Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 5
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For the longest time, Espirit just stood motionless. She stared at the now empty grass that once held her friends along with a swirling vortex of Unown. After a moment, she tentatively took a step forward, then another, and another until finally she was sprinting to where they were, hoping beyond hope she would something. But she found none. Beyond a faint indent in the grass, there was no sign of them anywhere. She tried psychically reaching out, hoping to somehow spot them, but again found nothing.
'…Louise?' Espirit faintly called out, tears building in her eyes. Once again, she tried to scan for them, but nothing was around. She was alone.
The only sounds heard were faint sobbing.
Allie grumbled to herself as she and her Furfrou sat in the garden. It appeared that things had finally calmed down, and pranksters ceased their efforts. While this was nothing but good news to the spoiled Princess, and in fact cheerfully welcomed it, but she couldn't help but be cautious. They might still be around, after all, hoping to catch her unawares.
"Like that's going to work on me. Right, Furfrou?" Allie asked her prized Pokémon. She barked in reply, and Allie smiled. Furfou understood, she always did.
Not like those stupid workers and maids. No, they were just awful. Dreadful, really. She knew how they spoke of her behind her back. How she was conceited, arrogant, spoiled rotten, and cruel. How could she be cruel? The first person to suggest that to her got fired immediately, which shut the others up, but she still heard hushed whispers. She just knew one of them was behind this. Who, exactly, escaped her, but once she was done, there was going to be a reckoning. She was already forming plans on how to do it. Punishing all of the workers until the culprits revealed themselves sounded good.
"Hehheheh," Allie darkly chuckled to herself, only to be interrupted by a rustling bush. Furfrou immediately went into alert, placing herself between the noise and the Princess. The rustling continued, and Allie began to order an attack, only to stop as a small purplish-grey fox stepped out. She recognized this Pokémon. It was the shiny Fennekin that the girl had.
"Hello, Fennekin," Allie greeted in a high-pitched voice. "What are you doing here?"
The fox yipped in response and wagged her tail before sitting down. Allie stroked her chin as she contemplated the fire fox's reply. What did she mean? The Fennekin yipped again and pawed the ground, inching closer to the Princess. At once she understood the fox's intentions, and she broke out into a smile.
"Did you come back for me?" she asked, overjoyed. The Fennekin happily yipped and put her paws on Allie's chest, her tail never ceasing to wag back and forth. This was all the proof Allie needed, and she scooped the Fennekin into her arms. "Oh, I'm so happy you finally saw just how much better I am than that annoying rosecrown!" After all, why wouldn't she be? She was prim, polished, and nobility. Everything that uncouth Louise wasn't.
Suddenly, the Fennekin jumped out of her arms and ran away. "Hey, come back!" Allie cried out and gave chase. It seemed as though the Fennekin was wanting to play games with her. She would have to train that bad habit out of the Fennekin the first chance she got. Furfrou wasn't far behind Allie and quickly caught up to her, staying by her side the entire time. They never lost sight of the Fennekin, who seemed to be deliberately holding itself back. As they ran through the forest, they passed through patches of dirt which covered Furfrou's and Allie's feet.
"Stop moving!" Allie demanded, increasingly fed up with the Fennekin's playfulness. Oh, it was definitely going to go. Finally, the Fennekin stopped, making Allie and Furfrou do the same. "Finally. If your going to be with me, we're going to need to get rid…" Allie stopped as she took note of something odd. Specifically, the Fennekin's feet was completely clean and untouched. Allie looked back down at her feet, seeing it caked in a fine layer of brown dirt, and a quick look at Furfrou's showed the same. They had followed the exact path the Fennekin had taken, so why was its feet clean?
"What's going on?" Allie asked, taking a step back while Furfrou growled and stepped forward. The Fennekin merely yipped in response, but otherwise stayed still. Allie narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and tentatively stepped forward. "I said, tell me what is—"
Fennekin suddenly disappeared into thin air, halting Allie in her tracks. "Wha?" she managed to get out before she heard a flutter of wings overhead. Looking up, she saw the tailfeathers of a red bird dart into the trees, but her attention wasn't on that. It was instead on a hastily woven basket of twigs and leaves tipping precariously overhead. Allie only had time to scream before the basket tipped over completely, ending a shower of berries raining down upon her. They exploded upon impact, sending their sticky juices all over the Princess and Furfrou, tie dying them in a rainbow of colorful splotches and ruining her dress.
