The Starry Peak entourage was up and stirring before the sun had fully risen off in the distance, gathering their supplies from the stash down in the basement before they set off anywhere. Oran berries weren't nearly as needed, the Starstorm trio came to find out, with Rozen in their group, for his Heal Pulse could get them their health back fine enough and didn't require carrying supplies in their bags to use. Nonetheless, a few of the bright blue berries were stowed away just in case among the rest of the items they hauled along on the expedition.

"A'ight, so there's five Oran berries just in case, an Escape Orb just in case, a Petrify Orb just in case, two Heal Seeds, a Luminous Orb, and enough food to get us through fine," Rush noted, double-checking the contents of the satchel that Rozen would be carrying. He looked to the Starstorm trio. "Y'all got the rest?"

"Two Blast Seeds, a few Slumber and Warp Wands, and an All-Protect Orb," Arashi noted of their own bag, glancing over the contents.

"Good. We should be set," the Scrafty declared. "Some of the 'Mon out there can be annoying as hell, and I ain't about to lose no fights with whoever the hell else is up there 'cause we weren't prepared."

It was a good philosophy, Astrid thought.

"C'mon, let's go barge into Shar's headquarters and bother Yunael," Rush remarked with a smirk, setting off for the stairs and motioning them along. "She can probably give us a much better idea of what's going on out there."

"She's much less scattered than she was yesterday," Adnea noted indifferently.

"Sh-she won't attack us, w-will she…?" Astrid piped up. "W-we just have to keep our distance is what Shar s-said… right…?"

Rush snickered, shooting the Dartrix a smirk. "Li'l-li'l Green, if she attacks us, I'll put a Togekiss-shaped hole in the wall, don't ya worry."

"As 'gnarly' as Shar might call such a maneuver, I don't think she'd appreciate you putting a hole in her wall, friend," Rozen nonchalantly chided.

The Scrafty scoffed playfully, giving Rozen a shove. Astrid blushed a bit under her feathers, while her partner got starry eyes for a moment.

Cinder was his usual standoffish, scoffing self, while Lazuli was much more amiable and shared a wink or two with Arashi, who still practically bubbled over with excitement. Dren was up and perched on the rooftop and bade them a warm farewell, as docile and friendly as an intimidating dragon could be. Very few figures were out stirring, but there was one Bewear out strolling around… or at least, what they would've assumed to be a Bewear had a Ditto face not peered back at them.

"Yo, Xeno!" Rush called, waving.

"Mornin', you guys!" the Ditto called back, giving another wave. "I heard from Shar about the Starry Peak incident! You're going out there?"

"Sure are!" Rush replied. "Where are you headed?"

"Me and the team are going off to Bramble Peak soon," Xeno answered. "There's been some commotion out there. We just don't get a break these days, do we? First Salem showing up, then these incidents!"

Rush laughed. "The life of an expeditioner, am I right?!"

"Hah! That's exactly right! Take care out there, alright?"

"You too, Xeno!"

Adnea, though, crossed her arms while she floated along, looking contemplative. "Bramble Peak. That's another area I've been noticing odd occurrences in."

"R-really?" Raijin inquired, tapping his fingers together. "Will they be okay out there…?"

"Well, Xeno's a Ditto, so if his team is intercepted by a group of Beasts, his Transform would be useful," the Orbeetle mused, still as flat as could be. "You wouldn't know because you haven't seen it, but this has already happened once."

Shortly, the Starstorm trio was getting a mental picture of someone else's memories, showing a certain Wobbuffet looking slightly peeved at a Xurkitree… or at least, what would've been a Xurkitree had a Ditto face not replaced one of the front head spikes. Astrid blinked in stupor, Arashi looked uncertain, and Raijin twitched in surprise, all of them a bit stunned by the image.

"No offense, but I like you a lot better without a Ditto face," Arashi laughed awkwardly, giving Raijin a glance.

"I like me a lot better without a Ditto face," Raijin easily concurred. "I hope he enjoys the form, but… that is not what a Xurkitree is supposed to look like."

Rush went to giggling at their reactions, and Rozen too seemed a bit amused.

Nonetheless, the spiked metal gates on the front of the Gnarly Brigade's base were closed, but a Chatot with an eyepatch over one eye sat on top of them, preening until their bunch got closer.

She squawked, eyeing them playfully. "Mornin', mateys! What's the password?!"

"Open this damned gate, Polly, or I'll decapitate you," Rush replied with a smirk.

