Chapter 18: Working Towards a Common Goal

Upon the group's arrival in Icy Crisp Forest, they found themselves in a forest of trees covered in ice, the ground covered in thick snow, and the dense clouds shrouded the evening sky. Normad put his Chill Repeller back into his backpack to test whether Eterna's blessing was genuine. To his relief, he did not feel cold. He told Solestral and Paul that All-Terrain Mobility ability worked. The black kitten shrugged and replied.

"Yeah, I know. But Madam Eterna's final words before we warped away really bugs me."

Paul answered, "Maybe she had gone through a lot in her life. That is why she had mentioned those words."

"We will never know, huh?" Solestral scratched her head, "Anyway, how can we transverse in this forest of spiky icicles?"

"I could…carry us up. We will be able to…spot the distressed Pokémon quickly," suggested Normad.

Solestral and Paul nodded and rode on Normad's back. Normad then took flight. After a few minutes of searching, they noticed a pink sphere floating above the ground. Normad approached it and astonished to see a crescent Pokémon struggling to break free of the sphere.

He said, "It is General Cresselia! She…is imprisoned!"

Paul was surprised as well. "Yes! Why is she here? Never mind about that, should we try to use our best attacks to see whether the sphere will break?"

Solestral and Normad agreed, and he lowered himself near the ground so that the black kitty and Paul could alight off. However, General Cresselia noticed them and told them not to save her.

"This sphere was made by Pinnacle. He said that the barrier acts as an imprison and works like Mirror Coat and Counter, so all Attack's and Special Attack's damage will be reflected. Therefore, this barrier is difficult to break. Pinnacle also mind-controlled Sergeant Dishita and its four team members to deliver Solarie Rock to the Dawn Guardian and famed the Dusk Guardian's soldiers for stealing the rock. By doing so, the Dawn Guardian will not hesitate to seal the Dusk's Guardian's power. Litten, and your friends, it is best for all of you to leave me here and go to the Dawn Guardian's domain."

"That Pinnacle? He decided to show up and mess with us, huh?" said Solestral, "General Cresselia, we will save you even though you have objected us. Madam Eterna is right; your knowledge will be helpful for us to complete the mission."

Paul told her, "But how do we break the barrier without our moves? I know that Brick Break can shatter it, but none of us knows this move."

"I know a way to break it." replied a voice.

The group turned around to find Solrock moved away from the trees towards them. He continued to speak.

"My name is Cobalt; specialised in stealth and Pokémon Move Analysist. I was tasked by General Groudon to follow General Cresselia and the rest of the Solrocks without being noticed and report back to him. But this situation is dire, so I decided to assist you. I have analysed this barrier. I know that no barrier can reflect attacks indefinitely." It took out an Orb from his Psy Space and continued its speech, "So, this is my suggestion: Use a Special Attack at General Cresselia. The barrier will reflect the damage to my Deflect Orb's barrier, and it will bounce back at General Cresselia. In time, her barrier will break."

The crescent Pokémon took out Protect Orb from her Dimensional Storage and replied, "I see. This plan might work. I have this orb to nullify any attacks for a while, so I should be alright at my end. Alright, let's execute that plan of yours, Cobalt."

The floating sun rock replied. "Certainly." Then, it faced at Solestral and her friends and spoke, "Associates of General Cresselia, will one of you perform a Special Attack at her?

Normad nominated himself. "I will use Gust then. You and…General Cresselia have no weakness to a…Flying-Type move, and my Gust…does not inflict status ailment."

Cobalt was impressed. "Good judgement, Mr Rowlet."

General Cresselia and Cobalt activated their Orb. They signalled to Normad that they were ready for his attack.

Normad flapped his wings to create Gust at General Cresselia. The swirling wind hit the barrier, and it immediately bounced off in the form of an energy blast. The blast bounced back and forth from the two barriers. And after for a while, the barrier shrouded General Cresselia broke right after Cobalt's Deflect Orb barrier reflected the attack. The floating sun rock's barrier shattered after reflecting the attack for the last time, which was fortunate that it did not break first. The Protect Orb that shielded the crescent Pokémon resisted the reflected attack that was sixty-four times stronger than the Gust attack. It was so strong that a substantial number of trees behind her decimated on the ground. Once the reflected attack had subsided, the Protect Orb lost its effect. General Cresselia relieved that the plan had gone smoothly.

She said, "I am fine now. I thank all of you for helping to free me from that barrier."

Cobalt responded, "The pleasure is mine, General Cresselia. Now I have acknowledged that Pinnacle was pulling the strings for the war, I will have to use my World Link Device to report back to General Groudon now."

"I understand. Please tell General Groudon that I am grateful that you have saved me."

"Very well."

As Cobalt was reporting his findings to General Groudon, Solestral asked the crescent Pokémon.

"Umm, how can we track down the other Solrocks then?"

General Cresselia replied, "I can track them down; they shouldn't be far away from here. By the way, I have heard that you have mentioned about Eterna saying that I am important to you? I don't know her, but I am grateful that she had received my telepathy for help and told you that I was in trouble. I assumed that she had warped you here? I can't think of another way of how you have managed to come to this part of the continent so quickly."

