Welcome to Chapter 7! Here we are moving into the more action aspect of the story. This is probably the longest chapter thus at 3.7k lol. Not the longest I ever written, but a start to what to expect. Not all chapter lengths will be consistent. I prefer to hit a particular goal/message prefer chapter. It helps me focus better on what I'm doing and makes for some interesting ideas.

This chapter will introduce our antagonist also! Hope you can guess who or what their name is. I try to pull a lot from the games in this story along with playing with the anime and manga as well. So, the antagonist has appeared in the game. And you'll get a glimpse more at Kamari's abilities which come from the manga. Hope that makes sense.

This chapter will also feature our first Multitype transformation! I wanted to do the costume changes a little different from Insane Dominator, pulling from how I've seen people describe more magical girl transformations. I feel like it worked well. I thought about doing a description dump once he transformed, but I wanted to try something different. So, I wrote in his outfit as they became relevant to the scene. It worked nicely, I think. Might use that method more often when I can. I dunno, long paragraph descriptions feel like a lot to read lol

Now for musical inspirations! I used my Self-Love playlist for this, but one song that resonated a lot with this chapter was My Sanity by Thrii. It's a wonderful song and really helped me solidify the first half of the chapter.

As usual, hope you enjoy the chapter! Feel free to review or pm me with any thoughts, opinions, constructive criticism, or whatever lol

Fairy Tail's Moonlight

Chapter 7: Moonlit Insects

The next day saw Kamari refreshed. He emerged from his tent earlier than the sun and flowed through his morning routine. Then, he sang a sweet melody, welcoming the rising sun and his team into the new day. A new chance for travel and accomplishments. Together, they packed up their tent and took to the road.

Rotom Dex led the way with a map of Fiore across their screen. His teammates decided to spend their travels in their pokéballs. Well, all except for Umari who preferred to walk beside him.

Guard duty, she had claimed early in their walk. However, Kamari believed it was more than just appointed duty. She had a bounce in her step. Weaved from the side-to-side, brushing against his leg to purr.

Kamari laughed when her bizarre pattern nearly tripped him! She didn't seem to care and took every chance to get closer. Perhaps she missed him. That was the conclusion he drew once they reached a lush forest. That was when her demeanor morphed into protective. Tensed and hissing as she glared down the slightest sound. And when they paused to set up camp, she alternated between playful and territorial.

"Rotom Dex, how far are we from the nearest village?"

Rotom Dex floated to his face and waved their arms. "Zzzrt! Once we clear another three miles of this forest, we'll reach Amaryllis Village, Roto-K!"

Another three miles…he could work with that. The sun had already begun to set on them, spilling through the forests through the gaps in the leaves. The perfect time to get dinner started. Kamari had just finished gathering his ingredients and, with the help of his team, began the process. The spicy sausage curry came out great yesterday. However, Kamari was in the mood for something lighter. Something more like soup—thankfully Rotom Dex had the perfect recipe.

With a combination of berries, potatoes, and vegetables, Kamari made a rather thick soup for them all to enjoy. His pokémon took to it well. Even demanded seconds! Not that Kamari was any better. The soup supplied his body with the warmth of a summer's kiss. And when he closed his eyes to moan at its taste, he saw his mother's smile. Her radiance and love shined onto him as she embraced him.

"I wonder how often Mommy made this soup," Kamari mused, polishing off his third bowl.

"She made it often," Rotom Dex replied. "It was your favorite meal, Roto-K. Zzzrt!"

My favorite meal, Kamari smiled. Must be what drew him to it. The need for relief and levity for the heart. Already, he saw himself in the kitchen. Older than he used to see himself and dressed in a lunar apron and sideway silver chef's hat. Mommy stood at his side, guiding him with gentle words through the process. Through every slice, stir, and spontaneous gasp at the cramps in his arm, Mommy was there. Especially when the knife sliced too close to his skin and broke the skin.

"It's okay, my little moonlight," She had cooed, bandaging the wound. It hadn't been big, but the stinging pain brought tears to his eyes. And they fell like sparkling moondust onto his dark skin. "A little pain only awards you luster."

