Draco: Credits rolling on Pokémon Shield as I start this chapter, think I'm gonna take a break from Galar. Not the most exceptional #CreativeClosingCredits I've ever seen, but I like the type-background progression. Was wondering where the Hall of Fame was going to be before I reached the title screen, and there's my team. Plus the Rillaboom/Obstagoon/Toxtricity×2 band that kicked things off was ace.

...How do you know you've been contemplating a fanfic subconsciously? If the game takes place in area with significantly different slang than yours, and you start using that slang. You're trying to accustom yourself to the characters' linguistic fashions so that if you write a story involving those characters, you don't force your regional slang on the world. Like I needed another one brewing.

Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.

Ultra Kingdom - Rich Earth: Fond Memories of Misery

"Fool's mate. That's what I get for playing chess first thing in the morning."

Gracia stepped out of her tent with the Cosmog to find Okuni and Ranmaru hunched over a chessboard - which was to say, a drawing of a chessboard and written moves on the floor around it. With no one willing to continue exploring the plant and risk awakening every Xurkitree in the area, they'd isolated themselves to the top floor, where there were no swarming rooms; Null's restlessness around beasts had led to the occasional jump on a patrol that passed their camp, but for the most part everyone had tried to avoid battle - so alternative means to pass the time were required.

Chess was the sixth game in four weeks.

Oichi was watching the game; as Ranmaru contemplated his loss, she glanced up to Gracia. "Morning."

"Morning," Gracia returned. "You guys ready to get out of here?"

"Quite," Ranmaru agreed. "Shall we take to the roof before we open the gate?"

"Not sure that's necessary," Okuni observed, "but I guess it'd stop the patrols from walking in on us."

+x+x+x+

Once they were on the roof, the gate was opened without trouble, and the Ranseans leapt in.

The environment on the other side was bizarre; it was hard to describe it as much else but farmland. The gate deposited them in a valley of sorts, with stone walls on either side - and a large expanse of dirt ahead of them. Not just barren dirt, either, but dirt tilled so perfectly Oichi would swear a platoon of well-trained Diglett had run through it if she'd found such environs in Ransei; grass was growing along the valley walls broad enough to host two-by-two, water that seemed to be relatively clear flowed between some of the rows, and on closer inspection it was clear something was growing in the tilled earth.

"Okay," Gracia murmured, "this is getting weird."

Ranmaru stepped up to one of the plants; pulling on it sharply revealed it to be an herb or root of some sort. "Well," he mused, "we've more supplies."

"Herbs and berries," Okuni sighed. "Volume over variety, right?" They'd depleted the last of the food supplies from Ransei in the Xurkitree's plant.

"I don't blame you for not liking it," Oichi agreed. "I mean, better to have more, but still. When Evia and I get back to Ransei, I'm going to put Aurora Castle on lockdown and order a banquet to feed three kingdoms' worth of Warriors."

Silence draped the group at her words.

And before anyone could break it, an explosive sound from ahead drew everyone's attention.

"What the Mulch?" Gracia muttered. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Okuni admitted, "but we should probably check it out before we try and gather."

Ranmaru got to his feet. "Get on the grass," he advised, "it'll offer better traction."

The group made their way to one of the grass paths before starting towards the sound. What they found caught everyone off-guard; there was a large crater in the dirt, at what seemed to be an intersection of some sort between three valleys. Large chunks of solidified dirt were scattered around it, and floating above it were three towering, metallic figures - two pillar-like structures with slanted tops, and a broader shape between them that looked vaguely aerodynamic, each with multiple small protrusions at the base that looked like a cross between bamboo shoots and metal pipes.

Null growled as he saw it; Oichi held him back from charging. "Don't."

"Do we fight it?" Ranmaru asked.

"No," Oichi declared. "Not if we don't need to."

The center figure rotated, revealing a hollow from near the center of its build upward; a thin length extended from the base of the hollow to a round shape near the point that looked vaguely like a closed mouth.

"Now it's attacking," Okuni dreaded.

"It's not attacking," Gracia insisted.

One of the pillars started to rotate.

"It's attacking," Gracia backspaced.

