manipulation ability was still blocked.

Still... maybe I can do something for this child before I leave. At least it would give her something to keep her mind occupied, and I can start seeing what I can do about getting my out-of-character moments out of the way before my quest ends.

Yukari got up, walked around the table, and sat herself in the chair next to Ellen. "I had no idea that your life was getting to be so... bothersome," she said gently. "I'd assumed you liked reading just for the sake of reading. You're not the first person I've met with that hobby."

"... ...Nothing wrong with that." Ellen took another deep breath before continuing, turning to face the youkai. "...I love to read, no question about that. It's the 'not leaving Rustboro' part that bothers me, and having to fool my parents into thinking that there's nothing wrong."

Yukari tentatively palmed one of Ellen's hands, enclosing it in her own. The girl's eyes twitched minutely, the only hint that she'd been startled by this action. "Thank you for telling me this," Yukari told her. "Tell you what: I still have my research to do, but I'll help your mother think of something that will get you going before I leave town. Is that alright?"

"...You're not the first one to try," Ellen murmured, her head lowered. Her breath caught in her throat for just a moment. "...If my parents couldn't do it, the gym leader couldn't do it and the comic book shop guy couldn't do it, then how could you figure out what they couldn't?"

/-/

"Serperior, launch me!"

/-/

A toothed smile and a blunt statement. "For all of their talents, Ellen, they don't have the experience and know-how that I do." Yukari frowned. "Although I fail to see what the comic book shop guy has to do with any of this- - -"

The conference room's door, which had been partially shut but not secured, slammed open. Yukari jumped in surprise, not expecting anyone to enter, and turned her head...

...just in time to catch an eyeful of an outraged librarian before Amber plowed into her, elbows first. Ellen quickly hit the floor to keep them from slamming into her, watching as the momentum and force carried them to the other end of the table.

"Filthy beast!" Amber howled as she sat on Yukari's back and grabbed her arms at the wrists, keeping her from summoning Midori. "I should never have trusted you! You're nothing more than a miserable pedophile! If scum wore shoes, you'd be the scum on the scum's shoes!"

What? Wha...? How did she jump to that conclus- - -... ... ...oh. "Mrs. Harrison, this is hardly what it looks like..."

"Save it," Amber hissed as a human-sized snake-like Pokémon slithered into the room to observe the proceedings. "Ellen, are you alright? Get to the phone and get Officer Jenny back here. Serperior, make sure she gets there without any trouble."

Silence.

"Ellen? Did you hear me?"

Ellen's face sunk into her hand, a motion that- - -unknownst to them- - -was mimicked by the youth outside the room. "...You're embarrassing me, mother."

"What? Ellen, what are you talking about?"

"...She wasn't harrassing me, mother. I was just talking to her about something important. She was helping me focus and trying to cheer me up. I was never in any danger."

"...Huh?" Amber's face lost some of its ferocity. "You weren't? But she... you were..."

"...No," Ellen told her firmly as she sat back in her seat. "She wasn't. Just because my head was down, my breathing was off and she was gripping my hand, that does not mean that she was going to assault me. Didn't you bother to listen to what was being said at all?"

The rest of Amber's anger left her, and she could feel her face burning. Slowly she let go of Yukari's wrists and eased off of her, standing up and extending a hand to her. "Mrs. Yukari? I... are you alright- - -GEEEEP!"

The Serperior at the door gasped and recoiled, spooked by the aura it was feeling. Ellen stayed quiet, letting the nervous sweat on her brow speak for her.

Their surprised reactions were brought about by the expression Yukari had fixed on Amber as the youkai pushed herself to her feet, her upper back aching from the ambush even as she ignored the librarian's offer of assistance. Her face was congenial and friendly, but it didn't take an astute observer to sense that she was just as angry as Amber had been just a minute before. "You know what will make me feel alright? A Pokémon battle. Outside. Before I lose my temper. As in right now."

Amber whimpered a little and shut her eyes in nervous frustration. "Why do I get myself into these situations?" she asked as she turned and walked out, recalling Serperior as she went. Yukari went after her, her smile now hinting more at anticipation than at anger.

Ellen got up, grabbed her book, and followed her as far as the door. "...Because your impulsiveness is a genetic trait?" she offered helpfully. "Grandpa used to do the same thing..."

Her mother refused to answer that one.

...

...

A geek greeted a bibliophile.

"Hiya. I'm Merril."

"...Hello. I'm Ellen."

"Nice to meet ya."

"...Nice to meet you, too."

A few beats.

"So, want to watch two grown women argue like preschoolers?"

"...Sure. Sounds like fun."

And thus the seeds of a friendship were planted.

-GAP-

Even inside her Poké Ball, Midori could sense that a test was on the way. To the best of her memory she had never battled at all while she was living with the Laydens, and while she and Yukari were on the road she hadn't done more than go through a few refresher courses. To be able to test her strength against an actual opponent... the very thought of it filled her with a sort of nervous excitement.

Something that irritated the Ninetales was that she still hadn't gotten the hang of Energy Ball yet. She liked the idea of having an offensive edge over rock- and water-types, the latter of which were in plentiful supply in Hoenn. There was still something missing from it, though... one last piece of the puzzle that she hadn't grasped yet.

Dismissing that for now and waiting for the command that would free her for battle, Midori hoped that whoever she faced, it wasn't someone with a type advantage over her. Her self-esteem was low enough as it was.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Koishi didn't know too many things about hospitals and doctor's offices, but it didn't take her long to decide that she didn't like them. Sure, they meant well, but the quality of their food completely defeated the purpose of helping the patient recover. Maybe I can get out of here by the end of the day. I never want to eat in this place again. Ever.

While she ate, she'd had a mental dialogue with the three embodiments about their respective backstories. The events that led up to her sealing her mind away weren't discussed in detail, only alluded to; she'd made it clear that she didn't want to think about those things, much less talk to others about them. What she did do was explain her race's primary ability, and what she did to circumvent that; she thought it better to focus on those instead of on the opinions of those prone to anger and violence. Following that she described her encounter with Hello-san with as much detail as she could recall.