He had that saying before. In his nightmares, the moon had always whispered that before saving him.

A little pain, his thoughts raced back to his time at the monastery. The arguments, the jabs, and the weapons flung his way from someone he called a friend. Fresh tears prickled his eyes. And when they rolled, they washed away the sliver of pain aching in his chest. Bit by bit. Slowly, he felt a wound ripped open. He welcomed it. The pain and all the emotions associated with that time—he welcomed them all.

Only awards you luster.

He inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled. Over and over until his body relaxed and released what little pain he had left. His wound now free to heal the damage.

(Kamari?) When Kamari blinked, he found it darker than he remembered. The campfire crackled with fiery life, courtesy of Salamari. And Umari made it a point to curl up on his lap as he leaned against a tall tree. He smiled at her. (Are you okay?)

"Not necessarily," he admitted for perhaps the first time. Instantly, his heart jumped in his chest, but he continued undeterred. "But I'ma get there. So long as I have y'all."

Umari purred. Kamari responded in kind by petting and scratching her. She enjoyed that plenty last night. Even now, her purrs intensified, and she shifted in his lap. Kamari, however, wasn't finished. He grabbed some a brush from his bag and began to brush her. Rotom Dex explained that grooming was just as important as traveling and fighting. That pokémon had to feel their best to be their best.

Just like me, huh? He smiled, wiping his tears with his free hand.

Traveling brought him the peace he hadn't expected. The fresh air, open skies, wonderous creatures—they were so different from the horror stories the monks told him! Yet, he figured part of him already knew this. That part of him always rejected their teachings. Well, some of them. Others resonated deep inside his heart. Those teachings he gladly took with him.

One teaching he begrudgingly started to accept. (Kamari!) Mandimari flew down to him, eyes narrowed as she flapped her wings. (There are humans nearby! A flock of them.)

Humans? Kamari frowned. Rotom Dex explained that this part of the forest didn't see many visitors. For there to be so many…

It doesn't matter! Kamari steeled his nerves and gave out orders. Umari was the first to react, taking off into the darkness. The others weren't far behind, falling into a practiced formation Rotom Dex drilled into him on way here. This formation left Lamari in his arms and Primari by his side while the others hid and awaited their signals. A tactic he had called Tidal Formation.

They awaited the encounter with bated breath. Tensed, but ready. Even as his heart pounded in his chest.

The bushes rustled and a group of people stepped onto the campsite. Tall, the lot of them, with stern features and tensed muscles evident through their tight black uniforms. Offset by their gray gloves, belt, and tall boots—all accented with neon colors much like the colorful "R" plastered across their chest.

The leader of the bunch—a woman with short, bloody red hair and lipstick—stepped forwards and regarded Kamari with a cruel smile. "Good evening," she spoke with sweet honey oozing through her voice. Kamari shivered and gripped Lamari closer. "Must say, I wasn't expecting to see someone like yourself here. We're just passing through."

"Uh-huh," he responded. Many of them had their hands dipped to their belts. Belts with blue pokéballs— Great Balls if he remembered right—strapped in place. "Who are y'all?"

The woman sneered, gesturing to the symbol on her chest. "A proud mage guild. We just completed a mission."

Mage guild? Kamari frowned. He read about them behind the monks' backs on many moonlit nights. According to those books, mage guilds were formed to give work to mages who essentially keep the peace. A notable occupation, surely. However, these people gave off an aura too sinister for his taste. And those Great Balls—

"I see," Kamari nodded. Primari kept her eyes on them, tensed and ready. "Then don't mind me. I'm campin' for the night."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "In these woods?" She giggled, pulling a fan from her belt to cover her mouth. "Dear child, that's far too dangerous! Even for one with creatures like yours."

"I'ma manage fine," he countered. The other mages didn't accept the backtalk. Whispers erupted amongst them as some snatched a few balls from their belt. All except for one in the middle who seemed to fiddle with something in a burlap sack. Kamari frowned. Something that gave off faint waves of emotional energy. Sadness, he realized, knocked at his senses, filling his mind with wails.

The woman, surprisingly enough, blocked them with her outstretched arm. Her fan glowed in the moonlit night with a power of its own.