"I…I…" Allie unleashed a wordless scream as she took sight of her ruined dress. It was absolutely, irreparably destroyed. Fine Kantoan silk, imported straight from the source, gone in a matter of seconds. She kicked and screamed as she threw a childish tantrum, even after hearing a loud pop from somewhere beyond the forest. She only stopped after several minutes of screaming, making her throat sore.
"…Grrgh," she let out one final growl then turned away, stomping back towards the palace. She idly noticed none of the workers came toward her, but she paid that no heed. Her attention was focused on someone else. Specifically, she now knew who was responsible for this.
"Furfrou," she began, "as soon as we get cleaned, they're going to pay."
The dog growled in agreement.
"Did you see the look on her face?!" Tanuki howled with laughter as he, Aile, and Maindo teleported back into the forest. Above them was a wicker basket filled with every conceivable type of berry along with a very hungry Aile, currently gorging herself on their bounty.
'Priceless,' Maindo concurred as he set the basket down. Light specks of berry flew out from the basket, and he chuckled to himself. 'Enjoying yourself there, birdy?'
"Yes." Aile didn't even pause, continuing to eat her fill. Maindo chuckled to himself and idly grabbed a red, spiky, spherical berry that Aile was ignoring. Tamato, if he recalled. He never actually had one and started to bring it to his mouth when Tanuki's laughter redirected his attention.
"I mean, she was so mad! First, she was all 'You want to be my friend?', then she was 'Wha?', then…hahaha!" Tanuki couldn't finish his sentence as he devolved into a laughing heap, with Aile joining in as well.
Maindo chuckled to himself but remained quiet. To be honest, the prank against Aile wasn't his finest work. It was funny, yes, but mostly because of who it was done to. He was actually slightly disappointed in himself as it wasn't up to his standards, but he was holding himself back for Tanuki and Aile. They wouldn't have gone along with his other ideas. Still, they pulled through, and the entire experience was spectacular.
'You know, I might actually miss them a little,' Maindo mused to himself as he pulled the berry closer to his mouth, only to stop as the other two's laughter grew louder. After a while, he joined in as well. They continued to laugh for some time, until Maindo heard the sound of crying.
'Geez, you guys laugh weird.' He stated, drawing confused looks. 'You sound like you're crying.' At once, the laugher ceased completely, but the crying sound was still heard.
"That's…not me…" Tanuki looked towards the direction the crying was coming from. Slowly, they all paled and went stiff.
'Aile,' Maindo asked, seriousness for once flooding his voice. 'Where, exactly, were our trainers waiting for us?'
"…Over there…" Aile shakily pointed her wing forward. Right where the crying was coming from.
A pregnant pause ensued, then immediately the three Pokémon sprinted forwards. Maindo tried to teleport closer, but there was some kind of psychic interference preventing him from doing so. He soldiered on, running as fast as he little legs could take him. Aile released a Tailwind, boosting their speed, but neither she nor Tanuki sped away from Maindo. Something was wrong, and the last thing they wanted was to separate. Finally, bursting through the bushes, they reached the source of the crying and gasped. There, lying in the center of the grove, was a sobbing Espirit, all alone.
"Espirit? Espirit, what happened?" Tanuki ran forward and slid on his knees to the crying Ralts.
'Tan…Tanu…Tanuki?' she barely got out through her sobs.
"It's me. We're here, all of us." He gestured towards Aile and Maindo, who ran and flew over to her, equally concerned.
'What happened? Where are Saito and Louise?' Maindo gently asked, a first for him since they met. At once, the sobbing began again.
'I…hic…I tried to stop them!' Espirit sobbed. 'There was just too many…hic!'
"Too many?" Aile asked. "Too many of what?"
'I don't know… hic … they looked like flying, black letters with eyes. The… The Pokédex called them 'Unown.''
'Unown?' Maindo repeated in what almost sounded like fear. He knew of them. Lumiose TV had an interesting special on them. 'What the hell are they doing here?'
