Summary: Human turned Pokémon have suddenly started disappearing without explanation. Their teammates and loved ones are left to scramble about in worry and wonder as to where their missing friends may be. However, the arrival of Celine, a newly human turned Pokémon, suggests that the Pokémon world is in danger once again. As she sets out on her journey, she is blissfully unaware of the darkness that follows her and her team…
-x-x-x-x-
Chapter 20: The Tower of Spirals Part 1
- Before their trip -
Rumi sat outside of their base with her eyes casted towards the sky. She was waiting for Nova to return from their request. After returning home last night, they decided that it was time to build a new, bigger base (which was great news for Donte, as he was never able to really fit into the base due to his size.) They had no reason to hide anymore. Their enemy knew that Rumi was one of the newly human turned pokémon.
She was proud to stand as one of three human turned pokémon. Before she'd been terrified, but now that was certainly not the case. Just knowing that there were two others like her was enough to give her confidence.
Rumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The real challenge would begin now. She could no longer back down. She had to stand and fight. She had to add strength to the cause to save the captured human turned pokémon. Not just for her friends from Paradise, but for all the teams who missed their leaders and friends.
Truthfully, she was aware that saving the human turned pokémon was up to Celine, but Rumi liked to think that she was adding to that cause. She would be traveling to the Tower of Spirals, restoring whatever balance had been lost, and help those who had fallen under the sleeping curse to awaken once more.
"They approved!"
She opened her eyes to see her friend race down to her with a big grin on her face. "They said it's a go! We're gonna have a new base within two months! It'll be a great reward for completing our big mission at the Tower of Spirals!"
Rumi had to keep up the happy façade. She didn't want to ruin her friend's happiness with her depressed thoughts. "That's great," she said with a smile, "I'm sure our base will be awesome!"
"Oh heck yeah!" the swablu cried. "The build team is going to be here in a week. I was thinking that we could have a base that starts out on the floor, but builds up into the tree! So it'll be like a house, but with a tree house addition to it! What do you think?"
"That sounds wonderful!" Rumi said.
Nova went on with her happiness, completely oblivious to the sadness in her friend's eyes.
I'm glad to know that they'll have something to be happy about once I'm gone, she thought, closing her eyes to stop the tears from flowing.
"Rumi?" Rumi snapped her eyes open at the mention of her name to see Donte staring at her. He was sitting on one of the tree branches sheltered from the daylight. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" she said with false cheer. "I'm just preparing myself mentally for the upcoming battle!"
"Speaking of which," he began, scratching his chin. "How should we begin our search for the Tower of Spirals?"
Rumi felt her heart drop. She really didn't want to go because she knew what would happen afterwards.
"Little, little Rumi!"
Her ears twitched upward and she looked up to see Celebi flying down to her with her arms wide open. The eevee had no time to dodge as Celebi scooped her up in her arms and hugged her tightly.
"C-can't…breathe…" she choked out.
"Oh, whoops, sorry!" Celebi said, relenting and releasing the little fox pokémon. Rumi fell onto the ground with a soft thud, wincing slightly as she sat up. Despite how small Celebi looked, she certainly had strength!
"What are you doing here?" Donte asked from where he was perched. "We hardly get visitors. Especially legendary visitors."
Celebi giggled and opened up her bag and pulled out a map. "I came to deliver something!"
And, just as she had with Drexel and his team, she explained what the map was. "I've already given Team Invincible Hope their map, so they should be heading to the Tower of Geoma very soon. This is your map. It'll show you the way to the Tower of Spirals. It should take you no more than a day and a half to reach the place."
Her face became more serious. "I doubt that it'll be an easy mission. The enemies there are bound to be stronger than your average pokémon. I'm not entirely sure what type of pokémon lives there, so I honestly cannot give you any tips. The only safe tip I can give you is to stack up on items you may think you'll need."
"I already suspected the pokémon there would be stronger than most," Donte said. "But I don't think they'll be much of a threat against us."
"Don't take them lightly," Celebi scolded. "The minute you take them lightly will be your last. This isn't an ordinary tower. Thus, the pokémon will be stronger than what you're used to."
"Okay, okay," he said, raising his clawed hands defensively. "I understand. Thank you for the notification."
