Draco: Did another round in Ieyasu's story for #LevelGrinding to get his and Tadakatsu's transformations... and completely forgot to make sure that Rank II Tadakatsu was registered to the Gallery before I quit. Didn't even realize before I was three kingdoms into Nobunaga's story. I am so pissed at myself.

Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.

Empty Chaos: King and Country

"There's no way he found the Wishmaker. There's no damn way."

Hanbei's utterance as the Warriors made their way out of the Glacier's community earned a shake of the head from Evia. "There has to be. The crystal cradle, the meteor shower, and now Hisahide's 'wish come true'? That's too many coincidences to be a coincidence."

"Why would the Wishmaker even agree to grant something like that?" Nobuyuki demanded. "To cause this sort of destruction upon Ransei?"

"She is the most fleeting of mythical Pokémon," Oichi observed. "We have no way of knowing where she would stand on the matter."

"I can't believe I let Hisahide march off after we defeated him," Naomasa muttered. "Where do even look for him?"

"We saw him leave the site of the battlefield," Kanbei insisted. "He was going towards Dragnor."

Naotora double-took as they approached the edge of the community. "Why would he go to the Chaos willingly?"

"Because we broke his hold on the Volcano and the Glacier," Evia observed. "People avoid the Chaos. He thinks it'll stop us from going after him."

"Will it?" Ina demanded.

Evia drew her shield. "No, it won't."

+x+x+x+

It took them two days of steady marching to reach the edge of the Chaos, where they ran smack into a Hydreigon and a family of Zweilous. Unfortunately for the Dragons, no one was in the mood to take any Mulch from wild Pokémon, and the closest they got to concern was a brief panic after the battle, when they realized that Emboar's Fire Blast had gotten a few trees while they were occupied; Empoleon extinguished the flames with a Hydro Pump before they could spread, and they continued their search until the sun was too low to risk travelling.

The next day, they found something they hadn't expected. There was what could charitably be called a 'clearing', amidst all the variously-damaged trees - and someone had already made camp here. A Torkoal, Golurk, and Sigilyph stood scattered around the campfire, and seated a short distance away was a man.

A huge man.

The Warriors remained within the trees as they witnessed the sight. "Is that... AZ?" Ina whispered.

Nobuyuki turned to her. "Who?"

"AZ is a Pokémon Trainer," Evia explained. "He's the one who told us about Dynamax."

"In your own time?" Naomasa asked. "But... then this can't be him."

He was indeed dressed in a very different manner than the AZ that Evia remembered, clad in a long grey robe with a turban of some description upon his helm, and his dark hair, short enough to drift over his shoulders without resting against them, was a sharp contrast to the waist-length white that he had worn on his arrival - but the size was unmistakeable, and his disposition compared to that of his Pokémon was a far cry from anything that would happen between a Warrior and their Links.

"What era is this, compared to ours?" Evia had never wanted the answer to that question more.

"Where's his Floette?" Oichi wondered. Then; "He's wounded!"

Any confusion about what the hell was going on vanished as she and Wigglytuff charged forward, the healer drawing her staff - with Evia and Espeon close behind them. The others followed at a slower pace; AZ saw them coming and started, prompting the Pokémon around him to turn and face them. Oichi slowed to a stop as they made to confront her, the Torkoal blowing smoke angrily.

"More of you Warriors," AZ accused.

"We're not here to fight!" Oichi insisted. "You're hurt, aren't you? Let me help!"

AZ looked surprised. "You want to help me?"

Evia nodded. "We're not allies of anyone who would strike their opponent like this and leave them be."

"...Let her," AZ said to his Pokémon, and though they seemed uncertain, Torkoal and Golurk stepped away, with Sigilyph keeping a close eye on Oichi as she made to approach him.

His leg was covered in ugly gashes, and looked like it had been seared, what's more; Oichi realized that this wasn't a fresh wound. "When did this happen?"

"A day and a half," AZ replied.

"Then I can't avert permanent damage," the healer warned, holding her staff over his leg. "But I can stop it from getting worse."

Water began to trail out of her staff onto his leg, earning a hiss from AZ as Evia stepped forward. "Who did this to you?"

"A Warrior, dressed in webs," AZ answered. "He arrived in a cart drawn by Zebstrika, with a Ninetales and Glalie riding with him. I asked him what business he had here, and he refused to speak to me. He had his Pokémon strike me, and departed.

"His Pokémon struck you, bodily?" Naotora exclaimed.

AZ nodded. "Yes. When I tried to protest, he said that a man who is not a Warrior has no business objecting to what a Warrior demands of him." His gaze fell. "...Least of all a man from outside of Ransei."

"You come from outside of Ransei?" Naomasa asked.

"I do," AZ insisted. "I have been wandering many lands for... quite some time."

Oichi's staff was nearly empty as she pulled it away from his leg; the wound was better, though it did sport several nasty scars. "That's as much as I can do," she sighed. "It's not raw anymore, and it won't get infected. But I'd brace it before you walk anywhere, and it won't go away any time soon."

"Thank you," AZ assured her.

Evia spoke up. "Where did the Warrior who attacked you go?"

AZ turned and beckoned with one hand. "Yonder. His haste implied he were being pursued."

"He is now," Evia admitted. Then, to her companions; "Come on!"

"Yes, Lady Evia!"

+x+x+x+

They found a much larger open space in the direction AZ had indicated - one that must have become host to Dragnor Castle. Hisahide was surrounded by unconscious Hydreigon, with Glalie and Ninetales both looking exhausted; his Zebstrika were no longer bound to the cart, which was near the forestry and looked like it had been subject to some rushed repairs.

