All seemed well as night descended on the Crossroads and the Starstorm trio headed off to sleep (or rather, sleep for two and dormancy for one), nothing out of the ordinary to speak of, yet sometime between midnight and the obscenely early hours of the morning where only wild Noctowls and Shuppets would be out stirring…

*Astrid…? Can you-…*

In her sleep, the Dartrix fluffed up a bit at hearing Necrozma's voice again. There was no blinding visage as there had been previously, and unlike the last time, their voice was back to being static-laden and distorted.

*I can't hear you very well,* Astrid mused back, still drowsing off on her perch.

* Apologies, it's getting harder to-… to keep the link up…!*

She could certainly tell by their voice, for it sounded pained and frantic even behind the telepathy it was conveyed through. Oddly enough, it sounded like it was broken into two components, which she figured was reasonable given that there were two entities fused into one making up the blinding dragon's form… but it was certainly something she thought she would've noticed before. Perhaps Void's legions were being particularly unforgiving in their onslaught to cause it.

*What's wrong?* the Dartrix inquired, concerned but still matter-of-fact.

*It's Void,* came her answer. *She's begun to-*

Their voice cut out for a second, drowned out into static, making Astrid perk up even in her sleep. *Necrozma?*

It was a few moments of silence, but they returned. It was hard to make their words out, but listening as intently as she possibly could, Astrid managed to catch them. *She's ceased to focus fully on me. What she's planning, I can't say, but the snippets of chattering from the Beasts surrounding me indicate that she's sending groups to your world.*

Astrid tried to think up several meanings to such, and none of them entailed anything good- Void's poisoned hordes starting a full-blown usurp, several groups trying to hunt the Dartrix herself down after Salem's failure to drag her back to Ultra Space… None of the possibilities seemed appealing, especially since Necrozma still seemed backed into a corner regardless of where the forces were being concentrated.

*As far as I can tell, she's still unaware that you know what's going on and that you've got Raijin… so if she's sending them to seek you out, do not venture off without him. That's a risk we can't take.*

*I won't,* she affirmed.

*Good. Be on your guard and-! GyaaAAAAaah-!*

The yell and the dissipation of Necrozma's voice back into a drowned-out static-laden unintelligible mess made Astrid's eyes shoot open and her feathers fluff out, her gaze darting around a bit as if she might catch sight of the Blinding One even light years away in their tiny basement, but the only light she saw was Raijin's soft glow. Arashi was lightly snoring with a blissful grin on his face, and the gods only knew what he could be dreaming of.

The Xurkitree, however, noticed Astrid stirring and detached his limbs from the ground, inquiring softly, "You alright? Bad dream?"

She shook her head. "No… Necrozma."

Raijin twitched a bit in surprise. "R-really…? What… did they say?"

Astrid shook her head and fluffed a bit, trying to temporarily ward off her drowsiness. "Void's sending groups to this world. She apparently still doesn't know that you've told me everything, but… Necrozma says we should be careful in case they're trying to hunt me down."

Raijin nodded, then strolled closer and gave one of her wings a pat. "If they are, they better be able to take a few Discharges."

"A-ah…" her voice trailed off, her head too giving a nod. The slight electrical vibrations of the Xurkitree's hand made her a bit more alert, but nonetheless her voiced haplessly trailed off, "Can we talk more in the morning…? I'm… kinda out of it…"

"Yeah."

Almost as soon as Raijin's hand left her, she was drowsing off again.

In the morning, though, they were darting up the stairs to meet everyone again almost as soon as they awoke, and the day's missions were delegated out again. Team Starstorm would be heading to Sunken Cavern to apprehend Harold the Abomasnow, an outlaw wanted for blindsiding expedition teams with sudden snowstorms then stealing their items. The dungeon's name alarmed Astrid a bit, but thankfully, they were assured by Lazuli that, despite the name, the dungeon wasn't completely submerged. Rather, like Lake Lucent, they could merely expect to see quite a few pools and species native to them that didn't fully traverse solid ground, and the name itself came from the cavern's location 'sunken' below the earth. That was fine with them, and the Starstorm trio stowed a Drought Orb in the bag along with some other necessary supplies (namely food) just in case they'd need it, seeing as the Azumarill had business elsewhere to attend to (otherwise she too would've accompanied to give her air balloons as needed). A certain Fletchinder apparently couldn't resist chiming in with "Pfft, you think they'll come back in one piece?" to which both Lazuli and Rush told him to shut up.