"Now, now," she began. Her lips curled into another sneer as she turned up her nose. "Poor manners are no excuse for violence. What would our Guild Master think?" That quieted them down, forcing them in place. "I must say, you're quite a rude one. You'd do well to take my advice and leave. Dangerous creatures lurk these woods at night."

"Perhaps yer right." Kamari stared past her and at the fiddling grunt. He, unlike the rest, hadn't stopped moving. Whatever he had bagged up was putting up a fight. And Kamari had a feeling it was another pokémon. He wanted to investigate but fighting against so many wasn't a smart idea. He needed a more discreet method. And if that meant obeying the command, then so be it. He had other means of discovering what he needed.

"I'll pack up and be outta yer way."

The woman nodded and, with a smug smirk, walked past him. "See to it." Her team followed suit, glaring down at him. Kamari returned the gesture to everyone but paid special attention to his target. The sack had stopped moving, but the man seemed nervous. Sweaty too as his eyes darted around.

"Oh, and dear child?" The woman glanced over her shoulder and waved her fan. "Don't dally—hate to find you injured in the morning."

Oh, don't worry. I'ma be fine, trust that.

#

After packing up camp, Kamari returned most of his pokémon and took off after those mages. Thankfully, Umari and Mandimari had followed them as lead him to their campsite. There, he found them huddled around a campfire. However, that hadn't concerned him. It was cages lined up far from the fire. He snuck closer to that side and found them filled with pokémon!

Pokémon, small and large, huddled together for safety. Their young a mess with fresh tears and mucus. Scrapes and bruises littered all their skin and left even the largest of them trembling. Kamari narrowed his eyes and nodded to Rotom Dex. These people couldn't be any proper mages. Not if they treated pokémon like this.

Rotom Dex snapped a few pictures. Dark due to his lack of flash—couldn't alert them. No, Kamari had a plan brewing that needed their ignorance. No matter what, he promised he'd save these pokémon.

He moved a safe distance away and prepared himself.

"Multitype," he whispered. The voices of millions of insects buzzed through his mind and flooded his veins with their strength. With every breath, he felt their vibrating wings in his heart. He welcomed it all, especially their butterfly kisses against his skin as a lime green shrouded him.

"Insect Plate!"

The light shimmered off him in a burst of colorful butterflies. Two pairs of dragonfly wings emerged from his back and vibrated. He took off high into the air. His lime green insectoid goggles made it easy to everything from this height. Umari raced to her position. Mandimari already in hers, perched on the top of a pin tree. Perfect, he grinned. Kamari adjusted his new, yellow straw hat, cautious not to disturb the insects pinned around the base.

The mages were none the wiser. They laughed around the campfire, raising glasses filled with a red liquid in delight. Kamari wrinkled his nose. He had a feeling about what that was and didn't like it. Especially if it made them more aggressive to the pokémon they locked up. He shook his head. Those thoughts weren't nice to have moments before enacting his plan. He needed to act rationally, not out of the buzzing rage in his chest. Still, a little anger never hurt.

His wings vibrated faster, eyes aglow. Insects swarmed to his call. Much from deep in the woods who hide away from these strange people. Other of his own making. Grubs, they called themselves. They looked like misshaped bees made from three, hexagonal cylinders. They emerged from under the lime and yellow pincer gauntlets over his black fingerless gloves and coaxed the wild insects into following his order. He grinned.

The first wave divebombed the camp in one fell swoop. The drunkards screeched, whipping out pokémon of their own to command the insects. All with rather dark color schemes, much like Umari and Mandimari. These pokémon fell to the onslaught, just like their owners. Except for the dark dogs with their towering horns. Those creatures roasted his army in gouts of fire!

Unfortunate, but excepted. That's where he came in. He flew down, cloaked in a swarm of insects, for the hound. It blazed his defenses, leaving Kamari as the only one standing. He crossed his arms and his pincers elongated, cloaked in a lime green light.

"X-Scissor!"

Kamari slashed the hound in an X-formation, and it fell unconscious. Seems his insects did more damage than he thought. He landed safely amongst the fallen bodies and scanned around the camp. Surely it couldn't have been that easy.

