Part 8: The Bell

Chapter 61: Too Lucky

Episode ONE: Paradox Landing

Instead of doing "Chapter X: Title of Chapter (Number)" I'm just gonna do it episodically. I think it looks a little better.

So, "Chapter X: Title of Chapter

Episode X: Title of Episode"

Since chapters can be kind of long and I wanna consolidate them into shorter uploads.

I don't own Pokémon.


Cruce

The Paradox

The distant sound of static, somewhere high above me, fizzing like carbonated water. I imagined the sensation of condensation bubbling up, droplets spraying me, cooling me – it wasn't cold anymore. Instead, it was almost like there wasn't a temperature to be concerned with, or my skin didn't have the ability to feel temperature. Maybe it was just lukewarm out. I couldn't tell, since all my other senses were being assaulted by... this place? These smells? It was woodsy, salty, the surface of a coconut – maybe palm trees on the beach, foliage, moss, some kind of stony after-scent, gray and clean. My eyes were closed, but I could still see through the patches on my cheeks. I was too lazy to make any sense of the information – maybe too overwhelmed. It was all just a blob, but after the matter of realizing part of that blob was in motion, I put in the effort to visualize it, make it clear for myself – it was the sky. The whole sky was moving, millions and millions of little pieces flicking around behind a still canopy, branches, dead gray leaves. Static on a television, I thought. That was the sky. The whole sky was made of television static, or at least as much as I could see.

I had the compulsion to rub my eyes, so I did. Then I forgot I'd not ever opened them at all, but they already were itching with curiosity. Eyelids flinging open to the sight of two red paws, I parted my arms, looked straight onward, and discovered I was laying on my tails, somewhere in the grass and dirt still. Not water, where I'd left the Grove. Still, it looked like the forest was all around me, trees here and there, branches crossing arms above me. I even recognized the path I was on, once I pushed myself up to my butt and took a long, lazy scan. The way the path bent around rows and rows of trees, dried up bushes, and tall stalks of grass reminded me of home, but the scents were nothing of the sort. The sounds of static filled in the gaps where crickets should have been chirping, birds should've been making their calls – my bell jingled with the static, too, when I sat up. I put a paw over it and it was silenced. It stayed around my neck. That was a good thing, wasn't it? That meant I had a way back home, but I would've never expected this place to look... 'like' home.

"Why's that?" I asked aloud. Hearing my voice the way it was now, for some reason, reminded me I was in good company – I had Nick—uh, Nikki and Bryan with me. They weren't in front of me here, so a turn over the shoulder later showed me they were, indeed, here! Bryan was up and responsive, looking my way – maybe he was more distracted by the sound that my bell made.

"Why's what?" the other Flux asked. Looking at his shaded eyes, my tails flicked up to the heartwarming feeling of rapport that I already had with him. "Hi Cruce."

"Hi Frenchie," I cooed back, offering a smirk. I noticed Nikki by his side, albeit sitting against him. He was just standing there, letting her lean on him like the weight meant nothing at all. Pretty funny, actually, and cute, too – he didn't want to move a muscle, otherwise she would have plopped into the dirt. "Nikki okay?"

He pointed his muzzle into her poofy hair.

"Frenchie..." he muttered to himself. "Nikki's fine. She's still out, I think," he said, suggesting that we were all 'out' prior. Passing into this place knocked you out? Or, was there a way to avoid that? I tried to think on it, but Bryan interrupted the thought. "But hey! This place! It's the—I think it's the place!"

"Yeah?" I blinked, taking my paw from the Bell. "How do you mean?"

"It's where the Red came from," he told me. "I got my Red from here, and I think I was the first. It has to be where... that-..."

"Where the Red came from..." I mulled. Wouldn't it've made sense, then, for everything to have come from here? Still, if there was a source of Flux, I wondered what it might have looked like. It meant this place wasn't safe. Whatever this place really was, I had oxygen in my lungs, common sense somewhere in my head, and a bell around my neck letting me know that I was where I needed to be.

Still, was this place dangerous? Was this where Gamma started? Why the hell did it look like home, right down to the spider webs, the color of the leaves, and the chipped bark of the trees?

