Chapter 10. Formora's Favorite Hobby
Some time later, she regained consciousness. Her head felt like it had been put through a compactor, and all was black and quiet. She lay still, in no rush to attract more pain as well as to enjoy the blessed silence. After what seemed like ages, her headache dimmed enough to where she felt safe to open her eyes and look around.
Doing so caused a sharp stab of pain to flash through her head, but after a moment it subsided. She saw that she was in her bed, and a small blue box with a red ribbon lay on her nightstand. Curious, she opened the box, finding a chocolate cupcake and a note inside.
Her stomach growled, and she realized that she was starving. After wolfing down the cupcake, she turned her attention to the note:
'Happy Birthday, my dear Champion. I am not sure when you and your friends will wake up, for at the time this is being written it is July 12th, and all of you are still out. I am happy to report that there were no problems in your escape. So, whenever you wake up, enjoy your day however you please. –Giratina'
The cupcake tasted fresh, so it couldn't have been that long since it had been delivered, which meant she'd only been out for a little over 36 hours. Nevertheless, Formora went into her living room, and found Teysa dusting the shelves.
"Oh! My Lady! How are you?" the Cinccino exclaimed upon seeing Formora.
"Fine. What day is it?" Formora replied.
"July 12th. It's almost noon."
"I see. I'll be leaving now."
"Take care."
19 today, Formora thought as she walked down the staircase. At least I didn't wake up in the hospital again.
With a sigh, she resigned herself to the attention she'd surely receive as she opened the door to the second floor. Team Terra were walking out of the training room. They said hello to her, and walked off.
Confused, Formora went downstairs to the cafeteria. Cate, Sorin, Gabite, Gothorita, Charmeleon, and Azumarill were practicing for their next concert on the stage. They paused to give her a quick hello before resuming their play.
There were a few other Pokemon in the dining hall. They either gave Formora a brief acknowledgement, or ignored her outright. Formora was confused; she expected a big party waiting for her, why were they—oh.
Kia and Firnen. They'd asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and they had given her her answer. She felt a wide smile stretch across her face. Everyone was acting like it was a normal day! No party, no attention…nothing Formora didn't want.
Truly, her teammates were the best.
A delightful chilly aura washed over her, and she looked up from her plate to see Kyurem settling down next to her.
"Ah, I see you're awake," he said.
"Yep. Is everyone else still unconscious?" she nodded.
"I believe so, yes. What will you do today while they sleep?" he asked. It was as close to mentioning her birthday as was allowed.
She thought for a moment, and smiled.
"Kyurem, fly me to Frigid Tundra."
The frosty legendary dropped her off at the entrance to Snowy Crevice and bid her farewell. A couple of Bypass Stone usages later and she was back at the End of the World. She scanned the area carefully, searching all around the ice caps for signs of life.
Thankfully, her search did not yield any findings. She could relax without worry of being interrupted by soon-to-be ragdolls.
Her stomach howled, as she'd deliberately not eaten anything before coming all the way out here. The first time she'd been here, she'd spotted plants at the foot of the glacier.
An eager grin on her face, the ravenous Froslass began making her way down to the tundra valley.
Formora spent the rest of the day learning which of the arctic plants were edible. She found a couple tiny little shrubs whose bark tasted acidic, yet sweet. There were also various berries near the entrance to Snowy Crevice, and Formora found most were safe to eat. There were two plants that, upon ingesting a test sample of, caused her to get a small stomachache. She uprooted all of those she could find and threw them into the sea, where they disappeared into the navy blue depths without a trace.
There was plenty of food since it was summer, but come wintertime…Well, Formora resolved to spend most of her free time right here when the real northern season began. She'd be constantly hard-pressed to find enough food and shelter, only a tiny slipup away from death.
Yes, she'd go on vacation once the snows extended beyond Snowy Crevice.
A snowstorm was quickly approaching, and the now-sated Formora found a large crack inside one of the glacier walls. She squeezed inside, content to wait the storm out from her crude shelter.
She lay down on her back, watching the snowflakes whirl past her spot. She didn't recall falling asleep, but there'd been something soothing about the sound of the storm amidst the icy chill of the tundra.