Celebi was giving them a worried look. Rumi smiled. "We'll be fine, don't worry! More importantly, what will you be doing?"
"Déjà vu," she chuckled lightly. "I plan to help Team Cosmic with finding out where the Dark Army is located."
"Please tell them that we're coming as soon as we finish our mission," Rumi said.
"I'll be sure to tell them to leave a note!" the shiny smiled as she floated higher into the sky. "Good luck!"
Once Celebi was gone, Donte shook his head. "For someone who's revered as a strong legendary, she is very optimistic."
Rumi laughed. "She certainly doesn't look strong, but I bet that's just a front to fool her enemies. I'm willing to bet you wouldn't last a second against her."
He cocked an eyebrow amusedly. "Is that a challenge?"
"Why yes, yes it is," Rumi grinned.
Nova flew between the two and began jumping to get their attention. "Guys, we should really focus on the task at hand here!"
"Sorry," Rumi chuckled. "I got caught up in the moment. But I would love to see you face off against her," she added, grinning foolishly at her partner who grinned in turn.
Nova pouted and huffed. "Guys!"
"We know. Calm down Nova," Donte said, flying down next to them. "So, looking back to what she said… it'll be tougher than our regular mission. What do you think we should bring?"
Rumi frowned. "I'm not sure. We don't know what kind of pokémon will be there. And there was nothing in my dream that indicated what types of pokémon would be there."
"Well, I have a couple of ideas," Nova said with a tilt of her head. "Since the Tower of Spirals is known to house the dreams of pokémon, I'm willing to bet that there'll be psychics and maybe fairy-types there. Maybe a few dark and ghost-types too."
"That does sound logical…" she murmured. "Nova, do you think you can fetch the items we need? I want to check around the base for anything important that we might need."
Nova nodded and flew into the base, coming out seconds later with an empty bag, the handle of the bag in her beak. With one last nod, she flew off towards the town.
Donte eyed her. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"Usually you're the one who gets the items. And you know that there isn't else inside the base that we're going to need. So something is clearly wrong," he responded.
Rumi sighed. "I'm scared. We don't know what to expect there… and you're the only one that's fully evolved on our team. Even if you have the noivernite and I have the mega bracelet, things will be tough there. I'm just scared that we'll be knocked out before we can make any form of progress."
Donte flew down beside her. "You needn't worry. I'll keep you and Nova safe."
"But that's the thing," she stressed. "What if you get knocked out? That leaves us to fend for ourselves. We're not as nearly strong as you are, and that has me worried."
He brought her into his embrace, making the normal-type pokémon blush. "Rumi, stop worrying so much. You have no clue if either you or Nova will evolve while we're there. Though you do have me curious," he pulled her out of his embrace and stared at her. "What kind of pokémon are you trying to become?"
Her ears drooped and she frowned. "Well, after seeing the different types I could transform into, I thought I'd like to become a sylveon. I already know a fairy-type move, but I don't know what else I need. Am I lacking in something?"
"I'm not sure," he said. "I do not know the requirements for that evolution."
Silence followed. Rumi had her eyes down cast, thinking about her evolution and what would happen after they completed their mission. That was her true fear. She didn't care that she hadn't evolved. What frightened her most was what would happen to her after they completed their mission. But she couldn't tell her teammates. She knew it was her own weakness that prevented her from confiding in her two members, but she didn't want them to have any ill feeling towards the mission. She knew that it was cowardly, and that a true friend would tell their friends. She also knew that she couldn't just wait until the last minute either. They deserved the right to know. So when was the perfect time to tell them that she might disappear forever?
She didn't see it, but Donte was eying her from the corner of his eyes. He knew she was hiding something and it was bigger than her fear of what was to come in the tower. Perhaps she was terrified of facing against the Dark Army? That was enough to terrify anyone. Or was it something else? But what else could have her so terrified?
He shook his head and frowned. He could sit there and debate about it the entire trip and still not come up with the right answer. As much as he hated it, he would have to wait. She would tell them when she felt the time was right. He knew that much.
Nova returned moments later with their bag fully stocked and ready to go. The cotton ball pokémon was jumping around excitedly. Neither Donte nor Rumi could understand how the small pokémon was excited about the mission. But then again, Nova was always the daredevil of the team.
