Mila didn't know how to feel.
Her body was on autopilot as she wandered aimlessly through the twisting labyrinth of the old guild, the chittering shadows of ghost pokémon went unnoticed by her. Tank's words circled around in her head, endlessly repeating themselves as they painted a grisly scene of the township's downfall.
Tank was like her: They were a human who came to save the world.
But they couldn't stop the blue fire that fell from the sky, and ultimately perished in it.
And now, she had to take their place, apparently.
When Mila had asked what she had to do to save the world, Tank simply replied with a quiet "I don't know." They had allowed her time to gather her thoughts, which sent her on her aimless drifting through the hollow halls.
Frustration boiled at her veins from the confusion that continued to swarm her. Grief sat heavy in her gut from the sight of the ravaged township and empty hallways. Fear gnawed at the back of her mind, whispering reminders of how she could become just like Tank. Her frustrations escaped in a puff of smoke from her nose.
"Hey there, Houndoom! You doin' okay?" Namira's perky chirp snapped her out of her daze. The shadowy yamask bobbed in the air in front of he, a small smile gracing her features.
"Huh? Oh, yeah…" Mila replied flatly. "Just…"
"A lot to take in?" Namira's voice softened.
Mila nodded in response. The yamask gently floated besides her as she continued wandering down the hallway.
"Tank shouldn't have sprung that on you right off the bat, he can be a bit… impulsive sometimes." Namira sighed. "But don't stress too much, Houndoom. Just focus on making yourself at home for now."
There it was again, the word 'houndoom'. It felt strange, being addressed to as such. "Thanks, Yamask." Mila smiled, feeling the turmoil within her slowly dissipate. "Also, uh, my name is Mila, by the way."
Namira's eyes widened. "Oh!" She exclaimed in astonishment, before quickly adding, "Uh… well then, sure thing, Mila."
Mila tilted her head at the reaction to the seemingly normal statement. "Something wrong with it?" She warily asked.
"Oh, no not at all." Namira hastily assured her. "I guess you wouldn't know…" She paused and hummed in thought. "It's generally polite to refer to pokémon by their common names when they haven't introduced themselves to you, is all. Introducing your true name is a sign of friendship for most species. At least back in my time. Pokémon don't really seem to care much about formalities nowadays." She chuckled. "Well you know what, since you introduced yourself, I'm happy to do the same. My name is Namira."
Mila smirked. "Nice to officially meet you, Namira. Does that mean we're friends now?"
"If you want, Mila." Namira said with a warm chuckle.
The heavy atmosphere had lifted, replaced with a light-hearted aura that made Mila's tail softly wag. "Wait… Sirius introduced himself pretty quickly after we met..." She thought out loud.
"Well, Eevee does know his manners, so I'd say he trusted you pretty quickly." Namira said with a soft smile.
Mila's tail sped up, knocking the rocky wall beside her. She glanced back over her shoulder, mentally trying and failing to force it to stop.
"You two remind me of how Tank and I first met. Poor thing was washed up on the beach, all battered up. But we became close really quickly; we had a lot in common, being outcasts in our own way." Namira mused before scratching the back of her head with a sheepish grin. "Fate has a way of bringing pokémon together, I guess."
Fate.
Fate was a fickle thing, and Mila found herself briefly wondering what it had in store for her. Things could have been much worse, she mused. She could have been alone in that forest, alone and left to die at the hooves of the feral grumpig. A grisly thought that she quickly shook away.
"Namiraaa!" A childish trill interrupted her thoughts as purple gas leaked out of the wall, forming itself into a wide-eyed gaseous face in front of them. "Shuppet is fighting with Phantump again!" The gastly whined.
Mila remained unfazed by the wispy entity; the novelty of encountering bizarre creatures had since worn off.
Namira chuckled under her breath. "Excuse me, Mila, I need to check on some troublemakers." Her body began dissolving into smoky tendrils that melted into the wall, before she froze to add, "Eevee is at the beach, by the way. He was worried about you, so might be a good idea to check in with him. Take the path straight down the cliff from the guild entrance, you can't miss it." She explained, before dissipating completely into the wall with the gastly.
Mila suddenly found herself alone. As she looked around, she realized she had no idea where she was in the guild and was very much lost.
After frantically swivelling her head around to get her bearings, she opted to take the safest option and go back the way she came. Odds are she would come across a familiar waypoint.
Except that she had been so occupied in her earlier musings that when she reached a fork in her path, nothing about it seemed familiar. To both the left and right of her were identical paths lined with crumbling rock walls. A sign hung haphazardly on the wall, but the information it contained had long since faded away. Mila looked around once again in an attempt to see if any lurking ghost pokémon could guide her, but she was only met with silence.