'I don't know what they were,' Espirit continued, beginning to calm down somewhat. 'They just showed up and teleported the others away. I tried my best to shield them, but…' Espirit paused, and narrowed her eyes.
"Espirit?" Tanuki asked in concern.
'Where were you guys?' she softly asked. A heavy presence began to be felt over all three of the pranksters, and they gulped. 'Tanuki, weren't you sent to get Maindo? Aile, weren't you sent to get both of them when they hadn't come back? So, tell me, why did it take an hour and a half for any of that to actually happen?' She was met by silence. 'Well?'
"…There's a funny story for that, actually. We—" Tanuki wasn't able to finish his sentence as he was suddenly lifted up and thrown violently back into a tree. A loud thud was heard, and he quickly found himself unable to move his arms or legs. A quick look told him the same happened to Aile and even Maindo, who looked the most surprised at their predicament. They heard footsteps and paled. Turning his head slowly, he saw Espirit slowly stomp over to them, a purplish aura enveloping her.
"Espirit, calm down." Aile begged. "We can—"
'Shut. Up.' At Espirit's tone, Aile did just that. Espirit continued to stare at them, and all three felt a deep probe force its way into their minds. It was deeply uncomfortable, and not even Maindo could stop it, but it quickly receded. Espirit's face warped into one of disgust and she psychically slapped all three of them.
'Let me get this straight,' she began, 'You three decided to stay around at Parfum Palace, despite knowing we were waiting for you, just so you could torment the Princess and satisfy your appetite. Am I right?' Slowly, all three immobilized Pokémon. Rather than calm her down, this just made her more enraged. 'In doing so, you left us unprotected, so when the Unown arrived, I wasn't able to do anything, and therefore allowed them to get taken!' Espirit was shouting now, and the others were sweating bullets.
'Hey, how were we supposed to know th-!' Maindo tried to defend herself, only for Espirit to zoom into his face. He gulped.
'Had you stayed with us the entire time, we wouldn't have had to wait for you there! Had you been there, we could have had a better chance at stopping the Unown. So yes, Maindo, it is all of your faults!' Espirit paused to let it sink in. 'Here's what we are going to do. You are going to teach me how to Teleport, Maindo. Then, the two us will combine our minds to pinpoint their location and teleport all four us to them. We'll grab them and teleport out, and if you say anything about doing otherwise, you won't be able to sit for a week.'
'Alright, alright! I get it! It's not like would suggest leaving them to die! What do you take me for, a psychopath?!'
'Good!' At once, as if flipping a switch, Espirit's cheerful personality returned in full force and she released the others from her grip. They fell to the ground hard and panted while Espirit crossed her arms behind her back. 'Maindo, I'll be waiting for you over there. Tanuki, Aile, gather up some berries that will help to protect us from the Unown's psychic energy. Okay?'
'Okay!' Aile and Tanuki quickly answered, struggling to hold back their fear. Espirit smiled and hopped away, never quite leaving their view. As she got farther away, the others let out a sigh of relief.
"Did any of you figure she could do that?" Aile asked as she fluttered over to the basket of berries. "'Cuz I sure didn't."
"Nope," Tanuki replied as he concentrated on his Aura, thinking it could be useful in projecting a mental block. "Sweet, nurturing and kind? Yes. Scary as hell when she's angry? No, no I did not think that. She was –"
'Kind of cute?'
"— terrifying." Tanuki and Aile stopped as they heard Maindo's voice, then slowly turned towards him. A faint blush turned his cheeks pink as he stared at Espirit, still walking away. When Maindo noticed the awkward silence, he turned towards the Riolu and Fletchling, who were giving him a strange look.
"…Maindo? Do you…?" Aile began to ask, and the male Ralts simply raised an eyebrow.
'What, just me then?' He blankly stared at them in confusion for a few moments longer before shrugging. He teleported away, reappearing right next to Espirit, who happily clapped her hands together. As she led him away, Aile and Tanuki watched until they were well out of earshot.
"… Well, at least now we know he has a type." Aile observed, then got back to sorting the berries.
"What? Prim, proper girls that just so happen to have a violent side?"
"Yeah, that."