"So, are we leaving sometime today?" she chirped.
Rumi nodded, a serious look coming on her face. "We need to hurry to the tower and restore whatever has caused the disruption. Then after that we have to hurry back here and find out if Celine and the others have found the Dark Army and aid them."
"Don't forget that we're also going to need sleep," he said, folding his arms. "I understand your desire to help, but we can't help Team Cosmic if we're exhausted."
"Don't worry," she reassured. "We'll have plenty of sleep before we face off against the Dark Army."
"I think Rumi's got a crush on Sniven!" Nova said suddenly, making the eevee glare at her.
"I do not!"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"Because the very idea of it is outrageous!"
Nova giggled and began hopping around Rumi chanting, "Rumi's got a crush on Sniven! Rumi's got a crush on Sniven!"
Rumi was about to attack the cotton bird when Donte intervened. "Alright, Nova, that's enough."
Nova gave Rumi a smug look before flying into the air. Rumi stuck out her tongue and snorted. Donte just shook his head, rubbing his temple as he did so.
"Let's get going, please, and Nova, no sing-alongs. Do I make myself clear?"
"Awwww! Meanie."
-x-x-x-x-
The members of Team Solar Spiral each had different reactions as they stared at the large purplish tower in front of them.
Nova was staring at it in wonder, completely enthralled with the beauty of the place. She couldn't stop staring at the enormous bulky trees surrounding the tower. There were exotic flowers blooming in shades of red, white, and black on the trees. If it was this beautiful outside, she thought, what was it like inside? The anticipation was killing her!
Rumi had a haunted expression etched across her face. Her fears and worries from before were coming back at full force now, and she was beginning to question if she really wanted to go in there. She wasn't worried about the pokémon inside and how strong they were, no, she was scared of completing the mission and telling her friends that she would forever disappear from their world. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing the looks of disappointment and anger in their eyes upon hearing the news, and she certainly couldn't handle the looks of sadness as she faded in front of them.
Also impressed by the sight, but not showing it on his face, was Donte as he examined the tower. Judging by how high the tower was, he could only assume that there would be a total of nine floors. But that, by his calculations, would only be true if the tower in front of them was a regular, normal tower. Chances were that this was a mystery dungeon and could contain as many as hundred floors. He silently prayed that the tower wouldn't be that tedious.
"So, what are we waiting for?" Nova asked, grinning at her teammates. "Let's get going!"
Without waiting for a reply, she flew off towards the entrance. She was almost there when she suddenly rammed into an invisible force field. "Nova!" Rumi and Donte cried out as they watched the cotton bird slide down the force field comically. The two exchanged worried glances before rushing to their friend's aid.
"Are you all right?" Rumi asked once she reached her friends side.
There were swirls in the cotton bird's eyes as she groaned. "That was…unexpected…"
"Dummy! Next time don't go flying off without us!" Rumi said worriedly.
Donte had one of his clawed hands resting on the force field. "Interesting. The towers in plain sight and it looks like just about anyone can enter it until you actually try." He looked over to Nova dramatically sprawled out on the floor. "And anyone who is easily fooled by this ends up like Nova."
"Hey!" Nova yelled, quickly getting to her feet like the impact hadn't affected her. "Are you calling me stupid?!"
"No," he sighed with a shake of his head, "I'm saying that anyone who doesn't pay close enough attention tend to believe that it would be that easy to access the tower."
"Still sounds like you're calling me stupid," she frowned.
Rumi examined the tower, half relieved. "How do we get in then?"
Donte crossed his arms and examined the tower once more. "I don't know. I don't see anything that indicates a way in."
"I have an idea!" Nova said, wobbling over to the force field. She started to peck at it until there was an electric surge. The electric surge stunned the bird pokémon and sent her flying off into the field.
"N-nova!" Rumi cried out, horrified.
Donte shook his head. "She just never learns…"
"Donte!" Rumi scolded, glaring at him briefly before running off towards the swablu. Donte sighed and followed after her.
"I'm…okay…" Nova squeaked when they reached her. Her feathers (or clouds…or whatever ) were slightly singed with small bouts of smoke still coming from the singed spots.
