"Thanks, Vespiquen," Alex returned her Pokemon, who managed to fly us both over the river. The moth-looking Pokemon was waiting for us, turning to look into the pine forest covered with snow. Beyond that was a mountain range, straight ahead where the energy beam came from.

"Let's go," Alex said, teeth chattering. "I want to get this over with. It's freezing."

"Agreed," I looked around. I felt uneasy, as if expecting an ambush. I let out Lucario. "Keep your aura on high alert. We don't know what we're going to find out here."

He nodded, looking uneasy himself, like all the Pokemon in the cave. Whatever was going on was seriously upsetting the Pokemon in this area.

"Ninetales," Alex let out her signature Pokemon. "If an enemy appears, try not to burn down the forest. I don't need government officials trying to make me pay for damages to nature."

We set off after the Bug Pokemon guiding us into the pine forest, everything oddly tranquil. I stopped, Greninja lowering into a crouch. Alex turned around, keeping her back to me as she scanned our surroundings.

"Lucario," I warned, then the snow around us moved. People wearing snow white camo gear rose from snowbanks, pure white pokeballs in their hands. A blast of cold wind shot towards us, but Greninja intercepted it with a Water Pulse.

"Tch," I looked around, estimating half a dozen grunts. "It was an ambush," my eye caught on a symbol on each of their camo uniforms, a circle with both halves white and gray. "Radiance."

"We can't let you continue further," a grunt stepped forward, a Crabominable lumbering up next to him. "Boss' orders. You may be the Hero Born of Darkness, but we'll do what we can to slow you down."

"Well," Alex held up another pokeball, Ninetales getting ready to fight beside her. "We would like to have a word with Eve ourselves, so it would be best to get out of the way."

An Arcanine, Florges, two Ribombees, Flareon, Vikavolt, and that Crabominable were our opponents by the looks of things, not to mention the grunts.

I pulled my knife from my belt, pressing my thumb against the Keystone. "Lucario!"

Lucario howled, aura blasting around us as he mega evolved.

"Power-Up Punch!" I shouted, pointing at the Crabominable.

"Ninetales," Alex shouted while throwing her pokeball in the air. "Extrasensory!"

Lucario slammed Crabominable backwards, both of them crashing through a snowbank. Ninetale's psychic attack forced the enemy Arcanine back into a tree, snow from the branches collapsing atop of her. Alex's Vespiquen appeared in front of her, ready to attack.

"Pin Missile!" she shouted and several projectiles shot from beneath Vespiquen and crashed into both Ribombees.

"Mawile," I yelled when I released her from her Pokeball, dodging a grunt's fist. "Iron Head!"

Grabbing the grunt by his shoulders, I swung him around and slammed him into a tree. Cold snow fell on me, distracting me for just a second, enough time for the main grunt to slam me into the tree as well, his hands closing around my throat. My head spun and my oxygen supply reduced.

"We're not going to kill you," he grunted. He lost in camo cap when he slammed into me, revealing strawberry blonde hair, his blue eyes set with determination. "Hero Born of Darkness, we're not your enemies, I assure you of that!"

I gripped both of his wrist, slowly prying his hands from my throat. His face tightened as he resisted me. "Shut... Up!"

I swung his arms away and kicked him in the chest, making him stumble back a few steps. He groaned, holding where I kicked him, then looked up. "I bet you see us as all the same to you. Just mindless grunts following orders," he raised his head, straightening his posture, raising his fists. "We all have our different opinions and we fight for what we believe is right!"

He ran forwards, swinging his fists. I blocked two, but one caught me in the jaw. It was a glancing blow, but I still was knocked back a step.

"We're not mindless servants wearing the same uniform and following orders blindly," He was breathing hard, eyes focused entirely on my movements. "We united under a purpose. Some may be doing this for the wrong choices, but there are still good intentions. We did what we thought was right and we continue to do so. Don't look at us as if we're all the same!"

I caught his arm the with the next punch he threw, pulling him forwards and slamming my elbow into his stomach, then grabbing the front of his coat and pulled him to the ground.

"It doesn't matter who you all are," I said, standing. "What you are doing is wrong. Bringing back Cassandra may seem righteous, but what are you doing to Xerneas and Volcanion to do so?"