It was after that that she was reminded of something that she disliked thinking about almost as much as her past.

/-/-/

Koishi's chopsticks clattered onto her tray with a bit more force than was actually needed. She gave Azelf a long look, a hand tightening its grip on the blankets. Mind repeating that little comment?

You have a yellow streak as wide as the street you walked on, Azelf told her bluntly. You're a coward. You care more about hiding from others' opinions than you do about dealing with them head-on.

Of course I do, Koishi returned hotly. I'm not a brave person. I'm not courageous. I never was. Until a few years ago, I was too afraid to breathe the open air because it would mean walking amongst people once again.

What changed? Uxie gently prodded.

I had learned from my sister that a human had defeated one of her pets in battle. Koishi smiled, dismissing her anger for the moment in favor of a kinder memory that the embodiments had inadvertantly unlocked. I ventured outside the Underground and went to a shrine on top of a mountain. There I fought against a girl dressed in red and white, and then against a friend of hers not long after. I gave it everything I had and then some, but I came out the loser anyway both times. ... The way they acted throughout, the things they said... something in me felt regret that I couldn't read their minds. I decided after that that maybe, just maybe, I could start meeting people again.

At the very least you're no recluse, Mesprit admitted. Thinking about that now, can you think of anything else you could have done in addition to that?

The few people still in the room took the empty tray from her, told her something she couldn't hear- - -to which she just nodded- - -then dimmed the lights a little and left the room to let her rest. Koishi's smile left her as she closed her eyes most of the way. You heard that conversation I was having with the nurse. How should I deal with the anger of people who have realized that every thought they have, both good and bad, can't be kept to themselves anymore? I can't just keep myself from blurting those things out; my entire race is like that, and we've never been successful at restraining ourselves. Really, beyond closing my Eye again, what can I do besides giving in to my cowardice?

The three embodiments turned aside from her, discussing this information quietly amongst themselves. The world around her regained its normal hues, and in the background Koishi could register a large number of thoughts overlapping each other. The farther away they were the quieter they got, but the sheer number of them was staggering; the tally inside the hospital- - -staff, patients and visitors all- - -was akin to some fair-sized villages that she'd been in somewhere in the past. She tried her best to ignore the majority of them, instead choosing to focus on ones that weren't far from the room.

As it turned out the first thought she clearly heard was that of the nurse's, Ms. Shayla Moon's. -/-Let's see... we didn't get much out of her before she flipped out. ...She looks about 15 years old, but she said she's older than she looks... early 20s, maybe? That happens to my mother a lot too, so it's no big deal. ... No Pokémon, but that's not unusual either. Some people just choose not to have any for whatever reason...-/-

A short pause, then a high-pitched squeal. Koishi figured it to be the mental voice of the butterfly that had accompanied the nurse, its language indecipherable. In a way, that was a relief; those who weren't well-versed in her native tongue were easier to deal with.

Ms. Moon's brain continued working. -/-I've taken care of a lot of unusual people over the last few years, but this takes the cake. She answered every one of my questions before I could ask them, almost like she'd known all along. I'd thought those cords were attached to her shoes, but after they were removed they adhered themselves to her feet instead, like they'd been there all along... I don't even want to think about how I got those pajamas on her with those blasted things in the way. And then there's the eyes, and not just that one over her heart... I've seen people without sclera, but I've never seen anyone whose pupils and irises were both the same color.-/-

Koishi sweatdropped. Without sclera? What the...?

-/-This... nothing about this makes sense at all! I don't get it! I just don't get it! How am I supposed to offer adequate care if the details are giving me fits? Yeah, those punctures are treated already, but still! How am I supposed to explain this to anyone? Agghh! I wish someone would give me a hint! They didn't teach these things in medical school! I... oh hey, mochi. Just what I needed! Wonder if I should save any for Tea...-/-

Her head sunk. On the one hand, the nurse's willingness to help was genuine. On the other- - -...

The world turned gray again as the embodiments finished their conversation with each other and turned to her. Koishi, Azelf spoke, what are your plans for the future?

"Nothing concrete beyond returning home," Koishi admitted. "Although I don't think Hello-san's going to want me to leave. Why?"

We have an offer we'd like to make, Uxie spoke in all seriousness. As you may have ascertained, there is a mystery afoot here in Sinnoh. If you're willing to help us solve it, we should be able to help you overcome that yellow streak.

"...Is this mystery so important to you that you'd allow someone like me to help?" Koishi asked, unsure. "A stranger in all but name?"

Mesprit nodded. Very much so, young one. Time and space are being tampered with, and we suspect that there is more than meets the eye. Those that can help us and would be willing to do so are not in a position to assist, so every set of eyes and every working mind that can assist us would be valued.

"Time and space..." Koishi breathed, awed. "I'm no scholar, but... ..." She sat up and started to throw the blankets off her, flinching as the pain centered around her wounds reminded her that she wasn't fully healed yet. She stopped before she could get off the bed, hesitating."...Should things not work out with my fears...?"

Then your extra Eye will no longer be any of our business, Uxie reassured her.

The satori took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and nodded. "...Alright. I'll do it." She stood up, still unsure but figuring that as long as she was in it, she wasn't going to take the shortcut out of it. "Give me a few minutes to get ready."

/-/-/

While Koishi was finishing doing that, she searched around the room for something to write on. It took a bit of looking, but she was able to locate a few pieces of scrap paper and a pen in one of the counter's drawers. She spared a moment to look at the pen in wonder, wondering how they got the ink inside of it, then dismissed her curiosity and got to writing.

She felt bad leaving the hospital early and leaving her nurse in the lurch. For all that Ms. Moon was frustrated and upset at things deep down, she was an honest-hearted individual and sought to do her job as best as she could. Koishi didn't want to depart from the facility without giving her at least some sort of explanation for why things were the way they were. She deserved better than that; the satori made a note to herself to return someday- - -hopefully remembering to eat before visiting the hospital- - -and explain things in further detail. Perhaps the day would come when- - -...

An ominous hiss-like whoosh.

Koishi, behind you! Azelf barked in warning- - -...