"Did we learn the importance of not rushing in without thinking?" Donte asked with a rise of his eyebrow.
The cotton bird nodded slowly, the swirls still in her eyes.
Rumi gave him a glare and silently scolded him. He just shrugged and looked back at the tower. Rumi lowered her head to examine her friend's wounds. "What were you thinking?"
"I didn't know that it was going to do that," the swablu said, slowly coming out of her haze. "For the record, it was kind of…electrifying!"
Rumi gave her a blank stare, obviously not amused by the joke. "You could have been seriously hurt!"
"Wouldn't be the first time!"
Donte sighed and shook his head as Nova jumped to her feet like nothing had happened. "Well, now we know that we can't feel up the wall for any form of a switch without being shocked."
"So what do we do now?"
"Let's try pecking at it again!" Nova suggested, receiving a baffled look from Rumi.
"Are you crazy?!" she gawked.
Nova tilted her head with a small smile. "Maybe!"
"Nobody is going to be pecking at the field," Donte said, eying the cotton bird who visibly deflated from the denial to peck it again. "Now let's think… we can see the tower, but we can't enter. There is a force field blocking us from entering, and we can't feel up the wall for long without being shocked."
"Maybe there's a secret entrance hidden around here?" Nova suggested.
Rumi frowned. "But we don't have time to be searching for entrance that may not exist! There has to be an easier way in – a way we just haven't figured out!"
The trio sat there and contemplated on what to do.
For Nova, the idea of a secret entrance sounded appealing and logical - either that, or a secret switch. But no matter how much she looked, she didn't see anything that could be used as a switch. There was nothing but empty field and strangely colored trees. And if there was anything else potentially dangerous to touch, she wasn't aware. She didn't want to find out; being shocked was one thing, but being stabbed, eaten, or worse was a different story.
Donte was looking at the tower in a more logical way. The idea of there being a secret switch did sound appealing. But he wasn't sure if touching random things in the area was such a good idea. He didn't know if these flowers or plants had any side effects, and he didn't want to risk his teammates from getting hurt in order to find out. Flying throughout the plains sounded like the most logical idea. It would take a bite out of their time, but it sounded like the most plausible theory at the moment. Plus, it was better than just sitting there and doing anything.
While the two pokémon debated on what to do next, Rumi believed she already had the answer. She was casting glances down to the mega bracelet attached to her paw (she had moved it after being hit with the bracelet in the chest painfully more times that she could count). To her, it sounded more logical that the mega bracelet wasn't just there to help her evolve. Something told her that it was like a key. She was close to saying it, but every time she was about to open her mouth and suggest the plan, she lost her nerve.
In an effort to fool her teammates, she turned around and looked off in the distance, pretending that she was looking for any signs of a hidden switch or entrance. In reality, she was jamming her eyes shut to keep out all the bad feelings that washed over her every time she thought about completing their mission. It never bothered her this badly before, why was it more difficult now?
Because you admitted to yourself during the trials that you loved Donte, said a voice in the back of her mind.
N-no, she thought desperately, that couldn't be true. I can't love him.
Why not? The voice in the back of her mind asked. Why can't you love him?
She frowned inwardly. Because once my mission is over…I'll be forced to leave…
How do you know that? There are countless other human turned pokémon here. Whose to say that your case will be any differently?
Because it is! she shouted in her mind. Our situation is different.
The voice in the back of her mind scoffed. How so? You were called down to the pokémon world to solve a problem – just like the other human turned pokémon! Our situation-
Is still different! She thought, cutting off the voice in the back of her mind. There has never been human turned pokémon that have used the power of the mega stone and the mega bracelet before us! If what Lizette told us is true, then this stone carries a lot of power with it! So much power that it makes a difference on whether or not we're to stay!
So what if it has a lot of power? The voice in the back of her mind argued. For all you know the stone will simply shatter and you'll just be like the rest of the human turned pokémon.
Rumi narrowed her eyes in anger. The power itself will tip the scales… and to make sure everything stays in order, we'll be sent home. Now stop arguing with me! I can't love him because I won't be staying here. Loving him will be useless!
"Rumi?"