The ground vibrated beneath me, as if to suggest there were heavy footsteps crashing into the ground. I looked to the dirt, speckles of rock jumping with each gentle shake. It was close. I gasped, 'cause I could feel it somewhere – the anticipation, not just in my body but in my mind. Something dangerous, I thought. Instinct screamed within me. Biting the feeling away, I looked to Bryan, who was more concerned with watching my bell like it was the most important thing here, despite having Nikki all leaned up to him like that. I figured he didn't notice what it was, even when it was coming right up onto him.

A white creature towering over the two Pokémon, humanoid, with no neck, and broad shoulders leading to long, ridiculously wide arms that looked able enough to bench press a car. This faceless thing – I'd seen this somewhere. I remembered this. I had to do something about one of these once, but I... wait, did I? Was I dreaming about it? No, I was sure of it! I did SOMETHING to this kind of creature. Caught up in the confused reflection, I'd still forgotten one of the most important parts about these things: their aggression. This one was no different, as its arms shook, then lurched for the unconscious Nikki, taking her in its hands. A few flails of her white tail later and she had awoken with a few breathless gasps, followed by an irritated grunt, then a more expected shriek of helpless terror.

"AAAAH OH MY GOD, what IS this?! Let me go! Lemme—URMF, GO!" Nikki fought, kicking at the air as the blank white humanoid squeezed her midsection. I cursed myself for my weakness, having to sit and watch this whole deal again, but Bryan was on it. Before I knew it, he was jumping onto this thing like a maniac, a bright blue stalk glowing in one of his paws, then flashing into being. A phantasmal blur of lights spun over the scene, blue sparks flying (along with some of Bryan's red ooze). Having fully mounted the strange thing, Bryan took his Symbi in both paws, leaped off of the monstrosity's left shoulder, and tugged the whole creature with him, blue laces having wrapped themselves around the creature's neck and arms.

The creature's grasp was forced open, Nikki falling onto the dirt, toppling over in her burst from slumber to excitement, while her attempted captor fell backwards, a strange distressed moan escaping its... body, I guess, before it was silenced with a loud thud, a puff of dirt and dust flung out from underneath it. The light blue strings that Bryan's weapon commanded returned to him, obediently (or maybe affectionately?) coiling around his own body before perching back around the curved tips of his Symbi. Our Flux stood, not so much triumphantly as he was more uncertain about the creature. If it took that little to get rid of one, they weren't a threat. But, wasn't that the point? I remembered that being the point of them. They were strong, but slow and awkward, and didn't put up a fight if you had any intention of winning. It was like they wanted to coax you into that. Winning. I didn't know before, but... now I do? I rubbed the side of my head, then scratched behind an ear as far as I could reach. My head was so big now, but I still seemed to be missing so much.

"Symbi Solacea," I said, just to say it. I scanned the crystalline weapon, smooth and perfect, contrasting Bryan's colors so violently that I had to wonder how it got here to begin with. "That's an important one..."

"What did I just fight?" he asked right through my observation. He wanted to talk to me using our eyes. I responded against the idea, since Nikki was here. She couldn't understand us if we were speaking in Flux, and that felt kinda rude considering she just got snatched by a crazy... buff ghost man.

"For God's sake, I haven't even come to my senses yet and I'm already being man-handled?" Nikki whined, vain. She pushed herself from the ground, but didn't fully stand; instead, she turned over and sat down, looking at Bryan's handiwork. She noticed me beside her. "Cruce?! Tell me, am I gonna have to put up with this being a regular thing?"

"What's that?" I asked. "Being kidnapped?"

"Yes, that," she nodded. "Because it happens. A lot."

"Maybe it thought you were pretty." I blinked.

"I think I should kill it..." Bryan tested, poking the blank white humanoid with the tip of his Symbi, the Symbi's orbital strings prodding at it as well.

"J-just... Keep it away from me, okay? That's all I ask. God," Nikki sighed, looking up, her eyes shut at first, but upon slowly opening them, she spoke again. "What is that? TV static?"