"…So, like Saito?" At Tanuki's question, Aile paused then, after a moment, nodded.
"Yeah, aside from being too good for him, that is. Huh, that's uncanny." They started their work anew, all the while worried their trainers, and praying they would be alright.
"Ugggh," Louise moaned as consciousness slowly returned to her. It was dark, she was lying on her back, and the ground beneath her was cold, damp, and hard. Her vision slowly came into focus, and the first thing she noticed was that it was dark. She could barely see a few feet in front of her, and the only source of light was that reflecting off of large bluish crystals. It looked like she was in a cave of some kind.
'How did I get here?' she thought to herself, struggling to remember. It was then that she heard faint breathing to her left. Looking over, she saw it was the body of Saito, who like her previously, appeared to be unconscious. At their feet, she saw the bodies of their starters, and it was then that she remembered.
"Oh, no…" Louise gasped, remembering everything. Maindo not coming back, Tanuki and Aile being sent after him, the Unown. Her eyes widened as she remembered the flying letters. What if they were still around?
"Saito. Saito, get up!" she whispered and quietly pushed him, attempting to rouse him from his unconscious state.
"Five more minutes…" he mumbled, only for Louise to slap him. "Aah!"
"Quiet!" she hissed and covered his mouth. "They might still be here." Saito looked confused for a moment, not quite sure what she was referring to, only for his eyes to widen in realization. Slowly, and quietly, he nodded, and Louise took her hand off of his mouth.
"Where are we?" Saito whispered, getting onto his knees and crawling over to Ronin. He sighed in relief as he determined their starters were still alive, albeit unconscious.
"Some kind of cave, I don't know where," Louise answered back, taking Brennaraki into her arms. Reaching around, she found her wand, and held it in her hand. "Any ideas on how to get out of here?"
Saito hummed to himself and looked around, then nodded. "Our best bet is to find the source of that light. Let's follow it. Hopefully, it might lead us to a way out."
"Okay." Louise nodded. Slowly, the two trainers rose to their feet and began to crouch walk away, careful not to make a sound. They couldn't hear any Unown, which relieved them immensely, but the two trainers remained on guard. They did, however, return their Pokémon, not wanting them to be put in harms way.
"Do you have any idea why they attacked us?" Saito quietly asked as they rounded a corner.
"No idea," Louise admitted. "We didn't even do anything. Maybe we entered their territory?"
"Unown aren't known to be territorial. They would have just hidden if we were bothering them," Saito pointed out. Louise pursed her lips and nodded as Saito continued. "What are they even doing here, anyway? They're not native to Kalos. Something had to attract…" Suddenly, Saito's eyes widened, and he looked towards Louise's wand. Louise quickly noticed where he was staring, and paled.
"You don't think…?"
"It messed with the Beedrillite. Might have attracted those Unown," Saito pointed out.
"Which means they were likely following us the entire time." Louise grimly concluded. Saito silently nodded, having reached the same conclusion. They soldiered, carefully checking each corner for Unown, but finding none. The light grew brighter as they scoured the halls, the brightest corridors being the taken routes. A few times, they got turned around, but they managed to find their way back and continue forward. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of walking, they emerged into a large empty clearing in the cave, a large hole in the ceiling, letting sunlight in.
"Well, found the source. Great…," Saito sighed. He sincerely doubted they'd be able to get out that way. Louise, on the other hand, began to look around, and quickly noticed something odd about the cave floor. It was covered in a layer of green moss; once she scuffed it away with her foot, she gasped.
"Saito! Over here!" she called out. Quickly, Saito ran over to her. She pointed to the ground and he gasped as well.
"Is that…cobblestone?" He knelt down and brushed his fingers over the smooth stone. It was, and he followed the path it made. It seemed to be leading towards a cave on the far side of the clearing. They looked towards each other and nodded. Following the cobblestone path, they walked into the cave entrance, careful to watch out for any Unown. Slowly but steadily, the cave sloped upward, making each step harder and harder. Finally, the ground began to level out, and they emerged at the base of a large cobblestone tower, embedded in the rock.
"Wow," Saito breathed out. He certainly hadn't been expecting this. "What is –?"