She woke to a stray sunbeam falling across her face. Yawning, she realized she must have slept through the night. She sighed, guessing that she should return back to the compound with all of its noisy, cramped inhabitants.
She was quite loath to leave her winter wonderland, but she did have responsibilities to attend to. Perhaps her teammates and Team Rogue were awake now.
When she left Snowy Crevice, however, she was startled to find Teams Terra, Miasma, Leviathan, and Rogue as well as Kay and Kyurem waiting outside the entrance.
"Um, hi?" she said, wondering why all of these Pokemon were here of all places.
Cradily groaned. "Fall back, folks. Shinx led us astray again." To her, he added, "Apologies, Lady Formora. Shinx got a tip that the enemy Champion was here…"
"Actually, he never said anything about the enemy, just that there was a Champion here," Tohoku mused.
"Even so, we might as well head back. Sorry about the surprise, Formora," Kay said.
Formora joined the group in their trip back home, and she walked next to Glace, whose eyes were bright with happiness.
"When did you wake up?" she asked.
"Last night. Caine and your friends are awake too. Oh, Formora, I love it so much here! Not one person has stared at me or asked me out! Well, except for Caine, but I can deal with that. Lord Gi—um, He Who Is, said I could explore dungeons to my heart's content! I haven't felt this happy in such a long time…"
"I'm glad. By the way…Why didn't you tell me that little Litwick was the Light's Chosen?" Formora hissed, her voice a low growl as she grabbed the Glaceon and pulled her in close.
Glace blinked, and she was silent for a few moments. "I didn't have very much time or interest to get to know Team Banshee. They were nice to me, but I didn't see anything that was special about them. Ezra began speaking about voices in her head after she and Carys returned from Snowy Crevice; I thought she was deluded, crazy. After all, most sane people don't hear voices. I didn't believe her when she said she was the Light's Chosen."
Her explanation made sense (and certainly lined up with information she already knew), and Formora could tell Glace wasn't lying. She decided to relent. After all, Glace was one of them now.
She released Glace.
"I believe you."
Upon returning home, Formora went up to Intel to see if anything interesting was going on. There was no one in the meeting room except a very angry Shinx. Formora was almost certain she knew the cause.
"Him again?" she asked, pulling up a chair next to him.
"Yes! 'Go to Snowy Crevice', he said. 'The Champion is there', he said. Oh, there was a Champion there alright: you! Argh! I'm going to drop him as an informant; he's grossly unreliable," Shinx grumbled, burying his head in his paws.
An idea came to Formora, and she stood up. "I think I might have a solution. I'll be back. By the way, have you guys found the culprit yet?"
Shinx blinked. "Um, yes, the results of the poison came back last night. Oksana's right, as always. And what are you—"
Formora ignored his half-formed question, racing for the dungeon. As she hurried downstairs, however, she came upon Team Supernova in the hall.
"—You spend as much time training as you do with Kialandi, then we wouldn't be having this conversation! One more screw-up, and you're out!" Marvel was saying to a sobbing Cate.
"Y'know, Kia's been helping Cate train. He's done more for her than your yelling has," Formora said idly, strolling up to them. Troja and Marvel paled at the sight of their superior, but they stood firm.
"'Train'? She has barely improved," Troja snorted.
"She completed Tawny Savanna all by herself the other day. No bag, no items, just her skills. She even defeated a Liepard," Formora retorted.
Marvel laughed harshly. "Any Pokemon off the street could beat that baby dungeon, as well as any boss foolish enough to make a home there. I suppose next you'll be saying she can complete Joyful Forest without breaking a sweat, hm?"
The tips of Cate's ears turned red, and she stared at her toes, biting her bottom lip.
"Anyway, we have things to do. Hurry up, Cate, or you'll make us late. Again," Marvel continued as the trio moved on.
Formora stared at their backs, frowning. She would make sure Troja and Marvel never harassed Cate again, and soon. But for now, she had more important errands to run.
Oksana was in between victims by the time Formora arrived. The Eelektross was handing a gore-covered bone saw to one of her assistants when Formora knocked on the wall.
"Oh, hello Formora~! Come to help me?" Oksana beamed.