With a shrug, she took the right path. She had a good hunch about it.
The hall seemed familiar. Although it was hard to tell, given how uniform this part of the guild looked. "That moss patch definitely looks familiar," Mila thought to herself. The vegetation was steadily growing thicker the further she went along, the stone walls embellished with curtains of vines and moss. That certainly wasn't a familiar feature…
Mila eventually realised that this was indeed the wrong path, as it abruptly came to a dead end with an unfamiliar sight at the end of the hallway. A partially boarded up entranceway stood ahead of her, obscured by rotting curtains and piles of moss-covered rubble. Wooden boards, deliberately placed, barred it off from intruders. Definitely not the exit.
And definitely somewhere she shouldn't be.
As she turned around to leave, a faint sound reached her, causing her to halt in her tracks and perk her ears up.
"…..SSTTTCHHHH…..TTTTTTTT…."
It had a bizarre tinny reverb that made her fur stand on end, and her ears swivelled to locate the source. Turning back to the end of the hall, her ears flicked forward.
"…..TA…TAT…..TATTY….."
She really should have turned around and walked the other way. After all, someone clearly didn't want any visitors there.
"W…SSTTCCHHH….RE…STTCHCHCHC….HIDDEN….STCHCHCHC….LAND…..CCCHHH"
The noise had grown louder, its grating metallic sound sent a shiver down her spine. It was an unnatural sound, almost otherworldly. She might not have been allowed in… but surely one peek wouldn't hurt? Her curiosity was piqued, and it needed to be sated.
Hesitantly, she slowly stepped forward, craning her neck to peer over the barricades to catch a glimpse into the room. From what she could see, it was completely dark with no lanterns or windows.
"SSSCHHH…SOME….NOT….RIGHT…..TIME…SSCHHHH…."
As the noise pierced her ears once again, a gentle blue glow caught her eyes and she strained her neck to get a better look. The only thing she could see was a softly glowing blue orb, perfectly round except for the large crack that scarred its otherwise pristine surface. With each garbled noise it emitted so too did it unleash a pulse of light.
"….SCCHH….MUM…..SCHH…."
The noise faded out into silence, the light from the orb dying down to once again be consumed by darkness. Mila stood frozen, the gears in her mind rapidly turning to try and comprehend what she just witnessed.
"What the heck was that?"
"You should leave." Namira's voice suddenly called out, its previous cheerfulness non-existent. "Tank will get upset if he finds you here."
Mila spun around wide-eyed to face Namira, who had silently floated up behind her.
"Oh shit. Did I stumble upon their evil secret? Are they going to kill me? Steal my soul?"
Except no malice graced the yamask's features. Instead she appeared almost… despondent. Her wispy form was slightly hunched over, her signature mask ensnared tightly within the grasp of her claws. Her eyes were dull, void of their previous brightness.
Mila hastily blurted out an apology. "S-sorry. I got lost… I heard a noise and got distracted is all… I'll just be on my way-"
"You heard a noise? From in there?" Namira quickly interrupted, her eyes blazing with an unknown emotion.
"Uhh, yeah, from that weird glowing orb thing." Mila replied.
At that, Namira froze within the air. Mila could have sworn that time froze, were it not for the subtle trembling of the yamask as the grip on her mask tightened. Mila thought she could see the pale mask emit a faint glow. Eventually, Namira released the breath she had been holding and let out a defeated sigh.
"…You're imagining things, Mila. That orb is broken. It was probably another ghost pokémon." She eventually said, voice heavy with resignation.
"I don't know, it was this really weird sou-"Mila started, but was promptly cut off.
"Come on, I'll show you the way." Namira hastily interjected.
Mila sensed the yamask's plea to drop the subject and promptly did so as she quietly followed her through the guild, the bizarre sound continuing to repeat itself in her mind.
The further one travelled inland, away from the fires of Treasure Town and the walls of the Guild Fort, the colder it became. Grey clouds grew thicker, obscuring the sky as they unleashed their frozen deluge upon the mountains below. Trees fell away, replaced by barren hills capped with ice and snow. Frozen spikes grew up from the ground, curling up towards the large frozen peak that dwarfed all those below it. Completely encased in frigid ice, the Frost Horn, formerly known as Mt Horn, loomed over the world below. Dark clouds encircled its crown of frozen spikes, unleashing a furious blizzard that almost completely blacked out the sun.