Suddenly, and without warning, the swarm of Unown reappeared and surrounded them. Instantly, Saito and Louise were clutching their heads in pain and fell to their knees.
"Grrgh…" Louise growled and grit her teeth, slowly raising her wand at the swarm. "Fi…Fire…Fireball!" A loud explosion rang out over the cave, the sound and shockwave echoing across the cave walls and dispersing the Unown swarm. At the same time, the psychic assault on their minds ceased, and a sense of calm formed in the air. Getting to her feet, Louise placed herself in front of Saito, her wand facing outwards.
"Stay! Back!" she warned, her shaking wand betraying her fear. A single Unown separated from the swarm and edged closer. "I'm warning you! Stay back!" The Unown continued to creep ever closer, and Louise released another explosion that it deftly dodged and kept approaching until they were practically face to face. She was shaking and gulped, as did Saito. Then, suddenly, the Unown seemed to nod to itself and darted over to the tower, the swarm of Unown parting as it passed.
"Wha?" Louise tilted her head.
"Unown…Unown…" the Unown around the room chanted. Louise just looked confused, but realization dawned in Saito's face.
"I think they want us to go into the tower." He got to his feet and began to walk forward, only for Louise to grasp his arm.
"What? Are you crazy?" she hissed, but Saito stared right back at her.
"Do you have any better ideas?" When she didn't answer, he freed his arm and continued walking forward. He could hear soft footsteps behind him, and the two trainers walked into the tower. They were greeted by stone stairs leading up and down, and Saito wondered which way to go. That question was answered as a stream of Unown went downstairs.
"Down it is," he muttered to himself and walked downstairs.
"Hey, wait up!" Louise quickly caught up to him, and they walked further downward. The air was beginning to get heavy with an unknown energy, one that Saito didn't recognize, but felt strangely familiar to Louise. Finally, they emerged at the bottom and saw a stone pedestal in the center of a large antechamber. A rusted sword rested on it, and the Unown circled it.
"A sword?" Saito walked up to it and began to notice some peculiarities. It was still housed in its sheath, an ornamental design that almost looked runic.
"No," Louise replied. "It's a Honedge."
"A Honedge?" Saito looked at her then pulled out his Pokédex. He winced when he saw there wasn't any reception, but the scan function at least didn't require it. Activating it, he scanned the sword to find it was, indeed, a Honedge. One that, according to the scan, was over six thousand years old. "Arceus…"
Louise and Saito continued to stare at the Honedge, unsure of what to do. "Any ideas?" she asked.
"Unown…Unown…" the circle of Unown continued to chant, looking down at Louise expectantly.
"I… I think they want you to use your magic on it." Saito looked at Louise's wand, and she looked at him, flabbergasted.
"You…you think so?"
"I honestly have no idea, and frankly, I'm just spit balling. Might as well try." Saito nervously smiled. "Just…don't blow it up."
"Geez…" Louise shook her head and took a deep breath. She didn't like it, but it was the only explanation they had. Nervously, she stepped forward, her wand at the ready and pointed towards the dormant Honedge. At once, all eyes of the Unown were on her, and beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead. She touched her wand to the metal sheath, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She reached deep within herself, and the tip of her wand began to brightly glow in a shining white light. Saito threw his arms in front of his eyes, attempting to shield them, until a loud, powerful explosion rang out and threw him and Louise away.
"AAGH!" they screamed from the sudden force before sliding on the ground. The Unown were now swirling, but they couldn't tell if it was from agitation or something else. Regardless, Saito and Louise slowly crawled back. Louise idly noticed how the psychic effect on their minds was gone, but otherwise observed the swirling mass of letters. Suddenly, the Unown stopped and parted, revealing the now floating Honedge. It slowly rose further into the air, its eyes still closed.
"What the…?" Saito wondered allowed as they continued to stare at the Honedge. Suddenly, the center circle on its hilt opened, revealing a single eye, shaped in a slit. It was only then that Louise recognized the Honedge.
"It's the same one from the paintings. The one that belonged to the King of Kalos." Her voice was filled with awe. Of course! The Unown wanted her magic to awaken it! Now she understood! Honedge stared at the two trainers and began to strain itself, and Louise and Saito tensed. Finally, after considerable time and effort, the Honedge freed itself from its rusty sheath, its blade just as rusted as the rest of its body.