"Ding, ding, ding!" the Chatot chirped, fluttering down on the other side.

They heard a bit of skittering on the other side, but the gate was opening moments later. Astrid, though, blinked, a bit taken aback by the response Rush had given… but not exactly surprised, either.

"Wait, is that actually the password?" Arashi inquired, awkwardly smiling.

"As far as passwords go, that's definitely a gnarly one…" Raijin's voice trailed off.

Adnea, though, rolled her eyes. "No, it's not," was her rather flat answer.

"There is no actual password," Rozen added nonchalantly.

Polly skipped out closer, snickering and giving the three unfamiliar ones a nudge with her wings. "It's just fun to act like there is," she explained with a smirk. "Then if someone acts all surprised, I know they're not from around here."

A cheeky wink followed shortly thereafter along with another snicker, and Astrid was again blushing underneath her feathers.

Arashi, on the other hand, wasn't fazed at all and seemed a bit excited at the idea. "Oh! So I could just walk up and say, 'Take me to your leader, lesser mortal!' and you'd let me in?"

"That's right!" Polly answered. "Or you could even pull what Len the Flapple did a few days ago and say, 'My mate left me, my son hates me, and my sister burned my house down!' and I'd let you in!"

The Frogadier giggled, but Astrid and Raijin still weren't quite sure what to make of such a system.

Once inside the base, it quickly became apparent that their 'gnarly' moniker was as accurate as could be, for the metallic black walls had some fairly prominent claw marks and dents in them from what looked like an all-out brawl, but whatever they came from, Astrid certainly wasn't going to ask. The floor was a very dark stone, and a staircase leading up was a very dark metal too with crimson spikes along the rails. Had she not known otherwise, Astrid would've guessed the place to be a standoffish dungeon… and not a dungeon of the 'mystery' variety, but rather something like a prison where no one would venture of their own free volition. She couldn't help fluffing up a bit.

A certain Garchomp was out and stirring too, a Honchkrow and Aggron close at her side.

"Throw in at least five Heal Seeds, Azra," Shar said to the Aggron. "I'm gonna be Outraging for a long time if we're gonna take this bastard down, and I don't need to be confused while I'm doing it."

"Will do," the Aggron replied. "This is gonna be gnarly, ohoho!"

Shar and the armored one both gave a spirited shout of agreement, Shar's claw and Azra's armored fist bumping together hard enough for a loud CLANG to ring out through the base.

"Shar! They're here!" Polly called, immediately catching the attention of the others.

The Garchomp perked up. "Mornin', mateys!" she exclaimed, waving one claw. "Nice to see ya!"

"Mornin', Shar!" Rush replied. "How's Yunael?"

"Still gettin' all twitchy when someone gets close to her, but she's recovered pretty well," Shar answered, then motioning them up the stairs, "C'mon! She's up here!"

The Honchkrow, on the other hand, laughed under his breath. "She took over my roost for the time being," he noted, seeming rather amused at the situation. "Can you believe it? A cutesy fairy in our domain?!"

"It is rather ridiculous, Riven," Rozen concurred, giving the Honchkrow a smile.

Shar's underlings set to busying themselves elsewhere, Polly skittering off to the gate again and the other two vanishing behind a black curtain door. The Garchomp and the Coalition bunch headed off to another room upstairs with a rather large straw nest in the middle where sure enough, there was Yunael in the middle of it, along with a Scizor who kept a distance of a few meters while conversing with her.

Both the Scizor and Togekiss perked up on noticing they were no longer alone, but Yunael's gaze turned piercingly intent and she practically stared holes through them.

"We got her now, Seth," Shar noted to the metallic bug.

"Then I'll leave you to it," the Scizor replied. He studied the Togekiss for a second before shooting the Coalition bunch a narrow-eyed glance and noting, "Don't get too close to her; she almost Flamethrowered me when I checked on her about thirty minutes ago."

"You should stay about right there," the winged fairy suggested rather pointedly in concurrence. "I'm not sure what it is, but I just can't help wanting to attack anyone that gets too close, ahaha!"

They certainly believed it and kept their distance, Yunael smiling at her new company but spreading her wings out just a tiny bit as if she might take off and attack them if they took a step closer. She wasn't making any aggressive movements, but still, she stared them all down with a look in her eyes like something vicious stirred below the surface.

"We hear ya got busted up, Yunael," Rush noted with a smirk. "How are ya doing?"

"Better," was the answer. "I took one heck of an Ice Beam and crashed. That squad we ran into was something else, I'll tell you!"

