... I'm just going to get started with this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Fire Emblem of any kind for either of them. I do own my OC. Adrian is owned by Antex- The Legendary Zoroark. Ali(cia), Mark and Nate are owned by kitsunelover300. Kale is owned by Insane Dominator. Misaki is owned by Pink Lightspeed Ranger.
"Normal people talking"
'Thoughts'
"Z-MOVE!"
"Dragon-type Pokemon talking" Only from Corrin's perspective
"Misaki talking in wolf form"
After leaving the Astral Planes, Corrin and her group continued their way to Izumo. Unfortunately, to say their journey there was peaceful would be all but a lie.
"Let those Pokemon go!" Misaki shouted.
On their way to their destination, Misaki and some of the Pokemon heard faint sound in the woods nearby and rushed to the source, to everyone else's surprise. Imagine their shock and irritation upon seeing a group of bandits putting some Pokemon in cages. The trainers, especially, didn't take this act so kindly, as they were the first to step out and reveal themselves to the bandits.
"Or what? Are we suppose to be scared of a bunch of kids? Go home to your mommies," a bulky oni savage mocked, as the rest of the bandits let out laughs.
"They're not alone!" Corrin called out, as she and the rest of the group made themselves known to the enemy.
The bandits flinched slightly at the sudden increase in number, as the oni savage, most likely the leader, then spoke out to them. "Don't let these guys take you, men! Half of this group are nothing but a bunch of kids, pipsqueaks, and an old man! Take them out of the equation, and the rest are easy pickings!"
"Hey! I take offense to that!" Hayato shouted in annoyance.
"What he said," Gunter said, agreeing with the boy.
"Arr ruff!" Rocky also agreed, as the other small Pokemon glared at the bandits.
"You mind of one of us trainers handle the leader, at least?" Misaki asked Corrin. "I especially want to maul him."
"Isn't that going a bit too far?" Sakura asked.
"Depending on the Pokemon used," Adrian answered, supporting Misaki's request.
"Oh no no no. We are not mauling anyone. Bandits or Nohrians," Riana denied. Certain, particular people in the group glanced at the Alolan Champion with raised eyebrows at that last part. Riana noticed this and emphasized, "Bad Nohrians."
The leader let out a laugh at the claim. "Hah! You think you can stop us? I like to see you try. Get 'em, boys!" At that order, the rest of the bandits charged at Corrin's group with their weapons. A couple of the long-range attackers stayed back with their leader and prepared their arrows or ninja stars.
"Gunter, Rinkah! You two-!" Before Corrin could finish her order, one of their members charged right back at the bandits, to the majority of the good guys' shock.
Once Tauros saw they were going to do battle, the Normal-type Pokemon just couldn't contain his excitement and rushed into battle.
"Wha-?! Tauros, wait!" Riana called. Sadly, the Wild Bull Pokemon either didn't hear nor listen to her.
"And he's gone," Ali bluntly stated, with Fira sighing in agreement.
"He can be the decoy," Hayato suggested, in which those near him turned and gave him judging looks for. "Well he's already doing just that!"
"Someone needs to provide backup for Tauros!" Corrin ordered.
"Leave it to me," Kaze insisted, already running on ahead.
"I as well," Gunter followed, having his steed follow suit.
"I got the leader," Misaki said, running around the brawl to get to her target.
"Huh?! Misaki, wait!" Riana ran after her.
"The big guy is with the Pokemon. We'll go with them and save them," Ali said to Corrin.
"Please do," the princess nodded in approval. With that, Ali, Fira, and Adrian ran after their fellow trainers.
With Tauros, he seemed to be quite the trigger-happy, battle-loving kind of Pokemon. Why? Besides charging in at the bandits head-first, the Wild Bull Pokemon was taking down each bandit left and right, tackling the bandits away should they get too close, and even sending them flying with a good Zen Headbutt here and there. Kaze and Gunter did all they could to lessen the amount of enemies targeting him, deflecting any arrows or shurikens thrown to the Pokemon or blocking any strikes at his weak point. All while trying not to get caught in the Pokemon's rampaging.
"That stupid bull is decreasing our numbers!" a samurai exclaimed.
"I know. I bet it'll sell for a lot!" a spear soldier stated.
"You're not selling any Pokemon!" Rinkah shouted, as she swung her mace at the spear soldier, disarming the guy, and swung it once more at his head.
"What the-?!" the samurai gasped, as a Hammer Arm was swung down on his head, knocking him down and out.
"Nice shot, Blazerilla," Rinkah commented.
"Darmanitan!" the Fire-type thanked.
Back to Tauros, a few of the bandits tried to get the jump on the Wild Bull while it was distracted with their comrades. For those unlucky souls, however, Subaki swooped down with his pegasus and caught one of them by the helm of their shirt with his spear, and another one of the few got cut by behind with a sword strike by Hana, getting the attention of the last guy.
"Huh?!" the bandit turned and was suddenly met face-to-face with a spear-head so close to his face, it could leave a scar on his nose.