"Aaah," it suddenly sighed out in relief, shocking Saito and Louise into a stunned silence. "Oh, you have no idea how good that feels, let me tell you."
"Wha?" Louise managed to get out, her mind going blank.
"I mean, seriously," it continued in what they could determine was a male sounding voice, "it feels so good to finally be able to move again. Try spending centuries stuck in the exact same confined position with only these little shits for company," he said as he dramatically pointed at the swirling Unown around the room. "And your entire body just gets so tense and you just want to stab something!"
"Ho…how are you…?" Saito shakily pointed at the Honedge, who then turned its gaze towards the two trainers.
"What, never seen a talking sword before?" Louise got the feeling that if it could, the Honedge would be giving a confident grin. "I'll take your stunned silence as a no. Well then, you are in luck."
"Who…who are you?" Louise asked, her eyes still wide. The Honedge threw his ribbon bac in emphasis, his sheath coming behind him.
"I am the Sword of Heroes! Blade of Kings and Wizards! Partner to Az, Shane, and Brian!" The Honedge announced only to suddenly stop himself. "No, that doesn't sound right. Burgundy? No, no, that's not it either. Michel? There was definitely an I in there somewhere…" the Honedge trailed off, muttering to himself as a chorus of what almost sounded like laughter emanated from the small swarm. "Ah shut it, you blasted ink blots! I am the great and mighty Derflinger, and I will not be mocked like this!" The Honedge, apparently Derflinger, said with a threatening flourish, only to have a rock bounce off him and more laughter echo around the chamber.
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT YOU LITTLE BASTARDS!" Derflinger shouted as he threw himself into the swarm. They cried out in mock horror as they dodged his clumsy swings, leaving Louise and Saito behind as they silently gaped at the scene playing out before them.
"…I was not expecting this." Saito admitted as he eyed the flailing Honedge.
"…Neither was I." Louise replied with blank eyes. "…Should we try to get out of here?"
"I'm actually morbidly curious as to how this will play out, and I'm pretty sure the Unown are still watching us." He looked to his left, and sure enough he spotted two Unowns hovering over them. Louise merely crossed her arms and grumbled, inching closer to the boy and away from the flying script.
"HOLD STILL, YOU LITTLE SHITS!" Derflinger continued to swing at the Unown swarm, but the two humans and their starters could tell he was getting tired. Finally, he slowed down and stopped, his breaths shallow and panting. "Alright… Fine… We'll call it a draw… You're just lucky that I just woke up or else I…" A heavy silence fell over the crowd as Derflinger suddenly remembered Saito's and Louise's presence. He turned towards them with his eye slowly blinking, and flew closer towards them.
"Uh…" Saito nervously got out. "…Hello?"
"What's up?" Derflinger happily replied. "How you two doing?"
"Um…pretty good, all things considered…"
"The Inkblots are scaring the piss out of 'ya, aren't they?"
"Terrified, actually," Louise answered, eyeing the Unown and scooting closer to Saito. He nodded as well.
"Yeah, sorry about that. They aren't good with people," Derflinger replied and turned around towards the swarm. "Hey! Give 'em some space, will 'ya! You're scaring them!" At once the Unown dissipated and flew to the far side of the antechamber, remorseful looks in all of their eyes.
"Thank you." Saito was still nervously eyeing the Unown swarm, but they didn't come any closer.
"No problem." Derflinger lowered himself to eye level, the tip of his blade balancing on the chamber floor. "So, mind telling me exactly what happened?"
'Now, the key to Teleportation is to visualize yourself in one place, then psychically moving there. It's like walking, only without the walking.' Maindo continued to coach Espirit, who's face was scrunched from concentration. It was a new experience for the Ralts, teaching another Pokémon to do what he did, but Espirit was picking up on the technique quickly. It wouldn't be long until they managed to-
He was cut off from his internal musing by a loud pop. Espirit was gone, and she suddenly reappeared next to a surprised Aile, who fell onto her back in shock.
'I did it! I did it!' Espirit began jumping in joyous celebration, with Tanuki joining in alongside her. Maindo smiled and nodded, but stayed where he was.