She dropped the note and whirled around without questioning the command, heart danmaku slung from her hands as she turned. The armored intruder, whoever it was, sidestepped left and let the bullets disperse against the wall- - -...

The world abruptly regained its color. Koishi hissed between her teeth at the myriad thoughts again tap-dancing through her head, and she noted the three unconscious embodiments, their illusions broken and their bodies held by- - -...

A quick flash of white at the base of her neck, and a paralyzing sensation. Her eyes widened just for a moment before she crumpled unceremoniously to the floor, wondering why she hadn't seen it coming in the moments before the blackness claimed her again.

The entire encounter had taken less than seven seconds.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Hello-san looked up only briefly as his hired hands arrived in his realm through a prismatic door, two of them carrying the Lake Trio and the third carrying the catatonic Koishi; a fourth figure, the Bisharp that had distracted her long enough for the capture to be carried out, dogged their heels. "You know what to do," Hello-san uttered, returning his permanent glare to the vast nothingness.

From the perspective of those in this plane of reality, there wasn't much to look it around here. The room's ceiling was too far above everyone's heads to be visible, and the gray walls (what few there were) shifted to darker and darker shades the higher they went before finally becoming jet black. The floor was one gigantic marble tile, a dark bluish-green in color, stretching in all directions and vanishing into the distant horizon.

Three glass pillars, again stretching up to the ceiling and filled with a navy blue-shaded liquid, pieced themselves together out of thin air. It was in these that Hello-san's workers placed Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit as they were waking up. The Pokémons' eyes flashed red, then returned to normal as the pillars' psychic buffers were activated, much to their frustration and surprise. To their credit, they recovered from this quickly and turned to glare out at their captors, quivering in silent rage as they floated in the liquid.

If Hello-san and the shadowy forms had known why their eyes had glowed, they would've been much more cautious. Instead of thinking about that, they concerned themselves with securing their prize in place against a wall next to the pillars. They figured that the misshapen bindings, glittering in a way that suggested that they'd been crafted from the dust of a thousand jewels each, ought to be enough to hold her.

Koishi awakened while they were doing this, something which surprised everyone present; they had expected her to be incapable of action for at least another half hour. Not letting herself be distracted by her surroundings, she struggled wildly to free herself, decking one of her captors in its metal-like face with a rosy bullet before it could step away- - -...

A twisted energy emanated from those bindings that had been already secured, halting her movements. There was an unpleasant feeling like that of fire and ice simultaneously burning and freezing in her veins, making her cringe and grit her teeth. The captors underestimated Koishi once again, though; it would've been enough to put a human back under wraps, but as she'd demonstrated twice already today she was something other than human. The best the energy could do was keep her still long enough for the rest of the bindings to be secured.

"Your job is done," Hello-san affirmed, not looking at his helpers. "You may go."

The three shadowy humans nodded. One of them raised a Poké Ball and recalled Bisharp, who was still staring at Koishi in stunned disbelief from getting socked in the face by a flower. "Thank you, oh mighty Hello-san," he spoke; the satori could tell that he was laying the sarcasm on real thick. "You are certainly a credit to humanity. The simplistic way you tell people that they can leave, your can-do attitude, your ability to inform others how high you want them to jump- - -"

"Please," Hello-san interrupted. Koishi couldn't get a distinct view of him no matter how hard she tried, but she got the impression that he was massaging his forehead. "Just go, and tell your master that I do not want you on my doorstep again."

"Certainly," the shadowed human said agreeably. He nodded at the others, and the trio teleported away in a flash of darkness.

The room was quiet for a handful of minutes; only the distant hum of machinery somewhere filled the air. Koishi tested her bindings, again cringing as that frozen flame iced her insides, and settled back disappointedly. As if a bad day couldn't get any worse. Has reality taken sick leave or something?

"You caused more trouble than I expected."

Koishi stayed quiet. After everything she'd seen and discussed, she didn't much like the idea of conversing with this strange being anymore.

"Letting you enter this world at Mt. Coronet was not the intended plan. I knew that those three..." At this Hello-san's glare centered itself on the Lake Trio. "...would investigate. Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf... they have just as much of a history with that mountain as they do with the lakes that they call home." A shake of the head. "But you had to enter this world through there instead of the far-off Kanto region, a land that lacks Sinnoh's rich history..."

"You'd change your course too," Koishi softly informed him, "if you were pursued by a volatile kappa shell."

"...Point taken."

Again, a long silence. This time, Koishi was the one who broke it. "Tell me, Hello-san. Do you fancy yourself a god that can do whatever he pleases? Is that why you want to change the world? Is that why you tricked me into following a path that would leave me far from home?"

Hello-san answered her calmly. "I did not deceive you, Komeiji. You chose to walk that path of your own accord- - -"

"- - -when I didn't know any better. That's a fancy way of saying 'yes'," Koishi told him calmly, for once quietly satisfied that he seemed taken back.

"Hold your tongue, girl. I don't just fancy myself a god like you claim I do. When your might and knowledge surpasses that of the world as a whole, and when you reach a level beyond their understanding- - -"

"- - -then it is only natural to call yourself a god," Koishi again finished. "Don't bother trying to explain that to me, for I just don't buy it. It takes more than intelligence and strength to make a god." Which was true, actually; Kanako and Suwako had those qualities, sure, but there were plenty of others in Gensokyo that had either one or both. It was the nature of their existence that left no doubt that they were gods, whereas Hello-san just felt wrong. Out the corner of her eye, she could see Mesprit and the others nodding in agreement.

Hello-san disagreed with her on that; that much was obvious from what Koishi was picking up. "...You've made a serious mistake, Komeiji- - -"

"That's only one person's opinion," Koishi softly muttered.

Without any provocation on her part, the bindings triggered themselves. Hello-san continued to speak as Koishi stifled a cry and bit down, trying to withstand the internal pain; he felt it uncivilized to be sure, but he wanted to be able to finish his sentences. "I'd given you an opportunity, empty-headed one. The chance to become a magistrate of a remade world, to lord yourself over those that lived without senseless thoughts and feelings. Everything a person could ever want or need...everything you could ever want or need... and you let it slip away like a frightened Rattata. Why? Why did you discard my offer and shun my curiosity?"