"Halt!"

The woman called out to him. Her eyes narrowed as she snarled at him. At her side was that man with his burlap sack and another pokémon. Two, actually. One a bird with dark feathers and a witch's hat on its head. The other a purple scorpion monster with a ferocious snarl.

"How dare you attack us, unprovoked!" She fanned her face with her glowing fan. "Do you know who we are?"

"No," Kamari folded his arms over his new dashiki—lime green and yellow and patterned with insects. "And I don't care."

"Perhaps you should, runt." The woman gestured to the man at her side. And he pulled a pokémon from the sack! A child, no doubt. Its pink skin was tarnished with scrapes and specks of blood. He held the poor thing hostage, holding a fistful of fire over its head. "We have the advantage."

"Untrue." The man howled in pain, tossing the pokémon up into the air. Right into Mandimari's awaiting talon. Umari, teeth latched in the man's leg, tossed him aside, and raced over to Kamari's side. "I think the advantage is now mine."

"Checky twerp! Murkrow, after that Mandibuzz!" She snarled and raised her fan. It glowed in a turquoise light as wild winds peeled off its fabric! "Wretched Typhoon!"

A blast of howling winds blasted Kamari off his feet and slammed him into a tree. Groaning, he slid down the bark. Wind magic, it seemed, worked well against his Insect Plate form. He glanced up and froze. That scorpion creature peered down on him, raising his glowing pincers for a strike!

Only to blasted away by a pulse of black energy. Umari darted after it, rings aglow. Mandimari soared away from the chasing Murkrow, releasing her pulse of black energy in hopes of striking it down.

"You'd be smart to surrender," She proclaimed, walking over with her glowing fan. "You'll walk away alive if you do."

"And leave this pokémon at yer mercy?" Kamari climbed to his feet and winced. Seemed one of those winds sliced through his black shorts and left a bleeding gash on his right. "Ain't happenin'!"

She scoffed. "Children and their false bravado." She raised her fan and harsher winds roared to life. "Any final words?"

Words? He had a few in mind. However, he preferred to save his breath. Instead, he vibrated his wings. Harder, faster until a shrieking vibration filled to camp. The woman dropped her fan and covered her ears in pain. The scorpion—having heard its trainer's cry—raced over, but Umari intercepted it with a headbutt. A strange flash of light left her glowing rings and the scorpion stumbled around in a daze. Even struck itself with its pincers!

Kamari grinned. This worked better than he imagined. He kept the vibrations and called upon his remaining insects. They divebombed onto him, spraying him with healing silk that sealed up his bloody wounds. He stepped free of them, refreshed.

His wings slowed their vibration, letting the woman drop to her knees. Her ears bled thin rivers down her pale skin. "I'm finna ya one chance," Kamari began. His long cornrows—now threaded with lime wire—danced at his waist, rattling the bug-shaped pins attached throughout them. Insect circled his body, led by a lone grub, rising from his lime green and yellow sneakers to above his head. A massive swarm buzzed with unbridled aggression, daring the woman to fight back.

"Leave! Or we fight."

The woman refused, snatching her fan, and charging it magic.

"Attack Order!"

"Wolfgang Tornado!"

His swarm struck a swirling blast of howling wind. It didn't take long for his grubs to be overwhelmed. Honestly, he expected it. He had hoped to finish this quietly for that reason. Seemed as though magic affected his pokémon typing the same way. It was fine, he decided. He planned for this.

Kamari lunged to the side and rushed at her with his wings vibrating. Altering his course when she shifted her spell's direction. Trees toppled down around him, rattling the earth. Grass and soil became debris, curtaining their world in a dirty shower. All according to plan. Her aim became sporadic. In her attempts, she struck down her scorpion pokémon too! Now, without any distraction, he made his final move.

Kamari flew over her head and unleashed another Bug Buzz! She cried out and her winds dissipated.

"Now—Lunge!"

Kamari scored a roundhouse kick against her, launched her into the pile of downed trees. She cried out and fell unconscious, just like the rest of her team.