"What?" she snapped, realizing all too soon the anger in her tone. She looked over to Donte apologetically. "Sorry…"
"What's wrong?" he asked, cocking his eyebrow. "You were glaring at the rocks over there. Did they…offend you or something?"
She blushed and shook her head. "No! I was just trying to figure out if there was some form of secret switch or something…"
"That's what I was thinking!" Nova chirped happily.
Donte shook his head. "I think we have the key to the secret switch."
Rumi felt her heart drop as he pointed to the mega bracelet on her. "It might act as a key as well as a power source for us. What do you think?"
"It sounds…logical," Rumi said, nodding her head slowly.
She lifted her paw into the air and watched in amazement as the stone on the bracelet began to glow vividly. While Donte and Nova had the ability to hide their flashes with their hands, or wings, rather, Rumi had to shut her eyes and turn her head. Once the flash disappeared, the trio looked back at the mega stone to see that there was a beam of light shooting from it onto another stone on the top of the tower. They watched as the force field that once covered the tower slowly began to dissipate. Once it was gone completely, the trio stood there for a few more minutes to see if anything else would happen.
"Well that was anticlimactic," Nova said with a frown. "I was hoping for some explosions and fancy sparkles!"
Donte and Rumi stared at the bird who only shrugged. "What? It would've looked awesome! Come on, you two have to admit that would've been better than that!"
Neither answered that.
"Let's get going," Donte said, staring up at the tower. "It's now or never."
How about never then? Rumi found herself thinking with a frown.
"Let's gooooo!" Nova yelled happily as she flew off towards the entrance.
Donte shook his head. "I swear she never learns… Anyway, Rumi, hop onto my back."
"Thank you," she smiled gratefully, jumping on his back as instructed. As she hung onto him, she braced herself for what was to come.
-x-x-x-x-
- Tower of Spirals, Level 1 -
Team Solar Spiral didn't have to worry about lighting at all. The place was well lit with strange illuminated rocks. The sight fascinated Nova. So much, in fact, that Donte was dragging the cotton bird along.
From where she sat on the top of his head, Rumi watched the swablu struggled. "Oh c'mon! Just one little look! Please!"
"For the last time," he growled, obviously growing tired of the cotton bird's childish behavior, "NO!"
"You're dull!" she said, sticking out her tongue.
"No, I'm focused," he replied. "Now, if you don't mind-"
Suddenly, Rumi screeched. Donte felt the weight on his head vanish almost immediately, and, when he turned, noticed a mismagius using their psychic ability to levitate the normal-type away from them.
Rumi was sobbing in her vain attempt to get free. "D-donte! Nova! HELP!"
"Rumi!" Nova cried out. Donte dashed forward to save her. But before he could reach her a steelix and slurpuff got in his way. He snarled at them as he backed away and buffed himself up in order to intimidate the enemy. Beside him Nova fluttered about nervously, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of their leader. When she saw nothing of the sort, she screamed out in fear, "RUMI!"
-x-x-x-x-
No matter how hard she fought, Rumi was unable to free herself from the ghost-type pokémon. "Let me go!"
When her captor didn't release her, Rumi grew frustrated. Fine, she thought as she charged up a shadow ball. We'll play this the hard way then!
The mismagius never even saw the shadow ball coming until it felt a sharp pain in its side. The pain was enough to shatter the ghost-type's concentration and break the psychic hold on the small eevee. Rumi used this opportunity to jump away from the mismagius and create distance between them.
Rumi backed away cautiously with her eyes locked on the angry mismagius. The mismagius, angry that the eevee had attacked it, snarled at her. Rumi kept her distance and occasionally flicked her eyes in the direction of where they'd just come from. She was about to run off when she noticed that there was a small glimmer of light blocking the exit. A force field!
Her ears drooped as she continued to cower away from the mismagius. She'd been so busy trying to find a way out of her situation that she hadn't noticed the green and purplish leaves that appeared around the ghost type. By the time she noticed the attack it was too late.
As she endured the hit she realized that she had to fight. Either that, or be defeated by the ghost-type in front of her. And she definitely didn't plan to let that happen.