Koishi clenched her teeth, weathering the freezing flame until she could no longer feel it bothering her. "If you feel that you have an acute awareness of my needs and wants... then it becomes easier to determine what you are." Her glare matched itself against Hello-san's own, every bit as stressed as she was feeling. "If you really were an all-knowing god, whether benevolent or malevolent, you would not have to rely solely on your eyes and experience. You would be able to accurately discern everything and act accordingly. Everything, right down to the tiniest details."

Scorn claimed its VIP seating next to Anger. Normally she would've shied away from being so open, but now that she was cornered she felt she had nothing to lose by speaking her mind. "But you rely on those just a little too heavily. You are not familiar with my past, nor my life. You do not know why my brain was a blank slate when we met. You know only what you see, and what that strange ability of yours allows you to ascertain."

The corners of her mouth twitched. "I never thought I'd say this, but the embodiments did me a favor by opening my Eye. You're doubtless a very charismatic human like that ninja said, and it's obvious that you have serious power, but you're just that: a human, with powers that humans were never meant to have, with human thoughts and feelings. ... Me? I'm a satori, Hello-san... and your heart is an open book. This world of Pokémon is not deserving of change like you implied it to be. Do not tell me otherwise, for you will not fool me anymore."

Koishi's words echoed loudly in the mostly empty space. She waited for the internal pain that signalled Hello-san's irritation with her speech, but it didn't come. There was only silence as the strange being considered her words. The embodiments too were looking at her, surprised at her sudden burst of courage.

When Hello-san finally spoke, it was with a quiet sense of annoyance and disbelief. "Your homeworld must not be known for its geniuses."

"Nor for its common sense," Koishi agreed.

"Yes, that much is a given. Common sense ought to have dictated to you that- - -"

"- - -you do not talk back to a person who could punish you in unimaginable ways."

Hello-san had enough. Another binding materialized over Koishi's mouth, silencing her temporarily; her eyes widened a moment, then shifted to an expression of outright vehemence. Her captor shook his head. "Refrain from giving me that look. I've grown tired of the rude behavior that you've persisted in. Be thankful that I chose the lesser of two evils; I could have easily selected duct tape instead."

The being could see the speech bubble and question mark that appeared next to Koishi; he shook his head. "...Forget what I said." The binding vanished just as easily as it appeared, and he turned away. "Remain silent, mindless one, and see what I have in store."

Bronze dust, silver smoke, and golden light manifested out of nothing, melding together seamlessly and forming assorted shapes and objects. Koishi didn't recognize anything that was being pieced together beyond those: an octagonal base almost as wide as the Palace's main corridor... a multitude of pretty lights and buttons... dark green screens with bright green text and pictures... some sort of great box atop the base, with some collapsable cylinders and thick wires connecting the two... a long tube sticking out of the box away from her, extending seven meters past the edge of the base- - -...

Koishi's heart skipped a beat, and she almost choked. That long tube reminded her eerily of Utsuho's control rod/arm cannon. Is it going to have the same use...? "That... is that meant for me?" she asked weakly. "Surely I don't warrant that much..."

"Fear not," Hello-san answered her, the words reassuring but the tone unsympathetic. "Against you, it would be useless. No. I have something else I would like to test it on."

No... "Leave the embodiments out of this!" Koishi snapped, making the Lake Trio focus on her more intently. "If your problem is with me, then deal with me, not them!"

"The very qualities that Arceus created them with would render it ineffectual as well, Komeiji. Further adjustments still remain to be done before their world is ready to change. The Terraformation..."

A bright flash of light from past the cannon's edge made Koishi cry out in surprise, and she squeezed her eyes shut. When they finally adjusted to the light and slowly opened, she realized that another one of those psychedelic portals had been created, one far larger than the one she'd traveled through. Mesprit and the others' own startled cries had a note of understanding to them, as if the puzzle they'd wanted her to help solve had already been cleared up.

"...has a much more pliable target."

The Terraformation, as Hello-san had called it, hummed as he readied it for his so-called test. The inside of the barrel became suffused with a dark glow. "Forty percent. That should be sufficient. Yes... your homeland shall be cleansed of frivolous feelings. Anger, joy, everything in between... everyone that carries those things... shall be purged from existence."

N... no... everyone...!

Images of people she knew flashed before Koishi's eyes, and her lips quivered as she thought of them all. Kokoro, the youkai she'd quarreled with over the Mask of Hope. Byakuren Hijiri, who let her come and go at the Temple as she pleased. The red-white shrine maiden and black-white magician who had made her regret the decision she'd made. Assorted children and others who'd crossed her path, almost all of whom would never know or remember who they'd met. The Underground's local Traffic Accident. A birdbrained powerhouse.

And her beloved older sister, the worrywart.

"Terraformation, all systems ready. Fire."

Before the machine could release its payload, its hum increasing in pitch, Koishi screamed at the top of her lungs...

"SAAAATOOOORIIIIIII!""

...and her world faded to black.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Marisa sat atop her broom, hovering over the Forest's trees as Mismagius fluttered around her. She studied the air closely, looking for any signs of disturbance. "You said this was where you saw that rainbow tunnel earlier? Doesn't look like there's anything there now..."

Yes! This is the place. I'm sure of it! Mismagius confirmed, utterly confident in her words.

"Hmmm..." Marisa didn't look quite so sure. She cupped her chin and drifted closer. "I didn't think portals were supposed to be that obvious... but, I'm just a human. What do I know?"

You mean you've seen holes like that before? The 'ghost hat' positively shivered with delight. You are amazing, mistress!

Marisa scratched the back of her head, sweatdropping. "Hey now, ghost hat, it ain't that great. There's a lot of things I've seen, alright? Quit getting so worked up, would you?"

Oh. Okay. Mismagius hung her head, shamefaced. Sorry, mistress.

Marisa waved it off. "Eh, you don't have to apologize. You're young, you'll get over it. Now, is there anything else about the hole that you can remember? Tell me everything, ze."