"Don't move, please," Mozu requested, riding on top of Muddy, who was glaring and growling at the man, despite not knowing either moves.
While a farmer girl and a donkey weren't much of a threat, they were if one had a weapon dangerously close to one's face and the other was an animal- a Pokemon- capable of dealing a lot of pain. As such, the guy dropped his weapon and gave in.
With the Pokemon trainers, they managed to go around the bandits and reached the cart full of caged Pokemon.
"It's okay. We're getting you out of there," Ali promised them.
"Over our dead body!" came a voice behind her. Ali turned in time to see a ninja preparing to throw a ninja star at her. The girl froze as she raised her arms in a feeble attempt to protect herself while her Eevee jumped in an attempt to take the hit for her trainer, only for the star to instead be intercepted by a Night Slash and fall to the ground.
"What?!" the ninja gasped.
Ali hesitantly lowered her arms and saw Adrian's Zangoose standing before her. Fira happily barked out her thanks to the Cat Ferret Pokemon, in which Scar simply scoffed in response.
"Going for a girl while her back is turned? Even for bandits like you guys, that's just low," Adrian said to the ninja, standing right behind him.
The ninja bandit turned and noticed the guy for the first time. "Where the hell did you come from?!"
"I don't need to be a ninja to sneak up on people." Next thing the ninja knew, Adrian slipped behind him and held him in a chokehold. The ninja struggled to escape, but failed to, as he slowly lost consciousness. The moment Adrian felt the guy got still, he dropped him. "That should knock him out for a while," he said. Adrian looked over to Ali and the Pokemon, and noticed one of the few natural female trainers giving him a funny look. "What?"
"Where'd you learn to do a chokehold?" she asked, as it was unnatural for a trainer in their world to be able to do such an act, unless if they were a part of some secret organization or passionate brawlers.
Adrian took notice of this and improvised. "Let's just say I came from a rough neighborhood," he said.
Getting the message that he didn't want to speak of the issue any further, Ali turned back to the captured Pokemon and got to work on freeing them.
As for Misaki and the bandit leader, as it turned out, the archer that stayed behind remained by the leading bandit's side, as he pointed his arrow at the girl.
"Two on one, girl? That's your plan?" he mocked.
"She's not alone!" Riana exclaimed, joining Misaki as she tossed her Pokeball in the air, calling out her Ledian. "Ledian will be more than enough backup she need to take you down!"
Seeing an overgrown bug hovering in front of them, definitely ready for a right, the leader and his archer let out laughs.
"Please. What will a weak little buggy do to-?"
"Mach Punch." As soon as Riana, knowing so well that the pair had underestimated her Pokemon, gave her order, Ledian shot forward and struck the archer bandit right in the face, sending him flying into a tree.
The leader looked over to where his guy was sent to and then to Ledian. The Five Star Pokemon looked back at him, bumping all four of her fists together. That one action made the bandit flinch as he practically jumped away from the unexpectedly strong Pokemon.
"Don't forget about me." He then turned at Misaki's voice. Rather than sending out a Pokemon at him, however, Misaki turned into her wolf form and bit his arm, causing him to cry out and release his grip on his axe, in which she then tossed away.
Now facing off against a wolf snarling at him, without his weapon at that and his good arm injured, the bandit quickly backed away in fear, as Misaki jumped and proceeded to maul the guy. At least, she was close to, when Ledian grabbed her from behind, suspending her above the bandit. Misaki struggled to get out of the Bug-type's grip, but Ledian wasn't kept her hold.
"Misaki! Misaki, hey!" Riana called. "I literally just said we're not mauling anyone, even if he is a bandit!" She walked over to the pair. "Misaki, calm down!"
At this point, the werewolf reverted back to her original form. And with the change in weight, Ledian dropped her hold on the girl's shirt, as the latter turned to her fellow champion and shouted, "This isn't the Pokemon World, Riana! I may not be here long enough, but I do know enough to know guys like them won't stop unless you do what needs to be done!"
"Even so, killing is not the answer! Do that, and you'll be no different from bandits! Heck, you'll be no different from the Nohrians forcing the trainers in Nohr to give up their Pokemon, forcing the Pokemon into submission!"
Misaki wanted to retort to that, truly she did. But instead, she took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Sorry. Sometimes, my more protective wolf instincts take over when I see Pokemon in cages."
Riana nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Don't worry about it," she assured. Turning to the leader of the bandits, she then said, "As for you... we're not really far from Fuga's village. He has a place for criminals, right?" That last question was directed to Misaki.
"Last I checked," she nodded in confirmation.
While the girls were distracted, the bandit reached for a knife hidden behind his back. Once he had a grip on the handle, he charged at the pair screaming.
"Mach Punch," Riana calmly called, as Ledian suddenly punched the guy in the face and sent him flying into the cart of cages, where thankfully the wild Pokemon had all been freed from as they escaped into the woods.
"Hey! You almost crashed the guy right into us!" Adrian shouted.
"Sorry about that," the Alolan Champion apologized. "But, now that he's out of the way, what do you say we get the other bandits? Corrin and the others look like they're just about done."