With a burst of speed, the normal-type pokémon jumped out of the way of another oncoming magical leaf attack. She continued to use her speed as she ran around the mismagius. She didn't know how she was going to beat the ghost-type pokémon. Most of her moves wouldn't work on the mismagius. But there was one move that did do something.
Rumi barely managed to duck underneath a strange, but powerful, fire attack. She dashed away from the corner she'd been hiding in; avoiding any fire attacks that could singe her fur any further.
She shot several small shadow balls in the direction of the mismagius. The mismagius, unable to dodge any of the shadow balls, endured all of the hits. Once the attack was done it stumbled back a few paces, shaking its head in an attempt to rid itself of the pain it was feeling. Rumi was satisfied to see that her attacks were working on the ghost-type.
In an attempt to fight back, the mismagius shot another magical leaf attack in her direction. The mismagius even mixed it up a little by summoning thunderbolts to hit the rapidly moving eevee. All of the mismagius' attacks missed.
Rumi leaped into the air and fired several more shadow balls. She was off racing around the mismagius the second she landed on the ground. As the fight continued, she felt herself growing more confident in her ability to win the fight.
But her moves were becoming too predictable.
The mismagius' eyes took on an eerie shade of blue as Rumi was lifted off of the ground. It slammed the eevee against the wall as hard as it could, releasing Rumi when the mismagius was confident that she wouldn't be able to get up.
Rumi slid to the ground. She winced when she tried getting up. The damage was bad, she could tell, and any chance she had before with defeating the mismagius was now slim to none. She felt the psychic hold on her once more, lifting her towards the mismagius' face.
"You'll be paying dearly for raising your paw against me."
"Y-you…can talk…? But…wild…"
"I'm no wild pokémon," the mismagius smirked. "In fact, I was sent here to destroy you. Courtesy of my mistress herself!"
Rumi felt her heartbeat pick up considerably. This had just turned from a regular wild pokémon battle to a life or death situation in the matter of seconds. And currently she was on the losing end. She began to struggle once more. "N-no! Let me go!"
The mismagius was unfazed by the pokémons vain attempts to free herself. "And to think… you're the one who was supposed to stop my mistress? How pathetic. I expected someone…stronger. After all, without you the pokémon under my mistress' hypnosis will never wake up. How did you expect to defeat me, little one? Not even the guardian of this tower was able to stop me!"
Rumi didn't have much time to think about what she had said. She charged up another shadow ball and fired it at the mismagius. However, the mismagius saw this coming and tilted her head out of the way. The shadow ball completely missed her and instead hit the wall behind them. She chuckled. "Seriously? That's the best you've got? I was told to never underestimate the power of a human turned pokémon, yet you only know one move that can affect me? Ha! This will be much easier than I thought. It's a shame. I do hope that you said your farewells to your friends before you entered this doomed tower."
"They'll…come for me!"
The mismagius stared at her for a brief moment before cracking up. "Really? Fat chance! They won't be coming to save you."
Rumi's eyes widen. "W-what…did you do to them?!"
"I didn't do anything," she chuckled, "but my friends might've." She leaned in closer to the eevee's ears and whispered, "Once you're dealt with, I'll be checking up on your scrawny friend's. And, if by some miracle they somehow survived my friend's onslaughts, take pleasure to know that they won't be around much longer to do anything themselves."
She laughed when the horror washed over Rumi's face. "Like many others before them, they will fall under the sleeping curse! Never again will they see you, or the sunlight! They will be trapped in a never-ending nightmare. Oh…the things I can do to make them wish they were dead!"
Time around Rumi seemingly paused. She couldn't let her friends suffer like that! If she failed and they were captured, it would all be because of her!
Is this the extent of your love for Donte and Nova? The voice in the back of her mind asked.
No! It's far greater than anyone can imagine! Nova, my silly, but dearest friend… and Donte…
What about Donte? Isn't he just another one of your 'friends?'
This caused the eevee to pause and close her eyes in contemplation. The mismagius misread this action and chuckled. She believed that Rumi was submitting to her and accepting her fate. "So long, furball!" she said, tossing the pokémon into the air and preparing to fire a rock gem attack.
No. Rumi thought snapping her eyes open, a newfound determination resonating inside of her. Donte is not just another friend!