The Togekiss' smile turned vicious momentarily as she spoke of 'the squad,' and she gave a few twitching flaps of her wings but didn't otherwise make a move. She seemed rather jumpy, as if she simply had a great deal of pent-up energy to release and no outlet to release it. Astrid certainly found it odd- Dren had mentioned her battling capabilities before and thus at least a little bit of aggression was to be expected in some form, but the look on Yunael's face was completely different than when they'd seen her.

"How's her mind?" Rush inquired of the Orbeetle next to him.

"Better than last night," Adnea answered. "She's much more readable and feeling uncharacteristically aggressive, it would appear. It's definitely in line with the 'crazy' incidents, but less extreme."

Yunael perked up, her grin going bigger. "Ha! Funny you mention that, because we walked into a big incident! Millicent and Jingle just went nuts too!"

"Why don't you just go ahead and tell us what happened, a'ight?" Rush asked with a smirk, crossing his arms. "I know your team ain't weak, but they ain't come back yet, so obviously somethin' huge had to have happened."

At that, the Togekiss suddenly got a very dismayed look and bleated out, "Oh, our love didn't conquer, that's what! It was horrible! We got out-loved! Can you believe it?! Team Sweetheart, out-loved!" She let out a howl of despair and appeared to inadvertently spit out the beginnings of a Flamethrower, but shortly she buried her face in her wings and wailed into her feathers instead. "And I thought we were all gonna have a lovely afternoon on the summit, holding hands and singing and maybe Ama would share her egg with those weirdos and we'd make some friends! But nope!"

Shar rolled her eye and let out a heavy sigh at all the mention of love and loving gestures- clearly, she had other ideas on what comprised a fun afternoon.

Rush snickered. "Yunael, y'all and your love is great and all, but I'm gonna need that in phrases that everyone else can understand, 'cause I've got no idea what the hell you're on about!"

Yunael looked up from her wings, still pouting a bit with very pointed eyes. "We got our butts kicked."

That certainly got her message across clear as day.

"By whom?" Rozen gently inquired.

"I still have no idea," the Togeskiss replied, fluttering her wings. "I've never seen Pokémon like them before, and they were calling each other by numbers and stuff! Their team lead was this big red dude with huge muscles and they called him Fourteen-Five. Then there was Sixty-O-Three, and she was really tall and pretty and threw out strong attacks really fast. The other one, Seven Thousand, looked kinda like a cuter Tentracruel made of glass and kept trying to poison everyone while calling it 'enlightenment,' and there was something weird about that poison too! I mean, were there any new species discovered recently? And what kind of names are those?!"

Another cry of frustration came from Yunael and a little Aura Sphere followed along with it, apparently unwittingly, seeing as her countenance got a bit surprised as she fired it off too. Nonetheless, a Light Screen from Rozen quickly went up to block her attack.

"Sorry," Yunael said gingerly, going back to roosting. "I got a little… worked up. We haven't gotten beaten up like that in… well, never!"

"Buzzwole, Pheromosa, and Nihilego…" Raijin's voice trailed off, his fingers tapping together in contemplation.

The Togekiss perked up, giving Raijin a glance. "Huh? What was that? You know who I'm talking about?"

"Her memories show those three species too," Adnea noted. "Yunael, may I?"

"Show my memories? Sure, go ahead," Yunael didn't mind too much, giving a little shrug of her wings.

Starry Peak 24F

An upbeat melody filled the dungeon's rooms as Team Sweetheart traversed them, all of the members wearing giddy grins while the Blissey lead them with light, skipping steps. Whether the occupants were vicious and feisty or not, it seemed nothing could rain on the expeditioners' parade. A fainted Gourgeist was slumped against a shiny reflective part of the wall of one side, clearly having been carefully brushed free of any dirt by a furry scarf around a Cinccino's neck, but much more importantly, the stairs were easily seen on the other side of the room.

"Hating… Hating… Loviiiiiing~!" Chira sang, holding one of her scarves like a makeshift microphone.

"Ah! A-ah! Ah! A-ah! Ah!" Yunael filled the silence between the next line.

"What is it? What is it that we all can't forget~? Ama chirped happily.

"Where is the love~? We all need looooove~!" Jingle joined the refrain.

"Ah! A-ah! Ah!"

"Why, why, why, why can't I just hug the whole world~?!" the Cinccino chimed back in.

"And I'm still not sure! How love's magic works!" Yunael piped up.

"If I told you how I felt, then my heart would explode~!" Jingle sang again.