"In a little bit. How did you know it was Drapion? Intel confirmed it just now."
"Ah, that. See, all I need to do ees ask one question: 'When I find the culpreet, what should I do weeth them?' Being famous has eets perks; everyone knows how much I love traitors! So, those weeth gueelty consciences hope to try and *snort* reason weeth me. 'They must have had a good reason', they tell me. 'You should get their side first before you do anything'. Nine out of ten times they're the gueelty ones. But don't go and spread that around, you hear? The fewer who understand counter-eenterrogation, the better," Oksana told her.
"I won't. By the way, do you know where hemlock grows? Shinx's favorite informant needs a dose or five."
"Hemlock, hmm…" Oksana thought, tapping her claws against the stony walls. "Ah! Some grows on top of Mt. Fuchsia, I believe. I'd geeve you some myself, but I used the last of my store thees morning. Eef you're going there, bring some for me too, please. But be careful: a tribe of Floette and their leader leeve there, and they don't like eentruders."
"I will, thanks. I'll be back later," Formora said, heading out the dungeon in search of her teammates.
Mt. Fuchsia ( watch?v=jfTdm8S2r_o)
The dungeon was located amidst a small mountain range in the northeast. The path led through a grand valley before coming to a stop in front of a blanket of wisteria hanging from a nearby tree. A few pink flowers grew haphazardly all over the place, not seeming to care for order or keeping the path clear.
"Where's the entrance? Behind here?" Formora questioned, pulling the wisteria-tapestry back. Impenetrable darkness greeted her.
"Yep, there it is," she said, walking into the shadows.
1F-3F
The dungeon was appropriately named; the color pink was everywhere! From the flowers growing on the floor and wall to the Pokemon themselves! Aromatisses, Spritzees, Cherrims, Shiinotics, and Lurantises abounded in this girlish place! Worst of all, though, were the Mimikyus. For some reason, there were Mimikyus wandering around, much to Formora's disgust. The living ragdolls were dressed mainly as their fellow dungeon Pokemon, oddly enough, but there were a few dressed as non-pink-or-purple Pokemon. Chills ran down Formora's spine whenever she saw one of the little freaks. She couldn't help but imagine that they were all Sophisticated Prick Mimikyu, and she always felt a great satisfaction in obliterating them whenever they tangled with Team R.
Aside from the ragdolls and overabundance of girly colors, the dungeon itself wasn't too special. The floor was mainly composed of dirt, with stone tiles and flowers growing here and there. The wall was comprised of bumpy gray rock, again with flowers growing in little niches. A crisp breeze wafted through the dungeon, bringing with it the scent of fresh air and—surprise—flowers.
Formora sneezed. She did not care much for this place.
4F
"So uh, why exactly are we here again? You didn't give us much of an explanation," Kia asked during a lull in activity.
"Hm? Oh. I need hemlock, and it grows on the summit. Oksana's all out, and I thought I'd help Shinx out with his asset problem," Formora shrugged.
"Don't Floette live on the peak, though? Like, a bunch of them?" Firnen said nervously.
"That's what I was told. But don't worry, I have an idea," Formora replied. She put a hold on her explanation, for the trio had come upon the Stairs.
5F-8F
She laid out her plan: as she would hold a Floette, Firnen would Guillotine her underneath the protection of his Protect. Kia's Earth Power would keep any rescuers at bay, as well as create an opening for Formora to catch the next one. Wash, rinse, repeat, and they'd be done in a flash.
The two dragons loved the idea of fairies not being able to attack them, and agreed to the plan whole-heartedly.
9F
Someone was here with them. Both Formora and her team could sense the presence of a non-dungeon Pokemon nearby.
"Ooh, a warm-up before the boss fight! Isn't that lovely?" Formora grinned to her teammates, who mirrored her expression. Whoever was foolish enough to be around Team R would soon regret it.
Eagerly, the team explored every inch of the floor, searching for anyone who was out of place. But to their confusion, they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. The closest thing they could find were the few Mimikyus dressed as non-pink or purple Pokemon. There was a 'Bagon', 'Torchic', and even a 'Buneary'.
Team Renegade scoured the floor until a faint breeze picked up, and with it the hint of something they did not want to meet: the Wind.