Atop the frozen pinnacle sat a chatot, its feathers fluffed up against the frigid wind that howled around it. Its beady black eyes stared up at the figure looming over it, their face obscured by the parchment held in its long, gnarled claws.
"Our scouts' preliminary observations believe it is no cause for concern, however…" The silken voice repeated the words written on the parchment, before letting out a bored huff. "Well, whatever." Sharp claws flashed and the parchment was instantly torn to ribbons that caught on the wind, blown away into the cloudy void.
Weavile slouched back upon her icy throne, resting her cheek against the flat side of her claws as she leered down at the chatot. "We got enough food from you lot for the time being. Your guildleader, or whatever they're called, has been very co-operative, so I'll let it slide." She said with a sneer.
The chatot continued to blink up at Weavile, unfazed by their leering. "Sheesh, you chatots are weird." Weavile deadpanned. "No reaction?"
Chatot just tilted its head at her.
Weavile sighed, leaning back and clacking her claws together in thought. "Falling fire… that's what's most worrying. It certainly is suspicious. Could it have something to do with that weird flash last night?" She murmured to herself, running a claw through the slicked back feathers atop her head.
"Fire…"
The low growl echoed through the ice, causing the chatot to ruffle its feathers at the vibrations. Unfazed, Weavile turned her head to look over her shoulder. Dark shadows within the ice shifted, growing larger to form a black mass that lurked beneath the frozen barrier.
"What are your thoughts on it, Lord Kyurem?" Weavile asked slowly.
The shadow shifted, and the immense outline of the dragon in question formed within the ice, dwarfing Weavile many times over. Its features remained obscured within the icy tomb, except for the piercing gold eye that glowed within the darkness. "That fire brought a disturbance." It snarled, its booming voice sending tremors across the icy peak. "It is very faint but… I sense a threat." Kyurem's silhouette faded back into shadow as it retreated back into the abyss. "Investigate it. And get rid of it." Although its presence was fleeting, its final growl continued to reverberate across the ice, ensuring its presence continued to be felt.
Weavile hummed, brows knitted together in thought as she looked down at her claws and pondered her Lord's words. If Kyurem told her to do something directly, she would gladly oblige.
"As you wish, Lord Kyurem." She murmured under her breath, knowing the great dragon would catch her words. She held a claw up to her face, frigid air swirling between the hooked nails as she channelled her energy into them. Chunks of ice and snow were drawn in from the air around them as frozen shards formed between the claws, the edges sharpened into deadly points unlike anything found in nature. With a thrust of her arm, Weavile sent the fragments hurtling into the sky, where they hovered in place from an unseen force before slicing through the air and around the curve of the mountain.
WEAVILE used ICE SHARD!
The shards moved with purpose, pulled along an invisible string to their destination. On this part of the mountain the frozen spikes grew tall and wild, clawing up and slashing at the sky. In one spot, the wall of ice was scarred by a deep cave that snaked its way through the mountain, a black scar upon the white crown. The ice shards were swallowed by the darkness as they hurtled into the crevice, speeding up as they approached their destination.
Nevoia enjoyed the quiet and solitude offered by the frigid walls that surrounded him. He didn't have to think, nor did he have to speak. He could quietly enjoy the primal sensation of tearing meat and crushing bone with his fangs as he devoured the last of his meal. Here, he didn't have to don masks or adopt personas to interact with other pokémon. He could just simply exist, relishing in his primal instincts.
Which is why when shards of ice flew into his domain, slicing through the air and embedding themselves in the frozen wall with a muted thud, he unleashed a snarl of annoyance at his disturbed meal. Whatever this was, it had damn sure be well worth his time. The bone he had been gnawing on clattered to the ground as the absol raised himself up.
"On my way, Lord Weavile." He rasped.
Weavile found herself in an impromptu staring contest with the chatot. No matter how hard she focused, she never saw it blink. It just stared at her, no emotion within its dark eyes. She couldn't get a read on it, and it sent her fur bristling. What was it? Not a feral, certainly. But not a regular pokémon, right?
"Alright, stop staring at me already." Weavile spat, turning her head to avoid the bird's gaze. "Just fly back home and tell Chatot it's fine, 'kay?" She dismissed the chatot with a wave of her claw.
The chatot seemed to understand the instruction. With a small chirp, it spread its wings and took to the sky, rapidly flapping them to fight against the swirling winds. The gale forced several blue feathers to break free from its wings and drift down to the ice below. However, it eventually caught a gust at its back, sending it flying off to be consumed by a blanket of cloud. As the feathers fluttered on the wind, Weavile reached up, ensnaring one in her claw. It emitted a soft purple light, which only intensified as she held it up to her face to closely examine.