Millicent didn't say a word, but instead made rapid gestures with her hands that her comrades understood the meaning fine enough- *And maybe it's true! That we're all different!*

"Just don't go ripping my heart out so easily~!" Ama ended the verse with a smile.

A cheerful whoop erupted from four of the five making their way through, while the Alcremie simply made a heart shape with her hands.

"Maybe the wild ones here can't understand us, but the language of love is universal," Ama giggled, giving her egg a pat. "Is everyone still doing alright~? This is the last floor; if we're in for a fight once we go up the stairs, I want everyone in good spirits!"

"No problems at all, Ama!" Jingle was quick to reply.

"I can throw down!" Yunael affirmed.

"I'm not tired at all," Chira brushed it off.

Millicent simply gave a thumbs-up.

Ama giggled, strolling up to the stairs with her comrades in tow before they all went skittering up them.

"Let's end the vicious streak, comrades! May love and joy fill the world~!" the Blissey called as she skipped up the steps.

"May love and joy fill the world~!" her comrades echoed.

Starry Peak Summit

Whether they were in for a fight or not, they couldn't tell straight away, but they certainly weren't alone once the next floor opened up. Their surroundings were akin to a cave with a large star-shaped opening leading out onto the sunny summit, but standing before them were three completely unfamiliar figures- a very thin white creature with antennae resembling a crown, a very swollen fluid-filled red figure with muscles bigger than a Machamp's, and a glassy floating creature tinted a very pale blue that swayed gently like a flower blowing in the breeze. All three of them had fairly conspicuous markings of letters and numbers on their bodies, all beginning with 'UB' but the string afterward varying between them. The thin white one carried a satchel slung over her back, while the swollen one carried a cube-shaped vessel strapped across his shoulders that seemed to twitch ever-so-slightly.

The two groups exchanged glances, the thin white creature snickering while Ama broke into a smile.

"Hi, there!" the Blissey greeted amiably, giving a little wave.

"Greetings, expeditioners!" the swollen one said back, flexing both of his magnificent arms. "Who might you be?"

"We're Team Sweetheart!" Ama giggled, bouncing a little on her feet. "I'm Ama; this is Chira, and Jingle, and Millicent, and Yunael!" She gestured at each of her comrades in turn as she pointed them out, then skittered a bit closer to the odd figures while patting her egg. "What about you~? If I'm honest, I'm not even sure what species you all are, so I think it's safe to say we've never met!"

"Squad Fourteen-Five, and I'm Fourteen-Five! These lovely ladies are my comrades Sixty-O-Three and Seven Thousand!" the hulking red creature answered, striking a different pose. "Say, would you happen to know anything about a human running around? We're looking for her, but we've been told she's very evasive and we're not familiar with these surroundings at all!"

Fourteen-Five's words left them rather befuddled for several reasons, and almost as soon as he finished his thought, Team Sweetheart was exchanging funny but amiable glances among themselves. Sixty-O-Three was looking a bit impatient, one of her feet kicking at the ground as if she had far better places to be, while the glassy one next to her simply swayed nonchalantly without a care.

Ama chuckled, a bit confused. "A human? Those went extinct eons ago! Are you sure you didn't just meet a very feisty Ditto that got fascinated by a history book illustration? Because we have a Ditto in the Crossroads and I wouldn't put it past him to try that!"

"Oh, we're sure!" the hulking one easily replied. "She's in a Pokémon form, specifically in the Rowlet line, but she's a human! That's something an expeditioner would know about, right?"

"Well, I'm sorry, but an honest-to-goodness human running around is news to me, and you're right, I should know about that if it's happening!" Ama brushed it off, still seeming a bit disbelieving. "But, if you're up here, then can I ask you something too?"

"What would that be?" Fourteen-Five replied, flexing again.

"We came out here to see why the wild ones were being so fussy," the Blissey explained. "Would you three happen to know why that is~? We haven't seen anything in the dungeon itself that would give us any clue, so it's gotta be something or someone else causing it! Have you seen anything?"

At that, Sixty-O-Three burst into laughter, while Seven Thousand gently clapped her tentacle arms together. Ama studied them for a moment, still smiling, but it was clear to Team Sweetheart that they were out of the loop on something.

"Oh, that would be us," Fourteen-Five answered like nothing was amiss, posing yet again. "And if you haven't seen the human, then our business here is done! Seven Thousand, give them enlightenment!"

More confusion.