"Haven't you been here before?" I asked her, without really being sure why.

"What makes you say that?" she contended, and I didn't have an answer. Was remembering incorrectly—uhm, again? I took another look at the fallen creature, then another to the buzzing sky.

"N-no, wait, I'm stupid," I shook my head. "You didn't know how to come here to begin with, so how could you, like...?"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't hang up on that thought," she prompted me, getting to her feet. "While I still had Symbi Arcadia, I went to... well, where DID I go, actually? It wasn't a place like this, but the means in which I got there were just as... um..."

"Buuuullshitty?" I added.

"We'll say that," she agreed, dusting her waistline off with the backs of her hands. "And I can't say the same for Bryan, but if he thinks this is where some kind of Gamma comes from, then maybe—you know, maybe these places are connected."

"I'm Bryan," the Flux turned to us, thrill showing in his fluttery tails. It was like Nikki had beckoned him. "Hi!"

"Hey Bryan," I greeted. Maybe he was a few gears short of a full clock still. Nothin' new there. "So, Nikki, you were awake when you heard us talking? Maaaybe could'a had your rise 'n shine a minute earlier?"

"Oh, well... Well, what?! Y-Young told me beauty sleep was important, so I..." she crossed her arms. "How is Young anyway? I didn't run into... uh, him. Is he safe?"

"I don't know," I answered slowly, a paw under my chin. The image of the dark tears under Young's beady eyes was brought to my mind, Mew still having the energy to fight, the Grove burning around all of them. "He's not here. I mean, I didn't SEE him get..." I shook my head and lowered my paw. "It's cool. I have the Bell. Young'll be fine."

"Did you say others were here, too?" Bryan asked, walking away from the white monster. He was doing so backwards, shuffling awkwardly.

"Friends, family – you know. I'd think they wouldn't be far." I answered.

"Family..." Nikki mumbled. I paid it no mind, but whatever crossed hers seemed kinda serious. Maybe she had someone special to save, too.

Someone like Tophs, who... I don't even know needs to be saved.

Maybe he's fine now.

And then, there was Bryan, having faced around. He was just looking at the glowing Symbi Solacea at the mention of family. Did I strike a nerve in these two? Or did I just set up the dominoes? Hell if I knew.

"Tell ya what, let's start walking around – maybe find some clues. Yeah? Cool?" I suggested. "Staying put'll just attract more of these big goofy bastards"

"Will it?" Nikki asked, and, as expected, I didn't know how to answer her – I wasn't so sure where I pulled that assumption. Couldn't spell assumptions without 'ass' though, so maybe from there. Suddenly, Nikki diverted her eyes from me, put a hand up, and flailed it. "No. No, okay! Yes, let's go. Uugh..."

Unanimity at our backs, we chose a direction, devoted a few steps to it, then realized it was the direction that white creature came from and turned heels the other way. From what I gathered about this place being a kind of 'copy' of our woodland, we were headed away from the river and towards around where the trail opened up to the town's park – that was near the church that got buried. Actually, on our little voyage, I thought more about that place. The Down, was it? Whatever it was called, signs of Autumnridge were down there. Lamp posts, park paths, the freaking church itself. This was serious stuff – did that have anything to do with this world? And what of Trip spots? Did that apply here, too? Causality and correlation, or some shit? I could cradle the Bell and think about this for hours, but without Vay here (and even being a Gamma, erm, 'being') I couldn't make heads or tails of the big Gamma business surrounding Autumnridge outside of the transformations, and, yo, I had two tails, so that was a lot of room for thought. Or something.

True, I did depend on Vay. I depended on him more than I ever leaned on my Circle buddies. But here was thing; my Circle pals never saved my life. Maybe, like, in all technicality, Vay didn't come swooping down to save me. It was more of a 'scratch my back I scratch yours' situation. Was it? I couldn't tell. Maybe it was how I perceived it. If any other guy did that shit I wouldn't have wanted to snuggle with him. W-...Was it me, then? Was I still changing? I wanted Vay back, even as much as I did appreciate having Nikki and Frenchie – Nick and Bryan, with me again. They were invaluable, all of them – it went without saying that the Circle was an asset to my being a shitty teenager, and for the better. Honestly though, there was not a ice cube's chance in the devil's goochie that the lot of us were going to get through this without the Champions. I needed Vay so badly. My heart felt like it swelled up just thinking about him, and I imagined the warmth of his tongue running over one of my ears.