"Hmm… How interesting…" She muttered under her breath with a small smirk.
The clack of gnarled claws scraping against the ice and a ragged voice drew her attention away from the strange feather. "You summoned me, Lord Weavile?"
Nevoia leapt over the jagged spires before deftly landing in front of the weavile, his matted pale fur billowing wildly against the wind. His hulking stature easily dwarfed the smaller pokémon, his large scythe-like claws could easily snap her slim ones. A golden band adorned his curved horn, the white stone embedded in it glittered like the snow falling around them.
"I have a job for you, Nevoia." Weavile said calmly as she peered up at the monstrous absol. Soulless red eyes glowered down at her as he snarled, but she remained unfazed as she continued. "I want you to go to the Guild Fort, in Haunted Woods. You should be able to follow that chatot that just left." She instructed, pointing a claw at the absol.
Nevoia's lips pulled back, exposing jagged fangs. "And what am I to do there?" He growled.
Weavile pushed herself to her feet, craning her neck to look him in the eye. For such an intimidating pokémon, she was really quite petite, Nevoia mused. It was amusing, how a pokémon with so much power and control could easily be snapped between his claws. If only she didn't have that dragon watching her back…
"This is a direct request from Lord Kyurem." She said sternly. "There was falling fire near the Guild Fort. Lord Kyurem senses a threat. I want you to identify it and do what you must to eliminate this 'threat' before the Guild Fort can use it against us."
Eliminate. Now that was a word that Nevoia liked. Much more fun than boring debt collections.
He expressed his glee with a toothy sneer. "Sounds like fun."
Weavile held up a claw to caution him. "But be wary, Nevoia. Chatot's lackeys may not be the brightest but…" She held out the other claw, upon which sat the blue feather. It glowed softly as it melted between the hooked nails, purple ooze dripping down onto the ice. "Ditto can be quite unpredictable."
Nevoia huffed in indignation. "Right. Just make sure you have my reward ready when I return. This won't take long." He said gruffly.
He stepped back, and Weavile sat back down to watch as the white stone in Nevoia's horn band began to glow. White tendrils erupted from it, ensnaring the absol in their grasp. Claws of light dug into his flesh, pulling at and moulding the body in their grasp. A lesser pokémon may have felt uncomfortable or overwhelmed at the experience of mega evolving, but Nevoia relished in the surge of power that exploded through his veins. His hulking form grew even larger, as a second horn erupted out of his skull. The flesh of his back morphed and stretched as vast feathered wings sprouted from his shoulders and stretched up towards the sky.
The light receded, leaving the mega absol to stretch his limbs and bask in the raw energy that pulsed through his body. His eyes burned red beneath his dishevelled mane of fur, now grown even thicker from the stone's energy. With a powerful beat of his large wings, Nevoia leapt into the sky. The powerful winds and furious snowfall were mere breezes to him as he soared down to the world below.
The hunt was on, and he just needed to identify his prey.
Sirius' muzzle wrinkled and his brows knitted together as he turned the reed net over in his paws, thoroughly looking it over in an attempt to decode its mysteries. He knew how to use it, Namira had given him a brief run-over regarding its usage.
The only issue was the lack of thumbs. Or fingers, for that matter.
There was a way for a quadruped like himself to use it, he just couldn't figure it out. He could hold one end in his jaws but would need another pokémon to hold the other end, unless he found a rock to anchor it to. Looking down at the crashing waves from the rocky outcropping he sat upon, he considered jumping into the water and hunting for food with his own paws, vaporeon style.
Too bad he didn't know how to swim. With a sigh, he let the net fall from his paws to his feet as he rubbed his temples.
"Need some help there?" Mila's voice called to him.
He didn't notice her initial arrival, but his tail thumped against the rock when her voice drew his attention. "Oh, Mila!" He beamed, hoisting the net onto his back as he deftly bound across the rocks to meet her on the sand. "I sure could use some help but firstly…" He said with a chuckle, before his voice softened. "How are you feeling? I know things must be quite overwhelming." He asked, looking up at her.
Mila shrugged, absentmindedly pawing at the soft sand beneath her paws. "I dunno… kinda confused, maybe? I think the initial shock of talking dogs and skull ghosts has worn off though."
"Still have no idea what a 'dog' is, but glad you're feeling better." Sirius said with a toothy grin.
"The whole saving the world thing… that still feels a bit…" Mila paused, unable to find the right word. "I dunno, it's hard to wrap my head around it." She admitted with a sigh.