"RUMI!" Upon hearing her name, Rumi glanced over towards the force field to see an altaria crash right through it. While the altaria flew towards her with the full intention of catching the eevee in midair, a noivern flew past her and directly into the mismagius.
The impact of his body crashing into her sent the mismagius flying across the room. He grouped back up with the altaria, who, after catching the eevee, was landing on the ground near the exit.
Rumi stared at the altaria in confusion. "Nova…?"
Nova smiled and nodded eagerly. "I was so worried about you! These big meanie pokémon got in our way and wouldn't move, so I got angry and fought against them. Halfway through the battle I managed to evolve! I'm no longer the small little swablu you knew, but now a full-grown altaria! Isn't that awesome?"
Rumi never had the chance to reply. Two rays of light shot past her and directly into Donte and Nova. The two pokémon crashed into the nearby wall, leaving indents of their bodies as they slid to the ground.
Rumi's eyes widened. "Donte! Nova!" She glared at the glowering mismagius.
"You two showing up will not make a difference in the slightest! If you insist on having front row seats to your friends death, then welcome to the show!"
"No!" Rumi yelled, jumping in front of her friends and getting into a fighting stance despite the pain coursing through her body. She knew that she was exhausted and had little chance to win, but she wasn't going to back down now that her friends were there. She would fight to the bitter end to protect them. "I won't let you hurt anyone."
The mismagius gave her a look before smirking. "Oh, I see. You want them to be eliminated first? That can be arranged."
"You'll have to go through me first!"
"You?" the mismagius said, raising an eyebrow amusedly. "You and I both know that you have nothing left in you to fight. So, why bother protecting them? Why not just give up and die, or run away? You will never be able to complete your mission, and even if you did, your time with your teammates will still be short."
This struck a nerve inside of the eevee and the mismagius knew it. "See? You know very well what happens after a human has fulfilled their destiny in our world. All the friendships you have built in such a short span of time are meaningless, especially since they'll be severed the minute you complete your mission. Do you honestly believe you will be like the other human turned pokémon, gifted with a happy ending in our world? Your teammates can struggle all they want and find ways to allow you to come back, but eventually those methods will go dry and once your gone, your gone. You'll be nothing more than a faded memory over time; heck, even your friends will forget who you were in this world."
"No...! They won't-"
The mismagius rolled her eyes. "Please, spare me the cliché sayings. You'll never fail? You'll never forget them as they will never forget you? Your team will forever prevail? I've heard it all before, and it's disgusting how overused those phrases are. If you won't ever forget them, then why don't you remember anything about your human life? I bet that you forgot who you were the moment you were converted into a pokémon. And, just as you forgot then, you'll forget this journey and your friends the moment you're converted back into a human. After all, it's probably the best coping medicine anyone can offer. Makes sense, doesn't it?"
Rumi looked like she'd been crush. "Face it, human, it doesn't matter if you care about them. It's only in the moment. It's a mere factor of survival!"
"NO!" Rumi yelled. "It's not in the moment and it's not just some mere factor of survival! I care a lot for them, and I'll do anything I can to protect them. They sacrificed so much for me-"
"And for what?" the mismagius snapped. "You'll fade away. Your love with them is fake and misguided!"
"I said no its not!" Rumi yelled again. "These feelings are not fake. Even if its cliché, I will never forget these two for everything that they have done for me."
She looked over to Donte and Nova and smiled softly. "The reason why we human turned pokémon are so attached to our teammates is simple, really. It's because they've faced through all the pain and hurt with us. They could have abandoned us at any given time, but instead of doing that, they stayed with us and fought along side us. Your right about one thing," she said, looking over to the mismagius, "and that's my time limit in this world."
A light began to engulf Rumi as her voice grew with ferocity. "But despite my time limit with them, I want to make sure that I help create a world where my friends can live their lives happily! And to begin that process, I must defeat you and restore order to this tower!"
The mismagius gasped and backed away as a bright light engulfed the eevee. "I love them enough to want a better world for them! I'm happy knowing they're happy! And even if my time is short – I found someone I loved more than life itself and a friend I could never replace! Someone like you would NEVER understand!"