Normally, it's a love thing. Maybe I am in love with him. That's fine and all, but...

...the real thing here is that he's a Pokémon. I'm a Pokémon. He's a Flux. I'm a Flux. He's a Gamma being. I'm... a Gamma being.

I need to learn how to be strong again, and he's the best shot I got... I mean, after the one Jirachi gave me to turn into this, but nonetheless, Vay's... Vay's the man, man.

Funny. I'm so desperate to learn how to, like, be capable of protecting people that matter again, that I'd cling to anybody, even a random alien dude I'd only met days ago. I'm such a desperate little piece of shit.

Maybe it really is that I don't care enough about the Circle and just... want something fake to protect so I can seal up the hole in my heart, rather than filling it. After all, I don't think things would be the way they are if I'd only...

...told them... about Topher.

Delta Meadow...

I'm missing pieces, and I'm too stupid to figure anything else out right now. I'm too scared. I don't know what will happen.

Rinavay

Nose to the windless air, I breathed in. That scent... I had no name for it, but it was here. Something like minerals, maybe even fresh grass. Something salty, but of the earth, unlike a body or the saline stink that Fluxes inherently got. Bloodstains, he called us, but that opinion only got him about as far away as could be from the best bet of freedom from this place. I bet he wasn't enjoying the scent any longer either. Pompous dimwit wouldn't even bother touching the damn ground with all four feet, let alone stand for any scents he couldn't figure out. But, where he had his hind legs to carry him around, mine were still on their way to recovery. He got me, I hated to admit.

I sat on those legs, but they didn't hurt all that much. I didn't even need the Crossblade to distract me from the pain anymore. 'Guess it meant I was making some progress. I took a breath, pointed my muzzle to the unnatural soil, the endless buzzing of radio-like static wafting over the ceiling of this odd world. Trees surrounded us, as they had in the Grove, but to a much less thick extent than before, like the landscape was just a little different. A single tower stood in place of the Grove's centerpiece tree, but gave us nothing more than a beacon, its domed roof only sheltering a massive golden bell. Reminded me of my catch, wearing the Azabell's doodad like it was aaaaall his and nobody else's. Right, Cheeks, just keep telling yourself that.

A few of the humies were fighting with each other here, clad in their research uniforms, I guess. Idiots. Well, sort of. They weren't idiots for fighting with each other, but they were idiots for ever giving that Mew person the kind of power he had. Mew? Really? What a load of crap – there was no Mew that looked like that. That was a human who got lucky and turned into a strong enough Pokémon to mess things up. I had t'say though, there was something awful familiar about him. I couldn't pinch it. Was too busy being pissed at that thing that called itself a flareon. As a matter of fact, my head was pounding just reeling over him. I needed more time to settle down. These humans were stupid, but Tempyae proved Pokémon could be even stupider by putting himself in a situation like theirs. What an embarrassment to our kind.

I felt my crinkled ears fall. I had so little energy. There was no sun in this place to drink, and the air was about as fresh as that big trashy hole beneath Autumnridge. I couldn't heal as fast if this sunless fatigue was just going to step all over me. I shut my eyes, snarled at the thought of the white flareon, and breathed that thought out of my nose.

Aw, what the hell, maybe I shouldn't think of him that way. There's Rayse, who became that way from Zatch's mind, so... Tempyae has to be the same way. Well, I don't know who he is, but I guess he knows I'm Danithan now.

Danithan? Hey, you in here somewhere? I'm digging around and all I can find are thoughts of my own, stuff I can control. You ain't got much of a say no more, do ya? Sucks. Well, maybe't's 'cause we're past that point. I ain't thinkin' of it right. You've already become Rinavay all the way.