Sirius processed her words in silence before speaking up. "I can only imagine. It must be rough." He sat down, shrugging the net off his shoulders to hold it in his paws, idly manipulating it between them. "We're both a bit lost right now. So I guess that's something we have in common."
Mila joined him, seating herself and lowering her head so she was at eye level with him. "Really? You seem like you have things under control. More than me, at least."
Sirius gave a small chuckle. "I thought I did but…" He paused, looking out over the horizon. The waves crashing against the shore was a calming sound, one he thought he would be more excited to hear for the first time. The sparkle of the ocean as it reached the horizon; its vastness was truly astounding. Yet a sinking feeling in his gut prevented him from truly appreciating it.
"I came here looking for someone… my father, actually. To help me get away from my old life." He admitted softly. "He's not here, though, and none of the ghosts have seen him so… I'm not sure of what to do now. I don't know where to begin looking."
Mila thought back to Namira's words, of how she and Tank felt like they were both outcasts. She felt a strange kinship for the eevee stir within her core. She decided against probing any further and instead raised a paw, gently patting him on the back. His eyes snapped to her and his ears pricked up, slightly taken aback by the gesture.
"Well, we're both a bit unsure of things now. So I'm down to help you in your search." She declared with a hearty bark.
"Thank you, Mila." Sirius beamed. "And I'll do my best to help you, whatever you decide to do."
Clouds of sand kicked up as both their tails wagged, a silent kinship forming between the two. The gentle singing of the waves hitting the sand echoed around them, and Sirius found himself finally able to appreciate its beauty.
"So, what's up with this net thing?" Mila finally asked, gesturing to the object in question.
Sirius held it up between his paws. "Oh, it's a net for catching feral water-type pokémon. Yamask gave it to me. I was hoping to catch myself some lunch but…" He paused, his cheeks turning rosy underneath his silver fur. "I can't use it by myself, I need someone else to hold the other end."
"Well, show me how to use it then."
Sirius gave a grunt of affirmation, standing up and spreading the net out across the sand. "Well, the best way I can think of is we both hold one end each." He explained, gesturing to the long ropes that extended out of the net's body. "Then we lower it into the water, and the sweet scent on it should attract feral pokémon. Then it's just a matter of pulling it up." He took one of the ropes into his jaws as an example.
Mila hesitated before following suit with the other end, wincing as sand particles hit her tongue. With the net secured between the two, Sirius gestured his paw towards the rocky outcropping. The pair trotted over to it, the net trailing in the sand behind them.
"Awrigh… Here ish good." Sirius's words were muffled by the rope as he pointed at the water below them. "On fwee we fwow it in. One… two…fwee."
At that, the two pokémon thrust their heads, sending the net hurtling out and dropping into the see below. They braced themselves against the rocks as its force threatened to pull them in alongside it.
"Sho, we jush wai here-" Mila asked through the mouthful of rope, but cut herself off with a high pitched yip as a sharp force suddenly jolted her forward.
Did they seriously catch something already?
Sirius and Mila crouched down, bracing themselves against the opposing force pulling on the net. "Pull, Mila! Pull!" Sirius garbled, growling slightly as he jerked the rope back.
The battle was on, and Mila did as instructed, clenching her jaw as she followed suit. They quickly fell into an unspoken rhythm in tugging the rope and then taking a step back. Tug, step, tug, step.
The force fighting against them quickly gave way as their catch was hoisted from the water, obscured by the rocky outcroppings. "Jush a lil' more!" Sirius encouraged, his ears perked in full concentration.
Mila, feeling confident, suddenly took a step back that was slightly too large, her backside bumping up against the rocks. Startled by the sudden impact, her grip on the rope loosened. A loud splash was heard as her rope went flying over the edge, their catch freeing itself and returning to the sea. Sirius stumbled at the sudden shift in weight, falling on his rump with a yelp and hastily trapping the rope between his paws to prevent it from falling into the depths as well.
The two took a second to catch their breaths after the scuffle. Mila shot Sirius a sheepish grin. "Sorry…"
Sirius returned the expression. "Don't worry, we can try again. If the scent hasn't worn off yet…"
His thoughts flashed back to their… less than remarkable battle with the grumpig. If they were to continue to work together from now on, battling or otherwise, they really needed to work on their co-ordination.
"Well, now is as good a time as any." He thought to himself, as he hoisted the net up to try again.
"Tatty?
Tatty, we're at the Hidden Land but…
Something's not right.
Tatty? Mum?
Are any of you there?"