'Good job. Keep practicing, I'm going to find the idiots.' Maindo turned away, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes. His mind reached out over the forest, filtering out anything that wasn't human. That in and of itself wasn't too hard, humans had a very unique mental signature. Rather than looking at everything all at once, like what Tanuki did at the Parfum Palace, he was instead searching for beacons and scanning that particular area. So far, he found nothing, but he did find some particularly interesting activity around Parfum Palace. Looks like the Princess was organizing a search party. Maindo didn't care, they would be long gone by then. After a few more minutes of fruitless search, he gave up on trying to find a human signature, and instead began to search for something more distinct. Something he had to repeatedly block off every time he was around her.
'Need some help?' he heard a soft voice ask him. Not breaking concentration, he recognized Espirit's voice immediately.
'If you want.' Maindo continued to search. He could hear Espirit sit down beside him, and then felt a pulse of psychic energy emanate from her. In peaceful silence, they continued to search for their kidnapped trainers. Their search extended far past the forest, past the hills, and into the mountains.
'Found them.'
"And that's when the Unown took us here, and then we found you." Saito concluded.
"Hmm," Derflinger hummed to himself, his large eye switching back and forth between him and Louise. "Interesting. Very interesting."
"You call us getting kidnapped by flying letters interesting?" Louise glared at the Honedge, who merely shook his head.
"No, not at all. Frankly, these guys were completely out of line and should not have taken you." He turned to glare back at the Unown, who all sheepishly looked away. "But, I think I have a fairly good idea on why they did it."
"Do tell. I would love to hear whatever justification you may hav—"
"It's because you're a Void mage, pinky." Derflinger interrupted Louise, who stared back in stunned silence alongside Saito, Brennaraki, and Ronin.
"Wha…What?"
"I said, you're a Void mage. You would have to be blind not to notice that pouring off of you. It tends to give off a very distinct energy."
"Ho…how do you know what Void is?" Louise's mind was racing at a mile a minute.
"Because I used to be partners with a Void mage and one of his familiars." Derflinger offhandedly revealed. "What was his name again? Brett? Ian? You'd think after six thousand years, you'd remember a guy's name, but…"
"Brimir?" Louise breathlessly got out.
"That's it! That's the name!" Derflinger pointed his sash at Louise and closed his eye happily. "I remember now! Brimir and Sasha! The first Void Mage and Gandalfr!"
"You knew Brimir!?" Louise's eyes were as wide as saucers at this point, while Saito's jaw hung loose. Suddenly, she grew indignant. "And you forgot his name!?"
"It's been six thousand years, lady! I forget things! And of course I knew him! I was his sword! Well, technically I was Sasha's sword, but she was his familiar, so by extension—"
"No, no no! There is no way that-!" Saito interrupted, desperately looking between the panicking Void mage and Derflinger, who was now staring at him.
"Boy, I recognize denial when I see it. She already tell you who she is and where she came from?" Slowly, Saito nodded. "She's telling the truth, kid. We're from a different world." All at once, the cold, hard truth Saito had been denying to himself sunk in.
"Oh, Arceus…" He tightly gripped his hair and looked again at Louise, who was now shakily pointing her finger at the Honedge.
"I… I don... I don't…!" Louise stammered. She had so many questions. How did he get here? What was Brimir like? Was he always a Honedge? But instead of any of those questions being asked, she instead looked like a fish out of water, which caused Derflinger to laugh.
"I can see you have a lot of questions," he began, "so allow me to—"
Suddenly, a loud pop was heard. The sound echoed in the antechamber, and everyone turned to look at it, and the trainers gasped. At the center of the antechamber, they saw Maindo, Espirit, Aile, and Tanuki standing heroically and looking at their trainers. Espirit was panting, but her face was scrunched up as she glared at both the now slightly agitated Unown and confused Honedge. Aile, on the other hand, looked more nervous than anything, carrying a ring of berries around her neck. The biggest expressions, however, came off of Tanuki and Maindo, who looked furious.
"Give me back my trainer, you asshole!" Tanuki roared before launching into a Quick Attack right at Derflinger. "AAH!" he screamed as his palm glowed with a blue aura. His paw made contact with the metal body of Derflinger, only to phase through without effect.