But for some reason, my head still stings when people call me that. Danithan. 'S like my whole body freezes up and my... what, spirit screams out 'n whatnot. Don't sound too good when I think of it that way.

"Zatch..." I said aloud, breathy, without intending anyone to hear it. Would've been a real tough time hearing me over those bickering humans anyway. The more I lifted my head and scanned around at the scared 'mons and mans, the more I did want somebody to hear me – Rayse, for the most part. "A'ight, Sis, we gotta put this past us."

I got up, back legs tingling, objecting to the motions. Pain bit my haunches, but I cringed it off and walked forward, crinkling through dry brown leaves and dust. Another deep breath, the sylveon poisoning every other thought I had – 'guess she was an eevee for the time though, fightin' the battle I fought some time a'fore. A boom echoed somewhere off over the trees. It rumbled the ground, shook the branches, golden leaves drifting down, tiny black dots hazing the air for seconds at a time, thousands of tiny bug-like blips just phasing in and out of being whenever they felt like it. Swarms and swarms of them came and went to the ominous beat of the rumbling, when the static sky alighted with a green surge so powerful it stung my nose with that smell – smell of a oceanic void. The bell tower would hum to it on occasion, droning under the static, a noise straight out of a nightmare.

Rayse made a few new friends, one of them brand new, from what I could tell. Looked like one of those islander Pokémon – a passimian, was it? Yeah, sounded right, but it was wearing some sort of ugly black beret with a bandanna underneath it, a few shiny badges clipped onto its rim. He was resting on his knuckles, listening closely to what the chattery eevee had to say to her and Diancie's new clique. So, this human from that science organization was here and I wasn't? I wondered what his story was. Maybe he got too tired of the noise from his peers and decided to come join reason. Funny, since he'd turned into a Pokémon that still looked a bit human.

"That's how they GET ya, and you don't wann'em to GET ya, yeah? Yeah! Don't let 'em! Just book it!" Rayse explained, coming into a greater earshot over the rambling humans. She was animated with it, too, hopping back and forth, putting on her own show of agility, black and red tail wooshing around. Then, she froze, her rear and tail high, the eevee's front legs out as if she was ready to pounce. "There's a guy here who fought one that looks just like him. There's also one that managed to come to Earth."

"So, the more you subdue them, the more they..." Diancie stopped, gray hands on her wide, rocky hips. "Adapt? Why, you mean to tell me they take one's form?"

"I thiiiiiiink," Rayse creaked, reorienting herself to a more comfortable posture. "We didn't really spend any time learning about them. We just brushed 'em off and got the FUNK outta there."

"But I wouldn't think creatures like these could so easily have eluded our radar." said the pink princess.

"Our radar? Oh, like our research stuff? Yeah, totally! But, err, maybe we got a whole bunch'a notes on them and we just don't remember," Rayse argued. "I mean I only really remembered Tempy when I saw him... I-I don't think he remembers me, though..."

I bit down hard. He did remember you, Rayse. I had to restrain myself from shouting that. It wasn't going to help Rayse become any less evasive around me. I was behind the passimian guy. Big Pokémon, I thought, and for as much as it resembled human anatomy, I had to give it credit for its brawn. With a curious mumble, the passimian looked back upon catching my scent. I furrowed my brow at him.

"Pardon," I said. He moved aside, crawling a few paces sideways. Rayse had already noticed me trying to fit in, and the closer I got to her, the more I could see the fear shining in her red eyes, telling me to give her more space than she needed. That light blue skywisp chick was here with her like a bodyguard, 'sitting', I guess, on her coiled tail, towering over Rayse, protective. She wasn't saying a whole lot. I imagined the bandage around her neck had something to do with that. I fought back a devilish, vengeful smirk, sat my ass down, and tossed my bright tail around my front legs. "Hey..."

"Rinavay," Diancie said, cold. "Rayse still doesn't feel comfortable with you so close by. Besides, I'd told you not to put so much pressure on your legs, didn't I?"