However, one thing Rush did inform them of was that the Pokémon encountered there wouldn't be found in many places outside… seeing as they were all ancient species with mostly fossils left in their former habitats. That excited Arashi and intrigued Raijin, while Astrid thought of how their ancient physiology and habitat might have proved difficult to deal with. One way or another, someone was wildly out of place… either the Starstorm trio in the dungeon, or the dungeon-dwellers in the outside world. She wasn't sure which possibility was more prominent.

Nonetheless, as they gathered up their items and prepared to leave, Adnea emerged from her study and floated down to them, her piercing gaze immediately catching their attention. Even if she was smaller than all three of them and rarely seen, somehow, she simply commanded their attention.

"Before you three head out, I want to ask a few questions," said the Orbeetle, crossing her arms. Her gaze fell on Raijin. "Specifically of you."

The Xurkitree twitched and shrank up a bit at the sudden attention from the researcher. "Y-yes…?"

"Is there any difference in the signs of Nihilego neurotoxin in a feral one as opposed to say, one of us?" Adnea inquired, practically staring holes through the Beast. "A wild one would exhibit strange levels of aggression and become fixated on their host even if they lacked the means to vocalize such, no?"

Raijin nodded, tapping his fingers together contemplatively. "Y-yes, they would… There aren't many completely feral Beasts on Ultra Space, but the ones that Void got ahold of would act ridiculously aggressive to everyone but their teammates until they started to grow out of it…"

Adnea nodded. "Lovely," she said, being lost deep in thought for a moment. "I ask because there's reason to believe the wild population around Starry Peak is acting under the influence of something else. They've been acting abnormally hostile, and in my own observations, there have been some very odd lights in the sky resembling what you call wormholes. Coupled with what you've told us and what Astrid was privy to last night, it's looking very suspicious."

All three of the Starstorm trio perked up, Astrid and Arashi getting wide-eyed and Raijin giving another twitch of surprise. The Dartrix and Xurkitree shared a quick glance, the words of Necrozma instantly coming to mind.

"I'm merely cataloguing it for now; someone far more eager to investigate is heading out there today to see what the matter is," the Orbeetle noted. "But seeing as this concerns you three quite a bit more than the general populace, I wanted to give you a heads-up. Rush and I will talk it over later as well."

The Starstorm trio nodded, sharing some glances among themselves.

Arashi, though, piped up, smiling but still slightly intimidated by Adnea's harsh aura. "Who's going to investigate…? I mean, not to question you or anything, but…"

"If Beasts are out there, another Beast would be more apt to deal with them…" Raijin mused, still staying slightly huddled up.

Adnea wasn't fazed. "Take a step outside and you'll see," the Orbeetle replied rather matter-of-factly. "Don't let the cutesiness fool you… No one with sense wants to get into a fight with that Blissey."

The mention of a Blissey brought a certain pink, happy, love-spouting someone to mind from days prior. Without another word, Adnea was floating off back to her study, and Team Starstorm had no reason to wait around. They were out the door soon thereafter, and outside, Dren was on the ground as opposed to his usual guard spot and conversing with the grinning Ama. Four other figures tagged along with her- Chira the Cinccino and Jingle the Drampa they'd also met, as well as Yunael the Togekiss and Millicent the Alcremie (of a ruby-tinted cream variety with heart-shaped candies adorning her head) that she'd mentioned.

"Oooh, I just can't wait!" Ama cooed, jumping and clapping her hands. "Those wild darlings at Starry Peak might be feeling awful and antsy, but I'll show them my love~! Everyone needs some tender loving care~!"

Dren giggled. "Oh, you're the best at giving tender loving care to anyone, Ama."

The Blissey let out a happy squeal and went to give the Salamence a hug, but with her tiny frame against Dren's much larger one, she didn't succeed in doing much more than sticking one arm around one of Dren's forelegs. However, as she did so, she and her team noticed the Starstorm trio exiting the base, and she went happily squealing again before running up to them next.