"Where the hell are they?!" Formora hissed after passing the starting chamber for the tenth time. "We've searched everywhere; where is the other party?"
"We should have stumbled across them ages ago. Let's leave before we get kicked out," Kia advised, fanning his wings nervously as the breeze strengthened.
Formora loathed the thought of giving up, but she had to admit there was no sign of the mystery party anywhere. She knew they were still here; their presence had not subsided.
So where were they?
"What if it's hiding from us?" Firnen suggested as the trio made their way for the Stairs. The breeze was strong enough to make their flight go faster, and the threat of the malicious entity's arrival was no small help either.
"Then why keep following us? It's got to have passed the Stairs. Argh, whatever, we don't have time for this. Whoever's behind it will answer to our fury one day, but right now—go!" Formora shouted, diving for the Stairs as the Wind made its entrance.
—Waypoint—
Thankfully, all three Renegades narrowly avoided the Wind's wrath. After their heartbeats settled, they took a look around.
A small room and a Kangaskhan statue greeted their arrival. The terrain was largely the same, except an abundance of the pink flowers from the entrance began to grow near the exit.
The team rested for a couple minutes, then they tapped the statue and went on their way.
Mt. Fuchsia Peak ( watch?v=3cUHflBUJEU)
1F
The floor was covered in some kind of magenta flower, leaving absolutely no spot of dirt floor. The walls were two rock mesas stacked on top of each other, also covered in the same flower to a much lesser degree. There were a few small stone spires jutting out from the ground (thankfully not covered in magenta), as well as a few fuchsia plants. Pools of water lined the edges of the chamber.
Formora coughed as the stench of the place hit her nostrils. Whatever this new plant was, it smelled awful.
"My, that's a lot of mountain phlox," Kia observed, seemingly unperturbed by the smell or color.
"Is that what this is? I hate it," Formora growled, covering her nose.
"Yes, its scent is unfavorable to most. It grew near my childhood home. …Do you feel that?" Kia agreed, looking up into the air.
Formora noticed what he felt, and sighed angrily. The presence was back. "Oh great! They followed us. Well, whatever, I don't care. We'll ambush them after we're done. I don't know. I just want to get out of this place."
She shoved past any dungeon foe who dared get in her way. Well, all except one. She did a double-take at the figure standing at a fork in the path.
It was a Froslass. No, wait, it was a ragdoll dressed as a Froslass, of all Pokemon. What were the odds?
It blinked at her, then scurried down one of the paths. Slowly, Formora walked to where it had been standing, and peered down the hall it had run down. There was no sign of it anywhere.
"Huh, never seen a dungeon Pokemon run away. Maybe the sight of 'itself' scared it," Firnen said, coming to stand beside her.
"Maybe. I don't know. Let's just go," Formora said, taking the other path.
She never saw that particular Mimikyu again, nor did she find the Pokemon responsible for the presence.
2F-5F
"I guess there's no point in kidnapping Shinies anymore," Formora sighed out of the blue.
"Why?" Firnen asked.
She rolled her eyes. Was it not obvious? "Because we know who the Light Champion is! The Banshee Litwick!"
"Ezra? Why do you—ah, I remember now. Didn't our leader say that he learned that your enemy's name is Ezra?" The slightly-more-intelligent Kia asked.
"Yes, he did. And she said it herself: she was the Champion! How stupid of her to tell me. I know she was trying to stall me on the cliff. Hah! What a waste of a card to play," Formora chuckled.
"Strange to think we've already fought her before," Firnen mused.
"It makes sense to me. With my line of work, our paths were bound to cross multiple times. I'm only sad that I haven't gotten the chance to play with her yet. Or the Pumpkaboo. I want to see if that one has pumpkin pulp for organs," Formora said with a cruel smile.
One day, she would get her wish.
6F
"Do you know when Miles will admit that Drapion is the would-be murderer? It's been days," Firnen asked after a quick rest.
"Oh, Shinx confirmed it this morning. I wonder what kind of execution he'll get," Formora mused.
"Something lovely, I'm sure. Though we all know Jace will arrive as soon as Drapion's in rigor," Kia chuckled.