The light blinded everyone in the room except for Rumi who had closed her eyes. She embraced the flowing power inside of her - the renewed feelings of attachment and love. It might be hard to believe how quickly I fell in love with Donte, she thought, a single tear rolling down her cheek, but I know I can't stay with him because I will leave this world. Even if I can't be with you, Donte, I want to make a world where you and your lover can live happy together. And Nova, you hold a very dear place in my heart. If it hadn't been for your silliness, I would have given into depression when I first came here. I sincerely thank both of you. I won't allow either of you suffer a horrible tragedy. I will make a world where you two will thrive!
The light vanished after a few fleeting seconds passed. When the pokémon looked back, Rumi was standing gracefully in front of Donte and Nova. She was no longer the small eevee the mismagius had fought, but a newly evolved sylveon. She opened her eyes, the confidence in her eyes alarming the mismagius.
Even her voice was slightly deeper. "I won't let you hurt them. As I said before you will have to go through me."
"You think evolving will make anything different?!" The mismagius roared, using her psychic ability to lift up all the rocks around her. "I'll show you how much of a difference it makes!"
Mismagius shot the rocks towards the newly evolved sylveon. Rumi ran towards them with a confident smile as six stars appeared around her and slammed into the rocks, effectively destroying them. She flew past the debris and summoned forth a strange wind that pushed back the mismagius, but not by much. But knocking back the mismagius was not what Rumi had hoped for, instead she had hoped for the wind to cause the mismagius to be unbalanced. And that was exactly what she got.
Rumi leaped into the air and summoned forth a ray of moonlight, hitting the mismagius and sending her into a nearby wall. In an effort to protect herself, Mismagius disappeared into the shadows behind her.
Rumi landed gracefully and searched for the mismagius. While the sylveon had her eyes away, Mismagius reappeared behind her and slammed a fist into Rumi's back. The impact was enough to send the pokémon flying into the wall.
Unlike before, however, Rumi jumped back to her feet and emitted a powerful glow. When the glow was gone and the mismagius could see again, there were multiple copies of Rumi all around her. Each and every one of them was charging up a shadow ball.
The mismagius let out a cry of fear and started using her magical leaf ability to destroy each copy. But before she could erase all of them, she was hit in the back with a large shadow ball. The shadow ball sent the ghost-type flying across the room and into the wall. Mismagius attempted to get back up, but fainted.
Rumi got out of her fighting stance now that the fight was over. She was very proud of herself for overcoming the enemy.
"Rumi!" She turned her head to see both of her friends flying over to her.
"You evolved!" Nova said happily.
"Told you," Donte smirked.
Rumi blushed and nodded. "You did. Now it seems all of us are fully evolved."
Nova's face fell. "Was she telling the truth?"
The room was silent. Rumi had dreaded this moment for the longest time, but she knew it was time to come clean. "About me having to fade away when my mission here is complete? Unfortunately, she was telling the truth. Or at least, I believe so. Every human turned pokémon here had returned to the human world briefly. It wasn't until both the partner and the human wished it so deeply that they were allowed to return. But from what I heard, it was through tedious tasks. I'm not sure if my case will be any different from theirs. For the longest time I have been convinced that my case is different, and it's because of the mega bracelet," she said with a frown, looking down at the mega bracelet around her paw. "I don't think I will be able to come back once my mission is done."
Donte moved closer to her and hugged her. The hug caused Rumi to blush and look at him curiously. "Well, I want you to stay. I'll make sure I find a way to make you stay."
"Me too!" Nova said, jumping around the duo. "I never ever ever want you to leave, Rummmmi!"
Rumi had to giggle at her friend's hyperness. While she laughed, she wondered if Donte had a double meaning to his statement. Could he possibly…?
"Let's get going," Donte said, snapping her out of her musings. "We still have a long way to go."
She nodded and followed after the flying duo as they continued their search for the stairways. Rumi smiled mostly to herself, relieved to know that her partners weren't feeling negatively about her limited time. It was possible that they were holding it in, but she liked to think that they weren't.
And that was enough to release the tension off her shoulders.
I'm terribly sorry for how late this is. If you remember, I mentioned having to go on vacation a couple of chapters back. Now I'm back and ready to finish this story! I hope you guys continue to read and enjoy, and do remember that leaving reviews certainly help!