"Oooh, and you three!" Ama cried, throwing an arm around them in similar fashion. "Yunael, Millicent! Aren't they lovely?! Oh, if I was a giant Blissey, I'd tuck them all in my pouch and cuddle them!"

The Blissey's blissful touch and antics gave all three of them a feeling of Butterfrees in their stomachs… or at least, for Raijin, as close as he could feel to such. The Alcremie simply chortled happily and made a heart-shaped gesture with her hands while the Togekiss gave another similarly cheerful greeting, which Astrid shyly fluffed up at, Raijin returned with a simple wave, and Arashi gave his usual enthusiastic reply.

"You weren't lying, Ama! Those two little ones are cute!" Yunael exclaimed, taking to the air and perching again shortly… right on top of Raijin's head. "And this one's beautiful! Just like a bright star out of a pretty night sky!"

Raijin froze at the sudden set of smallish feet on his head, then twitched in surprise when the Togekiss tilted over to look him straight in the eyes… or at least, where they would have been if any were visible. With a nonchalant giggle, Yunael jumped off and landed on the ground before traipsing around Astrid and Arashi next, close enough to make the Dartrix blush a bright red underneath her feathers. The attention made Arashi grin, but Astrid and Raijin, on the other hand, seemed utterly taken aback. Still, such must not have been out of the ordinary, for no one else was flinching at Yunael's antics and the rest certainly seemed happy to give out affectionate touches.

"Where are you off to~?" Ama inquired, still smiling warmly and looking the Starstorm trio over.

"Sunken Cavern!" Arashi replied with a grin. "We're gonna catch an outlaw!"

"Oh, an outlaw!" the Blissey exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Those poor dears almost never got enough love in their life! But I know you darlings will do well~ You must be good at what you do if darling Rush saw it fit to recruit you!"

She giggled and clapped one more time before bidding them farewell and giving Dren one more hug, to which the Salamence also wrapped his tail around her.

"May love and joy fill the world~!" the Blissey called as she strolled off, her team in tow.

"May love and joy fill the world!" her comrades echoed, pumping their fists and wings in the air.

Astrid blinked and Raijin touched his fingers together, the two of them still stumped at Team Sweetheart's antics. Arashi, though, seemed absolutely entranced by all the happiness and affection.

"Is… Is Adnea serious?" Raijin asked haplessly. "They… really don't seem threatening."

"I-is 'show them love' a eu-euphemism f-for 'bash their face in' or something…?" Astrid was likewise stupefied.

Dren couldn't help but laugh, giving them all a pat with his tail. "Oh, that's a common first impression, but no! Jingle especially loves playing with small children, but if you hurt one of those children, you'd better hope the gods have mercy on your soul because he sure won't. Chira uses her tails for cleaning, but they also double as weapons and the oil coating them makes her hard to get ahold of. You'd never pick up on Yunael's damaging capabilities if you only saw her out in town, because she's so peaceful. Millicent hardly ever utters a word, but the support she provides to her allies is irreplaceable. And Ama… Sure, she might be the most outwardly affectionate and blissful Pokémon you'll ever meet and she might have trouble with physical hits, but she completely shrugs off the strongest of special attackers and knocks out strong physical attackers with Counter, so if you go up against her, you better be sure you can win. That Blissey is like an immoveable wall."

Still, the way they skipped along with Ama humming and singing at the lead did not give off the feeling of an intimidating dungeon-crawling brigade, but they all catalogued that info nonetheless. Of course, they'd likely never get into a fight with Team Sweetheart themselves, but Astrid had to admit that from the way Dren described it, their setup did seem formidable.

"She shrugs off strong special attackers?! Hah, Raijin, that's you!" Arashi exclaimed, looking starry-eyed. "I gotta tell Trixie about these guys when we get back, then maybe she'll see that the cutesy ones can be strong too!"

Astrid had to imagine that their Croagunk pal wouldn't change her mind and instead just make a vomiting gesture while laughing in her usual shifty manner.

"… Duly noted," Raijin mused.

Dren chuckled, and shortly, he was perched on the roof again while the Starstorm trio headed off to their destination.