Formora snorted. He was entirely right, and she knew there were people already taking bets on how late he would be to the execution. The stupid Alakazam would definitely be late to his own funeral. Unless…
She smiled. She'd do Jace a favor and cure him of his tardiness tendencies. And she knew just how she'd do it.
7F-9F
Not much of interest happened on the last few floors. Team Renegade were silent, saving their energy for the fight that was to come. Though they had a strategy, facing multiple fairies when there were two dragons would prove a challenge. Formora welcomed it, having been bored with the easy-for-her dungeon. Her strength made most battles child's play, but she yearned for a real opponent to test her skills on.
Hopefully these Floette would provide one. She'd punish them all if they didn't.
Mt. Fuchsia Summit
Well, the name was certainly apt. Fuchsia grew everywhere along the summit, covering everything from the dirt floor to the gray rocks surrounding the ledge. Seriously, it was like a five-year-old girl oversaw the landscape!
Annoyingly-magenta scene aside, the mountain peak did provide an excellent view of the valley below. She could see the path they'd came on, the forest beyond…even the volcano of the Restored Haven, which was just a tiny little speck in the horizon.
Whatever, there was no sign of the Floette tribe anywhere, and while Formora was disappointed of their absence, she had a reason for being here.
"Fan out and search for hemlock," she instructed, going to the side of the mountain.
After a moment, she found that Oksana hadn't been lying; hemlock did grow here! It was buried underneath the ungodly blanket of fuchsia, but it was here. She wasn't sure which part of the plant was poisonous, so she resorted to uprooting the entire thing and throwing it all in a pile.
"Ahem," A child's voice said behind her.
She turned, and found a red-flower Floette glaring at her. On the other side of the summit, five more Floette were surrounding her teammates.
Formora blinked. "Where'd you come from?"
"You're trespassing," the tiny fairy stormed, crossing her arms. "You must pay the price."
Formora yawned. "Do I look like I care, pipsqueak? Leave us alone, or I'll chuck you off the edge."
In response, the Floette summoned a fine pink mist and sent it at Formora. She easily evaded the attack, and lashed out her arm, catching the fairy by her neck.
She held the struggling Floette close to her face. "I warned ya, kid."
Then, without a moment's hesitation, Formora turned and threw the Floette off the mountain. The Floette's terrified shriek echoed for a second, before a dull crunching noise came from below.
Formora had seen ledges along the cliffside as she'd looked down at the valley. The Floette was probably too injured to move on its own, but it was most likely still alive.
She turned to the other four horrified Floette, beaming. "That was fun! So, who else wants to do stupid things?"
"RAHHH!" came a guttural cry.
The plants to Formora's left rustled, and a red Florges burst into the center of the peak. She pointed an accusatory finger at Formora.
"You…you will pay," she snarled.
Formora grinned. "Ooh! A volunteer~"
Boss Battle ( watch?v=PLkASaYjKlk)
Florges dove for Formora, hurling a sphere of lunar energy at her. Formora, expecting the attack, easily ducked, and gave the flowery fairy an Ice Beam to the gut for her troubles.
"Gah!" Florges howled, stepping back from the icy blast.
"Kia! Firnen!" Formora shouted. Her teammates remembered their duties and dove to help their leader.
Kia's eyes glowed yellow, and a crack opened up in the middle of the cluster of fairies. All six of them were helpless to evade the golden essence of Earth Power, and most were sent sprawling backwards. Formora snatched up the closest one, shouting for Firnen to shield her.
He did, Protecting himself and Formora as his tusks elongated and glowed white. He crept closer, and Formora held the struggling Floette tightly in her hands. Meanwhile, Kia sent out Sonic Boom at the ground beneath the rest of the tribe; a warning shot.
"Buh-bye," Firnen snickered as he brought his tusks down upon the little Floette's head. She jerked once, then went completely still.
Firnen dispelled the Protect as Formora carelessly tossed the useless body aside.
"One down, five to go. Are you sure you still want to fight?" she purred, grinning at the group of horrified fairies. Their leader was the first tor recover.
"Fools! This is not over," she hissed, summoning up a pink mist and spreading it across the summit. The Terrain became pink and Misty, blending in with the natural environment.