Alex and our Pokemon were finishing up the battle, so I started to head over to help.

The grunt coughed behind me, rising to his hands and knees, breathing hard. "You don't see the whole picture. You just see us as villains. Pretty rich coming from someone like you."

I stopped, looking back at him. "What?"

He shook his head, getting to his feet and turning away from me. "You'll see. Just remember, we're not all faceless grunts."

I stared at him as he limped away into the pine forest. Alex came up to me a second later, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Zeno?"

I jolted, shaken from my own thoughts. "Sorry, what?"

"You okay?" she asked.

"I..." I shook my head. "Yeah, I'm okay. Let's get going," I looked around. "Where'd that Pokemon go?"

Alex shrugged. "Don't know. The mountains are that way," she pointed deeper into the pine forest. "So heading that way would be best."

I nodded, Lucario and Mawile coming over. Mawile seemed more exhausted, so I put her away into her pokeball to rest. "Can you still fight, Lucario?"

He growled and I nodded. "Good. How are your Pokemon?"

Vespiquen and Ninetales both shook themselves to show they were fine and Alex grinned. "Ready to fight."

We continued through the forest, the mountains getting closer and closer.

"What was the grunt talking about?" Alex asked finally.

I stayed silent for a couple more steps, then said, "Grunts."

"What?" Alex looked confused now.

"I know they're all grunts," I hated how I had to think about this, but I felt as if it needed to be thought about. "But they're also individual people. People with they're own minds. That's what he was talking about..." I spoke again after another couple seconds. "Alex, what was Team Radiance's goal exactly in Alola?"

"To have the Shadow cover Alola and the world in darkness?" she offered, but I shook my head. "Before they knew about the Shadow."

Alex tapped her chin. "Cassandra did mention when we first met her about wanting to have Alola shine brightly again, so they wanted to get rid of Team Skull. Rival gangs basically, though I guess Radiance is more of an organization. How that lead her to make a deal with someone called the "Shadow", I'll never know."

"Sweet promises," my mouth twitched. "I would know. But... They're original plan was to bring light into a dark world. Sure it changed, but that's because Cassandra went off the deep end," I looked at Alex. "How can we be sure what Radiance is doing now is bad? Eve even said way back that her plans here in Kalos wouldn't be dangerous."

Alex pondered for a minute, then said, "I don't think we can. But, having dealt with them before, don't you agree it's better to go see first? If they try to stop us, we deal with them."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"Aren't I always," she grinned and I chuckled.

"Sure," I shook my head, smiling.

"Look at you two," a man with short, jet-black hair stepped out from behind a tree in a black jumpsuit. "What a happy couple."

"Enzo," Alex said and I looked around to see more Radiance grunts surrounding us again.

"Turn back now," he said, sharp face always making him seem like he was glaring. "Or you will be dealt with here and now."

"We just want to talk," I said. "Let us see what you're doing won't harm anyone and we won't intervene."

He shook his head. "This is a matter of pride, Zeno." his gaze was cold as the snow around us. "The Hero Born of Darkness will not interfere with Team Radiance's plans, not like before."

"We'll have to fight after all then," Alex warned, Ninetales staring at the grunts behind us and Vespiquen in front. Lucario was beside me, focused on Enzo.

"We won at the Power Plant," he let out his Cofagrigus and Runerigus, who's ghostly arms floated in front of them. "And we'll make sure to do so again."

As I slid back a foot, ready for whatever was coming, I was made aware of a distant thrumming sound. The grunts around us looked into the sky and I looked as well and to my surprise saw a Helicopter heading towards us. It flew over us, then turned sharply, lowering as it came back towards us. Then something leaped from it when it was practically on top of us, a Pokemon slamming into the snow.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Robert declared atop Pyroar, grinning back at us. "How's everyone doing?"

"Robert!?" Alex and I both exclaimed. "How-!?"

"Gardevoir."

Blasts of pink energy slammed into several enemy Pokemon, including Enzo's Ghost types. There standing next to Pyroar and Robert was someone in a black trench with a matching hat. She looked back at us as well when her Gardevoir teleported next to her, tilting her black-tinted glasses to reveal blue irises.