"You guys ever wonder why the Coalition has a guard?" Arashi inquired once they were out of earshot, looking a bit intrigued. "I mean, none of the other teams here do, at least that we've seen! Dren doesn't really seem like the battling type, but still, I wouldn't just expect a Salamence with a Mega Stone to sit on the roof all day keeping watch!"

The other two perked up at the inquiry, likewise considering the possibilities.

"Well, he did say that just flashing his Salamencite is enough to keep troublemakers away…" Astrid's voice trailed off. "I mean, from the sounds of it, Rush's heart is in a good place, but maybe he's got enemies from all these years of doing missions, like some angry outlaws or something…"

"That would be cause for concern…" Raijin concurred.

Arashi, though, shrugged, still grinning. "I'll ask later. There's gotta be some reason, aha!"

Indeed, there had to be some reason. Ones as prominent as Rush and Rozen wouldn't have flippantly put a guard in place if there was no need for one, Astrid figured.

The Dartrix, though, piped up with something else. "… So, about last night."

The gazes of her comrades were locked on her.

"You had another vision, didn't you?" Arashi inquired. "Adnea made it sound that way."

"I did," Astrid replied. "Void is delegating her underlings elsewhere and sending groups to this world. We don't know exactly what for, but… it's probably not to have tea parties and give everyone hugs."

The Frogadier still grinned, but his eyes practically bulged out of his head. "Whoa, really?! So are we gonna have to deal with poisoned Beasts now too?! Sheesh, Zariel and Azure were bad enough!"

"Maybe," Astrid noted. "Point is, they're here, and we should be ready in case they intercept us. Obviously, Raijin, you've got the most expertise in that area…"

The Xurkitree nodded. "Don't worry; you two can rely on me if we get confronted. I won't let them get ahold of you so easily."

Arashi looked relieved.

"And if it does happen, Arashi, you and I need to pay close attention to our foes before we make any moves," the Dartrix said next. "If something happens to Raijin, we have to be able to manage, and if Raijin has trouble, we can't sit back either. We took care of Zariel and Azure on our own, but something tells me that faction groups, if they're composed as carefully as they seem to be, are in an entirely different league."

Her partner nodded. "We've got synergy and they've got synergy, so ours has to outdo theirs!" he exclaimed, contemplative but determined.

"Exactly," Astrid concurred, though moments later, her voice was getting a bit more of a hesitant tone. "But there's also another aspect… Raijin, you've been on this world since you ditched the faction, right? And you tried to play it off when Azure caught you off guard, right?"

"That's right," the Xurkitree affirmed, starting to sound a bit uneasy.

"So if Void is just starting to send groups here, and Azure knows you've been here…" Astrid mused, carefully mulling things over with narrowing eyes. "It'd be obvious you weren't sent by Void and they might start to question it, especially since we'll probably end up fighting a Beast brigade if we meet one. What's that going to look like on Void's end if a faction group confronts us?"

Arashi started to look uncertain too, giving their comrade a glance.

"… Not good," Raijin answered, touching his fingers together. "One way or another, Salem would find out about me from Azure, and if Salem knows, then Void does too… She'd probably deem me a troublemaker for acting out of line while under her influence, but then she'd figure out that I vanished around the same time that the group of Beasts from Five-Zero to Eight-Three needed another dose… so she'd know I wasn't under her influence when I disappeared. She's… gonna find out."

Astrid nodded, cataloguing that info too.

"What would they do to you if we got caught?" Arashi asked, a hint of hesitance in his tone. "If… If anything really bad happened, anyway."

Raijin shook his head. "I have no idea," he said dismally. "I'm the only dissenter from inside the faction, but the dissenting Beasts on the outside mostly got poisoned themselves or executed if whoever was dealing with them felt like that suited them better… I can't imagine Void would have much use for a traitor, to be honest, but she might poison me again out of spite and send me after you two just to undermine all of our efforts."

Neither one of those possibilities sounded very reassuring. Arashi whimpered, his grin turning awkward and unsettled.

Raijin turned his arm bearing the identification mark over and twisted the cable bearing it outwards, studying it for a moment before shaking his head again. "If I cut off the section with my identification on it, they'd know I was hiding something… Every Xurkitree has it in the same area. And if I cut my entire arm off, that'd still raise questions…"

The Frogadier got wide eyes again and exclaimed, "Whoa there, buddy! That's a little extreme, don't you think?!"