The black kitten surprised that the crescent Pokémon's bringing up about Eterna. "Uh, yeah! She did. But," and then she muttered, "she is nasty too."

General Cresselia was amused. "Is that so? I guess that I will never know until I have a chance to see her. Alright. I shall trace Sergeant Dishita and its team members now."

As she scanned Icy Crisp Forest, she found out that something was amiss. She told Solestral and her friends about her search for the Solrocks.

"They are not in the forest! Does that mean that..."

Cobalt commented, "Indeed. They have warped to the Dawn Guardian's domain." He showed the group the map inbuilt in the device. There was a red dot at the south of Starlif Continent. The floating sun rock explained, "As you can see, the red dot signifies Solarie Rock, and it is situated at the floating island at the south. General Groudon has instructed me to help you all to reach the Dawn Guardian's domain. However, I felt that we are not well-prepared to…"

All of a sudden, the group noticed General Cresselia widen her eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Solestral.

The crescent Pokémon replied with a hint of sadness in her tone, "The Dusk Guardian's power to regulate the night time has just been sealed! It also told me that you, Litten, should not rush to deliver Universe Histogram Map to the Dawn Guardian. You still need to learn powerful moves and explore the other two special Mystery Dungeons as you had discussed with your friends earlier."

The black kitten saw the afternoon sky gradually turning dark. She was glad that the Dusk Guardian was innocent, but she knew that she needed to gather the answers she needed to convince the Dawn Guardian. She also had to get stronger just in case she might have to battle it. She took a deep breath and replied to the crescent Pokémon.

"I know. Let's go to Mirage Water Cave Mystery Dungeon first then. Who knows? We might also learn new moves when we defeated the residents there."

General Cresselia responded, "I know that Mystery Dungeon. It is in Crystal Cove situated in Moonshade Sea, isn't it? But that is the north of Lunelit Continent, and the dungeon is a water world. We need an item to help us breathe underwater as well. Does Eterna live around here? Maybe she can help us out."

"No… But I know how to warp there though. Mr Cobalt, is there any Mystery Dungeon around this area?"

The floating sun rock replied, "Yes, there is one. It is called Snowfall Wonder Mystery Dungeon. It is located in the east from here. I can direct you there, but the temperature will drop even further from here. I am not sure whether Rowlet can withstand that."

Solestral quickly conjured up an answer and said, "Oh, no problem! We are protected by magic from the environment effects! And exploring underwater will be okay for us!"

"Hey Solestral, I think we should inform Mistress Bloomsle of the current issue we are facing before venturing to that special Mystery Dungeon," recommended Paul.

The black kitten reluctantly responded, "Do we have to?"

Normad nodded at her to signal her that she had to do it.

Solestral understood that it was only polite of her to do so since Mistress Bloomsle was concerned about her after all. She moaned and took out her Pokétech Pad. She pressed the third button and saw 'Bloomsle' as the only contact stored in the device. She realised that she did not register Paul's device, so she prompted him to allow her to register his. After her device had made contact with his device to make the registration, she then finally called Mistress Bloomsle. After the pink mantis picked up the call, the black kitten explained to her about the Dusk Guardian's condition, Solarie Rock whereabout, the Mega-Evolved Pinnacle and Blazar. Additionally, she was tasked to deliver the Universe Histogram Map to the Dawn Guardian, but she would do so after she had explored the other two Special Dungeons for they might hold the secrets of the penetrator that orchestrated the extension of the night time. She also said that General Cresselia was with her, and the crescent Pokémon greeted Mistress Bloomsle to show that she was safe.

The pink mantis replied, "I see. It is good to see that all of you are alright and managed to save General Cresselia. And yes, do explore the other Special Dungeons. If we managed to get the answer of who is the villain, we might be able to persuade the Dawn Guardian to stop the war. By the way, child, what was the message that you had found in the first Special Dungeon?"

Solestral said, "I believe it is: A whisper from a combination of the Body of Light and the Helm of Darkness shakes the universe."

Mistress Bloomsle puzzled of the message she heard. "Body of Light? Helm of Darkness? I can't think of any creature that has these features. Or maybe it isn't a living being at all. Interesting. Do inform me after you get the other two messages. With the complete set, I might be able to deduce who it is. Alright, it is time for you to make haste, Miss Litten. And General Cresselia, please look after her and assist her in her quest."

General Cresselia spoke, "Yes. There is no need for you to worry about this, Bloomsle. I am more concerned about your situation, though."

"Thank you. Although protecting the welfare of my Pokémon is my duty, I won't purposely neglect my health. Alright, we shall chat at another time. Be safe, you all."

The conversation had ended. Solestral put away her Pokétech Pad and said, "Time to go to Snowpile Falls Mystery Dungeon! Mr Cobalt, please lead the way."

Cobalt acknowledged, "Very well, Miss Solestral. It will be faster to reach there by travelling in the air. General Cresselia and I can levitate high above the ground. However, we can only move quadrupled the speed than levitating above the ground. I appreciate if you keep the same pace as us, Mr Normad."

"Understood, Mr Cobalt," said Normad.

"Thank you. Let us be off."