Formora yawned. "I'm supposed to be scared of Misty Terrain? I'll have you know, Zygarde tried the same thing with Safeguard. And you know what? I still froze her. Just like I'll freeze you. Speaking of—catch!"
She threw another Ice Beam at the Florges, but her foe managed to counter at the last second with Moonblast.
Kia flew behind them so the enemies were in between him and Formora. He caused the ground to open up again, and this time he sent a Sonic Boom into the midst of the gold light as well. Another Floette went flying, straight into Formora's waiting arms.
As soon as she caught the Floette, Firnen's Protect was back up.
"Ergh! Stop them!" Florges roared, turning her attention to Kia as the remaining three pounded angrily on the dome. Idiots, all of them; didn't they know it was almost impossible to break a Protect?
Once the second Floette was done, Formora sent the other three flying with a widespread Powder Snow. The trio somersaulted briefly before getting back up, each of them whipping up a Petal Blizzard. Formora let them, keeping her face carefully neutral as the sharp leaves lacerated her skin. Firnen didn't share her decision, he cursed underneath his breath at the storm of leaves.
The three Floette faltered when they saw their attacks seemed to have no effect on Formora, who smiled and asked if they could please use a stronger attack.
A wail from the other side of the summit made her look up. Florges had caught Kia by his legs, and was busy charging up for an extra-powerful Moonblast.
"Kia, I thought I told you to keep them away from yourself," she said mildly, raising her arm and striking Florges on the back with Shadow Ball. To her credit, Florges barely flinched. She blasted Kia with the lunar sphere before turning back to Formora.
"Blast them," Florges growled, and she and her three Floette hurled four Moonblasts at Formora and Firnen.
Formora let herself be hit by Florges', wanting to see how strong the leader was. The blow made her see white for a second (and she'd definitely have a huge bruise on her cheek tomorrow), but apart from making her take a few steps back Formora was fine. Firnen, however, was gasping with pain.
Formora raised her eyes at Florges. "Huh, you're pretty strong! But, here's the thing."
She raced forward without warning, knocking aside Florges with Astonish as she swiftly grabbed the nearest Floette. She squeezed the tiny thing's carotid artery until it passed out, then tossed it into one of the bushes.
"I'm stronger."
She let herself be hit by Florges' enraged Moonblast once more, and this time she couldn't help but wince. Damn, that fairy knew how to hit!
Kia, having gotten over his injuries, promptly retaliated with another Earth Power, though the effort seemed to have cost him dearly. Florges must have thought he was KO'd, for she and the two Floette stumbled underneath the weight of the attack's power. Again, Formora lunged forward, nabbing another Floette. This one, sensing her impeding doom, didn't struggle, merely sent a fine green energy throughout the summit. The pink mist disappeared, replaced by an influx of springy grass.
A swift chop to the back of her neck rendered her unconscious, leaving only one more Floette and Florges.
The last Floette paled. "We're losing," she whispered.
"It's not over yet," Florges said grimly, gathering sunlight for another Solarbeam.
"Get that last one," Formora told Firnen idly.
Wincing, he nodded, and charged for the duo, his tusks glowing menacingly, as if in anticipation for the incoming Guillotine. The last Floette hit him with Moonblast, but to Firnen's credit he charged on, though he looked incredibly winded.
Florges finished charging and fired off the massive beam; not at Firnen, but at Formora. She managed to duck underneath the blast, feeling the heat of the attack wash over her back.
She looked up to see the Grass underneath Firnen's feet tie itself into a Knot, tripping him and causing hi to fall flat on his face.
Before the two fairies could do anything to the prone Fraxure, Formora distracted them by hitting both with Shadow Ball, screaming, "GRAB HER!"
The incredibly exhausted Firnen managed to snag the wincing Floette into his grasp. As he lifted her up to his tusks, Florges tried to stop him with Moonblast.
A choked gasp came from Firnen, but before he collapsed, he used the last of his energy to KO the last Floette. Formora watched emotionlessly as Florges finished him off.
Meanwhile, a very wounded Kia summoned up the energy for yet another Earth Power.