Everyone pulled back as the pillar slammed into the ground - nowhere near where they would have been standing, but making impact nonetheless. The other pillar performed the same motion, its protrusions seeming to grip the earth, and then light began to well in the hollow of the main body; after a short moment, the mouth opened, and with a deep cry, that light burst out, slamming into the valley wall just shy of hitting Gothitelle full-on and leaving stone fragments tumbling.

Once the attack had flown, Null charged forward; Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere through the dust, and the attack hit the beast's center mass. It skidded backward, the pillars pulling back with it; as it righted itself again, Null got close enough to slam a Crush Claw into the beast's bottom protrusions. It did little in terms of damage, but it did have the beast's attention as Oichi directed him to circle around; once he was clear of the danger zone, Gothitelle swung her hand down for a surge of psychic power.

Volcarona advanced while the beast was trying to keep track of Null; she leapt forward and twisted into a Fiery Dance, flames scattering around her and searing her opponent. Lucario leapt skyward to throw another Aura Sphere without hitting either of his allies at close range; it hit the back of the hollow, and when the beast tried to turn around Null attacked it with another Crush Claw in an effort to keep its attention on him. Gothitelle's Future Sight bombarding it didn't let that last very long, and the beast turned back to the others and began to ready another Flash Cannon.

Lucario retreated to one side, Gothitelle retreated to the other, and Volcarona leapt to the beast's flank before blazing it again.

The beast cried out; its levitation ceased abruptly, and its center mass hit the ground, followed swiftly by its pillars.

Null made to attack it again, but Oichi swung her arm to stop him. "No, Null, get back!"

Her eyes were swirling purple, and Ranmaru turned to her. "Lady Oichi?"

"It's doing something!" Oichi warned. "Everyone take cover!"

Warriors and Pokémon alike retreated towards the rubble broken by the beast's first Flash Cannon; after a moment, its lower protrusions started to glow with heat. Null just managed to dash around the largest chunk before another blast sounded; flames ripped out of the protrusions, redirected by the crater towards the beast that source them, and it started to soar skyward.

Before the dust had even cleared, the beast was gone into the sky.

What the hell was that? Oichi tried to utter the words, but realized she didn't hear them. With the panic of the beast's actions gone, she became aware of the ringing in her ears; the blast had temporarily deafened her, and turning to the others revealed they were suffering the same predicament, with Gracia pressing the heels of her palms against her ears in an effort to provoke them into hearing again. Oichi drew her staff off her back and let a couple drops fall onto each of her own ears; the ringing cleared up in short order, and she quickly offered the same to the others.

"Anyone have any idea what just happened?" Okuni asked once everyone was sure their ears were working.

"The beast... flew off somewhere," Ranmaru observed. "But that propulsion was..."

"Terrifying," Gracia muttered. "I wouldn't want to be in that thing's flight path." She turned to Oichi; "Was that thing...?"

"No," Oichi insisted. "I don't think it was like the Pheromosa. It wasn't fleeing with intent to come back, it was more like... an automatic response to being overpowered. It knew it was losing and took off by instinct."

Gracia hummed. "So it's not going to come back?"

Oichi shook her head. "It's not."

Okuni glanced around the crater. "I'd hate to see a beast like that try to fly in a place it wasn't meant for," she admitted.

The Cosmog gave a worried cry.

"Celesteela..." Ranmaru crossed his arms. "A fitting name if I've ever heard one. I wouldn't be surprised if that thing could peak the Tower of Infinity before we had much time to enter its lift."

+x+x+x+

The valleys all hosted farm rows, and at first the group intended to explore the area before they started gathering; alas their minds were changed in frighteningly short order. Following the three-way intersection around the first beast's crater led to two more Celesteela - these ones with their lower bodies buried in the earth, but no one wanted to see what it took to wake them up - and a dead-end to the valley down the path where they'd come out of the gate.

"Can we go to one place that's not a terrifying maze?" Gracia complained.

"It's not a maze," Oichi observed. "I think it's... a pattern. This place seems like its laid out like Combee." She scratched a few lines in the dirt with her staff. "It just propagates in this fashion."

"Yes, but..." Okuni folded her parasol and prodded the intersections. "That would mean there's one of those Celesteela at every corner."

"That's still a lot safer than a building full of Xurkitree," Gracia argued.

Ranmaru glanced skyward; there had been no sun moving along the skies, but things seemed to be getting darker all the same. "If so," he mused, "that means we're safe if we make camp well away from the beast's locations."

