Aram got up, breathing heavily. He looked around and saw that he was on his bed. To his right was an Audino, resting fitfully on a hard chair. He saw that it was morning now, the light from the window bright, with Emolga outside chittering across the Gigawatt Plains.
He rubbed his head, moaning. The Audino woke up, and gasped.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" She exclaimed, coming over to him. She helped prop him up, moving aside bits of straw. He looked around, trying to think of what happened the previous night.
He concentrated, and he became suddenly alert. He pushed aside the Audino and got up, running next to the window. He looked out, seeing the clear sky. He pounded his fist on the sill, and growled.
"Did you catch that Tranquill?" He asked. The Audino looked bewildered to her Guildmaster.
"No, we didn't know there was one here. The only one we saw earlier was Remus, and he said that he had an important message to deliver for you." The Audino replied. He grabbed her arms anxiously.
"When did he leave?" He requested quickly. The Audino blubbered as she struggled to remember when he left.
She stammered, "He…he left just a few moments ago! He said he just got up and remembered that he had to deliver something. He had some paper in his claws-"
Aram ran out of the room, running down the stairs and pushing past the Pokemon who were all lazily sleeping on the stairs after a hard night's work. He ignored them, making way to the large gate that hung open.
He saw a small shape in the distance, which he could only assume was the Tranquill that pretended to be Remus. He breathed in deeply, and held an arm up to the sky. He put his tails together, sparking electricity, and with a yell, shot a Thunderbolt at the Tranquill. He watched the electricity arc through the sky, and finally contact the Tranquill, causing it to fall to the ground with a thud.
He sighed, and began to run to where it fell, wanting to see it for himself. He wasn't built for such work, most of the time staying in the Guild until needed, but this was too important.
The wind pushed the grass as it passed, the clouds above churning and readying for another thunderstorm, as often happened in these plains. The plateau that formed Electivire Guild shrunk behind Aram as he jogged, moving past the rolling fields of the lightning-rich plains. Joltik scuttled under his feet, not wanting to be crushed by the massive Guildmaster, and overhead, Emolga glided in the air currents.
He made it to the landing site of the Tranquill, and saw what damage he made. The Tranquill was covered in char, and the ground below him had formed a crater. The Tranquill wheezed, and struggled to get up. Aram grunted, came next to the Tranquill, and grabbed it by its neck, taking away the burned piece of paper in its beak.
He breathed in deeply, and looked him in the eye. "Where...is…Remus?" The Tranquill wheezed a chuckle, coughing.
The Tranquill hacked out, "You won't see him again. I met him on Creation Continent-cough-shame what we did. He seemed like a nice guy…but we had a job to do. Project Empowerment is stronger than ever, and you have no idea how far we are, listening and watching for hints; we knew where to infiltrate into your Guild. Remus died before he could evolve, and I took his place to search for the location of the Cocoon. Sorry, not sorry!" Aram growled, and threw the Tranquill away. He aimed his hand at the sorry thing, electricity arcing back and forth his tails and head. The Tranquill huddled as best it could, desperate to protect itself.
Aram roared, and fired the Thunderbolt into the air. He cringed, and fell to the ground the slip of Artifacts still in his grasp. He heaved with sorrow, mourning for his lost friend. He thought of the numerous times he and Remus quarreled with each other, but making up for it in the end, talking with each other long in the night.
The Tranquill chuckled, hopping closer to Aram. "A big guy like you, crying over a Pidove like him! You can't even finish off me, his killer! Ha! I don't care what it takes to rid evil from this world, I suffered my own stroke of bad luck!" He coughed horribly afterward, clapping his beak and stretching his wings.
After stopping, he said, "When I was a kid, I lost my parents to a bunch of Outlaws, the Honchkrow Gang. They ruled the skies like no one could stop 'em, and when my parents spoke up, they got rid of 'em, cutting their feathers and dropping them off a cliff!" The Tranquill turned less sarcastic and more sorrowful, as Aram was.
He sighed, saying, "I vowed to get my revenge on those guys, and to make sure that never happened to anyone else. I grew up on Creation, and eventually was able to evolve there, and I was determined to join Delphox Guild. When I told them what I wanted, they refused to help me get the Honchkrows, cause it was too dangerous for a new recruit. I left after that day, and for a long time, I waited, waited for my time to shine!
"Eventually, I heard about this group that was going around, called Project Empowerment. The guys told me they wanted to end injustice, make sure no one suffered what I did; they even said we can get rid of them Honchkrows!" He cackled, coughing once more. Aram looked angrily to him.
"Project Empowerment is a vicious group that wants to end the world. I remember that they want to eliminate all evil by eliminating all good: All life!" The Tranquill laughed, rolling on the ground.
"You really think that's how it'll be? You Guildmasters don't know a thing! Sure, everyone will be dead but Project Empowerment will live on, and when Arthus takes Arceus' power, he'll make new life, life that can never commit wrong! Imagine!"
Aram shuddered at the thought, getting up. "Then that isn't life at all. The Wild Pokemon can't commit wrong, or evil. While they may live, they don't do anything worth living. Arthus can't do much more than that." The Tranquill, half-crazed with pain, laughed once more.