"Tenacious, aren't you?" Florges snorted, easily dodging the attack and smacking him with Moonblast. Kia crumpled to the ground, but somehow he wasn't down yet.
Florges stood over him, charging up for an extra-powerful Moonblast. She ignored the Ice Beam Formora sent at her, and a second later it was down to the two leaders.
"Your silly dragons are no match for me," Florges sniffed, twisting away from Formora's annoyed Ice Beam. She stood in the center of the summit, gathering solar energy.
"Luckily I'm not a dragon. Even if I was, I'm not scared of an overgrown weed," Formora retorted, throwing attack after attack at Florges while she was helpless to dodge.
Formora needed to end this, quick; Florges was no pushover, and using so many attacks was taxing. She wasn't as quick as she was before, and when Florges fired her Solarbeam, Formora was grazed. She fell to the ground, and as she tried to stand a Grass Knot sent her right back to it. She stayed there, pretending to crumple.
Florges snorted derisively. "You were saying?" she said, standing over Formora for a final blow.
Instead, Formora surprised her with a point-blank Ice Beam to the face. Florges cried out as the ice encased her completely.
Formora let out a sound that was something between a giggle and a cough. "And you were saying?"
She waited until Florges had thawed a little bit before striking her exposed head with Shadow Ball. The blast had the unfortunate side-effect of cracking the ice, and Florges used it to break free.
Formora and Florges both stood facing each other, Formora charging for a critical Ice Beam and Florges charging for Solarbeam.
They threw their beams at one another, Solarbeam on top and Ice Beam at the bottom. Both women were hit by the other's attack, and both fell gracelessly to the ground.
After what felt like an eternity, Formora looked up, panting, waiting to see if Florges would rise. But the tribe leader stayed down, her eyes rolled back into her head.
Formora stood, spat, then grinned. "Well! That was fun, but I'm afraid I must be going. But first, I think I'll give you a little something to remember me by."
Kneeling over the unconscious Florges while munching on an Oran Berry, she took the defeated woman's fingers, and snapped them all in half. Then Formora delivered a quick chop to Florges' wrists, elbows, and shoulders until the Pokemon's arms were shaped like tree branches.
Then, just because she could, she went and did the same thig to the rest of the Floette.
Formora giggled. "There! Much better. Next time, stay out of my way."
She went over to Kia and Firnen, nudging them until they woke. "Get up; we still need to transport all of these plants."
Shinx was very surprised when Formora came into the Intel room, trailing five hemlock plants behind her. She thrust them out to him.
"I'm back. Here: the solution to your asset problem. You're welcome."
Then, before he had the chance to reply, she spun and walked right down to the dungeon.
The rest of the poisonous plants had already been delivered to Oksana, who swept Formora into an embrace as soon as she'd caught sight of the Froslass.
"Oh thank you for all of thees hemlock! Eet's more than I know what to do weeth! Ah, but I theenk between the two of us we'll find a good use for eet all, hm?" the Eelektross laughed.
A hard smile appeared on Formora's face. "Yes indeed. Let's go and figure out some new uses for it, shall we?"
Oksana's eyes danced with glee. "Yessss~"
"Oh, by the way, you meessed the declaration of Drapion's puneeshment. Our leader said that seence he likes to play weeth poison so much, then he'll learn to become eemmune to all poisons known to Pokemon before he'll allow Drapion the sweet release of death. By poison, of course. So, now that you brought me more hemlock, I can get started right away~! Ah, but I want to show you something first," Oksana said as she led Formora deeper into the dungeon. She stopped in front of a large cell, and Formora peered inside, finding two Shiny Goomies huddled together in the back corner.
"Tweens, Formora! Tween Goomies, thanks to the people formerly of the Desert Veellage," Oksana said proudly.
"Pl-please don't hurt us," one of the Goomies whimpered, cowering back.
"You should know, I know who the Light Champ is now; turns out we've met before. You won't be having any new Shinies anymore," Formora said to Oksana, ignoring the pathetic plea of the captive.
"Aww, really?" Oksana pouted playfully. "Hmph. I guess I need to make mine last, then. Oh well! Good news, everyone~!" she continued, speaking loudly for the whole cell block to hear. "You all can rest assured that your patheteec leettle lives are being extended for years to come! Say 'thank you, Meess Oksana'."