All four trainers and their Pokemon turned to the large brawl in question and saw most of the bandits were taken out of the equation, the majority by Tauros.
"Well, I guess we know what to use the cart for, then," Ali stated, her fellow trainers and the Pokemon nodded in agreement.
Once all the bandits were taken care of, Rinkah, Hayato and Blazerilla took the cart now-full of bandits back to the Wind Village. Hayato to explain the situation to the chief of the baddies, and Rinkah and Blazerilla to drag the cart and/or remaining unconscious bandits.
While they were heading to the Wind Village, everyone else continued on to Izumo. Corrin wanted to wait for the trio to return or at least go with them to their previous destination, but Hayato and Rinkah insisted that she and the others continued on their original task.
As they walked, Riana scolded Tauros for running off like he did. "Do you understand? I know you like to battle, but even so, you can't just charge in head first in these sort of battles. It's not like back in the Astral Planes or the castle," she said.
Tauros let out a low bellow in understanding.
"I think he understands now," Sakura told her.
"True as it may be, a trainer has to be stern with their Pokemon at times like this," Ali said. "It's like a parent to a child. If a child does something wrong, the parent has to scold them to get them to understand what they did wrong. Some times, a bit too harshly, depending on the act."
"You make it sound like you have experience from that," Jakob stated.
"Well, that kind of comes with the job of being a Pokemon Caretaker."
"Looks like we're here," Adrian called to the group.
Everyone looked ahead at his words and found that they had arrived at peaceful destination at last.
"So that's Izumo's central palace. There's something... calming about it," Corrin stated.
"Yes. Izumo has long been known as the kingdom of the gods. It only makes sense that the center of its power would radiate peace. While all the other kingdoms quarrel, it maintains a neutral stance," Azura explained. "I'm glad we made it here safely. Let's go find the archduke."
"Is that him over there?" Mozu asked, pointing to one direction.
The group looked to where she was pointing and saw a smiling, serene, friendly looking guy in white and black clothes waving to them.
"I am Archduke Izana, first heir to the divine bloodline, descendant of the gods, keeper of prophecies, and winner of best hair... five or six times? I forget," the guy introduced so happily. "It's so nice to finally meet you! I imagine your journey here was quite difficult. Time to kick back and relax! Izumo is a wonderful place. You could stay here forever!"
Corrin was taken aback by his friendly offer. "Th-thank you very much for such a warm greeting..."
"Oh, it's nothing! You know, I'm really glad you came! I rarely have company. I'm so excited, I hardly feel like myself!"
"I don't understand... Why is he being so informal?" Misaki asked in a whispered tone to Sakura. "Is this how all major leaders of the world are meant to behave?"
"No, they don't normally act this way. He's just... a special case," she answered.
"Clearly," Ali uttered out in agreement.
"Pardon me, Archduke. We actually came here to ask you some questions," Corrin told him.
"Oh? What about? Ask away, my friends! If you've got any good gossip to share, I'd be ever so pleased to listen!" Izana said.
"We were wondering if you could share what you know about the Seal of Flames."
Instead of an answer, however, Izana replied, "Huh? The Seal of Flames? That sounds pretty boring to me... I don't bother remembering dull things."
Hearing that response brought up some suspicions to a few members of the group.
"I... see," Corrin said in a dejected tone. "Just when I thought we were going to catch a break, too."
"Hey now, don't look so disappointed! I've prepared a feast for you inside! You should eat, drink, and be happy while there is still time to do so!" Izana more insisted than offered.
"Wait. Are you sure you don't know anything about the Seal of Flames?" Azura asked, one of the few people suspicious of the guy. "The fate of the world may hang in the balance.
"Grrr... I said I've never heard of it!"
"Of course you haven't, you imposter," Gunter claimed as he approached Izana.
"What? You're calling me an imposter? After I've prepared a feast for you all?" the archduke qustioned.
"Don't be coy with me. It's plain to see you're hiding behind a magic illusion. Reveal yourself!"
"I am telling you, I am no imposter!"
"I got it," Misaki spoke up, taking out one of her Pokeballs and calling out the Pokemon in it.
The Pokemon was yellow and seemed so much like an owl. It had black pattern of triangles on its chest, and its wings are orange with yellow underside. Its eyes were red with black rings around them and a cream-colored rings around that, and also had large, cream-colored horn-like feathers that resembled eyebrows.
"Noct, use Foresight!" At Misaki's command, her Pokemon's eyes glowed red and released red beams from them right at Izana. Rather than harming the guy, the beam seemed to have changed him into someone else. No... it revealed the person 'Izana' really was.
The person was a short guy in a red mage's clothes. His face was pale, and his droopy-looking eyes glared at the group, specifically Gunter, Misaki and her Pokemon.
"Ah! Gunter, you're no fun at all! Nor is that girl and her pet!" he exclaimed.
"Zola! I knew it was you behind that magic!" Gunter said.
"Gunter, who is he?" Riana asked.
"This cretin is a Nohrian mage. He specializes in illusions and deception."