There's not much else I can recall, the Mismagius admitted. Just that I saw someone walking inside before it closed.

"Someone...? Can you describe who it was?"

It was weird. She had this purple thing on her that sort of looked like a closed eye, and these ropes between it and her feet. And she was talking to thin air before she disappeared.

"A closed eye...?" Marisa shut her own eyes, shutting out everything else for the sake of thought. That sounds familiar... really familiar. But my brain... it just doesn't want to make the connection. Did I meet someone like that before? Maybe in the Underground?... No, it wasn't then... her eye was open. So, who-

Even as a shriek of 'Mistress! Look out!' blasted through her mind, an eruption of power manifested itself five meters away. Both magician and Pokémon were catapulted away from it, tumbling end over end sixty meters before Marisa could right herself. Not as experienced in controlling her flight, it took the wailing Mismagius a bit longer to regain her stability.

When the living ghost finally returned to her, she could see what had caused it: another one of those rainbow holes, at least five times the size of a full-grown man and much bigger within than without. All seven colors blended together seamlessly, twisting and twirling, creating a path that seemed like it stretched on forever but ultimately had some unknown destination. Pinpricks of light could be glimpsed around the tunnel, streaking to and from the portal's inner edges. "How about it, Shiver?" Marisa hissed through her teeth, grimacing at something. "Was this what you saw?"

Yes, Mismagius confirmed, not noticing that she hadn't been called 'ghost hat'. Positively. Absolutely. Abstively posilutely. She shot Marisa a worried look. Are you alright?

"Felt like I'd just been punched by Unzan..." Marisa growled. "Must have been because of how close that thing was when it appeared... I sort of feel like I should punch back, ze." She smirked. "In fact, that's sounding more and more like a good idea."

The poor Pokémon looked completely flabbergasted when she heard her mistress's intention. Huh? She looked at the portal, then at Marisa again. How do you punch something like that? ...And what does it mean to 'punch' something again?

"Watch and learn," Marisa said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out her mini-hakkero as she drifted closer to the portal. "Want to see a cool trick?"

Okay! Mismagius chirped, her confusion forgotten. What are you going to do?

"I'm going to give you your first magic lesson, so listen well. It's not a difficult thing if you're paying attention."

Okay, she repeated. I'm listening!

Marisa nodded. She waited until she was a few meters shy of the portal's entrance, then stopped and spoke. "First, you need to concentrate your mind and focus with all your heart." She closed her eyes, going through the motions for Mismagius's sake. "Tenderly whisper to that special something or someone. ...Are you with me?"

Yes, mistress.

"Good." She raised the softly-glowing mini-hakkero, pointing it straight down the center of the portal. "If you can do those things, everything else is a breeze... for when you aim at something you don't like..." Marisa's expression received a diploma, graduating from a smirk to a grin as her weapon of choice shined white. "...an annihilation of love will be unleashed!"

Before she could be questioned about that, Marisa shouted at the top of her voice...

"MAGICCANNON: FINALLLL... MASTERRRR... SPARRRRK!"

...and Mismagius's world faded to white.

/-/-/-/-/

The Terraformation was Hello-san's masterpiece, created over the course of three months. None of those he had "recruited" to carry out his plans knew what the machine was made of, nor what powered it. They knew only what it was intended to do: eliminate all life that Hello-san deemed unnecessary while doing only a minimal amount of damage to its target at large. From there, he would work more or less from scratch to reshape the world and its remaining inhabitants, sentient and otherwise, into his image.

Hello-san had hoped to further test his control over his agent "Hearse" and that remarkable power of hers, fixing the errors he had made along the way; more Pokémon and assorted trash had made its way to that other world than he would've liked. The time for engaging in those activities had sadly passed by: Koishi had dared to test his patience and defy his expectations of her, and her homeworld would have to face the consequences, lest someone else from there discover his activities and attempt to challenge him.

(BGM: Sonic Colors OST ~ "Reach For the Stars" Orchestra Version)

A blistering beam of black, blue, and green roared through the dimensional tunnel that "Hearse's" powers had opened. The distance between the tunnel's entry points was great, stretching for at least 20 kilometers as rendered in reality; too close, and it was possible that everything that had come about since his advent would self-destruct from the proximity of the shockwave.

Hello-san waited and observed the situation, confident that Koishi wouldn't try anything to make things worse for herself by attempting to escape. It shouldn't be long before her world, whatever it was like, would be free of intelligent thought and the drive that went with it.

...

Several long seconds passed before he realized that something was wrong. He turned first to reassure himself that yes, Koishi was still bound... but the differences between before and now were the greatly relieved smile on her face, the tears that brimmed but didn't fall, and the words she was uttering under her breath:

"She's reportedly said that 'Rainbow' is the color of tough love. I should've known she was serious..."

And turning back towards the portal, Hello-san realized what she meant.

Something was resisting the Terraformation's mighty roar. On first glance he thought that the dimensional tunnel itself was resisting the blast; his initial tests with the weapon had shown him that such a thing was prone to happen... But no: the tunnel wasn't responsible, and if he hadn't seen the true cause of it firsthand he would not have believed it.

A gargantuan laser blast, white at its very core but overlaid with each visible color on the spectrum, was blocking the way roughly nine kilometers from the target zone. Like a pair of sumo wrestlers pushing against each other, or- - -if one was fond of more amusing mental imagery- - -like a family of squabbling Wobbuffets, the twin superweapons sought to overwhelm the other through sheer force. Neither was successful in this, though, as the contact points didn't shift more than eleven meters either way.

Hello-san snorted softly. Darkness fighting the light... he supposed a lesser person might have laughed at that sort of irony. The beam's color was something he had no control over, though. It was just how it turned out to be. As for something that he could manipulate...

Checking the Terraformation's readings to reassure himself that undue stress wasn't being put on the machine from the struggle, he manipulated its controls to increase the power output to its maximum. The beam pulsed as it widened, increasing in size by thirty-five percent and outgrowing its opponent by a decent margin.