The cruel Warlord seemed disgusted when the newfound Warriors approached him, his tired Pokémon turning to face them. "It does not satisfy you, then, to take the Glacier as well as the Volcano?" he demanded, and Evia came to a stop ten paces away. "Will you keep even the Chaos away from me?"

"No more than you took away from the Swarm," Evia proclaimed.

Hisahide's expression wore surprise, for just a moment. Then a sinister grin twisted into existence on his face, and he chuckled - a low, threatening chuckle that gradually escalated into a sinister, ominous laugh, echoing about the openness of the Chaos. When it finally subsided, his gaze fell, landing back on Evia.

"...So I am discovered, then."

Oichi drew in a terrified breath, her fear reflected on all the Warriors at her sides. "I didn't want to believe it," she hissed.

"Believe it!" Hisahide yelled. "The Wishmaker's crystal cradle washed up on the Swarming Cove, unrecognized by anyone! Hayakawa set it on display, beside her berry garden, like a fool! If I had been lost in the Swarm only a few days later, she would have woken beneath the meteor shower with no one wise enough to ask their desires be granted!"

"And you desired this?!" Evia demanded. "You asked the Wishmaker to cause these Dark Storms?!"

Hisahide laughed. "I asked her to bring terror to Ransei!" he proclaimed. "And terror did Ransei receive, beyond my wildest imaginings! Pokémon made titanic, gigantic! Even an infantile Chimchar can set an entire town ablaze! The lowliest Magikarp can ruin a camp too near to the river it was Splashing in! And if Warriors should be Linked to the victims, all the better!"

Lopunny gave an angry cry as Naotora stomped forward. "You endangered all of Ransei on a whim?!" she demanded. "For the thrill?!"

"For the fear!" Hisahide proclaimed. "For the destruction, the ruination, the calamity!"

"And then what?!" Naomasa demanded. "You made your cruel wish - then what did you do?!"

Hisahide chuckled, spreading his hands. "Do tell me what there was to be done!" he insisted. "She woke from her crystal beneath the meteor shower, and granted my wish on threat of flame! And nearly the moment the meteors ceased to fall, she returned to her crystal sleep, and vanished!" He shook his head. "Not that I could have asked for any more than I received! The damage was done before she even slept, with Ransei plunged into chaos!"

The earth began to tremor as he said that, causing everyone to start; a light began to manifest in the clearing, and Hisahide's grin fell as he saw it approaching the Ice Face Pokémon at his side.

Evia stepped back, shield before her. "And were you prepared to drown in chaos?!"

The Warriors and their Pokémon turned and ran as Hisahide stumbled away from Glalie, whom the power of Dynamax was gathering around. The Zebstrika broke into a gallop, dashing away, and Ninetales gave a terrified cry as Glalie's form began to glow; Hisahide reached for his head, a grunt turning into a groan and then a yell.

The Ice Face Pokémon swelled, becoming more than twice his own height, and Hisahide gave a roar of pain that split the air.

He swelled a second time, becoming still greater, and his Warrior's cry went silent.

A third rush of growth peaked him at size enough to fill the frozen lake in the Glacial Reaches - and the cruel Warlord that he was Linked to fell to the ground, unconscious, as Glalie gave a terrifying cry that must have been heard from the Ironlands. The wild Dynamax warped his mind, and his cold glare swept across the openness; the Warriors who had pursued him were nearly at the forestry where the Zebstrika's cart stood, but much nearer, Ninetales was trying to drag Hisahide's unconscious form to safety, her maw closed around his collar.

Glalie's attention fell on her, and chill began to fill the air. The Ice Face Pokémon trembled, his mouth opening, and the cold ascended into the air, forming a massive cloud of snow. Ninetales' maw fell open, petrified with fear, as titanic heaps of ice began to fall from that cloud - ice empowered by Dynamax.

And one came straight down on her and Hisahide.

+x+x+x+

"Lost, and with no return..."

The Warriors had resorted to taking cover in the forestry while Glalie rampaged, all of them terrified at what they had seen happen to Hisahide; Oichi's terrified utterance once the Dark Storm subsided earned a scoff from Naotora. "We were grasping at straws, expecting him to have the Wishmaker hostage."

"But it was our best option," Evia insisted. "Now what are we supposed to do about the Dark Storms?"

"Weren't you searching for the legendary Pokémon that's supposed to have caused them?" Naomasa demanded.

"He made a wish upon crystal!" Evia reprimanded. "We have no way of knowing for sure that that legendary Pokémon is even here!"

"That doesn't mean we should cease the search!" Ina protested. "We scour Ransei, we leave no stone unturned! If it is here, we can find it-"

"And then what!?" Evia demanded. "If it had been brought here by some plot, something concocted by outsiders to Ransei, maybe we could reverse it, but the Wishmaker's doing?! How do you propose we unmake that!? If its very presence causes the Dynamax, we can't just knock it out and call it a day!"

"Then we find a way to send it home!" Ina insisted.

"Send it home?!" Evia echoed. "We're not Trainers, who can throw a ball at the damn thing and carry it around in our pocket! We can't deliver a legendary Pokémon home without its consent, and how do you expect us to get that?! Or do you, of all people, think any random Warrior can Link with a legendary Pokémon?!"

Nobuyuki stepped forward. "Enough! Evia, calm down!"

Evia turned away. "How can you ask me to calm down in this situation?" The power was leaking out of her voice even as she spoke, anger and frustration giving way to fear and dread. "Dark Storms, caused by a wish upon crystal... How are we supposed to fight something like that?" She shook her head. "We might as well try and unite Ransei entire."

"What would that achieve?"

Draco: Yeah, this is just gonna be Wham after Wham for a couple chapters.