Grinning, he landed and folded his arms. Rude mages were defeated and with only minimal injuries. Not bad for his first fight. Umari bounded over to the side, purring as she brushed against him. Mandimari flew down soon after, the child in one talon and Murkrow in the other. She tossed murkrow over to its tossed and dropped the child into his arms.

Poor thing—it seemed to have fainted. Kamari pulled it close for a hug. There should be berries in his bag for this type of situation. Perhaps Rotom Dex could walk him through—

Huh? Lime green light oozed off his skin in spiraling streamers before bursting into beautiful butterflies. These butterflies circled the child before they plummeted into it. And a burst of white light erupted around them. Kamari flinched, but he couldn't bring himself to move. He just kept the child close. Even as they sapped at his strength until his legs trembled. It didn't matter to him. So long as the child was safe.

Suddenly the light faded away and Kamari stumbled. Whatever it was, he hoped it used what it took from him. He sighed, struggling to catch his breath. At least the child wasn't harmed.

He glanced at it and his eyes bulged. The child—its wounds vanished, leaving behind only those pesky dots of blood.!

"Roto-K!" Rotom Dex flew over, waving their arms. "You healed that cleffa! How are you feeling? Zzzrt!"

"Tired…my powers?" Kamari frowned. The child stirred in his arms, fluttering its eyes until they opened, revealing pretty black eyes. He smiled at it. It looked so adorable in his arms and…oddly star-shaped? "I thought they just lemme talk to pokémon?"

Rotom Dex shook from side-to-side. "Well, yes, but…there's plenty more!" The cleffa nuzzled his chest, cooing softly into the night. "They let you heal, but it drains your stamina so be careful. Zzzrt."

Rotom Dex led them over to the cages. His little friend had been busy. Their doors were opened, but the pokémon refused to leave. They cowered away even when Kamari came near! He frowned. He had a feeling those mages were abusive to them.

"They won't leave," Rotom Dex sighed. "They're afraid of being punished. Zzzrt."

"What about their wounds? Can I—"

"They're not fond of humans, as you gleamed. Zzzrt."

Fair enough. However, Kamari couldn't guarantee these people wouldn't wake up soon. He preferred to get these Pokémon to safety before that happened. But how? Neither he nor his pokémon could have carried these cages away. Perhaps he could call upon the insects? Kamari frowned. No, that seemed inhumane. Regardless of whatever doubts he had of finding enough bugs to lift them on short notice. How else could he—

My powers. It worked on Cleffa. Perhaps with enough focus, he could heal them without touching them! Maybe even using the powers of the plates to amplify it. Kamari nodded. It had plenty of unknowns and variables but was the best plan he had thus far.

"I have an idea," Kamari placed Cleffa down and widened his stance. His arms outstretched before him with palms facing the cages. The pokémon tensed up and their panic screamed at his sense. For now, he ignored it and focused on the energy deep within. Already, he felt the light return and ooze off his skin into fluttering butterflies. "I dunno if you'll like it, though."

"You're right, I don't!" Rotom Dex flailed their arms. They listed the dangers of healing so many pokémon at once, but he didn't care. Right now, their safety mattered more. "Roto-K! It's too dangerous! Zzzrt!"

"I know, but hafta! I can't just let 'em stay like this." The butterflies converged onto the caged pokémon, eating away at what strength Kamari had left. His arms trembled and sweat poured down his face. His words began to slur while his vision blurred. Still, he pushed through, sending more of his energy at those pokémon. He only managed a weak smile when their panic morphed into happiness.

"I hafta do what's right!"

His outfit shimmered, transforming into butterflies to feed his healing. His teeth grounded together as his heart pounded in his throat. He fought the swoons as best as he could, but fatigue overwhelmed his senses. Kamari didn't make a sound when his transformation unraveled in a burst of butterflies. Nothing when he fell forward as black dots riddled his visions. And he certainly said not a word when he succumbed to the darkness blanketing his mind. He only smiled at his good deed and accepted sleep's embrace.

A price he was willing to pay to save their lives.

Kamari Agrinya:
Status: Unconscious, 2 Plates
Age: 15
Location: In a forest