Another few seconds passed, and Hello-san folded his arms as he witnessed what took place. The Terraformation was beginning to win out, making some progress towards the other end of the portal. The distance from the other side steadily shrunk to seven and a half kilometers, then six, then five. He nodded in satisfaction, then settled in to wait for the results.

That moment of relaxation was what was going to cost him.

/-/-/-/

Marisa knew something was wrong when smoke began to rise from her hakkero; the device was becoming hotter the longer she held it. The only time she'd ever felt it overheat was a few years ago, when Reimu had successfully timed out her "Blazing Star" Last Word during one of their duels, and even then it didn't look or feel this bad. The magician couldn't tell what was causing it to overheat, just that it was, and it was starting to worry her. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to keep her hands forward as she tried to stand- - -or float, rather- - -her ground.

Almost forgotten next to her was Mismagius; the ghost Pokémon was all but blinded as she tried to comprehend the powers at work here, and failing terribly. Everything that was happening was far out of her realm of comprehension, and she felt more afraid than she'd been when she had first ventured through the tunnel to Gensokyo.

Hearing Marisa grunt as she struggled to keep steady, Mismagius spared a quick look at her beleaguered mistress before squinting back at the ongoing Mister Spock, or whatever it was it had been called. Some instinctive voice at the back of her mind was screaming at her to help Marisa in some way, but what could she possibly do to...?

"It's not a difficult thing if you're paying attention."

...

She nodded. Of course. It's just a laser. It's not hard to do. I can do this.

Concentrate. Focus on what you need to do. Focus.

A quiet sigh as Mismagius closed her eyes and looked inside herself for any sort of power she could use to bring to the fore. Focus...

Focus...

Concentrate...

Sparkles appeared before her as if out of nothing, being pulled to the surface as she mimicked Marisa's actions as best as she could. Mismagius's abilities normally would not have permitted her to try something like this so soon in her life, and they weren't truly "magical" in the strictest sense. After being unfused from her mistress, though, Gensokyo's magic-heavy environment had begun to work wonders with her potential...

Mismagius's telepathic voice was as delicate as a flower petal as she whispered softly, remembering that nice pink-haired nurse lady who had taken care of her for her first few weeks of life. The sparkles that materialized responded to her call much more quickly.

The Misdreavus line was, from a battle standpoint, most well-known for their use of Pain Split and Perish Song. This was far from the extent of their capabilities; while the line was defensively fragile, attacks such as Shadow Ball still packed a solid punch. As the sparkles gathered, condensed and repeated the process several times over, one such attack began to manifest itself.

A look of iron cuteness settled on Mismagius's face as she squinted at what was giving her mistress so much trouble, ignoring the sweat that had gathered above her eyes from the Magiccannon's proximity. She could hear Marisa's pained, stubborn growls as she refused to yield to the onslaught, the hakkero searing hot. That portal just had to go, no question there; so Mismagius, shrieking like a banshee, released her love-filled annihilation.

MUSIC CRAYON: FINALLLL MISTERRRR SPOCCKKKK!

/-/-/

The, um, "Mister Spock" never touched the warring superweapons, its aim too far off-center. Mismagius's contribution, which was intended to support her mistress directly (and likely wouldn't have helped much, considering her single-digit level), instead curved up and over the beams upon entry as the warped physics and gravity of the tunnel had its way with it. The FMS spiraled and twisted around and around, picking up speed as it went...

...until it made a rather spectacular exit, screaming into Hello-san's realm and detonating against the Terraformation's base at the precise moment that he lowered his guard.

...!

Gensokyo's answer to the Hyper Beam had gone where no man had gone before.

With the Terraformation's full power devoted to empowering the beam, nothing could contribute towards its defense; thus, there was nothing stopping Mister Spock from severely damaging its exterior and rupturing its power supply. Assorted implosions and explosions wrecked it further, and the machine's output dropped to almost nothing; the energy it was producing shrunk from room-sized to pin-sized, turning the tide in the Magiccannon's favor and earning a low comment of "fascinating" from an unseen source.

/-/

Feeling the resistance give way through the pain she was feeling, Marisa let herself smile fiercely for just a moment. Pumping every last drop of energy she could muster into the spell, she screamed at the portal- - -knowing that she couldn't be heard over the FMS's roar but not caring in the slightest.

"RIDE THE DREAMLAND EXPRESS DA ZE~!"

/-/

Twin bolts of psychic power lanced down from the unseen ceiling- - -probably courtesy of the embodiments, though she knew not how- - -and struck the bonds that held Koishi, shattering them into hundreds of pieces. Seizing the opportunity and hoping that Hello-san would be distracted by a certain more pressing concern, she directed a quick barrage of heart bullets at the pillars where Mesprit and its companions were held. "Move, move, move move move move move MOVE!" she cried as she whirled around, hearing the thick glass break apart but not taking the time to care, and flew at top speed at the still-open portal. This is going to be cutting it close...!

...

The shining light of a rainbow bright filled the room with an ordinary magician's wrath.

...

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

When Shayla- - -still struggling over how to handle her situation- - -returned to Miss Komeiji's room to see if she was still resting, she found that she had disappeared; the blankets were halfway across the bed and the high-quality clothes on the chair had been taken, leaving the pajamas in their place. Great... now what? Don't tell me she had a relapse and decided to run away or something...

She was just about to direct Butterfree to alert someone when she saw the discarded pen and scrap paper that were on the floor. Picking them up, she set aside her clipboard for a moment and read the paper silently.

There wasn't much there. "I'm sorry that I had to go. There's a lot I want to say, but too little time, so I'll be brief: I owe you all an apology for my behavior... bad memories and all. But aside from that, I don't think anyone here can really understand wh"

...

...And that was it. Cut off right in the middle of a sentence, with no further indication of what the hospital staff couldn't really understand. The girl had said she'd be brief, but Shayla didn't think it would be that brief, and she suspected the worst. "Butterfree? Be a dear and get the doctor back up here, please? If he's busy, that's fine; just find whomever. We need to let the police know that we've got ourselves a runaway, at best." And an abduction at worst, she added, looking up and seeing the black scorch marks along one wall. Is that from an Ember attack, or...?