There was no sound from anywhere. Oksana merely opened a nearby cell door and hauled out its occupant, holding it out in her hands where all of the prisoners could see. She was holding a squirming pink Jumpluff, who went dead still when one of Oksana's claws hooked itself right underneath its eye.
"I said, say 'thank you, Meess Oksana'," she growled.
A mumbled, frightened chorus of 'thank you Miss Oksana's came from the cell block. Oksana beamed, throwing the Jumpluff back into the cell.
"You're very welcome! We're all going to be friends for a long time. And I know just who I want to get to know better," Oksana continued, grabbing one of the Goomy twins.
"DON'T HURT ME!" she screamed. She quieted down to a whimper fraught with hiccups as Oksana hugged her, stroking her head gently.
"Shh, shh, don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt you," she smiled deep into the Goomy's eyes.
Formora couldn't help but giggle.
Once Formora and Oksana had enough fun with the other twin, they washed the blood off of themselves in the small shower room near the entrance. Formora was loath to end her joy, but she had to admit, she was tired. The other Goomy had been sent up to the infirmary to be patched up, while her traumatized sister was sent back to her cell. When Formora and Oksana left, she was curled up in a corner, rocking back and forth as her feeble mind tried to process the horrific (but fun) events that she had been forced to witness.
"So…you and Sonya are from another land, right? What's it like?" Formora said conversationally, scrubbing at a stubborn bloodstain on her shoulder while fighting back a yawn.
"Rossiya? Eet's a northern country, and very cold. You'd like eet there. Eet's mountainous, and the far north ees eempossible to eenvade during the depths of weenter. No, really. Two hundred years ago, a neighboring country tried to eenvade us een December. We seemply packed our things, went north, and waited eet out. The 'eenvasion' only lasted a week," Oksana chuckled.
"Didn't you leave because of an invasion though?"
"Mm, I suppose you could call ceeveel war an eenvasion of sorts. Certainly, Son and I's home was eenvaded. And the King's palace too, before he was defenestrated by the rebels…"
"De-what?"
"Defenestrated. Eet means 'to throw someone out a weendow'."
"That's…very specific."
"But accurate! See, eet also means 'to remove someone from power'."
"So…which definition happened?"
"Both~!"
"I see…"
On her way to her room, however, she saw a strange sight. Kia and Cate were walking in the opposite direction, holding hands and looking at each other with sappy smiles. Now what was all this about?
"What's going on here?" she asked.
They were so focused on each other they hadn't noticed Formora's approach. They jumped in surprise, and looked at her, faces rapidly turning red.
"Oh, Formora! Um, it's nothing. We were about to take a stroll along the beach," Kia said, not meeting her eyes.
"Why?"
"Because we're together!" Cate blurted out. She paused. "O-oh, I didn't mean to—well, actually, it feels really nice to say that out loud…"
"Indeed," Kia agreed, squeezing her hand. "Are you off to bed, Milady?"
"'Together'?" Formora said, raising an eyebrow and ignoring his question. She'd seen how sappy Pokemon got when they were in love. Take Evan the Stupid Mercenary, for example; he'd gone mushy and weak in his attempts to woo her. She did not need that kind of distraction in her team. If Kia was too focused on Cate to do his job, then she'd have him transferred back to Sealed Abyss with no regrets.
"Yes. We are," Kia nodded. He sounded surprised, as if he'd never expected to hear himself say that. "But we're both still dedicated to our teams. We won't let it affect our work, I promise."
"You'd better not," Formora frowned, crossing her arms. "You remember Evan, Kia? If you end up like him you can say goodbye to your position here. I've no use for soft weak fools."
"You have no reason to worry, I swear," Kia said quickly. She knew he would never do anything to jeopardize his place here (or with his new place with Cate), so she dropped it.
"Good. Now, go enjoy your walk. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, continuing on to her room.
"Goodnight," Kia and Cate chorused.
Fun fact: Shiny Zygarde looks almost exactly like a white-flower Florges.
The next post will include: A helpful note, fun with lighthouses, and the return of Formora's side-project.