"'Enlightenment?!'" Ama cried, still smiling but skeptical. "Hey! You can't leave us hanging like that! What's going on here?"

Seven Thousand, however, gave a giggle like a tinkling wind chime, a cloud of purple haze quickly dousing the air around her that descended on Ama's team.

"That's Toxic!" Chira cried, her expression changing to a disgruntled one.

Millicent was quick to give off a soothing cloud of Aromatherapy to keep them all from being poisoned. Whatever 'enlightenment' they were bringing certainly didn't seem like a variety that Team Sweetheart wanted to receive, but Ama held up one of her stubby arms to tell her comrades not to take to fighting yet while she skittered closer to Fourteen-Five's group, still smiling.

"Hey! Let's handle this like civilized Pokémon!" the Blissey said, giving her egg another pat. "Why do you think you have to fight us~? Just explain what's going on here and I'm sure we can reach an understanding! There's a reason you're making the wild ones upset, isn't there?"

"Seven Thousand do what Void do," the floating glassy one mused nonchalantly. "Seven Thousand give everyone enlightenment that Seven Thousand can reach."

More odd looks came from Team Sweetheart.

"That's all the reason we need- Void wants this world," Fourteen-Five declared. "And if you're going to resist, then so be it!"

Shortly, Fourteen-Five's fist was balled up and Ama was gasping in horrified pain as a Hammer Arm slammed straight into her with enough force to crater the wall behind them had Chira's tail and Yunael's wing not stopped her from slamming into it. She was still conscious, but the gasping sounds and look of agony on Ama's face told them that she was barely hanging on after the hit.

"Finally!" Sixty-O-Three cried in glee, an Ice Beam forming at the tips of her clawed hands. "Some real action!"

A Soft-Boiled light shone from Ama's egg that let her regain some of her vibrancy, and she put herself in front of the Ice Beam that otherwise would've hit Jingle, not minding it too much at all. She smiled again, albeit with narrow eyes. "If you think you're gonna walk all over us because we're cute, then you've got another thing coming! I love this world and all of its inhabitants too much to let you bother anyone else, and I love you three too, even if we've just met! And when someone you love needs to take a beating before they'll open up, you give it to them!"

"Oh, that's adorable," Sixty-O-Three mocked, smirking.

"Fine by us!" Fourteen-Five laughed, striking a pose before balling his fists up again. "Let's get 'em, comrades!"

"Oh, it was awful!" Yunael shouted, giving a fussing flap of her wings. "Chira got KO'd by another Hammer Arm, and I'm not sure exactly what happened, but after a few minutes, Millicent just went nuts and changed sides! She started giving us these angry looks and went to Decorating Fourteen-Five instead of me!"

A memory that Adnea showed them of a death-glaring Alcremie sitting on a Buzzwole's shoulder, drawing cream swirls on his head with one hand and running a finger across her neck in threat with the other hand, was quite an odd sight.

"Then Jingle lost his cool too and started turning on Ama, and before long, Ama was yelling at me to fly away before I went nuts too! So I did that, but then Sixty-O-Three hit me with an Ice Beam before I could get out of her range, and I went crashing into wherever the heck it was that Shar's bunch found me! Ugh!"

Another little Flamethrower escaped the Togekiss at her shout of objection, and she hunkered down with a pout on her face. Astrid had to admit, it certainly sounded like a mission to be unhappy with, and she mulled over every bit of info that Yunael's memories provided.

Adnea was clearly poring over them too, and shortly, the Orbeetle was sharing more memories with them.

"Oh, jeez…!" Yunael gasped in pain, her face contorting after getting beamed by Seven Thousand's Power Gem.

She had to move again fairly quickly when a Stone Edge from Fourteen-Five shot up out of the ground at her, for she didn't feel like she could take another hit and stay conscious. The Togekiss and Blissey were evidently the only ones left with any shred of reason, but still, Yunael couldn't shake off the feeling of something tugging at the back of her mind telling her to go ballistic and launch attacks at anything in range. Millicent had taken to perching on Seven Thousand's bell next, drawing little cream swirls while glaring, and Jingle apparently could only growl while he spit attack after attack at anyone but Fourteen-Five's squad. Sixty-O-Three laughed almost hysterically at Team Sweetheart's struggles, and Fourteen-Five had no shortage of poses to throw around even in the midst of their battle, while Seven Thousand simply swayed.

"H-hey, Yunael!" Ama cried in a dismayed voice, Refreshing herself from a Toxic while simultaneously attempting to avoid Jingle's Flamethrower and Fourteen-Five's Hammer Arm.