Corrin let out a gasp at this info. "But... then where is the real archduke?!"
"I'm afraid it's off to jail for him; the clink, the slammer, the cooler! Oooh, cooler!" Zola happily remarked. "That reminds me; it's time to make use of King Garon's ice bomb! Everyone, fire! ...Hehe, fire the ice bomb..." As he said this, Zola held up a white orb and tossed it down. Everyone covered their eyes as white mist emerged from it.
Once the wind and mist died down, the group lowered their arms and saw the town was covered in ice and snow.
"Get ready, everyone!" Corrin shouted.
"It's incredible... They've done something to encase the entire town in ice," Azura said in slight amazement.
"We'll have to break through if we want to get to them," Hana stated.
"The enemy is probably using this ice as cover, as well. Be careful!" Subaki warned, for he, soaring through the sky on his pegasus, failing to see a single person from amongst the ice and snow.
"If we use Fire-type Pokemon or Pokemon with Fire-type moves, we'll have the advantage of burning through the ice and damaging the enemy in the process," Adrian informed.
"Noct can also use Foresight to see where the enemy is hiding," Misaki added. "If we're splitting up, some of us should go with him, follow him to where Zola is hiding. If we take him out, we can stop this fight."
"Sounds like a plan," Corrin agreed.
Riana and Adrian looked to each other and nodded, as they then called out their Incineroar and Reaper, respectively.
"Us, too!" Ali said, as she and Misaki called out Pudding and an orange, primate-like Pokemon with gold markings on its body and a flaming head.
"Let's do this, guys!" Riana exclaimed.
"Flamethrower!" Upon Riana, Ali and Adrian's order, their Pokemon unleashed their Fire-type move at different part of the ice. Their attack melted through the ice, as well as damaged up some soldiers who were hidden within, as expected.
"Ape, use Flare Blitz!" Misaki called to her Pokemon.
"Infernape!" he nodded, as the Fire-type Pokemon flared up and charged through another part of the ice, also knocking down some enemies hidden from within.
"Charge!" Gunter shouted, as the rest of the gang made their way through the now-open paths before them, taking down the weakened enemy Nohrians, with Azura, Blue, Corrin, Rocky, and Sakura following Noct.
As they charged and fought, Zola, who retreated deep within the city, watched the one-sided battle go on. Watching this scene before him was making him seethe. "These damn Pokemon... They're just too powerful! If only King Garon bestowed me with a Pokemon just as powerful- no, even more so than these annoying Hoshidans and traitors, I'd already be rid of them in the blink of an eye! Instead, not only did he refuse to give me a Pokemon..."
Some of the revealed Nohrian soldiers tossed balls into the air, all which popped open and unleashed their enslaved Pokemon, consisting of Bergmite, Alolan Sandshrew, Cubchoo, and Snover. The moment they were released, it started to snow in the area, making it quite difficult for Corrin and the others to advance.
"... He gave these damn grunts Pokemon, instead!" Zola growled, gritting his teeth at the sight of the soldiers forcing the Pokemon to do battle, only to lose horribly against the natural, pro trainers' Fire-type Pokemon. "And they're horribly losing to the enemy!" It was then, though, Zola saw something interesting.
Rather than fighting the Nohrian soldiers' Pokemon, Corrin and her army were trying to avoid hurting them, as they avoided or blocked whatever attacks came their way. And while they took down the soldiers, the trainers convinced the Pokemon they were their friends, and thus would not harm them. He also noticed the group searched through the defeated soldiers for their Pokeballs. A few of them even went as far as to take some attacks head on to show the Pokemon they were allies.
This gave Zola a devious idea, as he turned to the few soldiers guarding him.
Back to the heroes' group, they continued to push against the enemy Nohrians and avoiding their Pokemon's attacks. Since they knew the Pokemon belonged to other trainers and were forced against their own will to fight like so, they decided to let the trainers handle them, for the most part. And once the soldiers were down, they took the chance to search them for whatever Pokeballs they had to take to the Astral Planes for safety.
"That's all the Pokeballs here," Kaze said, taking a couple of balls from a mercenary his Ninjask had defeated.
"Put the Pokeballs in Muddy's satchel! There's plenty of room in it," Mozu informed, as she and Jakob placed some Pokeballs in the said bag on her Mudbray's saddle. "I can't believe how many Pokemon they have on them..."
"Let's at least be glad they didn't resort to using all of them," the butler pointed out.
"I'll say. Even with the trainers and the Pokemon on our side, to defend against this many will be too much," Hana agreed, coming over with a few more balls. "Especially..." She, the girls, and Kaze then looked over to where the trainers were.
Riana was using herself as some kind of human punching bag, as she took on some of the more physical attacks head on, such as a newly released Spheal's Rollout. While the force was strong enough to knock her off her feet, especially with all the other attacks she had endured, she kept her arms wrapped around the spinning Pokemon, ignoring the burn it was causing to her bare arms in the process.
"It's okay! I'm telling you, you don't need to be scared!" she exclaimed. "You don't need to force yourself to fight anymore! Not like this!"