"Maybe we should pitch the tents in the crater?" Okuni suggested.

"Lightning is more than capable of striking twice," Ranmaru reprimanded.

Oichi nodded. "Besides, it's too uneven. I know I'd never get to sleep in there."

"Fair," Okuni conceded.

+x+x+x+

They spent the last bit of daylight they had gathering the produce; herbs and vegetables combined with berries made a better meal than anyone had anticipated once camp was finally made. Oichi offered to take the first watch with Null, and Okuni and Ranmaru retreated into their tents; Gracia, however, lingered for a bit.

"You want the watch instead?" Oichi asked.

"No," Gracia insisted. "I just..." She glanced at Null. "I wanted to ask you something."

"About Null?" Oichi echoed.

"Kind of," Gracia admitted. She reached over to one of the supply bags; hanging off the bottom was the rectangular box where she'd stored the discs that Null had been in stasis with, and she detached it and brought it into the light of the fire. "It's about Full."

Oichi hummed curiously. "What about Full?"

"I just... do you really think we'll find something about it?" Gracia asked. "I mean, we know that Null was made by people somewhere - but it had to be somewhere in our world, right? Maybe one of those Trainer regions that Lord Nobunaga went off to? And if Full has something to do with Null, how do we know we're gonna find out anything about it in the beast's worlds?"

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Oichi asked. "You're the one who suggested we bring them along in case we learned something about Full."

Gracia looked awkward. "I dunno... Maybe I'm just tired. We've been out of Ransei, for... what four months, now?" Then, seeing Oichi's concern; "Not that we're not getting anything done," she insisted. "We found Okuni, we're probably gonna find the rest of everybody before too long. But the..."

"The what?" Oichi asked.

"No, never mind."

"Gracia..."

The Nixtormer took a deep breath. "I keep thinking about when Ranmaru tried to Link with that one Poipole, and... the way these beasts are so different from the Pokémon of Ransei, I feel kind of dumb for expecting them to have anything to do with Full."

Oichi shook her head. "You shouldn't," she insisted. "I think you might have been on to something."

"Wait, what?"

"You know how Null reacts when we start fighting beasts?" Oichi asked. "I feel like there's some kind of relation between them and him. An artificial Pokémon opens a whole kingdom of possibilities."

A smile rose on Gracia's face. "Alright, then. Good night, Lady Oichi."

"Good night, Gracia."

She retreated into her tent, and Oichi turned towards Null, who seemed to be looking away. After a moment, Oichi got to her feet, stepping towards him, and she ran her hand over the inscription on his mask.

Type: Null Berserk Inhibition Helmet

"You could answer these questions yourself, couldn't you?" she mused. "But whatever this has done to you... it's holding back our Link. Are you sure you don't want me to..."

Her hand started to drift down the mask's length - and Null shook his head, pushing her hand away before giving a low cry.

"...Alright," Oichi insisted. "I don't know why you choose to be miserable... but I'll respect it." She set her forehead against his. "And I hope that, when the suffering stops... you'll look fondly on these days all the same."

Draco: Some people don't understand the reason for versioned games, and they buy both versions of each pair of Pokémon games. I do understand the reason for versioned games... and for the past four Generations, I've bought both versions of each pair anyways. Versioned games are meant to encourage sociability - battles and trades and Generation-exclusive minigames with people around you. And I understand that, I reap those benefits as best I can. The problem is, I enjoy my games over and over again, I clear my data and I start fresh. But I build my Pokémon teams based on emotion, I keep my Pokémon close to me, and I refuse to stop doing so; as such, I have one version where I build my personal team, and the other version I play over and over again.

"But Draco, they introduced Pokémon Bank in Generation VI; your personal team isn't going anywhere. And it was compatible with Generation VII, so you have no excuse."

{awkward} No, but I abandoned this fandom at the dawn of Generation VII and took it back when Let's Go came out. When I did, I went to get the Moon versions an hour before the latest-open game store closed and they only had Sun versions still in stock. So I got Sun and Ultra Sun, went home... said screw it, went back in on the morn, and searched game sellers for Moon and Ultra Moon. #DidntThinkThisThrough

Anyways, here's the battle info for the new Ultra Beast.

Celesteela
-Range: 2
-Move: Flash Cannon
-Ability: Beast Boost | Confidence