"What is it, Ama?!" Yunael called back, Air Slashing at their stick-thin foe.

Sixty-O-Three simply smirked at Yunael's attack, practically dancing out of the way like absolutely nothing was wrong. It was hard to keep up with her movements for as fast as she moved, and all the while she was grinning and laughing. Ama, on the other hand, spit an Ice Beam at Fourteen-Five while jumping away from his powerful fists, eliciting a yell of protest and discomfort from the swollen one, but while he was certainly damaged by it, it wasn't enough to knock him out. The lead sweetheart looked hesitantly at her dragon comrade, who snarled and snapped at her, but apparently she didn't have it in her to attack him outright.

"You can fly; get out of here!" the Blissey hollered, skittering away from the Dragon Breath that followed. "If we're all going crazy up here, then I want to keep it to a minimum!"

Sixty-O-Three burst into more laughter. "Pffft, giving up?! Haven't you seen an Ultra Beast before?! This is nothing!"

Fourteen-Five couldn't help but laugh too. "Oh, obviously they haven't, Sixty-O-Three! Otherwise they would've known how stupid of an idea it was to battle!"

Yunael was hesitant at the idea of ditching, but as Sixty-O-Three's Ice Beam sailed straight at her, she wasn't going to deny that the battle they were locked in didn't seem very likely to end in their favor. Nonetheless, she called back down at Ama, "Are you sure?! I don't wanna ditch you guys, Ama!"

"I'm sure!" the Blissey hollered back. "I'm starting to feel weird, too…!"

"You not feel weird, you feel enlightened," Seven Thousand chimed in nonchalantly, preparing to Venoshock Ama even if the Happiness Pokémon was (at least, seemingly) free of poison. "You understand soon enough."

That was all the cue Yunael needed. If her team lead was succumbing too, then there certainly wasn't hope for anyone else. She fought the idea for a second, but nonetheless wasn't going to protest if Ama was telling her to get out.

Fourteen-Five, though, went and picked up the glowing cube-shaped vessel from its haphazard place out of their way. "Be ready to give us a wormhole, little nebula! That human couldn't have gone too far away from where Salem saw her last!"

Sixty-O-Three perked up, shooting the glowing cube a glare. "And don't fuck it up this time! This is literally the only reason Void lets you worthless clouds live!"

Whatever it was they were referring to, Yunael wasn't going to stick around to see. She cast Ama one last hesitant glance and bolted off through the air towards the Crossroads again, still a bit shaky from Seven Thousand's attack but nonetheless keeping it together fine enough… at least, until another Ice Beam came from behind her that she couldn't hope to hang on from. Her feathers started icing over, the chill spreading, until shortly her entire form was frozen solid. Whether she wanted to stay airborne, or even stay conscious or not, her vision started going black as the treetops underneath her got far too close for comfort.

The Togekiss shot Astrid a glance. "Don't ever get frozen solid or KO'd mid-flight, because it sucks," she noted flippantly.

Astrid couldn't help but agree with Yunael's sentiments, but at the same time, she refrained from mentioning that, seconds after she'd arrived to their world, she too had been KO'd and it did indeed suck. Nonetheless, having Yunael's eyes locked on her was enough to make the Dartrix fluff up and try to sink into her feathers to avoid her gaze.

Rush, though, snickered a bit, then shot Raijin a glance. "You weren't lyin' about those damned Buzzwoles flexing all the time," he laughed.

Rozen, on the other hand, had a contemplatively unamused countenance. "'Seven Thousand?' There's seven thousand Beasts under Void?" he mused flatly, clearly not happy at the idea.

"And probably seven thousand more after her, too," Raijin noted.

That exchange caught Yunael's attention and she turned towards them with a fierce look in her eyes, practically staring holes through the Xurkitree in particular. "Alright, what gives?! You know something, don't you?!"

Without saying a word, Raijin held one arm out towards the Togekiss and twisted one of the cables around, showing his own mark of UB03-0067 just like the figures in Yunael's memories. She studied it for a second, but moments after realizing what it was, her countenance turned furious and very quickly, Rozen was throwing up a Light Screen while she shot off an Aura Sphere at Raijin.

"You're one of them!" Yunael hissed, jumping up and breathing a Flamethrower next. "I'm gonna blast you into oblivion! Gyaaaah!"

All of those present herded behind Rozen's shields, the Togekiss setting off a Dazzling Gleam without missing a beat. Astrid let out a distressed squawk at seeing her turn vicious so quickly, and Arashi laughed uncomfortably with startled eyes.