Slowly, the rolling came to a stop, as the Spheal looked up at Riana. Once it saw that she truly meant it no harm in any way, tears started to form in its eyes and it began to cry in her arms.
"Hey, you stupid good-for-nothing-" Just as the Spheal's 'trainer' was scolding 'his' Pokemon, he was struck by a Flare Blitz, courtesy of Ape.
"The only good-for-nothing here is you," Misaki stated, searching the now unconscious soldier for his Pokeballs. "People like you who think of Pokemon as nothing but weapons."
In another area, Adrian used a large wooden plank he found in the middle of the battle field as a sort of shield, blocking the Ice Shard attacks from a few Sandshrew, as he charged in towards the trio of Mouse Pokemon.
A dark mage behind them simply snickered at the action. "What an utter fool. No wooden plank will save him from this assault. Especially not one as-" Before she could finish that sentence, Ali came from behind the mage and smashed a large wooden stick on her head, knocking the Nohrian out.
"Sorry," the trainer apologized, searching the dark mage for the Alolan Sandshrew's pokeballs. Once she found them, she instantly returned the Mouse Pokemon in time for Adrian's makeshift shield to break.
"About time you knocked that mage out," he said.
"Well, sorry. But do you have any idea how hard it is to find a stick sturdy as this under all the snow and ice? And I had to go around buildings and unmelted ice to get to this person," she reasoned.
Adrian knew how true that was and shook his arms to get some feeling back in them, before moving on to the next enslaved Pokemon and their 'trainer'.
As the trainers continued their duties, the retainer/butler/farmer/ninja group continued looking on at the lengths the trainers went to save the Pokemon from the Nohrians, their respect for them slowly rising.
"It's amazing the lengths they go to to save the Pokemon," Kaze stated. "Makes me wonder if all trainers in their world are like them."
"Probably," Mozu guessed.
"Hoooo!" A hoot was heard from above, causing everyone to look up and see Noct circling around above an area.
"Looks like Corrin and the others made it to Zola," Riana guessed.
"Then we have to pick up the pace," Gunter said.
Everyone else nodded in agreement, as they hurried through their side of the battle to rejoin the princesses.
With the said group, Corrin, Rocky, Azura, Blue and Sakura managed to corner Zola in a castle in the great hall, defeated by the former group.
"We've won. You can't escape now, Zola. Tell us where the archduke is!" Corrin demanded, with Rocky growling by her side.
"HA! You really think it'd be that easy? What a naive little girl you are. I always have an escape plan!" Zola claimed.
"What are you-?!" Corrin stopped herself as Zola took out something from under his person. At a distance, it may seem to be nothing more than a large yellow bell with a red and white rope on top. But up close, it was really...
"A Pokemon?!" Sakura gasped out, noticing the frightened and beatened condition it was in.
"Ho! Look at me and my adorable hostage!" Zola said. "Or should I say... hostages?" He then took out a bag from under his robe. From the lumps the girls could see on the bottom, they knew it was filled with Pokeballs, which may explain why the dark mages outside the building were already knocked out; Zola had planned ahead for his escape using Pokemon as hostages.
"Let them go, Zola!" Corrin shouted. "Are you really going to stoop this low? Do the honorable thing!"
"Pfft to your honor! I'd rather win than be honorable!" he scoffed. "After all, the winner is the one who writes the history books! Besides, these things are nothing more than mere tools to serve their masters, especially in such situation as this! Now, put down your weapons! If you don't, these creatures-!" Before he can finish making his demand, a magic circle appeared from under him, and a tree bursted up, piercing through his body with its branches.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!" he cried out, before he limped down and dropped the Pokemon and the bag, spilling out a couple of Pokeballs from within.
"It can't be... That magic..." Corrin breathed out, familiar with the spell.
"You were the lowest of the low, Zola... Hiding behind hostages. You disgraced the entire Nohrian army," came a voice familiar to her.
The princesses turned and saw Leo at the entrance on top his black horse. The sight of her younger, Nohrian brother brought joy to Corrin and Rocky's face.
"I knew it! I knew it was you, Leo!" she exclaimed, with Rocky barking happily as he ran around the prince's horse's legs. "Thank you for saving the Pokemon!" Leo stayed silent at her words. As this went on, Sakura went to check on the weakened Pokemon Zola had hostage.
Recalling the truth of the war between the two kingdoms, and her goal, Corrin then asked, "Leo... Will you join us? We could use your aid in the battle ahead. I don't plan to fight with Nohr; I've learned of a dire truth..."
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.
"After I refused to side with Hoshido or Nohr, I learned that King Garon... He is being manipulated by someone."
His eyes went wide at the revelation. "What? How do you know this?"
"Listen carefully. He didn't want to start a war with Hoshido. He's being controlled by our real enemy; someone hiding behind the scenes. This invisible foe is who we should really be after!"
"I see. Well then, tell me who is pulling the strings. Name the manipulator!"