I wanted to ignore her. She wasn't part of this. This was about Zatch and Danithan. I didn't even bat an eye toward Diancie, but I'm sure she was giving me her scolding face, whatever that entailed. She loved the sound of her voice, and even more when it was giving commands or reminding others of those commands.

"Yep." I said back. That was it. 'Yep'. All I had for her. I was looking right through—no—into Rayse, her flat ears and shaky legs communicating about as much as her eyes. I'd only done this with Cruce because he was a human, and Flux ain't'd mattered to his culture. With us, though, it was like the most offensive slang or gesture there was, and I wanted to use it as armor – as a bridge between us.

Rayse? Sis? Is it okay if I do this with you?
I get it if it's not. I know what this means.
And if you do, you know how hard it is for me to...
...do it...
I'm sorry. For a lot of things. I should have never snapped at you,
especially knowing how delicate things had become with your Flux.
So, I guess I felt the best course of action would be to use it... to heal us?
I love you, Sis. Always did, always will. It don't matter what we become.
You're Rayse, a family member I treasure...

And, you're Zatch, a friend I'll never forget.

Stillness between us. The skywisp sighed and crossed her arms, her tail stirring like she was about to get up and give my face another taste of her fist. Would've been another cheap shot, since I was busy with sentimental crap. I could tell Diancie was getting bothered by my stubbornness, too. I mean, to everyone but Rayse and myself, we were just quietly sitting here while I stood around making things so much worse just by breathing the same air, because I was a sucky Pokémon. What they didn't know was that I was speaking in eyes, and that it was working, because Rayse didn't back down, nor did she turn away. I believed in her.

She wasn't communicating anything back, other than fear, but that was in her body language.

Hey, it's okay. I understand this isn't a good thing.
But we both have it, huh? We both have the Crossblade, too.
This thing hurts! Damn, Sis, if I'd known you had it...!
You're tough. You're tougher than I ever imagined.

Still nothing. It was becoming difficult for me to stare at her like this, if it really was just scaring her – if she was just a Flux and I was her fear, just like how she was my fear. The convulsion to break away from her gaze became so strong that I wanted to take out the Crossblade just to prove a point. Somehow, I fought that, too. I fought so hard to keep myself from just cursing all of this and hiding behind a big rock and laying down, waiting forever.

Well... You know, I'm gonna try to be a better brother for you.
So, even if you don't like me, I'll still be there, helping you smile.
Or, uh... trying.
Sorry. I'm bad at this. I really do get if you hate me, though.
I fueled a lot of big, bad fire.

"Am I, uh, interrupting something?" asked the passimian guy, his voice much deeper than I'd depicted. Goofy, kinda.

"No, Monterrey. Rinavay, come on then, let's not torment our sister. Please." Diancie said. It was rare for her to plead like that, soft spoken. It was so uncharacteristic that, between her and Rayse, it was actually getting under my skin. I was sadder for it.

Okay. I don't... want to scare you...
I'm... so sorry. I hope we can be friends again, really...
So, I'll just...

Mmm...! MmmmPPPBHHTTTLBBBLBLBL!

I jumped back. What? WHAT?! HOW?! HOW D—what did she just do?! She just spat into my brain? Sh-she just made a noise like—wait, was she okay?! Was I reading into this all wrong?!

"Rayse?! Are you okay?! Wh-" I stopped, the eevee standing back up nice and bravely, muzzle contorting to a big, glorious grin. Watching her this way, standing tall and all, reminded me how effed my legs were, and the fact that I'd just jumped like a meter into the air put them back in a sore spot again.

"Muahahahaa—eeehehehe! BWAAAH~!" she giggled, uproarious. Yeah, we were all staring at her now. Even that skywisp was startled by that interaction, hovering away from her companion. Rayse broke her gaze with me to do a few twirls, chasing her tail for about three laps, all the while giggling like a hyperactive child.

"What in the sweet name of Arceus has gotten into you?!" Diancie went on, a hand over her chest. "You SIMPLY can't do that! My word, you've gone and done my poor heart a fright!"

"I'M SORRY~! It's just so hard to fart WITH MY EYES~! Eeeehehehee!" she claimed, now just bouncing in place.