"Waagh!" Tanuki fell to the ground with a thump, and silence overcame the antechamber.
'…Tanuki, you dumbass! That wasn't the plan!' Maindo slapped his forehead as he charged up a Shadow Ball.
'I feel woozy…' Espirit suddenly began to sway back and forth before collapsing.
"Espirit!" Aile cried out and began to feed her berries.
'Dammit! Do I have to do everything around here!?' Maindo roared as he launched the Shadow Ball at Derflinger. Before the ghostly ball could impact Derflinger, his body swung out and bisected it. The two halves flew by harmlessly and impacted on opposite ends of the antechamber.
'Wha?' Maindo got out before the Unown swarmed the interlopers. They were angry, that much was apparent, and they began to charge up attacks of there on. 'Shit.' Maindo braced himself.
"STOP!" Derflinger roared, and at once the Unown ceased. Everyone stared at the Honedge, who silently glared at them all. "Now then, let's all calm down, and talk about this like rational beings."
"Rational! You kidnapped our trainers!" Tanuki accused, only to be silenced by a glare from the ancient Pokémon.
"I did no such thing. That was those annoying bastards up there. But since your so worried about it," he turned towards the swarm. "Guys, mind taking us back to where you got them?"
The Unown all looked at each other for a few moments, coming to a decision. Suddenly, they all heard a pop, and they were back in the forest, exactly where they were originally taken.
"And good riddance to you little bastards!" Derflinger shouted, receiving no answer. He turned back to the surprised and relieved trainers, and nodded. "That's better. Now, I'm sure you have some—"
"Did you really know Brimir?" Louise began to ramble. "What was he like? What was life like six thousand years ago? Did elves eat little children then, too?" Saito and the other Pokémon all looked horrified at Louise's question, but she paid them no heed. "How did you get here? Were you always a Honedge? Were—"
"Whoa, whoa, hold your Ponytas!" Derflinger shouted, halting Louise in her tracks. "One question at a time, geez. Yes, I knew Brimir. Like I said, I was his sword. I was not always a Honedge. I got turned into one, and have been for the past six thousand years. I arrived in, is it still Kalos?" Saito and Louise nodded, and Derflinger nodded back. "Right, I arrived in Kalos after that. No, elves did not eat little children. They never have. Where did you even get that information?"
"… Well, it's what people say," Louise sheepishly replied. Derflinger rolled his eye.
"Geez, you go away for a couple thousand years and the education system runs right into the gutter. As for how I got here and what Brimir was like… I forget."
"How could you forget that!? Forget the Founder?" Louise indignantly shouted.
"Hey, you try being dormant for six thousand years and not forgetting anything!"
"Yeah, Louise, people forget stuff." Saito chastised the exasperated rosette. "Seriously."
"Really!?"
"Pipe down, pinky. Geez," Derflinger shook his body. "I do remember a few things about Brimir though, now that I think about it. Want to hear them?"
"Yes, please!" Louise looked starry-eyed.
"Well, sit down. This one is quite the doozy of a tale."
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Sorry for the long wait, last week was hectic. But, better late than ever!
So, everyone's favorite talking sword is now introduced, and its Derflinger! As a Honedge! He was always planned to be in the story. After all, we just not going to make the talking sword character into a talking sword Pokémon. It would be insulting.
At the same time, Espirit is showing more of a backbone and both she and Maindo are more like their trainers than either realized.
Now, onto the Q&A:
reven4221: I'm glad you like the story and gave it a shot! It means a lot to us. And yeah, Louise's Void Magic wasn't all that useful against the Unown, really. But it woke up Derflinger from his nap, at least.
MBenz4268: I honestly have no idea where any of the Pokémon regions are placed. Poke-Earth doesn't exactly have a globe or world map. Oh well. And as for what the Unown were up to, you just got your answer!
Sakura Linsel: Yeah, sorry about that. As I said earlier, last week was hectic. Will try to have the next chapter up by Sunday.
MasterXMaster: Thank you! We are also on Sufficient Velocity. That thread is run by Firebird Zoom. Give it some love!
That does it for this chapter. See you all next time! Hopefully, it goes back on schedule.