Corrin flinched at the demand, for if she were to give the name, she would disappear, as Azura had said. She turned to the songstress, hoping maybe there was a way to even hint out Valla. Azura noticed the gaze and sadly shook her head in denial. "I'm sorry, Leo... I can't say who it is," Corrin told him.
Leo closed his eyes, unamused with the response. "Unsurprising. I don't know why I wasted time listening to your ramblings."
"Leo, please! Wait! I can't say anything now, but-"
"You're a traitor. I don't want to hear your excuses."
Corrin's eyes went wide at the accusation. "What? You still don't believe I have the best intentions?" she questioned.
"Let me make this as clear as I can... You have abandoned our family, and I have extended you the same courtesy. I no longer think of you as my sister. Got it? I only came here to clean up that vile mage. You and I will settle our differences some other time." Just as Leo rose a hand to activate a spell, Rocky, angered by Leo's words to his trainer and best friend, bit his arm with a Fire Fang, much to everyone's surprise as Leo dropped his book in pain.
"Ouch! What the-?!" Leo gasped out, trying to pry the biting, snarling dog off him.
"Rocky, no!" Corrin called out.
Upon seeing Leo's free hand glowing, Azura knew it was for a spell intended for the Rockruff. "Blue, get Rocky away with Aqua Jet!"
The Popplio nodded at the command, as he, in a burst of water, shot towards the Puppy Pokemon and managed to snatch him off Leo, narrowly avoiding a Fire spell he casted and tearing some of his armor and sleeve off him.
Grateful as he was that the pup was off him, the damage was already done, as Leo had a stinging burn and bite mark on his arm. "You know... I never really liked that dog," he said, taking out a Pokeball. He tossed it in the air and called out the Pokemon in it.
It was a yellow and brown giraffe-like Pokemon with white horns on its head, a pink nose, pink spikes, and a brown tail that looks quite like a face, as it had yellow eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
"Hold those two down, now!" Leo strongly ordered, catching .
Quite frightened by the man, the Pokemon did as ordered, as its eyes glowed blue via Confusion, holding Rocky and Blue down in a crushing force.
"Rocky/Blue!" Corrin and Azura cried out in worry.
"Not another step. I will not hesitate to order it to kill them," Leo warned, getting off his mount to retrieve his spellbook.
Although the princesses knew Pokemon would never kill one another, they were aware that they had the potential to do just that and stayed where they were.
"Corrin! Azura! Sakura!" came Riana's voice.
The group of royals looked out the doors and saw the rest of Corrin's group running towards them. Misaki placed her fingers to her lips and let out a whistle. Next the group in the castle knew, Noct flew in and snatched the Pokeball from Leo, much to the prince's surprise.
"Hey!" he shouted, opening his book to cast a spell at the Owl Pokemon.
"Fira, Swift!" Ali ordered. Her Eevee leapt up at the command and fired her homing attack at Leo's feet.
The prince acted fast enough to jump back, as Noct tossed the Pokeball in Misaki's hand. Once she has the ball, Misaki returned Leo's slave of a Pokemon inside, freeing Rocky and Blue from their Confusion prison, as the group entered the castle.
Outnumbered and surrounded, Leo closed his book and raised his arms.
"So, we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way, Nohrian?" Hana questioned.
"Better question, are you an enemy... or an ally?" Misaki asked, noticing Zola's corpse body impaled by a tree.
Rather than answering, Leo calmly informed, "The real archduke should be inside the banquet hall. Along with the pathetic Hoshidan prince, Takumi."
Corrin's eyes widened at the second half of the news. "What? Do you mean-?"
"I'll be taking my leave. Peacefully," he then said, as he began to walk out the castle, with his horse behind him.
"Wait! Leo!" Corrin cried out, only to be ignored by her brother, as he continued past her friends.
Leo stopped at Misaki, eyeing the Pokeball in her hand. Noticing the gaze and knowing so well what it meant, Riana and Adrian got between the two, with the male trainer glaring at the prince.
"This Pokemon doesn't belong to you," Adrian said.
"Nor does it to you. I would like it back," Leo retorted.
"You're right; the Girafarig isn't ours. But that doesn't mean we're not giving it back to its original trainer," Riana retorted right back.
As much as Leo wanted to argue her words, the sight of Incineroar and Reaper by their trainers' side, growling and snarling at him, made him reconsider the idea and continue his leave.
Corrin sadly watched her Nohrian brother continue on without even glancing back at her. "... Leo..."
"Corrin! The banquet hall is filled with people!" Sakura informed. "They've all been tied up!"
Snapping out of her thoughts, princess in Nohrian armor looked inside with a puzzled look on her face. "You can't be serious!"
When the group arrived in the banquet, as Sakura had said, in it were many people, including one archduke Izana.
"You're here! You're here! You've finally come to rescue me! Thank you so much! You really saved my life! I'm absolutely starving! My tummy has been rumbling for hours now!" he cheerfully said.
"Are you truly the archduke of Izumo?" Corrin asked, as she and the others were quite shocked that this is what the archduke is like.