"Fart with your—I beg your pardon?!"

"D-Diancie, it's..." I stopped the mythical. "It's fine. She was leading me on, because... that's what Rayse does. Grrr RAYSE, you little-!"

"Nehehehe—EEEH~! NO!" she blurted, and the next thing I new, I had a fluffy black and red blur darting underneath my chest, dragging her tail across it. Then, she sat right down in front of me, nose pointed up to me, demanding my attention. Well, not like it was going anywhere else. "Nonono, I'm... Phooooey, I'm sorry, Vayvay. Dun get maaaad, pwease?"

"Hey now, I won't do that no more," I breathed out, sitting back down and letting the little black fluffball come as close as she wanted. Her nose was touching my chin. It was soft, warm, with lots of short breaths trickling into my fur. "Well, I never was mad at you. You're not the type of person I get mad at. Y'know?"

"I know," she acknowledged, brushing her cheek against my chin and just leaving it there. I leaned into her a little, my tail finding hers and resting over it. She smelled like how Cheeks was starting to smell: one of us. "Flux got in the way. It made me think you hated me. But then, I had some, um, conniptions with the Crossblade, and... Neh. After all I've been through, I know it's not your fault now. I think it might be mine."

"Ain't true," I contended, lifting my head back, then poking my nose into her big, furry head. "Well, if it is true, I ain't care much. It doesn't matter to me that Flux did us one way or another, or the Crossblade came and made us suffer someway, somehow...

What matters, Rayse, is..." I guided her head a little higher, nibbling at her fur, until she took the hint and raised her head. I met her eyes.

You and I broke out of our Flux.
We can do anything.

I hope you're right.

If we can do anything, it'll mean the others can, too.

Sooo, we can all be a family again.

"Tch," I smirked. "All of us a family? You set the bar high."

"Mmm, I love you Danny B, you pothead." she answered me. Well, whatever part of Zatch was left of her. It put a smile on my face, 'n then I put my head on top of hers, letting her push it into my chin and neck, her big, gentle ears flicking against me. I could feel my sun-stricken fatigue melt away, all the energy pouring into my body right through Rayse's affection. Go figure, Rayse was like a little sunlight for us all. She wasn't just any Champion...

"All made up, are we?" said the meddlesome Diancie.

"Yeah..." I sighed out, then lifted my head to give Rayse some space. "Yeah, we are."

"Marvelous! I haven't the slightest idea what you two went and did, but I can see the luster in both your eyes, both of you," Diancie praised. I heard the sound of her hands smack together. "And luster isn't something I make mistakes with, now!"

"Whatever you say, Di," I smirked. I went ahead and checked for her reaction. She was smiling right back, oblivious to our way of communicating – boy, if she knew that, she wouldn't have felt too comfy with it, I'll've bet. But it ain't need to be a problem. Di was sensible enough to accept us. That skywisp, though, was speaking in doubts louder than words. She wasn't even looking this way anymore, just crossing her arms, big nose aimed down, tongue lashing out every now 'n then. "Hey. Miss, uh..."

"Alli! Or Al. Or Sandy! Or... Sandra. Or-..." Rayse stopped herself. The wisp looked over here.

"Remember when you told me to eat a dick?" I reminded her, at first stern, even letting my smirk fade into more of a... well, flat-faced expression, more than anything. She wasn't saying much to it, aside from another tongue flick, her nostrils flaring. "Well, would Cruce count?"

Her face went discolored, slightly red. Her eyes went wide. I peered into them.

Uh-...!

He just-...!

I couldn't hold it in. I spat a few snickers, then busted out into a wide-grinned laugh through my teeth.

"Hah! Oh, that right there – see, I had a FEELING he was keepin' secrets from me. No idea he fancied a skywisp like that!" I told her. She was getting flustery now, lookin' back and forth for backup like she was at wit's end. She couldn't even bark back at me – just to be cautious, I was watchin' her fists in case they decided to visit my face again, but I'd touched a nerve so sensitive that she could hardly think to do something like that. It was disappointing, though – if she was actin' this wild, then did it really mean Cheeks was hot for someone else?