"M-maybe that wasn't a good idea!" Raijin hesitantly exclaimed.

Rush laughed, not fazed at all and grinning. "Look at 'er go! Daaaaamn, Yunael!"

"Gnarly!" Shar shared the Scrafty's sentiment.

Adnea, though, got as close as she could to the shield without touching it and stared the Togekiss straight in the eyes, her own eyes taking on an unearthly glow. Yunael hissed at her too, spitting another Flamethrower that didn't do much but slightly shake the Light Screen.

"Stop it," Adnea said rather forcefully.

More hissing and growling came from the Togekiss, but her attacks died down even if she looked like she wanted to blow them all away.

"Stop it, Yunael," the Orbeetle repeated, equally as stern. "Calm yourself. You will not attack anyone."

The growling and fussing slowed to a halt seconds later, and Yunael's eyes took the same glow as Adnea's. Shortly, the winged fairy went back to roosting, her expression peaceful again, and Adnea eased up on the Hypnosis while Rozen's Light Screen faded.

"Are you going to behave yourself?" the Orbeetle nonetheless asked very pointedly as the shine from her eyes died down.

Yunael giggled, the glow fading from her eyes as well. "Yeah! Sorry about that; I lost my cool!"

Rush chuckled, casting the Starstorm trio a glance. "You three see that? That's why she's comin' with us- ain't nobody out there that can stop raging 'Mon without even touching 'em quite like Adnea."

Astrid certainly took note of it, eyeing the Orbeetle next, and Arashi seemed entranced even without being Hypnotized himself.

Raijin, though, twitched a bit in uncertainty. "D-did she just…?" his voice trailed off.

"The neurotoxin will have to wear off on its own, but if it's interfering with her mind, then that is well within the realm of things I can deal with," Adnea quickly noted. "There's no point to battling if you can settle things swiftly by other methods, and I'd much rather save my moves for when my preferred method fails."

The Xurkitree relaxed. "In that case, I'm thanking your gods that there's more psychics here than there are in Ultra Space…"

Rush smirked again. "She's great, ain't she?" he snickered, then casting their Beast comrade another glance, "A'ight, give us the breakdown, Raijin. What's your takeaway there? Anything we should be aware of?"

Raijin nodded. "First of all, aside from the obvious issue of who they're looking for, they've got a Cosmog," he promptly answered. "That vessel that Fourteen-Five was carrying is a dead giveaway, and it's locked inside. From what it sounds like, it might not be too experienced at opening up wormholes, but that's still a huge caution to us. If we come across them and they recognize Astrid, all it'd take is one slip-up on our end for them to get ahold of her and be back on Ultra Space, and you know what that'd mean."

Astrid's eyes widened, and Arashi stuck an arm around her.

"Yunael, did Seven Thousand use Reflect at any point?" the Xurkitree asked, turning to the Togekiss again.

"She sure did!" Yunael answered. "Ama was gonna Counter Sixty-O-Three, but it got blocked by Reflect!"

"Of course," Raijin remarked. "Toxic, Venoshock, Power Gem, and Reflect- pretty common for a Nihilego. Yunael's aerial position must have put her out of the way of most of the poison since everyone else was running around on the ground, and that's why she's pretty mild in comparison to what else we've seen, otherwise she'd be praising Void just like Squad Fourteen-Five and throwing attacks at us for not being on her side. Seven Thousand probably couldn't exert enough of an influence to do much else than this to her, but when we see the rest of Team Sweetheart, I can guarantee you it's gonna be a different story. Millicent and Jingle are already blatantly under the effects."

As jumpy as Yunael was acting, her case being a mild one made sense too. She wasn't overtly leveling grievous threats like the Clefable and Rhyperior that Astrid and Arashi had been involved with, and she seemed far more confused about the Beast trio she'd met than anything.

"And based on the fact that Fourteen-Five wasn't using Earthquake to hit everyone, it's safe to say he doesn't use that move… which I'm happy about, at least," the Xurkitree noted next. "If I had to guess his set, I'd say Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, and Leech Life for sure, then maybe throw in a Thunder Punch, Mega Punch, or Counter depending on what coverage they need."

The other two of the Starstorm trio got hesitant looks at the mention of Mega Punch, immediately thinking of Zariel's ridiculous feat with using the same move. Certainly, they didn't want to see what a move like that coming from someone specifically very good at punching would entail.