"Why yes! That's me! Archduke Izana, first heir to the divine bloodline, descen-"
"Sorry, Archduke, but we've kind of already heard this..." Riana interrupted.
"Even the hair part?"
"You mean having best hair five or six times? Yeah," Ali answered.
"Awww..."
"H-he's even more informal than the imposter..." Sakura whispered to her retainers, both whom nodded in agreement.
"Ah! The fair Princess Sakura!" Izana noticed. "I believe your brother is around here somewhere. He was left in a situation similar to my own. I can only imagine how hungry he is now..."
"You mean to tell us that Sir Uptight Boya is really here?" Adrian asked.
"Who are you calling 'Sir Uptight Boya'?!" the prince in question demanded from the back of the room.
Sakura brightened up upon seeing her brother and rushed over to him. "Takumi! I'm so glad you're safe!" she exclaimed.
"Sakura? And... Corrin and Azura. What are you all doing here?" the second prince asked in a suspicious tone.
"Well... I decided that I would fight alongside Corrin."
Takumi's eyes widened at this. "What? Sakura, you've turned against Hoshido as well? Ryoma is going to be devastated..."
"Uh, have you lost your hearing at some point, Sir Uptight Boya? Or are you actually so simple-minded?" Adrian questioned and insulted.
"What was that?!" Takumi growled.
"Oh, you cannot really be growling at me like some puppy." Rocky let out a bark at that mocking statement, in which Adrian knew was directed at him and added, "No offense."
Before things could get any more ugly, Sakura said, "No, I h-haven't! Neither has Corrin. No one here has, actually. None of us plan to fight against Hoshido. Corrin says there is something much worse than Nohr's aggression going on. She can't explain, but I trust her. Takumi, p-please—trust her, too!"
Takumi remained silent at his little sister's words.
"Takumi..." Corrin called in slight hope.
Sadly, whatever hope she had dissipated when the boy scoffed and turned away from her. "Hmph... You'll have to excuse me if I don't find this flimsy explanation acceptable. Sakura may believe in your story, but I don't."
"I know this is my first time meeting this guy, but I'm starting to lean towards the simple-minded part Adrian spoke of," Misaki whispered to Gunter and Jakob.
Overhearing the conversation, the male retainer to Azura then added, "Okay then, it's official. He's Simpletog."
This made everyone turn to him with wide eyes.
"Tell me that is not a mix of 'simpleton' and 'dog'," Azura requested, having a bad feeling about where the conversation was going to go.
"As expected of the princess I'm serving under; it does."
That one confirmation, and Takumi shot up from his spot to attack him. However, because he was still tied up, he tumbled down instead and crawled to Adrian as best as he could. "I'm going to kill you!" he swore.
"Wow. So scared," Adrian sarcastically said and mocked.
"Do you really have to keep taunting him?" Riana questioned.
"Not my fault Simpletog is so simple-minded."
Just when things was about to get any worse, Izana intervened. "Nonononono! Ahhh, this won't do! This won't do at all! You've got it all wrong, Prince Takumi!"
The second prince turned to the archduke with a raised brow. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm not going to go into all the little details, but basically—join Corrin. That's what the gods are telling me! Just got some prophetic stuff from them!"
"Huh? Something prophetic?! I can't believe that important prophecies just... happen all of a sudden like that."
"Hey, who's the keeper of prophecies here, you or me? They come as they come. Would you really ignore directions sent down from the gods?"
"Is that true?" Mozu asked Ali in a whispered tone.
"I mean, I've heard of prophecies coming from legends, but never from people," the photographer of a trainer said.
"You know, you say that, but... How can I choose to side someone who won't side with her homeland? Of course I'm grateful they saved us, but... I just can't trust Corrin," Takumi said, glaring at the princess in Nohrian armor.
"Jeez, you truly are simple-minded as the boy said," Izana sighed. "What am I supposed to do with you? I don't like breaking out the big bows, but if a little extra prophesizing is needed... Well, Prince Takumi, that's just what you'll get!"
Next the group knew, Izana took out a crystal ball from his person. He placed it on his lap, his hands above the ball, and he closed his eyes in concentration. Slowly, the ball started to glow white, as he cleared his throat. "'Everything is not yet seen... The truth is far and hidden low. The one upon the water's surface, he who knows all is the true foe...'" At that, the light died down, and Izana went back to his usual self. "Whew. There ya go. The gods really want to speak to you, Prince Takumi. Princess Corrin is not your enemy.
While a bit shock that Corrin truly wasn't an enemy, as the girl and her friends had been saying, Takumi questioned, "Then who is? What was Sakura saying a moment ago... That Corrin knows something about our supposed enemy?"
"Yes. I can't explain it all now, but what Archduke Izana says is true," Corrin confirmed. "We came to Izumo hoping to find a way to defeat our mystery enemy."
"Oh, that's right. You were going to ask me about the Seal of Flames," Izana realized. "I'm sorry, but I don't know a thing about it."
Corrin and her group looked at him in slight shock. Not that he didn't know about the Seal of Flames, but that he knew they wanted to ask about it.
"How did you know what we were going to ask about?!" Ali asked.