"Diantha?" I was confused now, but also worried. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be-"

"Zeno," she cut me off. "There's no time for that. I don't know the details, but something's going on here. Whatever it is, go, you, Alex, and Robert go. I can handle everyone here."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Alex shook her head and grabbed my hand. "Best not to argue with the Champion right now. Let's go."

Diantha nodded at me, then turned back to Enzo. "While Team Radiance may not have done much to Kalos as have other sinister organizations, I cannot allow a group such as you to continue residing in Kalos," she grasped her pendent, a brilliant light surrounding it and her Gardevoir. "I will make sure you are stopped here and now!"

"Robert," I said once he caught up with us, looking back to see Diantha's Mega Gardevoir. "Is she okay?"

Robert paused for a second, then nodded. "She seems frailer, but she's still plenty powerful by the looks of it. I mean, she ins't the Kalos Champion for nothing."

"How did you even find us anyway?" Alex asked as we ran.

"That beacon of energy seemed to be a dead giveaway," Robert grinned. "Pyroar and I had made it to Anistar to get away from the blizzard and we were planning on coming back down to find you both when I came across Diantha."

"What is she doing here for?" I asked.

"She said something about having to ask the gym leader of Anistar an important question," Robert answered. "I had gotten to mentioning what happened to you two when we saw that beam. Diantha got us a helicopter and here we are. Now," Robert shook his head. "Can someone explain to me what's going on with Team Radiance?"

"No idea," Alex said as the pine trees began thinning and we could see the rocky bottom of the mountain ahead. "But whatever they're doing it's upset the Pokemon in the area."

"Possibly they mean to bring Cassandra back now," I put in. "I don't know what exactly they're doing to achieve that, but if it's something unforgivable, we stop them."

"Business as usual," Robert sighed, smiling. "Let's get cracking then."

We came to a stop at the edge of the mountain, looking around. There didn't seem to be a cave entrance anywhere nearby.

Robert pulled out a device. "Hold on. I'll trace the energy signal back to-"

"No need," Alex pointed at a creature floating above what seemed to be a path leading up the mountain. It was the Bug Pokemon from earlier. "We'll just have to follow her."

Running after the Pokemon, I sent Lucario on ahead up the path to scout. After a minute, we spotted a cave. Lucario was waiting for us at the entrance.

"They're in there?" I asked and he nodded. "Okay, prepare for a fight. But if we can avoid it, I would like to."

"Hold up," Robert pointed his Pokedex at the Bug Pokemon. "I want to scan this one."

"Frosmoth, the Frost Moth Pokemon. It shows no mercy to any who desecrate fields and mountains. It will fly around on its icy wings, causing a blizzard to chase offenders away."

"Discovered in the Galar region," Robert noted. "Guess some may have gotten over here to Kalos."

"Interesting," Alex was looking at the Pokedex.

"Hey, we have a mission here you know," I reminded them, Lucario and I already heading into the cave. Lanterns hung from the wall, providing light. Then the tunnel gave way to a massive chamber. Machines stood against the cavern walls and Radiance members were everywhere, most focused on the machines. Two giant cylinder tanks stood next to each other across the room, one holding what I recognized as Xerneas in her ancient tree form and the other...

"Cassandra," I whispered, not being able to recognize her from this distance, but I knew that misshapen form had to be her.

"Correct," Eve said, stepping forwards in a bright red-orange jumpsuit, signature clothing of Team Radiance, the half sun and half moon shown clearly at the top of her left arm. "I won't let you stop me, Zeno."

I felt a tingle zap down my spine and I looked up to see a Pokemon clinging to a stalactite above. Zeraora bared his fangs before leaping downwards, drawing back a fist brimming with blue electricity.

Hmm, part 1 of 2. Debating whether I should start writing the second part or write another chapter of Dark... Decisions decisions... Anyway, it's probably high time I got to editing HBoD. Fixing all those tiny little mistakes I've made, maybe polishing certain scenes, who knows. I'll try and look at each individual chapter. So, until the next update, whether it's for this or Dark. Toodles!