"Freeee," the Butterfree answered agreeably, wings flapping as it exited the room. The nurse re-read the note, then sighed irritably. There'd be days like this, my mother said... And here I was going to ask the girl about that weird eye, too.

Guess I'll probably never know...

/-/-/-/-/

The portal was shrinking bit by bit, having learned its lesson (whatever it was supposed to be, anyway). After the Final Master Spark had finally let up, Marisa was forced to let her smoking hakkero drop to the ground. The palm of her right hand and the tips of her fingers on her left hand felt like they were on fire, and it hurt to move them even a little.

Down below, Mismagius was sprawled sideways on the ground near the hakkero, out cold and exhausted from the complete violation of the natural order she'd just performed. The ghost hat's telepathic screech hadn't gone unnoticed, but her mistress hadn't expected her to take in her first lesson that well, much less blow through her entire supply of energy trying to copy the FMS.

Weird... majorly tired and a half... What was all of that?

Marisa felt as if her arms were going to fall off from the strain it had taken to keep that stunt from overwhelming her, and the rest of her body wasn't in the mood to cooperate. She tried to keep herself steady as she lowered herself to the ground, but even so she almost fell off her broom...

...only to be caught and straightened by two pairs of arms. "Easy now," she could hear Alice speaking, several of her dolls diving towards the ground and picking up the unconscious Mismagius. "Don't move around too much."

"I saw what went down over here," Reimu said a bit heatedly, the miko hovering in Marisa's field of vision as she assisted the puppeteer. "Marisa, just what in the world were you thinking? If your little servant hadn't stepped up to help...!"

That smile of hers, tired as it was, was typical of Marisa. "We were having a fistfight. I won."

Reimu's gobsmacked silence answered her. "..."

Marisa's smile weakened a little. "Say it. You know you want to."

"...What."

"There. That's more like it." She focused her eyes, trying to see what all of those little blurs were around the trees. Definitely not a natural tiredness I'm feeling. "...What's that I'm seeing here? Everything's one big mess. Like my eyes are doing a tango, and I'm not invited."

She'd had been too distracted to notice, but the portal's opening and subsequent light show had gotten the attention of every no-name fairy, low-level youkai, and Pokémon within miles. Even a handful of Gensokyo's more familiar figures were present; Ran, Chen, and Creampuff had shown up just before the big finish, as had Mokou, Cirno, the Three Fairies of Light and Youmu Konpaku (who had been in the Human Village, restocking Yuyuko's food supplies). When Alice wryly pointed this out, Marisa shook her head slowly. "Of all the times to get a crowd... come on, people!Go away! The contest is over!"

A nod from Reimu, who took a defensive position next to Marisa and Alice. To make sure they got the point, she made sure that both her gohei and a Spell Card were visible. "Break it up, everyone. Break it up. There's nothing more to see here. Go home."

The assorted youkai grumbled, but left them alone. Youmu was the next to depart, figuring that everything was well in hand and that serving Yuyuko was more important. Most everyone else soon followed suit, except for the named fairies and Ran's group. The latter was about to ask for the full story from Marisa, but Reimu and Alice were quick to indicate that getting the magician and Pokémon treated was more important. Out of obligation to Yukari and her assignment, Ran refused to let the matter rest and insisted on following them to Eientei. After some initial reluctance they agreed and followed Mokou over there, first coercing Cirno into keeping Marisa's hands cool.

The Three Fairies were too busy playing "Hot Potato" with the discarded hakkero to see Koishi slipping through the portal just before it fully disintegrated. The satori took a deep breath just to savor the feeling of being back in Gensokyo, then flew off to where she knew the Underground's entrance was located. After everything she'd gone through today, there was only one place she wished to be.

...

A question plagued Reimu's mind all the way to Eientei: Why wasn't the Master Spark being used under the Spell Card system when it very well should have been? I'm not protesting it... not this time, anyway. I just wish I knew why...

...

It was no surprise to anyone that Aya Shameimaru was already waiting for everyone at Eientei. Aya agreed to wait until Eirin dealt with Marisa before compiling any information, although Alice had to swipe her notepad and pen before things could reach that point.

...

"Croa... croa... croa..."

And miles away near Misty Lake, an antsy Croagunk stared in the direction where the portal had been. It would be a little while before he could bring himself to walk away.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Such troublesome matters.

The Terraformation was a complete loss, bits and pieces of it scattered everywhere and embedded in every visible surface. Only Hello-san's own mighty power had kept its final cataclysmic explosion- - -caused by the very superweapon that it had fought against- - -from destroying everything else in his domain. He had severely underestimated his target; someone on the other side had expected him to strike, and had come fully prepared to thwart Stage One. He had been under the impression that the residents there had no real power of their own, that they wouldn't know what to do with the Pokémon he had transported there on a whim. After the machine's destruction, it occurred to him that for all his power, that didn't mean that he was omniscent.

Anyone could make a mistake, but it could become much worse if the mistake was never corrected.

There was no denying it now: that world's residents were threats to his plan. Koishi had made a smart move, immediately fleeing while he was distracted by the Terraformation's destruction. If that Future Sight attack hadn't worked out, or if she had lingered for even a few seconds, then she and his old adversaries would not have been long for this world. As it was she was long gone, out of range of his full power, and the Lake Trio had fled under a dangerous cover of light and fury. He could capture them again, probably, but there wouldn't be much point to it yet.

How should I deal with this?, he wondered. He could just not open any further portals to that world altogether and remove what remained of his influence, leaving the Pokémon there stranded and its residents unable to interfere... but further analysis showed that a permanent closure was impossible: there was something connecting the two worlds that was undefinable. An aura, perhaps, or some sort of tether that transcended reality and metaphysical understanding? Were they meant to be "mirror worlds" of a sort, existing on opposite sides of the same coin? Whatever the case might be, though, even if he stopped opening portals there, an enemy party from either side could manage to breach the outskirts of his domain if they tried hard enough.

Before he could transform one world, he would have to destroy the other one first.