"Premonitions! Prophecies! Haven't you been paying attention? Even though I can't help you with the Seal of Flames... My family does have a saying that's been passed down for generations. 'We will show she who shuns the light and dark another way.' So, there you have it!" he cheerfully explained.
"What does that mean? Is Corrin the one who shuns the light and the dark?" Azura asked.
"Well, she didn't side with Hoshido or Nohr. And they resemble light and darkness respectively, don't they?" Riana pointed out.
"I think so!" Izana answered. "Thus, I need to show you a new path. If you'll excuse me, I'll go hold a little ceremony and ask an ancient god for help."
"Uhhh... right now?" Corrin asked.
"Yep! Fortune favors the bold! Strike while the iron's hot! Carpe whatever! I want to get this little ceremony over with, in any case. Ancient gods aren't exactly easy on the eyes." Without another word, Izana left the room.
"I hope he returns with some sort of helpful clue to all this..." Azura said.
"I'm sure things will work out. Let's have faith and wait here for him," Corrin said.
"In any case, let's at least help out the rest of the people here," Gunter suggested.
After some time of freeing the rest of the citizens of Izumo, Izana returned to the banquet hall, looking a bit under the weather. "S-sorry to have... kept you waiting," he apologized.
"Archduke, what's wrong?! You look exhausted!" Corrin asked, greatly worried for him.
"I had a chat...with an ancient god... But even I don't understand it... It's so short, too... 'Go meet the dragon'."
"A dragon?"
"What kind of dragon?" Ali asked.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually... I really really hope you do, too. After all, I think I may—owww ow ow... Yup, definitely gave my life for the message." If the group thought they imagined hearing that last part, they were certain they saw Izana fall to the ground, even more weakened than before, and rushed to his aid.
"What! You're dying? How did this happen?!" Corrin questioned.
"Well, the ceremony I performed always requires something in return. Every message has a price, and the cost of this one was my life," Izana informed, to their shock. "I'd really like it if a bard wrote a nice song about my noble sacrifice... Oh, Prince Takumi...I know I asked before, but... Make sure you help out Corrin, OK?"
Takumi hesitated at the last, dying request. "But... I..."
"What, you're still not willing? I'm dying here, and you're still unsure? Listen, if you don't... I'll come back as a ghost and haunt you. All the time. Boo," Izana joked.
"Archduke..."
Izana then looked over to the trainers. "You four... the gods have one other message. This one ironically free of charge."
The trainers looked to each other, puzzled by the news, as they went closer to him to hear the last message.
"'Many had arrived... to places they do not belong... lost and alone. Some in the frightened darkness... some in wandering light. One is trapped in a place of light... yet blinded by darkness. Guide their way'." The trainers could only nod at the request. "Well, I said what I needed to say... Bye... bye..." With those last words, light had left Izana's eyes.
The group was silent, some shedding tears for the now-late archduke. The Pokemon in the room especially showed their respect, bowing their heads in silence.
"Why didn't he tell us this would cost him his life? Why...?" Corrin questioned, not believing how far this man went to help them.
Sakura sniffled at the sight of another life taken before her eyes. "Oh, Izana..."
"Giving up his life for the good of everyone. He was an admirable man," Gunter stated.
"I'm so sorry... This is all my fault. If I hadn't picked this path, the archduke wouldn't have died like this... I didn't realize the cost of my goal, as right as I believe it to be..." Corrin apologized.
"You must keep believing it. Don't waste his sacrifice," Takumi told her, surprisingly enough.
Corrin looked up to her brother. "Takumi..."
"Listen. I'm going to help you accomplish your mission. I'll fight with you. After all, it was the archduke's dying wish. So. I'm coming along... Sister."
A smile formed on Corrin's face, especially at the fact that Takumi finally accepted her as his sister, as she wiped the tears away. "Thank you, Takumi. I won't let you down!"
"Well, if Lord Takumi is going, I guess we'll have to go too!" came a voice.
"Yup! I'd sooner die than be separated from Lord Takumi," came another voice. The group turned and saw two people familiar to the Hoshidans by the door.
"And you are?" Corrin asked.
"The name's Hinata! I'm one of Lord Takumi's retainers. I'm skilled with a katana, if I do say so myself. You'll like having me in a fight!" Hinata introduced himself.
"My name is Oboro. Like Hinata, I am a retainer to Lord Takumi. If at all possible, I'd rather not interact with the Nohrians," Oboro said, glancing and glaring at the small portion of the group as she said that. "But if we are to be allies, then I will do my best to cooperate... For Lord Takumi's sake."
"You... may want to do something about that face then. Just saying," Misaki pointed out, a bit freaked by the glare Takumi's female retainer was giving, even though it wasn't directed to her.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Jakob agreed.
Oboro simply looked away with a small huff.
"All right... We're glad to have you with us. That's three more valuable allies..." Corrin said in deep gratitude. She then looked back to Izana's lifeless body. "Thank you, Archduke Izana. This is all thanks to you. I promise to never forget the sacrifice you made for us."