Astrid too fluffed out at such a casual suggestion of hacking an appendage off.

Raijin, though, didn't seem fazed. "… Not really. Not when it comes to Void."

"Hey, let's not go making any hasty decisions," Astrid piped up, fluffing out just a bit but keeping a calm voice. "It is what it is. We'll just have to see what happens if a Beast brigade attacks us. If there's one on Starry Peak like Adnea seems to think, then that's probably why Delphi told us to stay away. We still have a little bit of time to think this over."

That much, her comrades could agree with.

"Besides, Delphi told us to be careful here too," the Dartrix remarked, brushing one of the leaves on her face aside. "We aren't dealing with an upstanding, good-natured Pokémon as it is, and the dungeon-dwellers aren't of the usual persuasions. We don't need anyone getting knocked out on our side. And we don't need anyone fainting from excitement at seeing ancient Pokémon, either."

She gave a pointed look to her partner, who gave a hapless laugh and stuck one arm behind his head, not minding too much.

Starry Peak Summit

However, on the highest cliffs of Starry Peak with the dungeon's exit to their sides, two amusedly giddy sets of eyes watched a wild Skarmory claw at a wild Florges, the latter making a huge fuss and trying to fight back to little avail, while another figure was more entranced staring at the reflections in the crystalline faces of several stone slabs. The mountainside was a lovely sight, full of flowers in all manner of bright colors and with reflective, sparkling stones jutting up where they didn't grow… but even in such exquisite surroundings, the growls and fussing of the wild occupants on the steep outer edges could be easily heard from every direction. A Pheromosa, the identification of UB02B-6003 rather prominent on her left arm and a satchel across her shoulders, nonchalantly swung her legs back and forth over the side of the mountain, and a Buzzwole with the mark of UB02A-0145 on his right arm looked down at the scenery below while striking a myriad of flamboyant poses. A Nihilego, marked UB01-7000 on the side of her bell, swayed back and forth in front of a larger set of reflective stones that rose at least twice as high as any of the Beasts stood, occasionally reaching one tentacle out to delicately touch her own visage reflected within them. A cube-shaped vessel with a long carrying strap, mostly black but with edges glowing a faint purple, rested haphazardly against one reflective stone slab, occasionally twitching just a bit but going right back to being motionless seconds thereafter, and the brigade paid it no mind.

"Pretty…~" the Nihilego cooed with a voice like a wind chime.

"Pffft, look at 'em go!" the Pheromosa laughed, pointing at the haplessly flailing Florges below. "Seven Thousand, you sure know how to get 'em going!"

The delicate, blue-tinted Beast swayed happily, hugging herself with her tentacle arms. "The ones in wild here, they only understand 'fight,' but they not understand why," she mused softly. "But that okay. Seven Thousand share enlightenment with everyone, just like Void want."

The swollen and flexing one skittered over beside Seven Thousand, likewise staring at his reflection and striking another ridiculous pose. "You're lookin' good, Seven Thousand! Sixty-O-Three, c'mon! All three of us look super cool together!"

"Get a life, Fourteen-Five," the Pheromosa slyly brushed him off, giving him an incredulous grin. "For a team lead, you spend more time admiring your physique than you do checking the surroundings!"

"I recognize greatness when I see it!" the Buzzwole didn't care. "Besides, all you've done is watch the wild ones rip into anything that moves!"

"I recognize greatness when I see it!" Sixty-O-Three shot back.

"Pffft!" Fourteen-Five scoffed, (very) gently grabbing Seven Thousand and placing her on his head before flexing again.

The Nihilego hummed happily, flattening out Fourteen-Five's antennae to comfortably perch, while Sixty-O-Three rolled her eyes. The swollen Beast looked as though he were wearing a bonnet far too large for his head with rather out-of-place blue locks of hair cascading down his back, but evidently, he liked it, for he kept right on posing. Seven Thousand giggled happily too, wrapping her tentacle arms around him in a hug.

"See?! Absolutely rad!" Fourteen-Five exclaimed. "You're just jealous of my cool hat!"