Suddenly, her hands moved, and she grinned wryly my way, shaking her head and her hands like I got it all wrong. Then, she froze, blinked, at darted for Rayse, picked her up in her large tail and squeezed the eevee, followed by biting into her fluff, hiding her face from me. Rayse wasn't in pain, otherwise she would've objected to it – actually, she looked like she was enjoying it, being wrapped up in a big blue, floating snake, their colors so defiant of one another.

Rayse was looking straight at me, her body vertical, paws limp, with Alli's face poking out from behind the eevee's head.

"Oi, bit vulgar, aren't we~?" Diancie teased – I wasn't even sure who she was talking to.

"Di, you live for this stuff. Don't play innocent." I accused her, half-expecting her to fly behind Alli with flushed cheeks.

"Why I...!" she paused, her contending expression shrinking into a small smile, little tongue leaving her lips. "Oh, knock it off, y'cheeky sod...~"

"This is good!" said the passimian – Monterrey. "I thought I was going to have to deal with more heated arguments, and then there would be nowhere left to go."

"Don't'cha sweat it none, Monty," Rayse said, sticking her front legs out. "You're our buddy now. We won't let ya down."

"Oh-haha, uh, thank you! I'll be sure to return the favor!" he said.

I did find it somewhat unusual, just having one of those scientist humans walk up over here and act like they'd done defected from their 'organization'. This guy didn't rub me the wrong way at all. It wasn't like he had the power to make a big difference, even if he tried. I could smell how much of a clumsy newbie he was before he probably even knew it himself. All the more reason to keep somebody like him around. Maybe he was like Cheeks or Derrick 'n Ericka and just wanted to learn how to be a tried 'n true Pokémon, and I could get behind that, back it up. Still, he was part of the science organization that screwed everything up for the humans – the good humans, and us Champions, too. I'd forgotten what their organization was called, but I was there once. I fought – pfft, more like ran from Laura there. It was where I made Shaymin...

"'Ey, speaking of buddies," I broke in, wiggling my vine free from the slit in my back, letting the appendage sling over my head to give it a gentle scratch with the thing's spike. "I don't see Jirachi around here anywhere. Where she at? She okay?"

"I presume so," Di answered. "She scurried off with Patricia. I believe she wanted to close the door on some irksome feelings."

"With that mudkip mutant?" I recalled.

"Perchance yes, but I could be wrong. I've heard that Patricia and Jirachi have had a strange journey together. It involves Delta Meadow." Di explained. I took it with me to thought as I turned and watched the bickering humans. Their fight started looking more like a troubled discussion, no longer pointing their hands to one another, less gesticulation all around.

Delta Meadow. That's it.

Those are the humans that treat Gamma like they know all about it already. Mew's their leader, and even he went off the deep end. That'll show them. Sure showed someone like Monterrey.

It's not just Tempyae. Jirachi got mixed up with them. I know Shaymin did, too, but his circumstances ain't so simple. 'Guess I can't go and say that for none of 'em – they all had their run-ins and complications. 'Less Tempyae really is just a dipwad.

...Is Mew... really their leader?

Mew's classified as one of the first mythical Pokémon, and Brother had gathered the attention of some of them. They became Champions, because they thought it was a good idea to help Pokémon evolve to Gamma – to use the Arcane-type instead of shun it.

Mew wasn't one of them.

For all we knew about Mew, he knew nothing about Gamma. He didn't know how to use it, how to deal with it, how to evolve to it...

So why, then? Why did that Mew know how to use Azabell's Bell the way he did? The best answer I could come up with is that he's not the real Mew, and that sounds just fine, but...

...then why did a lunatic human know how to use it? It would make MORE sense if Mew knew, and not some delirious human scientist.

I don't think Jirachi or Tempyae told him how.. Those two were so... caught up, on other things. Tempyae's just crazy, and Jirachi had her Crossblade – can't forget she's part of Zatch, just like Rayse is.

Hm. Maybe Delta Meadow's leader just got lucky.

After all, 's not like Gamma was here before us.


To Be Continued...