Hello-san shook his head as he thought about the Trio. Those three have interfered with me for the last time. First they eliminated a potentially useful ally, disrupted my attempt to create a new world for myself, and now they've subverted someone who could've potentially survived the eventual Terraformation of this world completely unharmed and unchanged. Something will have to be done about them soon.

I have the information I sought to locate, and I have no further need for pawns. Agent Hearse may do as she wishes in the short time she has left, for I do not require that girl's unique power anymore; it can now be reproduced without the aid of a catalyst. Now that my presence has become known, I do not need any others to act on my behalf. From now on, it all comes down to me, and me alone. I have a plan, one that should neutralize all comers once my efforts come to fruition... but for now, I must rest and ponder recent events.

One day soon, those who survive will awaken in a new world... a world without spirit.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"It did not go the way he expected it to go."

"Do you suspect that he underestimated the source of that blast?"

"More than that. He was not expecting there to be any resistance at all."

"He claims that he has what he is searching for."

"So we can return home?"

"...If we so choose. However, I have an idea."

"Do tell us."

"We were allowed to follow his instructions within reason, and we have done so. However, our orders were to counter anything that would jeopardize the plan... the plan of our wonderful leader."

"Whoever is on the other side would certainly qualify, if he or she was able to cancel out the Terraformation. If the perpetrator passed through the portal after the fact..."

"Perhaps, but perhaps not. I have found it more likely that it is 'Hello-san's' intentions that would put the plan in danger. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine the repercussions that would come about, were he to succeed."

"So, what shall we do?"

"We shall remain in Sinnoh and watch, keeping the rest of the team up to date. We must ensure that nothing of importance takes place. If need be, we will step in to derail that which would endanger the world."

"Indeed. For if the world were to fall, where would we be? Where would our master be? Would he be able to obtain the glory he seeks? If the source of such glory is gone, then you already know the answer. And you know as well as I do that he would agree."

"It is decided, then. For the sake of our master, we shall stay and protect his ambitions."

"For we..."

"...the Shadow Triad..."

"...have been, and always will be..."

"...the loyal servants of Ghetsis."

Three shadowy blurs disappeared, and silence was king once more.

/-/-/-/-/-/

To say Satori was surprised was an understatement. A bandaged Koishi had flown into the Palace late that afternoon and arrowed straight for the study, and the elder sister had detected her thoughts well before they could stand face to face. Seeing the open eye served to confirm what had happened, and right away she knew that it was a serious matter.

"I suspect that there's quite a story- - -"

"- - -to tell," Koishi finished, fiddling with her fingers nervously. "There is. And it's definitely- - -"

"- - -going to be something big." Satori reached over to cat-Rin, who was asleep in a small basket, and scratched her behind the ears as they talked. "How important- - -"

"- - -is it? Important enough that Gensokyo on the whole- - -"

"- - -is in danger, Underground and all. This is troubling." Satori's tired frown turned downwards a bit more. "And what about you?"

"How I'm feeling? It's..." Koishi sighed heavily. "...complicated. For once, I really do need to think about things."

"You saw another world," Satori breathed in silent awe. Her eyes narrowed a moment later, coldly furious. "And someone forced open your heart?"

Koishi held up a hand to derail Satori's train of thought. "Don't be upset, Satori. There's trouble over there, the same as here. I was mad at first, but not anymore. Can I talk to you about it? Sister to sister?"

Satori nodded without hesitation, calming down and giving her a quick hug. "You don't need my permission. Let's get some tea first, then we'll talk."

/-/

As she had suggested, tea and dinner were enjoyed soon afterward. Rin woke up while they were finishing, and Utsuho stopped by on her way back to her bedroom/nursery, so of course that required more refreshments to be brought in. Stories were told by everyone present, Koishi filling them in on her misadventures while the others talked of recent events in the Underground.

While everyone took their turns narrating, Koishi settled onto her cushion contentedly. She knew that she should probably revert to the status quo soon, but for now she decided to enjoy this gathering for what it was. These interactions with those that she considered family, both by blood and not, those that didn't care if she could read minds or not... she would never trade them for anything.

Joy... and pain... are like sunshine... and rain.

...

"You were run over by a trained bird? That had to be embarrassing."

"Not as embarrassing as discovering that Utsuho found a boyfriend without your knowledge, big sister."

"...Touche."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit's Movesets: ?
Approximate Level: 70

Koishi's Notes: I still haven't closed my Third Eye back up yet... I can't help but wonder. My dealings with the three embodiments and Hello-san has got me wondering: Am I right to regress backwards and shut out others' minds because I can't face up to my fears? It's a natural thing to want to do, and I know I'll end up doing it again sooner or later... my heart can not deal with the thought of being hated. But I could feel that being's enmity burning like a bonfire, no matter how much he tried to hide it... and going back to our first encounter, even with my subconscious in control, I couldn't escape its notice undetected; at least the embodiments, according to them, needed to try to focus on me. I have no answers for that. I just don't understand... but I do know one thing is for sure:

I've got a decision to make, and I've got to make it soon.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

SEMI-ORIGINAL CHARACTER ALERT

Name: Zanthia Quarry

Gensokyo Counterpart: Fujiwara no Mokou

Quote: "Greet the future with your fists! Burn, Blaziken!"

Species: Human

Pokémon: Hariyama, Camerupt, Blaziken

Physical Description: A tough and strong adolescent who enjoys working out with her Pokémon. Lightly tanned. Dresses primarily in purple and black summer clothes, with the exception of a red-white bow in her black hair. Wears a pair of flame-patterned fingerless gloves.

History: Was born in Lilycove, but raised in Lavaridge. Is a traveling trainer, one of many seeking to become a Pokémon master. Likes to battle, even if it means provoking others into accepting her challenges, but doesn't get too upset when they refuse. Competes in the regional tournaments yearly, but as yet has been unable to get very far; this isn't due to a lack of skill on her part, but rather because Serena Caretti is also in attendance. The Quarry and Caretti families have been feuding for several centuries, although any hatred Zanthia has for Serena is less because of that and more because she is unable to defeat her when it really counts (and if you ask her about that, she'll loudly declare that Serena is an airbrained and arrogant imbecile who isn't worth the air she breathes).