The one being worn as a hat giggled again, happily kicking her tentacle legs behind her.

"There is nothing to be jealous of, Fourteen-Five," their stick-slender comrade wasn't concerned. "We're here to look for someone, not look at ourselves! If we find the human and you're too busy posing to catch her, what're we gonna say?! Void would scold us, but if Salem or Remi found out, there'd be hell to pay!"

"No reason we can't do both!" the Buzzwole giddily shot back. "If we find the human, we can make a few triumphant poses after she's knocked out!"

"And with your antics, you'd be too busy posing to do any of the knocking out," Sixty-O-Three sarcastically remarked, going back to watching the Skarmory beating the daylights out of the hapless garden fairy.

However, a rather faint sound filled the air from the ground below that made both Sixty-O-Three and Fourteen-Five pause, on account of it not sounding threatening at all, but rather… sweet. Sweet and… loudly spirited. Seven Thousand floated back off of her comrade's head and shortly all three of them were clamoring up the rocky sides of the dungeon's exit to get a good look at what was approaching the entrance below. As soon as they saw, they were exchanging glances, the Pheromosa smirking wildly.

It was a pack of five with a Blissey at the head, all of them wearing the same pink ruffled scarves with a winged heart embroidered on them, and every single one of them was smiling happily. As they strolled along, it soon became plainly obvious that they were singing to a rather upbeat melody… or at least, four of them were, while the Alcremie kept her mouth shut and made hand gestures that seemed to go along with the words.

"Just how much love~?" the Blissey lead the refrain.

"All the love in the universe~!" the others sang back.

"Just how much love~?!" the Happiness Pokémon repeated.

"So much love, it'll seem absurd!"

The Cinccino broke into a solo next, appearing to use one of her fur scarves as a makeshift microphone. "In a world as big as this one, how is it that there's not enough?!"

"Just how much love~?" their team lead repeated.

"All the love in the universe~!"

"Just how much love~?!"

"So much love, it'll seem absurd!"

It was the Blissey's turn to break into a solo. "There is nothing that can't be fixed by a little love! And so to spread our happiness, we all say…~!"

"Lots of love, lots of love, lots of love~!"

"What's that~?!"

"LOTS OF LOVE, LOTS OF LOVE, LOTS OF LOVE~!"

A cheerful whoop erupted from them all once their song ended. The Beasts watching exchanged glances again before looking back down at the expeditioners, then back at each other. Just as quick, they were jumping back down to the summit's flatter peak, Sixty-O-Three giggling and Seven Thousand happily swirling in a circle.

"I recognize greatness when I see it, and I see a great set of targets, ladies," Fourteen-Five declared, flexing triumphantly as he said such. "Those are expeditioners! We'll give them Void's enlightenment!"

"Yes!" Sixty-O-Three cheered, stepping back from her comrades and delivering a lightning-fast kick to the air.

"Seven Thousand like spreading enlightenment," the Nihilego mused softly but eagerly, clapping her tentacle arms delicately.

The team lead skittered over to the glowing-edged vessel and picked it up, tossing it like a ball for a quick moment before catching and holding it again. A small whimper came from it.

"You awake, little nebula?" the Buzzwole inquired of it. "We're gonna deliver a swift dose of superiority to a group of natives!"

"I-I am now…!" a tiny voice cried back from the vessel. "I'll be ready! If it's for Void, I'll do anything!"

Fourteen-Five struck a pose in the reflective stones one more time, still holding the vessel and getting an eyeroll from Sixty-O-Three in return. The next moment, he fitted the vessel's strap over his shoulders and the Buzzwole was skittering into Starry Peak's final room with his comrades close behind, while Team Sweetheart happily traipsed into the dungeon's entrance with smiles still on their faces.

Someone was in for the fight of their life, that was for sure.

Author's note: Team Sweetheart's song is sung to the tune of the chorus of "Rottara Rottara" (roughly transliterated to "Lotta Love Lotta Love") by the group Buono!, a very cutesy song by my standards. I simply couldn't resist putting that scene in. If anyone happens to know of any more cutesy songs, feel free to suggest them for spoofing purposes. (My tastes for metal and electronic music hamper my discovery of cutesiness, alas.)