"What did you see Sixty-O-Three use?" Raijin inquired of Yunael. "Ice Beam, obviously, but anything else?"

"Well, she kept trying to knock me out of the sky with Ice Beam and Ama got hit by a Lunge," the Togekiss answered.

The Xurkitree nodded. "Then I'd bet on her set being Lunge, Focus Blast, Ice Beam, and Poison Jab- Focus Blast being a special swap for Fourteen-Five's Hammer Arm and Poison Jab being a physical swap for Seven Thousand's Venoshock. It's obvious she's not there for defense, so she's probably there for added coverage in the areas that the other two aren't good at."

They all took it in for a second, though Yunael still looked extraordinarily out of the loop. It definitely sounded like a good setup, and Astrid mentally catalogued every word that her comrade said on the matter. If Fourteen-Five's squad was out looking for her, she didn't want to be caught off guard by anything they might pull.

"Okay, seriously," the Togekiss chuckled, looking inquisitively at Raijin. "What's the deal? You sound awfully familiar with these Pokémon."

"We'll let you in on it later, Yunael," Rush quickly chimed in again. "You can pester Shar about it if you wanna- we showed her everything last night. But for right now, we're gonna go get your team back!"

It seemed the Scrafty wanted nothing more than to do just that, for he snickered again while pounding one fist into his other hand as if he just couldn't wait to pound it into someone else. The Garchomp next to him snickered a bit too, tapping her claws together mischievously.

"Y-you are?!" Yunael exclaimed, getting an excited look and jumping up again. "Well, I guess if anyone could, it's you guys!" then in a much more jesting manner, "Give Ama a few good punches for me, alright~?"

Rush cackled, crossing his arms and looking gleeful at the thought. "Don't you worry! I'll tell 'er you said hi while we're whooping their asses, ehehe!"

The Togekiss giggled, settling back down though the hint of bridled aggression returned to her countenance at the mention of 'whooping their asses.' Still, it apparently wasn't anything she had any desire to act upon, for she curled right up as if she were about to take a peaceful nap.

"C'mon, guys, let's get going," Rush commanded, motioning them all out. "We got some crazies to stomp!"

Arashi had to give Yunael a friendly wave before heading off, which the Togekiss returned, and shortly they were all off down the stairs and out the door again.

"Take care out there!" Shar called. "If I have to get some mateys myself, go up to Starry Peak, and have a gnarly fight with two teams, I'll be Outraging for days!"

"Don't ya worry, Shar!" Rush called back. "Don't let Yunael fly off the deep end, a'ight?!"

"Don't ya worry, Rush! Bwahahahaha!"

Rush kept smirking and walked with a swagger in his step, while neither Adnea nor Rozen seemed all that fazed. Astrid couldn't help but feel rather cautious, but when Arashi shot her a grin, she eased up a bit. Adnea gave the Frogadier a bit of a side-eye, her expression utterly stoic, but Astrid could tell that the Orbeetle knew exactly what her comrade was thinking (and that it was probably something along the lines of 'This is the best day ever!').

"A'ight, so we got 25 floors full of aggressive wild 'Mon to conquer," Rush remarked, slamming a fist into his other hand again. "Then we gotta beat some sense into those sweethearts. And y'know, I just gotta say… This is my type of mission, ehehe!"

He seemed as giddy as a little child in a candy store.

"You like this sort of thing?" Arashi inquired, grinning.

"I love it," was the easy answer, the Scrafty's grin turning wild-eyed. "What fun is life without someone trying to put your head through a wall?! Ehehehehe!"

Rozen chuckled a bit too. "Oh, be careful what you wish for, friend."

The Audino was receiving a playful shove moments thereafter, Rush not fazed at all.

Astrid certainly hoped that no one would get their head put through a wall, but if such were to happen… then perhaps it was a good thing that her team was travelling with someone that didn't seem to mind. She couldn't help being a bit hesitant at what they were facing, and Yunael's memories hadn't boded particularly well in regards to the Beast triad that had caused the issue at hand. Still, if they were going to face a poisoned, combatant Team Sweetheart, she was certainly glad for Rush, Rozen, and Adnea being present. Surely, the six of them could pull it off… surely.

Author's note: Team Sweetheart's song here is sung to the chorus of "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing" by IOSYS, a rather ridiculous love song from Touhou Project fanworks. What can I say, cutesy though it may be, anything that opens with the line "Pounding five-inch nails into straw effigies" is a big WIN in my book. (I quite like S.S.H.'s metalcore rendition of it, hehehe.)