"Arthus is great and powerful! He uses Life, and he will succeed! No one will suffer pain! No one!" He shrieked, flapping wildly and rolling around. Aram roared and shot electricity into him, ending his cacophony.
He turned away, and held his face. He got up, and sighed deeply. He looked down at the paper, and saw the title: "Legendary Artifacts and Their Locations." He opened it, and saw the listing under the Cocoon of Destruction.
He looked farther and saw the author: "Mewtwo, Sole Resident of the Isle of Regret." He looked up to the sky, and nodded.
"Thanks to you, Mewtwo, you nearly cost us the world…but you may have saved it too." He turned back to the Electivire Guild, and began to walk back.
"I remember now, Matheus. I must help you. I will meet you at Deity, with the location of what will save us all, or destroy us all."
Mewtwo moaned, his body full of pain and the Mystic Orb fizzling with psychic energy. He lay on the ground, the outside clouded with eternal storms, him within a cavern. He clenched his teeth as he looked in his psychic vision, seeing Aram walking along the plains. He grinned, in pain and gladness.
"You're lucky I want to live, or else I would have let this world rot. I have given you the Cocoon, and you must get it!" He yelled. He looked down at himself, seeing the psychic damage. He chuckled weakly.
"I only hope this task didn't kill me in the process."
Laryon woke up to the smell of roasted berries, sniffing the succulent flavor. He opened his eyes slowly, hearing birds warble in the sky. He tilted his head, seeing that they were on the plains next to a beach.
He craned his neck upward, seeing Arianne sitting on a rock, moving the berries. Theus sat on another rock, licking his lips impatiently.
"Come on, let me eat one! I've been waiting for ages!" He said, reaching for one of the sticks with a berry. Arianne swatted it away, wagging her finger at him.
"Wait until Laryon's awake, he'll be starving!" She replied. Laryon wholeheartedly agreed.
Theus looked over to Laryon, reaching for one of the berries. "He seems awake to me." He replied, pulling off the berry with his teeth.
Arianne excited, nearly ran voer to Laryon first thing. She looked at Theus, seeing him ready to bite another berry, and with a scowl, yanked it from his paws. He chomped down, and having nothing, cried out.
"Oi, those are my berries!" He exclaimed. Arianne harrumphed triumphantly, coming to Laryon and handing him the stick.
Laryon sat up and gratefully accepted the food, biting into one of the juicy morsels. Arianne smiled, saying, "At least you're alright from last night; my healing certainly did you some good." Laryon nodded, still chewing. Theus grumbled with disapproval, taking another stick of berries.
"You could have handed him another stick…" He muttered. Arianne stared hardly at him.
"Be grateful we have anything at all, no thanks to you. We nearly lost everything when you dropped the bag in the river."
"Hey, that was an accident! We still have plenty of supplies…alright, around half, but still!" Theus replied, sifting through the sack. He looked at his arm, seeing that it still had the Looplet, as Arianne and Laryon had.
He looked to the beach, seeing the endless waves washing across them. Past this field, Sealeo lazed on the beach, a travelling family that escorted people across the ocean; what else would Sealeo do on the ocean?
Theus had an idea. He got up, and proceeded to walk to the family. Wondering what was going on, Arianne and Laryon followed. They walked down to the beach, seeing Theus heading toward the only Walrein of the group, sleeping as he sunbathed.
"Mister Walrein, can we have a moment of your time please!" He asked. The Walrein snorted, and flitted his eye open. He rolled over, and stared at Theus.
He grunted, "What do you want?" Theus bowed respectfully. Arianne and Laryon watched from the top of the hill that lead down to the beach.
Theus then said, "Me and my fellow travelers have need of going across the ocean to Deity Continent. I know you don't provide ferrying services—you're too noble for that—so can you tell us who would be willing to give us something like that?" The Walrein closed his eyes, humming.
He opened his eyes again and said, "A few days from here, along the trail, there's a town called Deedra. They have all sorts of Pokemon that give ferries for folks like you. A lot of those guys, whether you like it or not, are scammers. They drop off innocent Pokemon on lone islands, waiting to be rescued by a team who gets their message. If you want my advice, go for the Lapras with the yellow sign on his spot on the dock. He'll get you to where you need to go, and quickly too." The Walrein yawned, opening his large mouth wide.
"Now, if you excuse me, I did a difficult job yesterday for someone. We need rest." Theus bowed, thanking him for the help.
He walked back up the slope, meeting Arianne and Laryon up top. He held his paws in the air and said, "Well, we have assurance that we're going in the right direction!" Laryon looked at his bare stick, and threw it away.
"Anything else?" Laryon asked. Theus nodded.
"Yes. I got a recommendation for a Lapras with a yellow sign. Let's hope he means well." Theus replied. He took the bottom of his staff, checking the bottom, and pulled off a section of wood, revealing a small, sharp blade."
"I'm getting rather tired of eating berries or berry-based products, so what say we go fishing?"